Nail-biting Homecoming | Military Homecoming | Fort Bragg, NC Photographer

Every homecoming I photograph is different. Yes, there's some parts that are the same ... the anticipation, the wait for them to land, the wait for them to get off the plane, the happy reunion, th jumps for joy ... ect. But every homecoming has it's own story.

She was a tad nervous, this was their first homecoming. She wasn't sure how it was going to go and wasn't sure how she'd react. She was antsy but excited. But she knew one thing, she was just ready for him to be home.

When the plane landed, the unit opened the doors and the soldiers walked in. Families were reunited one by one. Hugging and kissing and chattering with excitement. She waited by the side, silently scanning all the soldiers walking in. They trickled in in small groups. But not her soldier. She had a worried look on her face and I snapped the above picture, she joked, "Oh here we are! Just waiting for our soldier!" I got scared ... I never get scared. What if the unit got the dates wrong, what if she was here for nothing, what if ....

Finally, two lone shadows walked from the distant plane ... And when they entered the lights she saw ... it was him. Finally he was home!

Hugs and kisses and lil' man was so excited to tell his daddy he saw the plane and everything!

Little miss was a tad nervous, she cried at first ... but don't worry folks, she warmed up nicely (which you'll see towards the bottom of this blog entry.

Pure relief in this picture ... minus the tad nervousness of little miss ... lol

Here's where daddy wrapped his arms around her and comforted her and she knew it was him.

Little man was super excited about daddy and kept tickling him. Daddy tickled back.

He was home! He was finally home!  <3

*** Please remember that all images are copyrighted to Sharilyn Wells Photography, LLC. Please do not copy or alter any images without SWP, LLC consent. ***

Glitter All Around! | Concept | Fayetteville, NC Photographer

So the criteria for a model on this shoot was simple. Blonde, blue eyes, and must LOVE glitter! Brittany, an awesome makeup artist AND beautiful model, was tagged and volunteered to be our muse! And So happy she did!!

I've said it before, but I'll reiterate. Creative people NEED to find other creative people and just bounce ideas, techniques and laughs amongst each other! I know in this world (the photography world I'm referring to) there's a lot of drama. I mean, why wouldn't there be? We are all artists and are emotionally attached to our ideas and work. Tempers flare, jealousy sinks in, and people can be just down right mean. BUT if you surround yourselves around like minded people who will critique your work constructively, help you make something come to life, and support your crazy and wacky ideas ... Man! You are lucky and I'm one of the lucky ones!

My "group" of creative minds, you know them as I've mentioned them before, William Harris, Tysha Hallman, and Terra Martinez  are a great bunch. I show them an idea and they're like "Let's do it." And The same goes for when they show me an idea. We may be sorta comprehensive at first, but we all get together and make it work!

As you can see, the first couple of images look different from my normal style. That's because Will took the time to show us some fun lighting techniques and Brittany was super patient as we passed around the remote for the lights on each of our cameras! See?! THIS is why you need to find a group of like-minded people! Help your creativity grow! (This advice isn't for just photographers, it's for makeup artist, models, crafters, runners, ANYTHING! just do it! you'll see that your craft will not only grow but so will your creativity and personally you'll just feel good!)

These next few photos are natural light as we had GREAT light. haha! Even though it was like 40 degrees and poor Brittany is out there in a tube top wrapped in tule! She also has told me that she's STILL trying to get the glitter off her! hahaha! Thank you Brittany!

Make sure you check out Brittany's makeup and hair Facebook site, HERE!

 *** Please remember that all images are copyrighted to Sharilyn Wells Photography, LLC. Please do not copy or alter any images without SWP, LLC consent. ***

Grunge Senior | Senior | Fayetteville, NC Photographer

Sage was another young model we photographed in Tennessee during Imaging USA. She is friends with Luna, and boy! We were glad she tagged along too! Her look fit in just awesome in the first location we were at, Printer's Alley. It was SOOOO freaking cold out there but you can't tell ... Sage rocked our grunge look!

I also played with my Lensbaby Spark out there ... fingers frozen and me trying to squeeze the lens to focus ... man it was rough. But we both managed to get some killa' shots!

I mean look at her! She's sitting next to a dumpster and looks fantastic! haha! And hey, for senior pictures, don't forget, you can totally include your friends in your images! After all, when you're a high schooler, it's all about the friends in your life! Believe me, I know! ;)

Don't Luna and Sage look like rock stars?!

 *** Please remember that all images are copyrighted to Sharilyn Wells Photography, LLC. Please do not copy or alter any images without SWP, LLC consent. ***

Simple & Clean | Senior | Fayetteville, NC Photographer

Here is another model we had the pleasure of photographing while in Tennessee for Imaging USA.  She is also a makeup artist .... and correct me if I'm wrong, but a singer as well. Meet Ms. Luna.

Even though we shot in a very nice and versatile building, I love the images of Luna on the white wall. They're just simple and clean. She looks amazing in these.

And then the wall just across the way, was this lovely brick ... Beautiful! I didn't have her move at all! I just moved ... I mean, I had a huge open window with so much light coming in ... It was AWESOME!

Then of course, if you remember the Tennessee Beauty blog post, this location was just spectacular! So a wardrobe change and on we went! Thank you to the location and to Luna!

 *** Please remember that all images are copyrighted to Sharilyn Wells Photography, LLC. Please do not copy or alter any images without SWP, LLC consent. ***

Urban Senior | Senior | Sanford, NC Photographer

This young man put up with our shenanigans in Sanford. He rolled with the punches and probably thought we were crazy.

 But his images came out fantastic and really couldn't ask for more. I really don't have much to say about this session. You just need to check out the images! They speak for themselves!

I always wonder what people are thinking when I pose them a certain way and then say, laugh to yourself ... lol. I mean, I get genuine smiles because they're probably like, "What is this lady's problem? I can't just laugh at myself ... why would I do that?!" And then they laugh because they're having this monologue in their head. Done. Perfection.

I wanted to try out a few different poses. You know, I find it difficult to pose a man. One, I'm a chick, all my poses are girlie and two, boys/men don't really like getting their picture taken, so they don't. Which makes it hard for us photogs to be like ... uh, do this do that... ;)

But we figured it out! I love the Timbow pose and the below Forges magazine pose. He did great.

*** Please remember that all images are copyrighted to Sharilyn Wells Photography, LLC. Please do not copy or alter any images without SWP, LLC consent. ***

Celtic Beauty | Concept | Fayetteville, NC Photographer

If you guys follow me on Facebook ... which you should .. I'm pretty awesome. ;) Anyway, if you do, you will have noticed I bombarded y'all with pictures from this young lady's celtic session. OMG. I mean, how could I not? She's gorgeous, she's talented, and the concept just fit her so well!

 You guys know how much I love the month of March and Irish stuff, and my favorite holiday is St. Paddy's Day and clovers, and well ... you guys get it. Any way, I really wanted to do another Irish theme for March but didn't wanna copy my Celtic Goddess from last year. (I did however, use the crowns I made from that shoot, adding the fun clover one) So when I saw Katilynn from another photographer, I HAD to photograph her too!

She's really got raw talent. I honestly didn't have to direct her much ... and I don't believe she had to try very hard to get the look I wanted! I mean, seriously. She'd just stand in a spot and I'd be like, "oh! that stay right there!" 

So Fayetteville isn't too green yet ... well, it's getting there, but out late snow and ice storm just kinda slowed down Spring's sneak peaks. But, my location provided great light and I found green. We just chased the light and the green spots! 

Below, I got a real smile from her when I told her to look at her momma ... she gave her momma a regular look and I giggled, "Come on you love your momma!" And there it was, a cute grin. 

And then THIS happened. I mean COME ON?! Katilynn, you're stunning! I look forward to seeing where you go in your career and definitely want to work with you again! You're awesome! ;)

*** Please remember that all images are copyrighted to Sharilyn Wells Photography, LLC. Please do not copy or alter any images without SWP, LLC consent. ***