Jessie & Zeke | Table Rock Lodge Destination Wedding Photographer

Jessie and Zeke were married in a tiny cabin with a view of Table Rock in February of 2017. For them this was a destination wedding, but for me it was the backyard mountains I grew up in. Jessie found me on Instagram and I'm so happy she did. We clicked instantly through emails and I loved meeting up with her and her mom at The Village Grind in Greenville. This wedding was unusual for me because it was on a Monday! Something new, right?! New and fun! The wedding was made up of so many sweet touches-from dinosaurs in Jessie's bouquet-all of which her mom made, the many very cute cakes (Jessie made them HERSELF), the sign's around the venue her son's wrote, their personal vows, and on. I loved shooting this beautiful wedding and am so happy for Jessie and Zeke. It's been fun keeping in touch with them and seeing their first year of marriage together.  

Melissa & Luke | Table Rock Lodge Wedding

I've known Melissa since I was in middle school, so getting her email inquiring about my availability on her wedding date had me so excited! I met her and Luke over coffee and we began planning out their vision for the big day. They spend a lot of time in the outdoors and they was a big part of their wedding day. The ceremony was behind the Table Rock Lodge overlooking the mountain with the reception and dancing inside. I always think of Melissa and Luke as being a mix of free spirits and old souls. They listen to older music, they like a good bit of tie dye, and you can find them hiking most every other weekend. Their wedding day was made more personal by bringing in a lot of those details and things they love. Have a look below at their big day! Below you can find a link to their engagement photos done at the Pink Beds on the Pisgah Ridge.

   

To view their wedding photos - https://giniaworrellphotography.squarespace.com/blog/2016/11/8/melissa-luke-fall-engagement-session-in-the-pisgah-national-forest

Erin & Lucas | Moore, South Carolina Wedding

I met Erin & Lucas over coffee at Due South Coffee at the Taylor's Mill last summer to discuss their big wedding day. They told me from the start they were doing things a little different and I was all for it. We began the day with a tearful first look and ended it with amores over a fire pit. They were married in Moore along a river surrounding the most beautiful property and their closest friends and family and then the party began with a crock pot meal of chili and LOTS of dancing to follow. Erin & Lucas, thank you for having me at your wedding! Brett and I had a BLAST shooting with the day for you.

Thank you to my second shooter, Brett Willbanks. Some of his images are below! 

Venue: Gatherings by the River, Moore, SC
Florals: Coggins Flowers

Melissa & Luke | Fall Engagement Session in the Pisgah National Forest

In the very early beginning of fall Melissa & Luke took me up, up, up, to a spot that resides deep in their hearts-the Pisgah National Forest. This area of the forest, The Pink Beds, is where they first camped together and we decided it would be the perfect area for their engagement photos. It was a very chilly morning that quickly warmed up with our exploration of the trails and streams. I was trying so hard to urge them to just go ahead and elope in the middle of this gorgeous spot, but they weren't having it. ;) We ended the morning with a ride down the Blue Ridge Parkway and lunch at the coolest Jamaican restaurant in Asheville. I CANNOT wait for your wedding, Melissa & Luke!!! Thank you for taking me to such a special spot and for having some fun with these photos!

Hanging with Creatives...

Being a creative myself, I love to meet and hang out with people that are also creative! Whether it's photography related or not! Being around other artists is a chance to have open conversations about our work, get critique, share ideas, and to have a friend who understands certain kinds of struggles that come with being an artist.
 
I met Lauren, of LC Photography, back at the very beginning of the year. We met in a very large networking group one night at Coffee Underground and have gotten together several times since for coffee and photo hangs. We've even shot a wedding together! A very hot, very humid, very June in South Carolina wedding. She's a true delight and I've loved getting to know her over these past few months.

The last time we got together we went to a little park and took some portraits of each other for fun. Thank you so much for letting me shoot with you and for the coffee and the "I'm having an internal melt-down over business" talks that we've had, Lauren. I'm super excited to keep working together and sharing our business advice and woes and everything in between!    

Jess | Spring Bridals | North Carolina

It's not every wedding where you meet such a free spirit like Jess who says upfront "Let's just do it!" when you throw ideas at her for the photos. I mentioned I knew a place with a river and some mountains and she said, let's go and we did! This girl is an adventurer and my time with her had my heart singing. She climbed into a river bed and lugged a chair up a giant hill with me (in her wedding dress)!! You're amazing, Jess! I cannot say enough wonderful things about the time and adventures we had together! 

Emily & David | Spring Engagement | Easley, South Carolina

When Emily approached me about shooting her wedding I about scream/cried because I'd been waiting for this moment for YEARS! She and I were stand partners in our high school's orchestra class and have been long friends ever since. Emily and David are the sweetest and we had a BLAST shooting this 'Up!' inspired engagement shoot on David's family's land in Easley. There's nothing like hopping on the back of a mule with all of your equipment and a dozen balloons and having an enormous amount of land to choose from to shoot! Best part was I wasn't trespassing, or going to have to explain why I was standing in someone's yard shooting photos! Ha! Emily & David, I had such a wonderful time and every day we pass is a day closer to your beautiful wedding! I cannot wait for October!    

Things I Like to Document Besides Weddings...

Hey all! I'm here to make a confession! I love weddings. (Ya'll know that, right?!) I love the act of loving and the hope that comes with marriage. The hope that this is all we need: just you & me. I'm here to say I love all that good stuff! It's what I thrive on! But! While these are the moments I adore to photograph, I also have a passion for shooting fine art photography. Specifically using different mediums of film.

For the past four years I've been documenting my family and my life by way of film and a few moments of digital work. I love shooting this expensive as heck film for many reasons! Shooting analog (film) takes me so much longer than when using a digital camera. It causes me to slow down and become more of an observer waiting for just the right moment. Rather than being in the moment, I am able to take a step back and see the moments happening as I prepare to shoot them. This is such a curious thing for me! Watching the light as it travels into a room and seeing the person I'm about to shoot as she settles into how she wants myself and my camera to see her. Film is also expensive as all get out and when I only get 12 shots on a roll, or 10 photos to a pack one cannot be dilly dadling about it!     

I've been experimenting with different forms of film and cameras trying to find the method that works best for me. From the toy Holga camera (the cheapest, all plastic, tiny medium format camera), to a large format 4x5 Polaroid, to a Hasselblad (The Hasselblad is the nicest film camera you can get your hands on!) Using film is the best way I've found to express myself. If I could find that happy medium and shoot weddings with film-I WOULD, but I'm positive I would have a nervous break down before the reception. With film the colors are more accurate and the images are more precise. Best of all-the moment then bcomes tangible. Tangible isn't a word we get to use much anymore and I'm trying to hold on to it as long as possible. There is nothing that can compare to unraveling a stack of freshly processed negatives and to hold the moments of the now past in your hands and to remember "I was here. This was me." 

I don't meant to get all emotional on you, but film is my love! I'll gladly throw $200 at Amazon for four boxes of film before I'll spend it on clothes or something at the mall! This may also contribute to why I will show up to your wedding consultation in a '97 minivan covered in stickers. I believe in getting full use out of the things I buy! Hence my trusty ole mini van that I refuse to trade in.  

[Below is my large format 4x5 camera. Every image below that is a furjoid (like a Polaroid) taken on the 4x5 camera in 2013. First image is my friend Dale the morning after his senior BFA show. Second image is a plate from my mother's china, image taken on our Christmas table cloth. The last image on the left of my friend Amanda.]

To see more of my film work please visit VirginiaWorrell.com
If you would like a session that is more like my fineart work or includes film, please send me an email at giniaworrell@yahoo.com All photos except the top were taken by myself using a Polaroid back on a 4x5 large format camera. The top photo taken of myself by Laci Frazier! 

Hello! A little about me-Ginia Worrell

Born and raised in South Carolina-this land is my home. My family is spread across the East Coast-from New York down to Florida, but I've never found a more comforting or better place than the hills of South Carolina.

I'm 25 years old and am working on completing a BFA with an emphasis in photography. I've been shooting weddings full time for the past two years, but have been doing photography for the majority of my life. I was handed a pink Barbie film camera on Christmas day when I was 7 and haven't been able to stop since. I began to document my family's life (and mainly my cat) in the 90's and here in 2016, this is what I'm still doing. 

While I reside in the Upstate of South Carolina, I frequent North Carolina as much as possible. I love weekends full of taking drives through the mountains and pulling over randomly explore, stopping by some family land in Highlands, and hitting up Asheville to get some food and see some music. 

Along with enjoying fine art film photography and weddings, I'm an avid reader, gardener, tattoo-getter, and vinyl collector. I drink 3-4 cups of coffee a day and am usually toting my cat around the house while Sufjan Stevens or the late David Bowie play in the background. I'm currently trying to teach myself to weave and continuing to try my hand at print making.

This is where you'll see a display of my work and my passion and hear about what I'm doing in-between.  

(Photographs below by Laci Frazier)