Married 80 Years

I just got back to a computer after tonight's wedding.
You know how at some weddings they do a dance where they call out "If you have been married less than x amount of years please leave the dance floor". And then it whittles down to the couple that has been married the longest. Well tonight we had a couple that has been married 80 Years. They were married in 1930. AND THEY WERE STILL MOVING AROUND !
My parents have been married for 60 years and I though that was really something.
Oh and my bride and groom were 68 and 70 years old.
Git It !

Wonderful Night

No Wedding tonight for the first time in a while. Yesterday afternoon a young lady from way over in Western Alabama drove over to the shop for her Bridal Portrait Photo Session. Lets just say that it was not the best day for that. An hour and a half before we were supposed to start shooting she calls from the other side of Birmingham to say that they were running over an hour late.

The "Other Side of Birmingham" to most Georgians is like saying 1950. If you want to go back in time, you just go to The Other Side of Birmingham. I think that folks in Alabama say something similar about Georgia and they probably have a right to because they scored way higher on SAT scores than many Georgians did last year, but hey, we beat South Carolina !

ANYWAY, 10 min before she and her mom got to the shop it was raining and sleet was falling at times. The wind was blowing and she was in a strapless dress in 45 degree weather. But what a TROOPER. She hauled that dress all around our silly little town and met most of the population while being photographed.

We went over to Hazlehurst House and shot a few photos as well as in the alley behind my studio. I also did some in studio stuff that is quite rare for me. The theme for her wedding is white on white. White dress, flowers, decor ect. So we shot some all white stuff on a white background in my studio. I would have some of it ready to show you right now but I lost my glasses while on the shoot and I really do not like to work on the computer editing photos without my glasses so I only have these two photos to show you.

The other two photos are from tonight. My favorite band "Rough Draft" was playing my favorite place to eat "Fatt Matt's Rib Shack" in Atlanta so the kids and I went to the show.

I have been taking my kids Marah and Garen to Fatt Matt's since they were ages 2 and 4. They are now 18 and 20 and they have watched Rough Draft with me the whole time. We got older and so did the band, But tonight was the best 3 set show we have ever seen from them. They have not played together for a full year and tonight was the first time they have even seen each other. They walked in , plugged up and flat tore the house down.

Photos are of the photo shoot yesterday and Marah and Garen and Fatt Matt's my step son Chris was also there and we all had a great time.

New Product for my High School Seniors

I call this the POP Quad.
Inspired by a Beatles album cover, the Jimi Hendrix album I am listening to right now and that classic Kodak Tri-X overexposed heavy grain look I remember so much from when I was in High School.
This will be sold as a 32x32 in a black frame. No changes. It is what it is.

The Way I Like A Wedding Album

Finally, someone gets it !
Not to diss any of my other couples out there who's wedding I have had the pleasure of photographing, but LauraAnn gets it. What is IT ?

It, is that a Wedding Album, Story Book, Collection or whatever else you want to call it to sound trendy, does not have to have 300 photos in it to feel like you got your moneys worth.

Laura Ann picked her photos for her wedding album yesterday and there are only about 40 of them. At first I thought that there was a page missing from the order form, but then I looked at her selections and I saw what she was trying to put together. What she was doing was creating a very artful collection of photographs that captured the EMOTION of the day rather than a documentary.

I just can not wait to start the design on this book. But that will have to wait until Tuesday, it is 1:30 am right now and I still have to open the shop at 10am and then a double header starting at 5 tomorrow and if they are winning, they will be playing on Sunday evening as well.

Photos are some of LauraAnn's picks.

Wild Day

So today I had two High School Senior photo shoots. Both done just for fun because they were my son's friends. Brook dated Garen for a long time when they were 15 and 16 and Alex was a pitcher and a 3rd baseman on many of the baseball teams Garen played on over the years. Brook and my daughter are also friends, so I was very happy to be able to photograph these fine young adults with very bright years to come. As well as the Sr shoots, the former Miss Georgia came in and drooped off 21 VHS-C video tapes to be converted to DVD and several big Photo Restoration jobs came in .

Because of all of this, here I sit editing images in my office at home at midnight. My buddy Chip turned me on to Pandora Internet Radio about a year ago and I have downloaded the app for my desktop. You can make your own radio channel that only plays the kind of music you like. Tonight it is the Jimi Hendrix channel. My new workstation at home has the best bad ass speaker system I could find, and my end of the house is shaking! What a way to get the creative energy just a flowing. Photos are from today.

Very Busy

There has been just to much going on to even talk about it.
I finally took 1 day off and went to the air show last weekend.
But for a month before that, lets see
1) My son's drivers lic was suspended for getting two speeding tickets while under the age of 18. ( A new law here in Ga) so I have had to haul him around to all of the places that he has to go.

2)My daughter turned 20 so we had to do dinner and stuff.

3) I have shot 5 weddings

4) My photo restoration shop has exploded with new customers ( I attribute this to a big display that we hung in a local restaurant complete with adds on every table.)

5) My son was hit in the head by a foul ball line drive while sitting in the dugout at one of his baseball games.
Ambulance ride to the Trauma Center at Atlanta Medical Center (Conyers to Atlanta in 14min at 95mph) $932.00
Trauma Center Fee $3298.00
CT Brain Scan $ $150.00
Called his Mom (My former wife) to get her insurance card number because we changed the kids from my insurance to her insurance a few years ago because her insurance plan at her job was much better. Then being told that her rates went way up in January and she dropped the kids from her plan."I thought I told you" she says.

Doctor telling me that the scan looks good and he will be ok after a while. PRICELESS

Alien Craft Vaporizes Sun Bathers

That would be the headline if the National Enquirer or Starr magazine got ahold of this photo. It is really just a kite some guy was flying on the beach yesterday. "The Ray Beam" was the vapor trail from a high flying jet. My son and I went over to Myrtle Beach SC for a concert Tuesday night and I learned a few things while driving there. The main one was this : "Eating fried chicken while driving on a South Carolina interstate highway is unsafe for myself and others around me. " That is the official quote. (They must teach a class on this at SC Highway Patrol School) Slinging chicken bones out the window is also unsafe. Officially

You Tube and Stuff

I have started goofing around with some video content. Getting into the Photo/Video Fusion thing. I will be posting some short videos from weddings soon, but for now, this is a quick one from my Photograph Restoration Shop, The Image Doctor in McDonough, Ga.

To see more videos from the Restoration Shop, Go to youtube.com and search theimagedoc

St Simons Island

Today I am in St Simons Island, GA for a weekend long wedding. They had a wonderful rehearsal party last night at a place called Gnat's Landing. There was Jimmy Buffett music, free long neck beer and a good time had by all. I met the bride for the first time last night and she is STUNNING. I will post some photos from the wedding tomorrow. I am off to scout locations now as I start photos in about 2 hours. I need to find places to keep the bride cool between shots. It is in the mid 90's today with some humidity to match. Photo was taken with the iphone.

A Travel Tip For You

If you are driving from Birmingham ,Alabama to Tupilo, Mississippi and you have to go to the bathroom or want an ice cream cone you are just S.O.L.

Photo is of Elvis's Birthpalce.

I will be in Memphis for a few days, off to eat Bar-B-Q.

Blog activity will be picking up on my part. I feel a very silly summer coming on.

Emily

This is Emily. Her wedding was last weekend. If you looked up Smart, Funny, Silly and Hot Looking in the encyclopedia, you would get a 4 page article on Emily.

Just A Few

Just a few photos from today's wedding. I got home at 1 am.

This was what I call "One of My Weddings" They booked me without going threw an agent or event faculty. They paid full price with no questions asked and told me to design the album without any input from them. What they are going to get will be way beyond what they are expecting.
Just the facts babe.

Hawaii Wedding

As some of you may know, I am not just a wedding photographer, I am also a wedding minister. I got this call today from a young lady who said her parents had to get married. They have been together for over 20 years but never bothered to make it official. She wanted married parents !

But the mom said she would not get married unless it was on a beach in Hawaii. A trip for 3 to Hawaii was out of the picture so the daughter called around and got the marriage licence info for her parents and then went about finding a minister with a Hawaiian shirt and maybe a pool they could stand by. The daughter was given my name by a judge that said if anyone had a Hawaiian shirt it would be me. They came to my house this afternoon and I married them down by the lake.

We Have Snow

No big deal for most of the country, but we only get this much snow about every ten years or so.

The two photos are from the entrance to my neighborhood and of my back yard.

Grandma's Cracked !

At our Image Doctor Photograph Restoration Shop in McDonough we have been using the cracked granny photo that you see here in our advertising for about 15 years. It always has the caption "GRANDMA'S CRACKED, GET HER BACK TOGETHER HERE.
Today I got this e mail:

Dear Scott,
This is a picture of my great, great grandmother, Corinthia Knight Newman. I am the person who brought this photo in, in a bag, the middle was in shattered pieces, it had been in the bottom of my mothers cedar chest for years. Originally it was a concave picture on cardboard, or whatever they used back then. I believe I brought it to you around 1994, you were operating on the square in Fayetteville then. I found the picture, and wanted to have it restored for my grandmother, she did not have any photos of her grandmother. You did such a wonderful job with this photo, I really didn't think it could be saved, but you saved it and brought it back to it's original state, it is a treasured family heirloom now.
Corinthia was from West Virginia, my mother and father moved to Georgia in 1972, since then our family tree has expanded, I have family living in McDonough, and drive through the square all the time. I received a call one day from a niece who had spotted your display board in front of your business, she told me it was there. Later my son who also spotted it, told me it was on the big billboard, so I had to pay attention next time I came through the square, and there it was. Corinthia is famous, wow.
Just wanted to thank you for a job well done, and tell you how priceless it is to all our family, hope you have continued success, and bring your magic touch to many more families with irreplaceable photos. It is a great gift, service, and obviously something you are passionate about.
Sincerely,
Bobbi Ferris

Thank you for making our day Bobbi

Christmas Eve

I know that there have not been many post showing photography stuff lately, That does not mean that I have not been busy. I had a big wedding last weekend and the Photo Restoration shop has been wall to wall with customers over the last month.
It was all fun , but the most fun I had all month was playing monopoly with my two teenagers at the lake house on Christmas Eve. We have decided that playing monopoly the night before Christmas will be a new family tradition for us to go along with the other tradition of singing Beach Boys songs in the car on the way to my family's big Christmas dinner at my niece Erica's house.

Everything is Cool, Everything is OK

I want to start this off by saying that the staff and overall organization of Children's Health Care of Atlanta at Emory in Atlanta Georgia are so AWESOME ! I was impressed the moment my son and I pulled into the parking lot at the hospital. They have Valet Parking. Does that seem snooty and excessive, not at all. What if you are a single mom with no one to help you with a sick child. Do you want to have to haul a sick or injured child threw 3 flights of parking deck stairs ? Well no.
The sidewalks have short fenced sides to keep small children from running into traffic. There were clowns in the surgery waiting room. Real clowns that were not creepy and on staff full time.
In the lobby, the local animal shelter brought in very clean puppies and small dogs for the children that are staying there to play with, and in the afternoon, they even shipped in "Stand In Grandparents" from the old folks home. This place was like a resort for children.

My son is almost to old to be a patient there as he is 17 but since he is under 18 his doctor insisted that he have his exploratory procedure done at Children Health Care of Atlanta.
The photo is of my son Garen , he was very nervous about surgery and his blood pressure was very high. This photo was taken just as the drugs to "Chill him out" were kicking in. He was hilarious. One of the nurses said the word "Respect" in conversation with the anesthesiologist and Garen started singing the Aretha Franklin song R-E-S-P-E-C-T- as they wheeled him down the hall to the OR.
The results of the procedure were great and with treatment the Doc says he will be hitting home runs and stealing bases by February.
I know that most of the time only pro photographers look at this blog. As pros, I feel that we could learn a lesson from Children Health Care and really custom tailor our services and products to the exact needs of our target customers. Remember, no one cares about what you want. They only care about what they want. Indulge them.

I Thought This Was A Photography Studio

This weekend, the lights have been moved, the backgrounds are rolled up and my son and his band mates have taken over the studio. Seems that my studio is a perfect practice location. They have their first show Thursday and are all pretty nervous.

What Have I Not Been Doing !

You name it and I'll bet I have had to do it in the last 2 months. Lets see, I have two art shows hanging at the moment. It is Christmas season at my Image Doctor photo restoration shop on the McDonough ,Ga town square. High school seniors have been ringing the phone off the hook for portrait sessions and I have weddings running out my ears. (Due to my contracts with 4 different event facilities) and relationships with two different private schools. The photos are from a few of the senior sessions.

Can You See Me Now ?

Next week my latest photography show will go on display at a restaurant in my town. Every time I do one of these, the phone starts ringing at the shop. In the past my shows have always

had something to do with a service that we offered at my shop and studio/showroom.
The shows have been:
"The Faces of Town" about local characters.
"McDonough History", that one was about Photo Restoration.
"The Last of Youth" was all photos of high school seniors.
"Kiss" A collection of hot steamy photos of couples kissing from weddings that I have shot all over the country.
The new show is different. It is a collection of photos only taken with cell phones.
The photos are all printed at 30x40 inches and were shot with my IPhone and a Motorola Razor Phone.
I was supposed to hang them today but I am running a day behind. I spent most of last night at the hospital with my son who was hurt pretty bad at his hockey game last night. His shoulder has a crack in it but we do not know how big because the swelling was so bad that a good x-ray was not possible. He had a rough night and is in a restant to keep his shoulder and rotate cuff from moving. The pain meds made him nauseous and he vomited all night and day. We go for a new x-ray and MRI on Monday. But enough about our drama, check out half of the images from may latest show, "Can You See Me Now ?" A collection of cell phone photos.

Titles are:

Go To the Light

Lake Dow Morning

Twang

The Sands of Time

Tybee Lighthouse

Untitled

I Think I See a Wisker

One Second Left in the Penalty Box