Rebecca & Lucky: Part 2 [Athens Wedding Photography]

A bit behind on blogging in case my avid readers can't tell.  Here is part two of Rebecca & Lucky's Athens wedding.  I will say out of most of the weddings I shoot- these guys threw a pretty wild reception!  I start this series with the following shot of the father of the groom- just to give you an idea of the festivities to come.

Yep- the fire department showed up.  I'm not entirely sure if we had anything to do with it or not...but I assume so.  We waited until the firemen went inside the hotel before we lit the sparklers for the exit.  ;)

Christmas In Febtober: A January Summer Wedding Post

With the New Year comes reflections on 2012.  Though I have no grand ideas and emotions I'd like to emote, I will say I am launching a few ventures this year to help Alex The Photo Guy keep the business strong in the new year.  I resolve to shoot more projects for myself and hang out with Marc Del Santro taking photos out in the wilderness (I have a few ideas for 2013 on that).  I also resolve to market my wedding business harder, update my website, follow-up on emails quicker, and stay on top of the blog.  With the latter resolution comes two blog posts- both way late, as they were weddings I shot during the summer at the height of the heat wave.  I generally stay on top of blog posts, but with wedding season continuing strong from summer to fall I fell behind on these two on the blog.

The first wedding I'm making up lost ground on was Sallie and Aaron in Asheville, NC.  Sallie is one of my sister's best friends and she had a beautiful wedding at the Biltmore UMC and Doubletree Hotel.  It was a beautiful location wedding, albeit a very hot weekend.  The one thing Sallie told me was "I HAVE to have a mountain view shot."  My trusty second shooter, Curt, accompanied me on the trip and we spent a few hours the day before scouting locations near the church that we could get to and from before the reception.  In the end it turned out, the best shot was in the parking lot of the church.  Few people saw this shot with their naked eye beforehand.  That's because the trained eye of a photographer knows he needs to to lay on the black asphalt with a long lens in order to avoid parking barriers and the rusted chain link fence below the hill.  Plus, it helped that the sun poked its head from behind the clouds for just a moment, parting the way for the mountains.  ;)

 

Double-Header + 2 Portrait Session Weekend Teaser!

My friends generally know that I often have busy weekends.  However, this weekend was my first wedding double-header in a while- one Friday and one Saturday.  On top of that I had a maternity/family session on Sunday and a 3-month baby session on Monday.  Needless to say I was a bit nervous about it all week.  My main fear, oddly enough, was that I throw my back out at the Friday wedding and was unable to shoot the Saturday wedding.  That obviously didn't happen, but I did find out for sure that I have begun getting tennis elbow from lifting about 15 pounds of camera, batteries, battery grip, flash, and wireless flash trigger over 1,000 times each day with poor form by my right arm.  Both nights I actually had to ice my elbow!  I'm getting old!

Both weddings went great.  If you were outside at all this weekend you know the weather was some of the best Atlanta has to offer.  Blue skies, warm days, cool evenings- just about everything you could ask for in a wedding- both of which were outdoors!  I'll give more dedicated posts on both weddings once I get through editing the photos, but I will say I had a ton of fun all weekend.  Rachel and Andy had such a fun group of guests and bridal party at Park Tavern that I ended up spending most of my time on the dance floor!

Here are a few photos from Rachel and Andy's wedding:

Lindsey and Mario had a beautiful wedding at Donaldson Bannister Farm in Dunwoody- actually the very first one that the venue has seen!  I initially thought they "just" planned the wedding (note: the word "just" is in quotations), but after the ceremony Mario told me the ceremony site- a beautiful grassy garden area on the property- was a swimming pool just about a month ago!  He laid all of the sod and did the landscaping himself!  Here are a few from their wedding:

Now here are a couple from the Sullivan family shoot followed by two from my sister's 3-month old- Hudson.  I know I know- I'm an incredibly efficient blogger!  I say that jokingly- more on these 4 events to come!

Jessica and Jeff | Atlanta Wedding Photography

Jessica and Jeff's wedding was one of the most fun weddings I've been to, including many that I attend as a guest.  The two of them did a superb job of a true DIY wedding.  Take a look at the photos and see at how they turned a grassy field into a beautiful ceremony and an open part-time photography studio  into a warm party palace.  The incredible food was provided by the tastiest food truck I've ever met met- Ibiza Bites (see marshmallow fluff covered sweet potato fires below!).  There was beauty at every turn, be it the weather, the preparations, or simply the bride and groom.  I couldn't have asked for a better wedding to shoot.  Even after the bridal getaway, the DJ  (Andrew Wroblewski, featured below) spun tunes while the bridesmaids packed up the decorations and leftover beer.  I can't say I didn't end up with decorations and beer in my hatchback at the end of the night.  ;)

 

Carly and Russell Engagements

Last week I discovered that I never posted the engagement photos that led to booking Carly and Russell's wedding this spring.  I'd like to think it was due to my incredible artful eye and posing ability that they chose me over other talented Atlanta photographers, but really it was because they are just a darn good lookin' couple.  Carly even has modeling experience- and it shows!  I will say that they told me I made them feel pretty comfortable since Carly said Russell hates being in photos.  That was a compliment I take to heart because if you can't build trust with your clients on a shoot, then you won't have great photos and happy clients who want to come back for more!

Carly and Russell at the hand made kitchen table that they built from salvaged barn wood.

Sinclair / Brown Wedding!

Happy Monday everyone!  This post is long overdue, but I have the photos from Carly and Russell's wedding!  You may remember this beautiful couple from the engagement session I did with them back in 2011.  And now that I search my blog for the link to their engagements, I realize I never posted them... I'll have to fix that in the very very near future.  :)

Carly and Russell were married at the Druid Hill United Methodist Chapel and had their reception at the Atlanta Brewing Company.  I LOVE the brewery reception idea:  local beer, ping pong, darts, and catered BBQ!  We had an awesome time, the weather was perfect, and everyone danced their butts off to the Brian Wiltsey Band.  For me, this was also a great wedding as it was my first wedding with a true second shooter.  I've had an assistant before (my lovely wife, Keri), but never someone who could fetch AND shoot!  I can say he helped a ton and was integral in another wedding I shot two weekends ago in Asheville, NC.  Now, without further ado: the photos!

The bride walking outside the chapel with a blanket so the groom doesn't see her.  :)

Carly's sister played her down the aisle.

Carly surprised Russell with the Tech Trolley to shuttle them to the reception!

The bouquet toss was interesting on first attempt- Carly showed a little too much muscle!

... and with an hour left in the reception, Carly voluntarily decided to tip Curt off to the single girls out on the dance floor.  :)

Curt and I were having so much fun that one of the guests "borrowed" one of our camera for a moment to document us!

Isabella McKinney | Norcross Photographer

Had a busy couple of lunch breaks last week full of newborn photos.  Here are a few shots from Monday's shoot of Isabella McKinney.  She's just a few weeks old and already has more facial expressions than a teenager.

New Alex The Photo Guy site is LIVE!

I've owned the domain since college.  Three years ago I re-upped it's registration and I contracted my good friend Greg Vilines at Webnormous to begin work on the site.   Then a combination of producing an album, playing in a band, get married, and having his house burn down slowed Greg's progress on the site a bit.  A combination of helping with the album, buying a house, running a photo business, general laziness, and getting engaged slowed me down too.  I know my excuses aren't as valid as a house fire, but regardless of the timing, it is finally LIVE! Greg built the whole thing from scratch and he did a damn good job on it.  I know I was a difficult client at times but in the end we got it all worked out.  There will be a few tweaks made in the coming months, but since it's 99% done, we figured why not launch it?  This will be a soft opening for my six blog readers and facebook friends until I get it 100% finished.

Keep in mind the new site isn't going to be a replacement for the blog- just think of it as a "best of Alex the Photo Guy."  I'll still keep you up to date with my crazy photo antics here on the blog, so don't stop reading!

Let me know what you think!  Many thanks again to Greg who did all the hard work.  All I did was take a few photos.  If you need a website, let me know and I'll get you in contact with Webnormous.