Paul's Bright Idea

We are still here! I have a ton of weddings and shoots I need to blog about and I will as soon as I find the time. A quick update on our lives- A lot of you have asked about the Honduras Trip we were going on earlier this month but it was cancelled due to the political tension. We have rescheduled the trip for April 5th-12th. I have a show at Smith Northview Hospital in November. I am still working on the details of the show but I will post the date and time as soon as I get them. Other than that we have been shooting like crazy and working on a new marketing campaign. Here is a picture from one of our photo excursions. We have been taking other photographers on one day excursions and teaching them about photography and what not. We were in Moultrie, GA and were wondering around a building that was being torn down and Paul grabbed a light bulb and started screwing it into a brick, hence the clever name of "Paul's Bright Idea". If you are interested in going on one of our excursions please shoot me an e-mail at jonchick@gmail.com and I will e-mail you the next time we plan one. Keep checking back this week for some back blogging of our first summer of Weddings. Thanks for looking!

Brandy & Justin Engagement Session

Brandy & Justin were so much fun and easy to shoot! We all had a great time in Downtown Valdosta and Grove Point. I hope you enjoy the pictures! I would also like to thank Paul for coming along and assisting me on the shoot...Thanks!!

Derby Day 2009

Derby Day is an annual fundraiser for the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, GA. They asked us if we would like to donate our services for the event and we gladly obliged! We ended up donating over $4000 in services for the event. There about 1500 people that attended and enjoyed free food, drinks, games and a live presentation of the Kentucky Derby (hence the clever name). The night ended with one of the best live bands I have heard in a while, Money $hott. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the day! 

Who are these handsome devils? 

Here is a shot of one of the sponsor banners...

They had booths where you could bet on the racehorses. 

This is in the sponsors booth. They did a great job decorating!

Here are a few volunteers that worked the ticket booth. 

Whatcha know 'bout 7?!

Here are the people that make the Derby Day magic happen. You guys are great!!

There was definitely plenty to drink....

It started raining so everyone was under the tents. A group decided to start playing Flip Cup, a drinking game. I thought this shot look like a magazine ad for the game. 

They also had a blackjack and poker table. Cool Breeze here swept up!!

There were a bunch of lawn games including bocce ball...

These next 2 shots are from the stage in the main tent. Everyone is getting ready to watch the Kentucky Derby. 

A lot of people were really getting into the race. 

This couple won 2 of the live auctions for destination vacations. 

A beer cooler that you can ride around on... nuff said. 

This the band Money $hott. If you ever have an event that you want an incredible band at...look no further. These guys are amazing!

We just want to say thanks again for allowing s to be a part of such an awesome event!! if you would like to donate to the Shepherd Center please click on one of the links above and click on Donate. Thanks guys!

Courtney & Brooks Engagement Session

I met up with Courtney & Brooks at the beautiful Alcyone Plantation. It was my first time out at Alcyone and I have to say I was blown away at how gorgeous it is! It was the perfect place to shoot such a beautiful couple. I could have spent all day just shooting inside the house! We ended the session out at Grassy Pond hunting gators!  Hope you enjoy it!

Andrea and Colby Engagement

Andrea and Colby booked us at the Bridal Expo in January. It was awesome to be able to book a bride on the spot! It made Carrie and I feel like we were doing something right. We met them at Pebble Hill Plantation in Thomasville for their engagement session. Hope you enjoy it!

Thanks to Carrie for this shot!

OK...so I have to explain why I left this shot in here....I was going to take Colby off to the side at some point and ask him to tickle Andrea but not until I gave him a signal that only he and I knew so it would catch her off guard. The signal was going to be me asking the question "Is that a rabbit over there?" but I forgot to ask Colby and it was a good thing because while we walking around the grounds we actually saw a rabbit. It would thrown the whole thing off had I not forgotten!!

When we were taking these shots the security guy came by on his 4 wheeler and I was sure he was going to ask Andrea to get down and then scold us but instead as he was driving by he asked if we wanted him in the picture! What a character!

This is an old coal room in the pump house that is completely dark. I used 2 strobes to fill the room up and I thought it worked out well! Can your photographer shoot in the dark? :)

Thanks guys for trekking around the plantation with us!! Y'all are awesome!

Carrie

So Carrie is going to kill me for posting these but I just had to! I have a plethora of pictures of her and these are a few of my favorites. We are actually going to replace her bridal picture that is hanging in our house with the second picture below. It captures her exactly the way my heart sees her....

Tammy and Kevin Engagement

We met Tammy and Kevin at the Bridal Expo in January. They will be getting married at Gin Creek in Moultrie on June 5th. We can't wait to shoot their wedding! They are so much fun and have such a good chemistry together! We started the session out at Drexel Park....

They brought their dog, Bosley along for a family photo. If you look at their entire session on our website you will see Bosley make a few guest appearances!!

While we were at Drexel Park Carrie was over at McKey Park setting up an "outside studio". I thought she did a fantastic job

Thanks Tammy and Kevin for asking us to be a part of your wedding! We can't wait!!

Andrew Neal

Meet Andrew Neal. Andrew's mom and dad, Paul and Amy Neal, won our silent Auction at the Valdosta Symphony Guild's Annual Symphony Ball. We donated a Portrait Session w/ a 5x7 Leather Bound Flush Mount Album. They decided to use the session for Andrew's One Year Old pictures. I hope you enjoy them!

NorthBridge Church Easter Service

"Northbridge is a new church in North Lowndes County, Georgia sent out from New Covenant Church in Valdosta, Georgia in February of 2009.  A total of 5 couples were sent out from New Covenant to begin this work.  After 2 years of prayer, preparation, team building, and divine appointments, they have begun meeting together and are getting ready to launch their first 2 home churches."

 

Carrie and I have been attending this church for about a month now and it is absolutely amazing! It is a very open and laid back atmosphere that allows for growth in our relationship with God. We started out meeting in someone's home on Wednesday nights and had our first Sunday service on Easter at Stone Creek's Clubhouse. We had a great turn out and an even better response. We did what is called a "Cardboard Testimony". It is a very simple concept. You take a piece of blank cardboard and on one side you write a 3 or 4 word description of your life before having a relationship with Christ and then on the back you write  3 or 4 word description of your life after accepting Christ. Carrie and I were both asked to participate so unfortunately there are no pictures of the testimony but there are plenty of us getting ready for the service and a few during the worship and sermon. If you would like more info about our church please click here.

Stephen, Debbie and John laughing and rehearsing the Saturday evening before the service.

Lance Haluka and Doc Tillman laughing along with the worship crew. 

This is John Sparks...one of the coolest guys I know...he is also my discipler....you could say he is a pretty "sound" guy.

Here is Carrie preparing her piece of cardboard for her Cardboard Testimony.

A close up of Carrie's cardboard....

Here is Pastor Mike deep in thought....

...and this is what he was thinking about!!! :)

Just need to point out that the doughnuts were not part of the sacrament. 

Our worship team's viewpoint.....

We had an awesome time of worship....

Pastor Mike bringing the truth!!

Lance and Debbie fighting over the last doughnut. What they didn't know was that I had a whole box hidden under the table!!

Stone Creek Golf Course at Easter.

I look fat in this picture because I am. :) - I have actually lost about 40 pounds over the last few months!! 

If you are interested in attending a home church you can click on the link at the beginning of the post or you can call me at 229-563-4959 for more information. 

Stevie and Justin Engagement Session

I met Stevie and Justin at Pebble Hill Plantation on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. I absolutely love shooting out there! You almost have to try to take a bad picture. Stevie and Justin were so much fun to shoot! They were always laughing and joking with each other.  If you would like to see their entire session please visit our website by clicking here. Enjoy!