Angela Anderson Photography

marianne + grant: lexington

Marianne and Grant were married in the middle of this month at Christ Church Cathedral. Marianne told me that she used to sing in the choir there, when she was younger, every Saturday for weddings. Of course it only made sense for the entire choir to sing at hers! It was absolutely wonderful. The voices were beautiful. It must have been an amazing experience for her, to be on the other side of the experience.

It was a perfect day (as all my weddings are, rain or no, trouble or no, they always seem perfect to me!). Her dress was stunning. She was stunning. Grant was stunning. Ok, well, Grant was handsome. I don't think I can call a guy "stunning" and get away with it. But Grant was also quite charming. He had a funny wit about him and a short but cool laugh. When Marianne and Grant had their photos taken outside they took some time to just chat with one another (I mean, they just got married! Lots to chat about!). Their heads kept coming together and they looked like they were whispering secrets to one another. I snapped the photo below, of their hands, just so naturally grasping one another. I love the photograph. So beautiful and such a wonderful stilled moment, that they did not probably even realize was happening.

I love dresses that are just covered in lace. And it was the absolute perfect dress for Marianne, so feminine and quiet but so ornate and gorgeous. I find that we are drawn to dresses/clothing that remind us of ourselves!

Marianne's sister helps her into her gown. You can see in her face that she is beginning to get excited. On my wedding day I smiled so much and for so long  the next morning I woke up and my lips were a little numb. I am not even kidding.

My competition was fierce!

I love, love this photograph. I think it is mainly the composition. There is something about the cut-off lampshade, the shower spigot and Marianne's interrupted pose.

I really like this portrait of Marianne.

Grant!

The choir enters.

Marianne enters. Beaming.

The church is so remarkably beautiful.

A shot from the balcony. Actually all the photos are from the balcony, if you would believe it. Christ Church only allows their photographers to photograph from the balcony.

The ring ceremony. Pretty good for being a balcony shot I do say!

Here is my photograph. I love how she is barely holding his finger and has her hand on his knee.

This was taken in the courtyard at the church.

I love the lighting in this one.

And one by the fantastic associate, Amy!

Grant joked that he was never going to live this one down with his friends. I think they look fantastic. And to think that it was completely candid. I did not pose them at all. They were just hanging out like that. (I promise I am being facetious).

Strings were played at the reception.

Another portrait by Amy. I really like the textures of this black and white. Again, reminds me a bit of film.

What beautiful trees the church has in their courtyard. I know I say "I love this photo" over and over again. But it's true I love this photo!

Tag, you are it.

Whats been going around the blogsphere has finally hit home. I have been tagged. Photographers are tagging one another and asking them to reveal eight little known facts about themselves. This should be fun. I am going to do a ninth one for good measure. I found one photog who opened the gates up to anyone's questions. So, after you read these facts, then feel free to leave a question in the comments and I will write them up and answer all of them in my next post! (Thanks Sinead!)

1. We will start off on an odd one! After a few years of living on my own, say about eight years ago, I became obsessed with taking mundane acts and do them with a little quirkiness -- just to keep things interesting and to see what it felt like. So here are a few things I did...One night I slept in my tennis shoes. I was under the covers and in my pajamas and everything. I just had tennis shoes on as well. It was strange. Another time I slept all night in my car right outside of my apartment. Just to do it. Then I had a few weeks where I would go on long driving trips, get to a place, get out of my car, go for a two hour walk and then get back in my car and go back home. If it was a really long drive I would sometimes rent a room or sleep in my car. I went to Charleston (SC), Buffalo (NY), Chicago, Asheville, Charleston (WV), Cleveland and Memphis. Oh and I also slept in my backyard one night right after it had rained. I slept right on the grass. The stars were amazing that night and the grass smelled so amazing. You think I am weird now, don't you!

2.  Four years ago I went to Paris, France to hear my mentor, Jim Hall, read his poetry at a cafe that some of the greatest writers of our time hung out at (Hemingway amongst others). Cafe Deux Magots (the Two maggots Cafe, I kid you not). Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone De Beauvoir actually kept hours at the cafe at one time. Oh and a waiter there tried to pick me up with the common French come-on. He told me that he wanted me to move to Paris and that he would support me and give me everything I wanted.  Wow, waiters must make a lot of money over there! 

3.  My middle name is Jenessa. It was my great-grandmothers.

4. When I was 18 I spent some time in Stockholm. For a new adventure I rode in a chartered boat to a small island off the city. It was still cold on the island, and it was mainly a fisherman's island. It was nearly uninhabited when I got there. A ghost town. The creepiest thing I ever encountered. Freezing and without a soul to speak to, I went into the first warm location I could find: a pub. The pub was filled to the brim with huge red-headed burly fisherman who only spoke Swedish. Like they do in movies, the whole place fell silent and everyone turned to look at me. Somehow I was able to get a bowl of soup and hang out until the boat sailed again.

5. My father's side of the family are Amish. I spent a while living on an Amish farm and let me tell you, that is some hard work!

6. I had three personal standing ovations in my life before I was even 20. The first one was at a talent show in 4th grade. I mean, a standing O in 4th grade? The next one was for a school play. I wrote the play that was the yearly performance for my middle school. It was awesome, there were choreographed dances and everything. I got a standing ovation every night and the news station did a show on me. Then third I was in an American History and Literature class when I was 17. We had an assignment to present something about what it means to be an American. I, of course, wrote a poem. Families and friends were all invited. After I read my poem people jumped to their feet and clapped. It was awesome. A standing ovation has to be one of the most amazing, humbling and suprising experiences one can have. To affect a whole room to movement like that is incredible.

7.  I am 28 years old and I have 4 grandneices and nephews. I believe the eldest, Jana, is nearly 14 years old now.

8. Right before I decided to do photography full time I was filling out an application for a Fulbright in translation work. I was going to move to Paris and then to Barcelona and translate French and Spanish poetry into English. It was in the translation of a favorite Octavio Paz poem that I realized the poem was telling me to become a photographer.

9. I have a personal trainer. Her name is Lu and she is from Argentina. I just started with her 6 weeks ago and before that had never exercised a day in my life.

Part of this concept is to tag other bloggers. Problem is it took me so long to fill this out that I think most of the people I know have already been tagged! (Kim, you got tagged by Jessica). So I am going to come up with as many as I can that I am nearly certain have not been tagged yet!

Kitty Maer

Enna Grazier

Tim Willoughby

And the Kentucky locals  ;)

Tony Matkey

Todd Pellowe

Tara Young

Melanie Mauer

Todd Nichols

Alright now, use the comments section here to ask me any questions you might have!

Modest Mouse, Music, On the Lot, And More!

1. - Last night I saw a fantastic show: Modest Mouse. Here is a video of one of their songs:

The show was wonderful. I have been a fan of Modest Mouse for about 9 years. I can remember when I heard their CD "The Moon and Antarctica". I was in Manhattan, in the LES, visiting a friend. She had the CD and I played it on her discman (yes, discman!). I loved Tiny Cities Made of Ashes and Life Like Weeds. I thought it was so wonderful that I could not imagine their next album. And I loved it as well: "Good News for People Who Love Bad News". And their most recent album is really fantastic. I have had it playing in my car for the past month or two. I love their sound and their lyrics are really wonderful.

Here is my really awful photo from my -not so fantastic- vantage point last night (taken by my iphone camera):

Going to the show last night made me realize how much I love live music. When I was younger I used to go to shows all the time. Smaller venues always. A great show is so electric. It was odd to see so many young people (it was an all-ages show), and it made me feel old! I was standing beside 21 and 14 year olds. But the experience has reminded me that a good show can be experienced at any age. And that I need to enjoy many more of them. So...that is on my list  of things to do. There are a number of really good ones coming up in Indianapolis and as long as the venue is not too large I may have to add a few to my list.

2. - The last episode of On the Lot was last night as well. My friend Jason Epperson (refer to this post) has been on the show from the beginning and it finally got narrowed down to three people from over 12,000 applications. Then it was narrowed down and he was in the top two. Jason did not win the competition but he was the runner up. I am so proud of him. I know that this opportunity will be taking him very far in the future!

3. - More in my next post!

amy and austin: lexington

The first thing I noticed about Amy when I first met her was her charming personality. She has a fantastic smile and she is so easy to be around. She just seems like one of those people everyone would want as a best friend.

Austin was at UMass as their assistant basketball coach so I was not able to meet him until the day of the wedding as well. Amy had sent me some photos of the two of them earlier so I knew who I was looking for that day! As you will see in the photos, they are just a perfect fit together.

The ceremony was held at Central Christian Church in Lexington and the reception was at The Signature Club.

I caught this photo as Amy was about to walk down the stairs to meet up with Austin. Even though she was merely in the upstairs church hallway the lighting was so nice.

Amy and Austin saw each other before the ceremony so we had tons of time for fantastic photographs. I love that time when my clients see each other beforehand and they just revel in the fact that they are just about ready to walk down the aisle. The great thing is that it is all about them at that moment. The guests have not arrived, the ceremonies have not begun. It is simply them.

I loved this series in the small chapel in the  church. They were married in the larger one, but the smaller one was so wonderfully textured and quaint.

Again, another fantastic photograph by my associate, Amy (I promise more information on her in the next month or so!)

OMG, I love this photo. This is the reason I love my clients. I laugh everytime I see this photo!

Ooooo...pretty colors.

Ooooo...pretty flowers. ;)

First Dance

Such a cutie!

Love this photo.

A dance later in the evening. Thanks for the hairlight goes to their videographer, Kimberly Moore. Kimberly is a sweetheart! I loved working with her.

No doubt about it. Amy knows how to party!

Amy was kind enough to let me take one last portrait of her toward the end of the evening. We were outside on the balcony of the Signature Club.

lauren and chuck: louisville

Lauren and chuck had a gorgeous day in late July for their wedding. Not too hot, not too bright. I love days like theirs. They were such a delight to work with. Even though I had not met Chuck until the day of the wedding he did not feel like a stranger (which made the photos easier!). I loved Lauren's hair. It seemed so perfectly coiffed in the front, but then in the back it was loose and free (a bit curly!).
The reception was held at Locust Grove.

I love this photo of Lauren.

And also love this one of Lauren and Chuck

These are Lauren's bridesmaids. Just kidding! The groomsmen graciously held the girl's bouquets during photographs!

Lauren and her only sister

Chuck and the girls! I love his face in this shot! And what is the gorgeous redhead bridesmaid thinking?

Lauren fixing her father right before they are to go down the aisle.

Lauren's neice. Isn't she adorable? This photo was taken by my associate photographer, Amy, you will be hearing more about her soon!

Out at Locust Grove.

I like the perspective in this shot. It is focused on the photographer-friend. I think she may have gotten a good one!

Lauren and Chuck's first dance. I love the first dance. It is like the whole world disappears from the couple.

jeanne and barry: lexington, ky: Headley-Whitney

I absolutely love weddings held at Headley Whitney. It is so beautiful out there. It is an ideal spot for a beautiful Lexington, KY wedding outdoors. Plus, I get to see Ivey Henton, the person who will work with you if you are having an event out there. I adore Ivey and so do all of my Headley-Whitney clients. Ivey is a cool cat, no joke. She has style and an awesome appreciation for art. If you are thinking of having your wedding at Headley just give Ivey a call (859. 281.1224), she is dream to work with.

Jeanne and Barry live in Chicago. So many of clients seem to hail from Chicago. I can completely understand, Chicago is a fantastic city. I was just there about a month ago. Oh the wonderful, beautiful shopping-lined streets, the awesome food and it is so clean for a large city! I digress.

Michele Landers, from Bridal Potpourri, did the fantastic planning.

 

I had no idea that Jeanne came from such a large, beautiful family. She has 4 sisters and 2 brothers. Since her brothers are both married, her bridal party was made up of her two sister and laws and her four sisters. Barry also had his siblings as groomsmen, but he had some friends in his party as well. They guys were pretty hilarious. I started out photographing the women as they were getting ready and then walked over to hang out with the guys and they were playing cards and blasting music on a little boombox. All I will say is that  they were happy to have their photographs taken!

So let's start with some of my favorite images:

Jeanne had gorgeous but simple bouquets for the bridal party.

I don't know what it was but I was having a flower obsession that day. I love this photo because it is
such a soft photograph. Nearly abstract but sharp enough to still be a rose. Oh and for the photogs who read this - this has just had a little tweaking on color, no textures.

I really liked Jeanne's purse

I love  the house at Headley. I will do anything to get a chandelier in a photograph!

Jeanne is so strikingly beautiful.

And I had to post one of the back of her dress. She found the dress in Chicago at Alice Padrul. Her dress is

Olesia. It was so simple but so beautiful. I believe, after getting to know Jeanne, that it was the perfect dress for her.

I just love the coloring in this photo and it shows off the beautiful landscape of Headley.

Cannot forget Barry! I really liked his white tie with the black suit. Sharp.

I love this photo I snapped of them while they were following me to another location for more photos.

I love this photo because I was really far away and they had no idea I was snapping it. The light spill

is really beautiful and the textures of the photograph (and dust specks) remind me of my film days.

I just adore this photo. It is so textured and colorful and suprisingly so. The lights from the band was reflecting on the muscian's fingers and the instrument. Again, no textures applied, all out of camera with bumps in contrast. I love making images that look like a lot of work was put into them in photoshop but really they are just awesome images out of the camera.

So this was my first wedding sans slideshow. I posted a lot of images. That is why I started using slideshows with 40-80 images. I just have too many awesome, favorite photos. I could post so many more! I tried to cut back this time, but it was hard!!

xoxo,

Angela

 

More Favorite Things

OK, this video is beyond cute.

And the song - I cannot get it out of my head!

Presentation of Images

I really need some feedback on this matter -- so if you are a secret reader of this here blog of mine, please step up and say a word on this  matter! Come out from the shadows (and please say Hi to, I soooo want to meet you, even if we have already met officially!!).

I would like to use this blog post in two ways. One, I want people to say Hello! I want to know  if  you are out there. You don't have to post anything specific. Just say Hi! Wave. Tell me anything! I just want to say hello back!

And two, can you let me know your opinion on a matter? In the  past I had always just posted my photos one  at a time, typically with some words or thoughts on the photograph in between. Did you prefer that style better or do you prefer the slideshow gallery format I have now? If you are a newer reader you may want to scroll back to April or May to see my old way of presenting  the images.

I am just about to start a new post on a wedding but I am torn about which way to present them. Which is your preference?

And, while we are at it, do you have any other comments? Is there anything I used to blog about that you miss? Are there topics (like gowns, flowers, vendors) that you  would like me to post more about? Do you want some silly  photos of me trying to ride a bike or having cocktails at Proof on Main? ;) Meaning, do you want more info on what I do all day long (except for taking photos and editing photos!)

Let me know!!!! Thanks!

(I am so excited to hear from you!)