I thought I’d start something new this year! Sharing with you the stories behind the images.  Not necessarily boring technique descriptions or technical aspects (unless it makes for really fun exciting reading as part of the adventure;o) Nope!  Just the why, how, and what the heck behind some of the photos I’ve taken.  The images I’m talking about are cool in and of themselves – but what you don’t see is what led up to the creation.  I thought this just might give folks some insight to “the day in the life of a wedding photographer”and what I do to get that shot!

I have taken this journey.  I went down this road before today and saw something cool that I want to share.  I am in the driver’s seat and I open the passenger door.  I invite her in and say, “Come with me!  This is gonna be great and you’re gonna love it!”.  I’m excited.  She gets excited, too and jumps in the car with me.  I take off and she goes along for the ride.

This is sometimes how I view the creative process with my clients.  I use the metaphor of “taking a ride with me to a cool place” because in a sense, I am the driver and they are the passenger and they are not really sure where we are going.  They have to trust and have a sense of adventure!

With this image from Lauren’s bridal session – ok, one of my all-time favorites here – I wanna chat about “Going the Extra Mile”. And guess what?  I’m not just talking about ME going the extra mile.  While that does have a LOT to do with this image, you will hopefully see that Lauren went the extra mile, too. By going along with my vision, trusting me, and letting go just a teeny, tiny bit, she got an amazing image to treasure forever.

When Lauren first met with me, I had no idea that this image would happen.  I found out that her wedding would take place at Stone Mountain and still didn’t think about this.  It wasn’t until they booked me for the wedding and added the bridal session that  I started brainstorming on what I could do that would be exciting and dramatic.  I grew up going to Stone Mountain all the time. Been to numerous Easter Sunrise Services up on top of the mountain so I had “seen” some great possibilities there before, just doing casual images for myself.  At some point, I became obsessed with the idea of shooting Lauren up on top of Stone Mountain during her bridal session.

Guess what?  I was told it had been done before. Uh, really?  I’ve never seen the images I have in my head taken up there!  I didn’t let it stop me.  Sometimes, people can tell you, “It’s been done” and you can get discouraged and quit. Well, I was determined to do something different since in all my years of shooting bridal sessions, I hadn’t seen “my image”.

So, I began to do what we call location scouting.  Her bridal session was scheduled for March 18th – weather permitting.  March can be volitale here in Georgia so it’s touch and go with how nice it might be.  Alicia and I went to the park one day in February to check out locations around the mountain park and to also go up top on the SkyRide.  Well, we found some cool areas around the bottom of the mountain, (practically got frostbite walking aroud shooting each other!) but the SkyRide was closed for another month for maintenance!  *sigh*  Ok, we’ll try again later…

A few shots Alicia took of me on rock formations around the parking lot.  Yes, that’s ice I’m navigating there!!!!!

So, suddenly a few weeks later, I’m coming up on the bridal session day so I head over to the park on the Saturday before her session and the line to get on the SkyRide was over an hour long!!!!  I was unable to wait that long so again…. I decide to come back.  The next day I have available is the DAY BEFORE her session!  When I get to Stone Mountain, that March 17th ( I remember I was concentrating so hard on getting there, I completely forgot to wear green which I always do on St. Patty’s), it was pretty chilly. The good news was, the line was short and I was on the Sky Ride and up on top of the mountain in no time at all.  However, it was FREEZING up on top of the mountain!  Windy, extreme cold and I got really worried that I would be really pushing my luck with Lauren the next day.  I even planned to bring a faux fur coat and blankets – just in case.

The next day, it was magic.  Or was it?  Depends on your beliefs!  The moment Lauren had her dress zipped up, the sun came out and it was WARM!  We had amazing light and when we wrapped up our “lower” session, I told her my idea of going up on top of the mountian.  I told her it was time to head over and take the SkyRide up to the top.  We got in line – me, my mom, Lauren and her two best friends – when the operator told us that the last car would be coming down in 20 minutes.  20 MINUTES?!?!?!  Luckily, I had been up there the day before and scouted out four areas to pose her and shoot. We headed to each location in a circle with my mom keeping me on track for time – 5 minutes in each location!  “TIME!”  Otherwise, it’s a pretty long walk down that mountain!

The shot of Lauren above was taken in the last five minutes.  It was the last location chosen.  Yes, the clouds were like that – the only “effects” is a slight glow to the overall image and a tiny bit of digital fill flash on her.   She is barefoot – no coat or blanket needed!  It’s a little windy up there so I just had her hold her dress out to the side and then release it.  She is beautiful, a godess.  It was THE SHOT.  Lauren took my offer and went along for the ride with me. I’m so glad she did.