Becky Reid, my inspiration

I was honored when Becky Reid asked me to photograph her wedding. The affair took place on December 28, 2006 in Rome, Georgia. Becky, a fellow photojournalist, knew me from the University of Georgia. Despite being several years younger than me, Becky had more PJ experience and was my first photo editor while I shot for the UGA student newspaper: The Red and Black. Upon graduation, I took a staff position at our local newspaper, The Athens Banner-Herald. Becky became our freelancer and later moved to London, UK. Becky continues to amaze me with her uncanny ability to enterprise her own assignments. It seems every time I talk with her she is galavanting around the globe shooting a story in China, Spain and Kyrgyzstan... Becky Reid is an inspiration and living proof that if you are determined and follow through with your dreams, you can have a career doing what you love. Her husband, Dan is such a lovely man and I am thrilled that they found one another.

As a side note, I talked my former collegue (and fabulous photographer) at the ABH, Dot Paul, into assisting me with this wedding rather than being a boring ole' guest. hee hee. Dot and I had a blast working together again and it was our pleasure to photograph this event. Here's the three of us: Dot, Becky, and I.

Atlanta Wedding Party

My best pal from high school, Anne, threw me a party in Atlanta at her house for all the Atlanta folks who couldn't make it (and those that did) out to Arizona for our wedding. We were a really tight knit bunch in high school and it was great to see the old Marist crowd. In a way, it made me miss Atlatna and all those friends a lot, but I do get to see everyone often, since I still book about 1 wedding a year in Georgia. My point and shoot is still broken, so thanks to Cathy for sending over these images.

Borlings get shot

A little shoot with my good married friends Annie and Erik here in Flagstaff. We had fun!

Susie & Kevin: Tlaquepaque

Susie and Kevin were married in the Tlaquepaque chapel the day after Thanksgiving. It was such a lovely wedding and their children were so charming, friendly and loving.

Philadelphia

Over Thanksgiving we flew one-way to Philadelphia and celebrated my nephew's first birthday. We went to the Aquarium with my niece and then drove cross-country in our new-to-us car. Here are my niece and nephew...

Jessica and Jason

Jessica and Jason were married at the Caleo Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. Jessica had so many fabulous details. I loved her 'family tree' --see below...

Erica and Justin

Loved this couple from NYC! They were so very in love and both bride and groom had fun during their event, which can be challenging when you are the center of attention. It was a destination wedding for most of the guests and everyone had a blast. This crowd knew how to party.

Halloween

My sister is living with Matt and I at the moment, so we were Three's Company for Halloween. Other shot is from our annual pumpkin carving party .

Kristin & Matt

I feel lucky to have introducted Matt and Kristin. Matt is an Atlanta high school friend whom I've known since my 15th birthday. Kristin is a rock star that I knew from the good ole' days in Athens. I fixed them up a few years back and well, they got married this past weekend. It was really special for me to attend such a close friend's wedding AND not have to work. Because I am working at so many weddings, I sometimes miss the "good stuff." Luckily, I got to be a guest at their wedding and I even felt calm because I knew Marc Climie had the photography covered. I DID shoot a few images, because I really do feel lost at weddings without my camera, so a few frames helps me feel 'normal.' I especially liked that I knew the family and could snap this one of Matt's Dad and sister dancing.

Evy

I love this child. This is Matt's cousin, Chris's daughter. We like to think of Chris as Matt's brother, so I'm going to use the term neice. Evy is my niece and isn't she cute?

Kelly and Lee

Kelly and Lee. Silhouettes are always spectacular.

96 Rocks

Drew always has cool shoes

I graduated high school in 1996 from Marist in Atlanta, Georgia. My parents lived in Atlanta until 2003, so this September was our 10 year reunion and it was a blast. I stayed in Atlanta with my bud, Drew, who I miss a LOT and don't see enough, despite the fact that I live in a fabulous vacation destination. hummm....

late night

Napa California

Matt's cousin Kim was married a Auberge du Soleil in Napa, California. Our trip was a full week and we toured San Francisco a few nights as well. The theme of the trip was 'food' as we ate our way through Northern California. I remembered how much I love San Francisco--I was born in the city. Most of these shots are with my Fuji F11, point and shoot camera, which I love. It takes great photos.


Napa was quaint and loaded with excellent wine. I only photographed a little bit at Kim's wedding, as I had instructions to participate as a guest, but it's hard to avoid a few quick shots... especially since Kim had unique details everywhere. The 'Belize' card, amoung others, told stories of places they had vacationed, how they feel in love and Mike's proposal in London. It was a romantic idea and it doubled as their table names.

I caught this candid moment as Kim danced with her Dad. Canon 30D 1600 ISO 24-70mm 2. 8 at 1/15 of a second. I wish I shot it with my 85 f1.2!

Matt and I took a road trip down the California coast, HWY 1, and it was breath-taking. I had no idea California had such a pristine coastline intact. Great towns to visit along the way. Carmel, Monterrey, Santa Cruz, and finally tiny San Simeon, where William Randolph Hearst built an incredible mansion (including this pool, below). We stayed overnight (at this steller hotel on the coast--see Matt with binoculars, below) and toured the castle in the morning and it was worth it. I pretended I was an LA movie star invited to the Castle for the weekend. You could taste the parties and the glamour and I love 1940 as we toured its unbelieveable grounds.

Carmel

Erica and Nate

Had a lot of fun with Erica and Nate. We did a photo shoot the day after the wedding, and was able to really relax and get some great images. We even went up to a special site in Sedona to get that landscape image!

I got married

Yes, after a year or more planning this event, it is over. We got married June 17, 2006 in Hart Prairie, a remote National Forest 15 or so miles from Flagstaff. It was gorgeous with a mountain backdrop. The million dollar question this past year was "who is going to shoot YOUR wedding?" Answer: LaCour. Granted I did know Mark, one of LaCour's four photographers, from college but this isn't why I chose them. I chose LaCour because of their ability to truly capture moments and they did just that. View my own wedding slideshow here.

Vanessa & Jeff

I was in Brazil last week shooting a wedding! What a great country. I loved everything about it, it was a great mix of European style housing and South American culture. Everyone was very friendly. Half the week I stayed with a Brazilian family-- thanks Renata and Phillipe! They fed me three meals and day and everything was delicious and I really felt like I made some Brazilian friends. I hope they will come visit me and go to the Grand Canyon. The wedding was incredible, with a caparinia bar and a 12 piece band and an entire desert table featuring tasty little temptations. It was overwhelming visually and I think I managed to capture it well. Vanessa and Jeff were incredible to work with-- very much in love and we did a post wedding photo shoot at the beach, which definitely paid off. Buzios is an incredible place. I could've spent a month just documenting that town! View the slideshow