Often my friends kid me about what Edie Grace’s wedding will be like.  Considering her first three birthdays got so out of control that DeWayne had to pull the plug.  He really did not think we could justify having Ringling Brothers put up a circus tent for Edie Grace’s fourth birthday.  Saturday night we attended and helped photograph the wedding of Ashlyn Winfrey and Ryan Reese in Washington, Georgia.  Ashlyn’s step father and mother are Mercer and India Harris.  Mercer and India own Mercer Harris Photography in Washington.  As a team, they have become one of the most sought after wedding photographers in the Southeastern United States.  If you have called me for a wedding photographer recommendation - they are the ones I probably referred you too.  I tell people that if Edie Grace were getting married today - they would be the Photographers we would hire.  The only problem with being the top photography team in the Wedding industry is that you see LOTS of INCREDIBLE weddings and get LOTS of phenomenal ideas.  Well, if you were lucky enough to attend the wedding of the century in Washington this weekend - you had the opportunity to see a wedding that could best be described as the "best of".    It would take hours for me to describe every incredible WOWING detail of this wedding.  I think the entire city of Washington attended - so don’t take my word for it.  Just call 411, ask for Washington and dial the first number you get.  I am certain they were either in attendance or knew someone who attended.  Ask them what they have heard about it and be prepared to spend an hour on the phone for the cliff notes.

The photographers, who were hand picked by the Harris’ to photograph the wedding, followed the "best of" theme.  I was honored to be included as part of the team of the most sought after wedding and portrait photographers in the south.  It is not often that a wedding in Washington gets the attention of the paparazzi - but if you were a guest - you saw lots of cameras at work.  Several of the south’s leading Wedding publications have already reached out for some of the incredible photographs.  While I will not steal that thunder here - DeWayne and I did take a few images with my blog camera to give you a feel of the event.  I am not sure if Cinderella herself could have dreamed of, or put together, a more incredible wedding.

Thanks, Ashlyn and Ryan, for allowing us to be a part of this incredible day for you both! 

  Tonight, we attended their beautiful wedding at the Cathedral of St. Johns the Baptist  in Savannah.  I have photographed Brandi and her family for years.  For you faithful blog readers - you will remember this couple’s engagement session from the blog.  It is so fun to watch our clients grow up in front of the lens of my camera.  Brandi and Justin’s engagement session was so much fun.  It was great to see the images tonight at the reception.  The sepia image of them in Forsyth they used for the center image in their sign-on frame.  All of their family and friends wrote notes to the new couple.  What a great way to remember this amazing night for years to come.  We wish them all the happiness that they both deserve and then some!

Congratulations Brandi and Justin!

I   do not shoot many weddings now.  Yes I know….many of you want me to give up my Wedding Photography sabbatical.  Every week…sometimes every day, one of you call me to try to persuade me to photograph your wedding.  With wedding options more challenging than ever, I understand your desperation.  I have published my top TEN tips for hiring a wedding photographer because of the HORROR stories I have heard from you about your wedding photographers.  A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to get a small taste of Wedding Photography again.  The cute couple, Nikki and Bradley - who you have seen on here and some candid’s from their wedding on previous blogs -  invited me to their wedding.  It was so hot their wedding photographer allowed me to help her with some of the posing.  It was fun to shoot a wedding again as a second photographer - without the stress of being the primary photographer.  The venue was so beautiful and the couple - well as you have already seen - could be models.  So let me know what you think? 

          If you can’t commission me as your wedding photographer - you still can commission me to create your Engagement images, Save the Date cards, and Bridal portraits!

We squeezed in this wonderful couple’s wedding in our event packed weekend.  The wedding was on Sweet Heart Circle on the GSU campus.  I photographed their engagement and her bridal - all on the circle.  They are a wonderful & sweet couple and we were honored that they included us on their special day.  Here are a few snap shots that I captured with my point and shoot.  Bradley’s father, Scott Moore, is our pastor at Believers Church and officiated the ceremony.  Pastor Scott, I am sorry that I did not get a better shot of you!  Nikki and Bradley are honeymooning in Hawaii this week and will be returning to Statesboro as our “neighbors” downtown.  They have rented a beautiful loft apartment as their first home.  We are excited to have them so close to us.  Even though I did not take any pictures at the reception I must tell you how wonderful it was also.  It was held at Meldrim Woods Plantation which is owned by the current State Bar president Gerald Edenfield.  We actually shot the cover of the State Bar magazine at the reception site.  Best of all, one of my favorite caterers catered the event - Uncle Shug.  Stacy and the gang at Uncle Shugs provided a real southern feast for the sit down dinner - before we all danced the night away.

 MY Top Ten Suggestions for Hiring a Wedding Photographer

Congratulations! My wish for you is that the fairy tale you dreamed of and probably practiced as a child comes true for you with your prince charming!

There are few portrait events that rival the importance of your wedding. For many brides, your wedding is the first time you will hire a professional photographer. With no prior experience in commissioning a professional photographer, you may be tempted to shop for a photographer as you shop for every other item for the wedding…solely based on price.

You may not realize that on your wedding day almost every professional involved in your wedding is licensed or regulated by a state agency except photographers. That includes your pastor, caterer, stylist, even the person who does your nails. Because of the lack of regulation, almost daily I hear another bride or mother of the bride’s wedding photography horror story.

So what has changed? Technology: digital photography has lowered the barrier for entry and the perceived skill sets in the photography industry. Five to ten years ago, you had to have a strong knowledge of posing, lighting and technical aspects of capturing beautiful images on film. Most wedding photographers would show up at your wedding with ten to thirty thousand of dollars of equipment. Today you can get a pretty good digital camera for $600 and you are now a “professional wedding photographer”. So how do you make the best investment in a professional wedding photographer?

Here are my TOP TEN suggestions for hiring a wedding photographer:

1) Establish a budget for photography. The industry average is 10% of the total wedding budget. Martha Stewart suggests 20%. (If your total wedding budget, dress, flowers, venue, food, beverages, entertainment, etc. is $15,000 then your photography budget should be $1,500 to $3,000)

2) Research your photographer…regardless of who refers you to your photographer. Ask for names and contact information of at least three recent brides. Call them and ask to see their completed wedding album. Ask questions about the photographer’s professionalism, including responsiveness to phone calls and emails prior to and after the wedding, and length of time it took to get the completed wedding album delivered. Many photographers provide “incentives” to other vendors for referrals. Even though you think you are getting an “honest” referral based on the photographer’s quality of work and past experience, this may not be the case.

3) Discuss their formal training in photography and years in business. (not how long they have been taking pictures) Keep in mind that 50% of small businesses in America fail in the first five years.

4) Ask if they are a member of a professional trade association, such as the Professional Photographers of America. (PPA requires its members to abide by a professional code of ethics and offers indemnification, mediation and other critical legal support which protects you, the consumer)

5) If they are a member of the PPA, find out if they are Certified by the PPA. (this volunteer certification validates that they at least have a critical technical knowledge of photography and that they take their trade seriously enough to voluntarily help raise the professional standards by becoming certified as a professional photographer)

6) Does your photographer have a storefront or professional office and maintain regular business hours? Often the biggest challenge comes from hiring a photographer with no permanent address and only a cell phone and yahoo or hotmail email account. Would you use a doctor, lawyer or other professional that worked out of a bedroom of their home? Anyone can make images look great on a web site. Website templates make it very easy for everyone to have a very professional looking website. Don’t be fooled by the perception of success.

7) Make certain your wedding package includes EVERYTHING you want, from photography of the wedding day to a completed wedding album. (57% of brides surveyed by Kodak in 2007 only received a high resolution DVD of images – NO PRINTED PICTURES AND NO WEDDING ALBUM) What they thought was a great deal turned quickly into a nightmare. Often these digital files are so large that most of the brides could not open them on a normal computer. The largest amount of time and often talent, in addition to capturing the photographs on your wedding day, occurs after the wedding. It is all the post production of the event including digital processing, color correction and retouching of the images and designing and printing a beautiful wedding album that require tremendous talent and TIME. Post production is NOT an option that is available at most one-hour photo labs – so you ARE NOT saving money trying to have your images printed yourself. Could you imagine going to a lawyer and after a very expensive hour of her time – she sends you home with a do it yourself kit to finish your legal documents?

How does your photographer archive your wedding files? Get a purchase option for your files in writing. If you do get a DVD of images, immediately make a copy to your hard drive and a second copy to place in your safe deposit box at your bank.

9) Get EVERYTHING in writing. Ask to review your contract overnight before signing. Get your attorney to review it. It will be well worth the money if something goes wrong.

10) Find out your photographer’s contingency plans. In the event of an illness, accident, or other event preventing your photographer from being able to photograph your wedding, learn their contingency plan to have your event photographed with equal or greater talent. Also, what is their equipment contingency plan? Do they have a back-up camera and back-up lighting equipment in case something is dropped and damaged in the middle of your wedding?

So how did your photographer score???

Don’t panic if they didn’t score a 10 of 10. This list has been comprised based on my 20+ years of experience in the photography industry and from the “stories” I keep hearing over and over from brides. Keep in mind that often the most talented artists may not have the strongest business and customer service skills. The process of hiring your photographer will most likely require some give and take but now you can make a more informed and educated decision.

Congratulations! My wish for you is that the fairy tale you dreamed of and probably practiced as a child comes true for you with your prince charming!

Lori Grice is an internationally recognized Master photographer. She has operated her successful photography business in downtown Statesboro for over 20 years. As Statesboro Herald’s photography expert, you can ask Lori more questions about wedding photography or other types of photography at www.StatesboroHerald.com on the Ask the Expert page. Learn more about Lori at www.lorigrice.com .

During the 15 years I photographed weddings, one of my favorite ways to get to know the bride was her engagement and bridal portraits.  Long after I photographed my last wedding brides still have the opportunity to experience the “Lori Grice” difference as part of their wedding through engagement and bridal sessions.  With the evolution of wedding photography, the bridal portrait has taken on even more significance.   If you are someone you know is engaged make sure they talk with us about this most significant portrait.  No matter who photographs your wedding - I would be honored to create a bridal portrait of you that will be a treasured heirloom in your new home. Enjoy a few of my brides.    

A wedding celebration…

After photographing weddings for fifteen years every opportunity to attend a wedding as a guest is a wonderful treat. Saturday DeWayne,  Edie Grace and I had the opportunity to attend Juan & Claudia’s wedding at St. Matthew’s Catholic Church in Statesboro.  This wedding was not your every Saturday type of affair.  The wedding was completely in Spanish!  I guess I had forgotten to mention that to Edie Grace.  About two or three minutes into the wedding Edie Grace leaned over to me and said, “Mama, I can’t understand a word they are saying.”  Well, I guess she hasn’t watched as much Dora the Explorer  as I thought she had!  Kids in other countries that are bi-lingual by six are so blessed!  But I digress.

I have always been intrigued by different religions and different cultures.  What a wonderful voyage Saturday was!  The thing that I was the MOST amazed by was the integral roles the photographer and videographer played at the event.  The entire event was basically choreographed by them.  There has been so much hype about photojournalism and just capturing the events as they unfold, but when everything is said and done all you have left are the portraits and the video.  Your cake is eaten, your flowers are dead and your beautiful dress is hidden away in a cardboard box in a closet.  Doesn’t it just make sense to have the day entrusted to pros that have experience recording your beautiful day?  I had never met the team that captured Juan and Claudia’s day before, but they worked very hard making sure that not even one detail was missed.

  If you, or someone you know is looking for a wedding photographer PLEASE do a lot of research before you book.  We are currently on a “sabbatical” from weddings.  I really love spending my weekends with Edie Grace and DeWayne.  When she is away at college, I will probably come out of retirement and do some more weddings but I learned five years ago that life can be really short.  So I want to savor every minute I can with her while she is little!  When interviewing wedding photographers, be sure that the photographer is a member of a professional trade association preferably GPPA or PPA.  That gives them a network of support in case they were to become ill or injured on or before your big day.  They are also provided professional insurance through these organizations that would include mediation and other legal services designed to protect you and the photographers investment of your incredible day.

Congratulations to Juan & Claudia!  May they be blessed with love, happiness and great wedding portraits!!!

Ladies now you have a new reason to go to Savannah Mall - to see our new portraits, banners and video slide show in our gallery.  Many of you have asked over the last few weeks when we are going to update the Gallery.  We try to update it every few weeks in some small way and completely update it seasonally.  Well this is our mid season - seasonal update.  As promised, I wanted to give you some of the stories behind these special portraits that we have shared for display.

We are featuring three portraits in the gallery, a watercolor and two traditional portraits.  The watercolor was created at Tybee.  The family wanted a piece of artwork for their home that would become the centerpiece of the room.  However, they did not want a traditional family portrait - but would like to include their family in the portrait.  Occasionally our clients tell me that they do not feel comfortable having a large portrait of themselves or their family in their home.  They feel that this is to ostentatious so they elect to display other types of art instead of their family.  This watercolor is a great example of how we blend the desire of art and include your family in the portrait making it tremendously more valuable to you and your family.  The exquisite frame that accentuates the torn edge of the watercolor paper as the portrait floats in the frame really adds a tremendously artistic final touch.

The second portrait is a traditional portrait on canvas.  Deployments are always hard - especially for newlyweds.  This couple was one of many couples and families I created portraits for over the past few months as our brave soldiers prepare to deploy yet again.  Their is nothing more thrilling than spending time capturing images of love in its infancy - but combine that with the anticipation of a long separation and you get a powerful combination of chemistry, anticipation and desire.  These two really touched me.  They are a beautiful, special couple who I think about daily.  This is the portrait they selected and I could write a novel expressing all of the feelings evoked in this portrait.  We have many….many clients who spouses are currently deployed.  You are all very inspiring to me.  When I am having a challenging day - I think of you and what your day must be like.  Being married to a hero is a very very special calling.  I look forward to many more portraits in the future of happy homecomings and long successful lives together.  Thanks for ALL you DO!

The third portrait is a black and white portrait featuring a mother’s love for her baby.  The excitement and emotion of expecting, birth and the first year of a child’s life is a wonderfully special time for portraits.  I love the glow radiated by a new mom and the thrill of the first smile captured.  This black and white portrait of a mother and child I created using window light in my studio in Statesboro.  The baby was 12 weeks old in this image.  These intimate mother love sessions are some of my favorite of images created during the first year.  I like to photograph moms when they are expecting and the babies at newborn, around 12 weeks, 28 weeks, 36 weeks and one year.  There is never a time that your child will change more in a single year than the first year.  Do not let this year pass without having your baby photographed professionally at least two times during the first year.  The two biggest regrets I hear over and over from clients is that they did not have a professional bridal portrait created.  In stead they settled for one created the day of the wedding by the wedding photographer and they have never been pleased with it.  The second is that they only have candid’s of the baby’s first year.  These are two stages of life that you can not rewind and recreate.

We have added a new feature to the gallery a video slide show of some of my favorite images from recent sessions.  This gives you an opportunity to review a broader body of my work.  It is a great way to get inspired with portrait ideas featuring your family for your home.  The two banners feature more of my favorite images.  One features bridal portraits and displays some of my published and most talked about bridals.  The second banner features one of my most popular images of a child in a christening gown.  I call this image “Family Tradition.”  The gown was hand made by the mother of the child.  The gown has bands of lace at the bottom.  Every time another child is born, a band will be added with the child’s name and date of birth.  Of course, along with the addition to the gown will be a similar portrait of the child.  What a great heirloom for this child and their descendants.  Now you understand why I call this image “Family Tradition.”

In a future blog I will share more about my bridals and why brides travel from all over to have me create this important portrait for them.  You have asked about my Masters Collection and published images.  All of these I will cover in more detail throughout future post.

If you have never been to our Savannah Mall Gallery it is located near the Target interior mall entrance.  There are specific directions on our web site in the directions tab.  Check it out the next time your at the mall and let me know what you think!

Have you ever met someone that you knew on that very first meeting would accomplish great things?  For me it happened for the first time in grade school.  I remember she was beautiful, smart, humble and personable.  Did I say smart??  Oh Yeah…like off the charts smart.  I realized this in math class when the teacher worked one of those problems that took the entire chalk board. He was showing us what next year in algebra was going to be like. Obviously the answer did not work out correctly.  From the back of the room, slowly and timidly she raised her hand.  The frustrated teacher ignored her at first.  Then after another student made him aware of the hand in the back of the room - he recognized her.  Her name was Kara Martin.  She is the daughter of a college professor at the University and her mother Kim was beautiful and very nice.  Kara slowly rose from her seat and walked to the chalkboard.  She took the chalk and in an instant, became the teacher.  Right before our eyes Kara became super human.  It was like a scene from a not yet produced movie.  Very commandingly, yet humbly she explained to the teacher exactly where the mistake was.  She is superhuman, to understand algebra at such a complex level that she can break it down to it’s simplest form, and she was beautiful.  Did I say beautiful??  Little did I know how well I learned the law of attraction early in life.  If you have read the book “the Secret” you will know what I am talking about.  If you have not read this book (or watched the DVD) stop what your doing, go to Amazon.com and order it. 

Kara was very pretty.  She was tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes.  But unlike, most pretty girls in school - she did not seem to know she was pretty.  She was kind to everyone and seem to be most focused on her education and helping others.   I knew definitively on that day in grade school math class at Marvin Pittman Laboratory School, that Kara Martin was going to save the world.  Because I subliminally understood the law of attraction I made every effort to get to know her and befriend her.  She was the kind of person I wanted to be more like.  If it was not possible for me to be more like her, then I wanted to make sure I had a front row seat to watch her journey.

I must admit, even I never dreamed that the journey would take her (and all of us vicariously through her) to such amazing places.  Kara completed high school with a 4.0.  She entered GSU as a pre-med student.  Along the way, looking for scholarships to help with her education she entered the Miss Georgia Southern Pageant, she won and then went on to the Miss Georgia Pageant and was crowned first runner-up.  The next year Kara entered the Miss Southeast Georgia pageant and won.  Then to Miss Georgia and she WON!  On to Atlantic City to the Miss America Pageant.  She almost won Miss America receiving first runner up. 

Even though she did not win Miss America, she had obtained her goal of funding medical school through scholarships.  Kara graduated from GSU, and MCG with a perfect 4.0.  After she was crowned Miss Georgia our resident Clark Kent (Scott Shelar) a reporter for the Statesboro Herald interviewed Kara.  Scott was a sports reporter, I am not sure how he convinced his editor that pageants were a sport.  Obviously, he understood the law of attraction at a little different level.  Scott was smart, handsome and very charming.  On December 30, 1995 Scott and Kara were married in a fairy tale wedding at Christ the King Cathedral in Atlanta.

Kara and Scott have made Atlanta home.  Kara is a physician at Piedmont Hospital and Scott is the executive director of the Construction Education Foundation.  There are lots and lots of wonderful side roads in this couples amazing journey that I have skipped - trying not to make this a novel.  They are now entering into a wonderful new path - the path of parenthood.  They are expecting their first child, a son, in August.  

Along with our great friends Dr. John and Sharon Adams, Edie Grace, DeWayne and I hosted Scott and Kara and a few of our friends for a baby shower at the studio.  I had photographed Kara and Scott at their home in Atlanta recently.  We used this image for the shower invitation.  I will share the invitation along with some images of our journey with Kara and Scott.  I have also included a few images from the shower at the studio.  We wish Kara and Scott the best of luck as they enter parenthood.  With their permission, I will continue to share with you images of their son when he arrives.

For almost 30 years since I first met Kara and later Scott, I continued to be humbled and amazed at watching this dynamic duo in action.  They really are super human in many ways.  Now I know they are going to be SUPER PARENTS! 

Not only have they been great friends, but also wonderful clients. Kara continues to humble me by allowing me to photograph every important part of her journey, from the pageants, graduations, their wedding and now the expecting images. 

Congratulations Kara and Scott and thanks for allowing me to share and help document this wonderful journey.  I can’t wait for  the next chapter