Deep Thoughts

I've noticed that a lot of the really big photographers I admire have worked on photo projects this year and compiled them into books to sell. Some strictly for financial gain, some to benefit an orginization or foundation, etc.
I actually had a neato collection of photos of different bathrooms we found on our road trips this year and was going to compile them into a book called " Places I've Gone "....but Julie said no. I'd seriously buy a book like that.

I'm going to break tradition for a few moments and delve into some heart-felt honesty. Maybe because we're leaving on our last road trip of the year tomorrow. Maybe because we're going to see so many friends along the way. Maybe because it's after midnight, I'm still awake, and my 3 year old is singing the Veggie Tales theme song in her sleep. Whatever the reason, and given that it's almost Thanksgiving, here goes my partial list for this year...


I'm thankful for my beautiful(hot) wife, who inspires me beyond words to do things I didn't know I could do. Without her, I would probably be asking everyone I met if they'd like fries with that.

For my two wonderful(spazztic) kids, who have proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that I have the mentality of a three year old, and with whom I have had more deep and meaningful conversations about trains and poop than with most adults about grown-up things.

I'm thankful that God has given us a talent that has taken us so many wonderful places, from eating deep dish pizza in Chicago, watching antelope in Wyoming, seeing mountains in upper Montana, buying cherries in Washington, figuring out "Free Range" means that people let their cows roam around on the road in Nevada, seeing the Grand Canyon by moonlight, realizing there's a big honking mountain outside Flagstaff Arizona, crashing an Amish wedding in North Carolina, honking at cows and jumping through fountains in Atlanta, watching a sunset on the beach in Florida...

Thankful that because of photography, we are ending this year with more friends than we started with. That you have given us the absolute privilege and honor to be a part of one of the happiest days of your life still leaves us speechless.


May all of you stuff yourselves at least once over the next week, and take a moment to count your blessings and realize how good life really is.


Enough from me...Happy Thanksgiving all!

Brett

Closing up the year...

Here I sit at the computer mapping out our final trip of the year. We are headed out next Friday for a trip that will entail a Thanksgiving in Pensacola, Florida with one of our brides (nope, no wedding or pictures - just going to go eat Thanksgiving with her - this is how much we love our couples: we get to know them well enough to get to go to their houses for Thanksgiving!) So, after Pensacola it's off to St. Petersburg, Florida to take engagement photos of a couple whose Key West wedding we're shooting in February. After St. Pete, we're off to Atlanta. Of course, we go right through Gainesville, Florida so you can bet that I will be stopping to kiss the ground and Gators outside of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at the University of Florida where my beloved Gators play! (GO GATORS!). In Atlanta we will spend about 5 days visiting with my sister and we will spend the actual day of Thanksgiving with her (bring on the Green Bean Casserole, stuffing and Pecan Pies!). The Saturday after Thanksgiving we shoot our final "gig" of the year; a wedding at Zoo Atlanta at the Panda Veranda! After that it's off to North Carolina to spend yet another Thanksgiving with Brett's sister, brother-in-law and nephew in beautiful Amish-country (we better see SNOW!). From there on out we are just on cruise control. We may stop through Arkansas so we can view the ultrasound of my sister-in-law (who is due with TWINS in April), and we may swing through Branson, Missouri to visit with my parents (and see if mom has any Pecan pie left over - ha! I doubt that).

The past few months for us have been SO busy that it's hard to imagine having our weekends free for the month of December and part of January. Our first date of 2009 is a wedding on January 17 though we have some wedding shows that we are doing the first part of January. I can't wait to see what 2009 holds. We have some "super duper top secret" plans of our own for 2009 - that we will reveal on here as soon as we are able to.

So, here's to the rest of the year going smoothly and getting caught up in time for 2009 to start!


J

But Seriously...

We have to make a pit stop for an e-session in St. Petersburg, Fl on our way to Chris and Lorana's wedding, which just so happens to take us through Pensacola. Which just so happens to be where Harmony and Sunni live. Who just so happen to be really good cooks and have invited us for an early Thanksgiving dinner...

BOO YAH!! We love you guys.....

Then to Atlanta for Chris and Lorana's wedding at the Panda Veranda at the Atlanta Zoo. I mean seriously, how cool is that.

I was going back through their e-photos and found some that I thought really captured the true spirit of love in it's deepest form. The absolute depth of emotion between two ......ok actually it's just pictures of them being dorks. But they're cute pictures of them being dorks.

The biggest dork,

Brett

They were in love, so we shot them....

Lindsey and Jon..a beautiful couple with a beautiful wedding.

It was in fact, the only wedding I've been to where the bride actually had a cow.

The bad part about shooting a couple with a cow in a field before the ceremony, is that every small field-dwelling insect known to man will lodge itself somewhere inside the many layers of the wedding dress, and surprise the bride..and everyone else..throughout the evening.

Stay tuned for picture goodness.......

For something completely different.....

Tell your mothers to leave the room. Hide any nearby children, set newspaper under the dog, and for heaven's sake keep the goldfish away from me. 

This is not your normal engagement picture.  And quite frankly, I'm glad it's not. 

From the very beginning, I have always said that if I simply do nothing more than recreate what everyone else around me has done, I have really done nothing at all.  However, if I'm able to take a couple that is so desperately adamant about not wanting "normal" engagement photos, and give them something that they can look at several years from now, regardless of what family members think, and say " Hey...that's us. That's our personalities, that was us having fun..", then I have done something I can be proud of.  

Now I'm not saying there's not a place for traditional photos. And Kyle and Stephanie have some really, really beautiful "normal" shots complete with scenery, kisses, and Buddy the poodle. Or...Buddy's butt anyway. It was a cool shot, but then the dog moved....long story. 

I've had five couples in the last four weeks sit across the table from me and basically beg for their engagement photos to be different. Crazy, psycho...out there. Again, we are totally capable and love doing the soft, romantic and fun shots for engagements. But by golly if someone comes to us and wants to whack her fiance' over the head with a baseball bat in an empty parking garage complete with fake blood, we are so totally there. 

I can't even begin to describe the projects that are coming up in the next few months. We seriously have work to do in trying to figure out to get some requested shots and not blow our couples up at the same time. 

So fear not, all of our sweet and mushy couples. There's plenty of smoochy, sun shining behind you, birds singing in the background-kinda-shots left in us for you guys :o) But for the rest of you....bring it on. 

Getting in touch with his dark side,

Brett

A blog, by any other name

I must first apologize for the lack of picture goodness with this blog. The routine is to shoot an event, edit photos, post a blog about the event with photos.

Stories with pictures are always cooler.

But I mentally can't retain everything that happened yesterday for that long...so it's all coming out now.

First and foremost, Teresa Martin we love you! (and Matt-Matt) Teresa was the wedding coordinator for Nikki and Matt's wedding yesterday, and the whole wedding went beautifully. The decorations, the transition of a huge room full of chairs into a beautiful candlelit ballroom with dining tables and dance floor..in a matter of minutes...everything was perfect. And for the occasional doofus with a death-wish that attempted to inform her how they thought the wedding should be run, I'm not entirely sure what happened to those people.

We arrived early at the location and helped Teresa set up, because we're cool like that. One of my tasks was transferring 10 goldfish into these really cool little bowls that were going to sit on the tables. A really neat and different idea...and so I did. Same temperature water (really), everything was great. 10 little fishies, swimming around, loving life in their new little bowls.

And then they died. I'm not really sure what happened, but I killed all 10 goldfish. It had to be the water. Branson, Missouri water...not the greatest. Thankfully we had backup floating candles, but I wasn't allowed to put those in. I would have managed to kill those as well most likely....

Skip ahead to the middle of the ceremony. I'm in my sniper-hiding-under-the-chairs position at the front of the room, scanning the faces of the groomsmen through my lens...and I notice this one guy is seriously just not looking good at all. We're talking, pasty white, sweaty, glazed look. Pretty much me on our wedding day. And then, the magic happens and I see the guys on either side of him grab his jacket to prop him up, and down he goes. He's down for a few minutes, then back on his feet.
This was during a song someone was singing, and when the soloist finished, the gentleman that fainted said " That was quite a song".......cue laughter and applause from the crowd. Back to the vows, 5 minutes later the guy goes down again, this time he's propped back up in a chair and finished the wedding sitting down.

We seriously have to shoot that guys wedding.....

Towards the end of the night, when the really beautiful cake had been cut (and eaten..*cough*..), "Ice, Ice, Baby" had been rapped on the dance floor, and I had updated as many friends as possible in a mad and frantic text while eating....the most wonderful thing happened; I danced with my beautiful, wonderful, sweet and totally amazing best friend/partner in crime/co-conspirator/make out buddy/baby-momma/business partner/wife.....and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect end to a perfect wedding.

Nikki and Matt we love you guys and wish you all the best in the world. And Teresa, I'm sending you a box of Goldfish crackers.

B

What do cows and weddings have in common?

I'm still not quite sure, but they are starting to become a regular occurrence for Birdsong Photography.

A couple of weeks ago we shot Lindsey & Jon's wedding in Marshfield, Missouri.  Lindsey is the 2005 National Guernsey Queen! From what I've read about it, it's a pretty big deal.  And, in case you didn't know a Guernsey is certain breed of cow. See, you learn something new everyday! There is a Guernsey cow named Dana who, if I am correct (please tell me, Lindsey, if I'm not) Lindsey has been showing since Dana was a small calf.  So guess who came to the wedding? No, Dana did not come inside the church - but she was there at the church for us to take pictures with.  We had fun!

Jon & Lindsey were a gorgeous couple and I can't wait to show you all of their pictures. But for now, here's a teaser....

J