gretchen & steve are married!!!

despite an uncommonly wet week and still a threat of storms for the weekend, saturday showed up all aglow in brilliant colors. i should know. i was there when her rays first fell on the orange-brown and yellow foliage outside my borrowed bedroom window. (and, believe me, that early in the morning not even that picturesque scene looked as lovely as it sounds.)

saturday came especially for gretchen and steve. it was their wedding day. eileen and i drove down to atlanta the night before to document its every moment. like the bride and groom, we were going to need lots of energy to make it through the 15-hour workday. so naturally, also like the bride and groom, we barely slept a wink.

after an early friday morning here in athens, eileen went ahead of me to design and draw the giant chalkboard menu for her brother's coffee shop, land of a thousand hills. (his is the location at walton on the chattahoochee. highly recommended for quality and ambiance.) i followed after work, and we pulled an all-nighter at the home of eileen's other brother, andy, and his wife carrie. (thanks for putting us up -- and putting up with us -- you guys.)

unhappily, eileen and i are both something of perfectionists. so our pre-wedding planning takes way longer than it should, what with all the equipment cleaning, multiple itinerary reviews, and analytical discussions about image ideas. but, hey, that's the way we get down; whatcha gonna do? we just wanted the day to go as smoothly as it could. so we did what we could, and got up early to say a prayer for our friends "che" and steve on their very important day. all is in God's hands.

in the end, if we did our job, the result should be honest images that capture a history-making saturday and -- if we're really lucky -- capture that glowing brilliance of a bride and her beau that even such a saturday cannot outshine.

below: with help from mom, gretchen slips into her wedding gown at the last minute. the gown was a little late. luckily, everyone was willing to wait on her before starting the ceremony.

calla lilies make beautiful bouquets -- if you're looking for ideas.

holy spirit catholic church made a grand stage for the wedding -- the opening act of what will be a wonderful story.

gretchen's grandfather earned a kiss, probably for his role in helping walk her down the aisle. or maybe she just thinks he's a great guy. (my feeling is that both are true.)

i hesitate even to tell the story that accompanies this next photo. it's rather gory. so you sensitive sorts probably should skip this part so as not to ruin the simple elegance you associate with this beautiful dove -- who DIES!

okay, now that we've lost those people... it all began when somebody had the bright idea to release two doves preceding the wedding reception. the release was inspiring, as you can see. inspiring, that is, until a hawk flew in like a bat out of hell, attacked one dove, and then settled down for dinner in his nest -- all within the viewing of shocked wedding guests. the humanity! (or is it "dove-anity"?) a bad omen, you say? i think not. what does the scripture say? something about many waters cannot quench love -- and dove-eating hawks shall not overcome it!?

the groom-and-mother dance was one of the sweetest i've seen. a very proud mother -- and a very teary moment.

you gotta have faith

after some recent consultations with potential clients, i suddenly became aware of a trend arising among our subjects. they're all filipino! and it isn't just family. apparently we've found a niche among eileen's peeps. ;)

so i guess we have to give credit where it's due. there's no getting around it. i think the quality of our images has to be credited mostly to how photogenic filipinos are. so keep calling on us! and our consultations will continue to begin not with "nice to meet you," but "have you eaten yet?"

however -- to be clear -- yes, we will take your photograph even if you aren't filipino. ;)

our most recent filipina subject is the brilliant, energetic, and beautiful faith elizabeth. (don't those cheeks just scream for a good pinching?) at two years old, she's already speaking in complex sentences and remembers names better than i can at 25.

her proud mommy and daddy are "tita" and "tito" to us. and we couldn't be prouder to be faith elizabeth's "ate" and "kuya." (if only she lived close enough for more frequent cheek-pinchings. alas, florida is so far.) don't grow up too fast, faith elizabeth. xoxo

carrie & andy (...and ella)

what a week, eh!? another presidential election came and went, history was made, and no angry, gun-toting mobs threatened our peace after all. (i'm afraid the same probably cannot be said for any moose wandering near an alaskan city when the voting ended.)

in other news this week, i was able to fill my car to "full" without maxing out my credit. a little disappointing, since i didn't earn anywhere near the points i had been racking up on my discover card. but i'm an optimist. so i couldn't help smiling when we paid just $1.98/gal. on the way back from snellville, where we took these maternity photos.

the happy parents-to-be are eileen's brother andy and his lovely wife, carrie (who was glowing, i might add). we haven't met our niece ella yet, but she appears to be rather oval-shaped.

a baby shower followed the photo session, and almost our entire family came together for it -- which, since we're all spread out, only happens on very special occasions or on days of the week that end in "-day."

here's to you ella. we can't wait to meet you next month. sorry your birthday falls so close to christmas. you'll have to get used to it, life is tough -- and wonderful!

these are some of our favorite black-n-whites. can't you just picture them framed?

i love the shot of andy kissing carrie's tummy. you better believe this kid is gonna get a lot more of those after she's born. andy is a fanatic for cute babies -- and ella is bound to be one of the cutest!

here is one of our ninang ("godmother") ruthie's many artistic contributions to the young parents: a delicious cake, complete with edible pregnant woman. (now that's ironic. a pregnant woman who is "eaten" instead of "eating.")

looks yummy, huh? let me give you an idea. the icing on the cupcakes was made with six sticks of butter. yeah, they were yummy.

wow! how 'bout them baby blues?

carrie's and andy's niece, emily, was supposed to give baby ella a hug for the camera. this is the closest we got.

we love you, carrie, andy, and ella. congratulations!

business & pleasure

baby logan's portrait session and gretchen & steve's engagement session are now up on the gallery page. check 'em out!




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it's rare that i get two days off in a row in the middle of the week, so i decided to use this time to play catch-up on photog stuff. i realized that once i get started, however, it's hard for me to stop. i was telling phillip yesterday how i hadn't given myself a break in hours and my legs were cramping up from sitting too long in front of the computer. then i said to him, "but i'm loving every bit of it!" how can i complain? communicating through visual arts is what i enjoy doing, so i sometimes forget i'm "working." for phillip and me, business IS pleasure.

the girl of my dreams (...and my favorite co-worker)

...not that you aren't great to work alongside, too, dad. (i also work with dear old dad in our family's pool and spa shop.) but you have to admit, eileen looks a whole lot better in a wedding dress.

for the longest time (like practically since i laid eyes on her) i've wanted to photograph this beautiful woman who is now my bride. and this weekend, after nearly a year of marriage and no time to squeeze it in, we finally did it. i loaded my camera with a fresh roll of 35mm (okay, it was a CF memory card -- but, really, how romantic does that sound??), eileen loaded her dress with a fresh stick of dy-no-MITE, and we were off for a long overdue bridal session.

as those of you who know her can testify, eileen tends to shy away from the spotlight; so this took some coaxing. when we arrived at the park and she realized other people were there, too, the whole thing almost didn't happen. but she loosened up, and the results... well, you can see for yourself!

by the way, this post-marital photo shoot has got me thinking. ladies, have you ever asked yourself what good use you might put that wedding dress stuffed in the back of your closet to? it's never too late for bridal portraits. well, you may not want to put it off until your golden anniversary. let's just say there's no time like the present!

anyhow, as much as she rocks that white gown, that's nothing compared to how she rocks the flannel pajamas. so, i'm gone...



























what a cut-up! ha!!