2018 Year in Review

For better or worse, 2018 was our most challenging year to date. We had a lot of obstacles and novelty thrown at us. And we’re incredibly grateful to all the people working behind the scenes supporting us along the way…

2018 began with a trip to Las Vegas, NV to present on the Olympus stage at the WPPI Conference & Expo for Wedding & Portrait Photography. We tried to highlight the connection between practice, rehearsal, and performance in this video about teaching photography:

At WPPI 2018 we presented "The Wedding Day Sequence" which is a way of thinking about the different genres of wedding photography that fit in with the different time periods during a wedding day.

---

Shortly after WPPI 2018, Shaun was off to Belgium and France with Duke University to film a short documentary of the American Grand Strategy Staff Ride that retraced the footsteps and decisions made during the war to end all wars, World War I. Here is that short documentary:

The Duke University Program in American Grand Strategy hosts ambitious 'Staff Rides' where students role play military and war-period characters alongside faculty and military experts to learn the stakes of war. Led by Professor Peter Feaver, students debated strategy from the perspective of embroiled contemporaries of WWI to learn the trust costs and sacrifices of leadership.

---

After our first YouTube video, The Future of Photography: Lens Design, was featured by photography news sources like SLR Lounge and Fstoppers, we started writing for SLR Lounge Magazine, a premier online wedding photography resource. We got to review some new equipment, discuss current industry trends, and create custom images and gifs for each article. Our articles often took too much time to write, but hopefully that was worth it, see for yourself at: Danielle & Shaun King - SLR Lounge

We plan to write more, but for now, we’re trying to focus on making more content for our YouTube channel as well taking on more workshop instruction opportunities.

---

We had some exciting new video clients last year as well! Over a period of 3 months, we planned, scripted, and filmed a beautiful and enchanting promo piece for Down to Earth Aerials:

Amanda Finch, Executive Creative Director of Down to Earth Aerials, offers upscale aerial acrobatic and musical performances for corporate events and galas. Based in Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information - https://www.downtoearthaerials.com/ Produced by Visual Rituals. https://www.visualritualsmedia.com/

And we collaborated with the NC State University Wilson College of Textiles, Fashion and Design program to document their graduating seniors’ final projects leading up to the annual FTD Emerging Designers Showcase:

This video is a behind the scenes look at the final weeks of preparation for the FTD Emerging Designer Showcase at North Carolina State University. Each designer is highlighted in an intriguing and often subtle way to invoke a sense of mystery behind the process of creating their custom fashion designs.

We were able to say farewell to an icon in the museum industry at this gala: 24 Years: Retrospective Gala at the NC Museum of Art:

Larry Wheeler, who served as Director of the North Carolina Museum of Art for 24 years, led the museum during periods of historic growth, including the expansion of the park, amphitheater, and West Wing Building. A former 'Tar Heel of the Year' winner, Wheeler's friends and coworkers came together for a large gala celebrating his retirement.

---

Last June, Danielle taught wedding photographers the industry’s best practices for wedding day detail photography at Adorama Inspire Photography Conference in New York City at Studio 450 alongside leading photographers, Vanessa Joy, Jen Rozenbaum, Marlon Richardson, and Paul Von Rieter:

These are sights and sounds from Studio 450 at the hands-on wedding and boudoir photography workshop, hosted by Adorama Inspire in partnership with SLR Lounge. This workshop was shaped and led by Kishore Sawh and Danielle Lawler. Adorama and SLR Lounge brought together Vanessa Joy, Marlon Richardson, Paul Von Rieter, Jen Rozenbaum, and Danielle King, sponsored by Canon, Sony, Profoto, and Westcott.

---

We filmed our first and last Wedding Film in 2018 - you can read about it on our blog here: Angel & Rob’s Southport Wedding:

---

Sprinkled throughout 2018 were engagement sessions, wedding days, pet pics, and couples portraits! We’re grateful to each of the clients who went on a little journey with us.

Next up for 2019, we’re excited to be flying to sunny Laguna Beach for the Click Away Conference on behalf of Adorama! We’ll be offering our experience, tips and techniques for using the Flashpoint system for off-camera-flash equipment for wedding and portrait photography. Right after that, Shaun will be off again with American Grand Strategy team documenting a trip to Morocco in North Africa!

Cheers to another exciting and fun year ahead!