Out and About in Memphis

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday. I had the pleasure of spending it with my wife's family in Brownsville, Tennessee, which is a small farming community about an hour or so east of Memphis on U.S. 40. With all the trips that I have taken to Tennessee over the last 18 years, I've never spent any time in Memphis other than the airport and our wedding night at The Peabody. So this year I made it a point to spend a day in Memphis, visiting the sites and photographing. It was a perfect clear and bright day with the temperature about 70 degrees. I visited the landmark Stax Records, Graceland, Beale Street, and the Lorraine Motel and Civil Rights museum. I took my fair share of "tourist" photos at those locations, but I also spent time taking a bunch of other stuff, some of which is below. For my fellow photographers that are interested in this sort of thing, all pictures were taken with my Nikon D200 and the 17-55 2.8 Nikkor lens.

I stopped by the visitors center on hwy 40 to pick up a street map and saw these birds hanging out.
The neighborhood around the Stax Museum was filled with colorful abandoned buildings.
Weeds grow anywhere!
This street was pretty rough!
Here's a few taken along the lower part of Beale Street and walking around downtown Memphis.
A vintage Dodge parked below the balcony of the Lorraine Motel where Dr King was assassinated.
I loved the colors as darkness set in.
Beale Street at night
The rest of these were taken on the backroad to Jackson, Tennessee, which is about 30 miles east of Brownsville.
Next time, it's a day or so in Nashville!

And now there are two...websites that is!

I photographed my last (as far as I know) wedding of 2008. After a Thursday of temperatures in the 30's, Friday was the perfect day with temperatures near 60 degrees. I'll post a few pictures from Heather and Roberts wedding at the Sanctuary in a week or so, but below is one of my favorites from the day. My good friends Joe Keum and Dawn Sparks joined me and we all got some great images thanks to a wonderful bride and groom. Check out the website for a bunch of new images in my galleries.
I thought that this would be a great time to formally introduce my new broxtonArt "portraits" website. I have been doing family portrait and children sessions on a limited basis for quite sometime. Typically it's for previous wedding clients and their families. After hearing them tell me over and over that I should market these services to everyone, I've finally decided to do it! All the info is on the website, including introductory session fees.

The galleries include childrens portraits;
couples and individual portraits;
family portraits;
and engagement sessions.
I have also included the "other stuff" gallery. Here you'll find pictures that I've taken out and about;
pictures from some of the many concerts that I have attended, plus work that I've done for KUVO;
and automobile art. These galleries will continue to grow, so please check back regularly.
Enjoy the pictures, and spread the word!

Please have safe travels and a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Jaclyn and John

I had the great pleasure of helping out my good friend and great photographer Phillip Lloyd photographing Jaclyn and John's wedding at the Atlantis resort in Nassau. Jaclyn and John were a great couple and the photography part of the wedding was of great importance to them. Not only did we have them on their wedding day for pictures, but they also gave us the day after! Phil and I were in photographer heaven! Here are a few of the images

The beautiful bride
Phil scoped out the frosted shower door in her suite as a cool place for an edgy portrait
This was done while we were waiting for the elevator. Atlantis has a treasure trove of interesting locations for pictures; some obvious, and others a little less so.
This was in the elevator
Here's a few from the ceremony. There was a hurricane going on too, but we missed the worst of it. It was just a bit breezy and it rained soon after the ceremony.
I love their expressions on these two
After the ceremony we took a walk through the property
That's the hurricane in the background
The reception was moved inside to Fathoms.
A bit of dancing
The storm passed, and we were ready for a few day after pictures
A bride that was willing to lay on the floor of the spa! Whatever it takes for a cool picture!
Once again, there were so many cool places to shoot within the resort. This was out side one of the dining spots.
Jaclyn and John got dressed up one last time for a dip in the ocean.
Thanks to Phil for the invite, and thanks to Jaclyn and John for being a dream couple to work with!