Back to Raleigh for a Wedding…and For Good!

I've often said shooting weddings are like shooting sports. You only have one chance to get the shot, but enough experience around these events will help put you in the right position.

Earlier this month, the sports world and wedding shooting world collided for me at the wedding of Cade and Lauren Holliday. Why? Because football fans might be familiar with Cade's father, Doc, who is the head coach at Marshall and was an assistant for a national title team at Florida and was at NC State during the early Chuck Amato years before that. The wedding actually took place in Raleigh at the historic Merrimon-Wynne House, which is a gorgeous venue (I booked the gig thanks to an old high school friend, who was a bridesmaid.).

The father-son connections didn't stop there either. Thanks to the handy location of the wedding being by my old stomping grounds, this was the first wedding I had the chance to shoot with my dad, Jay! When you have a gajillion-time Emmy winner as your second videographer, it's hard to screw things up, as hopefully is evident in the highlight video above.

But as the saying from the old Ginsu Knives commercial went, "But wait, there's more!"

This won't be the last work I do in Raleigh. Not by a long shot. Because I'm moving back there in two weeks!

My wife, Martha, will be taking the Managing Editor position at WRAL, which is the same station where we both used to work and where we met almost ten years ago.

As for me, WRAL has been gracious enough to offer me some work doing what I used to do: SPORTS! (See how I brought it all back full circle?)

This football season, I'll be producing the Logan Zone hosted by former ECU football coach Steve Logan and 99.9 The Fan's Adam Gold. As Bart Scott would say, "Can't wait!" Adam is an extremely nice guy and his talent speaks for itself. I've only spoken to Coach Logan a few times, but the man's two greatest loves seem to be blues music and red wine so we'll have plenty to talk about.

In addition to the Logan Zone, I get to shoot/report high school football games again for Football Friday. Anyone who knows me as an employee knows this has always been the most rewarding gig for me. I basically learned how to do this TV thing from tagging along with my dad when he worked on the show in the 1990s. 

There may be some opportunities beyond this at WRAL, but we'll just play it out and see where this goes. Maybe you'll see me on the sidelines at the occasional Duke, UNC or NC State game.

But for now, I'll continue to freelance. I actually have another wedding and a quinceanera(!) to shoot in Knoxville, and I definitely plan to keep doing that in Raleigh!

So if you know anyone getting married, or have any other events that need to be shot or edited, I'd love to help! Hopefully it will be as fun as this last wedding.