• Welcome!

    Luster Studios is my personal portfolio where I share weddings, special events, engagement sessions and portraits. My origins stem from a fine arts degree in photography and computer graphics. My "style" is a perfect blend of creative ideas driven by a relaxed attitude and a fun yet thoughtful personality.

    Through a combination of posing and photojournalism I strive to capture planned and spontaneous moments that will later help you relive how you were feeling at that exact moment. I'm based in North Carolina and often travel to destination locations. I look forward to getting to know what inspires you both creatively and personally.

    - Craig Carpenter

Fun Family Photography / Downtown Raleigh, NC

Those of you that are familiar with downtown Raleigh have probably seen the giant acorn. Every New Year’s Eve, the acorn is moved to the roof of the Raleigh Civic Center and is “dropped” at midnight as the North Carolina equivalent to the big apple/ball that drops in Times Square at the same time. Raleigh is known as “The City of Oaks.”

We thought it would be fun to take advantage of the backdrop that those oak trees can provide. It was a beautiful day to get some fun family portraits taken. It was also an excellent excuse to show off their brand new australian shepherd puppy. Her name is Carrie (short for Carolina… a true Tar Heel Girl) Since they only get bigger from here on out I thought it was a great idea too! Notice the Carolina blue eye…

The rest of the family includes Bob, Debbie, Michelle and Kevin. Michelle and Kevin aren’t engaged, but you never know what the future holds!


family portrait
family portrait
Mmmmmm… Dirt is yummy…
family portrait
family portrait
Kevin helps Michelle in a little “fruit heist.”
family portrait
family portrait
family portrait
I love how she’s on her tip toes in this one!
family portrait

2 comments

Michelle - October 14, 2008 - 1:20 pm

Craig- We can’t thank you enough. We’re finally sitting down to order prints (I know, we’re slow)… and I love them all so much. We had such a great time with you and love the moments that you’ve caught! You should see Carrie now, she’s 30lbs and growing… now complete with a Tar Heels collar and leash! Thanks for posting all your beautiful photos on the blog. Take care!

wendy g - October 2, 2008 - 7:46 pm

I love this series! Location, lighting, their outfits, and their natural smiles.
good job on the blog too!
wendy g

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