I was so excited when our friend Robyn asked if I would come along on her new Progressive Dinner Bicycle Tour and photograph the experience!  Bicycle Tours of Atlanta’s dinner tour took us to four restaurants over four hours, and allowed us to bike throughout midtown and downtown Atlanta!  Robyn also offers a dinner tour through Inman Park/Old Fourth Ward, which I’m dying to try now!

For the Progressive Dinner Tour, the bikers all met at the fabulous Georgian Terrace Hotel…

After some fresh fruit and cheese in a side lobby, we walked through the Georgian Terrace to the Livingston for a champagne toast!

Robyn provides the bikes and helmets for all of the tour participants, which is great for someone like me who hadn’t been on a bike since I was in high school!  At first I was REALLY nervous to be on a bike in the middle of Peachtree Street, but after only a few blocks I felt like an old pro.  :)

We stopped in at Fresh 2 Order for DELICIOUS salads, paninis, and homemade soups!  The corn chowder was to die for!

Our tour group:

Next we biked over to Max Lager’s for crab cakes, pizza, and beer tasting!  The outdoor patio was wonderful, and the upstairs event area at Max Lager’s looked like the perfect spot for a private party.

Next we rode over to Centennial Olympic Park…

…then to Ray’s in the City for delicious seafood and family style sides, including THE BEST mashed potatoes I’d ever had!

This tour has me yearning for MORE from Bicycle Tours of Atlanta!  I can’t wait to put a group together for a History Tour, especially since I got a small taste of one when we biked past the old Winecoff Hotel downtown and learned about the 1946 fire that claimed 119 lives in the brick “fire proof” hotel.  I’ve lived here my whole life and didn’t know that story!

Check out BikeToursATL.com to book your own bicycle tour!

We weren’t even supposed to take pictures at Sara and Itan’s rehearsal dinner, but we couldn’t help ourselves. ;) These are just a few shots of family fun and happiness from their dinner at Savannah’s Churchill’s pub.

Itan and his sister…

Itan’s mom…

Itan’s uncle…

These scrumptious cookies are Sara’s grandmother’s recipe!

Sara and her dad…

Sara and Itan shared a slideshow of photos of them through the years.  These were the reactions to those photos…

Last but not least, we finish with a shot of Sara’s favorite: Ms. Pac-Man.  ;)

Wedding day photographs coming SOON!

We spent the first weekend in April in Savannah, Georgia, celebrating Sara and Itan’s commitment to love and live together for life.  We had an incredible time for so many reasons, not the least of which is that we have two new friends. :)  To kickoff the weekend, I photographed a luncheon at Belford’s for Sara, hosted by some of her all-time favorite women.

Itan’s sister…

Sara…

Sara shared the most lovely little speech thanking everyone for being in Savannah.  She has such a fabulous support group of ladies around her!

One of Sara’s aunts gave her a stack of old family cookbooks.

After seeing the photo of this salad this morning, I had to go out and get a salad for lunch.  YUM!

I think I know Sara well enough now to know that this is a classic Sara face:

This is Aunt Evelyn, the cookbook giver:

This chocolate cake was the gooiest, chocolatiest, deliciousest ever! (I don’t eat chocolate, but Dan told me after eating the piece that Sara sent back for him!)

Sara’s mom…

Itan’s mom…

The little nieces sharing a sweater…

I love reliving these kinds of days!  :D

Tuesday, April 14, marked the official kickoff of our neighbor Amir’s campaign to be the Atlanta City Council, Post 2 At Large council member.  It was a huge honor for me to tag along on his day-long campaign around the city, taking MARTA (Atlanta’s public transit) from neighborhood to neighborhood and sharing his vision for our city.

I got started with Amir at his loft at 8am, where he was typing away at e-mails.

The “At Large” position means anyone who lives in Fulton County will have the opportunity to vote for him in November.  Whatever your political affiliation, get out and VOTE in your state and local elections!

Amir and a few team members walk to the Martin Luther King MARTA station.

Seeing improvement to Atlanta’s public transit system is hugely important to Amir.  Our city is already suffering under a huge traffic burden, and it will only get worse unless we act now to improve transportation options for residents and visitors in Atlanta.

These two little kids on the train were pretty fascinated by my camera.  They wanted to know why I was taking pictures of Amir, so he stopped to chat with them and their mom.

First stop: West End MARTA station, 9:00 a.m.

Amir visits with a local West End banker about the financial issues currently facing this neighborhood.

You just can’t walk the city of Atlanta and not stop at Krispy Kreme!

We checked in at this AWESOME West End coffee shop, The Grounds.  Get a cup of the African Red Bush tea (caffeine free!), and leave a dollar in the Good Karma Jar.  :)

Second stop: Radial Cafe in Candler Park, 11:30 a.m.

Supporters review the schedule over lunch at one of my favorite Candler Park lunch spots.

Third stop: Buckhead via the Lindbergh MARTA station, 1:00 p.m.

Amir answers a question from the audience about fiscal accountability…

…and visits with a local man about keeping our city safe for pedestrians.

Amir checks in with team members at the next stop before hopping onto the train to Midtown.

Fourth stop: Outwrite Bookstore in Midtown, 2:45 p.m.

Amir took a moment to rehydrate and rest before speaking to a small crowd at Outwrite.  He’d been walking through the city for nearly 7 hours at this point!  (If his feet weren’t sore, mine sure were!)

Just down the street, we stopped to chat with fellow photographer Louis Foster, who owns a thriving portrait studio in Midtown.  I first met Louis in 2005 when I worked for SimplePhoto’s support team, so it was fun to see him again.

Fifth stop: Downtown, City Hall, 5:00 p.m.

Amir takes the stairs toward the front of City Hall.

Announcing his candidacy on the steps of City Hall…

Last but not least, we hopped on the bus back to home and our sixth stop: Grant Park, 7:00 p.m.

At this point I have to note that at EVERY SINGLE STOP we arrived faster than the team traveling by car — even when we took the bus!

At The Standard, Amir’s campaign manager, Howard Franklin, speaks to a packed room of supporters, including another of our wonderful neighbors and political activists, Tom Houck.

Tom…

State Legislator Margaret Kaiser gives Amir a hug after announcing her endorsement.

Amir visited with locals late into the evening.

We love our neighborhood!  Nothing better than getting to walk home after chowing down at The Standard.

Amir, THANK YOU for such a wonderful experience!  You know you have our support!

**Update: Learn more about Amir’s campaign at www.amirfarokhi.com

Every year, PriceWaterhouse Coopers holds a dinner to welcome their new partners, and honor the partners who are retiring. I was honored myself to be asked to photograph the celebration!

The dinner took place in one of the beautiful rooms at Atlanta’s Cherokee Town and Country Club. Each retiring partner received a small gift from Tiffany & Co. …

…and dinner guests wrote notes to each partner on personalized note cards.

A new partner gets a squeeze…

When cocktail hour was over, a wonderful man in a tuxedo walked through playing a dinnertime tune on a little gold xylophone:

Some laughs during the speeches…

This was the first course of the night: DELICIOUS crab cakes!  A little table was set up for us by the bar, and we were fed like queens!

Here is Chris, my PWC contact and the lady who made sure I got to partake in the amazing food!

More speeches…

THANK YOU, PWC for letting me share this evening with you!  

And a big, fat thanks to my friend Lauren Wright, who came along to keep me company and share in the scrumptious food.  You’re the best!

Being in the hospital room when Landon was born was an amazing experience. I don’t really have words to describe how it felt to share such an amazing moment, but I am so honored to have been asked to document his birth.

My sister Katie said, “how funny that one person checks into the hospital but two people check out!” I got to be present for (in essence) the making of a brand-new human. At 7:39pm on April 6th, Landon officially became part of the oxygen-breathing, social security card-carrying world. Wow.

Now… pictures:

Bailey was so calm and collected… she was seriously born to be a mother.

Bailey started pushing just before 7:30pm.

Her brother Benjamin watched open-mouthed as Landon emerged. (Ben and his wife Amanda are expecting their first baby in just a few months!)

The room erupted in cheers as we all saw Landon’s little face for the first time!

Landon landed on his mom’s chest, and Bailey’s dad cut his umbilical cord.

“Pops” hugs his grandson for the first time.

“Nina” holds her grandbaby just before putting him on the scale for an official weigh-in. He was a big boy!

Look at his sweet little face!

Footprint! Landon didn’t like this part at first, but then he got all cozy under the little baby heat lamp.

The great-grandparents meet Landon.

Ben and Amanda give Landon some lovin’, while Bailey enjoys her first food in 24 hours!

The new bub with Mom.

Eyes open… then closed again for his first meal.

Merritts, I LOVE YOU GUYS!

You wouldn’t necessarily think it, but live music can be really tough to photograph — especially for someone like me who is paranoid that I will stand in someone’s way or distract from the performance. This is extra-challenging when shooting formal classical and jazz performances in a concert hall!

But that’s just what I did for six nights in November at the newly-christened Dr. Bobbie Bailey and Family Performance Center at Kennesaw State University. I was given the job of photographing six nights of performances by the school’s own ensembles, including the KSU Orchestra and Chorale, the KSU Faculty Jazz and Percussion Ensembles, the KSU Student Mixed Chamber Music Ensemble, the KSU Wind Ensemble, the KSU Opera Gala, and the KSU Jazz Ensemble. I got to hear some great music; I had no idea KSU had such an incredible arts program!

Anyway, I just wanted to post a few of the photos I liked best… oh and to share a quick reminder to ALWAYS CAP YOUR LENSES. I rammed my 200mm lens into a doorknob as I rushed from one room to the next in the dark performance hall. I was rewarded with a long, unbuffable scratch right across the surface of the lens. ARGH! Thanks to Canon’s excellent repair services, it’ll be back in the camera bag in good form in no time. Yay!

Last but not least, it was a fun change of pace to photograph these members of the opera department. This shot was taken before the performance, and was a reenactment of a scene from an operetta that mimics the old daytime soap operas!

Every year I have the honor of providing photographs for the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir, a fantastic group of treble singers ranging from age 10 all the way through high school. I was lucky enough to be a part of this group myself as a student, and going back to the hall each year to photograph their kickoff is an incredible experience for me.

My primary role is to provide formal portraits for use on posters and in brochures. But my FAVORITE part of the process is documenting a rehearsal day for all three of the SHCC choirs. Through the years, these images have become a stirring record of the singers’ experience, and a testament to the number of young people who have benefitted from the program during the last 13 years.

I thought I’d share a few of my favorite images from the recent rehearsal. To learn more about the choir, their concert schedule, or how your child can become involved, visit their page on Spivey Hall’s website.

This is Bonnie. She’s the unofficial SHCC mascot. Before Bonnie, there was Patrick, who passed away this past summer. It wouldn’t be choir rehearsal without a Westie.

This piece was written specifically for SHCC director Dr. Martha Shaw by Georgia’s own Harris M. Wheeler.

The infamous “brown book”… I sang from this very book 13 years ago.

This little singer is a girl I’ve known since she was born — before she was born, actually! It’s wonderful to me to see these kids benefitting from such an astounding music education.