Me - The Person

All my life I have been a creative person. I have drawn, painted, shot photographs and explored the art world since I was a child. At the same time, I had a very 'mobile' childhood: many schools and many experiences. I learned about people. Always being the 'new kid' taught me a lot about how to make people feel comfortable around me - it taught me how to make myself a part of any crowd.

In college I started shooting professionally. I paid for my college degree shooting events. By the time I graduated at 23, I had already shot over 600 events and been published worldwide. By the time I was 23, I was also completely burned out. I sold all of my equipment and left photography to get a 'real job'.

After five years of great success in the 'real world' I was still trying to find the 'real job' that matched the 'real me'.

I had paid vacation, a great salary, benefits,a 401k and everything else I thought I was looking for, but could not find personal satisfaction. Luckily, my company downsized and I was 'laid off' with about 700 others...on my 29th birthday. It was then that I 'found' photography again. Since then I have been making up for lost time... with a passion! I LOVE IT!

These days, PWP Studio looks a little different than it did when it was Patrick Williams Photography - I have a team and we 'mix it up' a little bit (check out the "We - The People" tab above). We live to capture a small number of amazing weddings every year, enjoy taking care of a few select corporate clients, and we shoot personal projects as often as we can. On a personal note, I spend as much time as possible with my wife, Angel, and my little man, Murphy.


If you want the scoop on what the team is doing this week, I invite you to check out the blog. We are passionate. We are enthusiastic. We simply can't get enough photography! Give us a call - we would love to help you!

Me - The Long Version

All my life I have been an artist of some sort. When I was in elementary school, my tools of choice were crayons, pencils and any kind of paper I could get my hands on. I used those tools quite a bit because family issues caused us to move around A LOT when I was a kid. Always being the new kid was no fun. I used my art as a release of sorts - and it was a good way to make the time pass by when I didn't really have any friends in a new place. I drew my way through five schools in six years - I was drawing everything I could imagine: cars, boats, trucks and a bunch of battle ships.

In middle school we moved (another school), and I graduated to pen and ink, U2 and poetry. I created fanciful abstract scenes, famous faces, imagination-driven faces, and a boatload of poetic verse. The Cure was at the height of their career, angst was 'in', and I had plenty of dark mysterious pieces to claim my piece of the trend!

Two more schools later I hit my senior year of high school. It was then I discovered black and white photography... I spent hours and hours (and more hours) in that darkroom at Stone Mountain High School. Photography was an outlet for me - a creative way to express myself and get out from under the rule of the parent-oppressors ("parent-oppressors" is a generic term used for the way every teenager feels about their parents at some point). Photography wasn't a passion at that point - it was an escape.

It may sound like the beginnings of a sad, sad story, but it's not. I have been blessed all my life: I had the constant love of both of my parents, a supportive extended family, I was taken to church every Sunday, and I was simply born a 'happy kid'. Sure, there were some pretty overwhelming obstacles along the way, but everyone has obstacles don't they?? All of those moves - being the new kid - gave me something I could not have gained anywhere else: the ability to blend in, in any social situation. I went to public schools, private schools, religious schools, schools that were 96% white, and schools that were 96% black. I learned to understand different people. I learned to adapt. I became a well-socialized young man, ready to be a part of almost any group of people I could run into.

Now, when I went out of state to college, EVERYTHING changed. I was no longer required to move if my parents wanted to move - I was free at last to make my own way! No more angst. No more depressing music. No more drawing. I was a new man!

My freshman year was parties and fun. My sophomore year at Auburn, I discovered photography again. This time, it was event photography. I paid for four years of school shooting event photography: tuition, books, rent, fraternity dues, car and every other expense I had. Photography in college still wasn't my passion, it was a 'college job' with flexible evening, weekend and holiday hours. It wasn't anything creative, but shooting events was tons of fun - the perfect college job!

I shot everything I could to pay for school: graduations, weddings, road races, parties, corporate functions, charity events, cheer camps, proms, reunions and any other event that needed a photographer. For four years I worked through every weekend shooting parties, every spring, summer and fall break shooting graduations, every summer was cheer camps and every holiday found me shooting holiday functions.

By the time I was 23, I had already shot over 700 events, posed tens of thousands of people and been published worldwide! When I finally graduated, it was time for me to get a 'real job'. I didn't know any wealthy photographers. I didn't know any career photographers. It wouldn't have mattered if I did; I was COMPLETELY burned out. Photography wasn't my future - it was my past. It was time for me to go to work for some big company, rise through the ranks and eventually make a million dollars.

So, I that is exactly what I did (with the exception of that whole million dollars part). I sold all my photo equipment and quietly walked away from photography in pursuit of the perfect job.

I moved to Denver, rented cars, sold beepers, waited tables and then got the big break I was waiting for. I landed that big corporate job and soon became the nationally top-ranked sales representative for a nationwide wireless carrier. I started to get bored with sales and tired of the ever-changing commission structures, so I jumped over to computers. I attained my MCSE certification (Microsoft Certified System Engineer) and started out doing computer security for the government. I left that job to move back to Atlanta to plan my wedding with my fiance, Angel. During all of this, the only camera in the house was Angel's 'point and shoot' camera - and I never used it!

We arrived in Atlanta and I found a wonderful job as a computer security analyst for another big corporation. The only problem? I wasn't so fond of computer security. There was nothing creative or artsy about my job. I was miserable. Fortunately for us, two life-changing occurrences happened in 2001; I was married to Angel and three months later I was 'laid off'. That's right, my big corporation laid me off. They were mass lay-offs; I was 'let go' with about 700 other employees. Oh yeah, did I mention that the day I was fired just happened to be my BIRTHDAY?

So, there was my lifetime low point. I was 29 years old, newly wed, one week into a six month lease in an expensive apartment, no career I wanted to pursue, and my whole life-long dream and view of working for big corporations was damaged because of a birthday lay-off. I was lost!

I blew out the candles on my birthday cake, picked my butt up and started working on the next chapter in the "Book of Patrick". First thing, I needed a job and I needed it badly. I sat around for a week trying to figure out what I wanted to do, and one day it hit me: PHOTOGRAPHY! It was the only job I ever truly enjoyed, and I decided right then and there that photography was going to be my career.

Now, what happens to a three year old boy on a 12-hour road trip?? Well, when he's in the car he gets irritable being restricted and confined, he annoys everyone, and when he finally gets out of the car he is a WILD MAN! That is exactly what I was like when I finally picked up a camera again - I had been cooped up in a blueish grayish cubby farm for five years and it was time to let out all the creative 'crazies' that had been stifled for so long.

You know my background now. Since I was a child, I have been in training to adapt to any situation, and to fit into ANY group of people. I have been creative as far back as I can remember. College seemed to be less about my degree and more about me getting an incredibly solid foundation in event photography. Five years later, digital photography was the new thing and I had spent the last three years learning everything there was to know about computers. Being in the corporate world also gave me a great understanding of 'business' and professionalism. I am not trying to sound arrogant, but I believe I was made to be a photographer in the digital era!



I started back shooting a few years ago, and I am still excited for every single project I shoot. I am passionate about photography. I LOVE IT! College taught me what to do, to keep from getting burned out. These days, I 'mix it up' a little bit. I still shoot many weddings and events every year, but I also freelance for magazines, show in galleries, shoot portraits and spend a ton of time 'playing' on the computer with all of the latest programs available for digital photographers.

It also wouldn't be right for me not to mention that I am still married to my Angel. She was my 'rock' when I started shooting again. Dropping a lucrative career in computers must have sounded crazy! She supported me in every way when I started shooting - she is still an amazing support system and my biggest fan. We are the proud parents of two of the sweetest little miniature dachshund dog-children, Fred and William ('weiner dogs'), and our newest member of the family, Murphy W Williams. Angel and 'the kids' find themselves in front of my camera more often that I would like to admit - they are my favorite subjects! You can see examples of them all over my site. Life is pretty simple when you make a hobby your career.

I am passionate. I am enthusiastic. I simply can't get enough photography!

We - The People

Melissa Prosser

Melissa Prosser discovered a passion for photography in college. She owns her own studio and freelances. Melissa takes photographs as a journalist takes notes. NO detail is too small. In years to come as you look at your wedding photographs, Melissa hopes that they will renew the emotions you experienced on that very special day. Melissa assists Patrick Williams in photographing weddings and is his graphic designer creating beautiful wedding albums for his clients. Melissa is a graduate of North Georgia College and State University where she graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in art marketing.

Ron Witherspoon

After earning his Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in radio and television production and journalism from San Francisco State University, and 20 years in corporate America, Ron chose to follow his passion for the visual arts and earned a Master of Fine Arts with a concentration in photography and digital imaging in 2004 at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. He has won many awards for his photography and been featured in group jurored exhibits and solo exhibits showcasing his black and white photography on both coasts.

He likes everything about weddings. The idea of creating images for 'that special day' to commemorate a time of love makes him stay focused to the task of documenting with a creative flair. He feels that searching out those intimate moments that go unseen by the guests and family that have that WOW effect is priceless and worth the effort in capturing.

Angel Williams

I love photographing weddings and capturing those distinctive touches that make your wedding so unique and so YOU! Having taken considerable time planning my dream wedding to Patrick, I can appreciate the effort that goes into selecting all of those special extras ... each flower, favor, program and detail that you've spent so much time choosing. I adore being surrounded by all of the beauty and love that encompasses your day. I enjoy capturing that emotion from a woman's (and former bride's) perspective!

Katrina Rice

Katrina Rice grew up in Juneau, Alaska before migrating south to attend the the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she met Patrick. Ever since, she's been fluffing trains, steaming dresses, sewing buttons, and anything else that needs to be done on a wedding day. She loves to help make the day go smoothly, and to be there for anything the bride needs. As she says, "A perfect photo will last forever, and helping to make that photo perfect is an amazing feeling." She lives in Atlanta with her two dogs and enjoys decorating her home, traveling, and dreaming.

Peter Grippando

Peter is the newest addition to the PWP Studio team. He fills the role of Data Manager (translation: he looks at pretty pictures all day) and all around studio-managing 'go-to' guy. He has been assisting Patrick on location for years and has just started in the office. Peter is eager to spend time behind the camera and has a knack for handling any kind of software or hardware the photography world can throw his way!

Paul Beezley

Patrick began shooting with Paul in 1992 when Paul was the manager of an event photography business at Auburn. One of the mentors in the beginning of Patrick's career, Paul has an astonishing amount of experience with well over 1000 events under his belt. He takes great pride in capturing images that are incredibly meaningful while constantly pursuing technical perfection. Currently, Paul leads teams that capture amazing weddings for PWP and works side-by-side with Patrick to create the unique images that are a trademark for PWP.

Courtney Goldman

Courtney is a Georgia girl - she grew up in Atlanta and now lives in Athens. She has been 'that girl with the camera' as long as she can remember; she even has photo albums of her pictures starting when she was in the third grade! As she says, "I love weddings. To me, they represent the best of life - love, family, and friends - all coming together in celebration."