harrisburg-nc-photographer | Back to Business with Portrait Sessions!

Hey guys,

So it’s been forever since I’ve posted a blog. Frankly, it’s been a really bumpy last year and while I have continued to shoot and create I have really let certain aspects of my business slide as we’ve had some personal/family issues that have had to take precedence over everything else. Losing a family member suddenly means not only dealing with the emotional toll but it creates a whole other level of chaos in just the day to day functioning of life and I’ve had to step up and step into things that have required more of my attention and time. I’ve taken the bare minimum of work that I knew I could handle successfully while still being able to be there for my family during this past year and I really appreciate everyone that I have worked with during this difficult time. Grief is not a destination, it’s a journey where the scenery just changes as you go along. Having friends and clients that are so understanding has made the journey a little less difficult:)

But… now we are healing a bit and moving forward so I’m back in the studio regular hours and back to scheduling more sessions regularly. I’m very excited about sessions that I have coming up and to seeing where life goes the rest of 2019. I can’t wait to see my regular families and new babies and a new class of seniors for 2020!

Love you all so much,

Staci

Harrisburg-nc-senior-portraits | hickory ridge high school | Kaley

When Kaley first came in with her mom and we discussed what she wanted for her senior portraits I knew this was going to turn out to be one hell of a series of images! I am so glad that they decided on the option to include multiple sessions for senior portraits and even added on a cheer session to capture all the important things in Kaley's life as a senior at Hickory Ridge High School! This girl COULD NOT take a bad picture! We had so much fun each time we got together for a session and there were more than a few outtakes that were blurry because I was laughing so hard:) At the end of the day we got an amazing set of portraits that highlight everything amazing about Kaley and I know that she will look back on these years from now and remember how awesome her senior year experience was! One way to make sure you get all of the images from your senior sessions is to do an album - check out the images from Kaley's album design below!

harrisburg-nc-senior-portraits |hickory ridge|mckenna

It's no joke to say that I had probably 4x as many images as I could possibly share from McKenna's session! No need to add a lot of fluffy words either; these portraits speak for themselves! I had so much fun capturing this time for this truly wonderful girl and I know that her whole family will treasure the amazing artwork we created! I can't wait to work with her again in the spring for something truly spectacular; I'll keep it a surprise but I'm so excited!!!

harrisburg-nc-senior-portraits | cox mill high school | gwen

It can't possibly be the start of school yet! Our summer has come and gone so fast here in Charlotte!!! Well, it could be because we weren't actually in Charlotte or Harrisburg all that much:) We spent quite a bit of time traveling around; we got to hit the beach a few times and travel to visit friends and by the time I blinked it was August and schools in Harrisburg NC are almost ready to start!

One of the other things I got to do this summer was to wrap up this gorgeous senior gallery for Gwen. We split her session into a few different sections but at the end of it we got this amazing gallery full of gorgeous images for this beautiful young woman before she graduated from Cox Mill here in Charlotte. And now she's off to college this week and I can only imagine that the sky is the limit as she heads out to make what will certainly be an indelible mark on the world:)

Good luck Gwen and thanks for letting me help you capture this wonderful time in your life!

harrisburg nc senior photographer | kieran by staci noel photography

I believe that everyone can take a good picture - even people who don't consider themselves photogenic. However, it's not a natural thing for the majority of folks which is why without guidance in posing or directional lighting people hate a lot of the images that their friends or family take and really despise how they look in snapshots on phones, etc. - it isn't the camera y'all! I have spent years learning how to pose people so that they can take a flattering image and I take great pride in guiding subjects through the process during a portrait session so that they love the images we create together. We work on finding poses that look best, feel natural and make them feel confident; everything from what to do with your hands, what kind of expression works, how to relax their body and their face to get the most natural moments.

All of that being said, there is occasionally a person that I've photographed who required very little to no direction or maybe just a one time suggestion and after that they just practically flew through the session on their own. I wish I could take credit for it but this guy knew how he wanted to be photographed and he rocked this session with some very basic direction and then just naturally rolled with it! It made it such a blast each time we worked in a new location in Harrisburg or Charlotte because I knew we were getting killer senior portraits that he loved and mom would cherish!

He's off to college this month and I know that he will see amazing success because he's talented and just as focused on his goals! It was absolutely my pleasure to capture this part of his senior year at Hickory Ridge High School and I can't wait to hear about all of the wonderful things he does moving ahead!