Maternity Portraits | Asheville, NC

Making portraits in the studio these past few months has been so refreshing. We’re excited to offer our clients in Asheville a warm indoor location now and it will be great in the spring to have a rain-back-up.

We created these maternity portraits with Sonia last week and wanted to share some of our favorites.

New Studio Manager

I'm so excited to share some news with everyone! I hired a studio manager!

I have been in business now for 8 years and, up until this point, it has been just me, myself and I. Shooting, editing, handling accounting, marketing, general admin and well, everything. It has gotten more and more overwhelming to keep up with my family and work as my business has grown. Believe me this is a great problem to have, but overwhelming non-the-less. I find myself replying to emails in the wee hours of the morning, and staying up late to keep up with deadlines. This feeling of treading water has started to really bother me. I want to focus on the creative side of my business and I want to spend more time looking for ways to grow and improve my work and offerings as well as serving my clients even better than ever before. I also want to spend more quality time with my family to be honest and doing other creative projects that I keep putting on the back-burner.

Enter Lindsay Whitner. Lindsay and her husband, Zane, hired me to take some portraits of them and their daughter...6 years ago. Years pass, and many more family photo shoots later, we became the best of friends, spending days off together with our families. Lindsay started rolling film and assisting on weddings for me about a year ago as a side hustle. She just quit her job in August to spend more time with her own family and this partnership has just sort of happened organically and at the right time. Lindsay brings with her experience in customer service, marketing, and event management.

Long story short, I can think of no other person that could fit into this role as my studio manager. I trust her completely. She totally gets me and my brand, and understands my business already better than anyone else. 

So if you email the studio now, you may hear from me or Lindsay. She’ll continue to assist on wedding days, help with admin, scheduling, product sales and social media etc. I’m beyond excited and I just know everyone’s going to love her as much as I do! We have a new email address (rachaelmcintoshphotography@gmail.com) and lots of new projects in the works.

So welcome (officially) Lindsay to the team!!

Also want to give a big Shout out to Bren Photography for our new team headshots.

Shea + Blake | A Summer Engagement Session at Biltmore

Shea and Blake are tying the knot in Telluride, CO next year but they wanted to do their engagement session in the mountains where they met. These guys spend all of their spare time hiking and being outdoors and I half expected them to show up in base ball caps and hiking gear. As soon as I saw Shea's dress I knew it would look incredible on film and I'm dying over these yellow and green tones. These guys seriously rocked their session, I'm filing these images under what to wear for an engagement session!

Asheville Anniversary Session at Craggy Gardens

Kelly + Scott hired me to take some anniversary portraits at one of their favorite locations in North Carolina before they made the move to the west coast. We ended up shooting their session a little earlier in the day than expected, due to travel plans and some anticipated afternoon thunderstorms. I typically shoot in the late afternoon, when it's a little cooler and hope for some golden hour but it was such a refreshing change to be on top of Craggy in the middle of the day. The weather was perfect, the rhododendrons were starting to bloom and I love how the images turned out, particularly the blues in the bright sunlight.

Asheville Wedding Guide

Asheville is so excited to have this beautiful wedding magazine in our area and it was such an honor to be asked to be apart of the styled shoot for the inaugural issue. Hannah Chillag (editor) and Alise Taggart created the most beautiful old-world inspired design, full of elegance and gorgeous florals in the Biltmore conservatory. The fact that we have our own wedding magazine now is very telling on how big the wedding industry has become in our little city and what a popular destination it is to tie the knot. We teamed up with some of Asheville's best industry experts (see full list below).

Want to see more? Check out the Asheville Wedding Guide's post here.

Publication: Asheville Wedding Guide | Event Planner: Alise Taggart | Model: Hannah Gantt | Photography: Rachael McIntosh Photography | Film Lab: Photovision | Venue + Cake: Biltmore  | Gowns: Wildflower Bridal | Florals: Floressence Flowers | Jewelry: Fox and Beaux | Stationery: Baggie Goose | Makeup: Blush Asheville | Hair: Salon Zhenya | Rentals: Classic Event Rental |

Kelsey + Jordan Wedding | Brevard Music Center in Brevard, NC

Kelsey + Jordan's wedding was recently featured in print in The Asheville Wedding Guide and so it seems appropriate to blog some images from their big day at The Brevard Music Center. It was my first time at the venue and I really enjoyed it. Kelsey and Jordan have the most romantic love story and their ceremony was unbelievably sweet. We took portraits by the water and under the trees and while most of the evenings activities and dancing took place under the pavilion, guests mingled outdoors and enjoyed the VW Photo Booth. Kelsey and Jordan treated their guests to brunch items in lieu of dinner as breakfast is their favorite meal! Donuts and cereal bowls were served instead of cake and guests were greeted with cocktails when they arrived. It was obvious from the-get-go they wanted everyone to feel welcome, relaxed and enjoy themselves, and that they did.

Wedding Vendors listed at the Bottom.

Wedding Venue: Brevard Music Center | Catering: Smash Events Inc. | Bridal Bouquets:  Floressence Flowers | Reception Floral Decor: Smash Events Inc | Doughnuts: Hole Doughnuts  | Photo Booth: The Bus Booth   | Hair + MUA: Studio RK Salon | DJ: Andy Stryf | Second Photographer: Olive + West | Film Lab: Photovision |

A weekend in Key West + Miami Beach

Bryan whisked me away to Key West for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. I didn't take too many photographs but thought I'd share a few here. We stayed at The Southernmost Beach Resort and just had the BEST weekend. We sat around the pool, rented bikes and explored. Hit Mallory Square, drank a beer in Sloppy Joes, found the Buoy and toured the Hemingway house. We found a French cafe with to-die-for croissantst, a great spot by the harbor for Oyster's during happy hour and had a lovely dinner at Louie's Backyard. I loved that there were Roosters everywhere and learning more about Ernst Hemingway and his cats was really fascinating. The drive down to the Keys was pretty cool. I think it took about 3 and half hours to get to Miami. We spent our last night in Miami beach and ate an incredible dinner at José Andres's restaurant The Bazaar. In case you wanted some travel tips ;)

Fall Wedding at Biltmore Forest Country Club | Asheville, North Carolina

Biltmore Forest Country Club is so charming and quickly becoming one of my favorite places to shoot especially in the fall. I was so excited to work with Sara and her team at Wedding Connections and Flora's beautiful floral designs are always SO captivating!

I started the day as I always do, arriving a little early to scope out the lay of the land and document some details. It's a good way to ease into the hustle bustle of everything and get acquainted with the families. After a little run in with the local turkeys, I found the bride doing her bridesmaids’ hair and makeup, pumped and ready to jump into that dress. We did a little first look which allowed us to get some of the formal portraits out of the way and meant that Jonsie and John could enjoy more of their wedding day and actually attend cocktail hour. I just immediately fell in love with this couple and I had an amazing time documenting their day. They really knew how to have fun and threw an exceptional party! Here's some highlights and vendors below ...

Venue + Catering: Biltmore Forest Country Club | Planner: Wedding Connections | Floral: Flora Asheville | Wedding Cake: Sugar Cloud Bakery| Tent + Rentals: Classic Event Rental | Ceremony Music: The Grit Lickers  | Entertainment: Complete Desire on Fire   | Second Photographer: Bren Dendy | Film Lab: Photovision |

Lauren + Patrick's Christmas Elopement Wedding at Biltmore Estate

Lauren + Patrick looked like they just stepped off of a movie set! Can't wait to share more from this gorgeous elopement on Biltmore.

Venue, Floral and Catering: Biltmore Estate | Hair + Make-up: Blush Asheville |

Father's Day 2017

I feel so lucky to have found the best life partner for me especially as we navigate this parenthood adventure together! It's not always easy, but we are muddling through and having a ton of fun doing it :) 

We surprised Bryan with this little Father's Day montage yesterday! xoxo