Kristell and Dirk, and Kristell's mother Enith, met Steve Glass and Jeff Franks Saturday, June 26th, 2010 in Atlanta for their engagement session. It was a beautiful day, but as is common in the deep south, it was hot and humid. We loaded up in our big crew cab four wheel drive pickup truck and drove to a parking lot near the SunTrust Plaza and Garden, right behind Max Lagers, and began shooting. The backgrounds at the SunTrust Plaza and Garden are just incredible. There were huge statues of dancers which really appealed to Kristell because of her interest and training in dance, beautiful modern sculptures, reflecting pools and lots of granite and marble surfaces surrounding a modern urban fountain. As we photographers like to say, when you have such beautiful subjects, and Kristell and Dirk are incredibly attractive, find a very ugly area or a very beautiful area and you can make some magic; that is what I think we've done.

Kristell lives in North Carolina and is a graduate student at UNC. Dirk is an active duty US Marine Corps service member and was home on leave from combat duty in Afghanistan. Kristell and Dirk were a pleasure to spend time with; I have so much respect for Dirk and as we approach the Independence Day holiday I would encourage everyone to remember those brave men and women who are faithfully serving their country in faraway lands. We owe them a debt of gratitude we can never adequately repay. The axiom that "Freedom isn't free," is as true today as it has been in any time in our history. If you have an opportunity to thank a service member in your daily lives, do it, it will make their day.

We came away from our session very impressed with these two young people. They are very much in love and you can see the passion and emotion in so many of these photographs. We can see the pride and affection Kristell feels for Dirk beaming from her eyes in so many of these images; Dirk's expressions communicate the same pride in his beautiful finance and something more perhaps, a bridge to his future, a hope for the next phase of life, but most certainly unashamed and unconstrained love. We wish Kristell all our best wishes as she prepares for her wedding and we congratulate Dirk on finding his lady and having the good sense sense to put a ring on her finger. We look forward to your wedding and are so honored to have been selected to document your joyous union.

Candi and Sam traveled up from Mississippi to finalize a few details for their September wedding and to shoot their engagement session. On Friday, June 25th, 2010, we met at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and spent several hours getting to know one another and shooting around the gardens. The Atlanta Botanical Gardens is a truly awesome location to shoot an engagement session. You can literally walk 50 feet and be in a location that looks nothing like the one you just came from; it doesn't hurt that all the locations are absolutely gorgeous.

Candi and Sam's online proofing gallery has been uploaded and Candi has the password. You can reach the online proofing gallery from the navigation menu at the top of the blog; click on CLIENTS and away you will go.

Barbara and I had a really wonderful day with Candi and Sam. They are so friendly and we had a blast shooting their session. To top off a really nice day, we all packed up and drove over to Fat Matt's Rib Shack on Piedmont Ave. to break bread, well ribs, together and relax after shooting in the sweltering 101 degree heat. The sweet tea, great food, live blues, very pleasant conversation and awesome company put a big smile on our faces. Barbara and I announced that we were adopting Candi and Sam as we made our good byes, shook hands and hugged. We really like this fantastic couple and they are so in love and we see nothing but a bright future for them. To Candi, best wishes as you prepare for your wedding and we can't wait to be there on your big day; you are destined to be a most beautiful bride. To Sam, we wish you a very heartfelt congratulations, you won the lottery my man and are the luckiest guy in the world; but you know that. Oh I wish I was there to see that awesome smile I know you are smiling right now.

Below is a slideshow of Candi and Sam's engagement session. The slideshow is set up to start in high definition, if you are on a dial up connection click on the HQ control and switch to low resolution for a better web experience. For those on a broadband connection, the first time through you may experience a few sputters and pauses, unless you are hitting the net from a cable modem (I hate all you lucky cable modem types, not really, but I am jealous), but have patience and let it run all the way through one time. After that, everything will be buttery smooth and you can enjoy the slideshow without the annoying sputters and pauses. Thanks for watching Candi and Sam's video and I really hope you enjoy it.

First, here are a series of four video slideshows that cover the time span of the rehearsal to the Jessica and Jonathan's departure for their honeymoon. Click on each image to view the slideshows. These are high resolution (High Definition) video slideshows and, depending on your Internet connection speed, you may experience some stutters and stops the first time it runs. If you do, we recommend you let the video play all the way through one time. If you are on dial-up, click on the HQ option and view the video in standard definition for a better experience.

Jessica and Jonathan were married on June 12th, 2010 at Cavender Castle in Dahlonega, GA. The day began with Jeff meeting Jessica, her bridesmaids and mother at J. Thomas Salon south of Dahlonega. The salon is wonderful and when Jeff arrived the girls were in high spirits and in various states of having their hair done. This is a special place and the salon is so beautiful inside, you have to see it to believe how nice it is.

Later that afternoon we met the girls again as they prepared in the beautiful accommodations of Cavender Castle. A little later, the guys showed up and we spent some time photographing their preparations as well. Once everyone was dressed, but at separate times, of course, we grabbed some shots of Jessica and her bridesmaids and then Jonathan and his groomsmen. The wedding party were great sports and endured the heat and humidity and allowed us to get some great shots before the ceremony.

Beautiful details were abundant, from the venue and from Jessica's touch as she decorated in her theme colors. Several photographers dedicated a good percentage of the early afternoon hours to capturing the beautiful details.

You may have read this before, but it merits periodic rediscovery; one of my favorite quotes.

These detail shots are all from Alex Smith and Steve Glass, they did a fantastic job capturing the ambiance of the venue.

The ceremony was beautiful. It was a clear, sunny and hot day with temperatures hovering around 100 degrees and the heat index making it feel like 115 degrees; but, a little sweat never hurt anyone and everyone was so happy to be there and to participate in this joyous union. The ceremony was conducted outdoors at the gorgeous Cavender Castle Gazebo. The gazebo sits in a small valley adjacent to the castle; again, just a gorgeous venue.

The bridesmaids and groomsmen looked so good in the dresses and tuxedos; they all looked fantastic and Jessica's colors were terrific. The wedding's theme was the beach and the sand and powder blue tones were so complimentary; Jessica has such great taste! The coup de gras, however, was Jessica when she appeared in her wedding gown. She was extraordinarily beautiful and the look on Jonathan's handsome face, standing there in his sand colored tuxedo, was just priceless; she literally took his breath away.

Kristy Dickerson and Jeff Franks carved out a few minutes of special time with Jessica and Jonathan after the ceremony and before the reception. They were able to get some quality shots of the two of them. After those special moments they captured some really nice formal images of the family and the wedding party.

Once the ceremony concluded, the guests moved to the main structure on the grounds and the reception began in earnest. A very good time was had by all the atmosphere and the ambiance at Cavender Castle was magical. The food was fantastic, the grounds and building was awesome, Cavender Castle is officially one of our favorite venues here in Dahlonega - very nice. Everyone danced the night away.

At the end of the evening Jessica and Jonathan made their way to their limo through sparklers held by the well wishers. We able to get some great shots and we hope these help everyone remember Jessica and Jonathan's special day. We wish them so much happiness; and rumor has it they had a wonderful week in Jamaica celebrating their honeymoon.

Kristy Dickerson, Steve Glass, Alex Smith, Dana Hornbeck, Barbara Franks and Jeff Franks were there to document the big day. It was a dream team and all the photographers had a blast with a very friendly and fun loving group of family and friends. As we caught our breath and wiped our brows after the departure of Jessica and Jonathan, Jeff looked around at the fantastic photographers and was impressed by how happy they all were to have participated in such a special wedding. We could not have asked for nicer clients, a better team of photographers and we really enjoyed witnessing the union of such a special couple.

To document the photojournalists that participated for the studio, here are some shots of the shooters as they preformed their work or took a break to grab a bite of the delicious food.

From left to right and then down and left to right again. Barbara Franks on the D3x and 200-400mm f/4 Nikkor Zoom (a lot of the incredible shots at the altar are her shots, she did a great job), Kristy Dickerson behind Jessica and Jonathan during the reception, Jeff Franks on top of the turrent with Jessica, Jonathan and Cyndi close to sunset, Steve Glass and Jeff Franks shooting Jessica and friend during the reception, Steve Glass and Kristy Dickerson grabbing a quick bite while the guests are eating and, finally, Jeff Franks, Kristy Dickerson and Dana Hornbeck shooting the garter belt retrieval from Jessica's thigh by her new husband Jonathan.

We also wanted to thank Cyndi and Rick Durham, the owners of Cavender Castle, for hosting such a wonderful wedding for Jessica and Jonathan and for being two of the most incredibly nice folks we've ever met. You guys were so good to all of our photographers and we just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

From left to right, Alex Smith and Steve Glass shooting the toasts. Cyndi Durham, one of the proprietors of Cavender Castle.