A cool photo for cool clients!

Love this photo!

Showing Lori’s fun side!

One of my favorites!

Love it!

I took this photo accidently when I was lowering my camera and absolutely nothing in the photo is in focus but for some reason I love it! There’s just something so compelling about it that pulls me in.

Hello…

Chattanooga skyline…

Gorgeous.  I guess I’m becoming known for lines because Lori knew exactly what was on my mind when I pointed them to this location.  haha

A goodbye group shot!

Thank you again for such a wonderful time! Can’t wait till your wedding in September!  We’re going to have a blast! (Lets be praying for cooler weather!)

I’m so excited about getting this wedding up! Hope and Chad got married on a very hot day a couple of weeks ago and although it was so hot we enjoyed ourselves immensely.  We started off at Hair-a-go-go in north Chattanooga and went down the street to Elea Blake for makeup!  I love hanging out in these places because 1) the people are so friendly there and 2) they are fantastic places to take photos.  Loved it!  Here are some pics of Hope getting ready for her big day!

Darin Wright did a wonderful job on Hope’s makeup.  Don’t know what she puts in her makeup but Hope looked fantastic all day long despite everyone else being drenched in sweat!

The beautiful gown:

Chad and his guys:

Many thanks for my good friend Kellie for coming out and helping out with the shooting!  She did an incredible job!

Hope looked absolutely beautiful in her wedding dress!  Love this picture!

Hope’s girls helping her around, all the while making sure Chad doesn’t see her before the wedding.  They did a great job!

Newly married. Husband and wife!

Love this photo of them on the porch of the house on the property.  Beautiful.

Utilizing a random bathtub that was out in the middle of nowhere.  Love adventurous brides because it turned out stunning!

As usual, Ahmed did an incredible job on the cake.

The send-off and the excited new Mrs. Shores!

Hope and Chad, thank you again for allowing me the opportunity to be with you guys all day on your wedding!  I had a blast and I hope you enjoy your photos!

Hudson hasn’t quite grasped the concept of fishing yet but he loves to use the pole for digging around the muck. haha

My best “Andy Griffith Show” impression…

We then went 4 wheeling!  Woot!

Love Hudsons face in this picture as he watches his parents kiss.  haha

Then it was swimming time!

Love this picture! Look how high Preston is!

To end the session, we allowed the kids to play and I took David and Tami for a mini “we did” session.  They did a great job!

Thanks again for letting me document your family!  I really enjoyed it!  Enjoy your photos!

It was Leslie’s second weekend with me and we dove into some more advanced photo techniques and then went out and put them to the test.  Our brave models who volunteered for the shoot were the wonderful Robert and Aston.  They’d wanted a photoshoot from me anyway, and since we needed models, this was the perfect opportunity! Aston is 31 weeks pregnant, and Robert is an aspiring photographer, so he said he really enjoyed listening as I talked my way through each shot… he felt like he was getting a free photo lesson.  So everyone wins!

I’ll show you some of my favorites and then show you Leslie’s images from the locations.

Here’s our attempt to make the ordinary look extraordinary.  Love the orange cone.

Repetitious crates:

Here I was talking about light and shadows and how to work with them…NOT be afraid of them.

Really like how this one turned out!

“Utilizing the background but not letting it interfere with the subject” lesson:

Loving the flowers in the dilapidated parking lot:

The “rim light” lesson:

The “shooting while walking and the camera is by your knees” lesson:

“Compressing the background” lesson:

The “Knowing your subject and capturing their personalities” lesson:

“Working with harsh light and shadows” and “showcasing the pretty girl and letting the guy fade in the background” lessons:

The “abstract” and “finding the lines” lessons:

More rim light:

The “photographing your subjects when they’re not expecting it in order to capture a genuine moment” lesson:

The “using the environment around you to it’s fullest potential” lesson:

Now here are some of Leslie’s images, edited courtesy of yours truly.  I’m going to say from the outset that I think she did an extraordinary job! I’m just so proud of her!

Check out the light and shadow - dramatic beautiful moment captured. Unbelievably beautiful!

Here’s Leslies version of my photo from above.  I actually like hers better!  Great job Leslie!

During the “rim light” lesson:

Leslie really wanted me to include this photo of me laying on my back getting a photo.  I guess we’ll call this the “how to take photos with your fisheye lens that has  a 180 degree angle of view without photographing your own shadow in the setting sun” lesson.

Answer? Make your shadow as minimal as possible by laying as flat as possible!

It was a great lesson to be learned but I wasn’t particularly happy with the photo, so I didn’t include it above. But if you’re curious what my fisheye sees from that perspective, here it is.  Look… no shadow from me!

This next photo is probably one of my favorites. It’s absolutely amazing!  Way to go Leslie!

Fun shot from the worlds thinnest slide.

Here’s another shot from Leslie that I love.  I think the power lines actually add to the photo. Again, beautiful job Leslie!

Again, incredible.

One last photo with the beautiful Aston!

Again, I can not express how impressed I am with my wonderful student Leslie!  She has come along SOOO far in these short couple of months. She is grasping advanced photography techniques with ease.  I’m just so proud that I’ve been able to be a part of her journey!

If you, dear blog reader, are interested in taking photos like Leslie, please e-mail me for information about how to get your own one-on-one photography workshop with me.

Of course, it’s not very lucrative but it’s so relaxing and fun. There’s not too much pressure to get that “safe shot” but rather I can focus on maybe a slightly more artistic photo or capture what’s happening in the fringes.

I had the rare opportunity to second-shoot last Saturday with our friend Daisy Moffatt! Her clients Chad and Megan were fun to work with!  I focused a lot on getting a ton of detail shots for her and hopefully I got some shots she’ll be able to use!  

Here are a few of my favorite!

I finally found out what bouquets are for. To shoo away horses:

“If I look over here and pretend a horse isn’t right next to me, maybe he’ll go away”

Love it when the people do random cool things. This fits in that category:

Several ring shots. Love this ring!

I forget what we were going for in this self-portrait.  ”Glamour  shot” maybe? They threw a word out and we acted it out. If you only had my face to figure out the word, it would probably be something like “pretend you just ate a lemon”. haha

Daisy! Our new friend Shashonk (sorry if I misspelled your name)! and me!

Thanks again Daisy. I had a blast!

Rich and I had the opportunity to join Kelly and Lucas for their amazing wedding day last Saturday.  Everyone was in high-spirits and everything was so beautiful.  Although it was nearly a 12 hour day we loved every minute of it!  Both Lucas and Kelly have absolutely wonderful and loving families and we were blessed to hang out all day with them!

Enjoy the blog post and be sure to check out the slideshow at the bottom for more wedding day images! 

The day started out with a very calm and collected Kelly having her hair done by the talented Diana.

Already looking vibrant and gorgeous, Kelly then had her makeup done by Jill with Elea Blake.

Kelly’s amazing gown! We loved using the beautiful arches at the church for some creative images! 

Lucas and Kelly opted (much to our delight) for a “first look.” Here is Kelly approaching her very handsome groom…

After the bride and groom had a few special moments together, we spent some time with them in various locations around the church. It was far too easy to photograph these two…they are so in love and it shows! We could not have asked for a sweeter, more easy to work with couple! Here are just a couple portraits with many more to come…

Kelly is not only stunningly beautiful, she is calm, kind, and thoroughly gracious. She and Lucas are more than clients…they are friends! 

The men: 

The ladies: 

The gorgeous rings: 

The ceremony was beautiful and incredibly meaningful. While Rich circled the sanctuary, I was perched in the choir loft for images with a totally different perspective and I think the team work paid off! I love the resulting ceremony coverage! 

Some of the most beautiful cakes I’ve ever seen: 

Lucas and Kelly’s first dance as husband and wife! Beautiful! 

A portion of the stunning reception site: 

Dancing and celebration!!!

The send off!

Note from Rich: These last two picture Heather captured (along with several above). She did a brilliant job and I absolutely love these last two photos. I can’t figure out which one I loved more so I included both! I’m so proud of you, sweetheart!

Enjoy your slideshow!

Our day started off very early in the morning (6:30 am!) at “In the Buff” in East Ridge to get Catherine’s hair done.  The girls working there were really fun and they did a fantastic job on Catherine’s hair!  

Afterwards we headed up to Cleveland to the beautiful Broad Street United Methodist Church.  My good friend Kellie joined me to help photograph the day. She did a wonderful job, was fun to hang out with, and let me be in two places at once!  I love having a second shooter with me!

First time photographing a wedding dress in an elevator. I love the result!

A few details:

The ring shots.  And my self portrait in Marcus’ shiny ring!

Marcus and his guys:

A little Abbey Road anyone?

Had so much fun hanging out with Catherine and her girls!

The beautiful Catherine!

She had cold feet and decided to run but luckily for Marcus, her bridesmaids caught her.

Loved how Catherine looked at her dad as he lead her down the aisle!

Entered as individuals and exited as one!  Awesome!

Their reception was at Lee University. Since it decided to rain outside, they had to move it indoors.  The incredible Al Shabibi catered this amazing brunch that I had a little bite of when I got a break. So good!

Gorgeous reception details: 

First dance.

Kellie and I finally got some time alone with the newly married couple once it stopped raining outside.  What a beautiful couple they make!

And finally the send off!

Marcus and Catherine, thank you again for letting me be a part of your wedding day!  Enjoy the photos!  I’m so excited about your new lives together!

Since the last time the family went to the Aquarium, I had to leave early for a photoshoot so this time, I brought my full arsenal of camera equipment to document our experience.  With some of the pictures below (I believe around 10), I also created wallpaper for you guys to enjoy!  Just download the appropriate link below the picture and enjoy!

This little showoff would hang onto the branch with just his beak.  Then he’d get back on the branch and take a bow to his audience.  It was fun to watch!

Wallpaper (for pic above):
Standard Monitor (4:3)
Widescreen Monitor  (16:10)

Wallpaper (for pic above):
Standard Monitor (4:3)
Widescreen Monitor  (16:10)

Penguins!  This was the first time I’ve seen the penguins and they were really active! So fun!

Wallpaper (for pic above):
Standard Monitor (4:3)
Widescreen Monitor  (16:10)

Ooooo… scary!

Then we got to go to the new jellyfish exhibit.  It has only been around for a week.  Jellyfish are some of the most beautiful creatures. I wish there was a lucrative job photographing jellyfish.  But only if I’m safe behind glass from them though.  If anyone knows a job opening with those specifications, please let me know!

Wallpaper (for pic above):
Standard Monitor (4:3)
Widescreen Monitor  (16:10)

Wallpaper (for pic above):
Standard Monitor (4:3)
Widescreen Monitor  (16:10)

Wallpaper (for pic above):
Standard Monitor (4:3)
Widescreen Monitor  (16:10)

Wallpaper (for pic above):
Standard Monitor (4:3)
Widescreen Monitor  (16:10)

Wallpaper (for pic above):
Standard Monitor (4:3)
Widescreen Monitor  (16:10)

Such a cool room here.  Hundreds of jellys.  All so beautiful.

Wallpaper (for pic above):
Standard Monitor (4:3)
Widescreen Monitor  (16:10)

Wallpaper (for pic above):
Standard Monitor (4:3)
Widescreen Monitor  (16:10)

Look at these cute little guys. Next time I go, I’m going to read more about them.  We were too busy taking pics and chasing Alana around!

The look on Alana’s face most of the time.  She loves the aquarium!

I saw this cool opportunity for a photo so I grabbed it.  Sweet family. I gave her my business card so she could contact me for these photos… hopefully she does!  I love this photo!

Outside, this guys was playing the steel drum and had a table full of instruments for people to play along with him.  I was an idiot and focused on Alana without getting the whole scene for you to enjoy.  Lesson learned.  But hope you enjoy!

Thanks for checking it out and I hope you enjoy some new wallpaper for your computer!

Allow me to introduce Devin, Beth, Austin and Livy up front.

Who doesn’t like to pray while lying on train tracks!?

This is probably one of my favorite family photos I’ve ever taken.  How awesome is this photo!?!

Beautiful Livy…  Love everything about this photo!

At the original YMCA building, from the days when it was exclusively for men…so I thought I’d put the two girls in front of it!

Grabbed a photo of just Beth.  Love it!

Thanks again for letting me hang out with you guys for a little bit. Had a blast. Let’s do it again when Devin comes back!

When we got it, we loved it so much that we knew we had to do a photoshoot with it.  Heather’s so proud to own it!  Check out how cool it is!

It even features a couple of pockets to put her laptop battery cord and a couple external hard drives.

I couldn’t believe how dirty Heather’s Mac was.  We cleaned it when we got back home! haha! 

So, what do you think of it?  Isn’t it so cool!?  I’ll be doing other posts soon documenting our standard and deluxe wedding albums featuring more of Chrysq’s wonderful slipcovers!  If you want a laptop bag of your own, just e-mail Christina and she’ll hook you up!