Tara & Billy

Soooooooo...it may come as a complete shock to you, but it looks like I might be terrible at keeping up with blogging. Oh, well.  Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy {almost} Valentine's Day! Think that about brings us up to speed ;)  Now without further delay...  

Fact:  we love photographing weddings.  I think Bala would agree that one of the best things about it is that we get to make new friends every time.  We are always so honored to be invited to share such a beautiful and special day with a couple while we are capturing the moments that they will look back on for the rest of their lives.   It's pretty magical, actually.

One of the things that stood out the most about Tara and Billy's wedding was that there was no doubt that the day was entirely for them.  These two surrounded themselves with the people they love and there was no stress, no drama, just a complete celebration of  the love that they have had for each other for nearly a decade.  It was positively wonderful!   A stunning bride, handsome groom, super fun wedding party...we love our job.  And the best thing of it all is that we are now able to call Billy & Tara friends :)

And just where have you been?

Ok, ok...it's not you, it's me.  I guess 5 months between blog posts probably isn't very adequate, but what's a busy girl to do? And by busy, I mean not-sure-if-we-have-even-taken-a-breath-since-March kind of busy. Heck, I'm not sure we have breathed since we moved almost a year ago. I'm not making any promises, but I will try to do better.

Let's pretend that I am not almost a year late in getting this one up. Remember my lovely friends, Jonah & Allison, from their engagement shoot? They got married last October and we were honored to get to spend the day with them in Rosemary Beach, Florida.  It was a beautiful day with a sunset to die for!

Our Studio!

As many of you know, we recently signed a lease on a studio space in downtown Paris.  We are not completely finished with our renovation work, but since we had several people waiting on shoots, we decided to do a soft opening so that we could go ahead and use it and squeeze in the rest of the work as we can between shoots.

Now, before I go on, there is something very important that has to be pointed out.  My husband is amazing.  Every major change you see in the following photos was done by his two hands and now aching back.  I assisted where I could and have painted my share of the walls, but the real magic has happened because well, frankly, I married a man who can do anything!  I am not stretching the truth in that statement.  He really can do anything.   Just wait...I'll prove it.

As I said, there is still a great deal of work to be done...the floors need to be sanded and sealed again, there are photos to be ordered for the walls, more props to display, our sign isn't up yet and we still have to remedy the awful drop ceiling and florescent lighting.  But I have faith that you all will be able to look past those things and see the potential this little space of ours has!

I'll begin with the "before" photos taken the day we got our keys.

The Lounge Area

Studio I

Studio II

Here are some shots from the tearing out process...

The Lounge Area

Ok...here is exhibit A of my case to prove that Bala really can do anything.  We knew that we would have to replace the flooring and originally planned on painting the concrete, but we decided to go "green" and recycle some of the material already in our building.  In it's former life, our studio was a retail store.  On the second floor of the store was where they kept their inventory.  There were two rooms of shelving...

which allowed us to go from this...

to this, by using some of the material for strips to nail the other material to!  

A little distressing

 and staining, 

                       

and voilà!

Studio I

Bala sanded the existing floors so that we could stain them the same as the Lounge and then added some molding for visual interest.

Studio II

Tore down a wall and removed the carpet...

And now, for what it looks like today with vignettes set up for our shoots.  Remember, there is still much to do, but we're well on our way!

The Lounge Area

Studio I

Exhibit B...faux finishing done by you know who.

Studio II

Aaaand Exhibit C...floors painted and vignettes set up by the man who. can. do. anything.  I rest my case.

And here's what you see when you walk through the front door.  Quite a transformation!  Oh, and the next time you see my husband make sure you shake his hand, 'cause you're kinda in the presence of greatness ;)

Hannah & Justin

You might remember Hannah from her bridal photos.  Here are some shots from her & Justin's wedding!  We had such a good time on this shoot.  The whole bridal party was wonderful and it was a fun, laid back kind of day.  We couldn't have asked for a better experience!  Thanks Hannah & Justin for letting us share this day with you guys!

Kasey & Ryan

I cannot tell you how excited we are to be a part of Kasey & Ryan's wedding!  They will be getting married in a green pasture and having the reception in a gorgeous barn.  I won't give any more away, but each time we talk with them about it, Bala and I get even more anxious to see all of the wonderful details they are telling us about come together.

These two are about as laid back and easy going as they come.  We took them out to a farm and utilized the rustic setting for their engagement photos.  I am pretty sure that Ryan isn't the kind of guy who loves being in front of a camera, but he was a super great sport and didn't even mind smooching his beautiful fiancée whenever we asked him!  He even carries the kissing photos around in his wallet to show to all of his football buddies.  Ok, maybe not.

We love these guys and are looking forward to May, warmer weather and a good old fashioned hitchin'!

Hannah

Hannah contacted us months ago, before the idea of moving back to Paris was even in our heads.  So, instead of making a special trip up to photograph her wedding to Justin, we took advantage of the fact that we moved here a couple of weeks before the wedding and took her out for a bridal shoot.

We knew from the beginning that it was going to be a fun shoot and that Hannah was an out-of-the-box kind of girl.  You can see more from this bridal shoot, as well as others if you click HERE.