Sarah + Caleb: Engaged!

This post has been a *long* time coming. And by that I mean I've had these pictures sitting on my computer for six whole months, just waiting for me to jump in. Of course the only person who would accept such tardiness would be my youngest sister. Do you know Sarah? Let me introduce you:

As the youngest sister of four in our family, she has learned to be patient and lacks any selfishness whatsoever. And, like in your typical fairy tale, she is indeed the fairest of them all (or at least in my biased older-sister opinion). 

And then one day she met Caleb.

And they said Hey, let's get married! 

Read their story here, it's a good one. 

Now they're planning an August 2014 wedding in North Carolina, and I can't wait to eat BBQ, dress in mint (great wedding color!) and dance the night away.

S + C got some special treatment for their photo shoot: two locations! 

... that were some 4,000 miles apart! 

Location #1: Fairbanks, Alaska.

Location #2: Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

C is from Fairbanks, so when these two lovebirds were visiting his hometown this past June, I decided to swing on up there for a quick visit and an impromptu photo shoot (no I'm not crazy or rich, just lucky) ... and a visit to Denali, of course. It was fun to see where C grew up and where they lived together for a year. Experiencing that midnight sun was pretty awesome - I think we took these photos at 9pm or something crazy like that. Later that summer they moved down to North Carolina where C is now attending UNC, so I thought it would be fun to capture them in their new home together. The photos with the pops of pink were in NC and the others were up in the "last frontier." 

They recently adopted a new lil' pup, so I think I need to visit them again for photo shoot #3, don't ya think?

Enjoy the slideshow!

(Note: Photo quality in slideshow is not accurate representation of final product. 
See still photos for full resolution.)

Sister + Caleb: Engaged from Carolyn Pierson on Vimeo.

Love in Chapel Hill

It's about time I post a photo from one of my photo shoots with my sister Sarah and her fiance Caleb. They were engaged earlier this spring while on a layover in Amsterdam and bound for Africa (read their story here), and since then I've been lucky enough to meet up with them four times, despite the miles between us. I'll be posting more photos from our shoot in Alaska soon, but here's a peak at our second session down in their new home of Chapel Hill, where Caleb is pursuing his doctorate in philosophy at UNC (they are standing in front of the philosophy building). In just under a year they will be married on a farm just outside of Chapel Hill. Let the countdown begin! 

click photo to enlarge

Here's to new adventures together!

Rounding Third and Headed for the Alter: Riley + Jon

We turned off the highway and onto a gravel road, the end of our long journey home from Colorado. If I was completely honest with myself, I'd have realized I was a bit nervous. It's not every day you meet your boyfriend's family. We had just enjoyed a weekend skiing with college friends, and since we were driving right by Evan's hometown, we figured we might as well stop and say hi. As we pulled up to the farm, I was struck by how quiet it was. The drifted snow muffled our tires and we slid into the garage, like a couple of stealth undercover cops. I bet no one knows we're even here, I thought. But no sooner was old Berta (E's old Beretta) in park and we exchanged a "well, we made it!" grin, then the door to the house cracked open and out came a rush of energy and excitement I now know can only be associated with Riley. She whisked us into the house with tales from her day at school and the latest small town gossip, an endless stream of chatter that made me feel right at home. 

I can't believe it's now been 11 years (eleven!!!) since I met Evan's little sister. But she remains the spunky Riley I met that day in the garage, and always a joy to be around. I'm so excited for her to walk down the aisle in just two weeks. It was a special treat to tromps around the farm with these two lovebirds - enjoy the slideshow! (scroll down)

(Note: Actual photo quality not represented well in slideshow)

Turn up the music! 

Lover of the Light by Mumford & Sons

Here's their sneak peek on my blog!

Sneak Peek: Farm Girl Love

My sister-in-law Riley is getting married in May, and I had such fun trompsing in the snow, fields, and barnyard with these lovebirds this past weekend. Can't wait to edit the rest of these ... and for May 17! 

Engaged: Kirst and Scott!

My sister is getting married!!! Scott proposed to Kirsten in NYC last Christmas and the rest of my family was lucky enough to be in the city at the time and could meet up with them afterwards. Such a great evening.

They are planning a April 13, 2013 wedding in St. Louis where they currently live, so I flew down there over Mother's Day weekend to take some pictures ... and to partake in some other fun wedding planning activities, like cake tasting! Mmmm : )

My mom also flew in to share some quality time with two of her four daughters, so we enjoyed relaxing in the park, eating World's Fair Donuts, and having a fun little photo shoot of our own (check it out here)

 







But on to the good stuff. The engagement photo shoot! I had such a blast touring the city with these two lovebirds. We hit up Tower Grove Park and the old stone structures there, walked around the Botanical Gardens, and went crazy running and jumping around at the Arch like six-year-olds.

Can't wait til next spring! Enjoy the slideshow.


Engaged: Kirsten and Scott from Carolyn Pierson on Vimeo.

Engaged: Hannah + Andrew

It was hard for me to title this post Hannah + Andrew, because for the longest time I've known Andrew strictly as Dub ... or WK, DubK, Dubbie ... or any derivation of the nickname. But I figured now that he is officially marrying one of my best friends, Hannah, it's time he gets promoted to Andrew. ; )

Thanks to H and A for being beyond patient with me as I edited their photos. As you can see, these were taken a while ago -- when it was still brown outside and the last of the stubborn snow still lay in patches.

But we were blessed with a gorgeous, sunny day down along Saint Anthony Main in Minneapolis and I had a great time strolling along taking pictures.

As you may have noticed, I ventured over to this area a few weeks before to take photos of Alex and Gabby. I didn't mean to go to the same place back-to-back, but Hannah's parents live in a loft overlooking the river so it was the perfect spot. We made sure to go to some new areas, like an old bridge in the woods that is a little less popular than the Stone Arch Bridge.

H and A are getting married in October -- can't wait!

Enjoy the slideshow!

Something New

I've been teaching myself some new photo-editing techniques lately. Thanks to Hannah and Andrew for being patient with me as I edit their engagement photos from a few weeks ago ... I've been having a lot of fun experimenting on their photos : )

Here's one I've done so far. It kind of has an antique look:

I should have more soon!

Engaged: Alex + Gabby

I had a blast taking pictures of my cousin Alex and his beautiful bride-to-be, Gabby, the other weekend. We ventured over the the Stone Arch Bridge in downtown Minneapolis where bikers, strollers, and various photographers were enjoying quite possibly the warmest weather of 2011! (Seriously, lots of photographers about, including a group making a documentary film that included some fiddling and African drums -- pretty sure Alex started dancing!). Thanks for a great afternoon guys -- and can't wait for June 4th!

View the entire album here!

Slideshow with music coming soon!