Lauren’s Bridal Session

Posted in Bridals, Weddings with tags , , on April 7, 2008 by sharizellers

In a word, “WOW”…and honestly, I can’t even begin to express how amazing this whole photo session and day went for me.  I’m still kinda in awe by Lauren, her friends Jo & Karen, and the incredible experience we all had together shooting Lauren’s bridal session.

Since Lauren & Dragos’ engagement session on the previous Saturday was under the worst weather conditions I’ve ever shot, I was really anxious about this shoot going well.  Alicia and I even spent an afternoon in late February trying to scout out locations in Stone Mountain Park for potential shots.  We were able to discover some really unusual places to do funky bridal images however, the ONE place we could not get to that day was to the top of Stone Mountain.  Ever since Lauren opted to do her bridal session, I’ve been fantasizing about shooting her on top of the mountain.  At the time we were scouting, the Skyride was not operational for the winter season and maintanence so we could not go up there that day.

The Sunday before her session, I went to the park but it was an hour wait to get to the ride!  So, I opted to come back the following morning - the day BEFORE her session (!) - to check out the top of the mountain and hopefully see what my options were for some very different bridal images.  Of course I wanted to give her some traditional “pretty” images with flowers or architecture, too.  But what I had in mind was something that would really be dramatic and awesome…On Monday morning, I got to the Skyride and it was pretty quiet so it only took one ticket and a few minutes and I was on my way to the top.  When I got up there though, it was SOOOOOO cold and windy!  I ran around for about 20 minutes and my hands were hurting pretty badly after just a few minutes of exposure…I got worried about what it would be like the following day and decided we would bring a faux fur coat just in case it was too cold for her to go without a wrap of some sort.

 

The following day, the morning of her session was very overcast again and it worried me.  It wasn’t supposed to rain but I was really looking for SOME sun of some sort!  UGH! Yet, when she got into her dress, it was like magic…we headed outside and voila!  The clouds started to break up and the sun came peeking in and out - PERFECT!  My mom was assisting me that day along with Lauren’s two friends and we were all as giddy as we could be.  I took them to this putting green with a view of the mountain on the other side of the lake and got some great shots with the mountain behind her.  Then we took off for a little grassy area with flowering trees and knarly oaks…Then off to my “secret” spot - a large extension of granite that was as the base of the mountain and had an other-wordly feel to it.  Lauren was doing so well and really pulling out the great expressions and was wonderful with my direction to her poses.  She is truly stunning!

Then I was ready to take her to the top of the mountain - oh so ready!  We brought the coat but we didn’t need it!  It was warm enough to be comfortable and breezy enough to create some great motion in her dress.  I even shot some vogue images of her riding the Skyride cable car - fabulous! The one thing I didn’t really take into consideration was the time - the last ride down the mountain leaves at 5:30…and we made it to the top just minutes before 5:00!!!  The park personnel were concerned that we would not have enought time and told us that they try to look for us before it got too late.  Thank Goodness I had done all that scouting the day before!!!!  I told everyone that I work very quickly and started them in the direction of our first location on top - I had four spots chosen for photos and saved the best for last. 

First was a fun, flirty, retro look with the coin-operated viewers.  We even had Karen hold out Lauren’s train and let it go flying for a couple of action shots.   Then we went to the tree seen in the shots below for some very different looking images.  I kept hearing Carlos Baez in my head…he is an amazing fashion/art/wedding photographer in Miami and I love his work.  I met him last year at the Pictage conference in LA and he has inspired me to take my brides to another level of bridal photography…Thanks Carlos - LOVE YA!

Then finally, to the last spot - a little rise with a tiny pond in the crater of the surface and the skyline of Atlanta barely visable in the far distance.  When we got to this last area, I was in complete LOVE with the clouds at this point.  The sun was streaming through and I swear, I heard angels singing ;)….My two favorite shots are the header at the top of this post and this one below.  We just had an amazing photo session with Lauren (did I say amazing enough times yet?) and I feel so blessed and lucky to do what I love:  taking these beautiful images of real people!  Much love to Jo, Karen & Lauren - one of the coolest brides ever!

See Lauren’s Bridal Session slideshow by clicking HERE.

Shuttle Launch

Posted in Misc, News, Personal on April 4, 2008 by sharizellers

Even though this happened last month, I wanted to blog about some personal work.  Yes, I get to do that occasionally even when it’s sneaked in between working jobs!  I went to Florida back in March and we decided to stay up late one night to watch the NASA shuttle launch.  Night launches are particularly spectaclar however, the general public is only allowed to view the launch from about 5 miles away in the town of Titusville, FL.  Despite being so far away, the lights of the launch pad can be seen lighting up the entire skyline of the “space coast”.  The bright orange building to the right is the Vehicle Assembly Building - a structure so large it has it’s own weather conditions inside!

The launch was scheduled for 2:30 a.m. on the morning of March 11.  We found a great spot just outside of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and I was just shocked at the tons and tons of people lined up to watch the launch.  We weren’t sure how many folks would show up but obviously there is still a lot of facination with the shuttle launch and there aren’t too many launches left.  Apparently, NASA will be using a new method of getting the shuttle out of the atomosphere by dropping it from a high-flying jet.  And, it’s a safer option, too.  One of the reasons there are so few night launches now is that they want to be able to watch and capture images of any debris that may be falling off the shuttle during the launch and potentially causing damage that is difficult or impossible to repair in orbit.  Night launches make this observation a little more challenging.

About an hour before the countdown an low cloud shelf settled in above us…I wasn’t sure what the launch would look like then.  All the launches I’d ever seen had been in nearly cloudless conditions!  So, we all speculated what we’d see and what it would look like.

 

I was blown away!  It was amazing but dissappointing that once it went up into the clouds, you could no longer see the orbiter or the fuel tanks being dropped.  Nothing, nada, zilch.  BUT I loved the image of the contrail going up into the clouds like the finger of God.  Very, very “Close Encounters” looking to me.  The clouds also provided this enormous bounce effect and the take off was much brighter than I remember from my last night launch I watched in 2002.  Lit up the whole world by bouncing that light back down even if only for a few moments.

And as always, I love watching the contrail and the launch pad sorta sizzle and glow afterwards…really cool light show for about thirty minutes after the shuttle is long gone.

I’ll post my St.Augustine images that I got on the way home soon!

2008 ALLIE AWARD for BEST EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY!

Posted in News, Weddings on April 1, 2008 by sharizellers

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Finally!  After five years, I have once again won the Allie Award for Best Event Photography! 

I have entered this prestigous competion for the Atlanta event industry every year since 2002.  I have been nominated 6 out of 7 years and won the award in 2002 and 2003.  The calibre of this event gets better and better every year so I’m completely honored to be the recipient once again.  Our whole team works hard at every single event in hopes that we can give award winning images to all of our clients!

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Accepting the award with my mom, Bea

The Allie Awards are the “Oscars” for the Atlanta special events industry and were started in 1991.  Hosted by two organizations, NACE and ISES, each year hundreds of events are entered in various categories to compete for the “Best” of their category.  Entries are judged blind by a panel of representatives from chapters of NACE and ISES located in other states.

Each year that I enter, I must choose ONE event - it can be a wedding, corporate, or private social event held within the previous year- to showcase my company’s photography coverage of that event.  Then, I must also submit a detailed written description of the event, our responsibility, and our challenges and obstacles providing our services.  We our required to also address with our images and description specifics of the event such as the catering, the decor, the activities and audio-visuals.  But here’s the kicker:  we are only allowed to enter ten (10) photos of this event!  Only ten images to show our coverage and how we visually captured the event!

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The ballroom at the Cobb Energy Center where the Allies were held this year.

Since I am primarily a wedding photographer and specialize in weddings, I tend to enter a wedding every year as my Allie entry.  This year, I chose to enter the wedding of Anna & John which we shot last October 13th at Barnsley Gardens.  Once again, this year’s event that I chose was coordinated and designed by Kiersten Pierce of Gooseberry  Creative Events.  Last year, I entered Julie & Paul’s wedding that was also coordinated by Kiersten.  We were nominated but did not win.  Kiersten ALWAYS gives me incredible events to photograph!!!!  Thank you so much Keirsten!  It was a thrill to have you there supporting me Sunday!

I was so nervous this year because when the nominations came out a few weeks ago, I got to see who else was nominated in my category:  Nadia D Photography and PWP Studios, Patrick Williams. I was familiar with their work and they are excellent photographers, too!  I want to give a shout out to both of them for their kind words Sunday evening.  It is an honor to be nominated with you both.

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My friend Mark Brickman and his wife Becky (Baker’sMan) won another Allie, too!!!!

What also made this year’s Allies so special was that we got to sit with Mark & Becky of Baker’sMan, Inc AND Marjorie Pruitt of DecoMarj - AND ALL THREE OF US WON OUR CATEGORIES!!!! Whoo hoo!  We had the award winning table!p3300317.jpg

An award-winning table - all three Allies won at our table.

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My good friend, Marjorie Pruitt (DecoMarj) with her Allie for Best Print Piece!

It was an unbelievable night and we definitely all partied hard after that I tell ya.  They hosted a really fun dance party after the awards ceremony and Alicia and I danced our booties off! ;)

I want to thank my mom, Bea of course for supporting me my entire life to follow my dreams.  Alicia Benson, who has been working with us since last year and was immensely crucial to our performance at this wedding and proves herself over and over, and of course my love, Steven…;o)

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Me and Steven with the new shelf bling!

Lauren & Dragos at Sope Creek

Posted in Engagements, Weddings on April 1, 2008 by sharizellers

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On a dreary, muggy morning Lauren & Dragos took me to Sope Creek Park that runs along the Chattahoochee River for their engagement session.  We had intended to shoot later in the day but the forecast called for some serious thunderstorms…and possible tornadoes!  We backed up our session time to hopefully wrap up before anything really nasty hit!

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While we walked around a small lake, I became excited about the potential of this park.  Even on a day like this it was beautiful to me…but the best was yet to come.  There are several walking trails and bridges over small creeks that feed into the lake.herndon031508_0117.jpgherndon031508_0077.jpg

Lauren and Dra were very easy to work with and a loving couple who had fun in front of the camera…I really enjoy couples that can relax and just be themselves and express their love for each other in a gentle way.  Of course, if it’s not easy for you,  I try to make it fun and relaxing, too! I just want everyone to get some great romantic stuff before the wedding - casual, silly, candid - all that you don’t normally get going out together day to day by yourselves.

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For a good little walk that wound down through the wooded areas of the park, they took me to the ruins of an old mill that once sat on the bank of the river.  I was immediately in love with this location and all of it’s potential for photo ops!  The stonework, the open window frames, and this cute little waterfall…

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Every nook and cranny revealed another great backdrop or scene!  Thanks so much guys for an amazing location!  They had wanted to do some more photos at Marietta Square but by the time we got there it was really raining hard.  We parted for the day and then suddenly, the tornado sirens went off in the city!  It was so loud and I really didn’t know what to do…it looked like the Wicked Witch of the West was going to fly by on her broom any moment - yikes!

To see there engagement slideshow, click HERE.

The following Tuesday, we met up with Lauren again at Stone Mountain to shoot her bridal session.  MAN!  A complete change of weather and now, she was a bride!  I wish I could share her bridal session now because it ranks up there as one of my best ever. She was stunning and a wonderful trooper - we took her to the top of the mountain for some unsual shots of just Lauren, the rock and the sky.

Their wedding is this Saturday and I’ll definitely be blogging her session right after that!   Check back to see Lauren in action…

Albums, Albums, & More Albums!

Posted in News, Weddings on March 24, 2008 by sharizellers

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I am very excited to tell everyone that late last fall, I started designing my own albums. I’ve always done layouts for the traditional matted albums but they are very simple, matted albums with 1-4 images per page. But what I’m talking about are digitally designed albums that are custom created with your wedding images combined with your wedding colors, graphics and even elements from your own wedding theme!

I used to let the album companies do the layouts for me and this became troublesome because they would not always “see” how I envisioned the use of the images when I shot them. There were also some difficulties in asking for re-designing of pages when we only uploaded a set number of images for the designers to use. It just seemed to me that there was an artistic flexibility that was missing and I felt it was time to get directly involved and take over the process…

The advent of digital technology helped me in that the photos are already digitized, ready for me to import to Photoshop. I’d already been using Photoshop for years to design my own brochures, postcards, and business cards - so, designing albums was just the next step!

I enjoy it immensely - almost as much as shooting the images themselves. I get very specific and take time and care in adjusting the placement and juxtaposition of the images. I love choosing graphics and colors to enhance the pages and the ability to add images where I see fit. On the Crow album, I felt inspired to use graphic elements of bamboo silhouettes like the ones Sean & Michael used on their programs. See the Crow Wedding Album by clicking HERE.crow1718.jpgcrow1920.jpg

For the Moore album, I even scanned in the vellum cover of their invitation to use as a background layer - changing the color from layout to layout and keeping the theme of ivory, sage, and lavender.

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See the Moore Wedding Album by clicking HERE.

I am also designing special books for guests to sign at weddings now, too. This Guest Signing Book is a hard cover book with the couple’s engagement photos in it with plenty of page space for the guests to sign their well-wishes to the newlyweds. You can view a brand new guest signing book by clicking HERE.

HOWEVER, designing albums from scratch is very, very time consuming! I have finished almost ten albums now and I am currently working on over 14 albums in the “que”. Each day I can create 20-30 pages or 10-25 spreads.  Since the average album has about 50-60 pages, it takes 2-3 days to complete a full layout. And here is the kicker - I can’t work on albums every day :( I have days I’m not even in the office due to photo shoots or meetings on location. Right now, my album workload has me scheduled in front of the computer for 42 straight days.

So, for those of you waiting so patiently, I do understand your frustration and I want to get them done as soon as I can but it’s just taking a while. I want everyone to be estatically (is that a word?) happy and LOVE their special and unique album. I am continuing to consider outsourcing options but so far, I’ve not been able to find a source to provide the unique look that I want to give each and every one of you. And it’s not easy to teach to someone either!

I envision that I will get caught up and in the meantime, please enjoy some of these other designs I’ve completed:

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AtlantaBridal.com’s 10th Anniversary!

Posted in News, Weddings on February 14, 2008 by sharizellers

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Well, I’m coming out of a sem-hibernation and wintery seclusion in my home and office. Basically, I’ve been working on albums for over two months and still going…and going, and going… It seems that everyone put in their album orders at the same time! Slowly but surely, I will emerge and see daylight again ;)

On this cool Saturday night, I did emerge to attend and cover this fabulous event - AtlantaBridal.com’s 10th Anniversary Party! It was an amazing celebration - our industry thanking Lei Lydle for all of her hard work and for establishing what is without a doubt, the BEST online resource for Atlanta wedding vendors!

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What was very exciting was that I was asked by Chef Eric to arrive ahead of the party start time to capture some behind-the-scene preparations that his company would be doing to get all set up and ready for the party. I’m always in complete awe of Chef Eric’s food and displays - we’re talking ways of serving your food that you’ve never thought of or seen before! Suspended glasses that seem to float in air, trapezoid swinging food stations, and this time….a girl completely covered in truffles and chocolates! ab10020208_0124.jpg

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I was just shooting for two hours straight before showtime and taking in all the decor. Christine Crowley of Perfect Petals always brings a sense of exotic whimsey to the vignettes she creates and this project was just up her alley. While I was running around the place capturing all the cool set ups, I was also distracted by the funky venue, Le Moulin Rouge. If you have not seen this place, you must check it out. The name says a lot and it truly feels like a dark and sensual cabaret nightclub with velvet couches, antiques, and a very campy atmosphere. I cannot wait to shoot here again - so much personality! I’m trying to come up with an excuse to host a party there - it’s just so HOT!

I was also trying to come up with a good excuse for trying the amazing croquemboche (traditional French wedding cake) that was created by my favorite baker, Mark Brickman, a.k.a. Baker’s Man. I figured I didn’t really need an excuse, it’s Mark’s and it’s research for work, right?

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The party was emcee’d by another great friend, Ted Crowder of Atlanta Bands & DJ’s and the band, Moxie, kept the crowd hopping. Ted and Lei gave out prizes for karaoke and celebrated raising money for the Pink Envelope Project.ab10020208_0395.jpg

After a really kickin’ party, amazing food, and a terrific bunch of sponsors, I just want to shout out again a big ol’ THANK YOU to Lei and her lovely ladies for doing so much for all of us here in Atlanta!

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If you’d like to check out more pictures (many more) of this event and see some work from these amazing sponsors, go here and log in to see them:

http://www.pictage.com/431774

Melissa & David

Posted in Weddings with tags , , , on January 29, 2008 by sharizellers

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Only a few more posts to catch up last year’s weddings!  I’ll definitely get them all up there before this year’s…;O)

Melissa & David were another one of my most glamorous couples of the year.  Some of Melissa’s images just catch my breath!  From her veil to her dress - she is just - OOH!

They were married in the uber-gothic St. Phillip’s Cathedral, one of the most gorgeous churches in Atlanta.  What I didn’t expect was all the incredible new renevations at St. Phil’s.  An amazing new glass atrium is now located just outside of the sanctuary doors!  While our weather did not need us shooting indoors, if it does rain (sometime in GA, please?) we now have a wonderful indoor option there!petersoncp1.jpg peterson110307_0637.jpg

I was able to photograph this wedding thanks to the referral by Melissa’s MOH, Chelsea Harrell, whose wedding I photographed in 2005.  And just like them, the wedding party was just as beautiful and glamorous!

The event was designed and coordinated by one of my favorites here in Atlanta, Jennifer Lackey of Storybook Wedding Consulting.  The details Jennifer can plan for you are out of this world classy.  And she makes my job SO much easier each and every time we work together!

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One of my favorite moments this day was when Melissa’s dad saw her before he was to walk her down the aisle.  The pure pride was about to burst forth from him and I love his expression here.  I’ve also been trying to get more creative with my ring shots.  Funny thing is that I haven’t had rings yet that I could stand up!  So, I found this great streaming sunlight to use as a background in the atrium.petersoncp4.jpg

I love the amazing architecture of real cathedrals.  Reminds me of Europe - ahhhh, I wanna go back!  Here is one where Bea got me in the shot (!) of Melissa and David coming back up the aisle as husband and wife.

We met up with the couple at their reception venue, 103 West, for our first reception there!  I was already thinking we need to move quickly since it was quite chilly out but I really wanted to get a shot featuring the great outdoor lighting at the venue.  Melissa and David were great sports and we managed to get off several great shots before they froze!peterson110307_0879.jpg

103 West requested these photos from us to hopefully use in their new advertising campaign!  Keep an eye out for Melissa & David to appear in one of their ads or on their web site!

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Everyone rocked out to the sounds of their band, Complete Desire, a really high-energy band that had some groovy moves!  I loved the lighting in the club like atmosphere and the sort of “peep view” I got in these mirrors.petersoncp5.jpg

At the end of the night, Melissa & David were sent on their way through a mass of bubbles.   Another fabulous and fun event!  Have fun watching their slideshow by clicking HERE.

Sarah’s Trash the Dress Session

Posted in Bridals, Trash the Dress, Weddings with tags , , on January 22, 2008 by sharizellers

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OMG!  I’m so excited to finally tell everyone about my amazing Trash the Dress Session with Sarah from last October!!!  It was an amazing story and we had such a fun time - I can’t wait to do this again.  You don’t have to really TRASH your dress - I’m just all about doing great shots that a bride normally wouldn’t do before the wedding for fear of getting dirty.  And Sarah’s dress only got wet, it didn’t even get trashed.

This was my first Trash the Dress session ever. I want to do this so much more!!!! Just go out and shoot incredible, sexy images with no fear of ruining the dress before the wedding.  That’s why I’m calling it a Vogue Bridal Session in my brochure.  It was so stimulating to my creativity and really invigorated me and gosh, I just love looking at them!

I actually shot Sarah’s wedding in November of 2002 - five years ago! She was a beautiful bride and I remeber that she and her husband Paul were fun and creative - a joy to work with.  Skip ahead to last summer, and she emails me outta the blue asking if I knew what a TTD session was and would I do one with her? I was so so happy! I’d been wanting to do one for awhile with no takers…

Here’s the catch - she told me that she had lost over 100 lbs!!!!!
So you have to look at these images and realize that the last time I saw her she was a different person. She had her dress extremely taken in - she is half the gal she used to be. She is a runner and doing marathons and is going to be starting triathalons soon. She wanted to do some shots featuring her medals she’s won over the years.  Look for those inspirational shots in the slideshow…

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I talked her into going to Hilton Head, where I had shot a wedding once and wanted to return to do a TTD. She was game and stayed in the Marriott.  Our first session started the evening we arrived…I had intended on catching some warm sunset light but the whole weekend ended up being overcast and gloomy. It definitely lended a gothic, ethereal feeling to the beach images.  Almost moody and soft.mckibben1007_0412.jpg

For the next morning, I really wanted to go back to Dolphin Head Beach to shoot on this rocky shoreline but we discovered that the property was private and did not have access unless we made arrangements ahead of time.  So, we ended up using the Marriott pool for the final shots where she really got in and swam around…I was amazed as I didn’t expect her to go all the way with it but she is such a trooper. She really wanted to do this and I was happy to shoot!   The sun came out during the last hour of our shoot at the pool which was PERFECT timing!  I love the infrareds where the water is black and the sun is just a spot on the water - very abstract and surreal at the same time.  And the blue, blue pool with her white dress…fabulous! mckibben1007_0638.jpg

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I am so inspired by Sarah and needing to get back on the fitness bandwagon myself.  I think I will watch her slideshow every morning when I don’t feel like working out (uh, like today?  get off yer duff, girl!)

I had such a hard time picking favorites to post here and there are 200 in the slideshow!  Note that Sarah is NOT a model but she worked it for me!  I love shooting brides and making them feel glamorous.  I think everyone is beautiful and can do this - just loosen up, have fun and play “Tyra” for a few hours! ;)  When you’re in your dress, just play your favorite dance soundtrack in your mind and work it girl!

Here is the slideshow - enjoy!
Sarah

Doris & Mark

Posted in Weddings on January 20, 2008 by sharizellers

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Our final wedding of October was for Doris & Mark at the beautiful Windermere Golf Club. I happened to shoot a wedding there last October on almost this exact same weekend! And what a gorgeous time of the year it is - the leaves are so colorful, the weather is perfect (to me ;)) and the light cannot get any better than this golden quality under crisp, brilliant blue skies… Yes, October is Georgia has got to be my favorite!

Again, the red theme prevailed with Doris’s Chinese heritage lending many of the Asian influences on their decor and favors. One of my favorite favors? Elegant black and gold chopsticks for the guests which I used to display their wedding bands for a ring shot in the dramatic afternoon sunlight.berrycomp1.jpg

With the weeping willows blowing and swaying in the wind, Doris and Mark exchanged vows by the lake while their family and friends looked on. Their ceremony was officiated by one of my favorite people, Reverend Rick Prigmore. Also helping to officiate was Doris’s uncle - AND he also provided a Cantonese translation as well.  At the end,  everyone gave lots of cheers at the pronouncement like it was a grand victory! Well, at this point in many weddings, it DOES feel like we all just scored a touchdown, eh? When it all comes together and you’re pronounced husband and wife, it’s such a huge rush andrelief. No wonder folks just wanna go party!

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You might not think that shooting at a golf course is that easy but I happen to really like the opportunity to have wide open sky to use as a beautiful blue back drop. Just drop down and lie on the ground shooting up and you get this wonderful isolating effect with just the two people and nothing else. Sometimes all I see in our area is trees (don’t get me wrong, I love trees, but…) and I like getting something differentlike this once in awhile!116berry102707_1230.jpg

After getting some blue sky shots and wandering around the willow trees, Doris & Mark headed into their reception where my good friend Ted of Atlanta Bands& DJ’s announced them for their first dance. Then the rest of the night, Ted kept the crowd pumped up and everyone showed off their dance moves - some of which I’d never, ever seen before!berrycomp3.jpg

Then it came time for the bouquet and garter toss. I want to mention here that my associate photographer, Alicia, got these amazing close-up shots during the action. I so LOVE how she captured the expression on Doris’s face when Mark pulled off the garter - classic!

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At the end of the night, they departed through a mass of bubbles and took off in their amusingly decorated car! If you want to see their slideshow of the entire wedding day, click HERE.

Africa & Michael

Posted in Weddings on January 19, 2008 by sharizellers

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The second of our two-wedding weekend in October was spent with Africa & Michael.  I have had so much fun with these two since our first meeting early in the year.  And while their wedding was a much smaller, intimate affair, I was SO impressed with the details and special touches that Africa and her sister had planned for her unique wedding.

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The site chosen for their wedding and reception was new to me - the Southern Center for International Studies, also known as the Goodrum House - located on W. Paces Ferry across from the Governor’s Mansion.  This 1929 English Regency mansion is lush in detail and the color RED.  Africa used red and black throughout the color scheme of the wedding along with the Asian influences that are also included in the estate’s decor.  I especially loved the kubuki style bow she custom made herself for her wedding dress!  HOT!

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Their ceremony was held in the side yard of the estate and guests surrounded a koi pond with a trickling fountain.  After the ceremony, I enjoyed walking around with Africa & Michael, just wandering the property and capturing them nuzzling (with not much prompting needed ;) ).  My favorite “prop” on the property was this beautiful wrought iron gate with swirls and star motif.  I let them hang out on the other side while I shot throught the bars, paparazzi-style.keats101407_0640.jpgkeatscomp2.jpg

A buffet was opened to the guests and seating was available throughout the house and on the back patio.  Absolutely perfect weather this entire weekend for dining and dancing al fresco!  Each table was decked out with a different vase of different red flowers from roses to my favorite Gladiolas.

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The cake was scrumptous looking ( I didn’t have any!  I promise!) and brought the girls running to the window every couple of minutes in anticipation of the cake cutting.  I love cakes in windows since the natural light makes it so much nicer to show off the decorative frosting!

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As the evening wound down, Africa and Michael spent time laughing and hugging with friends and family.  A wonderful event with meaningful and thoughtful touches throughout.  See their wedding day slideshow by clicking HERE.