Scott Memorial Hospital Christmas Party!

Saturday was SMH's annual Christmas party. It was held at The Grand in New Albany. If you've never been there then you should at least check it out sometime! It's an old theater they restored and is now primarily used as a banquet hall. The name sums it up quite well as it is very elaborate and grand!!!!! Britt helped me with the photography and I did the DJ'ing. We setup upstairs where there was some Christmas trees and a very nice antique couch which made for a very nice backdrop area. The party kicked off with the meal and a few videos about the hospital(very well done videos!!!!!!). I played Christmas music while everyone was eating and mingling and Britt got started on the pics. We used the backdrop area with my photo lights and then printed the pics in a sleeve on location. After everyone finished eating then the hospital did door prizes and played more videos. I have to say they had some very nice door prizes! After that it was time so start the party! I played some good dance music and everyone was dancing, and I do mean everyone including CEO's and all! It was great! The photography and DJ'ing went very well and I think everyone had a great time. The hospital did a great job putting it all together for a very deserving group of people!!!!!! Thanks Scott Memorial Hospital!!!!!

Natalie's 14th B-day Bash!

DJ'd Natalie's 14th birthday party yesterday. The party was held at the Warrior Reservation in Scottsburg. There were quite a few people there and everything looked very nice. I started the evening with some hip background music while everyone was eating. After the cake was cut and everyone ate some it was time to start the party! I played some good dance music, turned off a few lights and everyone started grooving. I've actually done studies and people dance a lot more if you shut out the lights!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, after a couple of hours of dancing everyone was about worn out so they just talked a bit. I've noticed that younger kids socialize vs. dancing a lot more than older(ish) people do. It was just really cool to see them all having fun and cutting up. I think that everyone who attended had a good time and having your own DJ makes any event that much more fun. I really enjoy DJ'ing because every occasion is special but different. A DJ can make or break any event and I always leave knowing that I had a part in making someone's special day a success! Happy 14th birthday Natalie!

Sarah and Ryan's Wedding!!!!!!

Sarah and Ryan's wedding was yesterday. The wedding was at Seymour Christian and the reception was held at Dakota Ridge. I did the photography and DJ solo so went to the reception site and got everything all set up. Got some new lights and a sub so I was really excited to try everything out. The reception was already pretty much set up and looked beautiful! They used a light blue color for accents which was very nice and brightened everything up a bit.

After getting set up I went over to the wedding site to get set up there and put on my photographer hat. No, I don't really have a photographer hat but hopefully you get the point! Got my lights all tuned in and started shooting with Ryan and the guys first. They looked quite snazzy with the blue color as well! Ryan and his friends were hilarious and I think I got some really good pics. They seemed like a real close knit group and probably have a lot of fun together. After the guys were finished cutting up I started shooting Sarah and the ladies. Sarah's dress was gorgeous!!!!!!! I don't think I've seen one like that before! It had a lot of beaded detail with a circular theme all the way down. Kind of hard to explain but was very pretty!!!!!!!!!!! You'll see it when I get the pics up... Sarah and all of her friends were just as much fun and all looked gorgeous! I love weddings because it's always like going to a high class event for free! Everyone is always done up and dressed in their best. Since I have done a lot of weddings it's also kind of neat seeing the different styles and themes. Anyway, ADHD here... umm. After the ladies and family it was time for the wedding! It's interesting being a wedding photographer before the wedding- you're up front of the church in the spotlight with about 200-500 people staring right at you. They are probably wondering how good you are, if you're a pro or an AWAC, how much your cameras cost, how much you're being paid to walk around with a camera, or maybe just thinking how goofy you look! I always try to work on one thing in particular to hone my skills and this time I focused on white balance. The white balance can make or break a photo! In case you're wondering what it is... it can make the photos look orange, blue, or natural. It is the temp of the lights on a spectrum. To accomplish this I set one camera up for the stage using only the lights up front and another camera with flash for everyone walking down the aisle. The wedding started and everything was beautiful and went well. No rings dropped, no sand poured on the floor, and none of the silk caught on fire. After the wedding Sarah and Ryan walked out front with tons of bubbles everywhere! I love bubbles for the effect but it sure makes it hard on the auto focus!

On to the reception! Since I was the DJ I got there and got the music started. When the bridal party arrived we did a formal intro to Sirius- the Chicago Bulls entrance theme song along with their names and where they were from! It was so much fun and I think it went pretty well- I'm no CB announcer but gave it a shot! After everyone ate dinner and we went on to the events. The toasts went great and were really from the heart. The cake cutting wasn't too messy, too messy that is but needless to say there was cake of their faces! The first dance song was Two is Better Than One, father/ daughter I Loved Her First, and mother/ son Song for Mama. I almost cry every time for the father/ daughter because I think of my girls and them growing up and all! After all of the events I played good dance music and everyone seemed to have a good time.

While playing a good dance song with some bass we all heard some popping noises... I didn't really know what was going on until some guy told me something was smoking! Apparently too many watts for too long will smoke the voice coils in a sub... I had to unhook it and take it outside but the party went on! It was a new sub that didn't quite make the cut! I did my best to play some good music and keep everyone on the dance floor all night! I love DJ'ing because you are the cause of people having fun and I always have fun!

Everyone left and I tore down to get on the road. Stopped by T-Bell to grab a snack because weddings take a lot out of ya! Then on my way home I witnessed a girl on the I take out about 10 dividers in a Mitsubishi Eclipse so I called the police and stopped to help her. Luckily she was ok but the car wasn't, to say the least... went home and crashed!

Have you ever taken 450 pics of a BLT?

In one of my college classes that I am taking, we have devoted half a semester to making a flash presentation of how to make a BLT... each student was able to choose their medium whether it was pictures, sketches, or digitally created. Well, being a photographer I chose photography. That night after class I spent 2-3 hours taking pictures of the BLT process. Can't you just picture it, me in my PJ's at 1 AM in the morning taking pictures of a sandwich? Anyway, here's some of the pics!