Vino Teca, Bazati, Bar Vegan and the Atlanta BeltLine
I got out of the HOUSE sans kids! Let me figure out where to start there are so many good parts to start at. I know Ana and Marcus...
Ana and Marcus have been in front of my many different cameras for over 19 years. I can't believe it has been 19 years it makes us seem old but I promise we are young and cute still lol. I met Ana and Marcus during our freshmen year of college. Ana lived in the best dorm hall on campus with me and Marcus lived...I am not sure where Marcus lived and honestly if it wasn't Brannen Hall it doesn't really matter. Ok, I am done throwing shade, I am staying focused. Whenever I had a project that came up in my many photography courses they somehow always ended up being my subjects. They have honestly been with me almost every step of my development as an artist.
In 2017 Ana and Marcus got married. As they were preparing, and booking vendors Ana called me. In 2017 I was working 6 days a week 10 hours a day. I had been doing this for three years and since my divorce. I was focused. Providing for my daughters, being present with them when I wasn't working my long hours, and getting out of debt, which is often the ripple effect of divorce. August 2013 was the last wedding I photographed and the last time I picked up my camera, before leaving my marital home in October of that year. My ex-husband also attended college with me. He, however, was in the same art department I took all of my classes in. After graduation and leaving a community of artists I often thought of him as being my connection to the art community. I felt like I needed his artistic critiques in order to create, without them how could I possibly create anything of value? I had so many self-doubts in other areas of my life during this time I allowed this to consume me so I put down my camera.
When Ana contacted me in 2017 for photography I offered her suggestions on what to look for in a wedding photographer. I thought I could not possibly charge money for what I was creating it wasn't good enough, it could never be enough. Ana pushed and said no one else can do it. I was so reluctant, but I agreed because it was Ana and Marcus. I will not say their wedding photos were the absolute best thing I had created up to that point in my life as an artist. The opportunity awoke within me the knowledge that I could do this, I was good at this, and this is my love. Since their wedding, I have had opportunity after opportunity to create, learn, and find my own connection to the art community, and realize I was enough.
After their wedding, Ana and Marcus have become creators of their own. Where Are The Webbs, their own podcast of their good eats, travels, and weigh in on popular culture.
I can't create an entire blog post about them without linking all their socials and podcast for you to check out. They are worth a follow and a listen. As they were building their audience for their podcast I took on all their photography needs.
This Sunday with the Webbs it was my first time to photograph them without my girls and enjoy adult conversation with them. We ate, drink, and oh did we laugh. It was everything I needed, time with my friends and the opportunity to create.
We visited Vino Teca in Edgewood, this little wine shop has wine tastings and Sunday's tasting was all about the bar-b-que. They offer a white, blush, and full red, always a great experience at Vino Teca. We then got on the Beltline and enjoyed the atmosphere. We stopped in at Bazati for appetizers at the bar and took some rooftop photos. We ended our day at Bar Vegan which was...an experience for sure. This is what they do create spaces for me even when I don't know I need them until I have an opportunity to think to myself at the end of the day 'I don't remember the last time I had this much fun without my girls'.
Together, with my daughters in tote, we have been to some amazing businesses and locations. They have always been patient with me when if I had to stop to nurse, change a diaper, bounce Harper because she is frustrated, or feed my big girls. It's through their patience and care for my daughters I found my new place as a single mom of three in photography. This was the blueprint I was going to create my business with, open to change, with my daughters, and my clients no longer being my clients but becoming my team, my friends that I share full belly laughs with.
Sometimes we forget how impactful we are to those around us. Every word and interaction we have has an impact. I don't think the Webb's knew how impactful their simple request has been in pushing me to step back to photography. It's the small things that make the biggest impact. This blog post turned into something I didn't even think it would turn into. I am happy with its outcome though. Sometimes when we think things are all about our own experiences and they influence so much more.
Links to places we visited: