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Welcome!

We are Grant & Sara Dotson. As a husband and wife team, we bring a unique perspective to photography, one influenced by life experiences as well as comprehensive art and design training. Our cameras are an extension of not only our eyes, but our minds and hearts, instantly capturing moments and emotions just as they occur. We enjoy getting to know our clients on a personal level and helping them feel that they're a part of a partnership. Every client is different, and our photographs seek to reflect each individual personality for truly unforgettable memories.

 

Photo of Grant: Courtesy of Jamie Weiss. Thanks Jamie!

 


Category Archives: Engagements

Sarah & James’ Engagement

Oh Sarah and James…what an amazing couple!! I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed so much when I’m with a couple. I love to hear their stories, see their energy and love for each other, and just feel overwhelmed with the joy in their lives.

I know Grant had a blast during their engagement session and we simply can’t wait for their wedding. It will be a day to remember I’m sure!

Enjoy Sarah and James…if you know them you are lucky…we definitely feel so!

How did you meet?
James and I met ironically at a club back home.  My best friend and I were out celebrating our other best friends new found “singleness”, while James was out with all of his marine buddies before his second deployment.  Majority of the whole night he kept trying to get my phone number, but I refused since we were trying to direct all attention to my girlfriend.  We actually bumped into each other at a random party a few weeks later, and he somehow sweet talked me into giving him my phone number.  After one long phone chat we pretty much became inseperable :)  The funny thing is the first phone call we had, we both admitted each other had the traits and personality we looked for in marriage.  Which if you know us is very out of character to be that deep with someone we just met, and since we were both in stages of our lives where we were not looking for anything remotely serious!

Anything special you’d like to share about dating?
Its funny because we are each others best friends, he wrestles me like a boy and I gossip to him like he was a girl. Yet we like each other too. Haha everyday is just a whirlwind of fun, and its amazing how even when we are beyond mad at one another how much love we share for each other.

Describe your proposal.
Well even though James had taken me ring shopping a few months before, he had made it clear it was just to get an idea for the far far far far, I don’t know if I can put enough emphasis on far, away. It was my first Easter away from my family, and we have some serious pretty family traditions when it comes to any and all holidays. Since I was little my mom has swore the Easter bunny pooped out jelly beans and that was his way of leading you to your Easter basket. Now I know this sounds silly, but as a kid I did not care how I got my easter basket I was just ecstatic that the bunny was kind enough to leave me a trail… Well James had pretty much heard me whining for about a month solid of how distraught I was that I was not getting a Easter basket, and how I was just so upset that I was far away from home. Well that Saturday night before Easter James and I were laying on the couch watching a movie, I fell asleep 5minutes into it, and he kept trying to coax me to go in to the bedroom to sleep. Normally I would oblige happily, but for some reason felt sweet and told him I just wanted to lay out there with him. After about four hours of him, for reasons unbeknownst to me, trying to lead me in the direction away from him, he finally half carries- half walks me to our bedroom, then preceeds to tell me will be right back because he has to go to the bathroom. Well I was out of my mind, so I said ok and snuggled up and went to sleep! Well after awhile, James comes back into the room and tells me to not for any reason go outside of the bedroom without him tomorrow morning, I so charmingly replied, “Why you’re not going to propose are you”. Now as mortifying as this apparently was for James to hear, I followed it with, “Dinosaurs are seriously chasing me right now”. So the next morning I wake up screaming and jumping on the bed like a child, yelping for joy that it is Easter! James then preceeds to open the door, and behold there are jelly beans!!!!! I than get on my hands and knees trying to swoop up I swear at least four bags of jelly beans into my shirt so our dog does not get ahold of them. James video tapes the whole thing, while I was just thinking he was taking pictures because I looked ridiculous. We then get downstairs and I find my easter basket filled with chocolate and a whole lot of eggs labeled! James then preceeds to tell me he was just a little broke this year, which holds refrence since it kind of threw me off the trail of him doing anything too extravagent! Well I start to open each egg and inside has a note of why he loved me. Well being the charming person I am, I start trying to jump eggs and not follow the number aka shaking one egg that I was apparently not supposed to even be touching yet! James then starts to hand me my eggs…. haha :) Well when I get to the last numbered egg it says something along the lines that, ” I feel whole when I am with you, and lost when I am without you…. There is only one thing to keep me whole for a lifetime and you being apart of my life forever is what is missing….”. He then pulls out the last egg and pops it open, inside is my ring pronged up and he proceeds to ask me to be his wife :) Best day of my life.

What is your ring like?
I am probably one of the most finicky people you will ever meet, when it comes to food, clothing, decor, and especially jewelry!!  James had taken me a few months before to look at rings and I swore up and down all I wanted was a solitare diamond…. thank God I tried rings on, because it was the polar opposite of what I wanted.  We actually did a design your own at fred Myers, since I seemed to not be a 100% pleased with anything they brought out to me, which if you know James he was beyond pleased with everything they brought out!  I did a oval center stone that is risen above the four stones around it.  Poor James did not realize that when I had said I wanted a big diamond I was completely serious, and I can honestly say he had denied me all the other options I had remotely liked, but the moment he saw this one he said, “He knew it was the right one”.  I don’t know if it was gut instincts or the fact that I was yelping I would die without this ring, and nothing could even compare.  Haha so we can just say it was destiny….

How would you describe the way you feel about each other?
James- Sarah is the goofiest person I have ever met, whether it be annoying me beyond my wildest dreams like hiding in the fireplace and scaring me half to death because she is pretending to be an indian, to making me laugh at her “I am sorry” dances. She cooks one heck of a pot of macaroni. Sarah calms me when I am upset, or frustrated. She is one the strongest, hard working people I have ever met, and know that I can always trust her to do everything and anything to make me happy and feel complete. She is the only person I have ever felt this close with. I am thankful for her everyday, because without her I am not whole, and nothing in my life is the same.

Sarah- James had led me to be a more loving, compassionate, open person. He has made my relationship with God stronger, pushing me to be a stronger Christian. He constantly makes me feel like someone special, whether it be through a single text, kiss, hug or even just the way we goof off with each other. I have never loved or thought I could love someone with as much of my heart as I do him. He is the only person that can have me absolutely fuming, while just about crying in tears from laughing so hard at the same time. He is my best friend, the love of my life.

Do you have any special plans for your wedding that you’d like to share?
My dad is a musician and I never in my right mind would ask him to perform at our wedding, but he recently told James and I that his band is going to throw down a few songs for us. We are also excited to just have both of our families together as a whole!

Amy & Zach’s Engagement

Amy and Zach’s engagent shoot was really special. I loved hearing their story and getting to know them. They have a wonderful chemistry and their wedding is going to be so beautiful!  We started out at the site for the new chapel at Lee University where their wedding will be. I loved being able to shoot with it being built in the background – so special.

Congrats to Amy and Zach…their wedding will be up here soon and you don’t want to miss it!

How did you meet?
Zach and I met on a cruise in 2007. It was love at first sight! We never thought we would see each other again after the cruise, but we were so smitten we couldn’t imagine life without the other. We dated long distance for over a year then decided to come to Lee University together.

Anything special you’d like to share about dating?
We love to laugh together!

Describe your proposal.
Zach and I went ring shopping in December (2 months before he propsed) so I knew the ring was coming, but I wasn’t sure when. One evening after teaching crazy third graders all day, I met my friend, Brittany, for dinner. Little did I know Zach had arranged for Brittany to ask me to dinner. When I got home I walked in  my room and found Zach down on one knee with candles and rose petals in the floor spelling out “Marry Me?” I was completely surprisedand of course said YES! I expected to cry, but I was so happy I couldn’t stop smiling!

What is your ring like?
Zach’s grandmother gave us the diamond for my engagment ring. It’s a classic round cut diamond. We chose the ring setting together. The center diamond is surround by micro pave diamonds in a cushion cut shape and the band has matching micro pave diamonds in it.

How would you describe the way you feel about each other?
We both love and support each other. We are each other’s best friend.

Do you have any special plans for your wedding that you’d like to share?
We are looking forward to spending our special day with friends and family!

Krystal & Josh’s Engagement

We first met Krystal when she was a bridesmaid in another wedding we photographed. We clicked with them right away and had a great time walking around Renaissance Park and the Walnut St. Bridge where Josh proposed to Krystal! Plus they brought thier sweet dog along for some shots which was tons of fun.

We had a great session with them and really look forward to their wedding coming up this April.

We hope you enjoy Krystal & Josh.

How did you meet?
We met a bit over nine years ago. We both participated in the same drum and bugle corps during the summer of 2002 and first met at one of the tryouts the winter before. Josh and I dated other people for a few months after meeting. While on tour that summer, Josh pasted a CD to me and told me to listen to track 12. The CD was Ben Folds’, Rockin, The Suburbs and the song that played was The Luckiest. That was the first moment in time that I knew we both had feelings for each other. We spent the first two and a half months of our relationship together 24/7. We spent that time sleeping on sleeping bags on gym floors, sitting on a tour bus, and being hot and sweaty at practice and shows/competitions marching and playing some of the greatest hits of the band Chicago. Needless to say, we got to see each other for exactly whom we were.

Anything special you’d like to share about dating?
I would say to be patient, understanding, and willing to constantly work on your relationship. The one thing about relationships is that they constantly grow and you consistently learning from one another. You have to be willing to grow together or you will grow apart.

Describe your proposal.
So this one is a bit of a long story:

On Wednesday April 27, 2011 storms and rounds of tornados hit Chattanooga. The morning that the storms hit Chattanooga our power went out and we were unable to regain power for a few days. Thursday afternoon our good friends Ryan and Annie allowed us to stay at their apartment with them because their power was fixed early Thursday morning. Josh worked Thursday afternoon and I studied for two large exams for my degree that were coming up on Saturday. We spent the night at Ryan and Annie’s apartment and Josh left for work Friday morning at 9:45. I completed a graduate course final and studied some more for my upcoming exams. Josh called around lunchtime to see how everything was going and if I had gotten any word about if our house had power (still no power). Josh was scheduled out of work at 3, or so I believed.

Josh did go into work that morning but not for the whole day. He left the apartment with his work clothes on and lunch in hand. He went to work to complete schedules but gave his sift to another worker so that he could finish up some details for what was to come. He said that he had to make the day like any other, so he could not come back until he would be scheduled out of work. After completing his final details he went and saw a movie at the movie theatre. Sometime during the day he also called all of the parents to let them know what was to come later that night and ask for permission for my hand in marriage. Josh returned to the apartment wearing his work clothes and I was none the wiser.

After being at Annie and Ryan’s for a night we packed our stuff up. We wanted to stay at our house even if we did not have power because it would place us closer to school and be a quiet place to get rest before my exams the next day. We came home and our house still had no power. We unpacked and talked about where we may want to go to dinner. Josh said a few options that I declined. I brought up the option of going to Tony’s Pasta Shop (a local pasta place located in the Chattanooga art district). It was set. We were going to walk to Tony’s and have dinner. To get to Tony’s by foot from our house we would cross the Walnut St. Bridge (a pedestrian bridge that goes from North Shore to downtown Chattanooga, right next to the art district). We walked along the 2,376 ft bridge and got almost to the other side when Josh said something like, “Did you see this?” Josh asked if I saw something and I was not aware that I was supposed to be looking.

Josh asked, “Did you see this?” I replied with something like, “No, see what?” He would then say “this” and look down. The first thing that I noticed was that there was black ribbon on either side of a plaque that was set in the wood of the bridge. I looked closer and recognized my name. What seemed to take me forever was to figure out that it really was my name and that I should keep reading because there were more words of the plaque. The plaque says my name and under it “I Love You Will you marry me?” I looked at him and he got down on one knee and said, “Will you marry me?” I proceeded to be stunned and he said that I said, “Are you for real?” Shaking with nervousness, he put the ring on my finger before I could actually say yes. I was still in shock, but Josh assures me that I did in fact manage to say,  “YES” to him. We hugged and kissed and hugged some more. We retrieved the plaque that was set in the wood of the bridge and started to finish walking to dinner, taking a few more moments to hug and kiss. Ryan met us at the end of the bridge and congratulated us. He had a camera and he was the one that set the plaque in place and made sure that no one would mess with it before the big moment happened. I remember asking Ryan where Annie was and he told me that she was back at the apartment.

We were walking to dinner and I asked Ryan where he parked. He told me that he parked down the street but that he was going to come inside the restaurant to get a glass of water before returning home. Thinking nothing of it, we walked into the restaurant and the host asked how many were going to be our party. I responded by saying two. At this time Josh grabbed my hand and led me into the next room were there were tables pushed together with 12 of our closest friends from the area. He seemed to have surprised me twice. It really was perfect and more than I ever could have imagined. We were able to have the moment be fairly private (yet in public) and then share it immediately with some of our close friends. What is really neat is that you can donate to the restoration of the Walnut St. Bridge and have a dedicated plaque set into the sidewalk planks of the bridge. Josh actually has already completed a donation and there will be a plaque on the Walnut St Bridge that will be engraved with our married name. There will be a plaque set into the wood somewhere on the bridge where he asked me to marry him. I could not be happier.

What is your ring like?
My ring is a band that Josh had transformed into an engagement ring. It is a pavé band that he set a cushion cut diamond into the center as though it was a traditional band with a solitaire. It has a traditional feeling while still being slightly contemporary. It is perfect and everything that I could have ever wanted.

Do you have any special plans for your wedding that you’d like to share?
We will say our “I do’s” on the morning of Sunday, April 22, 2012. The ceremony will take place at Patten Chapel, on the campus where we both attended college. The ceremony will be followed by a brunch reception held at Miller Plaza in downtown Chattanooga, TN. We are excited to share such a special moment in our lives with family and close friends.

Annie & Ryan’s Engagement

Annie and Ryan’s engagent shoot was so much fun! They laughed and smiled the whole time…something we LOVE during photoshoots. We don’t just love if for the real smiles and expressions though – we love to see and be with couples who are so happy and so in love.

Annie and Ryan are a joy to be around and we are really looking forward to their wedding. We hope you love their pictures because we sure had fun making them!

Meet Annie and Ryan…

How did you meet?
Ryan and I meet through  friends in the marching band. We were in the utc marching band together. He was a drummer and I was in the colorguard. My best friend Tricia worked with him and his best friend Josh invited me to a party that he was having. Most of the band would be there and we started talking there. Two days later we went on our first group date.

Anything special you’d like to share about dating?
Our first date was actually a group date at cracker barrel. It was actually pretty fun and laid back.

Describe your proposal.
My mom and aunt were in town to help me set up my classroom in the new building. They were in on it as was his mom. I had a feeling that he was going to do something because he was acting so weird all week. I even told my colleagues my suspicions. Well he was going to propose at his birthday dinner that night at Provinos. But I thought it was stupid to meet at the house and then go because I had to go past the restaurant to get to the house. So I messed up his plans. He had to meet us at the school to drive together. So he had to change his plans last minute. I was putting stuff up on the walls at school and he snuck in to my room. I turned around and he was on one knee. By the end of the week I had given up on him proposing, so I was really surprised when he did. It was wonderful.

What is your ring like?
The white gold ring has a channel set of alternating round and square diamonds. In the middle is set one round diamond.

How would you describe the way you feel about each other?
We are each others best friends. We are comfortable with each other. Some days are a challenge but at the end of the day we still love each other and know that everything will work out.

Do you have any special plans for your wedding that you’d like to share?
My father passed away in 1999 and my Uncle is going to walk me down the isle. He is someone very close and special to me and I want him to be able to share our day.