Tag Archives: Brian Steele

Atlanta Occasions Magazine Launch Party

Heather Vreeland has been working hard as of late! She’s the creator of the Atlanta Occasions website and as of last Thursday, she’s the publisher of a brand new magazine for event professionals of all kinds: Atlanta Occasions Magazine. And I must say, the magazine is beautiful!

ASIDE: Oh, and you may have noticed that my site has changed just a bit…everything is bigger, everything better… but I’ll get to that later.

Wow… what a launch! Heather asked us to cover the magazine launch and of course I was excited to help out. Atlanta Occasions took over the Foundry at Puritan Mill, Tony Brewer and Company provided the decor and Doc from Full Circle Lighting provided the lighting. Everything was all wrapped up in a package by Eliana Baucicault at By Your Side Events.

Check out these amazing treats from Mindy over at M Cupcakes!

These bottom-lit tables provided some fantastic ambiance.

The official welcome from Heather.

For event pros who are always behind the scenes, they sure didn’t have any problems on the dance floor!

Joel Rabe from Lethal Rhythms was on hand to keep the music pumping and everybody on the dance floor.

Here’s a plug for my new photographer buddy, Patrick Williams, his wife and his designer. We commiserated a bit after I dropped and broke my precious $1800 Nikon 14-24 lens.

Somebody’s having some fun…

Congratulations Heather!!!

Check out the slideshow below. If you’re looking for ALL the red carpet images CLICK HERE after you watch the slideshow.

Enjoy the show!

Jenny & Dave in Tuscaloosa, AL

Back in the fall of last year when I broke a bunch of toes and was couch-ridden for over a week, all I could do was watch tv and try to get some work done on my 17″ MacBook Pro (which my wife affectionately nicknamed my “precious”, a Lord of the Rings Gollum reference). That’s when Jenny emailed me about her wedding. So we emailed back and forth and 24 hrs later it was pretty much a done deal. Lysa Parker from Twisted Hip (awesome, awesome band, btw, you should HIRE THEM NOW) sent her my way because Jenny had hired them already.

Every step of the way since then. Jenny and Dave have been perhaps the nicest couple I’ve ever met, and THAT’S saying a LOT! I was emailing Lysa after the wedding and here’s what she said: Ben, you are DA MAN! I can’t believe what great shots you get. Thank y… oh wait, wrong part… here it is:

That had to be the nicest couple we’ve ever played for. So incredibly thoughtful from the start to finish.

And that pretty much sums it up.

Here’s a few from their engagement session the week before the wedding.

My associate, Huy Cat, was on hand to second shoot and Brian, who’s always THE MAN, was assisting.

Speaking of …, I’m going to do something I’ve never done before. All these photos have something in common. I’ll tell you what that is after you see the images.

Here’s the secret: every single one of those photos was shot by Huy or Brian. After every wedding we get the same two compliments: someone will say “man, you guys were everywhere… working hard”, then somebody else will say, “I can’t believe you get those photos, I hardly saw you the entire night.” My personal opinion is that it’s nearly impossible to do a wedding justice with just one photographer. Sure you can do it, and sure you’ll get “most” of the same images, but you end up sacrificing moments. The moments between the “important” parts. Sometimes it’s those moments that a bride cherishes forever.

That’s why with every wedding collection you book, you’ll get 2 full-time photographers covering your wedding, and during the important parts, probably 3, since my assistants can shoot too. In the end, I shoot 60-70% of the images but I process every single one myself — I don’t farm it out to some worker in a third-world country or a kid on the west coast.

Okay… sorry for the tangent. :) — back to Jenny and Dave.

Check out the slideshow… and don’t forget to watch it full-screen with the icon in the bottom right corner.

Enjoy!

Ben Vigil — Skotti & Tony (part 3) is up next…

Joanne & Dan at the King Plow

Congratulations to Joanne and Dan Garton!

They were both so calm, cool and collect on their wedding day. Okay, Dan was bit nervous but he wasn’t letting anybody know. One thing that’s nice about Jewish weddings is they tend to be much more relaxed by the time the ceremony rolls around because the signing of the Ketubah has already taken place, the jitters are gone and everybody’s ready to celebrate!

They got married at the Event Gallery at the King Plow Arts Center (the “Plow”), home of Bold American Catering, who handled the catering and decor. Like they always do, they did a amazing job. It been too long since I’ve worked with Susan Graham but it was just like old times. She was fantastic keeping everything orderly and on cue. It’s so relaxing when a good coordinator is on board.

My trusty associate, Huy, was along for this wedding and this is one of those shots that he is so good at:

I love this moment. It’s not the usual view of the cermony but…

Floral were handled by Eva Behrendt and her team at by Tulip. I’m always in awe of their work! You’ll see their work above and below and throughout the slideshow.

And a quick mention to my new friends with Atlanta Beat who provided great music for the evening. This same image is in the slideshow in b&w.

For the slideshow music, I chose to use the song that Joanne and her father danced to for the father/daughter dance. It’s the song “Sunrise, sunset”, which I was surprised to find in over 120 different versions on iTunes going back to the 1950’s. Don’t forget to watch it full-screen with the icon in the bottom right corner.

Enjoy!

Ben Vigil, photography at the King Plow Fine Arts Center, Atlanta

Meghan & Nick at Reynolds Plantation

It was such a pleasure to shoot Meghan and Nick’s wedding at Reynolds Plantation! The wedding was at Christ Our King and Savior Catholic Church and the reception was at the amazing Ritz-Carlton, Reynolds Plantation

So let’s start at the end, shall we… meet Meghan and Nick:

I’ve known Meghan a couple years through various friends but mostly through my old assistant, Christina, whose wedding I shot over the summer and who was also a bridesmaid at Meghan’s wedding. Meghan was so STUNNING!

I actually knew Bill, Meghan’s dad, years before Meghan. Check out this shot of daddy greeting his daughter. I just LOVE this shot that my associate, Huy, took!

So remind me again why Meghan is coaching sports…???

Here’s the former Archbishop of Atlanta, who concelebrated the wedding Mass, and Nick just before the start of the wedding.

One of my favorites of the day…

Here’s another favorite…

Oh wait a second, another favorite…

Both Meghan and Nick are trying to hold it together during the toasts by their parents.

You’ve never see a more proud father…

The peace of knowing you’re exactly where God wants you to be…

Congratulations Meghan and Nick!

So check out the slideshow for a bunch more images and remember that you can view the slideshow full-screen by clicking the last icon on the bottom right.

Enjoy!

Ben Vigil, at the Ritz-Carlton

Jen & Andy at The Contemporary

When I first met with Jen & Andy I was really excited that they were interested in having me cover their wedding. Aside from both of them being really good looking, they both have a background in the arts and as a fellow artist I was excited to see what they would pull together as a treat for their guests. That eye for art also translates into great imagery!

So let’s start here with this image… They were like clay all day long but we were shooting out by this wall and they both looked at us and said, “get one of our SHOES!” How fun is that!

Jen & Andy

Congratulations to you both!

Remember that you can view the slideshow full-screen by clicking the last icon on the bottom right.

Enjoy!

ASIDE:
Exactly 2 weeks before Jen & Andy’s wedding, I managed to botch up a simple walk down the stairs at home. The end result was 4 broken toes and stitches and that’s all the details you probably want. As I’m laying on the bed in the E.R., the only thing I’m thinking to myself is “I have Jen and Andy’s wedding in 14 days!” Here it is 7 1/2 weeks later and I’m still not up to full speed.

So why do I mention this? Given a worst case scenario my right-hand photographer, Huy Cat, could have covered the wedding completely for me. In fact, he’s coming on board as a full-fledged associate (more on that soon!). But I mention it because I have a lot of photographer friends in Atlanta that range from legendary to just simply amazing and we all watch out for each other and help out just because we can. Anne Almasy is one of those friends and even though she and her husband were shooting a wedding the next day, she came out and made sure all the bases were covered while I tried to keep up. Of course, Huy was there to 2nd and Brian Steele was assisting.

THANKS GUYS!

Ben Vigil, Contemporary, Timeless Imagery