Gatlinburg Wedding Photographer » RIK Photography is your best choice for modern artistic and creative wedding photography in Gatlinburg and the TN Smoky Mountains.

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What a beautiful and interesting couple.  Rather than try to tell the story, we asked Natasha to do so.  In her words…

“I am from a small provincial town in Siberia (called Zhelesnogorsk) and Roberto is a city boy from Buenos Aires.  Roberto studied aerospace engineering at UT and I participated in the student exchange program.

Roberto’s best man who was his roommate at the time (who also later married my best friend) invited my friend and I to a party at their house in Knoxville. Roberto was there. I was not in the mood to meet anyone, but he liked me and we started dating.

(When he proposed) He was soo cute. Took me to our favorite restaurant and said that it has been a long time since we have been out and we really deserve a nice time togther. He had everything set up, the whole restaurant knew what was going on. I, on the other hand, was completely clueless. He wrote me a letter, the best I have ever gotten. I cried as I read it. And then there was a ring. And then he flew to Russia to ask my parents permission to marry me.

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“Planning a wedding from far away and on a tight budget is a tough thing. Especially, if you have to gather all different vendors together. I googled a few places in Sevierville-Gatlinburg area before I found Bluff Mountain. So, I had an idea what I was looking for. From all the places, Bluff Mountain offered the most complete service that fit into our budget. I had a friend drive by and take a look. She loved it and said it would be perfect for us. And when we came in October to look at the place, there was no plan B, and there was no need for it, we loved it from the minute we saw it.”

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“We had people from USA, Russia, Argentina, Georgia, Cuba, Switzerland, Serbia, and Puerto Rico, for the total of 8 nationalities and 5 languages (Russian, Spanish, Georgian, German, and Serbian).”

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“Thank you so much for all your work! We truly had an unforgettable day, we enjoyed every minute of it, and everyone in the party had a blast! The place was set up perfectly, we could not ask for anything better. And the snow added a perfect touch. Don’t know if you had anything to do with it ….. :):):) I cannot believe it really happened, out of all the days. People say it is for good luck…..”

It was a great day and we appreciate these folks so much.  We wish you many years of happiness.

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Saturday night I had the opportunity to enter a world completely foreign to me, thank God.  How it all came about was through my very talented cousin, Vali Forrister, who is a gifted playwright, teacher, actor, director, producer, you name it… long story.  But here’s what I’ve seen evolve in the past year.

Act Like a Grrrl is a project Vali started a few years ago were teenage girls get together for a few weeks, form relationships with others in their age range, write about themselves, share what they’ve written and learned through sharing these thoughts/ideas with their peers, and the end game is a performance.  I attended a performance last summer and was amazed at what was coming out of these young people/performers.  Coming to grips early on with everything from boys to Mom and Dad, the future and the past.  They wrote songs, they read performance pieces, and I’ll never forget the incredible 2 headed parent monster.

Vali is also a professor at David Lipscomb University in Nashville, and DLU sponsors an educational program at the Tennessee State Women’s Prison.  Here’s a link to see details. So without trying to dissect this event too much, what happened was an 8 week course of study that took place within the confines of the TN Prison for Women.  Participants were prisoners, correctional officers, DLC students and collaborators on the Actlikeagrrrl project.

Last night, Sat. Dec. 5,2009, a performance was given by all these women to an audience mixed with inmates and free world people.  The participants were allowed by the warden to wear free world clothes as part of the performance.  Some had not had the opportunity to wear anything other than a prison uniform in 10-20 years.  It was an emotional experience to both performers and the audience, and I was allowed access to document the event.  A few of my observations follow…

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the sky

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This was not an episode of Lock Up or other prision documentaries, but people who made bad choices working to improve themselves.PINIMAGE

This was not an episode of Lock Up or other prision documentaries, but people who made bad choices working to improve themselves.

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Singing

An inmate wearing free world clothes for the first time in 15 years.PINIMAGE

An inmate wearing free world clothes for the first time in 15 years.

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A poster promoting the event. Out Stories, Our Selves.PINIMAGE

A poster promoting the event. Our Stories, Our Selves.

The Circle prior to the performance.PINIMAGE

The Circle prior to the performance.

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the audience

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the bow

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Hearing these people’s stories really makes you think, which is what it’s intended to do.  I’m thankful for the opportunity to document this day and I wish the very best for all who attended or participated.

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  • sarah Bryant - That was beautiful. I was an original member of the first lipscomb group. I was released in 2008 and continued to go to lipscomb. You really captured the meaning, feeling, and need.

The Parthenon in Nashville is a replica to the ancient Parthenon in Greece.  Originally built for Tennessee’s 1897 Centennial Exposition, this replica of the original Parthenon in Athens serves as a monument to what is considered the pinnacle of classical architecture. and has just recently added a 47′ statue of the Goddess Athena.

Not that I’m a big history buff, but growing up in Nashville, this building is probably akin to the Empire State Building if you grew up in NYC.  What a great work of architecture and art.

In a few weeks I have scheduled my first photo shoot in Centennial Park since the 70s, so I thought it might be a good idea to check out the scene as is is today.  Just a few year ago some tornadoes took out some of the old trees in the park, but for the most part it looks just about the same as it did when I was running around the place in high school.

My first night shot of the Parthenon in years. Brings back old memoires...PINIMAGE

My first night shot of the Parthenon in years. Brings back old memoires...

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Night shot of the columns.

These doors have some significant meaning in our family.PINIMAGE

These doors have some significant meaning in our family.

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A distant uncle of mine, F.Eugene Freeland, was an architect in Nashville during the time the Parthenon was built.  The story passed down through the family is that these doors were manufactured and shipped to the site, but they were too heavy to mount them on the hinges.  So it was F.Eugene who came up with the brilliant idea of setting the doors up on blocks of ice, putting them into place and letting the ice melt to achieve the desired effect.

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It’s all fun and games til somebody loses an arm… Lesson learned, don’t mess with Athena!

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One of the hazards of the game in showbiz is that long wait time for the show to begin, and they always bring us in through the kitchen.

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Just a little self portrait via the Christmas tree… one of many.

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This was a great band playing next door in the Irish Pub.  Tin Cup Gypsy.

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In the next couple of weeks I’ll be posting some Nashville portrait sessions we have lined up.  If you’re interested in scheduling a session just drop us an email.

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