Alex the Photo Blog

Saturday, my friend used his connections  to hook me up with a press pass to get on the field for the War Eagles game.   I squeezed through plenty of AP and Reuters photographers lining the sidelines as the game was simulcast on ESPN and CSS Sports.  The stadium pressbox at the half was one of my better experiences while sending some initial JPEGs to the AJC from my new Macbook Pro.  The finger sandwiches were okay, but the wings were awesome- sweet and spicy of some delicious variety.   The second half was a real nail biter between these bitter rivals as I think I even heard a few new curse words to my experienced photojournalist ears.   I am happy to report that I safely dove out of the way of two particularly nasty looking tackles that would have broken no less than 4 of my bones. 

Unfortunately the War Eagles weren’t able to successfully combat the Raiders’ offensive prowess, but I was happy to hear from Sports Illustrated after the game that they need a couple of spreads for next week’s issue.  Apparently that Sean Mitchell is an up-and-coming phenom free safety, which you don’t hear very often.  I’m definitely looking to get a couple of prints signed next time I’m on the field.

Pictures rarely do live sports justice, but I will say these guys look bigger in person. 

Ross and Courtney were married on September 25th at the Swilley Chapel in the Second Ponce De Leon Baptist Church in Buckhead.  As Keri and I start our own plans for our wedding, I love picking up on tips from brides.  For example, chapel prices can be almost half of sanctuary prices… I had no idea.  As you can see below, chapel weddings are just beautiful!

Ross works with me at my “day job,” so I was honored when he asked me to shoot his wedding.  Keri and I were going to be there anyway, so I was excited at the opportunity to be the photog for the day.  They couldn’t have asked for better weather!  It was such a great fall day, albeit a little warm.  Deep blue skies with a few cotton-fluffy clouds scattered about.  The reception was at Kimball Hall in Roswell on “wedding row” as I’ve come to call Mimosa Blvd.  The Kimball Hall staff did a great job with the indoor and outdoor decorations as well as the food.

I’ll let the pictures below do the rest of the talking.

This was the sweetest part of the wedding: the silent time for the couple to pray.

…then Ross gave Courtney a little kiss, and she said “wait! not yet!” as they walked back to the altar.
Hence the light-hearted laughter.

Apparently going out of the country means you forget about all the work you wanted to do before you left.  My sister, who attended Auburn for undergrad, sent me a text last night that read “hey- you still haven’t blogged about that Auburn wedding! I want to see the pix!”

Sorry for the delay!  I had a great time in Auburn for Regan and Jeff’s wedding weekend.  Everything was beautiful and was at a cute little chapel right across from Samford Hall on campus.  There were hints of rain, but never caused anyone any problems.  Regan looked beautiful in her dress and Jeff looked distinguished with his silver vest and tie.  The reception was definitely a party!  I have so many pictures of people dancing you’d think they were at a downtown NYC club and not an antebellum home in Auburn.  Afterward I went out with all the bridesmaids (and their husbands) and ended up eating pizza with a few friends from the wedding in a hotel room until 4am.   Most photographers don’t get such a royal treatment… 

War Eagle!

Saturday, Keri and I attended Ross and Courtney’s wedding- Keri as guest and encourager, and me as photographer.

It’s so easy to shoot weddings when there’s good weather, a pretty church, and good lookin’ people.  I’ll have more pictures soon, but for now here’s a shot from Kimball Hall’s courtyard.   This so far is my favorite pic from the night.  Thanks to Ross and Courtney for being so good at holding still for a slow shutter speed.