Into the new year.

It is a little bit into the new year and I am looking back at last year. Last year was my first year solely relying on my photography business to support my family and I. It is safe to say that running a business is challenging, particularly one that sells a luxury item like portraits. I did a fair job considering I photographed 18 weddings, 70+ portraits, 100+ sports teams and 6 schools. This year I am going to spend more of my time into producing high end portraits and elegant wedding photography.

Why? Well I love working with folks on producing timeless images and capturing the joy of a wedding day. I look for the personal experiences, the memories. So I will be scaling back on sports photos this year and concentrating on this field of photography.

2007's weddings were all memorable. Lauren & Zach's show of love in their cute country church. Haley & Daniel's version of Johnny and Baby's dance in Dirty Dancing. The A/C quitting at Kim & Mike's late June wedding. The show of emotions at Mallory & Dillon's wedding. The grooms excitement at the wedding of Whitley & Andrew. The lively reception at the wedding of Shannon & Dell. It was a joy to be involved in these special events and I hope 2008 is just as exciting.

The portrait sessions that I was honored to photograph include the Beck family, who were on vacation here from places like S. Dakota and Ohio. Photographing the Chastain's all around the Toccoa river producing awesome images. Little Landon with his animate personality was nonstop photographic action.

2007 marked my venture into serious Senior Portraiture. Wow, what a great time I've had with that. High school seniors are so volatile and colorful. Imagine kids on the cusp of adulthood, still working out who they are, full of attitude, dreams, emotions, life. Now set them in front of a lens and let them loose. One example is Courtney, she started out as needing direction but turned it into a model shoot. Every time Audrey changed an outfit her personality changed with it! She was so into the shoot we could have photographed for hours. Her mother later commented on the images saying," They were phenomenal.".

Well, I want to thank all who allowed me to photograph them and letting me express the enjoyment that photography gives me, and I hope for an even better year ahead.

Alex