Vanessa & Tim were married in Pigeon Forge, TN this past weekend at a cabin overlooking the Smokey Mountains. It was an intimate family affair with a lovely relaxed vibe. Sonya Scott handled the planning for Vanessa & Tim, who flew in from California to get married in our great state. Vanessa had her hair and makeup done at the Colour Bar & Spa in Pigeon Forge.

Some of the highlights from the day for me included:
-Tim’s reaction in the first look. I just love it when a groom is so excited about how awesome his bride looks.
-I was happy to be able to find that higher angle for the ceremony shot. Its always fun to find an unusual perspective.
-Vanessa & Tim did a choreographed first dance, and Daniel had just the perfect angle and timing for one of the big moves.
-Grandma was awesome. I could make a blog post just of pictures of her.

You can register to see all of these images and order prints once I have the entire set edited at this link:
Vanessa & Tim’s Pictage Gallery

image by Daniel Shaw

image by Daniel Shaw

image by Daniel Shaw

image by Daniel Shaw

image by Daniel Shaw

image by Daniel Shaw

Push up contest. Vanessa won.

Vanessa’s Dad

Kimmia and Brent were married this past Saturday in a Persian ceremony at the Hutton Hotel, followed by a traditional Western ceremony at Scarritt Bennett Center’s Wrightman Chapel. Kimmia purchased her amazing dress at The Bride Room, and Stephanie Russell of Hair Mafia styled Kimmia’s hair. Kimmia and Brent had both an outstanding band: Band 24/7, and a solid DJ to keep the party rolling when the band wasn’t playing. Special thanks to the wonderful Gipsy Williams from Enchanted Brides for her help with the portraits!

After working with Kimmia three times now: her engagement session, bridal portraits, and now her wedding, I have to say that my favorite part of photographing her is that she’s not only beautiful but expressive. Kimmia’s happiness is infectious, and it translates marvelously well into documentary photography. But not only is Kimmia photogenic: her entire family are wonderful subjects: witness Daniel’s brilliant portrait of her father, Kimmia’s gorgeous mother and her two lovely gowns, or the numerous instances where her outgoing brother Nima appears in this series.

Obviously, this is a large set of photos… due in part to the extended nature of the coverage. Note that as usual, about 80% of these images are completely un-posed and documentary in nature.

You can register to see the entire wedding once I have it edited by registering at the link HERE.

Kimmia’s mother modeling the first of her gowns

yep, those are some granny panties

Kimmia’s Dad, image by Daniel Shaw

image by Daniel Shaw

Opening the gift from Brent, with bridesmaid looking on

The girls practicing their hip-hop/Persian entry dance for the reception

first look

image by Daniel Shaw

Yes, that’s Kimmia’s brother Nima in the middle rocking his Jason Alexander pose.

image by Daniel Shaw

image by Daniel Shaw

image by Evan Baines & Daniel Shaw

image by Daniel Shaw

As they cut the cake, the piece started to fall over, prompting Kimmia to lunge and catch it

Kimmia wanted a more contemporary and stylized look for her bridal portraits, which we did in the studio a few weeks ago. Kimmia is beautiful and easy to work with, which always makes my job more fun.

Congratulations on your wedding Kimmia and Brent! Check out the blog soon for wedding photos!

Amanda and I traveled to Chicago this past weekend to photograph an engagement session for Gesica & Dan. We’re always up for a visit to Chicago, as its a chance to visit my brother and eat his ridiculously good food.

I think my favorite shots from the set are the ice cream photos, in that I think there is a level of relaxation and personality in those shots that really says something about Gesica and Dan’s personalities. I love his expression in the third shot of that series, for instance, because you get a sense of Dan’s sense of humor.

Thanks for a great session, and for enduring the mosquitoes. Cheers guys!

Carrie & Brandon were married at historic Cedarwood this past Saturday. Fortunately, the thunderstorm held off until after the ceremony, and everyone was safely under Cedarwood’s lovely pavilion.

Brandon is a former military guy (like me), and used to fly around in those crazy Osprey aircraft. An Osprey is like a cross between a helicopter and a fixed-wing plane… or as I see it like a helicopter with even more things that can go wrong. I never liked helicopters on my best days: they were the only aircraft I was ever happy to jump out of. Brandon has much respect from me.

One of my favorite parts of this set is the series of headshots of the guys. We got one quick group photo out on the truck, and I made the executive decision that it was sweltering and we needed AC fast. Since we went inside, I decided to focus on a strong individual headshot of each groomsman to compliment the group shot we already had. The guys were total cut-ups, and things really got goofy when I accused one of them of giving me a “puppy dog” look. In response, he only intensified his efforts at giving me a puppy-dog look, and that set the tone for the rest of the photos. Lots of “blue steel” looks and laughter ensued, and I think these shots reflect the guys’ personalities far better than the more subdued versions I was sure to catch for each one.

Thanks for choosing Dan & I to document your wedding guys! And also thanks to the wonderful staff at Cedarwood for running such a great event!

image by Daniel Shaw

This shot reminds me of an Irving Penn still life. Good work Dan!

image by Daniel Shaw

image by Daniel Shaw

image by Daniel Shaw

image by Daniel Shaw

that’s lightning in the background

check out Brandon’s follow through here… impressive!

Shelby & Alex were married at Connell Memorial United Methodist Church in Goodlettsville, TN this past Saturday on a sultry (hot!) summer day. Shelby got her hair and makeup done at Z Salon, while the guys spent the morning golfing at the appropriately-named Shelby Park Golf Course.

One thing that I saw that was new to me was that Shelby & Alex chose to combine a unity cross instead of the more traditional unity candle. They combined a piece from each of them to form one cross, which will be displayed in their home. You can see detail photos in this set of both the separate pieces and the finished cross.

My favorite image in this set is of Alex’s grandfather spinning his girlfriend around the dance floor. The man has some moves.

The couple also chose to have an anniversary dance, and I enjoy the image of the couple bracketed by both sets of parents on the dance floor.

The last photo is significant in that Alex is a huge Memphis Tigers fan, and so certain unnamed individuals decorated his car with a strong University of Tennessee theme, including a profession of love for UT’s head basketball coach Bruce Pearl. Alex was bemused.

Thanks for having Daniel and I as part of your day guys!

image by Daniel Shaw

image by Daniel Shaw

image by Daniel Shaw

Alex & his soon-to-be father-in-law

image by Daniel Shaw

image by Daniel Shaw

We will be toasting our new home with a bottle of Piper Heidsieck Rare Vintage 1999, bottled on the hundredth anniversary of our house’s construction.

Cheers everyone!

Amy & Scott met a few years back while they were both attending The University of the South at Sewanee, and that is the beautiful location they chose for their wedding this past Saturday. Daniel and I provided coverage of both the rehearsal dinner and the wedding, and both since it was a really warm and heartfelt rehearsal dinner and because I don’t think I have any other rehearsal dinner shots on the site, I’ve chosen to include a few of those at the beginning of this set. Being there the night before also gave Daniel and I a chance to get some cool night shots of All Saints Chapel, where the wedding would be held the next day.

Alas, due to a history with obtrusive photographers, All Saints Chapel has been forced to be quite restrictive with regards to photography during the ceremony. But despite being confined to a seat in the back (which actually represented a concession from their normal policy of not allowing photographers inside the chapel at all), I was able to produce some strong images of the ceremony in this amazing venue.

I was warned about two things in advance of the reception: the band would be serious and that Scott can dance. Indeed, Burning Las Vegas was one of the best performing groups I’ve seen at a wedding: killer musical talent and a very polished dance presentation with light effects. And Scott truly had a penchant for spinning girls around the dance floor. Fast action like that required a slightly different approach from much of my normal reception work, and I was happy to have a variety of techniques at my disposal to capture such challenging subject matter.

Thank you to Amy and Scott for making Daniel and I a part of your day! If you would like to register to see a full gallery of this wedding and order prints when I have finished editing all the photos, please click here.

Rehearsal Dinner

image by Daniel Shaw

Wedding Day

phone call with Scott

image by Daniel Shaw

image by Daniel Shaw

Amy made a BIG deal that her dad not cry or get all mushy when he saw her for the first time. So Dad walks out, puts on his best smirk, and says: “you don’t look half as good as I thought you’d look.” (of course he and everyone else knew Amy looked gorgeous). This got a high-5 from Amy.

Amy’s dad and two sisters

We created these bridal portraits for Amy at The University of the South in Sewanee, where she had her wedding yesterday. Amy had her mother’s wedding dress re-made, and its a lovely combination of vintage and contemporary style. It was a lovely opportunity to visit Sewanee for the first time (complete with a visit to Shenanigans), and we were blessed with perfect weather. Amy and Scott were married yesterday, so please keep your eye peeled for her wedding post which should be up here soon!

Doug and Jackie are wonderful people and great photographers. I was thrilled and honored to be chosen to photograph their epic wedding on the shore of Lake Erie. I brought along my good friend Miami wedding photographer Tony Schreiber to tag-team this massive event. We shot for 15 hours. We shot on boats, in the water, in abandoned industrial facilities, and under fireworks.

Amanda and I have become good friends with Doug and Jackie over the course of their engagement, and we have a lot in common with them. I was surprised to find that by coincidence they had chosen the same blessing for their wedding as we chose for ours:

Apache Blessing:
Now you will feel no rain,
for each of you will be shelter for the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
for each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there will be no loneliness,
for each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons,
but there is only one life before you.
May beauty surround you both in the
journey ahead and through all the years,
May happiness be your companion and
your days together be good and long upon the earth.

I cannot recall ever having so much fun at a wedding, although we were completely exhausted at the end of the day. Doug and Jackie: thank you for your hospitality, for sharing your warm and wonderful wedding with us, and most importantly for being great new friends.

image by Tony Schreiber

right image by Tony Schreiber

Jackie got her flower caught while putting on the dress, which had to be repaired…

…and resulted in this cool shot of her orchid being sewn back together. It reminded me a bit of our wedding, when my top button popped off my collar and had to be re-sewn.

image by Tony Schreiber

image by Tony Schreiber

After the portraits we all stopped off for some ice cream.

This picture amuses me to no end. I told Doug that I wanted him to give me his most effeminate expression. His and Jackie’s reactions are priceless.

image by Tony Schreiber

Jackie and her dad had a great dance. There is that one guest who is on the ground trying to get a picture of a kid in the middle of the dance, but I sort of look at him as comic relief.

The bride toss is tradition in Jackie’s family

left image by Tony Schreiber

“My p-p-p-p-p-p-p-poker face…”