I recently had the privilege of shooting Patrick and Tiffany's wedding. While the weather was stormy and wet outside, the wedding ceremony was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. The church was magnificent, the arrangements were spectacular, but that pales to the happiness of these two young people on their special day. Just watching the two of them, you could see the joy and love they share together with each passing minute.

Tiffany's Bridal's

We recently had Tiffany out for a Bridal portrait session. With the wedding just 2 weeks away and Tiffany wanting a large portrait for the wedding reception, everything was moving at hyperspeed. We shot about 80 images in some of my favorite outdoor spots (there are lots of spots when you live on farm). Got the images processed and uploaded the next day, Tiffany made a selection, I placed an order, and had a 20x30 image back in 4 days ready for the framer. It was really beautiful at the reception, but then she is a very beautiful bride. The image she selected is one of these, can you guest which one?

Jason and Bonnie's Wedding

I recently had to opportunity to shoot Jason and Bonnie's wedding and it was quite an affair. They are a wonderful young couple, who obviously enjoy life together. Bonnie was really into doing the bridal shots and we had a great time with them. The wedding ceremony was really beautiful and the wedding reception was a blast. What a party!!!!

Neal vs Thomasville

I was in East Brewton last night to shoot the game between W. S. Neal and Thomasville. The game ended up 23-14 in favor of Thomasville which is currently ranked No. 9 in Class 4A. It was a pretty good game, especially in the second half when Neal really came alive and made some big plays. The two scoring plays by Neal were a kickoff return, in which Nate Sheffield lateraled the ball to Jeremy Nicholson and he went the distance, and a pass from Taylor Cash to Nicholson. Getting beyond those two big plays, it was really a team effort with a lot of good hustle by everyone on the field and Neal had a chance to turn this one around until the very end.

If you happened to read my post about last weeks game in Andalusia, this is a good example of the difference in the quality of stadium lights when doing photography. The images in this sequence (Nicholson's run after the catch for a touchdown) were shot on the same play in burst mode, without flash. The lights at W. S. Neal are some of the best to be found in a high school stadium anywhere. That's all I'm going to say about my technique, after all Michangelo didn't write a book about how he created art. If he did it, would be selling on the markdown table at Barnes and Nobles for $4.95, because everyone would be creating artwork like him.

It's getting close to time for the Auburn-LSU game, so I have to go. This should really be a barn burner, no wait, we've already done that in 1996.

Hailey, Lauren, and Nathan

I got the chance to shoot these lovely children on a recent Sunday afternoon at their family farm and another nearby location. It really brings back fond memories of my childhood, when we spent quite Sunday afternoons in the country. Children are fascinated by the simplest things like picking a flower from the garden, feeding ducks, or trying to play with the goats. We would all be better off to occasionally stop and try to see the world through the eyes of children.

W. S. Neal Football vs Andalusia

There's really not much to say about this one other than the sandwich I got at Blimpie before the game was pretty good. Oh, well back to the game, it was pretty badly played by both teams, a little more so by Neal. I'm not a coach, so I'll leave the analysis and fixing to the ones who get paid to do those things. I'm sure they'll find the proper solutions.

I just shoot the pictures, which brings me around to another problem from Friday night. The stadium lights in Andalusia were like shooting under a back porch light. That's not to insult my good friends in Andalusia, it's just that the stadium lights at W. S. Neal and T. R. Miller are of such exceptional quality, it just spoils a photographer. Shooting with flash, as I was forced to do for this game, results in somewhat blurred images because of the slower shutter speeds required for flash. There are several new cameras on the market that allow fast shutter speeds with flash, but I still hate the unnatural look of flash.

If you look at the images from the Atmore preseason game and the Monroe County game, both played at Neal, you can see the difference in quality when shot under good stadium lights. I was tempted at one point to go into the WEBJ broadcast booth and shoot down at the field, which can sometimes help with bad lighting. It's probably better that I stayed on the field, rather than taste the rockstar lifestyle Dennis, Terry, and LaDon suffer under each week. Catered food and plush accommodations would just spoil me to the point of wanting to be up there every week. Besides, as far as the food goes, I had already been served a gourmet meal at the local Blimpie.

These and other sports images may be viewed and purchased by going to http://www.perrywatsonphotography.com/, click Information, then click Sports Photo Purchases.

Middle School Football

I had the opportunity to shoot the Middle School football game between W. S. Neal and T. R. Miller last Thursday night. It was a pretty good game to be so early in the season and both teams not having a lot of practice time in so far. I missed the High School game on Friday night because we were out of town picking up Katie's wedding dress. I really hate to miss a game because I enjoy shooting sports so much.