Photo Blog by Open Light Studio

40th Anniversary, Alice in Wonderland Style – Dorothy & Tim

Nate — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:15:20 +0000

Folks, you are about to witness one awesome event. Dorothy called me up about two months ago to inquire about photographing her 40th anniversary vow renewal. She had met Laura 3 or 4 years ago at a SCAD event and had kept her business card that long (almost unthinkable nowadays, right?). Well I was so thrilled to be a part of this special day for her and Tim. She had wanted to walk down the boulevard at the Forsyth Park Fountain ever since she first visited Savannah, Georgia years and years ago. Now was her time. A small party of her close family and friends came to celebrate with them. So happy to share these photos with you all; enjoy, and have a great day!

Yes, she was led down by her granddaughters as Flower Girls and THE MAD HATTER (who also happened to be a Johnny Depp look-alike in my opinion).

Wayne Chambers, the well-known Savannah water color artist, officiated the informal event, and the couple stood 15 feet from the fountain as their guests sat on the public benches to listen and observe.

Parasols were in full force, Dorothy wore a bird cage veil, the flower girls wore head wreaths with feathers, the boutonniere and bouquet were pretty darn funky (in a good way), and the Mad Hatter was there as witness too.

Then the private dinner reception details were so amazing at Vic’s on the River. The Alice in Wonderland theme went up about 17 notches. What a beautiful cake by Kerry O’Connor; it really carries the Alice in Wonderland theme well. And that little tea pot and top hat are a nice touch. Liz Demos helped Dorothy in providing direction and inspiration for the styling of the whole room.

You can view/order any and all of the photos by clicking here.

Savannah Engagement – Lizzie and Greg

Nate — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 01:01:49 +0000

Just had the pleasure of meeting up at Skidaway Island with Lizzie and Greg for an engagement session. What a great time for us, except the bugs (not too bad though–for Savannah standards, at least). We had some fun and I think some beautiful portraits came out of it. Lizzie is the sister to clients of ours from last year, and now we have the pleasure of photographing her new year’s eve wedding in Downtown Savannah at the end of 2010. It will be awesome, trust me.

I love these two images below. So full of clean good light; amazing. Love how they’re framed by those trees in the kissing shot.

When you go on a shoot with me, sometimes I’ll say play with your hair, or something like that, and this top left image shows you how it turns out. I’m a fan.

More Dallas Portraits – Max and Belle

Nate — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 15:45:21 +0000

Laura had the opportunity to photograph for parents of an old friend of mine; they have two recent grandbabies born and we were so happy that Laura could do this for them. Max and Belle are of the age right in between Winnie and Boaz’s, so it’s a fun age to both look forward to and backwards. Enjoy!

I love this pairing of the two little kiddos. Max’s expression is priceless!

Had to throw in one of the grandparents since it was their anniversary! What a great pic of 30+ years of marriage.

Our Life Recently

Nate — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:35:30 +0000

Just wanted to share a few photographs from our life lately. The snake handler ones of Boaz I just couldn’t resist.

And yes, here is my some of my family, The Hunters. Elissa came to SCAD’s Rising Star program for high schoolers this summer (she’s not a bad photographer herself). My mom flew in for the closing reception as well. Good times; best free food I’ve ever had. Not kidding.

A Savannah Engagement – Abbie & Micah

Nate — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:27:00 +0000

Two dear friends of ours are represented here. I was able to spend a nice little evening with them as we wandered Factor’s Walk just off River Street in Downtown Savannah, then out to an open field near our house as the sun dropped. Fun times; good times. Enjoy this little engagement photography session with Abbie Smith and Micah Sprunger. We started off with a few interior shots; love all those books on the desk.

Then we headed out for a little change of scenery.

A Savannah, GA Wedding – Danielle & Charlie

Nate — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:29:15 +0000

I had to put the flower girl above; what a cute expression along with that amazing floral headpiece/crown. Well folks, this wedding was a sweet little one. We met up at Forsyth Park for some wedding party portraits, then headed out to Tybee Island for the ceremony and some of that magic hour time for more portraits with just the couple. Everyone was so fun to be around, especially considering the stifling heat and humidity of downtown Savannah. Thank you all! Tybee beach, on the other hand, greeted us with a wonderful breeze (albeit a little strong); the sun set, and Danielle and Charlie were married. Enjoy the preview!

All the florals provided by A to Zinnias.

I just can’t get enough of their portraits. Love that beautiful light.

You can view and order prints from the entire collection here.

The Berthel Family – Dallas, TX

Nate — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:24:22 +0000

Another fun shoot from our time in Dallas earlier this August. Enjoy!

Auburn University’s Rural Studio

Nate — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:48:24 +0000

As we drove back to Savannah from Dallas, there became a question as we headed towards Alabama that needed answering: to continue on I-20 and go out of our way or cut through on US-80 and have a more visually interesting drive. We picked US-80, and much of it was to visit Newbern, AL to see Auburn’s Rural Studio architecture program based out of the small town. They do really interesting work that is aimed at helping real people, not just theoretical architecture on paper. Their main focus currently is in designing the 20K house for those who live in rural counties across the country. Yes, twenty thousand dollars for a legit home.

So here’s a little smorgasbord based of the program’s headquarters. We didn’t have real time to visit their projects for clients in rural AL (sorry).

A Savannah Wedding – Lindsey and Brad

Nate — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:12:24 +0000

Another beautiful wedding out at Isle of Hope United Methodist. Lindsey and Brad were wed last weekend, with a reception at the Plantation Club at The Landings. It rained, and then the trolley didn’t start up to bring the wedding party to Wormsloe for some portraits. Not good. Finally, though, it all worked out and we had a great time, with some wonderful images. Enjoy!

Wormsloe Plantation provides another wonderful and amazing setting for portraits with Lindsey and Brad.

The dragon is the grooms cake. hilarious. Wonderful flowers by Josh Grotheer.

The couple below had been married the longest of any others at the reception–58 years (and they were dancing it up). Sheer greatness; what a witness of love in a long lasting marriage.

Don’t forget about the slideshow below.

Details:
Wedding Flowers by Josh Grotheer
Wedding Cake by Mollie Stone; Groom’s cake by Kerry O’Connor
Ceremony held at Isle of Hope United Methodist Church
Reception at the Plantation Club

Tehuacana, TX & Gary Walker Cutting Horses

Nate — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:15:39 +0000

You may remember Tehuacana, TX from last summer’s post. My friend, Jim Parker, runs The Trinity Institute from his central Texas castle (that’s at least how Laura and I now refer to it). This time around, we visited Gary Walker for a little while to hear about his story and take some photographs. He was featured on Wide World of Sports back in 1980 in the rodeo championships where he was bucked off, only 2 seconds from winning tons of money. Since then, he has become a nationally recognized trainer/rider/breeder of cutting horses. Here’s some of our photographs from the time with him.