Courtney & Brian - April 24, 2010 Wedding

I flew to Albany, GA to photograph the wedding of Courtney Pinger and Brian Jones.  It was slated to take place at the home of the groom's parents on the banks of the Flint River with a golf course at our disposal for photos!  I woke up to hotel shaking thunder on the morning of the wedding and the sky could not have looked more threatening. Miraculously we made it through the entire wedding without rain.  The bottom dropped out so soon after the bride and groom left in their limo that I wouldn't be surprised if it put out a sparkler.  The weather was perfect for photography.  I love shooting with wind.  I love the even light you get when the clouds act like a giant softbox for the sun.  I love contrasty clouds in the sky.  I had a blast shooting this wedding.

View more of their photos at the following proofing site: http://pictage.com/827892

On a side note; I was on my way home killing time during a layover in the Atlanta airport when I ran into the couple (Matt and Regina) whose wedding I photographed the weekend before.  They were on their way back from their honeymoon and I was able to check out some photos from their adventure.

Stephanie Surgener Senior Portraits

I used to specifically shoot senior portraits for a living a few years ago for Michael's Photography Inc. which was based out of Smyrna, TN but which covered schools for a 75 mile radius.  I was their outdoor senior casual photographer and I must have shot 2 or 3 thousand sessions in the 3 years that I worked there.  It was an amazing job for me.  I learned a lot, became much more comfortable directing people to quickly get what I want, and became familiar with off-camera lighting.  Most people have a negative connotation to school photography and photographers but I am extremely proud of the work that I did for Michael's.  Back then, before it sold out to the soul-less corporate picture Mill that is LifeTouch, it was a Mom & Pop that encouraged creativity and gave the photographers a freedom that I had never felt on the job before.  I had guys that wanted to get shots with their classic cars so we would get smoke bombs to place behind the back tires and have them hang out to make it look as though they were burning rubber, awesome right!  And I would have girls roll-up their jeans and creek stomp while their friends would toss boulders into ponds to create a splashy background!  Basically, I will always love shooting senior portraits.  So much so that LifeTouch better watch out.  One of these days I'm going to offer them some competition and go after some of the schools that I used to frequent.

Stephanie's older brother Shawn had me take some portraits / headshots last year and it was great that he agreed to come to this shoot and assist with the reflector.

Anthony White Portraits

Anthony is a gospel singer from Clarksville that met up with me to get some shots to use for his upcoming album art.  We started out at the zoo and headed downtown after that.  His brother in law Kenyatta and nephew James came along to help and I'm proud to say the shoot was a success!  Now when he sells a bunch of albums and we have a bigger budget, I want to do another shoot with a choir decked out in robes in a set of non-church locations.

Matt & Regina - April 17, 2010 Wedding

Matt and Regina were married on April 17 at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Franklin with a reception at Arial on 2nd Avenue Downtown.  It was the first wedding ceremony at St. Andrews' Church since they added a new sanctuary and it is now one of my favorite churches for weddings because of the abundance of beautiful natural light and the soft blue paint on the walls.  After the ceremony the wedding party was picked up in a trolley and I guided them to one of my favorite spots, the fort behind Pinkerton Park.  We spend 20 minutes shooting wedding party formals before heading to a very lively reception at Arial.  The place was decked out and candle lit and the wedding party came out dancing when they were announced.  I'm pretty sure there wasn't a break in the dancing until 12:30am when they moved the party downstairs.  I had a blast and we got some amazing photos.

Ty Carreker Portraits

Ty is a guitarist / singer- songwriter in Nashville who has recently transplanted from Detroit.  We met at the Heart and Soul benefit back in February and only just recently had a chance to get together for a portrait session we had been planning.

John & Katrina

John and Katrina drove down from Clarksville where they have been going to school to do their engagement photos downtown.  They will be married at Wales Baptist Church in Pulaski, TN on July 24th.  It makes me happy to hang out with people that are so visibly in love.  Its one of the great things about being a wedding photographer!  Couples can inspire me to want to go home and kiss my wife!

Ryan & Lorna

Ryan and Lorna will be married on 10/10/10 and I'm looking forward to spending more time with them.  What a great and photogenic couple they make.  They met in college and Lorna has moved to Nashville to work as a physical therapist but Ryan still lives in Alabama. He will be moving to Nashville soon and I look forward to doing more photography together once he gets here.