a day by the river

 Recently, I have been working on a project for Walton Communities; photographing most of their beautiful properties, inside and out. One of the first things that most people notice about Walton Apartment Communities is the meticulous care and lush beauty that they put into the landscape. It sure is fun to photograph beautiful places :)

The first property on my list is Walton on the Chattahoochee. And let me tell you, this place has it all! I have spent hours simply walking the grounds photographing building exteriors and the surrounding grassy lawns, cozy bench swings nestled in a quiet picnic nook, spacious tennis courts, the on-site Land of a Thousand Hills coffee shop and the expansive park all set beside the most beautiful view on the Chattahoochee River. To say it is impressive is the understatement of the year! 

This is a <very> small selection of the photos that I have been working on. I highly recommend that you visit soon. Grab a cup of coffee from the coffee shop and enjoy it on one of the adirondack chairs on the river bank! Trust me, you wont regret it.

Here are a few more shots of the river park, in all it's springtime glory. Another side note, the grass on this lawn is amazing! It is so soft and inviting, it just makes you want to sprawl out on it, or at the very least, walk barefoot through it.  Seriously, it's that good.

Happy Birthday, Reggie!

Today is Reggie's 3rd birthday! Of course, this date is a bit of a guess, since he was a homeless pup in the Bahamas for the first year of his life. But thanks to the good folks at the Royal Potcake Rescue, he was brought safely to Atlanta, and into my life! For anyone who has met me and Reggie, you know that he is the apple of my eye. So, even though I am fully aware that he doesn't know about his birthday, I wanted to make today extra special for him. We took a long morning walk down to Inman Park Pet Works where I got him a couple new squeaky toys (one of which is a camera! I couldn't resist), a giant discusting marrow bone and a Lick A Lots treat. On the way home, we stopped at the park where Reggie enjoyed his doggie ice cream treat. I took some photos at the park with my iPhone to post on Instagram, then we did a mini birthday photo shoot with Pants-Party in his birthday hat. Yes, Reggie's nickname is Pants-Party....it is a long story, for another time :)

reggie enjoying lick-a-lots in the park.

olivia, theo & watson

Springtime in Atlanta is amazing! And I got to spend a great afternoon enjoying spring with my sister-in-law, Jess, and my niece and nephews. Olivia and Theo spent most of the time picking dandelions and rolling in the grass while Watson lounged on the blanket just enjoying his momma. 

As much fun as this was, it was not a super relaxing outing for me! These three kept me on my toes, but it was so much fun! Olivia did her best to help wrangle Theo, and thankfully Jess came armed with a bag of mini marshmellows to ensure at least one group shot :) 

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the day. 

back to basics

I love film. I took a trip to New York a few months ago, and decided to leave my Nikon d700 at home and packed my Nikon F3, a 50mm lens and some Tri-X 400 black and white film. Back to my photo roots! It was so much fun! There is just something so satisfying about the whole process; loading the film, the manual focus and exposure settings, advancing the film after every frame, and the freedom of shooting with a camera that weighs less than 10 pounds. 

I love the classic, timeless feel of film. The way film absorbs light is much more graceful than a digital sensor. Film will continue to "soak up" the light when overexposed, giving images a softer look. Whereas a digital sensor will simply get overloaded by too much light, leaving abrupt, jarring highlights and washing the image out. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Nikon d700! And I am also a huge Photoshop nerd. I just love to shoot film, also. 

Anyhow, I had a blast shooting in New York. Here are some of my favorite images:

kerrie lee

Kerrie is one of my very best friends. She is, simply put, amazing! We met in Santa Barbara, CA when we both started school at the Brooks Institute of Photography. We like to joke that it was "love at first sight"...Kerrie says she spotted me across the crowded darkroom and thought "we are gonna be friends!". Next thing I know, we are joined at the hip. Snapping photos of each other with grey cards and making masking tape facial hair in the studio. Recently, Kerrie came to Atlanta to spend a few days with me, and I got to shoot some portraits of her. 

Kerrie is a portait photographer based in Santa Cruz, CA. Her photography is just like she is: silly, beautiful, distinct, fun and brilliant! If you are on the west coast, I highly recommend checking her out ASAP! 

kerrieleephotography.com