Chelsea's Fayetteville Couture Bridal Session

Hey everybody!

Today we're kicking off Chelsea Week on the blog. And we're starting things riiiiiight with some really fab couture bridal portraits. This bridal portrait session is a little bit different from what we typically do with brides, as Chelsea (who has some exquisite taste, by the way), took part in describing what she envisioned for the session. We love when our brides take an active role in their session planning!
During the planning, I knew this was going to be a lot more work than our traditional bridal portrait sessions, as there was more setup involved, more lighting involved, more equipment involved, and more time involved. And since this is a one of a kind bridal session, we decided to create a new concept for this type of session: the Couture Bridal Session. Sounds fancy, right? Well, that's fitting, because Chelsea is pretty fancy! (though, I have to add that she's even sweeter than she is fancy!)
The results of the Couture Bridal session... the fruits of our labor if you will... are below. I could not be happier with how her gorgeous bridal portraits turned out!

Some INSANE gold and ivory wedding details are coming to the blog tomorrow. You'll wanna see this!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Lauren and Teagan's Family Portraits

Hey everybody!

I have some really sweet images to share today. Meredith photographed Lauren and Teagan recently in Joplin, and both are so pretty! Have a peek!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Mere's Boudoir Secret Session is Featured on dropitMODERN!

Hey everybody!

Mere was recently featured on the dropitMODERN blog for her super classy boudoir! Yay for her!

Here are a couple outtakes:
How do you explain boudoir and even further, your style of boudoir, to someone new to the genre?
To me, boudoir equals beautiful images of a woman in her most feminine state. I like to keep my boudoir images as classy and timeless as possible. These images are usually gifts for men, but honestly, I’m shooting for the woman. I want her to look at these pictures and realize how fabulous she is!

There is a level of taste and class in your work that exceeds most, how did you come to this?
For me, “sexy” is gorgeous and self-confident. I pride myself in keeping my work classy and tasteful. When shooting boudoir, “sexy” is a slippery slope, so I prefer to stay camped out on the classy side.

Read more of the article on the drop it modern blog!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Chelsea's Wedding and Bridal DOUBLE TEASER

Hey everybody!

Saturday Meredith and I had the honor to be the photographers at Chelsea Slone and Tyler Brown's private and intimate wedding at her parents' home in Fayetteville. You might recognize Chelsea and Tyler from the recent cover of Citiscapes Magazine. They are one of the coolest couples I know, and was super excited when she changed her date around when Benfield Photography could shoot it. Wasn't that sweet?! :)

Next week I'll be giving you the inside scoop into her wonderful wedding with amazing details, as well as show you more from her couture bridal session. For now, here's a sneak peek into the fun!

And if you follow me on Instagram (@dalebenfield) you've already seen this gem... isn't Chelsea breathtaking?! Oh, and isn't her Vera Wang gown to-die-for?! Ahhhh!!!
I'm not gonna lie... pretty proud of how I set the lighting in this one.

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Lauren and Tadd's BONUS Wedding Portraits!

Hey everybody!

I just CAN'T STOP posting pictures of this amazingly pretty couple! Here are some more portraits we shot on their wedding day. Ahhhh....

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Lauren and Tadd's Fabulous Wedding Portraits

Hey everybody!

It's gorgeous portrait time! Lauren and Tadd are both ridiculously-good-looking. We had two mini-portrait sessions on the wedding day: one right after their first meeting, and one as the sun was looking all gorge as it was setting at James at the Mill. Here are some faves...

Okay... so... God helped with this one (look at that light! with a perfect little wind blow!)

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Lauren and Tadd's Fayetteville Wedding Story

Hey everybody!

One of the reasons you (as a bride and groom) want to hire experienced photographers is that there are going to be some really special moments that collectively make up your wedding day. Untrained photographers don't know what to look for, or can't anticipate these moments, or are too busy fumbling with gear when they happen. I love my background as a photojournalist because it gives me the expertise to capture moments. Check out my favorite moments from Lauren and Tadd's wedding below!

Their first look had some really sweet (and some really funny) moments. I decided to show you the sweet one...

And of course, there's that moment when the bride is about to walk down the aisle with her father, him looking on... and probably as nervous as she is...

But even if he is nervous, as any great dad would do (and Lauren's dad is a GREAT dad!), he swallows whatever nervousness he has and helps his daughter enjoy this moment of walking to her groom...

A staple in any wedding... the first kiss as husband and wife is such a special moment!

And off they go!

Okay...
Gimme a break...
How insanely precious...
is this MOMENT?!?!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Lauren with her father-in-law... how touching!

Meanwhile super chef Miles James was inside creating masterpieces for Lauren and Tadd's guests... and photographers! MMmmmmmm...

It's not the easiest thing in the world to get a really great wide-angle shot of a dance... but it happened here! Great light, great moment, composition fell into perfect place...

Then the party got started. :)

Such a great day filled with great moments. I love my job. {Portraits coming tomorrow!}

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Fayetteville + James at the Mill Reception Details

Hey everybody!

Boy oh boy... Lauren and Tadd had some fabulous details! Maybe my favorite part was the meal at James at the Mill, by James Beard nominated chef, Miles James. Not only that, but Anne Foster planned and executed the day to perfection! Yeah... we had a pretty good day (and ended with happy bellies!)... check out some fab details below.

The story of Lauren and Tadd's wedding day coming up tomorrow!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Lauren's Fayetteville Bridal Portraits

Hey everybody!

Meet Lauren! She's hilarious and feisty, but intelligent and sweet... all rolled into one super pretty shell! :) Her Fayetteville wedding (with reception at James at the Mill) is coming up soon, but I wanted to start with a few of her fabulous bridal portraits.

Talk to you soon,
Dale

We Make Silly Music Videos - Ellie's Call Me, Maybe? Video

Hey everybody!

When Ellie and Lauren (aka: Aunt La La) get together, there's no telling what is going to happen!  A couple days ago they decided to make a music video with a choreographed dance to the new super catchy song, Call Me, Maybe? Yep... they're silly, and I love it.



Have a great weekend!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

P.S. If you follow Ellie's blog, diaryofadaddysgirl.blogspot.com - you already saw this. :)

Jamie and Ben's Outdoor Wedding Story... Tears Were Shed!

Hey everybody!!

Today I get to share the super sweet wedding of Jamie and Ben with you! You've seen their details and their portraits, but I saved this for last because it is seriously SOOOOOOOO sweet!

Here's our lovely bride getting ready...

And then one of the most tender-est and heart-warm-iest first meetings ever.  She was a cryer for sure, but look at the love on her face as her groom holds her!

How cool was this set up for the ceremony!  I love outdoor weddings!

Another sweet moment during the ceremony...

But nothing compared to THIS MOMENT!  Awwwww!!!

Up they come to head off to the reception for their first dance!

Followed by party time!

Jamie and Ben... it was an absolute honor to spend your wedding day with you!  We look forward to your life full of happiness together!!

Talk to you soon,
Dale

Outdoor Wedding Portraits of Jamie and Ben: And, How We Almost Got Shot By Real Bullets

Hey everybody!

Today I have some gorge portraits of Jamie and Ben from their super fab yellow and teal wedding that totally melts my heart! But first, I have to tell you the story of how we almost died.

We were hanging out before the wedding, just shooting some super pretty portraits (see below, duh) and all of a sudden some gun shots rang out. I thought people must be target practicing in a nearby field or something. Then, we heard more gun shots that accompanied the insanely frightening sound of leave in the trees over our heads being hit with bullets. Yeah... REAL BULLETS.

All of a sudden, I'm in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN! We got our first ever REAL bride and groom running shot. I didn't need to tell them what to do... we got the crap out of there! And now... enjoy the fruits of our labor!

So now you know what to do when you're on a shoot and bullets starts whizzing by... run like cray-cray!


Talk to you soon,
Dale