Professional Services in Raleigh

Groupon in hand, first schedule a consultation session, during which Max will help you determine the best location for capturing your family's favorite emotions, such as elation, love, and playing with Legos. Depending on your or Max's schedule, your photography session may be held within a week of the consultation. A graduate of Hallmark Institute of Photography and a professional photographer for five years, Max Cohen has honed his visionary skills to such a degree that he can now see five minutes into the future. Bring your own hilarious props into his stately studio for your photo shoot, or arrange a rendezvous at your favorite car park. Pout seductively in the produce aisle, or arrange to ambush your surprised sweetie with a photo session as he or she is picking up the dry cleaning.

The floral artists at Johnson Floral Company arrange vibrant arrays of daisies, roses, and carnations into displays for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and other occasions. Wish an ailing friend well with the Complete Happiness bouquet ($36.99), which complements vivid white daisies with a rich-green glass vase. Newborn babies can purchase the New Dream bouquet ($41.99), a bright burst of pink carnations, yellow roses, and blue irises, to reward themselves on a birth well done. A cuddly bear protects a green ceramic vase full of purple lisianthus and limonium flowers in the Big Hug bouquet ($37.99), and a heart decks a cylindrical white vase teeming with roses and stargazer lilies in the Love and Romance bouquet, which includes a free engagement ring at the bottom for recipients who eat the whole arrangement.

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.

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.

Self-taught photographer Kelly Martin of Kelly Martin Photography uses black-and-white, full-color, or partially colorized images to capture the emotional core of the weddings, ceremonies, or corporate events she photographs. Online galleries outfit clients with downloadable images for printing or online use, and print images provide keepsakes for families and friends.

Sherrill’s Cleaners’ dedicated staff safeguards delicate garments with dry-cleaning services for items from pants, skirts, and blouses to sweaters, jackets, and wedding gowns, whisking away dirt, stains, and clingy poltergeists from difficult and finicky materials.