Balance

Bal·ance - /ˈbæləns/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[bal-uhns] - noun, verb, -anced, -anc·ing.

I love Dictionary.com. What a beautiful thing it is. I went to it this morning in search of the definition of "balance" and these by far, were my favorite:

3. Mental steadiness or emotional stability; habit of calm behavior, judgment, etc.
11. The act of balancing; comparison as to weight, amount, importance, etc.; estimate.
26. To have an equality or equivalence in weight, parts, etc.; be in equilibrium.

Balance.

I think this is something we all strive for in our lives. I know Zach and I do, and I think every couple about to get married can especially relate as well. Having balance in our lives is a continual effort. We all have our own unique challenges, but the twist for Zach and I is we love our job (if you can call it that :) and it’s easy to get carried away and forget about everything else going on… like our marriage, our friendships with others, helping people, serving somewhere, and the list goes on.

It was in the honor of having balance and setting priorities, that a blog did not get posted yesterday. Sad, I know! Monday is our highest blog traffic day and I really wanted to get a blog out of this past weekend, but it was 6pm and Zach and I were still going. We looked at each other and knew we had to stop and just hang out or we were going to go crazy. So we went to the video store, rented some movies, stopped at our favorite place to eat - Maniac’s - to pick up some food, and began to head downtown to have a movie night at our studio. Slight glitch - we were a few miles into the drive when we realized we forgot the studio keys and headed back home. Oops. We ended up just staying home but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that we were making time for what was (and is) most important – each other.

It is so vital to make these efforts and keep the most important things #1. Sometimes it will hurt a little bit – a blog might not get posted until one day later than you would have liked, or the cake person will have to wait one more day for your final decision on what type of icing, or you’ll just have to tell your boss that you cannot make the after meeting dinner because you need to spend time with your family... Whatever it is - do it! You won't regret it!

Stay tuned for wedding photos from Paul & Laura's wedding this past weekend :)

Hello South Carolina!

Yesterday we flew out of Nashville to go to Columbia South Carolina for Laura and Paul's wedding! These weren't the largest planes in the world so we had to gate check our camera bags which always makes us nervous. We watched the guys unloading the plane lift up one of the bags and heavily drop it onto the conveyor belt... ugh! Good thing we invested in great bags and our stuff is well protected... we still think a HUGE blinking neon sign saying "FRAGILE" will finally convey the fragile message we have on the bags...

We had a layover in Charlotte, NC, and of course entertained ourselves with our cameras...









We arrived safe and sound (including all cameras and luggage!) just in time for Laura & Paul's rehearsal. It was so nice to see them again and we can't believe their wedding day is finally here!!!

After the rehearsal we had the privilege of getting to meet up with some past clients of ours!!! December of last year we shot Nathan & Liz's O'Neal's wedding in Indiana, and we LOVE this couple.







They are such great people and we selfishly wish they could live in Nashville so we could hang out more. :) They took us to this local coffee shop (had to convince Zach we should try a different place BESIDES Starbucks...) and the drinks were great (my drink was called "The Perfect Man"), as well as the company and conversation.





Soooooooo nice to see you two again!!!!

Ok, now we must ready ourselves for the wedding this afternoon! Until next time...

Senior Shadow Day & Off to South Carolina!

Today we were honored to be shadowed by two awesome seniors for Senior Shadow Day! This is where a senior (hence the name) shadows someone in a profession they are interested in. We were approached by two students from Independence High School asking us if they could shadow us and we jumped at the chance! We had Kevin, who we have known from helping out with the youth group, as well as another great, creative person, Sarah!

Lucky for them we had some exciting studio stuff on the agenda for the day, so after grabbing coffee at our favorite hangout and talking business, we took them to the studio and put them to work! Ok, ok... just kidding... well, kind of.... :)











Unfortunately there were no shots taken of Sarah and I messing with the lights... though we are official accomplished Light People now... (not sure exactly what that is, but it's really important I promise you... :). After working on the studio, we had lunch at S.A.T.C.O. and that wrapped up the day!

Always remember, regardless of how busy your life seems, to make sure to take some time to serve and invest in other people, not just yourself! It can be one of the most rewarding things and who knows the impact you can have on other people and change lives!

By the way, these are the only sneak peaks you'll get of our studio before we have our Studio Warming Party so enjoy them while you have the chance!

On another note, we leave early tomorrow morning to head to South Carolina to shoot the wedding of Paul & Laura Bliss!!! We cannot WAIT to see them again, and even cooler - we are meeting up with a past bride and groom of ours who now live in the Columbia, SC area!! Fun times ahead this weekend...

Laura Bliss - The Bride To Be!

Our New Studio!

So officially as of Monday October 8th we, Zach and Jody Gray of Gray Photography, are proud leasers of a new studio!



Maybe we'll affectionately call the place Studio Gray :) We have been busy this week transporting our photography stuff to this location and we are pumped! Stay tuned for a "Studio Warming" that we will be having for people to stop in and see the place .

We couldn't decide what photo to put up so here are 2 more :)

Lovey dovey picture...


My Husband is a Stud picture...

Workshop Completed!

Yesterday in conjunction with Evan Baines we hosted the Bridal Portraiture workshop and it was absolutely fantastic! We had such a great time teaching, sharing, as well as getting to know the photographers who came out. Thanks to our awesome models, Dustin, Lindsey, and Kathy, as well as our pro makeup artist, Sherita Leslie. And of course a big thanks to Mel of The Velvet Trunk and Krystal Mann of Mint and Sage who lent us the use of their great studio at The Factory for the morning sessions and the afterward critiques.

Evan and Zach at their finest...





After the morning tutorials, the afternoon consisted of 6 hours of instruction/shoot time. Everyone was split into 2 groups, half going with Evan, the rest with Zach, and then after 3 hours the groups swapped. Below we will show behind-the-scenes photos as well as an image or two from the setup that Zach demonstrated and shot.

























This, my friends, is the lovely Amanda Baines, who is the wife of Evan Baines. Random note... For any of you bacon lovers out there, I suggest you visit this original creation of Amanda's...





...and the group!





Our models did a great job, and the feedback we received from this workshop was extremely positive. Sorry for those who were unable to make it, but stay tuned for the dates of the next one coming up! We are planning on Spring and are looking to incorporate more advanced techniques as well as even more shoot time and hands on with set up.

Thanks to everyone who came out!! We cannot wait to see more of the great stuff you guys did!

Second shooting can be fun!

These last few days have been a whirlwind! Not only have we been busily preparing for our Bridal Portraiture Workshop tomorrow, but on Thursday we drove all the way to Chattanooga, TN to hear a photographer speak, and then yesterday (Friday) we were busy organizing our office (yours truly) and also shooting (Zach)!

We had the privilege of helping out some good friends of ours over at Dove Wedding Photography. The dynamic duo is Peter and Whitney Carlson and they have become friends through a once-a-month photo geek meeting that we have called PUGs (Pictage User Groups). We get together, talk shop, then go out to dinner and comment on how nerdy we all are with photo stuff!

Their client's wedding took place in Franklin at the Factory, which is also where we are hosting our photography workshop tomorrow. Here are some of the images that Zach took from the day! Enjoy!







Here is Whitney in Spy Mode...


Peter getting his photo on...

Ben & Amy!

This past weekend we had the honor of shooting Ben & Amy's wedding. Talk about a great couple! Amy especially amazed me - she was so calm and caring about everyone but herself :) The ceremony was great, and thanks to the amazing planning of Helen Morisette, their reception at the Parthenon was absolutely beautiful!

Enjoy a few photos!















This photo makes me laugh! I look so intense!!


The "walking bridge" holds special meaning for Ben & Amy and it was really important to them to get shots together on the bridge! They didn't want to see each other beforehand, so they allotted an extra 45 or so minutes for us to drive over to the bridge, take some photos and then move on to the reception. We love working with couples who realize the importance of bride and groom photos and are willing to build it into the schedule of the day. This is soooo important we can't stress it enough!!!

















Congrats you guys!!!!! Enjoy your time relaxing on your honeymoon!!