stop reading!!!

hey guys, it’s matt- we wanted to remind you guys that we have our new blog up and running so check it out. so update your links and spread the word- here is the new blog address: www.altmixphotography.com/blog and if you use google reader or any feed reader, use this address: feed://feeds.feedburner.com/AltmixPhotographyBlog

thanks so much for all the support, you guys rock!

uh uhum! attention!

SURPRISE!

here’s the story: last week matt and i got the itch to get a new blog. so we did. and it rocks!!!!

CHECK IT OUT!

this blog will no longer be active, please update your google reader with the new blog feed. thanks!

under the weather

shilpa & toby’s beautiful, traditional wedding is up on the gallery page. i’m pretty obsessed with the colors and textures in the images, check them out:

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today i’m feeling a bit under the weather. i googled the phrase because the weather outside is awful- it’s pouring and windy- and i thought, hummm, i’m sick and the weather is bad, maybe this will make a good post.

after a few minutes of reading it seems it won’t make a good post but i’ll let you know what i found anyway. basically the phrase comes from passengers on ships who get seasick during bad weather- they were encouraged to go below deck or ‘under the weather’ since the ships rocking would affect them less closer to the base of the ship.

so since i cannot at all make a clever connection here i’ll leave you with this stretch: while the rain comes down outside and i try to get rid of my sickness i’m going to head under the covers and curl up and try to ignore everything at once. how was that? weak? well, i’m sick. and i’m saving my energy- this isn’t the last time you’ll hear from me today- get excited, a surprise to come!

shilpa & toby are married!

saturday was a milestone for us, we photographed our first indian wedding and oh.my.gosh it was amazing! the emotions, the traditions, the colors, the dancing- it was beautiful. shilpa was breathtaking and watching the getting ready process was an incredible treat. her friends and family flitted around her all day each helping in a very specific way and ready at a moment’s notice to grab her a bite to eat, find a specific family member or give their opinion on a piece of exquisite jewelry she was considering wearing.

even though i didn’t know the language being spoken most of the time it was clear to me through glances, attention, gestures and smiles how shilpa’s family felt about her, about toby and about them together- that was amazing to watch. i could go on forever about different portions of this day that were really incredible but let’s get started with the pictures and i’ll explain as we go:

one of toby’s groomsmen sent toby an email letting him know if he didn’t send back a wedding gift idea he would be receiving a brick of nickels, and so:

no one is ever too old for mom’s lipstick residue and subsequent cheek scrub. toby looks thrilled, no? this would be my exact face as well:

the handsome groom looking up toward the room where the girls are peeking from the windows. shilpa dipped back immediately, no chance he caught a glimpse of her!

finishing touches applied by her aunt as her mom looks on:

matt took this awesome shot of the rings on the pillow, the gold diamond ring is toby’s pinkie ring from shilpa’s family while the soft gold ring is his wedding band. 

last minute shilpa added the nose ring (a replica of what her mom wore for her own wedding) and made some adjustments to her incredible jewelry.

the wedding started with a short ceremony with just toby and the priest before shilpa entered escorted by her parents.

the ceremony was beautiful and it was amazing how close we were able to shoot and still be out of the way. these are some of my most favorite ceremony shots ever:

matt and i love this image for all of the different textures and beautiful colors:

toby and shilpa got into a small rice fight during the ceremony. it seemed shilpa knew that placing the rice on toby’s head would turn into a competition- toby did not. after the first few gentle palmfuls of rice toby placed on her head he caught on and really filled up his hands and dumped it on her. just after this she trumped him by picking up the basin and emptying the rest over his head. i like her style.

there was a cocktail hour and a break for the bride and groom to change before the reception got started with shilpa’s dad giving a sweet toast to his daughter and thanking everyone from coming from all over the world to celebrate with them.

the happy couple as they listen to the toast:

…and the dancing began! toby prepared his groomsmen by telling them to just pretend to screw in light-bulbs with each hand. that was great instruction for them because watching this guy right here i’d say this just can’t be taught:

shilpa’s parents breaking it down:

everyone cheered as the newlyweds broke away from chatting with old friends for a few dances together:

i don’t think the end of the night for us was the end for them! as we pulled out at 12:30 there were calls across the parking lot of an after party promising lots more fun to come, whew!

shilpa and toby, you are incredible together. watching you lovingly intertwine your different cultures was a beautiful experience for everyone in attendance. thank you so much for having us and we wish you the best honeymoon ever- how could diving and exploring australia not be amazing with you two involved?!

foodie recap.

more pictures of toby & shilpa’s engagement session are up on the gallery page! sailing was an awesome idea for their shoot!

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it’s 3:25 and i might still be in a food coma from last night. between cocktails, cheese, wine, lamb and the dessert sampler my stomach is still so happy it hurts slightly.

after hearing about the excellent service and food a few weeks ago, matt decided that it was time for us to try repast, a little american bistro in intown. good thinking babe, it was perfect. our waitress was extremely knowledgeable about the menu and wines and cheeses -it seemed like she could even tell when i was just nodding blankly and would give a few more ingredient details- her suggestions helped us put together an amazing eating experience. she kept an eye on us from the kitchen and didn’t put our next order in until we were completely done with the previous- classy.

matt and i had a great night laughing about ‘this time last year’ and casually making a few personal goals for the next. no doubt people thought we were crazy for ordering as much food as we did but like matt said ‘we might as well, this is like christmas, it comes once a year!’ love him for that attitude. we had life to talk about so we just kept ordering things, nothing wrong with that!

the plan was to walk it off and grab gelato -and then walk that off- in the highlands but we couldn’t resist the dessert menu at repast. we sampled three- the dark chocolate terrine being my fave- extra virgin olive oil, smoked sea salt, toasted pistachios and dark chocolate- what’s not to absolutely love? needless to say i fell asleep as soon as my head hit the head rest in the honda. i’m so sophisticated. 

right now we’re in the middle of one of our new experiments- scheduling our time. most of you know that this photography biz has never been a 9-5 job for us; it’s always taken up our evenings as well. when we looked at everything it was clear that we needed some time to ourselves and that scheduling was the answer. that being said, in 5 minutes it will be email checking time and 35 minutes after that we’ll be heading off to work out. so far i think the schedule is working, but really, we’re just on day 2 so what can i say? i know there are tons of people out there in the world who own businesses and work 9-5, but it’s just really hard for us to stop because keeping up with you guys is less like a job and more just awesome. we’ll see how it goes.

one year!

laura and jason’s engagement session has been added to the website! love how comfortable they look together, perfect!

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so woah, matt and i have been married for an entire year! no idea how that happened so fast. we’ve made it through what we had been told would be the hardest year of our lives -and we’re slightly confused why people say that- it was by far the best year of our lives so far! i know it’s trite but really i feel like it was just yesterday we were chillin in athens with all of our families and best friends at our wedding. what a good day that was!

we spent our weekend shooting an incredible wedding and then hanging out on lake oconee with good friends and adorable puppies. the weather was wonderful and the company was even better. we are so sore from tubing -yes, tubing can be intense as proven by my two busted elbows- matt and i are both struggling with everyday activities such as standing, sitting, walking and sleeping. worth it. monday we boated over to lunch at gabby’s and lounged  by/in the infinity pool -expertly pretending we were guests at the lodge- and praying the little man taking drink orders wouldn’t realize we weren’t. after that lunch it wasn’t at all hard to pretend i was asleep every time he started walking toward us. such a great weekend! oh, and! i cannot believe i didn’t mention this sooner, sean taught matt to make crepes! wooo! they were excellent slathered with nutella, peanut butter, strawberries, bananas and powdered sugar -not all at once, gross- but take a second and celebrate with me that my huz has mastered crepes!

so since we spent the weekend with friends we’re celebrating just us tonight. no idea where we’re going, i’ll have to keep you posted on that. i keep begging matt to tell me and then he says ‘ok, you really want to know?’ pause. ‘no, no i don’t. let’s keep it a surprise.’ but then the cycle begins again. so far all i know is matt’s answer to my ‘what ethnicity is it? i need to start preparing myself.’ which was ‘normal.’ uh…thanks. but really, i’m excited to spend a romantic evening with the man, and the promise of quality food is the cherry on top. i’ll leave you now with a couple pics from the lake:

shilpa & toby are engaged!

matt spent wednesday afternoon enjoying one of his new favorite things, sailing, while shooting an engagement session for an incredible couple from chicago. i haven’t been this jealous in a while; as i got dinner together, matt recounted his afternoon. i listened carefully knowing that we’d be shooting their wedding this weekend and wanting to get to know them as much as possible first. matt told me about how kind they are to one another and how relaxed and comfortable they are together. as doctors in the windy city, shilpa and toby are always learning, teaching and helping. while matt talked about how shilpa listened closely to toby as he gently taught her how to sail, i could see clearly why these two are so successful professionally and also personally, together. it will be beautiful to watch them pledge their lives to one another tomorrow. 

later last night while we were watching the olympics matt looked up quickly and said there was one more thing he wanted me to know about them. ‘they like the office!’ ah, saturday will be a good day!

shilpa & toby, we’re looking forward to seeing you guys tonight and tomorrow. i can’t wait to spend time with you and your family and friends!

‘creativity’

anna and jason’s wedding is up on the gallery page! the emotions in the reception shots are my favorite part:

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ladies i need to know i’m not insane. guys, listen and learn. so my mind is a little out of my control- let’s call it ‘creativity’ that when i hear one little sound at night -usually the fridge- i immediately assume someone has busted through the iron apartment gate, broken into the lobby, elevator.ed up to our floor, found our specific apartment, broken in, and is proceeding to -based on the noise i heard- use our ice machine? i pull the covers up to my throat. a split second later when i snap out of it and throw the covers back, my ridiculousness blows my mind, yes, i can actually blow my own mind.

this is not a good trait- this intense, out of control, ‘creativity.’ it hurts the worst when it comes to cleaning. i hate washing dishes. matt does it. he’s amazing. but i do things too, promise. but he cleans- why? because i look at dishes and when i see bits of food clinging to a fork i immediately think of what’s in my stomach, then i’m totally grossed out and thinking about my digestive tract, then all i can see in the sink is a bunch of…well, you know.  but seriously, this is a huge issue. if i use a plate and matt’s not around i turn the sink on high, flip the faucet to the sprayer and blast off all food particles without looking at or touching anything gross. i understand that’s not ‘green’ but i try to make up for it by rarely doing laundry. pfff, sort.of kidding. 

so as i sat down to write this post (on something totally chic and fabulous, no doubt) that creativity took control and i snapped at matt for flipping his wedding ring like a quarter, not because he was doing anything wrong but because his ring was obviously going to flip up into the air and roll from the living room to the bathroom and down the drain in the shower. never to be seen again. all the time i put into making that ring, my grandfather’s gold, my other material costs- gone. why doesn’t he care about me!? 

but i digress- this post has gone on long enough. insane? creative? other?

laura & jason are engaged!

i’d like you to meet two of our newest favorite people, laura & jason! as many of you who have contacted us know, we’re pretty busy so it’s not easy for us to schedule shoots with short notice unless you’re super hardcore (laura & jason) and willing to get up at 5am to get ready to shoot by sunrise. ridiculous, right?! i mean who in the world looks this rockin’ at 6:30 am?! to put it in perspective matt and i, literally, dressed in the dark- it wasn’t until we arrived that i realized matt had on a light blue vneck, brown plaid shorts and orange socks with his old green pumas and i wasn’t much better. let’s pretend we dressed like that on purpose to elicit smiles and giggles from laura and jason. bottom line, our clients never cease to amaze us; laura and jason, you did a fabulous job being in love in front of the camera- we had a great time with you two:

poor jason- soccer has destroyed his knees. i’m pretty sure this look is masked pain from getting into this position in the first place. i found out about all of the surgeries after this and felt so bad for asking him to take a seat on the ground! i have perfectly healthy knees and it’s not always easy to just drop to the ground- and then there’s getting back up! jason- you’re the man.

how perfect is it that jason holds both of laura’s hands in his one hand!? i love it.

this next black and white is one of my all-time favorite engagement pics we’ve taken. i think it’s just such so beautiful of them.

anna & jason are married!

saturday was a perfectly beautiful day for a wedding, really cool for august and sunny as can be. absolutely nothing could damper anyone’s spirits- not even the fact that many of us stayed up until the opening ceremonies ended and the groomsmen’s tee time was at 8:45- it was just that beautiful outside. while the men golfed (much to anna’s surprise, ‘jason doesn’t really golf?’) the ladies enjoyed some quality time and amazing southern cooking at sally’s, a cozy little house turned restaurant. the next stop for the girls was the salon to tell stories, laugh, drool over purses, and take turns with candie, their favorite stylist. i’ll quit talking for now and share a few of our fave images:

after everyone’s hair looked fabulous and a purse might have been purchased the ladies made their way to the church to finish getting ready, relax and grab a few little snacks before the ceremony:

we really really love taking time with a couple to grab some shots of the two of them together, soaking in that this is the day they’ve been anticipating for so long. it’s always so sweet to watch the couple forget the hustle and bustle and focus on each other…and it makes for such honest images!

the band started and the party began, and oh, so many happy people everywhere! there were glistening eyes all around as anna and jason, high school sweethearts and now husband and wife, were introduced. here are a few of our favorite moments:

anna & jason, congratulations! in all your years as a couple it seems you only fell further in love and learned better and better how to care for each other. watching your families celebrate your marriage was a beautiful thing and we thank you so much for asking us to be part of it. enjoy the caribbean and relax together, we wish you the best!