A great workshop opportunity

There are a few moments that I can look back on that I know played an integral part in me becoming a photographer. One of those is from my senior year of college, sitting in my dorm room, and seeing Bryan Johnson's wedding photography for the first time. I was blown away and it made me want to pursue my love of photography more.

I know it's kind of late notice, but I wanted to give you guys a heads up about an AMAZING opportunity in Birmingham next week ~ Bryan and his team from A Bryan Photo are offering a workshop for photographers to learn more about shooting, running a photo business, etc. etc. I SO wish I could go!!


If you can at all manage to fly, drive, walk to Birmingham next week, it will be SO worth the effort. I have learned so many things from Bryan over the years that are an integral part of our shooting style and business. I can only imagine having 3 whole days to pick his brain!

Here's the workshop website to contact him to sign up ~ and will you send me your notes?

Kate and Johnny: Wedding

Kate and Johnny's wedding day was, well, not exactly as they had envisioned it. We had talked in the days leading up to the wedding of the beautiful outdoor surroundings at the church and how we would incorporate them into the photos. Kate loves the mountains and the church she chose was on the top of Signal Mountain, very near where her own parents were married and where she and Johnny got engaged.

We all woke up Saturday morning to rain and the thickest fog I have seen in a while. That wasn't exactly the plan, but looking back, the main thing that characterized the day wasn't the weather, but how incredibly ecstatic Kate and Johnny each were to be marrying each other ~ they each wore it on their faces all day long!

Oh, and the photos turned out pretty great, too ... here's a look at some highlights!




I love the feeling of the guys out in the fog ... so unique!


A moment of prayer before the ceremony:



Happy to be Mr. and Mrs.!!!


Love this!



First dance:



The highlight of the reception was when Johnny changed into a white tux and busted some amazing moves ~ a little preview of what the rest of the night was like!


Kate and Johnny ~ we loved being a part of your beautiful day! Congratulations!

Missy and Andrew: Wedding

One of my favorite parts of my job is getting to be a part of the weddings of friends and loved ones! Missy and Andrew are good friends from college which made their wedding day just that much more fun! We were so honored when they asked us to document their day!

It was a cold rainy day but I guess that means good luck? In spite of the weather, it was a perfect day with beautiful venues and a host of amazing vendors. Here are a few favorites!



I usually don't show many family shots on the blog but this one of Missy with her mom and sister is one of my favorites of all time:


Getting her veil ~ Missy's dress was the vintage dress that her sister wore at her wedding! She looked so classic.



The lucky groom:

Gail Vandygriff coordinated everything at beautiful Wightman Chapel and it was such a gorgeous ceremony!




After the ceremony, we headed over to Belle Meade County Club where Anita Hogin and Hugh Howser of h three events had a fabulous party waiting!

English Garden by Terry White did the flowers and he never disappoints!


First dance:




I love this moment:

And the fun final surprise of the evening was that the rain turned to lots and lots of snow while we were in the reception! So fun!

Missy and Andrew, we love you guys and are so excited that you are finally Mr. and Mrs.!! Congrats and thanks for including us!!

A Little Something

We are home once again from a whirlwind trip ~ Nashville, Chattanooga, London, Paris, rain and snow, photo shoots and family time ... it was a little crazy but so much fun! Lots of new stuff to show you all!

Here's a little something from Missy and Andrew's wedding to tide you over until the rest are ready to go! What a fun night!

Josh and Kaitlin: Wedding

Adam and I quickly felt a connection with Josh and Kaitlin from our first meeting one day last year at a local Starbucks. They are a precious couple that we have quickly grown to love and we feel so honored to have been a part of their wedding!

I love the story of how they met ~ their younger siblings were dating and dragged them along for a double date. And, as it was told at the wedding, it soon became obvious that Josh and Kaitlin were the ones that were meant for each other.

It was one of those beautiful January days in California and these two were so surrounded by such loving friends and family throughout the day. But the best part of the day was watching them interact and love on each other. What a great day of celebrating their love!

Here are some of my favorite images from the day. Enjoy!

WPPI 2009

Last week, Adam and I spent our week working REALLY hard ... in Vegas. I know, I know ~ our life is so tough. We were actually there for work, though we found a few minutes for a little play as well!

Hanging out at the Bellagio:


Every year, the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) conference is held in Vegas and this year it finally worked out with my schedule to attend! We stayed at the fabulous MGM Signature which we would highly recommend ~ and spent several days attending workshops and checking out the newest products available.

Our view from the Signature ~ not bad!



Our little industry is so full of fabulous artists and wonderful people. It's always awesome to see old and new friends, and, let's be honest, the sub-culture of the "famous" photogs, the newbies, etc. is always entertaining! We got to hang out with the guys from A Bryan Photo and saw a sneak peak of their WPPI Top 10 which I'm sure will not disappoint ~ be sure to watch his blog for it in the coming days!

So we are home and back in the loop. And, while we unfortunately won't be adding woven photo blankets to our product line, our heads are packed full of new ideas for our clients in 2009 ~ it's going to be an awesome year!!

Talking Tweet

So I was hanging out with some of my favorite people last week when the topic of Twitter came up. I've been pretty resistant to it thus far but my buddy Jonathan from Matchbook Creative convinced me to take the plunge ... so now I'm in and kind of excited about it!




See right there on the right? You can read what I'm up to on a smaller scale than my blog.

For those of you who don't know what Twitter is (aka mom), it's a constant update of what I'm working on, where I am, what chocolate item I'm trying to pursuade Adam is good for me ... you know, the usual!

Here's my link if you want to follow me (is that what I'm supposed to say? still figuring this out!!):

www.twitter.com/maryrphoto

Hope that you are having a great week!