Christine Van Cleave Photodesign | Wedding Photography | Destination Wedding Photography | Best Atlanta Wedding Photographers

Hazel & Chris | The Beachview Club

admin — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:03:41 +0000

And wow! These two surprised everyone by pulling out this first dance! Enjoy…

Thanks to the talented vendors that made Hazel & Chris’ magic happen: The ever-charming Elise from The Beachview Club and Beachview Tent Rentals, the unbelievably organized Ashley from Events by Caroline, Golden Isles DJ, and Vickery House Catering.

Ashley & Scott Got Married!

admin — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:32:10 +0000

The time has come for me to catch up with my blog (have you noticed I’ve been a bit remiss?) and what better opportunity than with Ashley and Scott’s wedding! When I first met Ashley and Scott, I was struck by how genuine they were. No facades here, these were people who choose their adventures from a place of authentic interest in the people and the world around them.

Ashley had live crimson roses woven through her updo. She’s pictured here in front of the church where she and Scott were married. I couldn’t help but think there was a bit of poetry to the fact that they’d been together at their church as singles and now they were to be married here. I fell in love with the architecture of the place…

Ashley & Scott together:

Here’s Scott:

The service in the amazing, modern sanctuary…

One of my favorite moments of the day - Ashley’s dad says a few words:

American Gothic…

Sneaking in a moment together…

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Ashley and Scott, for including me in your beautiful celebration. It was a pleasure and an honor to be your photographer. I wish you many years of health and joy together!

~ Christine

April’s Bridal Session | Part II

admin — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:35:08 +0000

We alluded to it yesterday, but as it turns out, there are so many wonderful images from April’s bridal session earlier this week that we didn’t want to overload the blog with forty images all in one day! The solution? We’re breaking up the session into multiple posts with lots of juicy new images. Here’s more of April’s Bridal Session from earlier this week:

April in March | The Grist Mill at Stone Mountain

admin — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:27:34 +0000

April called me early because she wanted to try out her wedding day look in advance, so we scheduled a bridal session for early spring - March, to be particular about it - when the blooms are starting to pop and the trees are all wearing new little flowers. I had practiced my large format camera skills at the Grist Mill in Stone Mountain near the covered bridge years ago and I had always wanted to return with the right client to capture the varied scenery that is so tightly packed into that one little corner of the park. Stone walls, the lake, the bridges, the waterfall, the landscaping, and the Grist Mill itself all converge to create a gorgeous place to create bridal portraits - or to watch bridal portraits being made! April’s mom and daughter were along for the session to keep an eye on things and help out by shaking trees and fetching essentials from the car. You’ll find pictures of them with April (three generations of women in those photographs!) in the days to come. Stay tuned. There’s much more of April’s beauty to enjoy.

For now, here are a few teaser images of the beautiful April on a gorgeous spring day in March at Stone Mountain Park:

SAVED! A Step-by-Step Guide to Our Photo Restoration Process

admin — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:02:48 +0000

Our studio’s Photo Restoration Process saves otherwise unusable images and restores them for artistic display. In this case, our client liked this image so well over other images because he felt that it captured a natural expression over other more correctly exposed and rendered images. (Disclaimer: This image was not taken by our studio. This image was taken by the client and submitted to be put through our Photo Restoration Process.) A step-by-step guide to our digital enhancement process:

Original Client Image

Step One | Exposure Correction with Additional Brightness and Contrast Adjustment

Steps Two & Three | Color Restoration & Depth of Field Correction

Step Four | Add Lens Vignette, Shadow Enhancement, Additional Coloring & Image Sharpening

Step Five - FINAL IMAGE | Noise added to smooth the image plane, image completed

… And voila’! The image is restored with an eye toward an artistic, painterly final rendering. The final image is suited to be printed on gallery canvas or framed behind glass. Do you have a special image that needs to be SAVED!? We work with family heirloom images and other images of significance and we’re happy to discuss the possibilities with you in advance. We look forward to hearing from you!

Tribe

admin — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 19:06:21 +0000

The lives of my three friends Mara, Sheffield and Ari have been a little unconventional and as military children, they’ve seen a lot of geography in their time. Forever, it seems, these lovely fresh creatures have been a part of my life. But now, as they relocate to our little sanctuary in Georgia, we all are united in the same place for the first time. It’s a joy to have them here and together with their mother, we are feeling our way through the moments together, learning how to be an unconventional family until their father returns from his post in the Middle East. I’m just grateful to have them here now, for whatever length of time the fates or The Divine or the military sees fit to let them be with us. They and their mother are as dear to me as any people on earth and so I say: Here’s to family, whatever form it takes. And to love. And to having those people around us whose mere presence makes our heart sing, whether they be blood relatives or soul relatives.

A peek into my world and the beautiful children who inhabit it:

Mara the adventurer, the sage, the writer | age 10

Our golden boy, Sheffield | age 5

Ari, the comedian | age 3

Might-as-well-be-sisters, ’cause they sure act like it anyway: Caia and Ari.

My daughter Caia | age 4

Remember to squeeze the people in your life you love today. I’m going to go make a pile of puppies with this motley crew now.

To Love,

Couples Session at Atlantic Station

admin — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:13:41 +0000

Shannon and Joel agreed to let Chris, our resident videography genius, film me photographing their couples’ session for our NEW STUDIO PROMO VIDEO!!! I’m totally stoked about the photographs we made together that day and I can’t wait to share the promo video with everyone, everywhere when it’s ready. We shot the first part of the video with Shannon & Joel on location and the second part of the video is scheduled for shooting this Wednesday. I’m hesitant right this second to announce much more about the promo video, but I have to say that I’m so, so grateful to yet another awesome couple for their great vibes, kissy faces, and just general generosity with us as we trekked them all over Atlantic Station in the service of the plummiest, yummiest shots.

Wanna see what we got?

Here are Shannon & Joel at Atlantic Station!

Love, Love, LOVE this one:

Joel is totally into Shannon:

And Shannon is totally into Joel!

A sense of place:

Sushi, anyone?

Love the “sneak attack” feel of this one.

I love adventurous couples who will climb things on cue during a shoot. The little man statue on the right is so funny!

So sweet, so in love:

Aren’t they PRETTY together?

My very favorite photograph of the entire couples’ session:

And the sunset silhouette:

Shannon and Joel totally rocked this session out and were pretty much game for everything. That’s why I love doing couples sessions. Like engagement sessions, they are such a nice way to get to know my clients and for them to have a chance to get to know us. Shannon and Joel really did go the extra mile, climbing statues and all! Thanks so much to you guys!! I can’t wait to share the video with you!

May there be light in your life,

Nature Glam!

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:54:33 +0000

Rated one of the top 100 trails in the southeast, this session took us on a trip up to a gorgeous rock garden off the trails of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield. My lovely client, Shawna, is a nature girl at heart and was an incredible sport as I asked her to climb trees and mount rocks - in formal wear! I just love clients like this!!!

This unique “trash the dress” session was such a blast and I just love the cool hued formalwear against the craggy natural environment. Thanks for an incredible shoot, Shawna! It was such a blast!

May there be light in your life,

Early Spring Ode to Texture

admin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:10:57 +0000

Music to view photographs by, if you’re so inclined to open another browser window and press play.
This is a link to Kitka in concert.

I once traveled to Mexico for an earthbuilding seminar and when we were there, we were fortunate to have the opportunity to visit several of their sacred sites. One was a ruined monastery. The entire grounds were in disrepair, but the locals kept up the sanctuary of the church. At the time of our visit, we discovered that one of the men in our group had operatic vocal skills and he put them to use in the sanctuary of the church. The sound in this ancient structure reverberated from wall to wall to rounded ceiling, bringing the rest of us to silence, in awe of the experience we were spontaneously having. This music by Kitka recalls that experience in the sanctuary of the Mexican monastery for me.

If you know their music, think of Kitka while you look!

This is the time of year that my internal fire is simmering low. It’s the end of winter and I was anxious yesterday to get out of the house on one of the first nice days in months.

Warm, balmy almost.
The smell of the sap beginning to run.
New sprigs and sprouts everywhere just peeking out.

The world must have been incubating the new growth for the last month or two to be budding now. This is the time of year I long for, when life begins growing in all quarters and my internal fire begins to grow again. Here are some of the gems I uncovered yesterday on an earthy adventure:

Bones left from last fall, still on the branch.

Soft-focus dreaminess, with a focus on rendering in a painterly style.

Tack sharp focus, fading to blurry beauty.

So many blooms already.

There it is. My “Early Spring Ode to Texture”… Hope you enjoy!

May There Be Light in Your Life,

The Baby Package, Part 3: The 21 Day Newborn Session

admin — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:17:26 +0000

The Baby Package includes The 21 Day Newborn Session, a photography session held at home with mom and dad sometime in the first weeks after baby is born. Here’s Kim & Richard’s baby Addyson at home: