Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Hope Photography! To celebrate, here's a headless bride!

This was Eleshia Scholes on her wedding day. We were about to do some portraits and one of us said something funny and made her laugh and she hung her head to do so. Danielle thinks it's creepy looking and I think it's funny.
I hope everyone had a fun, but safe night. And don't get too sick on candy the rest of the week.

-Wes

Yes, we love our wedding couples THAT much! Nashville October 17-18, 2007

Wes and I (yes first official post by Danielle) went to Nashville recently to deliver a wedding album to one of our couples. We had the wonderful opportunity to shoot the wedding of Deb and Kevin Sexton in June of this year. Their wedding definitely ranked up there in our top ten weddings ever and it is because they are such a great couple!
We all really hit it off and became friends so after the wedding when they moved to Nashville it was decided that once we completed their album we would just deliver it (if at all possible) instead of mailing it to them. Wes finished their album and we contacted them and this was still what they wanted us to do (they love us THAT much too)!

We took Maddie with us (they are "kid" people and wanted to see her again) and we had a great time even though the visit was too short. We ate dinner with them at a REALLY great place called the Loveless Cafe. The biscuits and homemade jams were amazing! The trip also included a "Famous Guitar Shaped Swimming Pool" at a crappy Ramada in downtown and a trip to the Rainforest Café at Opry Mills Mall which Maddie loved. Here are a few snapshots, most with our little point and shoot:

Maddie living up to the bib.

Southern fried goodness.

Wes did take along on of his big cameras for a few pix and after we ate Maddie snapped this shot of Kevin and Deb goofing around while she was on his lap. Who let's a two-year-old play with $3000 worth of camera gear?

Not only did the giftshop have a bacon wallet (not real thankfully), but bacon flavored toothpicks. As the box said "Bacon is Classy!" Right. And you know that Wes had to have one of those "got biscuits?" shirts.

The gang outside the Loveless. And no, my head isn't always that big... I'm just closest to the camera.

Maddie enjoyed the shallow end of the pool. She could walk by herself! She's getting so big!!

Watching the animatronic elnant (elephant in Maddie-speak) at Rainforest.

The carousel inside the mall.

All tuckered out on the ride home.

It was only for 24 hours, but we turned it into a mini-vacation. Making every minute count is what you have to do when you run your own business I guess. And it was great to spend some post-wedding time with new friends. Thanks Kevin and Deb!


Danielle

Kaitlyn Cunningham 10-19-07

We had a fun time shooting little 3-month-old Kaitlyn last week. Such a cutie! If we keep doing more kids, we might just need us a studio soon (might have to put it on our private island... see my birthday post below).

We didn't realize that there was a 100% chance of showers that day or I would have suggested waterproof pants.

And in other news, I officially got my domain problem straightened out (I deleted a post about technical difficulties we were having) and coming soon to a web browser near you will be http://www.hope-kids.com/. Well, it's there now, but some of my old newspaper work is all that's up. I decided to do two separate sites to properly highlight our children portraiture. As is now, it's kind of just slapped on the main site and doesn't really fit in. So check the blog often for updates.

We've got a busy few days so be patient on the updates. I've really wanted to post some pics from a recent outing to Nashville (and some personal shots), but just haven't had time thanks to all the work. I'm not complaining though. Every shoot we do is a blessing.

Later,

Wes

ps: I did have a really nice birthday. Thanks for the emails! But sadly, no one took my hints on the gift thing. :) Danielle and I stopped by the Apple store yesterday though and I might just have to find a way to accidentally buy one. Thank the Lord she's the sensible one when it comes to our finances though because I was drooling over everything in the store with my hand on my wallet.

FYI: The Big Three-Two.

Tomorrow is my birthday. Normally I'm not that into birthdays (I'm not really this year either), but I thought since we had a blog now I might as well shamelessly hit the fine readers up for some birthday schwag. :)

So I'll take one of these.

Or one of these.

Or one of these. (Black would work nicely).

Or maybe even one of these. (I'd let you visit).

Why not shoot for the stars?

Okay, so since all of these could technically be argued as business expenses (we have a creative accountant), I'll save up the dough for them myself. No since in wasting a good write-off, right?

Happy birthday!

-The Old Man

Houston Whitehead 10-15-07

A lot of folks don't realize that do senior portraits too. That's our fault because a) we haven't had a lot of extra time to do extra shoots until I recently quit my full time job at the Daily Times and b) we don't have any on our website yet. Notice I said "yet". The website is in dire need of being updated and will be by the end of November (my personal deadline).

But I digress. Houston goes to church with us and his Mom was wanting some better senior photos than the ones they got through the school, so we agreed to meet at some family land in Townsend and do some photos the truly reflected his rockstar personality. I think we succeeded.




So if you know of any seniors that need to be shot (photographed that is) don't hesitate to contact us.

-Wes

Josh and Eleshia Scholes 10-13-07

Saturday the 13th we got to shoot the wedding of one of the funnest couples we've ever dealt with. Josh and Eleshia are just an all around fun couple who love life. We knew they were going to be a blast when during their engagement shoot this past summer they volunteered to run into the fountains at Worlds Fair Park...

So we had high expectations for the wedding and they delivered. The ceremony and reception were at Calvary Baptist Church in Knoxville where they met while in college at UT. Below are some favorites, but be sure to check the end of the post for a link to a slideshow of even more faves:

See? Told you they were fun. And so much in love. The slideshow can be found here. I'm playing around with different slideshow programs right now, so the look of these might change over the next few weddings.

Feel free to leave me a comment below. We love to hear what people think about our work.

-Wes

Sports Illustrated Assistant 10-10-07

Last Wednesday I got the chance to assist one of the top sports photographers in the country, Robert Seale. He was in Knoxville to shoot former University of Tennessee softball star pitcher Monica Abbott for an upcoming feature in Sports Illustrated. We had beautiful weather and even nicer light. Here are a few snaps I snuck in before we started lighting the shots and my duties turned to holding down Robert's gigantic octobox from blowing away in the wind.

ps: For the record, I may be a pro shooter with over 10 years experience, but I never find toting gear and lights around for another photographer beneath me. We all shoot differently and it can be a really cool experience watching someone else work.

-Wes

Blount Memorial Hospital Focus on Fitness Fall 10k 10-7-07

Part two of my marathon freelance weekend was a 10k at the Blount Memorial Hospital Wellness Center. For October, it was HOT. Needless to say, I got a pretty bad face sunburn (though I'm glad I still have the beard). Here are a few favorites from the day:


I was definitely impressed by all the runners for taking the initiative to do it. And depressed by how out of shape I am. Seriously, I was worn out after two days of shooting with minimal physical exertion. I have got to get in shape.

-Wes