A few weeks back I met a nice lady by the name of Elise Roth Tedeschi - the Senior Sales and Marketing Manager at the Hard Rock Cafe’ downtown. She is a Rockstar (ok, fine, I will try to keep puns to a minimum…NOT) and invited me to capture some images for the restaurant at an event they hosted for Genentech (opti-neuro-surgi-exploration company). Everything was coolio - with a twist only the Hard Rock could ‘rock’.  Check it out!

My personal fav?? How about nacho chips in a guitar case propped open with drum sticks…AWESOME details!!

How do you get people jazzed up and ready to throw down on the dance floor?? How about shot glasses filled with SUGAR!! Kisses, M&M’s, and a cheesecake-in-a-martini-glass-with-whatever-sinful-toppings-you-desire station were the highlights of the ‘dessert lounge’.

Thanks so much for the opportunity Elise - your event ROCKED!!

I knew there was a restaurant at the High Museum, but until I received a call from Richard Healy, the GM of Table 1280, I had no idea how amazing it was, or that it could be a fantabulous wedding and reception venue!

Richard asked me to come down and photograph the space during a wedding - so they could use the images to promote their wedding services. It was a little odd for me to be shooting at a wedding, but not as the official wedding photographer. Amazing how calm the job was…I guess walls, chairs, and tables don’t move, talk, or get overly stressed on their big day!! LOL!!

Anyway, Cathy Taylor with UniqueWorks and the Your Event Solution team did a wonderful job with the set-up, and the venue looked amazing! Thank you to all for trusting PWP with your images!!!

One last word. A few days after the shoot Angel and I ventured back to Table 1280 for dinner - we had a GREAT meal! The service was fantastic , the food was top-notch, and the wine pairings our server recommended were perfect. You MUST try the caesar salad - it was the best I have ever had!

Generally speaking, I give myself a hard time because I don’t shoot Murphy enough. I mean, he is shot professionally more than most any other kid I know - because every time he has a camera aimed at him it is me or Angel, but I live by the camera and feel I should do more. Well, the past two weeks I haven’t really been giving myself a hard time because we have had a TON of fun!

 First off, we went to visit my grandfather, Woody. Murphy’s middle name is W in honor of his great-grandfather and this day he wore the boots that Woody gave ME when I was a child. We took ’Murph-and-Boots’ down to the miniature horse farm Woody lives on in south Alabama - we had a ball!!

“Hey man - I got this thing that fell off a tree. I don’t know what it is, but I put it in my mouth…nothing great, but it’s alright. You want to try it??”

Now, when I say Murphy is fearless  - I mean nothing phases the kid: Santa and the 8′ Easter bunny at the mall - nothing but smiles. Now we know his indifference even applies to large animals like horses. He didn’t even flinch when Lucky was trying to nibble on his cowboy hat…while still on his head!!

This is his Marlboro Man pose….very Redford!

Even had a little Daddy portrait along the way!

Now, I am pulling a serious “Daddy No-No” - I will be on a biz trip shooting a wedding in Kentucky on Halloween. We have had to get our family Halloween crazies out early. This past weekend we decided to have some fun at Washington Farms - pumpkin patch, hay rides, corn maze - fun and activities for the whole fam! Murph (and Daddy) had a BALL!!

The following day Angel and I were off to a faboo Halloween Bash hosted by our dear sweet friends (and my wedding stylists…and our Murphy keepers), Katrina and Shauna (who is also my new Design Consultant). The theme was Alice in Wonderland - they did a great job!

I cruised a little off theme. If you have ever heard of the rock band Poison, Brett Michaels (lead singer of Poison), or the reality TV show Rock of Love - hopefully you will recognize my get-up. Angel was simply a HOT Geisha! ROCK ON!!

Lastly, our little family would like to leave you with two Halloween images.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am sure you have heard that “great gains come from great risks”. Well, I took a risk. I agreed to capture the largest group photo (348 people) ever taken in the Aquarium’s Ocean’s Ballroom.

I have captured more than 40 groups of 300 or larger in my career, so that wasn’t the great risk. This group was different because they had to be standing flat-footed; that, my friends, is a risky undertaking in a ballroom.  Usually we get a tier system, use stairs, line up chairs, or find some ’built-in the structure’ way to stagger a group that big. Couldn’t do it this time. No time for set-up, no room for tiers, no stairs…make it work people!

Truthfully, up until the moment I was fully extended 25′ up at the top of a scissor lift looking down on 348 people looking up at me…I had no idea if I was gonna be able pull it off. Did I have enough light? Would my angle be adequate to get all the faces…or just the lucky 40 in the front?? Will my lens be wide enough to get the people at the edges?

Does this damn thing wobble like this ALL THE TIME?

I was kind of nervous…like reeeally kinda nervous. Besides the physical peril (ok fine, it wasn’t Kilamanjaro…or snowing…or even windy), there was the small fact that 348 people standing in front of me, the members of the Aquarium’s sales team I had to beg to make this happen, my studio manager, my lead photographer, and the owner of the only scissor lift allowed in the ballroom were acutely aware of my endeavor. If I failed - it wouldn’t exactly be a secret in my immediate network.

SO, I took all my studio lights, turned ‘em all the way up, got a super-wide angle lens, herded some hesitant guests, jumped on a scissor lift, and prayed a little prayer - pleeease let this go smoothly!!!

It did. Without any more delay…drumroll please….I give you the 348 members and guests of the PHCC 125 Year Anniversary Party! 

Plus, I think we all had a ball. I think I like being on stage (well, we knew that) and now I know how much I prefer a stage that doesn’t shake when I breathe! I had so much fun up there - I suggested we do a fun one too!

Best thing was: it all happened in about 15 minutes.

Thank you to the Academy, Melissa, Peter, Becky and Will from the Aquarium, both the Matts at Active Production, and Omar - my man with the scissor lift plan! I (very literally) could not have done it without you!

Also, one last thing: BIG THANKS  go to Maureen Coleman - the nice lady at PHCC that trusted me with this project and patiently worked with me the whole way through the planning to make it happen!!! I (very literally) could not have done it without you!!

It has been a while, but I am now finally getting to tell you about the wedding of some dear friends - Natasha and Josh. I met both of these fine folks while they were working for the Aquarium - which is exactly how they met each other!

Natasha and Josh had an amazing, beautiful, and intimate wedding at Pura Vida (B&B Spa) in the Georgia Mountains in September. We started with wedding day luncheons at Frog Mountain Vineyards for the ladies and Wolf Mountain Vineyards for the men-folk. Josh (a wine enthusiast by passion and occupation) and his guys enjoyed a tour and tasting while the ladies took a more relaxed approach…more tasting than tour!

After the winery activities we all headed back to Pura Vida for wedding prep. Thanks to Natasha for the AWESOME gift - “Spare me the drama” speaks to my soul. Now that fab sign sits proudly in my office for all to see!

Oh, and I would like to give a formal nod to Anne - bridesmaid AND recipient of the “2008 Sexiest Bridesmaid Shoes” award.

The weather could not have been any better for an outdoor wedding!

You know how they say, “It’s not a party until something breaks”? I would like to amend that statement to say, “It’s not a party until a FIRE ALARM goes off!!”  I mentioned earlier that I met Natasha at the Aquarium - she was one of the opening team sales managers. She has seen LOTS of events and handled LOTS of drama - she is a party PRO. When faced with a blinking strobe light and deafening alarm in the middle of a reception dinner - most brides would come completely UNDONE.
Not Natasha.

Nope, my dear sweet bride took the opportunity to DANCE while grinning ear to ear!!

By the way - can I tell you how insanely difficult it was to get a photograph of the blinking strobe from a fire alarm??

After dinner was over (the false fire alarm only lasted a minute, or so), it was time for the PARTY!!

Thanks to Chris and Katrina for helping me with this fun day!

I am a lucky guy. I know it. I try not to take it for granted…and a trip to Aspen slaps me square across the chin with, “YOU ARE A LUCKY S.O.B.!!”

Truck Blue Book had their annual ‘meeting of the minds’ to declare truck (think ‘big rigs’) values for the coming year. It was an intimate affair for about 50 people versus the hundreds of people I photographed at their annual convention at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville in May (that blog entry here).

 Now, the last time I visited Aspen I was lucky enough to stay in the St. Regis - thought I had ‘arrived’ as the property was absolutely top-drawwwer dahhhling. This time we had the pleasure of staying at a more boutique property at the bottom of the slopes - the Little Nell. Evidently I ‘arrived’, left, and then ‘arrived’ again! The hotel was AMAZING!!!!!

Here is the view from my room on the top floor.

For this multi-day event, I was charged with capturing guests enjoying each other and the events planned for them.

Spouses were treated to a walking tour that started at historic Hotel Jerome and proceeded to points of interest all over town.

The last night it was a unique progressive dinner - the group progressed through three floors of the same venue! The bar was the top floor, fun concept restaurant on the second floor, and a white table cloth formal dining room in the basement. Everything was purely fantastic!

Thanks to organizer Terry and Truck Blue Book for sharing this wonderful experience with me!

Everybody knows I am an Aquarium junkie - season pass holder, shoot there multiple times every week, and even spend some of my off time there. Personally and professionally, I loves me some Aquarium!! Today, I have to tell you about my recent experience swimming with the whale sharks!

That’s right - I said it - swimming with the whale sharks.

My good buddy Meghann over at the world’s largest fish tank invited me to come over and enjoy their new dive program. You, me, and anyone interested has the opportunity (for a reasonable fee) to suit up and swim (or dive if you are certified) in the Ocean Voyager exhibit. If I was a cool cat with a dive certification I would have been diving - as it was, I was just a surface dweller with fancy scuba gear!!

Ocean Voyager is the world’s largest fish tank, so it is pretty darned cool to be in one place with sooo many different kinds of sharks, giant grouper, little fishes, whale sharks, and my personal fav - the nine foot Manta Ray, Nandi. All it takes is one instance of one of those MASSIVE whale sharks swimming about five inches below you for you to realize - this is no joke. They are BIG.

A couple of things that I learned on the adventure:

1. The water is chilly - about 75 degrees.

2. The water is salty. I don’t know why, but my ‘goldfish in tap water’ having self never thought of this. It makes perfect sense…uhh, quit laughing at me.

3. Wet suits were made for people equipped with one of two things: better figures or less concern for how they look in a wet suit - LOL!!!!! 

4. I want to go again.

5. I want to get scuba certified and go one more time after that…

6. Seeing the movie Jaws when I was a kid was a baaaaad idea.

7. Whale sharks are just as curious about you as you are about them.

That is my story - now check out my picture with my fellow swimmers. Thanks for the invite Meghann!!!

I was charged with a difficult task - capturing images showing a HUGE event going on at BOTH the World of Coke and the Georgia Aquarium. I know it doesn’t sound very hard, but for a million different reasons (no elevation, evening light, size of area, and inclusion of two different venues), it has plagued me for a few months. I tried unsuccessfully twice…and then there was this time…

The event was hosted by ASIS at Pemberton Place (PP is the land and common area that the Aquarium and WOC share). Thousands of guests attended - each venue and the outdoor area between them had food, bands, and sights to see. Click on the panoramas below to see all about the event - it was AWESOME!!

I photographed the first pano from the roof of the World of Coke Museum - a series of twelve photographs ’stitched’ using Photoshop. Click on it for a larger view.

 I photographed the second pano from the ground - right in the middle of the action! Click on it for a larger view.

The experience was amazing, and I was tickled to have FINALLY captured the images my friends at the Aquarium wanted.

It’s a new thing - capturing moments around the house. Here is a video of this process we call ‘walking’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM4-i_uvMTE

I have been sitting here for 45 minutes with three rejected paragraphs - trying to figure out what to say about the wedding of Sam and Marissa at the Georgia Aquarium on August 31st. I am at a loss – and if you know me, you know how rare it is that I don’t have something to say….about everything. How about we just say I was honored, awe-struck, and entertained…and I wasn’t the only one…

All of the getting ready and pre/post wedding activities were hosted at TWELVE Hotel – Centennial Park.

My good buddy Leah Manley at TWELVE did a fantastic job keeping the entire series of hospitality events for guests on track while managing special guest requests – with a smile.

The reveal was in the TWELVE Lounge – a touching moment, for sure.

Inside joke - this one is for you, Marissa and Sam!

We were off to the Aquarium – and the photos definitely speak for grand nature of this meaningful and FUN moment in the Rosenbloom and Fleishman families.

Barbara Roos absolutely blew me away with her event design! Steven Eisenstein, Fatima, Dean, Chefs Greg and Blati - and the ENTIRE Wolfgang Puck Catering and Georgia Aquarium staff - were on their toes. They provided perfect service while presenting an amazing culinary experience for guests.

Anita with her party band and an 80’s cover band rocked the reception!

At the end of the night we had a happily married couple, smiling guests, and an exhausted photography team…

Jackie, Paul, Katrina, Peter and Nicole – thank you for helping me capture an AMAZING event!! I could not have done it without you!!!!