Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve has always been a special time for my family.  Since I was maybe 2 years old, my family went to the home of next door neighbors, The Humphreys.  My parents moved to Asheville in 2003, but we still manage to spend Christmas Eve with The Humphreys.  I, of course, always have my camera.

This is Grayce Mae, my little girl.

(I'm actually in this photo)

For as long as we have been having Christmas Eve dinners together there have been a few traditions.  The first is Christmas Party Poppers that have a joke, a toy, and a colored paper hat in them.  We all wear the hats.  The second is the hanging of spoons on noses.  Here is grandmother Sarah showing off her skills.

After dinner we have another tradition.  It started as Dona reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to the children.  As we grew up and learned to read, the children joined in the reading. Over 25 years have passed, and we still each read a page.  







My "other mother" -- Dona Humphreys

Erin & Roy

Erin and Roy were married in Erin's home town Forsyth, GA.  

Luckily Erin remembered to get me on the other side of the camera.

Lauren's Senior Portrait

Lauren is a graduating senior at UGA.  She wanted some portraits to include in her graduation announcements.  I photographed her the university campus.

Erica & Jonathan

Erica & Jonathan got married last weekend at The Bethany Baptist Church in Bolingbroke, GA.








The lighting of the unity candle is a really special part of many ceremonies, and a favorite tradition of mine.



Erica gets a congratulatory hug from her niece who was one of the flower girls.  I really think that spontaneous moments like this are very important and special to the families I photograph.





Congratulations to Erica and Jonathan.

The Echo Project

The Echo Project is a music festival that was held just outside of Atlanta last weekend.   The Echo Project wasn't just about music, but also community building and environmental awareness.  Before the festival, volunteers cleaned the Chattahoochee River.   There were also alternative fuel sources used to power the festival.  Check out their web site to read more.

I didn't get to go to the whole festival, but was able to photograph two of my favorite bands -- Dubconscious and Entropy.


Hawk from Entropy.  I love to capture the movement and energy of the music.



Jim from Entropy - too cool for words.



Alvetta from Entropy



Dubconscious



Solomon from Dubconscious



James from Dubconscious



Matt from Dubconscious



Catherine Stinson 

Jennifer & Ryan

Jennifer & Ryan got married at The State Botanical Garden of Georgia. The day chapel has great light, giving it a nice warm glow.

I love to see the expression of a newly married couple!



Grandma was sure excited to see the beautiful bride. My favorite part of shooting weddings is capturing the genuine emotions of the new couple, their friends and family.



Squat is an Athens based jazz band. They had the whole room dancing all night long.






This kiss is just the beginning of Jennifer and Ryan's "happily ever after!"

Kelly & David

Kelly & David are from Florida, and rented a house on Lake Oconee for their destination wedding.

The sky couldn't have been more perfect, look at those clouds!









This was Kelly and David's sand version of the unity candle. 



I couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces... hehehe.

Cyndi & Brian Bronkar

Last weekend I photographed Cyndi & Brian Bronkar's wedding. They got married in Helen, Georgia at Unicoi State Park.  

Here is Cyndi walking down the aisle with her proud father.


Unicoi State Park provided a great backdrop to the wedding, with the lake in the background of the ceremony.



The bridesmaids were so much fun. Cyndi is lucky to have such great friends.



Here's the happy couple just after the ceremony.


Cyndi & Bronkar are both performers. They wrote each other love songs, and performed them for their friends and family at the reception. It was very sweet and really beautiful.

Athens Band Grogus played the reception.



The new couple, silly with love!

My Nephew

While I was in Oregon photographing Virginia & Zach's wedding, I was able to spend some time with my sister Heather, her husband Ryan, and their 10 month old boy Sylvan. 

When I first arrived, we took a trip to the doctor for a checkup.



Here is Sylvan with his Papa Ryan.



Sylvan is learning lots of new words - including "flower."  That is his momma Heather holding him.


Here's a quick family photo taken in the back yard.



This is the only photo of me from the whole trip. It's surprising how hard it is to remember to get on the other side of the camera.