This personal project is called MARKED. The concept is this: We experience joy, anger, love, bitterness, loss, remorse, beauty, grace, and a truck load of other emotions. As a result, we are left MARKED by life and for some, we choose to be MARKED by ink to remember those things. They serve as reminders, memorials, tributes, achievements. But they also serve as beautiful pieces of art that walk past us every single day. We don’t always get to appreciate the art and hear their stories. So, this project seeks to do just that – share stories and reveal beautiful art that often goes unnoticed.

If nothing else, hopefully it encourages you to take a minute and ask that stranger whose sliver of ink you see sneaking out past their sleeve what the meaning of their art is. Sometimes you will find “that guy” or “that girl” who was just drunk and thought that a shamrock, Elmo, unicorn, or barbed wire fence around their bicep was super awesome and unique – and who knows, maybe the person with that tattoo actually does have a story attached to it with actual meaning. But, a lot of the time you will find a grateful person honored that someone took the time to notice, listen, and appreciate.

The tricky part with this project is that I am seeking to shoot all of them on a white seamless – so, that means I am either waiting on studio time, having people come to my house, or driving around with a white sheet of paper in my car I can tape up on a wall somewhere indoors. It would be too easy to just shoot the tattoo wherever I met the person. I desire to have a meaningful encounter with each person where I give them the time and attention that their tattoo and story deserves. Plus, I desire to light each one uniquely, which is proving to be a challenge.

Here are a few of the 35 I have so far to start. Hope you enjoy the project and hope even more that you pass it along to your friends who have tattoo’s with meaningful stories behind them.

Jill and Scott will also go down as some of my favorite clients and the type of clients I enjoy working with the most. Knowing that the photographs were one of the most important details from their day, they set aside time before the ceremony where they could do a first look and then have plenty of time for portraits without that rushed feeling of getting back to a reception with waiting guests.

Jill and Scott were also 100% on board with the Love Gives Way campaign as soon as they heard about it. They had actually already booked me before launching the campaign, but they were so passionate about leveraging their day to raise awareness about human trafficking in Atlanta and offer hope to victims that they immediately wanted to switch over to be a Love Gives Way couple.

Thanks so much Jill and Scott for letting me be part of your day as well as using your wedding day as a platform for hope!

I can’t wait for their wedding in August – here are some of the photos from their 2 part engagement shoot – 2 parts because we got soaked as it started raining during the initial shoot and then as luck would have it for the reschedule the next morning, it was about 28 degrees with snow flurries. So it goes with Georgia winter weather I guess.

I loved going in this new direction where we just shot on seamless and allowed the jewelry to really show itself. We shot it all in their studio too where they make every piece themselves. Make sure to check out their stuff!

On a side note, Mickey Lynn is a partner with our Love Gives Way wedding campaign and are providing incredible custom jewelry for our couples – make sure to read about it if you haven’t yet!

There’s one thing that I love about this family though, and it’s that they know how to throw a great reception! They have the best live musicians who have come in and turn the wedding day in to a true celebration and it was no different for Mary Olivia and Turner.

It was a great way to end the 2011 wedding year I wish nothing but the best for Mary Olivia and Turner. Thanks so much much for letting me be part of your big day! Also, thank you SO much for being a Love Gives Way couple – you helped leverage your day to bring restoration and healing to girls in Atlanta that have been victimized by sex trafficking and there is nothing more beautiful than taking a day meant to celebrate love to highlight an issue where love is being stolen.

Thanks on behalf of myself and Wellspring Living who is bringing this tangible restoration and healing to these girls!

I first met Cindy back in 2009 when I took the head shots of the Star 94 DJ’s. After that experience, Cindy would always say that I would one day shoot her wedding – I had no idea she was actually serious!
At around the same time that Cindy asked me to shoot her wedding, my wife and I had been dreaming up a way in which I could use wedding photography to help bring restoration and awareness to an issue that is heavy on our hearts and currently gripping Atlanta, and that’s the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Atlanta is one of the top cities for sexual trafficking of adolescent girls, and we believe that couples who are celebrating their love to each other have a huge platform to impact lives from whom love has been stolen and distorted.

So, as we began to think up this idea that’s now Love Gives Way, I called up Cindy to see if she would be on board and if she thought it was a good idea. She and Eric were shocked to learn that this was true of Atlanta, and they immediately wanted to do their part.

In a brief summary, Love Gives Way is this: metro Atlanta brides and grooms choosing that their Love Gives Way to the recovery and restoration of girls who have been exploited as a result of CSEC (commercial sexual exploitation of children). Through this campaign, I am partnering with Wellspring Living who works directly with the girls and women. I can’t thank Cindy and Eric enough for being the very first couple to go for this idea and become a Love Gives Way couple. Their wedding day will impact these girls’ everyday as a result of their efforts. Thank you both so much!

Cindy and Eric shared a small, intimate ceremony at the Log Cabin Community Church and then it was off to the The Pace House for the reception. Every detail, from wearing her mother’s wedding dress to the polaroid picture wall and the creative dinner setup consisting of miniature sized portions of hamburgers, tater tots and chicken wings, made for a wedding that was unique and reflective of Cindy and Eric’s personality. The sweetest moment of the day though came when Eric not only presented his vows to Cindy, but also to her daughter, Lily, as the three of them begin this new chapter together.

I’m beyond excited for these three and can’t wait to see how they continue to grow together and impact the lives of those they come across.
Thanks Cindy and Eric for everything – love that you are in my life and I was able to capture your special day!

Well, my Love Gives Way campaign has officially kicked off and I can’t wait to see what happens over the next year. If you are unfamiliar with what I am talking about, click here to read the full post. But in a brief statement, it’s metro Atlanta brides and grooms choosing that their Love Gives Way to the recovery and restoration of girls who have been exploited as a result of CSEC (commercial sexual exploitation of children). It is couples all over the city leveraging their day of celebration and love to bring hope to those where love has been perverted, distorted, and taken. I can’t say how excited I am already about the response people have had towards this campaign and their eagerness to be involved. It’s going to be an exciting year as weddings taking place every weekend become not just days of celebration, but also of restoration. I can’t think of anything more beautiful.

As I talked through Caitlin’s wedding day with her, she wanted to make sure we were able to get plenty of bridal portraits and knowing that the day would be shorter, we decided to meet up 2 weeks before her wedding to shoot a bridal session at The Carl House where the wedding would take place. This was the first bridal session I have ever done and I loved it! It was great having 2 hours for just her portraits and knowing that she fully trusted me to do whatever creatively. Many of them are probably not your typical bridal shots, but I love that we were able to get so many different looks in that short amount of time.

Caitlin was not only making a commitment to Jack on that day, but also to his beautiful little daughter, Malaya. It was a joy to capture this day for all 3 of them.

Congrats Caitlin, Jack, and Malaya. Thanks so much for allowing me to shoot and for all you did to bring restoration and awareness to the people of Atlanta with your wedding day!
Also, thanks to Bobby Russell for helping 2nd shoot.

It’s hard to take everything you want to share and condense it down to a couple short hours. Everything from exposure, composition, lighting, scouting, working with a model, developing a style, post-processing, etc. But just like with photography, the more you do it the more you learn. You develop a style of teaching and flow for the sessions.

I had the chance to teach in the photography class at the local high school for a couple days where we mostly focused on off camera lighting and mixing that with ambient light.
In the short amount of time, my main goal was to show them all of the different options and variations you provide yourself with when being able to control your light beyond what the situation provides you.

Here are a few images I took of the students as I taught before handing over the equipment to allow them time to shoot.

With a life of drug abuse in their past and then realizing they were expecting a baby, Emily and Hayden have totally changed the direction of their lives and now have all of their attention set on making things right and becoming incredible parents to this beautiful little girl they are about to welcome. But what was even more amazing was the support, love, and encouragement that was so evident the day of their wedding.

All of their family and friends have come along to support these two, soon to be three, in every way possible and it made for a beautiful celebration.

I’m so excited for what’s in store for them and hopefully getting our kids together to play!
Thanks so much Emily and Hayden for sharing your story and lives with me.