What Not to Say

The only thing hotter than Georgia asphalt in July is Hell. Now, when you walk into a church hauling all of your equipment in 98 degree heat 2 hours before a wedding is to start, sweating like a pig in shorts and tennis shoes, and the Minister walks up to you and the first thing he says is "I do suppose you have a coat and tie ?" The proper answer is not " Yes, I have one in the truck, It's not as loud as yours though "
Anyway on to photos from today's wedding. Tonight I am putting up the Before and After versions of just 2 photos. It is 3am and so I will keep this short.
The "BEFORE" version is the shot straight out of the camera. The "AFTER" version is really what I was thinking when I took the photo, and has had about 3 min of work done to it in Photoshop. I took the photos already knowing what I was going to do with them later with the computer.
If you would like to learn how to do what I have done with these images, keep looking at this BLOG and send me an e mail. You will be notified as to when my next "Scott Evans WOW Factor" seminar or class will be and also when the new Scott Evans WOW Factor DVD set is ready to ship. The DVDs are so close to being ready that I can almost smell the shrink wrap.

Wedding Show

If you saw this booth at the Elite Events Wedding Show on Sunday, then you talked to me. I want to thank everyone for showing up. These shows are the best way to find all of the vendors you need for your wedding. You get to meet the people and see for your self if they are someone that you can spend your whole wedding day with. ( Because some people are just jerks and you know you will wind up slapping them if the two of you don't jive.)
It was also very nice to meet several new photographers to the show. Shannon Belletti was a fresh breath of air, her work was very good. Kike Morales was very enthusiastic and I hope to have him in my Wedding Photography workshop this fall. ( July is FULL WOW !) and sold out in two days ! Another new photographer was Liana, I only got to speak with her for a moment as she had display problems at the beginning of the show. But her photos looked good. David Christensen was a very nice guy and his work is solid. Mike Morrell had a booth for Video and Still Photography, it was his first show also. Bill Hampton, I would love to have you in class as well as the over the road driver that I met. If you can't come to class , buy the DVD .
It was also very good to see Jerome Spivey( And his BEAUTIFUL Daughter) and Matt Bowman. Lets do lunch !

Why I Love Being a Photographer in the South

Because every where you turn, there are places like this to shoot.

Please enjoy a few photos from tonight's wedding in LaGrange, Ga. It is 12:45 AM and I just got to my hotel. I have a Wedding Show to set up in 9 hours but I just had to take a look at what I shot today.

Thank you Girl Scouts, this hotel has no late room service so the Shortbread Cookies are a life saver.

New York City

It is Sunday and I just got in from my job in New York. Last night was a fantastic cruise around Manhattan on a beautiful yacht. I was shooting a surprise dinner party for a man's 50th birthday. I will be making a custom 8"x17" album with a brass cover, when opened the album will be 34" long, with panoramic views of New York City as background photos with party photos laid in on top. I have posted just a few photos of some of the scenery. When we cruised past the Statue of Liberty it was kind of emotional. It was a time and place where you needed to be with Someone Special.

Do you Do "City " Weddings ?

I advertise all over the US on a web site called WedAlert. I guess it is a cheesy play on words for "Red Alert" Most of my brides were not even born the last time the term "Red Alert" was ever used. It means that The Communist Russians were attacking.
Anyway, I get e mails every day from brides all over the country because I advertise in every state and county in the United States. It cost a FORTUNE and is really not worth the time and effort it takes to respond to so many e mails from folks that just might not have the photography budget to cover my services. But, I respond anyway. A few weeks ago, I got this e mail from a young lady in New York. I guess after viewing my profile and seeing some of my photos on Wed Alert she decided that she liked my style and had to inquire about my services. I will say that I was just dumbfounded for a few moments when I read her e mail. It Said "I see that you are in Georgia, do you do "City" weddings.
Well after laughing I got to thinking, the only news coverage us Southerners ever get is when a Tornado goes threw a trailer park, and other such stuff. Later that day while in the grocery store I was in the check out line and this photo caught my eye.

The real reason that I took a second look is that I thought that I knew the guy in the foreground.

Now for the truth about me. All of my family lives in the Appalachian mountains. Except me.

My parents spent there honeymoon in 1950 on Lake Burton in the North GA mountains. They bought property there in the 1960s. I spent a lot of time there. Maybe to much time.

I know how to make a Moonshine Still. (Got suspended from school and won the Clayton County science Fair in 1979 all at the same time !)

When my parents retired and moved to the lake in 1980 we had to start telling my mom to put her shoes on when she came to visit. See the photos below, the kids and I still have to remind her. Please do not misunderstand me, the people that live in the North GA hills are not all banjo totting inbred albinos. (Well MOST of them aren't)) The homes on the lake can not be bought for anywhere less than one million dollars, and 3 million is not uncommon. My parents live there as do my brother and his wife Marie. I will be there as soon as the kids leave for collage in a few years. Photo is of my much older brother Allen, he is 13 years older than I. I was a "miracle" or "Accident" child, depends on who you ask. Photo shows my parents and my brother standing in front of my Dad's wood work shop where he builds the coolest tables, beds and benches.

And of course I do City Weddings. I will post photos from the job I am shooting this weekend in Manhattan. The event is on a yacht and we will be cruising the Hudson river and New York Harbor with the New York skyline in the background.

Portraits

As I get a little older, sometimes I think about opening a Portrait Studio. Everyone who knows me knows just how much I HATE having to go to a specific place every day to go to work. That is why I quit my job at the custom pro lab 18 years ago in 1987. And that was just a Part-Time job.
The showroom space that I am considering has FANTASTIC LOFT STUDIO SPACE !!! It is actually larger than my old space in the loft in McDonough. Almost 4000 sq ft. See some photos below. Also see a few of the portraits that I shot of my assistant Erin yesterday. Tell me what you think.

Below are inside photos of Showroom and Studio space.

The Horses are Fine

Many of you have seen the story of my bride and groom from last weekend that were hit by a van while on a carriage ride. I got 38 e mails asking, how they were, was I there, did I see it, ect.... Twenty of those e mails asked about the horses. The horses are fine. The driver and his assistant are now out of the hospital and are very rough looking. Scroll down to see my posts from last week to see photos from the wedding.

Horse and carriage is a Bad Idea in a Busy Town

If you check out the post below, you will see my lovely bride and groom from this last weekend. We went to the Marietta Sq to take some photos at around 11pm Sat night. After I left and they were on the way back to Brumby Hall they were hit by a car who then left the accident scene. The carriage driver and his assistant are in Critical condition and my bride and groom got out of the hospital today. Broken leg and lots of stiches for the groom and neck injury for my bride.
See Fox 5 News at 10pm tonight for the details. I just finished sending the photos to the TV station.

How to get a Fat Lip at a Wedding

What you do is ask a bunch of groomsmen with a football to kick it. If you say "Don't hit me now guys" it will not work.
See photos below from tonight's wedding. I have had 6 weddings since the last post and have been very busy trying to nail down a new studio and showroom plus buy a house. If anyone needs to rent a 5 bedroom house on the South side of Atlanta( Stockbridge), call me.
If I did not post photos from your wedding, sorry, but I just can't do them all. It does not mean that I did not like your photos ( I like them all because I take them !)

A Bunch of B's

Bands, Baseball, Bride, Blue Angels and Burned. In that order.
Friday, I went to a concert with Janet. Saturday, Garen had a ball game, and he hit a home run in the 2nd inning. Then a wedding that night, and the Blue Angels on Sunday. Where I got sunburned. Bad. Next week is photographing a golf tournament in Peachtree City and a wedding on Saturday and then the Drag Races on Sunday.
All of the photos and video, if I figure out how to post it were and will be taken with my new Nikon S-6 camera. It is a tiny little point and shoot that has a 6 mega pixel sensor and is about the size of the stack of credit cards that your girlfriend takes from your wallet to go shopping with without telling you. I am about to nail down a new studio and showroom location and when all is finalized, I will post it here.

Hilton Head Island Wedding

What a fun bunch of people. Ashley and Britton finally go to have the big wedding they had hoped for. She was absolutely beautiful and he was sharp in his dress uniform. The weather was fantastic and the cops only came one time. The fantastic crew at the event facility Windows on the Water took care of the police. They must have slipped him a $ 50 or gave him some food because 10 min later he was gone and the music never got softer. The evening was closed by Ashley and Britton running threw about a half a mile worth of sparklers and then they left by boat from the marina. Check out how much in love this couple are by looking at the photos. To have a wedding at Hilton Head, contact Julie Miller at www.celebrationevents.net or call (843)-689-7526 They run all of the best places in town.

Hilton Head, South Carolina

I am in Hilton Head for the long awaited wedding of Ashley and Britton. They were married the night before he shipped out to Iraq a year ago. They had planed a large wedding , but had to scrap those plans due to the news of his deployment. A few days before he left, they decided to go ahead and get married quick. Their wedding was in a small chapel on the base in Texas and none of their friends and family could attend on such short notice. So, when he left he told Ashley to plan another big one. Britton served a full year in Iraq. While training Iraqi solders to take care of their own country, Britton was in constant combat with Al-Quedia backed insurgents Britton came home a few weeks ago and here we are.

The original photographer that they had reserved for the originally planned wedding, took a huge deposit and when Britton found out that he was to be deployed to Iraq before the wedding date they called and told the photographer 4 months in advance. They had only booked her a few weeks before. She refused to give back ANY portion of the deposit. She even went as far to say that she could give the deposit back, but because of her political views on the war and her hatred of the President that she would in no way give any refunds. Pretty much punishing this wonderful couple because he was about to go off and risk his life for his country and this womans own personal security in the future. Can you believe that? I do not normally get political on my web site or BLOG. But when I heard this today, it just really set me off.

Anyway, here are some photos from this evening. This place is beautiful. It is a shame that I am here alone, this sunset should be shared with someone.
And on another note, to Beth whom I met at the Pizza Place, I don't believe all that stuff about you being 41 on Sunday. I am thinking more like 31. Anyway, enjoy Atlantic City, and good luck.

Y'all Are All Just Chicken !

Every day I get e mails from people who read this BLOG. If you have a question or comment, please post it. I think y'all are just chicken. Afraid that someone will see what you wrote, and know who you are, and think to themselves......."What A Sick Freak That Poster Was !"
Well calm down, no one really cares what you write to me except me. And even then, only a little.

For some reason, someone named Susan e mailed me today and said she reads this BLOG and asked me if I was real. "What kind of question is that ?" I thought.
I am real. I have two kids, a house, two dogs and I do normal things. ( Normal to me anyway)So these photos are for you Susan, who ever you are. They are of my daughter Marah. My son Garen and a couple of his girlfriends. And what I bought at the convenience store when I filled up my pickup truck with gas. $ 63.00 to fill up, that sucks.
Tonight Garen had a baseball game. His team won 9-3