Category Archives: beauty

Our Hike to Clingman’s Dome

This particular journey started many years ago…

As a teenager I was turned onto the idea of summiting the highest peaks of each state, becoming a “peak-bagger” as it were.  This past summer I finally got to check off the first peak, at truly magical place called Mount Rogers that sits near the southwest corner of our lovely state. (I’ll post pics from that later on, wild ponies included!)

As the wife and I travel the country, if the schedule and mileage warrant it we will tick off these high points as we go and this time our travels had brought us to within spitting distance of Clingman’s Dome (highest peak in Tennessee!).

We started the day early to beat the heat and hopefully any crowds.  The moon was still high in the sky as we began the short but strenuous trek to the top,

At an almost 13% grade it was not the easiest half mile ever!

The views make it all worthwhile though as you look through the valleys of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

On top of the summit is a spiral ramp raising you up 45 feet above the Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest (one of only a handful of sites in North America) affording the views below.

We missed sunrise by a few minutes but were treated to a gorgeous show nonetheless.   Not too crowded at all, the air was quite chilly and the wind was unrelenting at that altitude.

The tower itself is beautiful as well, doesn’t quite fit in with the surroundings but isn’t an eyesore either.

The Crosstrek enjoyed the view while we summitted!

Prints are available, please email for more info at info@michaelsinkphotography.com

Let me know what you think in the comments!  Have you been, what was your experience like?

Thursday Throwdown! Mad Max Edition

Today I finally watched Mad Max : Fury Road, and although I’m sure that this movie wasn’t for everyone I was enthralled for the entire 2 hours!  With some over the top violence, sparse and mumbled dialogue from time to time and a plot that may have been thin here and there you may wonder what I have to rave about here.

Well, I watched the Black and Chrome Edition (seek it out on your favorite streaming service  for purchase or pick up a disk for archival purposes).  This was the version that George Miller (director) prefers himself.  The oversaturated oranges and blues were to differentiate it from other post-apocalyptic movies and WOW audiences.  It did just that with a great box office record to show for it.

I have always had a thing for B/W imagery and movies,  probably stemming from my days in the darkroom back in the day.  It’s timeless, it’s classic, it doesn’t reflect whatever crazy hues were in style right now but gone next season.  I’ll show you an example here of one of my puppies…

This image is straight out of camera (SOOC) unedited and it’s fine.  Fine is nice (I should’ve mowed the lawn before maybe), but we want exemplary, we want AWESOME!  Don’t get me wrong, Frejya IS awesome but this image was just fine.

There, that’s better…  A little more contrast, a little more OOOMMPPFF!  I should totally hang this on the wall!

For another amazing B/W movie take a minute and seek out Pi (directed by Darren Aronofsky), shot in B/W using a high contrast reversal film process!

For a peek at what inspired this post take a look at the video below…  (let me know what you thought in the comments!!)

Kate’s Fashion Bridals

  Kate had worked with us a few years ago through Metropolished a local modeling agency.  We loved working with Kate!  She is so confident and beautiful, we wanted to work with her again.  Like so many of our clients we formed a friendship with Kate and kept in touch through the years.  After getting married on the other end of the state Kate asked us if we would do Fashion Bridals for her…

  Fashion Bridals are otherwise known as “Trash the Dress” sessions!  We immediately jumped at this and we all brainstormed some neat ideas and locations.  Now, you may be wondering how fashion bridals are any different from regular bridals, I mean, we don’t really trash the dress do we?

  No!  We just take a different direction than your typical bridal session, a little more edgy, the dress my get dirty (not trashed!), but you get to wear what is probably the most expensive, detailed, elegant dress you’ll ever own more than once!  And you’ll get some stunning images to show off forever!

  We started off with some natural-light images to warm up a bit, Kate took the role of Super-model and ran with it!IMG_0001Kate had such a beautiful gown!  We sat her here on the old stairs and wrapped her up mermaid style so you could see the beading/embroidery on the back…IMG_0036What a gorgeous smile!IMG_0055See, I told you the back was beautiful!IMG_0069The sun cooperated to give us an awesome sunset, and some great clouds!IMG_0097Grunge and glamour combine for Fashion Bridals…IMG_0106Had to get the shoes, I just had to…IMG_0118Clouds, thank you so much for your appearance!IMG_0133Kate, thank you for “bringing it!”  You are a Super-Duper Model!IMG_0134

Veronica college graduation…

  Veronica contacted us to do graduation portraits for her when she graduated from college in the spring, she had discussed going to the studio and doing some images in her gown in front of a backdrop.  After consulting briefly we both came to the conclusion that we could give her something much more interesting that would mean so much more…

  Attending Mary Baldwin College through the Higher Ed center downtown we knew we had to showcase this remarkable building in some of the images so we met in front of the building when it would be lit just right by the sun…

IMG_0063And of course we had to have a little fun!

IMG_0079We almost always bring a studio strobe with us, this allows us to control more of the scene and the light to flatter you in every image…IMG_0084_ppThen it was back to the studio for some more traditional graduation images…IMG_0100_pp…and more fun of course! (please let me pass, please let me pass!)IMG_0104IMG_0106_ppIMG_0111_ppIMG_0114_ppVeronica rocked her shoot in Superstar fashion!IMG_0122_pp

Kelly’s Bridal Session

  Kelly and Aaron were married in June and we snuck in a last minute bridal session just a couple of weeks before her big day.  We had worked with Kelly before during her Engagement session (get to know you session around here!) and we knew she was not only gorgeous, but capable of some pretty, elegant looks, as well as some more sultry, vogue-ish ones!  We headed up to the site of the wedding to capture these at 3pm in June (from a photography standpoint it couldn’t have been worse, hot, sun almost directly overhead, hardly a breeze, but Kelly rocked in true super-model fashion!)
IMG_0024see, I told you she was gorgeous!  Then we opted for a little more drama and got this…IMG_0016…I pushed it a step further in the digital darkroom later and…  still beautiful and super-edgy!IMG_0016-2Elegant, beautiful, with eyes that draw you right in…IMG_0042A little more traditional now with the bouquet and a smile…IMG_0064The reception was being held at the barn so we made sure to utilize it in a couple…IMG_0074Even with the mid-summer sun beating down Kelly helped us nail this awesome image toward the end of the session…IMG_0100So fun, such a good sport to play with us in the heat, this might be one of my favorites from the session!  That dress came from hereIMG_0121We couldn’t pass up these french doors…  Thanks Kelly for being so super-modelly!IMG_0130
Angel popped in for a test shot while helping Kelly keep cool, two smashing women in one image!IMG_0073

Kelly’s maternity session…

  Kelly was so excited to get her maternity session done while carrying her first child.  We photographed her boudoir session last year and couldn’t wait to work with her again!  As with most of our clients we tend to form a friendship and Kelly was sure to let us know as soon as she found out she was pregnant so we could all plan to make some amazing images that convey the beauty of motherhood and the softness of this special time…

IMG_0005IMG_0013IMG_0015IMG_0017IMG_0022IMG_0033Miguel came in for a few frames to share this wonderful moment with us…IMG_0040IMG_0042IMG_0046IMG_0050

Stay tuned for the newborn session!

Boudoir

  Sexy, sophisticated, tasteful, beautiful, sultry, sensual
Every man thinks of these terms when describing the one they love. Unfortunately, most women aren’t able to see themselves this way. We want to help you unveil your beauty by bringing out the most sexy part of you… your CONFIDENCE.

  Let us match up your inner confidence and your outer most beauty with your first boudoir session. We will start with some fashion oriented images to help you get comfortable and natural for the camera. Then, we will direct you through some poses that will have you and your man doing a double-take.  As a husband and wife team we have a balanced approach to your poses and expressions that add up to a great session!
  Lastly, we’ll help you select the perfect images for a private album for your partner to give as a special anniversary, valentine, or wedding day gift.  Not only will you have these images for a lifetime, you will also gain a sexiness and confidence that will outlast your photo session and carry into your relationship.
Book your session now!!
  Contact us at info@michaelsinkphotography.com
  MaDonna and Kelly chose to book their sessions together, as best friends they had already been to get their nails done together, and decided to make it a girls day out…
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This was their “tough girls” image!IMG_0129-2

Maternity

  Motherhood is such a beautiful time in a woman’s life, bringing a new soul into the world, a growing family…  We love to capture this moment at it’s peak, around 8 months or so.  Stephanie came to the studio to start her shoot with her husband with some classic maternity images…IMG_0007IMG_0014Anthony stepped in and lent a masculine contrast to the images…IMG_0035a…working with these two was easy, loving looks and embraces were the order of the day.IMG_0041This one has a real ethereal feel to it…IMG_0047…and some dramatic lighting here to accent Stephanie’s pregnant form…IMG_0051A little belly dance attire for fun!IMG_0059One of our favorites….IMG_0066After the studio Stephanie wanted to head down to the river for some magical images…IMG_0105

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Contact us regarding booking your session for maternity images now!

Jessi…

  This post is about more than just images, this is about collaboration with an unbelievable artist.  It’s about a long relationship with a sweet beautiful girl and watching her development in dance and in life.  Jessi is an amazing dancer and makes my life as a photographer easy…  no, really.  Jessi is so aware of the graceful lines she forms as a dancer and of her expressions it’s like working with a professional model or actress, and she’s a sweetheart!

  After seeing Jessi dance at her recital a few years ago I was floored (by the whole recital) these kids were pouring their hearts and emotions into dance and sharing it with the world, I teared up a few times during the recital (I’m a big softie!).  We asked Jessi (and her parents) if she’d like to help us make some unique images in some out of the way locations.  Stark contrast of beautiful dance dresses and costumes in the woods or grungy areas, sounds like a good idea…  It was a great idea!

  We started with Jessi at sunrise (in the middle of the summer, that’s really early) and a bit cool, but Jessi was a trooper…

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  After our sunrise fun, we warmed up a little in the car and headed to the woods for more ballet themed images…

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  These images are from a while ago and we contacted Jessi to go out again…  These are more senior portrait-like, but have a dance feel to some…

piercing eyes…IMG_0034

love the contrast of the red, and Jessi’s fierceness IMG_0041

breaking loose…18-19 loved the grungy wall…20-21 my favorite!22

After seeing our work with Jessi (and the website), Divine Dance Studio contacted us to do portraits for their annual recital as well as group shots of all the dancers, this is for a later blog post, but I’ll share a few of Jessi’s here…

such elegance and graceIMG_0192IMG_0197 IMG_0201 IMG_0231 IMG_0235 and attitude to spare!IMG_0237

  We’ve already discussed another session when her dance schedule and our shoot schedules slow down, I’m sure it will be amazing!

Karolina and Chris E-Session

  We will be at Saint Andrew’s again later on this year with Karolina and Chris, so to get away from the Downtown/Metro scene we headed up on the parkway for the engagement session.  I scouted out the site for Explore park two days before our shoot was scheduled and looked around, a nice place but not quite magical…

  Cue Karolina and Chris to enter from stage left!  Suddenly this old park (no longer in use) takes on a new life for their images, great smiles from Chris, cute flirts from Karolina and POW! her is what we get!

  The light was right, the mood was there, we had a great time with them and can’t wait for the wedding in October!