See you in Vegas! (EDITED with schedule)

It seems like it was just yesterday that we were bidding farewell and rushing to the airport to fly home from WPPI, (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) and the DWF, (Digital Wedding Forum) Convention. Now here we go again.

We're excited this year to be representing two of our favorite companies, GraphiStudio and liveBooks.


GraphiStudio has been our wedding book provider for the past three years. Their books are first-rate, beautiful, wedding books and we're excited to offer their product. We'll be working at the Graphi booth on Monday from 11 am to 4 pm with Maureen, Michelle, Lanae, Julie and the rest of the gang, so please stop by and say hello.

We'll also be spending time with liveBooks, the group who we recently partnered with to create our new website. liveBooks offers a phenomenal product and their service is second to none. We'll be speaking at the liveBooks booth on Tuesday from 11:45 to 12:15 and on Wednesday from 12 to 12:30, and we'd love to see you there. Click HERE to see the list of liveBooks speakers!.

EDITED by Joy since the most popular question from photographers these days have been: "What is your schedule?"

Our WPPI/DWF Schedule

Saturday 3/24:
Late night arrival

Sunday 3/25:
6 pm: WPPI Welcome Reception (by membership)
6 pm:GraphiStudio VIP Sneek Peek (by invitation)
8pm: Dinner with the Livebooks crew
10 pm: Swanky Soiree by Sarah France, Lauren Hillary, and Anna Costa (by invitation)
10 pm: OSP GTG at Napoleon's

Monday 3/26:
9 am: Thirst Relief Mentor Session
11 am-4 pm: Representing GraphiStudio tradeshow booth
4-5 pm: LiveBooks VIP Lounge (come meet us at the suite upstairs and if you're interested in learning more about Livebooks sites).
8 pm: BluDomain Shindig (by invitation)

Tuesday 3/27:
DWF Classes most of the morning/afternoon
11:45-12:15pm: Speaking at liveBooks tradeshow booth
6 pm: PICTAGE Party (by membership)
8 pm: DWF Party (by membership)
9 pm: Becker's party (by invitation)

Wednesday 3/28:
DWF Classes for most of morning/afternoon
12:00-12:30 pm: Speaking at LiveBooks tradeshow booth
Lunch plans

Thursday 3/29
DWF Classes for most of morning/afternoon
Dinner plans

Friday 3/30
Leave early morning

Stanley and Ellie's expansion

We met Stanley and Ellie about a year ago at our pastor's house. They're such a fun couple. Stanley is a videographer and Ellie teaches elementary school. We'd been talking about doing a maternity session with them for a while, so last week in between travels, we squeezed it in, late at night. As we expected, they did great!

We're so excited for them as they anticipate the birth of little Levi. Blessings to both as your family expands.

Jessica

We had a beautiful afternoon the other day to spend with Jessica doing her senior portraits at our studio. Jessica is an English major at Southern and she'll be graduating in May. She was also in my photography class last semester so it was fun to spend time photographing her.

Congratulations on your upcoming graduation, Jessica. God's blessings to you!

Lollie and Jason

We had a blast working with Lollie and Jason last weekend at their wedding at Paradise Cove in Orlando. Lollie and Jason live in Atlanta and it's been fun traveling around with them. We first met in Atlanta, then we did their e-session in Charleston and finally their wedding in Orlando. What fun!

Lollie was an absolutely beautiful bride and Jason looked pretty good too. It was such a fun lakeside wedding and the weather was just perfect.

Thanks so much, guys, for letting us be a part of your special day. May God bless you as you begin your new life together.

Katherine and Christian

We had such a blast working with Katherine and Christian on Sunday at the Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes in Orlando. Katherine was a beautiful bride and Christian, well, he was making it happen all day long.

Their ceremony was beautiful and the reception was a blast. Latin dancing all night long! Katherine even tried to get me out on the dance floor, but there were too many other cameras around and who wants to see a photographer dance anyhow?!?!?! :-)

Thanks so much Katherine and Christian for letting Joy and me be a part of your special day. May God bless you as you begin your new life together.

Keri and Daniel

We had a great time last weekend spending a couple hours with Keri and Daniel in Chattanooga doing their e-session. Keri and Daniel are getting married in a couple months and we're so excited to be working with them. Keri was one of our first clients to come into the new studio. It seems like just yesterday and I can't believe that it's almost time for their wedding.

Can't wait, guys!

The new GN website!

We've always felt that when it comes to vocation, if your passionate about what you do, provided there's a moderate amount of ability, you can figure out a way to make a living at it. This week I'm in Atlanta, attending a Dale Carnegie seminar with our good friend Andrew from LaCour Photo, and I'm reminded now more than ever how blessed we are to be able to do something we're so excited about.

We are excited to partner with liveBooks and we feel fortunate to have been asked to represent them by speaking for them later this month in Las Vegas on the tradeshow floor at WPPI.

The new site contains fresh new images, a handful of featured weddings and e-sessions, as well as some of the work we've done for publication, families, etc. The site contains three videos, one under the "meet us" tab, and two that are targeted toward photographers as they promote our DVD and our seminars. We're excited about the studio tour, as it allows non-Tennessee clients to "come to us." Another exciting feature is the music. We've gone back and forth weighing the positives and negatives of having music on a site. But when we heard Aaron Roche sing the beautiful song that he had written for Whitni at their wedding, our minds were made up. So a couple weeks ago Aaron went into the studio and recorded the piece specifically for our site. What a guy!

I ramble so easily. I could go on, but here's the link.

Melissa and Jered

We had a blast working with Melissa and Jered the other afternoon. They wanted to do their engagement session in Plant City, Florida because that's where they grew up, that's where they met, that's where they're getting married, etc.

We started out at the old 1914 building and got some fun images there. Then we headed over by the train depot and shot for a bit before they headed off to the Strawberry Festival.

Thanks so much, Melissa and Jered, for spending the afternoon with us. We can't wait for your wedding in October.

Baley and Ryan

Last week we had the honor of photographing Baley and Ryan's wedding at the Fairyland Club on top of Lookout Mountain. Baley and Ryan were an absolute delight to work with, from start to finish. And both of their families were a joy as well.

The morning started with an outstanding brunch prepared by the staff at the club. Then rehearsal, then everyone started getting ready for the big day. The decor was lovely, and the food at the reception...wow! Vegetable fajitas, fresh home-made salsa, cornbread and chili, salad, rice and curry tofu, mushroom canaloni, oh, it was amazing. Then for desert they had home-made brownies and gelato.

Congratulations Baley and Ryan on your marriage, and my God's richest blessings find you wherever you go.

Thirst Relief Benefit Mentor Auction at WPPI

FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS:

This is a message from Jim Davis-Hicks, founder of Thirst Relief International:

We have an amazing list of mentors this year at the WPPI Thirst Benefit Mentor Auction 2007.

If you'd like the opportunity to be mentored one-on-one for 90 minutes by any of these amazing and gifted photographers/business guides, then this is your chance!

Each mentor will take the time to review your portfolio, talk about business strategies or anything else you want to and have a one-on-one, face-to-face with you that your sure to benefit from!

Time and location will be determined by you and your mentor but will be held during the WPPI conference, unless you prefer a phone conference.

Highly gifted, credible, experienced and talented photographers donating their time so that lives can be saved and you can take your business to new levels! What a great combination!!!!

If you want to see the entire list of mentors and learn more about how to bid online go to: Thirst Relief auction

Happy Bidding!



The winning bid will receive a complimentary copy of our elevate for photographers DVD!

Brian the musician

So our dear friend Brian was back in town from New York for a few days of warm temperatures and relaxation before a performance in Huntsville next week. Brian was in our wedding and he and his wife Esther are some of our closest friends. They're the ones that we went to visit in New York last summer to build the fence for their dogs. Unfortunately Esther wasn't able to make it, but she'll be coming later in the week.

We've been talking about doing photographs for a while now, so it was fun to finally have the chance to shoot together. He had some ideas and Joy and I had some ideas and we combined them to get some really fun shots.

The last time I photographed Brian was in 2001, if my memory serves me correctly. It was in front of a black sheet with some old light kit that I didn't even know how to use. I couldn't help but laugh this afternoon when after about 10 minutes of shooting he said, "wow, Garrett, it seems like you've really improved."

I hope so, Brian, I really do. :-)