Professional Services in Pinehurst

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The father-son duo behind Tinsley's Dry Cleaners presents a full menu of dry-cleaning and alterations services. A decade in the stain-solving business has lent their skills a professional touch, which they use to handle fabrics ranging from dress clothes and wedding gowns to Persian rugs and curtains. The drive-thru window at each of the two locations ensures a quick and easy drop-off without forcing clients to leave the car or install a washing machine in their back seat.

Though Scott Faber might see examples of his work on magazine stands, book jackets, and the Internet—where he's contributed snapshots to U.S. News & World Report—he feels a deeper connection to the pictures that encapsulate relationships. From wedding-themed shoots to records of maternity and childhood growth, his largely candid sessions adapt to preserve each family's rapport in scenic outdoor locales, such as Duke Gardens, or inside the studio.

Scott doesn't shy from photographic challenges; he brings the same ingenuity and college-mascot costume heads to corporate group poses as he does to high-school senior portraits. He encourages his clients to push their aesthetic boundaries as well, whether through his in-depth photography classes or before-and-after pictures for those who donate their hair to Locks of Love.

Like many good ideas, the one for this business came from Dan Rather. A group of friends interested in starting a business venture together were watching CBS Evening News one night when a report on the high costs of dry cleaning drew their attention to the profession. With an entrepreneurial spirit, the founders scoped out local dry cleaners and developed a business model that allowed them to clean all garments for a fee that’s as flat as the planet we walk on. Today they clean more than 1,200 items each day and continue to grow, thanks to their onsite, environmentally friendly equipment that cleans consciences as well as garments.

In Kim Crenshaw Photography’s onsite garden, a swing hangs from a jasmine-wreathed arbor, frog-inhabited lily pads carpet a pond, and a 1946 Chevrolet Stylemaster waits for models to lean against its fenders. The garden abuts the old farmhouse that houses Crenshaw’s equally scenic studio, with a wall of antique stained-glass panels and a design that captures streams of sunlight throughout the day. Crenshaw devoted her first decade behind the camera to natural-light photography, and custom renovated her current studio-garden complex to ensure she could still practice her specialty.

Now a 25-year veteran of the photography scene, Crenshaw continues to draw on the fundamentals she learned when earning her BFA in graphic design and photography. This fine-arts background deters her from trendy shots of subjects spelling out the day's headlines in semaphore signals; instead, she strives to capture timeless beauty in her portraits of families, kids, and bridal parties. Subjects can discuss options and expectations with Crenshaw during free preshoot consultations, and select their favorite shots during postshoot slideshow viewings. The studio’s frame shop can border prints—or painted portraits modeled after prints—in a diverse array of frames.

Justin Kates, portraitist and staff photographer for Stiff Magazine, captures fashion shots and glamour images with a honed aesthetic that edges toward the dark and gritty. Before each shoot, his makeup artist highlights features with a professional hand, either lightly accenting faces or artfully transforming them with heavy shadow or bright clown noses for fantasy-style shoots. Throughout photography sessions, Justin creates provocative images that simultaneously highlight beauty while deconstructing it to reveal the depths beneath. After shoots, he helps clients select images that he professionally retouches. With a masterful hand he beefs up colors, blends out imperfections, and ensures all neck tattoos are grammatically correct.