[Weddings]: Paige + Brent

A few weeks back I alluded to posting photos a wedding I photographed in Austin at the Chateau Bellevue - Austin Women’s Club. I’m FINALLY able to write about it…I know, I know it has been a while…. Going through some 30 Gigs of photos is no easy task! Believe me.

Well, Paige + Brent’s wedding at the Chateau Bellevue was amazing! The flowers by Exquisite Petals were just as their name implies. The venue was spectacular. The dress, actually designed by Paige herself, was gorgeous. And, everything fell into place. Even if there were a few hiccups. But…that’s to be expected right?

It was so fun to have something out of the ordinary happen as well. Apparently it’s a tradition to have a skit at the family’s weddings. So Paige’s cousins wrote a few lyrics of their own to the tune of Love Shack. It was great! I think Crystal Littrell who helped me with the wedding had the best shot of the “Love Shack Skit” check it out HERE. JP Beato helped as well, they both were a HUGE, HUGE help. I couldn’t have done it with out them. Thanks so much guys!

I had such a blast I hope to shoot another wedding there very soon.

Now a few photos…

[Engagements] Sarah + Aldo

I had an absolute blast at this one…..

Since Sarah’s dad used to have his own business as a wedding photographer she wanted something more out of the box, fun, fresh nothing that really resembled the run of the mill engagement portraits. So we got lucky and planned the shoot at a carnival in Frisco.

I’m sure Sarah and Aldo had as much fun as I did. Here are the pics:

[Portraits] : Amy + Jess

This past weekend was one productive weekend for me. I started off in Austin on Saturday for a wedding at the Chateau Bellevue for Paige and Brent. The wedding was so much fun. Complete with a CRAZY ‘Love Shack’ skit that is sure to produce some absolutely amazing out of the box wedding photos. I’m still going through all 13 GIGS of images…yes 13 GIGS! So I think it will take me a quite a little while to get some posted. But very soon I promise!

Sunday I had an A-MAZING shoot with some friends who were brave enough to vogue for my camera so I could test out my new 5D during a portrait session. And I have to say Amy and Jess you guys ROCKED! I can’t wait to show you the rest of the photos. I have SOOOOO many photos to choose from it was definitely hard to nail it down to just a couple to post here.

Amy and Jessica were such great sports I hope they had maybe about as much fun as I did. We shot in old faithful Downtown Bryan. So it was an added challenge to get some fresh looks, but I think we did JUST FINE!

OK I”M DONE…Now the pics…As always let me know what you think. LOVE EM? HATE EM?

Amy

Jess

Website: It’s New! Check it out!

I finally had a SMALL amount of time to actually get a website going. Granted its not done…remember I said a SMALL amount of time. But, it’s up I still have quite a bit more work to do but most of the content is there. Let me know what you think….Love it or hate it?

Click here to go there!

That’s Cool: ‘The Music Man’

I’m a journalist at heart I think. I’m sure I’ve said that a ton of times.

You’ve heard a picture is worth a 1,000 words? ….just ask the photog…Or in this case I guess the Texas Monthly Writer. I wish they had also done a bit on Platon’s photo session. As always his stuff is absolutely amazing.

Check it out here: http://www.texasmonthly.com/2008-05-01/multimedia.php

Oh…and here’s a photo of Willie at the Willie’s Picnic in Austin while working for the Austin American -Statesman back in ‘04.

Engagements: Sarah + Aldo!

OK….can you say hot!? Yea so can Sarah + Aldo!

Here’s one from their engagment shoot on this passed week!

Sara + Aldo, you two were absolute troopers! I have to give you two HUGE kudos for putting up with me saying “ok….lets do that one more time….” Believe me the photos turned out awesome! I’m excited to post them but one is all I have time for right now (eek!). I’ll get them up soon. I promise!

Here’s my fave:

Get Inspired: Fashion + Wedding Fusion

Here we go again….As promised I’m posting another “Get Inspired:” post.

So of course it’s known that there are TONS of photographers out there (especially recently), and just like anything else the best ones rise to the top and stay there. Who cares?…. Well everyone in the biz should. Look at their work but more importantly listen to what makes them tick and discover their foundation. I’ve learned so much from searching for those questions in the pros who made it. I think even more than looking at their work.

Carlos Baez (Fashion, Wedding):

Carlos was actually interviewed in F-Stop Beyond. (If your a photo nerd like me I’m sure you’ll find it interesting.) The interview is a little preachy and condescending at times but HEY! He’s earned that!

Why I like him: Fashion + Wedding Fusion. Of course he’s been in the fashion business for over 2 decades so naturally his work seems like it could easily be seen in a high-gloss fashion mag.

His style: Very classic and EXTREMELY sensual. I LOVE IT!

Check out Carlos Baez: http://www.carlosbaez.com

Damon Winter (Photojournalism)

Every now and then I come across someone I have to stop and say…..WOW! Get extremely humbled, then somewhere along the way, find a way to stay inspired. Does that make sense?

Recently Damon’s site did that for me. I’ve seen his stuff in the Dallas Morning news from time to time, but never have I come across his collection of work.

Why I like him: His use of space. I think I’m naturally drawn to images that have an expansion of foreground, background space…or images that aren’t cropped tight (up really close).

His style: Very architectural style, clean, angular. Very strong composition!

Check out Damon Winter: http://www.damonwinter.com/

Gear: (5D Test) Penny + Tux

Here are more pics from me playing around with my new toy while my main camera body is still at the CPS. :/ not happy about that one…hopefully they fix it SOON!

Penny and Tux are two - way-too-cute puppies. Susan enjoy!

Tux

Penny

Food + Such: 5D Gear Test

I’ve used the 5D before on several different shoots and it continues to leave me slack-jawed. The in-camera color control is A-MAZING! I guess I should have bought this camera before I bought my speedy 1D MKII N… especially for what I’m doing right now but oh well I guess the Mark IIN will have to take a back seat as a back up (say it isn’t so!)….Ok enough photog dorkiness…

I’m shooting this mostly to build my food portfolio/test my new 5D and to do a little cross promoting for Figaro Interactive’s Computer Applications…any way enough of that… Here’s the evidence:

Get Inspired: Iconic Photos Revisited

It seems like a year of the iconic covers for for magazines this year….

A couple of months ago it was the New York Magazine that published it’s EXTREMELY popular cover of Lindsay Lohan recreating a Marilyn Monroe cover shoot that was done 46 years before. The images were so popular and the marketing was such a genius move that the New York Magazine’s web server crashed the day it released the behind the scenes photos on their site. Check it out HERE

This month, although I’m sure it won’t get as much buzz as Lindsay Lohan’s shoot (mostly because it was marketed that Lindsay appeared nude), but Jessica’s Simpson’s shoot is just as steamy (the inside photos anyway). Check it out HERE

Who cares? Well, this is just to stress the importance of looking to the past for inspiration. Especially these days when so many images are flooding the market…and most of today’s work is forgettable. There’s genius behind the work of the past that shaped our way of looking at things today. Take a look at what was done in the past at Esquire HERE

Here’s what’s the buzz about Esquire’s Anniversary Cover shoot:

March - 1965

April - 2008