Archive for October, 2010
I just finished processing a hefty load of images and am quite satisfied with what I accomplished. It would definitely be overachieving if I posted the long overdue final images of our trip to Grand Rapids or our more recent visit to Santa Fe.
Instead I will just share this image of Adalay.
She had her 18 month well baby check last week and weighed in at 19.8 pounds! Gavin was this weight at his 6 month check up so we really don’t know what to think, except to think that she is going to be short like her Mom or even shorter like her Grandmas.
Speaking of Grandmas, I promise to have more pictures of your grand-babies posted soon! In the meantime you can send brownies and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies to Adalay.
When we first moved to Amarillo, we did not know a soul. Heather was the first person to invite me out of my house. At that time, I had a newborn and a two year old and her invitations were greatly appreciated. I loved her for it then, and I am so glad I finally got to return the favor by taking pictures for her and her sweet family. Not only is Heather very sweet and kind, but so are her precious girls, Samantha and Savannah (and of course, you too Mark, you are also very sweet).
They wanted a family picture for their Christmas card, so I am not going to post any of those. I’ll leave that surprise to them, but here are some others from the shoot.
Heather with her girls…
and Mark and his girls…
After Christmas card pictures at their house we headed downtown to get some relaxed and fun photos.
Umm…smokin hot parentals.
I know I said no family pics but I think I can get it away with at least two…
Sneaking in another family picture. Mark’s request…
Heather and Mark, thank you so much for spending your afternoon with me. You and your beautiful daughters are sweet friends to our family. Thank You.
Once upon a time I taught Meg’s 3-4th grade Sunday School class. Now she is in high school. Time blows my mind on a daily basis.
Meg has always been tall and pretty but now she is gorgeous and statuesque. Give her 5 more years and she is going to be knocking our socks off.
A good tip for shooting in urban areas is enlist the buildings around you to aid in making stellar images. In the close up below I noticed the pretty golden light reflected off the high rise across the street. The building was close to the color of the building she is leaning against and cast a nice golden light on her skin. In the other image, I placed her right inside the shade of the trees so that the sunlight would bounce off the sidewalk under her, casting nice even light across her skin and filling in shadowy areas.
My lights…
My favorite…
I love being around Meg. Her quiet and introspective character coupled with her quick wit makes her a fabulous person to be around. Watching her grow up and gain confidence in herself has been such a treasure.
Meg, girl, I do so love you! Thanks for letting me take these pictures of you!
Ellie’s mom, Christine got in touch with me months ago about doing a session for Ellie’s first birthday. After talking with Christine I couldn’t wait to meet her and her family. I loved these guys they were such an awesome family. They were easy-going, laid-back and mellow; the perfect clients once again!
After attending the lighting workshop last month I am still trying to figure out where and when to incorporate lights into my session. I let Ellie warm up to me while she was safe in moms lap and used my new lights…
I love the versatility that the lights offer but in this situation I wanted to get Ellie’s sweet face into natural light. We moved into the backyard where I shot with and without the lights…
Rob had a great idea for another location so we loaded up in our cars and headed off to acres of golden fields. The sun was just beginning to set and the temperature was dropping rapidly (at least to Christine and I) but that didn’t stop us because we are tough!
The image above is Ellie’s, “I-am-officially-done-with-pictures face”.
I need to give some major credit to Rob. Husbands have in their power to make or break a photo shoot. Let’s be honest, the men are usually the ones who join the session out of obligation and duty not because they want some beautiful pictures to hang on their walls (sorry to generalize, I am sure there are Men out there who just love a good photo session). If Rob didn’t want to be there I wouldn’ have guessed. He had a great attitude through out the shoot and made things so easy on everyone. Thanks Rob! You get my Daddy session of the year award!
Ellie decided she was overdue for a nap and we took advantage of that time to get some shots of just Christine and Rob. At this point, I started to get jealous of their wedding and engagement photographer. They have such an easy and loving chemistry with each other and it is always so refreshing to be around people who genuinely like each other and are concerned with making each other happy. *Happy sigh*
I also loved that they laughed at the appropriate times…
So Christine, Rob, ad Ellie. I had such a great time with the three of you and if you are the only bad thing about your session is that Dustin was not there to meet you all!
Lauren didn’t have senior pictures so we decided to make that wrong right and get some senior-style images done. Better late then never. Right?!
I have photographed Lauren and her sweet family before and I was looking forward to another session with her where we could focus on everything that is Lauren. She is one of those people who is not shy in front of the camera and I loved her enthusiasm and excitement for our session. Lauren brought her game and was prepared to work it. Her sis-in-law Delaney came along to help as fashion consultant/beauty stylist and did such a great job (Thanks Delaney you rock!).
Lauren thank you again for giving me so much of your time. I am so proud of what a stunning woman you have become! I would be SO honored to photograph you and your family again!
I had the great pleasure of meeting Ellie and her parents to photograph images for Ellie’s first birthday and their family pictures. I am working on getting the rest of their session ready and I wanted to be sure to celebrate Ellie’s 1st birthday today, with a sneak peek from their recent session.
Happy birthday sweet girl!
Rob and Christine your pics will be up in the next couple days!
We have known Josiah for several years and it has been awesome to see him grow into a confident young man who is not only incredibly intelligent and involved but also unashamedly caring and sweet toward his family. I am sure Josiah’s parents are incredibly proud of their oldest son!
This was the day after I arrived back from Nichole Van’s Lighting Workshop and I was eager and excited to put my new found lighting skills to use. Josiah cordially obliged and we made set up on top of a parking garage so we could get some good shots of the approaching sunset. After setting up my lights, I fired off several shots…
This image is straight out of camera.
At this point security drove up and politely kicked us out. This was a first for me and I felt as if I had arrived as a “real” photographer. Silly but true.
Josiah, thanks so much for giving me so much of your time! I appreciate what a pleasant, genuine, and bona fide (Dustin picked out that word for you) guy you are! Good luck with your senior year and I know I will be hearing great things about you in the future!
This is Dustin. Yes – Bona Fide. Absolutely authentic. Its awesome to see how you have grown over the past few years, and I am excited to see how God uses and grows you at Wheaton. Take luck.
More seniors to come this week!
The North Side Lions Football proofs are ready for you to view. Click the “proofing” tab above and enter the password provided.
Thanks to each of you for being so easy and fun to work with!
Go Lions!!
We have been looking forward to this wedding since shooting Amber and John’s engagement pictures back in April. What an incredibly awesome couple they re! They are easy going, mellow, and in love with each other and their friends and family. Could there be a better combination for a wedding day?
The wedding was held at The Annunciation Catholic Church in downtown Houston on an especially sultry and sizzling summer day. Amber arrived mostly prepared except for the donning of her dress. She was relaxed and introspective as she and her bridesmaids made last minute touch-ups and if she had any pre-wedding jitters I certainly couldn’t tell.
Now, being that I made Amber and John wait so long for this post I may have included a couple more images then normal…
Married!
I had close to 20 images of the first dance marked because, well because I loved them all. I had to call Dustin in to help me narrow it down. Can’t wait to let you see the rest!
Instead of the money dance they had a bid for Amber’s shoe. Now Amber explained to me the intricacies of this tradition but I am afraid I don’t remember the details. Is it a polish custom? What I do know is that lots of money was collected for the couple to enjoy on their honeymoon…
Whenever I am lucky enough to be at a wedding featuring a “Grand March” I always have to use all my resolve to not chunk my camera at the nearest seated person and join in (and really why is anyone sitting during the Grand March?). I have never been a guest during this fun dance but oh it looks like such a happy, jubilee! I am adding it to my bucket list …
more dancing and celebrating…
Can you guess the song they are singing in that last image? If you can I will give you a dollar (a figurative doller, that is). I now believe this song should be played at every wedding.
I was so thankful that Amber and John were willing to leave the middle of the reception for some photos of just the two of them. It was oppressively humid and hot. Not just normal Houston humidity and heat but a sweltering, sweat-inducing, claustrophobic kind of mugginess. We made it about six minutes before running back to the coolness of the reception hall. But six minutes are all we needed to get some classic shots of the new Mr and Mrs…
When we first met to talk about their wedding day, Amber and John continuously stressed the importance of their family and friends. Wchen Dustin had the idea to set up an area for portraits of everyone it was the perfect compliment to their kin focused celebration.
What a beautiful and joyous day. John and Amber you are a truly special couple and we thank yo so much for letting us be a part of your day! We hope you had a blast on your honeymoon and hope to see you all again!
I wanted to show proof that I am working on pictures!
September was crazy and now that we are home I am diving in to the thousands of images I get to process. Coming up this week on the blog; a wedding, a football team and at least one senior. Now that I have put that down for the world to see you can all hold me accountable on making it happen!
Here is a small taste of Amber and John’s September wedding…
