Sharon Theresa Wheaton – Page 5 – Team Wheaton | Atlanta, GA

Rest Recoup Refocus Completely

Rest Recoup Refocus

Greetings Internet,

If you have been following my page for a while, you may have seen some sporadic updates. Today, that all changes. I have lived in Nashville for over a year now. Over this year, I have had my time to rest, recoup and refocus in my life and business. While I was resting something really amazing happened; I turned into a new version of Sharon Theresa Wheaton.

Pain, Happiness, and Drive

2016 and now 2017 has been very interesting for Team Wheaton. We’ve had some pain and we’ve had some happiness. Having time to grieve this past year has been very helpful, but I still have more growth to experience. I am now focused and ready to work towards my dreams as a strong business owner. No more fear. No more worry and no more regret. My drive is back in full force and I’m ready to share it with the world. I’m thankful for the amazing clients I have had through this refocus period because they helped me understand what I’ve always know about myself and Team Wheaton; we rock, our work is amazing and we are a really efficient husband and wife, wedding photography team!

My new goal is to add decent writer to that list. Will I make mistakes? Oh yes. Will I fix those mistakes and move forward? Absolutely. I will no longer think and worry about being perfect. My plan is to act, make mistakes, fall on my face, look silly and then, get up and get better. Somewhere along the way, I forgot that making mistakes is how you get better. Somehow I forgot that making mistakes is how I made it here, but I will forget no more. I can rejoice with a happy heart, knowing I’ve become a stronger person both personally and professionally.

Lessons from the Hora

To kick off this new day, let’s start with one of my favorite moments at a Jewish wedding, the Hora. The hora is super emotional for me. I like to dig in deep. I must be in the inner circles of the dancing. Needing to feel all the raw emotion of this honorary dance means sometimes getting smacked in the nose with an elbow. The very first Hora I ever shot, I felt like I was in a mosh pit. After being stepped on, smacked on the back and elbowed in the face, I couldn’t get enough. I went diving in for more.

I realized recently that as much as I love this song and dance, I have no idea what the lyrics to Hava Nagila mean. When I looked up the words, I knew a post about the Hora was the perfect way to reintroduce myself to the world. The words are simple but have so much meaning:

Hava nagila
Hava nagila ve-nismeḥa
Hava neranenah
Hava neranenah ve-nismeḥa
Uru aḥim be-lev sameaḥ

These words translated into English are:

Let’s rejoice
Let’s rejoice and be happy
Let’s sing
Let’s sing and be happy
Awake my brothers with a happy heart

and yes, dear internet, thanks to the support of so many people, I have awoken with a happy heart! I will rejoice, sing and be happy!

Until next time, Cheers, Salude, L’chaim!

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Grand Hyatt Buckhead Wedding

The Grand Hyatt Buckhead Wedding

Ah, the Hyatt. It’s honestly my favorite place to shoot in Atlanta. I love the rooms, the views and of course the huge chandelier in the main lobby. It’s such a beautiful place but the real reason I love working at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead is the staff. Everyone at the Hyatt is so nice and willing to help, even if it’s not part of their regular jobs. I have had bellmen chasing down people I needed quickly and with great happiness. You don’t find that kind of work ethic in every Atlanta hotel, that’s for sure. And have I mentioned the food? The head chef at the Hyatt is one of our past clients. I have been lucky enough to eat dinner at his house and at the Hyatt. I love this location and it was the perfect location for this classy and creative Jewish bride and groom’s wedding day!

Indoor and outdoor beauty

One of the other reasons I love the Grand Hyatt is that it has a lovely outdoor Japanese garden and a terrace for a garden feel in the middle of the city. This bride and groom had their ceremony inside and the reception in the main ballroom, so we decided to shoot their first look in the Japanese garden! Check out all the images below!

Cumberland Park Nashville Tennessee Family Photography

Nashville is a lovely place for a fall family photography session. This family session started out at Cumberland Park in downtown Nashville. It is close to the Cumberland River and there is always this nice light breeze that comes off the river. In the fall, that breeze is delightful. However, in the summer and the winter it a bit less lovely. Let’s be honest, the breeze is like a sheet of ice in the winter and fire breath in the summer. Did you now that Nashville leads as the windiest city in the US? I didn’t look into the weather too much before I moved here, but surprisingly it’s a lot different than Atlanta. Anyway, the wind was kind to us this day and like many fall days in the south, it was grey. But believe it or not a grey day is an easy day for photography. Now that I have started using more off camera lighting in my work, I look forward to the next grey day session I’ll have at Cumberland Park! Until then, check out this adorable family session from two years ago. As we dig into the archives to revive this blog, I look forward to looking back at the struggle and the successes that I’ve had with my career. This successful shoot features an adorable family who no longer lives in Nashville. I look forward to seeing them again one day soon!

Committed Team Wheaton

Olmsted Linear Park Engagement Photography

Let’s talk about little bit about commitment. When I decided to become a wedding photographer, I understood that I absolutely have to show up. Calling in sick is not a “thing” if you are a wedding photographer for obvious reasons! I’m very thankful for the clients that I have and it is an absolute must that I am there for them no matter how I feel.

Insert Crazy Story

These two lovely people are from the Atlanta area, however, they currently live in California. They have an adorable meeting story. They were both on a dating site, successfully made a date with each other and then realized they lived in the same building. If I remember correctly they ended up meeting on the elevator in the building. How neat is that? Since they both live in Cali, they had to travel to Atlanta to meet us for their engagement session. The weekend was set to be perfect, however, Saturday’s weather was a bit overcast. We decided together that Sunday would be a better day for us to shoot since we wanted some natural, beautiful sunlight.

The Queasy Evening

Saturday night, Bowie and I are getting ready for bed and I start to feel a little sick. I thought nothing of it and continued on with my nighttime routine. Around 1 am I am in full panic mode. I wake up in insane pain in all my joints and then, you guessed it, the puking begins. My only comfort is that Bowie is not sick. He has to run out to CVS and fetch his wife some emetrol in the hopes that all the barfing will stop. By the time he returns, we are in full shutdown. He is also sick. We thankfully fall asleep, but sleep is broken, sweaty and cold. THE FLU?! How could this happen to both of us at the same time?

Wedding Photographer’s Sweet Reality

The morning comes and our shoot is around 4:30. With only a few hours to get ready for a shoot, we can not cancel due to the fact our clients flew in for our session, Team Wheaton is a mess. We don’t alert the bride and groom because we don’t want to worry them about our condition. St the shoot, I think I lasted about 20 mins before I tell them of our situation. I kept a smile on my face and directed the shoot. As we moved to West Provisions, our second location, I sat in the back seat of the car and I cried the entire way. I felt so helpless. We finished up the shoot and rushed back to bed. Three days later Team Wheaton was back to normal.

Photo Delivery

About two weeks after most engagement sessions we deliver images. Two days later I get a call from the mother of the bride. I feared the worst, even though I liked the images we delivered. To my surprise, the MOB had called to thank me for taking care of everything and praised the photos. I was SO happy, but couldn’t help but tell her our story. She mentioned that she knew and they were sorry that happened. However, she was thrilled to tell me that their confidence in our ability to shoot the wedding day perfectly was further increased by our ability to shoot such great work while we were on our deathbeds! WIN! It might have struggled, and there were many tears, but my commitment to our clients won a special place in the hearts of not only our bride and groom but now the family too.

Check out the images below and ask yourself, are the photographers you’re looking to shoot your special day totally commitment you?

Olmsted Linear Park Engagement Photography