Every year I make a video with my youth group for the annual Christmas program at our church, The Village Chapel. This year’s video is a continuation of sorts from last year’s video. If you have not watched last year’s, you may want to take a look at that first to catch a few “inside jokes” in this year’s.

I hope you enjoy and have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Our little guy had his first photo taken today! It was not taken by Whitney or myself, but there will be plenty time for that. Although we are not ready to announce a name at this time, you can rest calmly to know his name will not be Luke, Anakin, or Obi Wan. (Jenn & Marcus dePaula suggested Obadiah Juan).

It was pretty exciting to watch the little guy lift up his arm and rub his face. Parenthood feels far more real now and we are super excited. We can’t wait for the many adventures this little one will take us on!

This weekend I headed west.  No not to California, to Ashland City….duh!  I headed out to A-Town for my cousin Ashley’s wedding.  It was a very simple and traditional wedding, and in many ways was somewhat refreshing.  A nice country wedding is just what I needed to snap me back to reality and remind me why we all get together for these unions anyway.  It’s not just about how many guests, how much you spent on floral arrangements, the dress designer, or the imported organic goat-cheese from Swedish free-range herders who sing their live-stock to sleep.  Its about celebrating love and family!

It’s easy to get caught up in the hoopla and and general over-indulgence of planning a wedding.  I know, I’ve been there.  But at the end of the day when it’s all said and done, it’s all about the love.  I love going to wedding’s in the family, it’s like a mini family reunion and we all have a great time, and that’s exactly what we did at my cousin’s wedding.

It was held at a small church off of River Rd., and since my wife is out of town I got to drive her honda…which can really hug a turn at 60 mph on a back-wood country road…had the windows down. the stereo up, and basically having a good ol’ time.  The sanctuary was quaint and classic, with stained glass windows and exactly what you would expect for a southern protestant church.

Here are a few photo’s I took of my cousin in her gorgeous gown.

This great hair accessory was made by a friend and fits perfect with Ashely’s gown….and attitude.

I started to realize half-way through the ceremony that I was completely engrossed in the moment, and focusing solely on Ashley and her groom to be Justin.  I could hear every word of their vows, I could see every expression on their face, and wasn’t distracted by, well, anything.

You definitely want your wedding to speak of who you are, but while your planning remember what this is really about.

Thank you everyone who has booked Dove Wedding Photography! For over three years now Dove Wedding Photography has been donating a portion of our wedding bookings to Invisible Children, an organization fighting to end a war in Uganda that has enslaved children as soldiers. The above video shows the outcome of a bunch of small voices combining to become one large voice. We are proud to be a part of this.

I wanted to link to a blog post we made from last year’s Invisible Children event titled: The Rescue. While looking for it I realized we never posted the blog. So, here it is:

A large group, made up primarily of college and high school students, met in Centennial Park: a location titled “Abduction Point.” The location symbolized children being abducted from their homes and marched long miles to the Lord’s Resistance Army’s Base Camp. This evening the location was Bicentennial Mall.

As a peaceful demonstration students from across Tennessee walked single file through the streets of Nashville.

This is me leading the youth group from The Village Chapel.

Upon arriving at Bicentennial Mall, the plan was to wait until we were rescued by fulfilling three things:
1) Having the news media show up.
2) Having two or more political figures or celebrities show up.
3) Raising an assigned amount of money.
Fortunately for the Nashville crew, all three happened before night fell.

Upon arriving at the park, we hung photographs of ourselves with our family. Circling images of ourselves symbolized the family that we left behind during the abduction. Here is a family portrait of Whitney’s family at our wedding.

During our wait, we wrote letters to our senators and created art projects. Here is Whitney and our friend Emma making a poster.

Even though we were “rescued” we still decided to spend the night in a downtown parking lot…

…However, that ended when a few drunk club-hoppers decided to get into a fight and the cops showed up. As exciting as it was Whitney and I decided drunk guys, cops and youth groups are not the best mix. So, we rolled up our mats and called for a ride back to the church.

(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

To say that this has been a rough week for Nashville and its surrounding areas would be an understatement. For those of you that don’t know, we had a record 13.57 inches of rainfall over the course of two days resulting in what is being called a 500-year flood. The Cumberland River spilled over its banks flooding not only Downtown Nashville and one of our water treatment plants, but also many homes and businesses. The rising water quickly destroyed historic landmarks and bits of this city’s history. For thousands it can only be summed up as complete devastation.

All of us at Dove were very fortunate and survived with little to no water damage. However, many of our friends and neighbors were not so fortunate. They have spent the last week ripping out soaked drywall and carpeting, and sorting through water- logged possessions.

What has amazed me the most over the last week has been the spirit of hope and resilience that has permeated throughout Middle Tennessee. A grassroots movement, entitled “We Are Nashville”, has emerged banding people together to support each other, and bring our city back to its feet and greatness. It has truly been a beautiful sight to behold.

So I am sure you are wondering why I am telling you all of this on a wedding photography blog. We need your help! I am blogging about this because it seems that people outside of Nashville have not really been made aware of the dire situation that we are in.

If you live in this area and are able to volunteer there are some great places where you can get information on opportunities. Hands on Nashville has been organizing volunteer opportunities all week, and will continue to do so over the course of the next several weeks. The folks at Nashvillest website have done a great job of listing other organizations that are putting together volunteer efforts and how you can get hooked up with them.

If you do not live in the area, but are compelled to help, we can always use monetary donations. You can donate to the Red Cross of Middle Tennessee online, as well as by texting ‘REDCROSS’ to 90999 to donate $10 to disaster relief. You can also donate to the Tennessee Emergency Relief Fund, The Salvation Army or Second Harvest Food Bank.

I wanted to leave you with a few images from this past week.

Carpeting, drywall and baseboards from the inside of a friends basement apartment.

Volunteers getting ready to sandbag in Metrocenter

A flooded Opry Mills Mall, and the General Jackson Showboat on the Cumberland River. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

A flooded Nashville neighborhood on Monday. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

As you begin your weekend, please keep all of Tennessee in your thoughts and prayers as we begin the recovery and rebuilding process.

On April 7, Whitney turned 30! She knew I was going to throw her a party, but she had no idea what was going to happen. Most of you probably know that Whitney is a pretty big fan of the TV show LOST. So, it was only natural to give her a themed party that she would love.

We held a “Jungle Boogie” filled with dancing, pulled pork (aka: boar), fish biscuits, fresh fruit, Dharma beverages, and camp fires. What more could you need? Maybe a polar bear or giant electromagnet?

Everyone dressed up (or should I say: dressed down) for the night to get LOST.
Zach & Bridget (top right) were really lost, as they came dressed for their favorite TV show: Mad Men.
Whitney’s sisters (bottom left) thought we needed more fish. They came from Atlanta to surprise Whitney, along with their mom (bottom right).

One of Whitney’s gifts from our friend, David Whitley, was a Strong Man Performance. David amazed everyone with his acts of strength as he rolled up a frying pan like it was a burrito!

Here are some of the characters from The Island. It was fun seeing the Crazy Claires hanging with the Sane Claires. I really loved those who dressed as infamous props. Sean came as the letter to Mr.Sawyer (top left). But, my favorite was Baby John Locke (top center)!
Thanks to everyone that came out and made it such a great night!

Now, why did Sun freak out when she saw Locke as they were both getting off of the ambulances? Leave your comments and ideas below!!!!

I was so excited to see the snow fall last week! When I first moved to Nashville from Georgia I thought I would be getting a lot more snow. Boy was I wrong! So this weekend was such a pleasant surprise! On Saturday we had the opportunity to participate in Cedarwood’s open house, and we braved the icy, unsalted streets to make it out there. I am so glad we did! Cedarwood is pet friendly, so we brought Calvin with us so he could play on the wide open field in Cedarwood’s backyard. He had such a blast hopping through the snow, eating the snow, and looking for squirells in the trees. We had fun just watching him play. I hope you enjoy our little photography session with Calvin!

So intent!Notice the icicle whiskers!

Look out for a post coming up of the amazing tables Cedarwood designed for their open house!

Wow! It’s been awhile since we posted a blog. So, to make up for it, I decided I would get a little personal.

The other day my aunt Jean emailed some old family photos to me. They are so much fun!

This first one is of Grandma Carlson’s side of the family. It’s funny how through time, family portraits do not change that much. Everyone is positioned just so, people are fussing with the baby, and Great Grandma Wernberg is trying to hide as much as possible.

This portrait was not taken professionally, but what I love about it is that it captures personality. Everyone looks comfortable around each other and is happy to be in the photograph. Even the three elders to the left look very proud, through their Scandinavian poses. The barn could be removed from the background and you would still know that many in this photo were hard working farmers.

My grandparents are the two in the top row. Grandma looks like the happiest one in the group and Grandpa looks kind of like David Duchovny. Kind of interesting being grandpa liked to tell me occasional stories of his possible encounters with aliens and sasquatch.

My Grandpa was the photographer for this photograph. Whitney and I totally love this image! It’s probably because I tend to strike the same pose that Uncle Harold, my grandpa’s brother, is striking for the camera. (Pointing at the camera with tongue sticking out.) Family personalities must pass through time.

Looking at and talking about these images makes me realize, once again, the power of photography. I will never see any of these family members, face to face, again. My memories of them, as well as the stories I have never heard, live on through photographs. I wish I had more!

I am so excited that the brides and families we work with understand the importance of photography. Sadly, there are people that do not understanding this concept. It’s not until you see photos of your past relatives, that it really sinks in. By investing in professional photography, you are not only purchasing something you can love, but you are truly investing in something special for your children, grandchildren, and many others.

My grandparents passed away over a decade ago, but I get to see them every day as I look at their wedding portrait that is displayed in our dinning room. I cannot imagine not having something so valuable. I am so glad they chose to invest in this gift for us that I will pass onto my children and grandchildren.

Thanks for listening to the thought s that have been going through my head this week.

- Peter

Wait a minute. The title of this post was “Black and White Photography” and the first image is very colorful. Look again. The subjects in the photo are black and white. They are also individuals that are full of color. This was the beauty of my week at Barefoot Republic Camp.

As many of you know I am also the Director of Youth Ministries at The Village Chapel. Last week we went to camp for the first time. I have not been to camp in over 15 years. However, this camp was hardly anything like my camp. The biggest difference was the diversity. Not only does Barefoot Republic have racial diversity, but the economic diversity is just as great. To top it off, there were hardly any cliques! Can you believe that?! Especially with close to 150 high school students being present. For one week, we were one big happy family. Kids from the projects were hanging out with kids from the suburbs. Athletes were hanging out with artists. Teens were hanging out with adults. It was one of the greatest experiences ever.

Here are a few photos I took with my iPhone and a camera I found in the camp office:

Singing the national anthem.

What is camp without a food fight. This is one of the biggest ones I have ever seen.

Before Whitney and I took Dove full-time, I was an audio engineer. My week at camp brought me back to my former life as I ran sound for the praise and worship times. I also helped teach the audio production class. My buddy Rick taught programming while I taught live recording. Here are a couple photos of the boys in our class:

On the last day, before picking up their teens, parents were invited to see the students show off what they learned at camp. Whitney came to pick me up and watch me work as the head counselor and audio engineer. She brought her camera and took a few photos as well:

Raised hands during worship time. Whitney also captured a photograph of me intently working during the student production.

Herb delivering The Word.

Music class waiting to rock.

Herb getting the crowd hyped.

Drama class.

Dance class.

Families watching.

Soccer class showing new moves.

Art class’ group project.

Chol (AKA: Double C) is from Sudan. He helped me mix. I thought it appropriate being he had a Run DMC hat on.

What a week!- Peter