Alex the Photo Blog

Eric Balint and I have known each other for almost 20 years.  He and I grew up on the same street in Marietta, GA.  When I heard he and Suzanne were getting hitched, I jumped at the chance to shoot their wedding.  I think they did a fun thing by just asking a couple of friends to shoot the wedding.  That way it saved them some cash while also having a set of photographers who already knew the MVPs of the wedding party.  Sometimes that inside knowledge can help a photo guy like myself. 

I had just shot my sister’s engagement pictures before their wedding and wish I had prepared a little more for Suzanne’s Bridal portraits.  Because Suzanne and Eric are such sweet laid back people, they didn’t ask much of me nor want me to work too hard on their wedding day.  In retrospect, I wish I had shown up 3 hours earlier, brought every bit of my equipment, and put much more work into bridal portraits because Suzanne looked so beautiful!   But then again, I wasn’t about to get in the way of their plans because I know even the most laid back weddings are still very busy.  Plus, I think I shoot better with a camera in one hand and a beer in the other.    Kidding!

 Of course she made the album. 

By the time this blog post actually goes up, they’ll already have been married, but going along with the theme of getting my blog up to date, you get to see things backward.   These were definitely taken as their engagement photos to be published in their guestbook.  The official wedding pictures are far superior and were taken by Brandelyn Lee Photography.  They can be found here.   One day I hope to be half as good as Brandy.  I’ve been looking at her work before I even bought my first digital.

First try…

Second try…

So these pictures aren’t from my “Poppy,” but from my boss’s dad.   He recently was remarried at a small ceremony in Duluth, GA.   For this shoot, I was paid in italian food rather than dollars. 

We had a fun time.  I’ve never seen a priest laugh through a wedding ceremony, but when you read bible verses to a 72 yearold that say “there comes a time when a man must leave his father’s home…” and “may you be blessed with many children…”   I guess he couldn’t help but laugh.   No worries, everyone else enjoyed themselves too. 

Sean... in Italy

Not surprisingly this is way overdue.   I had such grand plans of updating my blog with all of my 2009-thus-far photos in one week, but with my laziness I’ve treated each entry as if I just shot them.  After this post, I think I just have one more “post-post” blog entry, then I can move on to shooting more and trying to keep up.

Here are Pete and Chloe.   Beautiful children of my friend Charlene.   We did this shoot just outside of downtown Norcross, GA in the midday sun.  My biggest rookie mistake- don’t shoot in direct harsh sunlight unless you have to!  I did my best to counterbalance the shots in the sun with fill flash, but all in all I should have taken a lot more pix in the shade as they were the ones that came out best.  This was one of those shoots that when I left, I thought “holy crap, I made a bunch of rookie mistakes and may have a very unhappy client.”   But as it turned out, she’s ordered more prints than any of my wedding clients. 

Pete, Charlene, Chloe:

As tough as it is having your picture taken anytime in your teen years, Charlene told me Pete even thought he looked like Tom Brady in this pic.  I have to agree with him!

Chloe was quite the ham…

Here are a few shots of the Richmond boys when Keri and I had the pleasure of spending time with them up in Commerce, GA.   Jackson is the oldest, follwed by Tate and then Garrett. 

This was just a “hey- do you mind if I take a few pictures?” type of shoot.  Nothing formal or fancy- I just happened to have my camera with me.  It also reminded me of how much fun shooting in available light with a $90 lens- the 50mm f./1.8.   If you are a new photographer- buy this lens.  Nikon and Canon both have them and they’re dirt cheap.  It’s a great backup lens, lightweight, takes awesome shots, and can open up a whole new world of available light photography.  In most situations there will basically be no need to use your flash.  Just open up the f stop to 1.8 and blast away getting that cool “background out of focus” look. 

One day I’ll have booked enough gigs to afford the f/1.2 version.  Apparently, if you own that lens, the pictures basically take themselves.   Soon enough….