FinestraPhoto was honored to join the Knoxville Leadership Foundation’s Gladiator Games as the official event photographer!

The Knoxville Leadership Foundation (KLF) serves the Knoxville area by connecting communities of resource with communities of need while reconciling people to Jesus Christ and to each other. The organization aims to change lives and transform communities through diverse programs such as Amachi, Center for Communities, Neighborhood Housing, Operation Backyard, and Abstinence Initiative.

The Gladiator Games is one of the KLF’s main fundraisers. Teams of two, three, and four members compete against each other in eight different events: swimming, golf, baseball, basketball, weightlifting, obstacle course, football, and one-mile run.

This year more than 20 teams competed in the Games. Many of the teams represented Knoxville churches, area businesses, and community groups.

The games were held at West Hills Park and YMCA.

Check out some of the photos below to get a glimpse of the fun and intense competition of the Gladiator Games. Visit FinestraPhoto’s Flickr page or the Gladiator Games Flickr Group to view more pics of the day’s events!

FinestraPhoto is also creating a photo book of the Games. Book sales will benefit the KLF and its programs. Check back for more info on the book!

We’ve been busy! We recently finished photographing home interiors for a local developer, Maplewood Development. The company just finished doing work in a brand new lake front community in West Knoxville called Jefferson Park (on Fort Loudoun Lake).

The two new homes are spectacular. The interiors share an Old World motif. The buttery walls are complemented by dark hardwoods and wrought iron fixtures. The homes have exquisite stone exteriors, and each house is surrounded by beautiful landscaping. The homes have just been purchased, and the owners should be moving in soon. (Lucky!)

Check out some of the photos below. Or go to our new Flickr set: Real Estate. We have more photo shoots planned with Maplewood Development as they complete more residential construction around Knoxville!

We had a fun engagement photo session this morning with Christina and Chris at the UT Gardens! They’re a great couple. And they’re hilarious (Chris is a ham)!

Check out the gallery and our Flickr page for more photos from the engagement session. We can’t wait to photograph the wedding this September!

Thank you to Morgan and Andrew for inviting us to be a part of their beautiful wedding on Saturday, May 31, at Maryville College!

[Posted on Lia’s website: www.thinklia.com]

Lia received a juror citation at the Dogwood Arts Fine Art Show! One of four winners out of more than 300+ entries from regional artists? Not bad, huh?

Below is the article from the Knox Alliance website. To learn more about the Dogwood Arts Festival, click here.

April 2008

The Dogwood Arts Festival 2008 Fine Arts Show Winners Announced
Four awards have been presented to local artists as part of the Dogwood Arts Festival 2008 Fine Arts Show with thanks to ORNL Federal Credit Union. An awards ceremony and public reception will take place on Friday, April 4, from 5-9pm at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville as part of First Friday activities and will feature complimentary hors d’oeuvres catered by The Lunchbox. The 2008 Fine Arts Show, a collaboration between the Dogwood Arts Festival, the Arts & Culture Alliance, and Three Flights Up Gallery, features works in the areas of acrylic, charcoal, clay, colored pencil, digital and film photography, drawing, handwoven works, mixed media, oil, pastel, watercolor, wood, and more by 67 local artists. It will be on exhibit April 4-18.

All 102 pieces in the exhibit, including the award winners, were chosen by juror Neely Hyde, Director of Exhibits for the Association for Visual Arts in Chattanooga. Hyde viewed 324 submissions from 130 artists in 34 cities to select the show. “I’m incredibly impressed by the talent exhibited in all of the entries. This show was extremely difficult to jury. The Dogwood Arts Festival should take great pride in offering local artists the opportunity to compare their work to that of others throughout the region,” she said.

The brief awards ceremony will start at 6pm with an introduction by Eddie Mannis of the Dogwood Arts Festival.

The Best of Show award of $500 was awarded to Melynda Moore Whetsel of Knoxville for her piece, “Trust” (Collage / Mixed Media).

A Juror’s Citation of $150 was awarded to Lia Ballentine of Knoxville for her piece, “Monte Carlo Fun House” (Cross-Processed Digital Photograph glazed on Wood).

A Juror’s Citation of $150 was awarded to T. Michael Martin of Clinton for his piece, “Molecular Shift” (Mixed Media on Wood Panel).

A Juror’s Citation of $150 was awarded to Marion Randolph of Oak Ridge for his Scarlet Oak bowl.

Cupid’s arrows are out! It’s February and that means heart-shaped candies, flowers, chocolate, and wedding planning!!! That’s right! It’s a few months until wedding season begins, and couples everywhere are probably in the midst of the countdown to wedding bells this spring and summer. It’s time to fret about invitations, the dresses, the tuxes, the venue, the flowers, the food, and of course, the photography!

Okay, while we can’t help you calm down your soon-to-be in-laws, we can help you with figuring out how to handle the wedding photography. It’s simple: we’ll handle it for you.

As experienced wedding photographers (and newlyweds), we know what it’s like to plan and have a wedding. If you’re looking for friendly photographers to capture your day with style, photographers who actually make you feel less stressed out, then we’re the ones for you.

As a husband and wife team, we’ve got a game plan when it comes to photographing your special day. Every wedding photography package comes with the two of us (at your service!), and that means the bride and the groom each have their own photographer. We’re your personal paparazzi! There aren’t many photo duos around, but when you book FinestraPhoto for your wedding, you’re getting two artists/photojournalists dedicated to your day.

If you’re interested in our wedding photography services, just visit our “Wedding” page for details on the packages and add-ons. To book an appointment, contact us today (use the link above). We’re happy to set up a time for a consultation to help you figure out what you’re looking for in wedding photography. Oh, and if you need folks to help you pick out wedding cake, we’re good at taste testing, too!

It’s 2008, and FinestraPhoto is kicking off the New Year with a new website, a new blog, a new gallery, and a refreshed outlook on photography. For more than four years, we’ve been providing professional photography services throughout East Tennessee–and this year, we’re ready to make a change. A change for the better!

We’re very passionate about photography. We live it, we love it. We use photos to tell stories, capture memories, and discover new ideas. This year, we’re resolving to do more with our photos. In addition to providing professional photo services to our customers, we want to share our experiences as photographers with all of you. And we want to make sure that you–our customers–can share your pictures with family and friends. That’s why Finestra has created a new blog site and a new gallery system. With our blog, we hope to tell talk about our photos, tell the stories that accompany the images, teach others what about photography, and more. Also, our new gallery will enable customers to send e-cards, download contact sheets and even small images–for free!

In addition to the new blog and gallery, we’re also unveiling our new website design very soon! In the past few years, we’ve grown as photographers. We’ve developed distinct photojournalistic styles, and we wanted to make sure that our new site reflected that funky, fresh attitude we have towards art. Our new site, like our blog, uses vibrant, bright colors–and best of all, it’s simple and easy to use. Navigation is a breeze, so that everything you want to know about Finestra is right at your fingertips (just a mouse-click away!) Let’s say you’re interested in our wedding photography services… All you have to do is use the navigation in the upper right, click on “Weddings,” and ta-da! You can check out all our packages, prices, and contact us easily. (And you can come to the blog to read up on our latest adventures in wedding photography. Did we ever mention the time we were photographing a wedding at which the venue caught fire? Or the one wedding that came to a screeching halt when the power went out, at night, in the middle of the Electric Slide?)

This year, we’ve also teamed up with Flickr to share our photos with people all over the world, and people all over the world can follow Finestra on Twitter. You can watch our every move (well, most moves) and find out about our latest photo projects, our travel photography destinations, and other photography adventures. We’re always up to something!

At FinestraPhoto, we think outside the frame. And it’s obvious that we’re not your typical, traditional photography company. We’re excited to start off 2008 with new products and services, and we hope that everyone can see that our enthusiasm and love for photography is what makes us and our artwork stand out from the crowd!

- Brandon and Lia