In 2005, Anna Whitehead married Derek Brownlee in an outdoor ceremony at the Mabry Hazen House in Knoxville. I had attended a bridal tea on the Mabry Hazen porch before, but I didn't realize that it was such a nice place for a wedding. Unfortunately, I think it's often overlooked but worth checking out.

The house is a museum, but we were allowed to take a few photos inside. Anna wore a long, flowing veil that has been handed down in her family. Her proud father walked her down the lawn to Derek, and they said their vows in front of the gazebo.

 The whole wedding day had a fun, laid-back feel to it. From the flower print shirts and nut necklaces that the guys wore to the sand and shell candle hurricanes on the tables, Annna had incorporated a Hawaiian beach theme into the event. The reception at The University Club spilled out onto the patio overlooking the river. Guests chatted and danced until the sun went down. Then the bride changed into a cute sundress, and the guests bid a bubbly farewell as the couple left in a white limosine.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of photographing a beautiful ten-year-old. Unfortunately, it was a very hot and sunny day which makes afternoon photos outdoors difficult. We were able to find some colorful backgrounds though, and we lucked out with gorgeous, warm light on an orange wall just before the sun went down.

Congrats on going to cheer nationals, S!

So what do I do when I finally get a Saturday off? I get a headache of course! No really, I planned on being very productive today and getting a lot done around the house, but I got a headache and feel like taking it easy.

I am getting one thing done. I went out and photographed some bugs in an attempt to identify what's killing the hackberry tree in my yard. I think that they're a mealybug of some sort, but if anyone knows what these are for sure and how to treat them then please let me know. The tree is about 25 feet high so I hope there is a solution other than spraying.

Warning: if you really don't like creepy crawly things then you might want to skip this post. It isn't a photography post so you won't miss much.

I was really interested in all sorts of creatures when I was little. I'd dig up worms and scout for interesting bugs. My mom even found me trying to pull a snake out of his hole once. Unfortunately, I'm not quite as fearless now, but I still think it's really interesting what you can find when you just stop and look around.

The culprit eating my tree is small and white, and it seems to be working its way in from the tips of the branches. It apparently produces these white cocoon looking things and then moves on to another spot. The white secretion seems to start around the head so I'm assuming it isn't an egg sack, but I could be wrong. For all I know, this could be one bug eating the egg sack of another. The mobile white bugs themselves aren't as easy to find as the white aftermath.



I'm not sure what this is, but it looks like it's making its own little white mess. I put it near one of the larger bugs for comparison.



While looking for the white bugs, I ran into this little guy running up and down the branch. When he found one of the brown scales, he stopped and seemed to be eating it.



He was also interested in the white aftermath. He looks a bit like a caterpillar, but it is very small and has little legs that it runs on (unlike a caterpillar). I got a shot of an ant running over him for size comparison.


May 20 Edit:
I think I may have an answer to my bug mystery. I found this neat little site called, aptly enough, What's That Bug? The folks running it are actually photography teachers and artists in California, and they were very quick at responding to my inquiry. This is the reply:

Hi Nancy,
You have quite an ecosystem thriving on your Hackberry Tree. The brown
insect with the white mass appears to be an hermaphroditic female Scale
Insect in the family Margarodidae. It does not however look like a Cottony
Cushion Scale as depicted on BugGuide but might be a related species. Your
white insect does appear to be a Mealybug, another plant pest. Your third
insect looked to us like a Ladybird Beetle Larva, a predator that is
probably feeding on some of the pests. When we checked on BugGuide, the
match is a Twice Stabbed Ladybird, Chilocorus stigma. BugGuide has a great
image of larva, pupa and adult Twice Stabbed ladybirds feeding on Scale
Insects. We don't give extermination advice. We would recommend a trip to
a good local nursery and NOT using a broad band pesticide.

I had some trouble navigating BugGuide so I'm going to take their word for it. Who knew that ladybugs have such ugly babies?

In an effort to help everyone get the most from their photo prints, I want to post a little explanation on print ratios and crops.

The uncropped, full-frame files from my cameras are in a 4x6 ratio which is a very popular print size. To retain the entire composition in a photo, you would want to choose an equivalent ratio such as 20x30 for enlargements.

Unfortunately, the rest of the standard frame sizes in America don't share the same ratio. 8x10", for example, has a much more square shape. This means that cropping a 4x6 photo into an 8x10 will cut off a significant portion of the image. Depending on the image, this may or may not be a problem, but it's an important consideration when ordering enlargements.

To demonstrate the issue, I have created an example with lines showing where the photo would be cropped for the different print sizes. Due to the composition, this particular photo would still work in the various sizes, but you can see how much of the image will be lost.


Try to keep this in mind when choosing print sizes, and you can evaluate which images will look best when cropped. If a particular photo is going to present a problem, there are a few solutions:

1. You can order an odd sized print such as 8x12 and have it custom framed.

2. I can maintain the 4x6 ratio and just add a white or black border around the image so that it can be printed on the desired paper size without being cropped This would result in a quasi mat.

3. You can order a smaller size and add a real mat so that the image fits a standard frame.

Happy second anniversary, Mandy & Justin!

Mandy Wright & Justin Bailey had one of those wonderful wedding days when everything comes together perfectly; lovely weather, gorgeous venues, delicious food, fragrant flowers, live music, and a loving couple.

One of my favorite aspects of the day had to be the venues that were chosen. The ceremony was held at the First United Methodist Church of Montgomery in Alabama - one of those historic, Gothic churches with characteristic stone exterior, stained glass, arched doorways, and a high, wooden-beamed ceiling. Afterward, the wedding party hopped on a trolley and traveled to the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts for an elegant reception. It is a modern, classy building with beautiful grounds and an outdoor ampitheater that doubles as a waterside dancefloor.

The cathedral added to the ceremony's elegance.



Mandy had 9 bridesmaids, several of which were her sorority sisters.

Dress and ring detail. I love long veils and had fun photographing Mandy's.

Right after they were declared husband and wife, Mandy & Justin walked outside and into a magnificent flood of sunlight.



The groom's cake was a delicious chocolate mud cake with a (chocolate) golf ball on top.


It takes a real man to carry his wife's shoes for her.