We had a lot of fun shooting the engagement photos for the soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. Sexton.  We started out at the walking bridge downtown which is a great place to let loose and have fun as you can probably tell.  It is always good to have fun when you first start taking photos so people have a chance to warm up and also come to grips that they will not look perfect in every single image. Once you get past that, you can start to get photos that are real and personal.

Elizabeth and Matt were married at her parents home outside of Franklin, TN. There was light rain on and off all day so we were in tents for most of it, but that didn’t slow the party. Elizabeth is a swimsuit designer for Target, and Matt is a rockabilly guitarist in New York. They were so unique and fun and definitely not your typical Nashville wedding. Probably one of my favorite parts of the wedding, besides the rain on the see-through tent during the wedding, was the lighting in the reception tent. Lighting is key always but especially in a tent at night. Some people think that just candle light will make for a romantic experience. Candles won’t help your photos, so think about a really great lighting professional, they will be able to keep a romantic environment while helping the photos be amazing.

Chad and Megan got married on the beach in Destin, FL. Annie and I went down a few days early and also took pictures of the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  They had a small reception in Florida at a rental house and then had a bigger reception a week later at their home church in Nashville, TN.  

A few days prior to the wedding Annie and I were driving north of Destin and I saw these 3 dead trees on a sand dune and called to ask Megan if she would be up to shooting a location right before the reception, because they were getting married a little before sunset so we would have light for the family photos after the wedding. She agreed, and as soon as we were through with photos, the family went to the reception and we drove out to the dune. The sun was gone but the light was still hanging in the sky. We got out of the car, walked about a hundred yards off of the road, Annie set up a light and battery pack and I got in the right place. We were only there 15 minutes at the most, but everything was perfect and the location turned out better than I had expected. I had only seen it from a moving car, and I was guessing at the time of day we would need to get there. There was no crazy photoshopping done, that was the real sky and real location.

Is it just me or does she remind you of Eva Longoria? Maybe you have to meet Lena in person to get that feeling.  Jason and Lena were a really cute couple, some people just look like they belong together, like in the moves when you can alwas tell who belongs together.  I think Jason was a little nervous, but Lena having gone to Belmont like I did, definately knew how to “perform.” The lighting on this particular day was really nice.  Usually the uncovered sun is too harsh to use, but there was a nice haze and it was early enough in the morning that we were able to get the real sun shadows but not the impossible to shoot light and dark areas. Most people think a sunny day is the best for photography, but I’d much rather have it hazy or cloudy.