Gaston-Stuart Wedding

I do not know words to express how much it means to me when a former student comes back into my life through photography. I am very aware that I keep my feelings well hidden, so few of my students realize how much I have really loved them and have been blessed by knowing/teaching them. So, when sweet Meredith sent me an email (from China, no less) and asked if I could photograph her wedding I was SO honored and happy. YES, YES, YES I could photograph her wedding!!!




Meredith and Rush both attended Auburn, but didn't meet there. They actually met on the mission field in China! Their sweet Chinese friends gave them an umbrella and a fan that are important parts of a traditional Chinese wedding. The phoenix represents the lady and the dragon represents the man. The color red symbolizes blessings and harmony. The fan says, "The lady is like a flower; the gentleman should marry her." The man carries the umbrella for the lady and the lady carries the fan.




The beautiful celebration of their marriage took place at First Baptist Church in Montgomery - one of my favorite locations for weddings!





After a short trolley ride they arrived at the Alley Station Ballroom which turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL place for a reception!





Thank you, thank you, Rush & Meredith for allowing me to capture these special memories for you. Your gallery is uploading tonight.

I will have to give credit to all the wonderful vendors who participated in making this such a beautiful occasion in a later post. Our family is celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend. I will be back to editing and updating on Monday.

Many, many thanks to Diana Bunch and Jeri Gulsby for second shooting & assisting. I could not have done this without their help!

Christmas 2010 Part 1

I love this time of year when I get to see my clients for a reserved Christmas portrait session. This is a sample from the first gallery going online today.






It will be a day or two before the remainder of the galleries are edited and uploaded. I've got to take time out for the Iron Bowl and our Thanksgiving meal on Sunday. But I promise to have them all online early next week in time for Christmas gifts and cards!

Enjoy Christmas

Christmas Sessions are finally here! Just a few from today:


f/1.2; 1/125s; ISO 100; Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM lens



f/1.2; 1/125s; ISO 100; Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM lens



f/1.4; 1/125s; ISO 100; Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens



f/1.2; 1/125s; ISO 200; Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM lens



f/1.2; 1/125s; ISO 200; Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM lens

(I don't usually take the time to post exif data, but several of us are renting lenses this week trying to decide on our next investment.)

Looking forward to many more sweet pictures to post this week!

Enjoy Pirates

Elijah was a pirate for Halloween. His other grandmother always comes up with the cutest costumes. My job is to photograph them :)





These were taken with the Canon 5D Mark II and a lens I'm trying out from BorrowLenses.com: the Canon 85mm 1.2.

Enjoy Daughters

Okay, the perfectionist in me must point out that I did not take this photograph (mine would definitely have been better) and it was scanned from newsprint (which degrades the quality even more). But the mama in me is so proud of my daughter! She is a graphic designer for the Southern Poverty Law Center. This photograph appeared in the Fall 2010 SPLC Report (vol 40, number 3).



YAY! That's my girl :D