Accent Photography

Onsite Photography for your Business and Web Solutions

We're calling it a "blog", but it's really more or less a journal of what we're doing...a way for those who are interested to sort of peek into our lives and keep up with us. If you're interested in our travel tales, check out our new page "What A Trip". If you want to go back in time, we invite you to visit our Blog Archives page.

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Spring 2009

Don't shoot me, I've had a lot going on. I'll make it worth your wait, however. Possibly the most astounding thing yet to date has happened and yes, we did get the photos! We were contacted by Randolph C. Henning, an architect in North Carolina. Henning is working on a monograph of the architect Alfred Browning Parker. If you don't know much about Mr. Parker, look him up. He is fascinating and richly talented. He was the only architect that Frank Lloyd Wright ever recommended as an American Institute of Architects Fellow. Mr. Parker is also an emeritus professor at the University of Florida. Turns out Mr. Parker built a house near us. Who knew? So Mr. Henning hired us to photograph this absolutely astounding work of art sitting almost under our noses all this time. I thought Jeff was going to come completely unhinged when he saw it. This was an architectural photographers dream.

We could have photographed for a week if the owner would have let us. There were so many fine details that I simply cannot begin to tell you all about it. To live in one of his homes would literally be living inside a work of art.

The house seems to spring up from the ground as if it grew there. It fits the space it occupies as though nature had intended for it it be there all along. The interior space is just as organic as the land outside. From the rich, smooth wood to the massive rough stones, every angle and every curve seem to be in perfect harmony. Every window is placed with precision, to follow the path of the sun.

Mr. Henning kindly forwarded to us a letter which he received from Mr. Parker. With references to Ezra Stoller, Mr. Parker wrote, " After a careful perusal of Jeff Sanders' photographs, I can state with conviction--Jeff's work ranks with the highest practitioners of the profession."

I doubt Jeff's feet will ever quite hit the ground again. Thank you Mr. Parker and Mr. Henning, for the opportunity of a lifetime.

During every photo shoot on location, there is the potential for something unexpected. Whether it's something to do with the weather (once got a wild lightning image as it struck a home across the valley), or the homeowner (you can't imagine the things people leave laying around even though they KNOW a photographer is coming), or people's pets. This is where we have the most fun sometimes, and our clients end up with a "bonus" shot that gets taken quickly on the fly and turns into an amazing piece of advertising. This was just the case while on a photo shoot recently. The homeowner had a cat and a dog, both very well behaved and people-friendly, who were just itching to get in on the action. Honestly, I have never seen animals so eager to pose for a photo op! And these guys were just naturals at it. What a handsome pair they made! The ad just built itself after the photo was done.

MAY 2009

JUNE 2009

We are sifting through thousands of images trying to decide what will be included in our web site update. Time seems to have flown by. It seems like only yesterday we were struggling with the fact that we had six truly good images to show our capabilities and that was not nearly enough to put into a portfolio and go knocking on doors. Now it's a matter of picking the best of the best and showcasing them. We have numerous print portfolios and multiple hard drives to store all the images on. But that's what happens when you have more than one photographer and more than one field of expertise, and many years under your belt doing what you love. I'm still amazed when I see what we have accomplished. I am certainly amazed when I see some of the images that I personally produced, flashing across the screen in a hi-tech slide show with tons of the "wow" factor going and some snappy background music. It's like seeing something that belongs to someone else, not us. But it IS us. It's who we have become. Yeah, we are that good. It still seems funny to me that my neighbor of over 20 years collects the magazines we have been published in. She says it's like knowing someone famous. Would someone please tell my bank account that, according to my neighbor, I'm famous?

If you check out our updates to the Residential Interiors page, let us know what you think. You can email Edie at edie@accent-photography.net or submit a comment through our Contact Us page.

DECEMBER 2009, JANUARY 2010, FEBRUARY 2010 (they all went by in a blur so I'm going to jam them all together)

As many of you know, the last half of 2009 was a difficult year for us. Work was sort of hit or miss while we cared for my Dad, who passed away on November 11th. One of the last things he told me was that he wanted me to get back on the road as quickly as possible and "go make beautiful pictures." And so we have.

We made a huge sweep up to Wisconsin, down through Indiana, across to New Jersey and then back to South Carolina. It was one heck of a trip, our cats were mad as could be by the time we got home, and we were thoroughly worn to a frazzle. We got to see our dear friend, Lois Pade, in Kenosha, WI. She really ticked me off by managing to look even younger than she did a few years ago when last we saw her. We took a tour of the Jelly Belly facility while there and stocked up on all our favorite flavors---Tangerine, Kiwi, Chili Mango, nothing too grossly out of the ordinary. Getting to taste-test literally any flavor we wanted was cool and helped narrow the selection down a bit, otherwise Jeff would have come home with 2 ounces of everything they made! Then it was off to Indiana, where we met Cathi Lloyd for the first time. She was a delight to work with. This year, Decorating Den Interiors is allowing images with people and pets into their Dream Room competition. We watched as a homeowner got their dog to sit still all for the promise of a carrot, which the dog ate and seemed to just absolutely love! We photographed another home and while I know that everyone who is a dog lover will say their dog is THE cutest, you will have to admit that this is right up there. Meet Reilly.

I won't spoil the anticipation by showing you the whole image, not until after the Dream Room competition in May. Yes, we have to wait until MAY to find out who won what! So then it was on to New Jersey where I got to meet my friend Karen Sanders at last, after having known her for years. We were a tad nervous about this photo shoot because world-famous stylist and off-off Broadway star Tom Berta was going to be there assisting Karen (see Tom's review of us on our Testimonials page). It turned out to be fabulous and fun and we loved every second of it. And we discovered the nice side to Jersey (yes, it does have one!) which you can read a bit about on our "What A Trip" page. Karen treated us to a cozy dinner. She has a way of telling stories that had us nearly rolling on the floor laughing, which had a much-needed therapeutic effect on both of us. We managed to drag ourselves home to find three distinctly unhappy cats tapping their little claws on the newly refinished hardwoods as if to say, "And just what is the meaning of leaving us with no laps to occupy for daaaaayyyssss on end?" So we had to have many rounds of petting and combing and listening to lots of fussing while being climbed upon like we were trees before forgiveness was to be had. Thank goodness Mom took it all in stride and didn't act anywhere near that bad about it. All I had to do to make her happy was go to the grocery store and restock her cupboards. However, the end result of all the hubbub was that our normally very reclusive little blue-blood, Tinker, came out for an interview and photo session. His fur still wouldn't lay flat and he really was miffed for days, but in true cat form when we rolled out the black background for a product shoot, he couldn't resist.

So we were off again, this time to Kentucky to work with Kristen Pawlak and Jeanne Sallee. We have worked with Jeanne several times, but Kristen was new to us. We have always loved the trip through KY. It is beautiful and somehow the drive seems easy even though it really isn't, especially with all the I-40 detour stuff from the rock slide. Kristen was a pleasure to work with and as always we loved working with Jeanne. We had the pleasure of photographing a room in the old Governor's Mansion in Frankfort, KY. Historic details were abundant.

Next stop: Virginia and the Washington, DC area for a visit with Lauren Riddiough and her mom, Linda, as well as a date with Kristy Falcone and Tamyra Spear in Virginia Beach. We had never worked with Kristy or Tamyra. The first stop on Lauren's shoot ended up with five women, all of us putting in our two cents worth at the same time...and poor Jeff behind the camera asking himself what he'd gotten himself into. He looked around and said, "Are there any more women in the house?" The homeowner shot right back and said, "No, but I've got neighbors if you want one more woman's opinion!" We had a truly lovely time with them, and as always the "fire and ice" mix of Linda Riddiough and Jeff was just too funny. We felt right at home with Kristy Falcone and had one of those wonderfully exhaustive photo shoots where we pushed ourselves long and hard all day to get everything photographed that we wanted. Then it was on to Virginia Beach to meet Tamyra Spear. She felt like an old friend in less than 30 minutes and we had a fabulous day with her. It was just before Christmas and we stayed on the beach, which was entirely decorated with huge displays and was just impressive to see. You really have to read about this little restaurant we found there. We celebrated Jeff's birthday at possibly the best restaurant we have ever encountered on any of our trips.

On our day off, we decided to brave the cold and visit the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. Had to, after seeing the movie, Night at the Museum! We literally spent the better part of the day there. The Hope Diamond was an impressive sight, but not easily photographed for several reasons...not the least of which was a guard who didn't want anyone getting right up on the glass. We did, in fact, hear the words "Sir, please step away from the diamond" at one point.

One particularly enticing exhibit, for us, was the butterfly arboretum. While you can get into the museum for free, there was a fee to get into the arboretum. It was worth the price to get the photos that I came away with. Jeff made a new buddy in there; one butterfly just seemed fascinated by him.

In my "spare" time, I had to break one of my own rules. I photographed the wedding of a relative. It is my cousin's eldest daughter. It was my first wedding all on my own (Jeff having a literal ton of images to process) and although it went so much better than I ever dreamed (she is so beautiful I couldn't take a bad shot of her, plus she was the most agreeable bride ever), I was shaking in my boots the whole time for fear I would miss something vitally important or the images would be too dark, or something would mysteriously happen to ALL my photos before I could get home and back them up. It's emotionally tough to be solely responsible for a wedding!Here is a small selection of them.

On the road again, this time headed to New York. Our new friends, Yelena Gertz in Staten Island, and Sharon Hibbard in Warwick, were such sweethearts. After we got to Warwick, I went out exploring on my own just a little and discovered the Warwick Cemetery. I have always sort of enjoyed wandering around old cemeteries reading the tombstones. I know, it's a bit creepy on the one hand, but it's also very interesting and sometimes downright informative. It gives you an insight into the past and the way things used to be. These days, you can't find the massive crypts and gigantic statuary like you see in old, old cemeteries. I must just put this in here: if you are a member of the DeKay family in Warwick, NY, please do not be offended. Bear in mind that I was alone in a strange place on a dismal, foggy, spooky day...in a cemetery where half the tombstones were way taller than me and something horrible could have jumped out from behind one of them and snatched me up and away from this earth forever. So I was slightly unhinged to begin with, and when I came across the gigantic monument thing that said "DeKay" it just caught me at an odd moment and I got a case of the giggles right then and there that just nearly did me in (DeKay...decay...cemetery). I do apologize and there is nothing funny about the passing of your ancestor. Meanwhile, here is the photographic evidence of my hour or so in the Warwick Cemetery.

Now plainly you can see why I might have been a tad on edge here and yet there is a sort of majestic beauty that comes through. I really did enjoy my tour of Warwick, cemetery and all. It seems to be a town rich in history. And we really enjoyed our stay there. We'd like to go back when we have more time to explore.

Ah yes, and so it begins!

Thanks to the gracious and caring people with the Lutheran Hospice, we were able to get my dad home from the hospital and had some really good, quality time with him. I took photos for him of everything under the sun. One of the things he liked especially was the fall leaves, so I went on a little expedition around his yard photographing the brilliant leaves, as well as some flowers.

I had one last-minute day of Dream Room photo shoots in Charlotte, NC, for Patrice Hawkins and Cathy Workman. All I can say is that I did some of my best work ever that day. Thanks ladies, for your faith in me!