Recently we did this photo shoot at the famous Fox Theatre. This young lady became a bride in May 2011 but we did a formal bridal shoot almost 7 months later. This night was a pretty cold one. Every time we took a few images we put a coat back on her. Downtown Atlanta can be pretty windy in the winter sometimes. This happened to be one of those coldernights. It has been such a warm and mild winter in Atlanta but this evening. In the top image I had the camera on a tripod and a very slow shutter speed in order to get the blur of the cars in the background as long colored lights from the tail lights. I used a Lumedyne powerpack at 100 watt seconds of power to light the bride from the right.A Lumedyne power pack is a light I used a lot back in the days of film. It is a very consist and manual light. It has three basic settings. 50,100 and 200 watt seconds. That’s it! No sensors and computer chips and any auto settings. You have to set the light, use a meter and know what you are doing. At times I love it with digital and at other times it can be annoying. In this situation I knew I wanted the constant and consistent light and I would manipulate my f stop and ISO to give me what I was looking for. Back in the days of using a Hassleblad film camera this was the light many professionals would use every weekend for weddings.

Tags: Piedmont park weddings, Old Edwards weddings by Lynn Brown, Atlanta Wedding photographer, Atlanta Wedding Photography, wedding photography blog

Do not forget to get an engagement portrait made. Now is the time so that you can begin letting friends and family know about the big day you and your fiancé are planning. You can mail out “save the date” cards, post a picture to your Facebook page and give a portrait to both sets of parents so they can begin bragging and showing off a picture of their new son or daughter in law to be!

Madeline acting fun and silly here. I love this one! I think she was having a good time.

some imaginary snow. Then I took the image into Photoshop and created this snowy day. Cool Huh!

Both of these images were taken on the same day. It was a gray sky day and the light was even and low and it was about 58 degrees out. Hot chocolate anyone!

What a great prop. I love to photograph old cars in a portrait. If you don’t recognize it this is an old Ford Thunderbird. What a beauty. It was restored to mint condition. Would love to have this as a prop at the studio but they wouldn’t part with it. Oh well. Wish I looked like this at 18! What a beautiful model for the cover.

This session was done yesterday. It was a gray sky day. A day perfect for even lighting. The sky was just one big soft box like I use in the camera room but God has a better version than one we can make. This session was for two bridal magazines. Both magazines are related except one is in Georgia and the other is in Florida. These were done at a house in Chateau Elan. The blue sky was added as a photo merge from another image to make it look like a warm Florida day. We had the palms, rocks and water but just needed a blue sky with puffy white Florida clouds.

Tags: Atlanta Bridal Magazine, Atlanta Bridal shoot, Atlanta Photographer, Atlanta Weddings, Bella Brides, Jan Hardeman, Lynn Brown, Atlanta Wedding Photographer

As you begin the search for wedding photographers, quite honestly there are about 10 gazillion out there. So what is a bride to do? Well what is more important, a photographers portfolio or personality. As my husband Todd would say, “yes.” In other words they are both important. There are a lot of gorgeous wedding portfolios out there. There are also different personalities behind each one. The most important thing to do is meet your prospective photographer. Treat it like an interview except you are the one conducting the interview. Find a personality that you feel comfortable with. You want someone that you can trust with your special day. You also need to keep in mind that photography is like anything else, you tend to get what you pay for.

So begin your search and find the portfolio and personalities you like first and then consider the investment you are willing to make in your memories for your special day.

This was a fun bridal portrait shoot in downtown Atlanta. I was down on the ground shooting a very low angle so that I could get as much of the capital in as possible while leaving some room in the upper left hand part of the sky for the magazine logo. Folks were driving by and honking their horn and yelling out congrats to Christina. It is always quite funny because every time we go on location folks do that. Even some businessmen walking out of the capital were making fun comments. Parking was the only nightmare we dealt with.

tags: Atlanta Photographer, wedding photography blog, Atlanta wedding prices, Centenial Olympic Park bride, capital Bride, Bella Magazine bride, Atlanta Photographers, Lynn Brown Photography

I met Blake at 10:30 as he began to make preparations for the noon lunch on the lawn at the Carl House in Auburn, Georgia. He was so excited and nervous all at the same time. He said, “I will be happy as long as she is surprised.” After Blake set everything up, 3 special gifts , lunch, the Coca Cola glasses, and the most important package, the RING!, then he went to get Kristen.

I waited for a little over an hour. I went into the woods and got some extra greenery from a back parking lot and added it to the front of the bushes I was hiding in. I started to worry that Kristen may see me if I was not hidden well enough. Then I realized that my pink shirt probably need to be hidden so I got a burgundy shirt out of the car and a floor mat to lay on the wet ground under the bushes. I just prayed that I would not encounter a snake. About 10 minutes before 12 noon, Blake sent me a text message and asked me to go inside and get the roses he forgot to put out on the blanket from Monica inside the Carl House. Well Monica came out a moment later and put the roses out. At 12 noon on the dot, Blake and Kristen make their entrance. See the images below.

You can see the excitement on her face.I was real worried she would see me so I also pulled out some pine straw and put it over the top of me. Blake is playing everything cool and calm! They eat first an then he began to give her some special gifts. One for each year they have dated.

Congratulations guys! Have a great time.

Tags: Engagement surprise, surprise proposal, Kristen and Blake, Atlanta wedding photography, Georgia weddings,Carl House, Gwinnett county weddings,award winning photography, award winning wedding photographer, Lynn Brown weddings, Liberty University, Fall engagements, Georgia engagements