Megan & Andrew’s Rehearsal Dinner at Haven was beautifully designed by Hothouse Design Studio & Prophouse Birmingham. It was a wonderful celebration of time-tested, lifelong friendships and the adoration of close knit families. I was blessed and inspired by the kind words I heard spoken about Megan and Andrew. They are wonderful examples of true friendship. It was a lovely evening.
Last month I had the privilege of photographing 15 year old singer/songwriter, Anna Grace Beatty, who’s getting ready to release her first album. It’s not often you meet 15 year olds with such passion to pursue their dream career and at such a young age. I have no doubt this young musician has a bright future ahead of her, and I can’t wait to see where her talent and determination takes her in the music industry.
I love getting to play with different color treatments to set the tone and mood for editorial and commercial work. Here are some of my favorite images from our shoot in Historic Leipers Fork and Franklin, Tennessee.
Hair & Make Up: Lynsey Richardson | Wardrobe Styling: Celine Russell
This past April, I enjoyed shooting the Nashville Symphony Fashion show at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center for Gus Mayer Nashville. You can find that post here. Thank you Atlanta Social Season Magazine for putting us on the cover of your current Summer 2017 issue.
Chris & Emily wanted an intimate ceremony with only family present to exchange their nuptials. They kept it simple and meaningful and it was perfect. And the way they looked at each other all day was the sweetest. You’ll see…
You can see Emily and Chris’s Birmingham Botanical Gardens Engagement Session here.
Photographer: Heather Durham | 2nd Shooter: Becca Bell | Floral Design: Laurie Freidman, LSL Event Design | Wedding Gown: Diane’s Formal Affair | Tux: J.Crew | Bridesmaid Dress: Adrianna Papell | Catering: Savoie Catering | Cake Artist: Edgar’s Bakery
This morning I attended the Nashville Lifestyles Influencers event, hoping to be meet new people in the business community and be inspired, in addition to supporting Music’s City magazine that has been so kind to welcome me and my work onto their pages.
Nashville is an exhilarating city. There’s always something exciting going on. Three miles down the road from our neighborhood, Brad Paisley might be filming a music video in the square and all of Franklin is invited. Or, we might go out on a date night and find out there’s a free pop up Jason Aldean concert in the park, or walk down the street after dinner to The Listening Room and Charles Esten is playing. Sit in Frothy Monkey with your morning coffee and head buried in your laptop and a music deal might be going down at the table right next to you. All of this can happen in a normal Nashville day and no one bats an eye. But, in addition to all of the excitement in this city of dreamers, the people here are just plain nice, encouraging and creatively collaborative. They have big ideas just like you and me. The key difference for this city, is Nashvillians all want to be a part to helping you make that dream a reality, whether you’ve lived here all of your life or for just a few months. It doesn’t matter.
This morning a panel of some of Nashville’s most influential business people generously shared some of their wisdom and what paved the roads to their success. The panel included Butch Spyridon, President and CEO of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau, Tom Morales, Founder of TomKats Hospitality Group, which caters box office hit movie sets and many of the major restaurant establishments in the city, Sally Williams, Vice President and General Manager at Ryman Auditorium, Patrick Woodyard, Co-founder and CEO of Nisolo and Chloe Wen, a Lifestyle Blogger.
Here’s my take aways/favorite quotes from this morning’s inspiring discussion. Maybe they’ll inspire and encourage you to keep on dreaming, just like they did me. And, then let’s see how we can apply these motivating philosophies to our own emerging careers.
Butch Spyridon, Nashville CVB: “Nashville has a soul, you can just feel it. There’s a creative thread here. Dare to try, there will always be critics. Have a spirit of cooperation.”
Sally Williams, Ryman Auditorium: “Rising tides raise all boats. Competitors come together to work for the whole.”
Chloe Wen, Lifestyle Blogger: “It doesn’t feel like there’s walls between people here.”
Tom Morales, TomKats Hospitality: “Nashville’s history and being true to it.”
Butch Spyridon, Nashville CVB: “Taking risks even though there were critics. Start with a blank canvas. Be deliberate and intentional. The risks I took were pursuing an NFL team and NHL team, building the New Years Eve event which is now one of the largest in the world, and building the Music City Center. These all have paid off. The flood here taught me the most in my career about this city.”
Sally Williams, Ryman Auditorium: “Following my instincts. Choosing a music community and taking the job at Ryman. 3 Promises I made to myself when I took the job at Ryman: 1) Be mindful of what you are doing to stay true to the history and so that it will resinate today and 100 years from now as it did 100 years before. 2) Subscribe to the “All are Welcome” philosophy. and 3) Strive to create the best experience possible.”
Chloe Wen, Lifestyle Blogger: “Following my passion and instincts even though it meant quitting college. That was a huge risk.”
Patrick Woodyard, Nisolo: “Followed my instinct to start this company, establish a factory in Peru and consider the environmental and human impact of the fashion business to push the industry in a new direction. I never want to feel like I’ve arrived. Stay in the trenches and remember it’s the journey. Use your gifts and resources and surround yourself with people of the same vision and goals. FOCUS. Put too much attention on your competitors and you’ll be blind to your potential success. Be all in on the journey.”
Tom Morales, TomKats Hospitality: “I took a risk and bought a food truck when no one knew what a food truck was. I learned how to feed 1500 on a movie set in 20 minutes, which had never been done before and saved the production company lots of money. Hospitality is the core of any business. Take what someone else does and innovate to do it better. Have compassion. Treat people with respect.”
Butch Spyridon, Nashville CVB: “Shut up and listen. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Make sure you know how to write. It [the written word] still matters.”
Sally Williams, Ryman Auditorium: “It’s okay to make mistakes. Amazon has made a ton, but the successes have far outweighed them.”
Chloe Wen, Lifestyle Blogger: “It’s okay to make mistakes. Move on. You are right where you need to be right now. Don’t compare yourself to others.”
Patrick Woodyard, Nisolo: “Who you surround yourself with is extremely important. Try to find people that are humble, hungry and smart…in that order. Trust your instincts. Focus. Things you say no to are more important than the things you say yes to. Slim down the choices and reduce the noise.”
Tom Morales, TomKats Hospitality: “Listen to your parents & intuition. Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want. ‘Dress me slowly, I’m in a hurry.’ Slow down and don’t be impulsive. Experience and intuition will tell you what to do.”
Butch Spyridon, Nashville CVB: “Nurture the creativity. Protect the history. Preserve the culture for the future.”
Tom Morales, TomKats Hospitality: “Hospitality resurgence and elevated customer experiences.”
I don’t know about you, but what they each had to say really resonates with me, especially being new to Nashville and moving my business after being established in Birmingham for 14 years. I often find myself creatively ancy, a myriad of photography ideas swirling around in my head, anxious to begin the next project. Some days the task of starting over to establish myself in an even bigger city feels overwhelming and I can get discouraged (I’m rereading, and post-it noting the quote about it being a marathon, not a sprint); but today I had a new fire lit underneath me. Thank you Nashville Lifestyles for helping to reignite that fire. Excited for what’s to come…
Above: Publisher, Brian Barry NL publisher and the Influencers Panel
Above: Heather (right) with Logan (left), a fellow photographer friend and also a Franklin resident.
Thanks to the incredibly talented team of friends who made this shoot happen and to Birmingham Magazine for putting us on the cover of their Summer/Fall 2017 Weddings issue. And, if you know me well, you know how happy I am that it’s turquoise!
Be sure to pick up a copy on news stands now, and stay tuned for the full blog post to come…
Photographer: Heather Durham | 1st Assistant: Andi Rice | Stylist: Mary Beth Wetzel | Hair & Make Up: Kerri Bunn of BOMA Beautiful | Models: Anna Kathryn Fitch with Elite and Ellie Martin with NEXT
I can’t wait for Megan & Andrew’s Birmingham, AL wedding this weekend with planner, Marée Ami. I’ve been hearing about all of the lovely details for this fun couple, and I can’t wait to see it all come together! But first, I’m excited to share their Engagement Session at Andrew’s family’s beautiful Smyer Lake home.
It’s always a pleasure to shoot for my friends at Twin Construction in Birmingham, AL. This home was especially fun to photograph, since I know Rachael, the owner and love her personal style. Laurie Fulkerson, interior designer for Twin, did an exceptional job capturing and bringing Rachel and Dax’s style and personalities into the details of the home design. My favorite elements? The incredible black crocodile wallpaper in the study (slight obsession), the luxurious blue velvet sofas in the living room, the butlers pantry filled with natural light, the steel folding doors that open the dining room onto the screened porch for indoor/outdoor entertaining and finally the perfectly organized master bedroom closet with lighted shelving. There’s so much more…Pick up a copy of Birmingham Home & Garden to read the story behind this amazing Homewood (Edgewood) remodel.
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These high school sweethearts are getting married in May at The Barn at Shady Lane! I enjoyed getting to know them at their engagement session on a beautiful fall afternoon at Ross Bridge Park.
It almost doesn’t happen…every year. You know the old saying “Cobblers kids never have shoes”? Well, photographer’s kids never have photos…or at least not ones edited and printed. Unless I do it early in the year at the beach or on another trip, our Christmas card shoot happens late…like the 1st or 2nd week of December late. It’s a race to the finish. And, after 13 years of my kids being test subjects, they don’t exactly get too excited about it. So, don’t think it’s any easier for me than it is for you to get good expressions. Photographing my own is so much harder! But, Brad gives them a pep talk every year and off we go!
I’ve always loved Christmas cards, so it’s important to me to get them done no matter the struggle with schedules and cooperative spirits. I love seeing photos of friends’ families we don’t get to see as often as we would like and how their kids have grown a little more each year. I also love seeing the creativity and reading the sentiments. A Christmas ornament with the year and a photo is also an annual tradition since my kids were born. I love seeing how my kids have changed from year to year as I hang each year’s ornament on our tree.
The creek was one of my very favorite places to shoot this year, and as you’ll see on other blog posts, my clients loved it too. I had so many requests for it! I love it there because the light is filtered, reflective and dreamy. It’s so much fun to watch kids come alive once they step into the water. They think the portrait session is over and now they can relax, play and have fun. And, that’s exactly what I want them to do. Their personalities come out and it’s when I get my favorite shots of kids just being themselves…Boys skipping rocks and girls splashing.
From my very first shoot there I knew it was where I wanted some of my own kids. It just so happened that they were the last to put their boots into the creek this year. My only regret is that we got our new puppy after the shoot and my cards had already been designed. Oh well…there’s always next year for our pup. She’ll just be a lot bigger! At least she made it on the ornament.
Hope to get a few of these up on my walls soon! A little pep talk by big sis to get this thing started…
Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
Thanks to my friend Kelly who grabbed my camera and got an impromptu shot of our family while we were with them one weekend at their hunting camp. Funny that we all had on similar colors that morning after we rolled out of bed at the cabin, so it just worked. Thankful to have one from that fun family weekend!
Oh! And for this year’s photo ornament, I ordered a cube ornament from Shutterfly. So impressed with the photo quality on them and love that you can put images on all sides and the bottom. Check it out!
