We met Riley and Ryan in downtown Suwanee for the final MS Walk Session. We instantly fell in love with Riley’s curls and blue eyes and Ryan’s red hair and freckles. They did their thing- Riley worked it and Ryan smoldered. But we just couldn’t get a real, big smile from Ryan. This one was pretty good.

We told jokes, made faces. He’s got the James Dean thing down, though.

Riley needed no direction. Once she got started, she took off. Watch her go…

Riley’s mom says she’ll move to straightening her hair soon. We sure hope not. You’re beautiful, Riley!

This is a pretty decent smile, too. Still not there yet…But LOOK at those freckles! They’re so wonderful!

Just as we were about to leave, Alan snuck up on Ryan and…THERE IT IS!!!

We had so much fun with you guys! Thank you both and thank you, Lea! Hope you enjoy these!

This is Buddy. Buddy is 8-months-old and he loves pulling on his leash and playing with his boy, Tristan. He also owns Mike and Carrie, Tristan’s parents, who feed him and walk him and wait patiently for his puppy stage to calm down. He lives a pretty tough life.

This is Buddy’s boy, Tristan. He likes to climb things..just like Buddy.

Buddy has a pretty good-looking family, don’t you think?

Buddy liked our camera and got excited. I think he thought it was some new black, flashy ball.

Thanks, Buddy for letting us play with you and your family!

Karla and James are some of our favorite people. All you have to do is watch how easily James cracks up and doubles over with laughter and experience Karla’s candid and genuine nature and you’ll fall in love with them, too. We were overflowing with blessings after shooting their Dallas wedding last August and our blessings continue when they asked us to do an early one-year anniversary session while visiting Atlanta. We wandered through a warehouse district downtown and even got kicked off of somebody’s front porch (who knew warehouses had front porches?)! Oh, it’s all excitement and adventure with ADP! Karla and James, you make us look GOOD.

Sierra and Daniel have been friends of ours for several years and we were thrilled to watch them become a couple and beyond honored when they later asked us to photograph their wedding. Daniel is a Brit with an accent that keeps us entertained for hours (our favorite being when he borrowed Alan’s “jumper” and left it in the “boot” – or when he asked Alysa – yes, Alysa – to explain American football to him during the Superbowl). Sierra is a beautiful Georgia girl with amazing style who has spent enough time in Great Britain to know that Daniel is not the only thing from there that she enjoys.

So when they got engaged, they asked us where they might find local venues with a London flavor. We told them to just skip local and take us to London. When that didn’t work, we suggested Patten Chapel at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Grandview on Lookout Mountain. And voila! They brought England to Tennessee!

Sierra’s dress was to die for – chic, timeless and fashionable – just like her.

This is Sierra’s mom.

And this is why she was crying.

Daniel, you are fab.

Sierra had a full bell choir  play her down the aisle!

Oh, how we love a church with real architecture…

The travel postcards were for leaving the bride and groom a note of congratulations or advice.

Sierra and Daniel, you are lovely and we are so happy to consider you friends as well as clients. We hope these pictures begin to touch on how beautiful your day was – and how beautiful you are as people.

There is a very specific reason that we love Kellie and Jonathan. I will get to that reason later in the post. But first, I will tell you all the things we really, really LIKE about them – and finally end with the best reason of all. So don’t quit reading!

1. Kellie loves her family and friends so much that she was flipping hysterically between laughter and tears with even the slightest provocation. But this is not the reason.

2. They brought us to their beautiful home in Kailua, Hawaii on the island of Oahu. Good, but not the reason.

3. They like all the same tv shows we do – and Kellie used Sheldon of the Big Bang Theory to unwind as she got ready. More swings between laughter and tears.

4. Kellie is our biggest fan – she’s been watching our blog, albeit SILENTLY, for years and treated us like royalty. She had her engagement pictures on her iphone and Facebook before we could even blog them! This is close, but not quite it.

5. Their kids. Noah and Chloe are so incredibly well behaved and full of personality.

6. Their day at the Kailua SDA Church was truly joyful. Happy tears and grateful prayers all around – a pleasure to attend.

7. They know they’re blessed. We all feel blessed on our wedding day, but not every couple is completely and utterly aware of the gift they’ve been given – one that none of us deserves. Very good reason, but not THE reason.

8. This is their cake – But wait, there’s more!

This is the awesomest groom’s cake ever baked. Ever. We are still paying homage to Jonathan over it.

And for those who know us think that the fantastic iphone cake is the reason – you’re wrong! (Though it’s the second best reason.)

9. The reason we love the Bryants is that they taught us a new word – “ohana”. The term is a Hawaiian word for family. It is used to say that family are bound together and members must cooperate and remember one another. And Kellie and Jonathan use it freely. We felt like family from the moment we met them and their wonderful real families and we will remember their kindness and feel bound to them forever for it. Thank you, Bryant family. You always have ohana in Atlanta.

We have to admit that we have not been soccer fans or followed the World Cup recently. BUT – we are huge, crazy, out-of-our-heads U2 fans and they are the major endorsers of the games. These videos where U2 and ESPN partnered with South African Soweto Gospel Choir are not only awesome to listen to, the cinematography and editing are excellent, and I’m (Alysa) a former editor. Please watch and keep giving to the RED campaign.

“Magnificent”

“Get On Your Boots”

“Where the Streets Have No Name”

We love haystacks. We love beach parks. We love the Bryants. Life is good. For those of you that don’t know about haystacks, we don’t mean bales of hay – we mean a wonderful twist on a taco salad indigenous to the Seventh-day Adventist culture. Come on over to our house sometime and we’ll introduce you to them!

The Bryants are a special family. First, Kellie and Jonathan invited us to their home in Oahu for their beautiful wedding this last Sunday. And since we include an engagement session in each wedding package, we made sure to slip in a last minute session in Ala Moana Park, or Magic Island, before we had worship with their family and watched the weekly fireworks. The two kids, Noah and Chloe are originally Jonathan’s but could not be more in love with their new family member!

We will talk more about these guys in their wedding blog on Sunday, but here is a peek at the wonderful Bryants. We know you’ll love them almost as much as we do.

We love you, Jonathan, Kellie, Noah and Chloe! Be watching Sunday for their wedding!!

P.S. We found a place in Oahu that does a light frothy macadamia nut sauce on pancakes. Wow. Now I have to go find food…

We met two beautiful ladies earlier and when we showed up later that afternoon for MS Walk Photography Session #4, we met two really cool guys, Nathan and Harrison – along with their mom, dad and their chihuahua Ruby.

It was HOT. But we stole these pictures as we darted from shade to shade. Nathan is the cool, hip one. Harrison is the crazy cat with the awesome hair. We’re kind of hoping Harrison and Nichole get to meet each other if they haven’t already, because that would be one entertaining duo!

Coffey family, we had a blast with you and hope to see you again sometime soon when you need to get updated images of those handsome boys…

Last Sunday was our second installment of the MS Walk sessions. We have been working with the MS Walk of Georgia to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. The Mauldins braved the heat to get new portraits of their gorgeous daughters, Amanda and Nichole. Amanda is approaching her Junior year and getting excited about her drivers license. Nichole kept us in stitches with her antics and her ballet poses. I would name them for you, but neither I nor Alan know a THING about ballet! And yet, we do know that Nichole has a great future in it – either that or comedy.

Amanda is gorgeous. We really hope you’ll call us next year this time for your Senior Portraits!!

Nichole has a thing for yellow – yellow flowers (see above) and especially yellow cars. She adopts any she sees as “hers,” and this yellow Maserati was one of the better ones she’s claimed – so we posed her in front of it.

Mauldin family, we really enjoyed marching across downtown Lawrenceville with you. We hope that this session gives your dad some great new wallet photos of his two beautiful girls.

We were honored to be a part of the Byford/Rhodes wedding last weekend and just as thrilled to be back at the Fairyland Club (more on our previous wedding there later…)! The view was amazing, the flowers were beautiful and the bride and the groom were great hosts.

Katelyn made a beautiful bride.

We didn’t get to do many pictures with Jimmy’s car for the wedding due to rain, and if you didn’t see it in the engagement session, you HAVE to see it here.

We love running into our previous clients and this time, we were surprised to see Paige and Ryan, who ALSO got married right there at the Fairyland Club. They are welcoming baby Carlie into the world in the next few weeks. Congratulations, friends!

Yes, it rained. Yes, Katelyn had to move her outdoor wedding indoors. But LOOK at the view and the double sided rainbow that made an appearance throughout the whole reception! If that isn’t a good sign, then I don’t know what is!

Last weekend, we spent a rainy, humid day with our friends Kristen and Jeff and all of their family at the beautiful the Barn at Fillauer Lake in Cleveland, TN. The weather wasn’t great – but the wedding still managed to be beautiful, complete with cowboy boots, lace, sunflowers and chandeliers. Kristen and Jeff, we had a GREAT time with all of you last Sunday and we hope that you make good use of these sneak peek photos! Congratulations!

Wow, Kristen. That’s it. Just wow.

We love it when we see our couples make good use of their engagement photos at their wedding! These looked great in the entry foyer of the barn!

This is Barefoot Nellie. They were phenomenal. If you have a need for authentic bluegrass, PLEASE call them.

We had to admit that we were totally in love with Kristen’s umbrella.

The adorable flower girl handed out flowers to the people lining the aisles, rather than tossing them on the floor. What a nice touch!

I can respect a couple that does ice cream scooping instead of cake-cutting!

If you remember from their engagement post, Kristen and Jeff are both firefighters and their firefighter buddies hear that Jeff didn’t much like traditional pets – so their wedding present was a large barn-shaped chicken house with four baby chickens in it!

The vendors:

Venue: The Barn at Fillauer Lake – Cleveland, TN
Catering: On the List Catering and Events (grilled corn on the cob and bbq – yum!)
Music: Barefoot Nellie – smooth bluegrass
Photo booth: Red Eye Booths, GA
Here was our entry in their guest book. Check out who has the bigger camera after all!

Our friend Allan is a graduating senior at Atlanta Adventist Academy and we did a mini-session with him to celebrate his 19th birthday. We were privileged to be at the class of 2010′s graduation this weekend and they are all so amazing and talented. We’ll miss them all a lot.

We are excited and honored to partner with the MS Walk 2010 in Georgia. Walk MS is the rallying point of the MS movement, a community coming together to raise funds and celebrate hope for the future. One of the teams walking this year contacted us about selling portrait sessions to raise funds and we were thrilled to get involved and provided certificates for sale. Thank you Dawn for inviting us to be a part of the MS Walk this year!

The first shoot day of three was last Sunday in Downtown Duluth and we met up with two families. You’ll probably recognize Burke from his pine cone exploration and we met a really fun couple, Steve and Linda with their two Great Danes, Stormy and Bristol.

There are a few MS Walk certificates still available. Please contact us if you are interested in a session for yourself and also help support the MS Walk 2010. There are two more shoot dates available, May 9 in Downtown Suwanee and June 13 in Downtown Lawrenceville. The certificates are $49 ($150 value) and $39 go directly to benefit the MS Walk.

Here are a few of our favorites of the day!

Spring is here and we were excited to spend some time with our friend Shannon and her son and husband. It was fun to spend some time with Shannon outside of the therapy room. Shannon has been our massage therapist for the past several months and we’ve been planning this session since before Christmas. We just couldn’t find the right day, but we found it last Sunday. Burke got to get out in the sun and run around the park and hunt for pine cones (which he had never seen before). He was enamored with them, he must have thought he discovered a secret that no one else knew about. He eventually grew bored with them and we were able to catch a few smiles and capture his fun energy.

Here are some of the favorites! Thank so much for hanging out with us Shannon, John and Burke!!

I’ve been looking forward to this wedding for many months. However, I know it can’t compare to Adriana and Cyrus’ excitement and anticipation. Their wedding took place at Secret Island, a part of Kualoa Ranch on the island of Oahu. I am truly honored that Adriana and Cyrus brought me with them to Hawaii. I am also privileged to feel like I am part of the family now after living for a few days with them at the rental house overlooking Kaneohe Bay. The weekend was very fun and was a reunion for me as well since I photographed Adriana’s sister Karla’s wedding last August.

In summary, great people, great family, great weather (no rain), great ceremony, beautiful location, and great newlywed couple!

Check out a few of the favorites! Enjoy!

Our latest client/friends are Kristen and Jeff. Both of these brave souls are firefighters in the Chattanooga, TN area. We convinced Jeff to let us take a handful of pictures at the firehall and then moved on to Chickamauga Battlefield for the rest of our session. We spent a lot of time laughing and talking and getting acquainted before moving on to some yummy Mexican food! Thank you for indulging us just a little with the firetruck pictures and we loved meeting you both and look forward to your wedding this May!

Rahshan and Joy are seniors at Atlanta Adventist Academy. Rahshan came to us months ago, wanting to plan something extra special for Joy’s birthday, and a mixture of couples’ portraits and senior photos was just the ticket!

These two are extremely fun, outgoing, talented seniors who we will miss terribly around AAA next year. But we hope that these pictures will help you remember your big senior year in Atlanta. Thanks for making us a part of it!

Our dear friend Jennifer LaMountain dropped in with baby Garrison last weekend and requested some new headshots, for which we were happy to oblige. We braved the icy winds and Jennifer did her best not to turn blue while we cracked non-stop silly jokes just to keep ourselves laughing and warm. The laughing part is not difficult with Jen around. She’s also one very pretty lady. We love you, LaMountains, and we hope to see you and and the whole family again soon! And while you’re looking, buy some of Jennifer’s music here.

The Ilies attended a Morning Song Concert in Duluth, GA and walked away the winners of a free family session from ADP! It’s taken us a while to get our schedules to mesh, but when they called and told us that their daughter and grandson were in town from Idaho, we made sure it happened! The Ilies are from Romania and fed us until we were bursting! Now we’re quite spoiled, all you future clients… Thank you, Ilie family. We had a lovely time with you.

Sierra and Daniel are such fun friends and we were thrilled when we heard that they had started dating, even more thrilled that they were engaged and ecstatic when they asked us to photograph the event! We’re partially excited because these two have flawless style and taste, so we really look forward to their wedding day details and secondly – LOOK AT THEM! They’re adorable. Not so difficult to photograph. So congratulations to this fab British guy and this fantastic southern girl. We love you both and had such a great time with you!

Part 1: We talked with Sierra a few days before this shoot and she told us about the location that she had chosen and we were really excited. We met in Madison, GA at Perk Avenue for a quick breakfast and coffee. Madison is such a cute little town – Alysa said she “wanted to put it in her pocket and take it home!” Our main destination was The Nolan House but we took advantage of some fun locations in Madison before we left.

Part 2: The Nolan House is an old abandoned plantation style house about 20 minutes north of Madison. It’s in amazing, yet dilapidated, condition and we just fell in love with all of the textures and character of the building. This is definitely one of our favorite locations ever – well done Sierra! Thank you for giving us such a wonderful place to work.