Charlotte NC Wedding Photographer. Lindsey Lee Hartsell

When Joe and I set off to Italy, there was no great plan in place. We found some rooms online, knew roughly what day we wanted to be where, and that was about it. In my great effort to get freed up to get out of town, I did nothing to prepare. Anything that was a plan didn't get planned by me!! We basically got on a plane armed with a Rick Steve's Italy book. It was our guiding source to everything we did. If we would have lost that book, we would have been in some deep trouble! So, needless to say, we really had no clue what to expect because we didn't prepare for anything! For those of you who know me, this is so against everything I stand for with my type A personality it's not even funny.

Joe and I get along famously. We aren't one of those fussy couples, but there was one moment that I was SO mad I could hardly stand it. Joe didn't do anything wrong, necessarily...there was quite simply a train strike, which, obviously, was his fault. Clearly. It was his fault there was no where to sit in the train station, it was his fault it was raining, it was his fault that it was freezing cold, it was his fault my bag was heavy, and basically it was his fault that there was a train strike. Rational, I know! Ladies who read my blog- I know you can understand this.

Anywho, after the train strike decided to end and we finally left the train station after being there for about 5 hours, we arrived in the sleepy little region on the Italian Riviera called the Cinque Terre:)

This region consists of five little towns that have a population of around 500 each. We ate, we walked, we took pictures, we watched the sunset. It is a magical little place. This is where Joe had his favorite meal: Pesto Pasta. Sounds simple, but the pesto is made local just up the way, so it was absolutely delicious. This area was much more colorful, so I was in photo heaven! Take moment and look at these pictures and dream of summer;)

ADD
comment
CONNECT WITH
lindsey
VISIT ME ON
facebook
FOLLOW ME ON
twitter
VIEW MY
galleries

Caroline@carolinecollie:
Those were b-e-a-u-tiful, Lindsey! Your next adventure should be to South Africa… There are some amazing subjects in this neck of the woods! :)
cinque terre:
Hello, thanks for your beautiful pictures.. just want to invite you and your readers to our site about the cinque terre
( in my signature ) and to the blog where you can also vote the nicest of the 5 Terre.
Also a video section is available: Video of the Cinque Terre, a different point of view..

She had no clue she was getting a ring, which made their engagement so much fun. When she called her mom, Ashton didn't think her mom knew...but she did:)

I cannot wait for Ashton and Taylor's fall wedding at the Train Depot in Salisbury this November! We had such a great time on their engagement shoot- these two were game for anything. I had about a billion favorites, and though these two are some of the most fun-loving, smiley people I know- I was also taken in by their o-so-cute serious faces as well. If these don't make ya smile, I don't know what will! Happy Wednesday!

The top left picture here is SO Ashton;) I had to inlcude it! All smiles all the time!

See what I mean?

I absolutely love this next picture. So serious and moody.

ADD
comment
CONNECT WITH
lindsey
VISIT ME ON
facebook
FOLLOW ME ON
twitter
VIEW MY
galleries

Anonymous:
Perfect, loving and fun – brought me to tears
Meagan Jackson:
yay!! taylor smiled for pictures!!
these are so cute ashto!!
Dianne:
The pictures are FABULOUS! I love the ones where they are both smiling! I can't wait to see the wedding pictures. Surely "Pandie" will make an appearance at the wedding for a picture!
Greekbabe84:
I love these Lindsey! Such an adorable couple!
Anna Huntley:
I LOVE these!!!!! Can't wait to see the all of them :) Yay yay yay you two are SO CUTE! And Taylor shaped up just fine ;)
Dena:
Lindsey… these are SO great! You really captured Ashton & Taylor..
Susan:
I love them all but one of my favs is taylor carrying ashton away from the camera – it's like we get to see him taking her over the threshold – so sweet & romantic!
Sarah:
The pictures are awesome Taylor and Ashton!!! You can really tell how happy you are just by the way look at each other in the pictures!
Anonymous:
Awwww….So Presh. Love the pink shirt Tay Tay.
Jared:
Great pictures, you guys are a cute couple. Very exciting
Betsy:
How Beautiful and Fabulous! I am so JEA(jealous) I wish I had, had someone like Lindsey around to take my photos of me and my sweet boyfriend(now husband). You guys look like Models! Hey Lindsey, maybe some family photos for the Ramsey's!
Jeannine:
Gorgeous! These are the best pictrues I have seen. I know the subjects are the main reason (you both look beautiful) but the setting and the photography are perfect. GORGEOUS!
Julie J.:
love these pictures and love you both!
Tina:
Wonderful pictures (in an awesome setting) of a very happy couple!
Anonymous:
You guys look so happy. The pictures are wonderful
Pam:
These pictures are wonderful!!! They look so happy together. Best wishes.
Anonymous:
Those pictures are great! I really love the serious picture, Ashton looks like she's having a tough time holding back a smile
Anonymous:
Great fun photos and subjects! Enjoyed them all!

Although we were there for less than 24 hours, Venice was my absolute favorite city that we visited. Maybe its because I love the water...and boats...or just the fact that when you get there, you are totally taken in by this city on water. We, of course, took a Gondola ride (all you people who said not to waste the money, are you crazzzzy?) and fell directly in love with our driver, who has been a Gondolier for over 22 years. He had great English and we chatted with him about everything Venice.

St. Marco's Cathedral was my favorite church (sadly, no photos allowed). There was so much Christian History in all of Italy, it was really mind blowing. When we first arrived, it had rained all night and the tide was high. We were astonished to find that most of the entire city was under water. Apparenty in the winter it is much worse than the summer months, but two and three feet of water covered most of the streets. In the Cathedral, water was even into the vestibule. This is just a way of life in Venice, the water rises! There is no solution, so the water just comes into the buildings. Crazy right!? Joe and I were in awe of how the city just puts these platforms all over the place and people just walk on the platform to where they want to go- that, or you just wear galoshes, which many people do.

Here are some of my favorite photos from Venice- and I should have mentioned yesterday many of the photos from our trip that I am blogging Joe took. Love it!

ADD
comment
CONNECT WITH
lindsey
VISIT ME ON
facebook
FOLLOW ME ON
twitter
VIEW MY
galleries

Wendy:
Beautiful, Lindsey.
Absolutely beautiful.
Ashley:
you are making me want to go back and take a million more pictures!!! LOVE how you captured it all!

I know it has been way too long since I have blogged. Life got a bit crazy there for a while! Right after Joe and I got back from Italy, I headed to Las Vegas for wppi- which was a conference for wedding and portrait photographers. So, after being there for a week, I am finally HOME! I have a ton of stuff to blog about this week, including our trip, a fun engagement shoot and a fabulous senior session (I'm still looking for more reps, anyone out there interested?)

I have been dying to get our pictures from the trip up here! I am going to start at the beginning: Rome. Day one of our trip was probably the "most exciting", but not for reasons you might think. After arriving early in the morning in Italy, we weren't able to check into our room yet. We left our bags and the front desk said there was a great market that was open only on that day, and that we should go check it out. Great! Off we went! We took a bus that she said would take us right there. We found the market, but didn't buy anything, just simply wondered around for a bit taking in all of the sights. When we decided to head back, we got back on the crowded bus to go back to the other part of the city, and this is where "exciting" took place.

I, Lindsey Lee, self proclaimed world traveler, was pit-pocketed....by a woman...holding an infant. The good news is that she was unsuccessful(barely). Luckily a little Italian lady started yelling at me. What she was saying, I don't know, but I looked down to see my wallet literally dangling out of my tiny little bag that was wrapped around my arm and hanging right against my side. Apparently their method of attack is find a crowded place and crowd you in more, so you can't move, or look down, and that is how they get you! We were a little worried that since we hadn't been in Italy for even 5 hours yet, that this was not a good sign. Luckily, it wasn't and we had a great time!

We saw the Colosseum, the Pantheon, where Caesar was killed, the Vatican, all the marble, statues, brick that you could ever want to see. We went in museum after museum and ate until we dropped. We kept the streets hot! There was a little lack of color in Rome for my taste, but just you wait until we go to the Cinque Terre. You should recognize some of these famous sights.

ADD
comment
CONNECT WITH
lindsey
VISIT ME ON
facebook
FOLLOW ME ON
twitter
VIEW MY
galleries

tdorsey:
WOW !!! Lindsey…. Those are some great pics and looks like you guys got to see it all. Love to see your pics but I love to read your blog also.
Thanks
Tracey
Wendy:
Call me stoopid, but i'm asking anyway:
What do you mean, "looking for more reps"?!
Please tell!

Your photos are GORGEOUS Lindsey!!!
=-)
chelsea:
gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! i just love them.
Bailey Ayn:
AMAZINGNESS!!! The pictures are gorgeous!!!!!
kristin:
Absolutely Beautiful!
Lindsey Lee Lancaster Hartsell:
thanks ya'll! Joe took a bunch of these:)

and Wendy- looking for Senior Reps for high school senior pics. Found most of them!

While trying to shift through all of the Italy photos, I wanted to share quickly some awesome products that I have been meaning to get up on the blog for a while now.

I have been RAVING a for some time at how awesome prints on canvas are- so I wanted to give you some proof! You may remember Sophia from a pre-Christmas session. Her mom ordered this photo of her on a huge canvas to hang over her crib in her room. I am obsessed! I hung this on one of my walls just so you all could take a look.

These little 5x5 books are my favorite product! They come in every color in the world are a great little brag book. Great for parents, or even of your favorite My So-Called life: SENIOR photos.