
Pleased to meet you! My name is Abigail Chopel.
My photography journey began as a childhood hobby and flourished into a passion for visual storytelling.
I’ve always had a fascination with the way images make you feel. As a child, I would observe the world around me, searching for interesting things and people, and I would blink, over and over, imagining that my eyes were the camera shutter. I used to press the pause button on my favorite Disney movies and pretend that I had photographed the characters when the frame froze.
I studied Mise En Scène at the renowned Ringling College of Art and Design in sunny Sarasota, Florida. Family brought me back home to NC, where I launched my photography studio with a profound understanding of the quote: “We do not remember days; we remember moments.”
A Raleigh native, wife, and mommy of two little ones, I love my hometown and my family. I am a volunteer instructor and 5th degree black belt in TaeKwonDo. I enjoy painting, traveling, and gardening. But more than anything I love spending time with my husband, busy little boy and baby girl.
But enough about me. Here’s what I do for YOU!
I am not a photographer. W-what?? Yeah, you read that right. A photographer hits a button and takes a picture. I create thoughtful images and transform them into memories, not by the laissez faire push of a button or by using cheap Photoshop filters, but with skillful and timely effort. I take the raw image from my camera, like a chef would ingredients before preparing a fine meal, and I craft that material into a masterpiece. The artwork is going on someone’s wall, after all. It better look good. Read more about The Artist’s Process. *Page under contruction as of July 2022–coming soon!
(Thank you Jessica Kamens for the portrait of me.)