Jenna contacted me a few weeks ago as a referral from another photographer. Neither of them live in Atlanta and she’s one of the growing number of people that are booking before we even meet face to face.

But Traditional Bride Magazine X had an article where they say you should meet your photographer beforehand to make sure you “click”!

That’s totally fine. If you’ve read all my rambling on here and seen all my work up here, but you’re the type of person that relates to people one on one, I’m more than happy to meet with you. But here’s the great part about the world we live in — with all the technology at our fingertips (mobile phones, websites, blogs), I knew so much more about Jenna & Bobby (from their wedding website) before I even met them than I know about some of my past couples. I knew how they met, about their school and work and I even know that Jenna was crying when Bobby proposed to her overlooking the Mississippi river.

It’ really cool for both of us because they live a busy lifestyle (who doesn’t?) and it frees me up to do the really important stuff like shooting their engagement photos.

Ben

Sophia first contacted me in July about their wedding next summer at the beautiful Villa Christina here in Atlanta. We met over dinner at one of my favorites places ever — Houston’s. They booked shortly thereafter. Now I’m not saying Houston’s was a factor but it certainly can’t hurt, right!

We all took a trek down to Piedmont Park when the fall leaves were just about perfect!

It’s kinda fun seeing these real dramatic images because they are so not like that. They liked joking around and posing it up for the camera.

I can’t wait to get a really big print of this one. That’s the two of them down at the bottom of the circle.

See you soon!

Ben

Recently I had the awesome opportunity to spend a few hours getting to know a family that were relative strangers to me despite the fact that we probably know 50-100 of the same people. They’ve been going through a lot lately and the love between the husband and wife was just so palpable. I got a ton of great images but there were even better images between the images!! Every time I looked away, they’d steal these moments (and I do mean moments, like 2.1 seconds) in between camera clicks to cuddle or look at each other. I should have taken two more photographers.

But we have to start somewhere… of course the kid is alway going to be a hit!

I couldn’t decide if I like this one with all the fall color or as a B&W (technically it’s a sepia/blue split tone). What do you think?

I think this is my favorite shot of the two to them. It just feels like a super special moment.

Ben

One day that will be the title of one of my blog posts.

Recently, two things reminded me of this little personal goal of mine. First, a fellow Orange County, CA wedding photographer, Becker, posted a few images from a wedding he shot at the Vatican a few years ago. And second, a recent bride and groom of mine are honeymooning in Italy and if I know them, they will be in line to receive a nuptual blessing from the Pope.

So why am I posting this?

Because by some fluke of a chance you might be that one bride reading this (or maybe you know her) that is getting married in the Vatican or maybe wants to or maybe dreams of it. I mean, how amazing would that be!!!

So if that’s your dream, I want to be there to photograph it! CONTACT ME.

Ben

Date: November 18, 2006
Ceremony/Mass: St Phillip Benizi
Reception: Whitewater Country Club

To view the slideshow ***CLICK HERE***

Not long after Christina and I arrived at the log house belonging to JoJo’s parents and where the family had gathered to get ready for the day, JoJo alerted me that “Grandpa” was in the den and it would be a cool photo to get. I got a few candid shots of him next to the fireplace reading the paper by the warm lamp light while the morning light streamed in. Now I’m still not sure what the exact relationship was but the title “grandpa” was an affectionate one, not a biological one. We got to talking and ended up discussing life issues and the state of medical practice in the modern world, a subject no doubt more immediate to his life than mine right now. I sat and listened, and I felt like I had turned jounalist. As I sat on the edge of the fireplace and listened, as nonchalantly and as carefully as I could, I turned the flash off and propped my 5D and 85mm f/1.8 on my shoulder, took my best guess at where the lens was framing and started snapping away. I knew these would be images that would be cherished forever…

These two were “on” all day long. They never missed a moment to vogue for the camera. Christina got this shot.

So while Christina was in the bridal nest getting the above shot, I was making friends with this little guy. By the end of the evening he had graduated from the perpetual smirk to the musical chairs party animal. It just took a while for him to hit his stride.

Here’s JoJo ready to see her man…

And this is what happened when he saw her (Huy shot both of these from the side of the church)…

When I’m at the wedding I almost always take a shot or two of the awesome photographers that work with me, either as assistants or second shooters, but I generally don’t post them here on my blog. But Christina and Huy got such AWESOME shots for me this time around that I had to give them props. So here are Christina with the big honkin’ 400mm lens (she’s like a wedding sniper, she is) and Huy in center. Rounding out the photo is Amy Elizabeth, JoJo’s cousin who is a makeup artist in New York.

Wow!

They’re all floating…

Musical chairs runner up in the making.

Talk to you soon!

Ben

I got the great news today that I was accepted into the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA)!

Over the past year a few brides have asked me if I was a member and the honest truth is that I had never applied. There are a lot of advantages of membership so during the busy wedding season I had set a goal of applying to the WPJA before the end of year. Now, you don’t just join the WPJA. You apply and then they decide if you join or not, so I was really happy to get an acceptance email from them this morning. The WPJA is notoriously strict in it’s membership and strives to represent the “elite” of wedding photographers from all over the photojournalism world.

This is how the WPJA describes itself:

Leading the way in Wedding Photojournalism, WPJA represents the most discriminating talent around the world technically, creatively and visually. Qualified members hold industry-leading standards, skills and business integrity.

The Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA), an International, membership-based organization, represents professional photographers skilled in the documentation of weddings and events in a candid, unobtrusive style. The WPJA was founded to uphold excellence in the area of wedding photojournalism.

Candid. Unobtrusive.

If there’s anything we get complimented about, it’s how laid back and easy we are to work with. That’s because, as much as possible, we try to capture the candid shots in the most unobtrusive way possible. The moment your photographer starts bossing you around it’s no longer your day. I can’t tell you how many times people have accidentally walked in front of the camera and then apologized. Or they wait until they think it’s safe to pass. But I always smile and tell them, “Don’t worry! Just ignore us. Pretent we’re not there.” And every time I say it, I truly mean it! It doesn’t take but a few minutes for us to blend into the scenery. And people get it, and they appreciate it.

But my favorite is when I’m capturing a pensive moment or a serene scene and the person you’re shooting sees you and tries to “get out of the way” saying, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to ruin the shot.” I look them all funny and say, “But you were the shot!” They usually let out a chuckle, and now they get it too.

Your wedding day is not about your photographer, it’s about you!

Ben

From looking at the stats it seems there are a LOT of people that visit this blog page directly and often never even see the home page anymore, which is fine with me because this is the most dynamic part of my site. It’s probably because people use RSS readers like Google Reader or some other feed reader that updates them when I post something new to my blog.

The other day, I completely reworked the home page slideshow and the main gallery for my site to update it with newer images from many of the weddings from this summer. It also has the coolest song playing in the background, Edge of the Ocean by Ivy. So sit back and enjoy the show…

**CLICK HERE to VIEW THE SHOW**

Ben