Marrakech, table for two!

So far my journey in Spain has lead be all over the southern part of the country, through mountains and nearly deserted plains, small towns and large cities, and places both old and new. I spent last weekend in Lisbon, Portugal, where I got to wade deep into the Eastern part of the Atlantic ocean for the first time. And later this afternoon, I'm heading to Morocco to spend three full days in Marrakech with my friend Ashley. Our only goals are to (1) visit the market and (2) ride a camel. I will have pictures and a full story when I return to the United States on Monday, so stay tuned for that! I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Jennifer & Chet { Newnan, Ga }

Back in May I met up with my friend Mark Turner of Turner Images to photograph Jennifer and Chet's wonderful wedding at Something Special in Newnan, Ga. Mark is an amazing photographer, and I have worked with him on several weddings over the last 2 years. He was the first person to give me a chance at wedding photography and show me the ropes, and I am very greatful for his friendship.

Jennifer and her bridesmaids were so much fun to hang out with. I love this image I grabbed of Jennifer as someone cracked a joke.


She wore the most amazing pink heels.


And her dress was so intricately detailed.


Jen was so eager to put her dress on that I didn't even have the chance to grab a shot of it by itself! That's ok though because she looked so elegant in it.


Into the dress she goes.


My fingers hurt just thinking about this. They had to individually button each one of these buttons by hand.


And on go the fun, funky shoes!


Before the ceremony began I took a few minutes to photograph the rings. Here is my favorite shot of the bunch. It just says "garden wedding" to me.


Something Special is an amazing place to have a wedding, naturally, but it's also a great place to shoot one! There is a hedge lining the left side of the ceremony site with a few breaks in it where I can poke my camera through without being seen. I had a blast playing ninja and capturing candids of the couple with their friends and family.

The ceremony was very emotional. I love this shot of the maid of honor wiping away a tear.


And one final image before I leave for dinner. This is the ring bearer giving his mom a kiss. How cute!

Documenting the ordinary

One of my goals in bringing my camera to Spain is to find ways to stretch my abilities and creativity in creating images, and I do this by trying to photograph the ordinary elements of this place in an extraordinary way. Once you learn the basic rules of photography, it can be easy to fall behind those rules and crank out images that are consistently correct. The danger in this is that if you don't ever take risks with your images or try to step outside of the rules a little, your images will continue to be good but very few will be great.

That said, here are a few more images from my Madrid wanderings.

One light, One image

Elegance. Beauty. Passion. Strength.

Sometimes taking a great photograph just means being ready to capture a moment as it happens.

A friendly word

After a week of having everything- menus, signs, directions, television, web pages- in Spanish, this sign was a welcome respite. I found it earlier this week when I did a walking tour of our barrio (read: neighborhood, not ghetto). I set out late in the afternoon to explore some of the lesser traveled, narrow back streets around the residence with my camera. I have lately become enthralled by the search for cool textures, contrasting colors, natural patterns and lines, so this walk was quite an adventure for me. Here are some examples of the textures that I found.









I'll be posting some more from my little excursion tomorrow. Right now I have to get ready because Ashley and I are going to the Ballet Nacional de España tonight. Check it out- fourth row seats!



Alongside my ballet ticket are my passport, metro ticket and RENFE ticket (for the train). Tomorrow I'll be spending the day in Salamanca.

I'm out for now!

When in Madrid

Bienvenidos a España!

To be quite honest with you, this has been quite possibly the most fantastic week of my life, and I have no idea where I should begin telling you about it. I guess I should start by apologizing. I promised lots of pictures, and I have yet to deliver. I arrived at the airport in Madrid only to realize that I left my CF card reader at home. I set out to buy one today and after wandering around the store for an hour completely confused, I was finally able to communicate to one of the sales people exactly what I was looking for. I brought my new card reader home all excited that I was going to be able to share my wonderful photos with you, only to find that the one that I picked up is broken. So tomorrow I'll return to El Corte Ingles to see if I can find one that will help me out.

Until then, here is an image that I took with my point and shoot camera when we visited Toledo earlier this week.



So far my adventures have included an excursion to Toledo, Spain's old capital, visiting the Museo del Prado, celebrating the 4th of July for the first time without fireworks, and enhancing my ability to communicate in Spanish. It has been amazing and I look forward to sharing more of it with you once I can upload my pictures, but right now it's 1:24am and I am ready for bed. Buenas noches!

PS. An image to make you smile :)