Wanted to post a little sneak peek of Paige & Joel’s wedding. I know they are dying to see their images. We shot their After Session this past Thursday in Gruene, Texas and Paige and I decided to wait to post the full gallery all together but I know she was so anxious to see a few images so I promised I get some up for them.

I’ll post full details on the wedding in next few days with more images to come. These are just a few that stood out to me right away that I loved. They are the most laid back couple and just completely fun to hang out with. I mean, when we shot their After Session it was still in the mid 90’s (at 7pm) and Joel just decided we needed to take a break and have a beer in the middle of the session. Yea, that’s pretty much an ideal client!

Thanks again guys! You two are the best! Here’s your sneak peek! Enjoy!!!!

I loved loved loved that during the cake cutting Paige & Joel had requested milk as their drink of choice.

Today is blog catch up day and I’m posting about quite possibly the best session I’ve had this year. In January my lil’ baby niece was born. She was a teeny tiny thing. I flew out to Seattle to hang out with my sister in law and help her settle into her new role as a mom. We had a tough time with this session because obviously we wanted Kendall to be naked…and as luck would have it she was not a happy baby when she was naked. It was a long session with lots of breaks but we had the day set aside to get some shots so we had to roll with it.

It’s always waaaay hard for me to chose my favorite images from any session. This one was 10x more difficult…cuz, let’s face it ..this kid is freakin’ cute. I thought Kat should just send an entire album out to everyone in lieu of the standard announcements. We got that many awesome shots.

This is such a small sampling of the ones I loved. I posted way more on my Facebook page so you can check out more there. If I’m not your friend on Facebook…um, why not???

Enjoy an Happy Hump Day (does Hump Day still count if it’s summer????)

One of the best things about being a photographer is connecting with other photographers especially during a time when people are so about sharing the ins & outs of the business and not as cut throat as they use to be. I’ve been fortunate enough to connect with some really cool and amazing photographers who constantly inspire, mentor and guide each other every single day.

One of the best places to connect with other photogs is on flickr.  For me it’s been one of the best places to connect with other photogs both locally and internationally.  I have a few fave groups on flickr that I check out daily. I had to take a break for a while because it was sucking up all my time. I just started popping back in and as usual tons of great inspiration and topics happening.

This a.m. I popped on and ran across a thread  which lead me to the Mental Floss Blog where this post is up about Jamie Livingston’s Photo of the Day  project. This could possibly be one of  the coolest things I’ve ran across in a loong time. What I find so amazing about the entire project is that as photographer’s and artists alike it is so easy to get caught up in the art of it all…which we all know inevitably leads us down the path of perfection….and we all know perfection is quite simply a way to feed our inner need to be desireable, accepted and renowned for what we do.  Really, we all know what a bunch of crap that really is.

So during my time wandering through Jamie Livingston’s life in polaroids it’s obvious that by today’s technical photographic standards these photos fall short. The beauty lies in the fact that an emotional connection is made between the photographer and the viewer. That is inspiration for any photographer. Professional or not..that is what we should set out to acheive each and every time we pull out our camera.

Since first viewing these images I’ve thought about Jamie Livingston a number of times today. I don’t know this man. I don’t know a single thing about him other than what he let me see.

 Somehow that is enough.

The image is enough.

The message is enough.

His life was enough.

Inspiration at it’s finest.

And because every post is better with a photo here are a couple random snapshots of my life taken recently on Mother’s Day in Lockhart, Texas.

i have one minute to blog something clever today in order to keep up with the challenge. posting now….yikes! not clever!

For whatever reason the last day of school for me is always emotional. ( see! I told you people I was a crazy emotional chic!)

The first and last days of school always send me into a tail spin of chocolate eating, heavy moderate drinking and the uncontrolable ugly cry. Every year I am transported back to my childhood and I relive these days right along with my children and yes, my childhood was so traumatic that it then causes me to drive straight to the liquor store and hit Godiva on my way home. Of course not!

It’s the magic of these days that drums up the emotions in me. The anticipation of something new….the butterflies of walking into school on the first day and the sheer jubilation of walking out those doors and straight into summer on the last day.

Today is the last day of school for my kiddos. In less than 6 hours we will begin our summer adventure and 1st and 2nd grade will be left behind. We will also be saying goodbye to our exchange student in less than 2 weeks. Do you see why this is so emotional? I am old enough to have children in the 2nd & 3rd grade for the love of pete is that not enough to drive any woman to liquor and chocolate?

So today I will celebrate the last day of school and the first days of summer. I’m looking forward to sleeping in and living a little more foot loose and fancy free without the rigorous schedules and endless running around but I’m also sad to say good bye to another round of amazing amazing teachers.

Here’s one of my favorite shots of Brooklyn & Hudson from this year. “Crazy Hair Day” is always one of the best days of school!

Ok, now where’s the chocolate and vodka???

You’d be hard pressed to find a wedding photographer that said they shot weddings because they actually just loved running around on their feet 10+ hours a day in uncomfortable shoes ( yea, I still haven’t found any cute comfortable shoes that I don’t have to sacrafice my sense of fashion for).

You’d be hard pressed to find a wedding photographer who loved  schelpping around heavy equipment, running from one venue to the next making sure they’ve remembered all that heavy equipment, that they didn’t leave a battery charger plugged in with extra batteries in the brides room at the church and that they’ve gotten all the pertinent addys programmed into the GPS.

You’d be hard pressed to find a wedding photographer that loved it when they are getting ready to fire off a shot and Uncle Bob steps right in front of them to fire his own shot and you’d be hard pressed to find a wedding photographer who adored the tremendous amount of stress that actually comes with knowing you are the one solely responsible for capturing one of the most important days of a couple’s lives.

I would bet money that if you asked any wedding photographer why they shot weddings and not flowers they would tell you they did it for the “emotion”.

I do it for the ugly comfortable shoes AND the stress.  Oh, alright. I do it for the emotion too.  If you know me, you know I’m a crier. I cry at anything and everything. And 9x out of 10 I will cry at the weddings I shoot.  I mean, I don’t do the ugly cry but there will be tears in my eyes at some point during the day. I’ve learned to deal with it. And when you have a big black camera in front of your face people don’t really notice. That’s a good thing.

Photographing Valerie & David’s wedding was no exception. There were so many tender moments dispersed throughout the day. Knowing how much hard work was put into the day I knew it would be an emotional day…for everyone.  From the presentation of the “Irish Penny” from Valerie’s mother to the moment her father first walked into his own bedroom and saw his daughter ready to walk down the aisle to the first glimpse David got of Valerie as she surprised him before the ceremony during his portraits. It was an amazing day filled with special moments and special details. I was happy to be a part of such an amazing day for Valerie & David.

They were married in the back yard of Valerie’s parents home in an intimate dusk ceremony. The weather was perfect. It was a beautiful night. Here are just a few of my favorite shots from the night.

 

 

 

 

I love these next 2 shot of Val as she wrote a little card for David before the ceremony. There were lots of little surprises throughout the day.

This next shot is one of my favorites of the day. When Val’s dad came in to see her for the first time. It was PURE luck that I got the shot and noticed later that the portrait on the wall behind him is Valerie when she was a little girl. ahhh…more emotion!

We had planned out a “moment” shot. Valerie wanted to surprise David before the ceremony breaking the tradition of not seeing the bride until she’s walking down the aisle. He was a little afraid to turn around and see her…I think he was thinking he was going to get in trouble. It was so cute!

And he won’t see her again……

until……………

 

Look at how happy Valerie is when the pastor announces them husband and wife. You gotta love that emotion!

A few formals of the happy couple.

David wrote a song for Valerie and he performed it…just him..and the guitar….in front of the entire reception. It was so cute. He claimed he couldn’t sing but he did pretty stinkin’ good if you ask me.

Valerie seemed to like it too.

After it was all said and done…they shared their last dance of the night.

Congrats to Valerie & David! Thanks for asking me to be a small part of your big day!

I love love when my clients return to me. I love it even more when they are so excited and stoked about their session that they are literally gushing. That’s how it is with Renae. Renae could quite possibly be one of the most cheerful people I’ve ever met. Rare is the day this woman doesn’t have a smile on her face. She has been so good to me, my business & my ego with her constant praise and genuine love.  She is a beautiful soul…and her girls are GORGEOUS! Three girls! THREE!

Her oldest, Brittany was a ‘08 senior and my first and still one of my favorite senior sessions to date. Brittany was responsible for referring in 100% of my senior clients that year and it was a good start to my senior business! Renae loved Brittany’s senior images so much she opted out of the standard school photos for her younger two girls, Sarah & Lisa and brought them to me for a little mini session to grab some shots for the school year. She told me 1/2 a dozen times that as soon as Sarah was a senior she wanted her to be my Braken Christian School Senior Rep.

Welllll….Sarah is a senior!!!! A 2010 grad at Braken and just as stunning as her big sister! We shot her mini rep session a couple weeks ago and got some supa shots for her rep cards.  I can’t wait for her full session and am stoked that she is working as a rep for me this year! Thanks Sarah (AND Ranae!!!!) You two rock!