• Save the date for Heather and Dave
• Skaneateles NY engagement portraits : wedding guestbook signature journal
• Waxhaw Weddington family and couples portrait photographer NC
• Lake Norman cove engagement shoot Sherrill’s Ford North Carolina
• Fall leaves and the Genesee Country Museum
• Custom designed Engagement holiday card – Lake Norman NC Photographer
• Personalized guesbook photoshoot and design service
• Your photographer can teach you wheelies
• Manhattan Engagement photo session photographer
• Where art lives – by Neil Cowley
• Organic trail running engagement guestbook

Glamour portraits – for you, or to impress!

Purchase your portrait session with Neil now:

• Studio session at Neil’s Studio in South Charlotte
• Location portrait session: Charlotte, Gastonia, Lake Norman, Rock Hill, Fort Mill etc!

The wedding took place at the Glengoyne Highland whiskey distillery and we all enjoyed the generously poured high-quality scotch!  wowsa!!

Congratulations Gerry and Jenny – thanks for bringing me to your wedding!

I had an awesome time visiting the clubbing scene in Glasgow and partying till 3am – at that latitude the sun rises at that hour and I got to experience my first Celtic ‘time between’ with a beautiful sunset departing Gelengoyne, and a sunrise after dancing all night through the packed clubs of Glasgow. 

Well a highlight of my year went that way when I met my now friend Steve Yates, who was kind enough to let me stay at his home this summer in the Lake District of the United Kingdom.  He’s a wedding photographer in this legendary landscape. and if you’re daring enough to click that link you’ll see some amazing wedding images.  If you imagine me, as a scotsman, and ten years older – well – that’s Steve, a climber, adventurer, and photographer and all round nice guy!  Well, here’s a photo to end my blabbing on:

And his family with whom I stayed in the Lake District

Ever recognize something the first time you hear it?

Well it was the same when Steve had some John Martyn playing the Sunday morning I was headed for the train…We were drinking coffee in the back garden shown above.  I instantly wanted to know who it was, and he informed me – and sent me on my way with a few tracks.  I’d like to pass on his recommendation and this two disk set (available as download also) retrospective for your consideration over the weekend. The album is Sweet Little Mysteries: The Island Anthology The Amazon reviewer glows:

“Martyn has the whiskey-soaked voice of (fellow scotsman) Rod Stewart with Louie Armstrong thrown in, the spiritual intensity of Van Morrison and the jazzy folk sound of Joni Mitchell. 
I’ve never heard anything quite like it. All of his songs are melodic and interesting and some, like “one world,” “small hours” are transcendent and as beautiful as any music i’ve ever heard.”

The history on Martyn goes back through the seventies and I don’t know why he’s not more recognized than he is – cause in my perception he deserves it.  Take a listen with this player:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve now used two of his songs in my slideshows, and we’ll see what else may develop in the future.

 

 

 

The image of Joel and rebecca walking on Mount Dark in New Zealand places as a Gold image in the June competition by the British Professional Photographers Association + Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers in the United Kingdom.

Look through the full results (NSFW some pages) SWPP and BPPA June 2008 Image Competition Winners

If you have a current issue of Professional Image Maker magazine, you can see Neil’s March winning image in print on page 134. 
 

 

I just uploaded three new events to www.Make Love Real.com for viewing and ordering prints from your wedding events!

We have everything from Rochester NY to the Scottish highlands!

I’ll update you with the stories behind all these images through the next week or two.

Yes, thank you, thank you, please hold your applause.

The site that used to host everything, got way too big, way too confusing now hosts a simple wedding portfolio, and to introduce that I’m posting a podcast version of the main gallery here, but do check in to the www.NeilCowley.com gallery and view the fullscreen, high resolution view of this show as it will certainly knock your socks off as you view the photos in high resolution clarity and brilliance.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes to get your mobile copy of the slideshow.

Add our site to your favorite bookmark service:

 

Review our services on external sites and please click each of these links:

1. Review Make Love Real at WeddingWire.
2. Review Our Services on Amazon.com – if you have ordered from them before login to review.
3. Digg us by clicking this link and following through
4. Add our site to your Favorites as a Technorati user.
5. Top 100 Blogs
6. Cool Photoblogs rank’s MakeLoveReal.net
7. We Rank with North Carolina Top Wedding Sitesâ„¢

Social Network with Neil:

1. Friend Neil on Facebook: (by far the most useful and used) if you’re not already our client, send me a note to let me know why you’re friending me.
2. Neil’s Myspace Page: (not that I keep up with it)
3. Linked in: professional networking
4. Twitter: neilcowley
5. Neil’s Flickr account where many of the images here are hosted, and much of the teaching/instructional images are found for:
6. www.MakeLightReal.com – Neil’s creative journal if you’re interested in learning about the creative process or technical photo stuff.
7. Open Source Photo – a free discussion forum for beginner wedding photographers.

You can find us listed online in these directories:

• Behance – Creative Portfolios
• ASMP – American Society of Media Photographers – Neil is also an accomplished commercial and advertising photographer.
• Wedding Wire Charlotte NC Wedding Photographers
• WeDj.com Wedding Photographer North Carolina
• Adirondak Wedding Photographers in New York
• New York City Metro Wedding Photographers
• Rochester Club Ballroom
• Enright Florists
• Sheldrake Point Vineyard Weddings
• Glen Iris Weddings with a waterfall overlook
• Atlanta Wedding Photojournalist listed on MyWedding.com
• East Coast wedding photojournalist in Charleston South Carolina
• Miami Florida wedding photographer
• Orlando Florida wedding photojournalist
• Caribbean Island Beach Wedding Destination Villa Photographer
• National Wedding Photographer.com
• Phoenix Arizona professional wedding photojournalist AZ and the grand canyon
• PhotoLinks – The Photography Network
• Photographysites.com Wedding Photographers
• Love Unscripted – Wedding photojournalist photo blog and image stream
• Find a UK wedding photographer.
• Find a US wedding photographer
• Blog cloud
• Charlotte Wedding Guide
• North Carolina Wedding Photographers – Member of WeddingPhotoUSA – America’s Professional Wedding Photographers
• Find local North Carolina Wedding Photographers
  Search for local wedding photographers in North Carolina at LocalWeddingPhotographers.com
• listed at million blog list
• listed at Wiki Blog Directory
• 1 Second Film Producer
• Photo.net – Neil Cowley’s profile page
• Photoblog Community Profile
•  - Photography Home Pages
•  - Top Photographer’s site.
• Pixorati photo search and vote
• 
• Leading Charlotte, North Carolina Invitations and Charlotte, North Carolina Photographers listed in Decidio.com
• 
• 
• Titterectory listing for Neil Cowley – Photographer
• Charlotte North Carolina Photographer’s Directory
•   - Photo Ring Photography Blog listings
• Boudoir South CarolinaCharleston, South Carolina’s top Boudoir and Glamour Photographer servicing Charleston, Summerville, Folly Beach, Mt. Pleasant, Isle of Palms, James Island, Moncks Corner, Goose Creek, North Charleston and surrounding areas in South Carolina.
• photographers for weddings, corporate and commercial advertising
• weddings photographer

• Derwent Photography – Cumbria and Lake District Wedding Photographer
• Wedding photographer Kent
• 1 Great George Street Westminster One Great George Street is an award winning conference, wedding, and events venue.
• Jon Roach FourT Portsmouth wedding photography 
• Mike Patterson Photography – Galway Wedding Photographer
• United Kingdom Wedding Photographers
• Plan a London Wedding

A Note from Neil 

The start of a new year is a reflective time for all of us. I start my reflection of 2005 with the gratitude and humility 2004 taught me. During that period I was focusing on developing a unique personal style putting my energy into making and thinking about inventive imagery. I looked for every opportunity to use lighting and composition to do something I had never done before. The results of that process were rewarded in 2005 with a top 5 ranking in the US by the WPJA. At the same time I was forcing my personal will into stretching my own conceptual boundaries of my craft – concepts of controlling and creating with light, shadow, perspective, and tonality – the people I served enlarged my spiritual boundaries as I stated last year “I wanted to make clear that God has given much more through you, than your dollars as I have received a new appreciation and understanding of love and art this year. I hope that I have been an equally effective conduit for God to give my talents away to you.”

Well enough for review, my personal goal for 2005 was to expand my consistency. The artistic inspiration can fall at unpredictable times and while that’s nice for winning awards, its not necessarily a reflection of skill as much as an ability to capitalize on good luck. So my intuition told me that I needed to really look at what went into those flashes of creativity I had in 2004, and learn to repeat them as a skill instead of as an accident. I’m only finishing my third year of professional service for weddings so maybe its too lofty a goal to ask myself for consistency after such a short period. But as I write now I feel a tremendous satisfaction looking back over the mountain of work that I’ve completed in 2005. Possibly I’m deceiving myself, but I am satisfied knowing that I have not overlooked the good to make something great. Sounds funny, but it has been a tremendous challenge to face this year – boredom – that could have eaten away the quality of my work as I sought to continue to top my own pictures. What brought me back to that point, was you again. Times where I began to feel rote, where I was being distracted by the small things – you gave me the expressions of Love that can not help but snap you back into focus. Love, the miracle that we give to each other; that we go through all these rituals to express and to seal; that I have the privilege to have the invitation to help you develop.

My reflection for 2005, has the same heart of the lesson learned in 2004 – learned more deeply. “The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve. (Albert Schweitzer)” This year I’ve matured enough to realize how I should act to reinforce my reflections. I see better the Tao that has helped keep me in balance and I will seek to nurture that harmony through my business practices. “We do not see things as they are; we see things as we are.(Talmud)” So this turn of my personal quest for photographic vision leads me to work to see you more clearly. I will draw upon my experience of over 100 weddings to help you express “How your Love is New” in photos and in person. I excitedly anticipate what you will teach me as my experience shows that it will be volumes.

Much respect,
Neil

Current images posted at http://makelovereal.net/

2005 events page has been dedicated to the bridal portrait

Micaela & Toby – Elim Gospel Church – January 7, 2006

Christina & Jacob – November 11, 2005 – Newark Club, New Jersey

Michelle & Brian – October 22, 2005 – Lodi New York Historical Society and Wagner Vineyards

Alexandra & Stephen – Oct. 16th, 2005 – Belhurst Castle Wedding Ceremony and Reception, Geneva New York

Sandra & Chris – October 9, 2005 – Westmont Country Club Patterson, New Jersey

Nicole & Andrew – Oct. 8th, 2005 – Saint Patricks Church and Binhampton Club

Kim & Will – Oct. 1st, 2005 – Butler Mansion Buffalo, NY

Lindsay & David – Cadet Chapel & 49′er Lodge West Point New York

Jessica & Greg – September 24, 2005 – Sheldrake point vineyard

Jen & Dan – September 18th, 2005 – Glen Iris Inn at Letchworth State Park

Leanne & Andy – September 17, 2005 – Saint John’s and Monroe Country Club

Sara & Tim – Sept. 10th, 2005 – Boldt Castle and Edgewood Resort

Lorraine & Aaron – September 4th, 2005 – Letchworth State Park, Glen Iris Inn

Elaine & Grant – September 3rd, 2005 – Chapel Hill and Monroe Country Club

Nicole & Jake – August 27th, 2005 – Belhurst Castle Geneva, New York

Shannon & Andy – August 20th, 2005 – Saint Rita and Shadow Lake Country Club

Christina & Ben – August 6th, 2005 – Bethel Christian Fellowship and Casa Larga Vineyards Fairport, NY

Mary Grace & Matthew – Auguest 5th, 2005 – Canandaigua Inn on the Lake, New York

Heather & Mike – July 30, 2005 – St. Charles Borromeo & Cobblestone Creek Country Club

Sarah & Dean – July 16, 2005 – Wedding and Reception at Glen Iris Inn Letchworth State Park

Mary & Paul – July 9, 2005 – Blessed Sacrement and Rocheter Club Ballroom

Karissa & Jim – July 2, 2005 – Perry Methodist Church and Wadsworth – Jerris Estate reception

Robyn & John – St. Louis Church Pittsford & Steamboat Landing Canandaigua NY

Audrey & Mike – June 12th, 2005 – Lauxmont Farms, Wrightsville Pennsylvania

Deb & Jim – June 11th, 2005 – Walker Bible Baptist Church & Senator’s Mansion Chili

Kelly & Peter – June 4, 2005 – Trinity Reformed Church and Woodcliff Lodge Fairport

Ella & Chad – May 28, 2005 – Sacred Heart Cathedral & Rochester City Hall Atrium

Juliette & Kevin – May 21, 2005 – St. John’s Church & Glen Iris Inn Letchworth State Park

Heather & Matt – May 20, 2005 – Saint Joseph’s church and Owego Treadway

 . 

Jeanne & Mark – April 23, 2005 – St. Thomas More & Memorial Art Gallery

Corie & Michael – April 9, 2005 – The Waterview in Monroe Connecticut

Allison & Jason – April 2, 2005 – University Presbyterian and Hemingbough Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Jodi & Dan – January 22, 2005 – Our Lady of the Lake and Crystal Springs Resort, Vernon New Jersey

Amanda & Shervyn – Jan 16, 2005 – Mansion on Delaware, Buffalo New York

Jan 5-8, 2005 – Manti Temple, UT & Strong Todd House Rochester, NY

I have a debt of gratitude to pay with these words. I’ve been putting off lifting this weight from my mind due to its extraordinary size. But I recently found the catalyst, a quote: “God will give much more through you than to you.”

I am truly humbled at what you (my clients) have given me this year. You have invited me into your private moments of emotion, and extended the generosity of your families to me. You have provided reason and opportunity for me to expand my artistic vision deeper into the soul of human emotion. You have contributed your lives to my lens and you have generously donated your dollars to see my manic passion. Before this gets too self centered I wanted to make clear that God has given much more through you, than your dollars as I have received a new appreciation and understanding of love and art this year. I hope that I have been an equally effective conduit for God to give my talents away to you.

Gratitude and awe,
Neil 

Naomi & Ken – November 13, 2004 – St Rose and Shadowlake Golf Club Penfield, New York

Heather & Todd – November 6, 2004 – St Francis of Assisi and Clarion Inn Niggard Falls New York

Carrie & Eric – October 23, 2004 – Geneva Presbyterian Church and Belhurst Castle Seneca Lake, NY

Christine & Jesse – October 16, 2004 – Interfaith Chapel and Crowne Plaza Ballroom Rochester, New York

Rebecca & Justin – October 15, 2004 – Annunciation and Rich’s Atrium Buffalo NY

Sarah & Jared – Oct 10, 2004 – Niagara Club, Niagara Falls New York

Chrissy & Chris – October 3, 2004 – Highland park overlook and Lilac Arches Rochester, NY

Yat Ming & Jon – October 2, 2004 – Rochester Interfaith Chapel and Daisy Flour Mill, Penfield – New York

Jackie & Brett – September 25, 2004 – St. Francis Xavier and Sherwood Inn, Skaneateles, New York

Pam & Joe – September 24, 2004 – Adam’s Mark, Grace Lutheran and Rich’s Atrium Buffalo, NY

Amy & Mike – September 18, 2004 – Hershey Country Club, Hershey PA

Sara & Tim – September 17, 2004 – The Krebs Garden and Welch Allyn Lodge Skaneateles, NY

Amy & Joe – Sept 11th, 2004 – Our Lady of Victory Basilica and Klocks Grove, Buffalo New York

Anita & Dave – Sept 5th, 2004 – Family Estate Skaneateles, New York

Cassie & Rich – Sept 4, 2004 – Saint Mary’s and Rochester Club Ballroom; Rochester, NY

Katie & Jeremy – August 28, 2004 – Letchworth State Park and Glen Iris Inn

Melissa & Anthony – August 21, 2004 – Whately Congregational Church and Delaney House, Holyoke MA

Jessica & Deron – August 20, 2003 – Wagner Vineyards, Seneca Lake New York

Michelle & Jason – August 8, 2004 – Prospect Mountain Lake George

Emily & Ryan – August 7, 2004 – Saint Louis Church and Buffalo Yacht Club

Nicole & Iain – August 1, 2004 – Grace Bible Church and The Glen Oak Country Club Amherst

Erik & Danielle – July 31, 2004 – Camp Fowler and Lake Pleasant, central Adirondacks

Amanda & Peter – July 24, 2004 – Boldt Castle Heart Island

Maureen & Eric – July 17, 2004 – Family Estate East Aurora

Sue & Mark – July 16, 2004 – Keuka College Chapel and Belhurst Castle

Christine & David – July 10, 2004 – St. Charles Borromeo and Hyatt Regency Rochester Reception

Lauren & Dan – July 3, 2004 – Saints Peter and Paul and Old Orchard Inn, East Aurora, NY

Jillian & Ben – July 2, 2004 – Clymer Hill Church and Cook Homestead, Chatauqua NY

Sara & Nick – June 26, 2004 – Nativity of Our Lord and Adam’s Mark Hotel, Buffalo, NY

Mindy & Dean – June 20, 2004 – Rich Atrium Buffalo

Staci & Mike – June 19, 2004 – University of Rochester Interfaith Chapel

Julia & Ben – June 12, 2004 – Temple Beth Zion, Buffalo New York

Ria & Jon – June 11, 2004 – St. Peter’s Church & Saratoga National Golf Club, New York

Bethany & Jarek – June 5, 2004 – St. Philip The Apostle & Samuels Grand Manor, Buffalo

Kate & Aaron – May 30, 2004 – St. Monicas Church and Genesee Valley Club, Rochester

Annique & Matt – May 22 – St. Peter & Paul Basilica – Pensylvania Academy of Art, Philadelphia PA

Marley & Chris – May 1 – Greystone Castle, Canastota NY

Amy & Chris – April 24, 2004 – Skaneateles New York

Sherrill & Tom – April 17, 2004 – Rochester New York

Wanda & Rich – Feb 14 – Syracuse New York

Wes & Dana – Jan 2 – Westchester County New York

Calendar Year 2003 Wedding Photo Essay Pages

Nate & Emily – Nov 22 – Hershey PA

Jill & Hrvoje – Nov. 1 – Silver Springs, MD

Heather & Adam – October 25 – Rochester, NY

Shawna & Matt – October 19 – Canandaigua, NY

Bethany & Chris – October 18 – Monroeville PA

Rachel & Mike – October 11 – Allegany, NY

Carissa & Mike – October 10 – Our Mother of Sorrows and Woodcliff

Stephanie & Kevin – Oct 4 – Greece NY, St. Laurence and Diplomat Party House

Bridget & Michael – Sept 13 – Saint Mary and Inn on Broadway Rochester

Carla & Josh – Sept 6 – Rochester and Webster Country Club

Meg & Gar – Aug 30 – Fenimore Art Museum – Cooperstown, NY

Kristin & Jordan – Aug 23 – family estate

Sherry & Ray – Aug 10 – Buffalo Botanical Gardens

Bethany & James – Aug 9 – West Rochester

Andrea & Luke – Aug 3 – Auburn NY

Sarah & Anjan – July 26 – Bethel Rochester

Mika & Tom – July 19 – Thousand Islands Park

Jeremy & Jennifer – June 28 – RCC and Casa Larga Vineyards

Tori & Keith – June 21 – Finger Lakes

Keri & Chris – June 14, 2003 – Chautauqua

Tim & Melissa – Jun 7, 2003 – OH

Isaac & Erin – May 3, 2003 – Houghton NY

Josh & Emily – April 26, 2003 – Canisteo NY

Chuck & Sarah – April 12, 2003 – Lancaster PA