COVID weddings are precious and few

2020 has been a strange year for wedding photographers, as well as event planners, florists, cake artists, etc. Needless to say, COVID has cut deeply into our livelihood. The weddings we have photographed since March have been small. Many we had booked have been postponed or downsized.

That makes the few weddings we were able to photograph this year that much more special.

Here are a few recent award-winning images, the first two from a COVID-aware October wedding and the last from a February reception.

Covid Wedding Tips from a Georgia Couple

Erin and Emily’s plans for a large wedding fell through just a few weeks before the March date they had booked. Even after rescheduling, they found themselves still bound by the safety concerns of COVID-19.

So, here are a few things they did.

1) They created a sign that included safety instructions such as: “Thank you for keeping 6 feet distance,” and “We’re not hugging,” and “Thank you for wearing a mask.”

2. They set up chairs by family groups, with members of a single family sitting together, but more than 6 feet from another family seating group.

3. They had masks made to match their color scheme for the day.

4. Masks, in three different sizes, were left in a box near the ceremony seats, so guests could pick one upon entering.

5. Close family members quarantined for 14 days before the wedding, so they could hug and dance together.

Erin and Emily's Wit's End Wedding

Erin and Emily’s plan for a March wedding with more than 100 guests went out the window when the pandemic hit the US early that month. So, they postponed their wedding until October thinking that all would be back to normal.

Alas, that did not come to pass.

And thus, an intimate COVID-friendly wedding with a few friends and family was born.

The couple’s nuptials took place at Wit’s End, “a dreamscape of babbling streams, mountain valley meadows and magical ancient forests dotted with secret sitting areas, cozy fire pits, tree swings, old farm buildings, a pavilion and a modern cottage.” *

Here are a few favorite photos.

The couple’s COVID-friendly wedding included matching masks for the bride and bride, as well as all their guests.

• Description from the Wit’s End website.

Carnella and Aaron's Helen Engagement Session

Carnella and Aaron met one year ago and hit it off right away.

To Carnella’s delight, Aaron proposed on Feb 13 at Carnella’s birthday. Soon thereafter, they made plans for engagement celebration activities, including a photo shoot. Unfortunately COVID 19 hit and they had to cancel those plans.

Despite that hiccup, they have made plans for a wedding in 2021.

And they were able to set up an engagement shoot in Helen, Georgia, where the photos below were taken. They turned the session into an overnight getaway in the tiny “Alpine town.”

COVID 19 and a Few WPJA Documentary Award Winners for 1st Quarter 2020

2020 has been a difficult year for wedding photographers, and for wedding vendors in general. COVID-19 and the restrictions that have been put into place to try to stop the spread of the virus have caused people to cancel or postpone their weddings, or to drastically downsize their weddings.

As a result the Wedding Photojournalist Association changed the usual way they conduct contests. Rather than begin the regular documentary contests in April, they postponed the first contest deadline until the first of September. They also added a special contest for Wed Elopement stories.

With business limping along due to the slow down in weddings and the complete collapse of the corporate event industry, I’ve had extra time to look through my photographs searching for potential winners. At times, I must admit, I’ve become far too obsessed with finding winners in the midst of the chaos.

Today, I am honored to report that my obsession paid off. I won 6 documentary awards for photos entered into the first quarter 2020 WPJA Quarter.

Here are three.

The last photo is part of a WedElope award winning series.

I am honored.

Headshot for Bruce Logue, Realtor

Bruce Logue, Realtor and Networker Extraordinaire

My friend Bruce Logue stopped by for a headshot earlier this week.

What a blast! I love working with friends, especially ones as fun-loving as Bruce.

Bruce was looking for a headshot that captured his friendly, easy-going personality. What an easy assignment. He makes a connection with the camera almost as easily as he does with people.

In addition to the friendly Bruce that we captured in the studio setting, we moved outside for a photo showing the more confident, professional side of Bruce.

Looking for a friendly, professional Realtor, check out Bruce Logue’s webpage.

Need professional headshots? Give me a call 601 466 2982 or shoot me an email at cindy@cbrownphoto.com.

Atlanta Headshot Photographer

Pine Lake Porch Portrait Book Design

Designing a book of photographs is rather daunting.

First you have to choose the photos to include. Then decide how to incorporate that text that goes with the photos. In the book of porch portraits I’m working on, some have just a little text and others quite a bit more. So then I have to decide if I should design pages with smaller photos and more text, or spread a single photo across two pages with text. And, of course, that affects the number of pages.

How many pages should I include in the book? If I include more, I’ll have to charge more. But the, will an extra $5.00 or so really make a difference in the number of books I sell?

So many questions.

Besides designing the book, I need to make sure everyone in the photos will be happy to be included in a published book. So, I’ll be sending a lot of email over the next week or so asking folks to sign model releases

It’s a lot of work, but I think it’ll be worth it in the end.

Third Diamond Award Winner from Amber and Jerome's Engagement Session

Some engagement sessions are special. Everything comes together—the place, the fun, the humor, the personalities, the clothing.

Amber and Jerome’s Stone Mountain engagement safari was just such a session. I’m honored to share the third diamond award I’ve won from their session.

Thanks, Amber and Jerome!

Award-winning Atlanta Engagement Photographer.