Also, I know some of my past couples are super into photography.  If I have ever photographed you then you can knock 10% off the price of any of these items.  If it’s listed it’s available.  Once it sells, I’ll remove it from this post.  If you are interested in purchasing any of this hit me up here: alexmphotography at g mail dot com.

5D Mark 2 (w/grip) $1,700 SOLD

Canon 24mm 1.4L $900 SOLD

Canon Speedlite 580EX $300 SOLD

Canon Speedlite 580EX II $400 (Quantity 1 $400 each) 1 HAS SOLD

I will sell these separately, but I must warn you, they have been together since day one and will probably sulk if you separate them from each other. (They are taking the separation pretty well all things considered.)

CyberSync Set: 1 Transmitter 3 Receivers $225 SOLD

AlienBee 1600: $300 SOLD

iPad 2 16GB Wi-Fi: $300 SOLD

Sometimes couples ask me “Why don’t we get every single image you shot at our session?”
Answer:  Because sometimes you both are talking and you look like this.

Selective Color For The Win!

Photoshop effects are fun!

Nothing says professional maternity photography quite like dressing a man up in a matching shirt and making him hold his wife uncomfortably.

Their hands make a heart.  Because they love the baby so much.

It’s like a Where’s Waldo game.

More awkward kissing and hugging.

For realz though these two are some of my favorite people ever.  They are having a baby next week and I can’t wait to see them be parents.  Go team McKellar!

So, to all you past brides out there who want a maternity shoot feel free to give me call.  Just be ready for the results.

Happy Tuesday everyone.  It’s time again for everyone’s favorite blog feature: The A List.  I get to share random cool things that I’m liking on the inter webs and you get to kill time at work. :)

1. http://awesomemancave.com
Many of you recent brides discover something after getting married.  Your husband wants/needs a bit of space of his own.  (I”m looking your way Carrie)  Anyway, if you have an extra room in the house why not let him have a “man cave”  here are some ideas to help you get the ball rolling.

2. I Like Giving dot com

Christmas is coming up.  Here is a site with some super great ways to keep reminding us that it’s about giving.  I dare any of you to try one of the “ideas“.

3. Kisses From Katie

Remember that time that you graduated high school went to Uganda and then ended up adopting 14 girls?  I Just found out about this story a few days ago and can not wait to read her book.  What Katie is doing with her life makes mine seem very small.  We need more people like Katie.

1. Being Elmo:  This movie looks really really fun and interesting.

2. Title Scream: As always I try to share at least 1 link you can pass on to that dude you are trying to marry so you can impress him. This is that link.

3. People are smart: How great is this video?

4. Dancing Man: I want to shoot a wedding where people like this guys dance.

Shot two AMAZING weddings this weekend.  Can’t wait to share them with you all.  Peace.

Hey Hey, it’s that time again.  Time to see what wonderful things around the interwebs have tickled my fancy.  Ready to kick off your Monday with a bang?

1.  Running of the Brides
This one is so so good.  I am not able to embed it on my site but I promise it’s worth your time.

2. What’s In The Bible?

This series came out earlier this year and our family is totally eating it up.  All 4 of our kids enjoy it and Danielle & I even manage to learn and laugh along as well.  It’s from the guy who made Veggie Tales and totally worth looking into.  (If you like the Bible.)  Go buy them on Amazon right now.

3. First Person Mario.

Ladies, this one is for your super cool husband-to-be.  Pass this video or link on to him and he’ll think you are extra attractive the next time he sees you.  Promise.

4. Peeing Bear

Turns out I’ve always had a eye for quirky photography.  I recently found this photo I took back in the 2nd or 3rd grade of a bear at the zoo.

Stay classy Alex, stay classy.

Till next time.  Peace.

Yowsers!  I can’t believe it’s been a few months since I have done and A-List.  Here are some of the fun random things that are keeping me entertained on the internets lately.

1. AutoWed Wedding Vending Machine.  (This is TOTALLY the future of weddings.)

2: If AutoWed is not for you, then you could always got the more “traditional” route and get married in an inflatable church.

3: The World Is Where We Live.  I tweeted about this video yesterday, but it’s too good to not include in this post.  It’s 40 seconds long.  I would watch a 40 minute version of this if they made one.

The world is where we live from WWF on Vimeo.

4: Luke turns 4 today.  I miss baby Luke.  I want him back.  Here is the little guy the day we brought him home.

Here he is last week.  All grown up.

That’s right.  There is a McKellar baby on the way.  I’m super excited for them and can’t wait to see them turn into incredible parents.  They made this little movie of them finding out as well as them telling their family.  I know the child will be loved.  I know the child will be smart.  I know the child will have the best home movies ever.

They are totally going to keep shooting weddings and the baby should be here the first part of next year.  That means you can book them for your Fall weddings of 2011 and your Spring 2012 weddings.

Then I was like… wait…. you totally need to draw my whole family.  How awesome is this??!!??!!

Then I was like… wait… I have an idea.  Draw these people.

And she was like.  Bada bing, bada boom.

How great is that?  You can get anything done, I had her do a wedding portrait, but how fun would it be to have a drawing of where you became engaged?  You can use these everywhere, Facebook profile pics, a print to frame and hang in your new home, wallpaper for your iPhone.  How about as custom stamps for your invitations?!?!

So here is the deal.  You need to give her a call, she is hooking you up with a discount for being a blog stalker.  She normally charges $50 for a couple but is giving you 20% off so it’s only $40.  (That’s like what you’ll spend on 1 person to eat at your wedding.

Email her here and mention my site.
(eightyniner89@gmail.com)

Ready…. GO!

Not bad eh. OK, as far as the movies, I’m not going to write summaries or anything, just look at the poster and if it’s not enough to get you to the movie the click on the title to get to the movie trailer. Enjoy.

1: Cars 2

2. The Help

3: The Last Lions

4: The Decendants

5: Win Win

6: Green With Envy

7: A Little Help

8: Page One

9: The Music Never Stopped

10: Winter In Wartime

and…. since I figure 99.99999% of the people who are on the site have watched The Notebook, here is a “chick flick” I’m sure you will all cry at next year.

11: The Vow

OK, so that’s what I want to watch, now it’s your turn, leave a comment below telling me what movies you are looking forward to watching. Ready…. GO!

Welcome back party people.  I hope everyone is staying all warm and snuggly amidst the frigidness that is this first week of February.  Anyway, on to the A-List.  My random list of links to things I find amusing or cool.  Warning:  This A-List is very very “dude-centric”.  However, even if you are not interested in many of these items you should absolutely pass them on to the guy in your life.  He’ll think you are very cool for finding such awesomeness on the internets.  Enjoy.

1.  Water Jet Pack.
I totally want one of these things.  I just need $99,500.  Check it out.

2. Wilson Football Factory.
As the great Super Bowl is upon us impress that guy in your life by telling him that every single NFL football is made in a little factory by the same workers who have been there for decades. True Story.

3. Eli is 2.
We no longer own any 1 year olds and it’s kinda sad. He is our most stubborn child and it’s fun watching Danielle try to raise a miniature version of me. Here are a few of my favorite photos of him from his first 700 days of being on Earth.

That’s all for now.

YO! YO! YO!

Welcome to another installment of The A List.  A place where you can read about what I’m interested in lately.  Some of these things are useful and practical, some are random and strange.  Either way.  It’s a great way to kill 10 minutes at work.

1.  All the cool kids get married on Fridays & Sundays.
Since many of you brides out there are new to the wedding game let me let you in on a little secret.  Many venues and vendors offer discounts if get married on a day other than Saturday.  Your wedding is still just as amazing and you get to save a bit of money.  I’m sure saving money is what William & Kate had in mind when they chose Friday April 29,2011 for their date.  Consequently, they did not choose me as their wedding photographer so I am still open for that date however Westminster Abby is already booked.

Read more here: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/12/11/uk.royal.wedding/index.html

2. The iPhone is from the future.
When I first got my iPhone back in June 2007 there were times I caught myself just staring at it and being amazed at how cool and futuristic it felt.  I still get this feeling about once a week when I find out about new apps that are coming out.  Check out this video for an app called Word Lens.

It makes me want to travel abroad.  At the very least it makes me want to go to Lowes and ignore the English words and just point it at the Spanish parts of the signs.

3. Board Games have taken over our family.
Our kids are finally to the age where they will sit down and play a board game for 30-45 minutes.  We have had all kids of fun teaching them and watching them discover how fun these things can be.  It’s even led Danielle and I to start looking for new games and last week I ordered Act Your Wage.  (A new board game by Dave Ramsey.)  Our house is totally on board with the principles Dave teaches so I figured this game would be fun.  It’s a game about budgeting.  Danielle and I had a fun mini-date night last night playing it for the first time.  (I won.)

I have a whole post on Dave Ramsey coming soon, but for now just trust me.  Listen to him, do what he says.  Have a better marriage.

4.  A great first dance song.
Danielle & I love us some Andrew Peterson and I think this song would be great for a first dance.

That’s it for now.  Have a great weekend and for those of you still unsure about what to get me for Christmas I have a little hint.

What up party people?  Happy Monday and welcome to another installment of The A List.  My semi regular rants and raves about what I’m liking.

1. TSA

These people are crazy.  I’m not sure how much you have been keeping up with the new security measures that our airports have taken too, but  this is a good time to take notice.  Many have installed new body scanners with essincially produce a naked image of your body.  (awesome right)  You can “opt out” of the body scanner but you are then subjected to a pretty intense pat down.  These pat downs involve being touched in many places you don’t want to be touched.  In the past week alone we have seen a 32 year flight attended be asked to remove her prosthetic breast,  a TSA agent pop a urine bag a passenger had due to a medical condition, and confiscate a pair of nail clippers from a U.S. soldier returning home from Afghanistan. (Even though he was allowed to carry on his rifle.) That last story is so great you have to go read the whole piece.

We won’t even go into what’ happening to kids who are being asked to remove clothing and have pat downs in public.

A great place to find out more and keep up with what’s happening is a new site called flywithdignity.org They have links on how to get in touch with your Congressmen & Senators as well as where to file complaints.  There is also a plan for a National Opt-Out Day  on November 24.

I know many of you will be flying in the next few weeks so I just wanted to raise a bit of awareness as to what’s going on.  Happy flying.

2. Grandmother Superhero
One of my favorite brides sent this to me and I thought it was too good not to share.  Here is a teaser image.

Go to the photographer’s site to get the full scoop.

3. Sara’s thinking about marriage.
Danielle & her had this conversation 3 days ago.  I should probably start talking to her about having a First Look.

Sara: Does everybody have to get married?
Danielle: No, some people don’t.
Sara:Why did you and dad get married?
Danielle: Because I prayed that God would give me the perfect man for me.
Sara: That’s why you got married?
Danielle: Uh huh. Because we liked each other. You both have to want to get married
Sara: So who wanted to get married first?
Danielle: Daddy.
Sara: Ha. That’s funny. Usually it’s the girl who wants to get married. But daddy is a silly dad.

That’s right folks, it’s time for another installment of the A List.  Things I find cool, interesting, or random.  Here we go.

1. Rdio:  If I was granted one wish from Apple it would be for them to incorporate a subscription music service into iTunes.  I’m not sure the record labels will ever allow them to do it, but until they do Rdio is is where it’s at.  This is a website where you can listen to any song you want or download it to your phone for 10 bucks a month.  I’m sure many of you have and use Pandora, but I really love the ability to pick and choose what songs/albums I am listening to and Rdio makes this possible.  (There are also zero adds.)  They have a free trial, but I’m warning you.  You’ll be hooked.

2. Crocks: After putting them on the kids for a few years, Danielle finally talked me into trying a pair and I’m kinda hooked.  They are comfy and I don’t have to clip my toe nails as often as when I’m wearing flip flops.  I accidentally left the house wearing them with white socks the other day.  Holy moly I’m getting old.  Seriously.  Next thing you know I’ll show up to a wedding in them.  (They are black after all.)

3. YouTube Time Machine:  Crazy fun website where you move a dial and see clips that happened that year.  An easy way to kill 30 minutes at work.

Have fun on the interwebs kids.  I’ll be back soon.

What up blog stalkers!?!  I’ve decided to start a new little feature on my site.  It’s called The A List.  A stands for… Alex, Awesome, or Alligators.  Basically it’s anything I enjoy or want to link and share with you peeps.  Some will be personal, some will be wedding related, some will be completely off the wall and random.  It’s a collection of things I’m into or enjoying and it starts below.  Enjoy.

1. Cool Music Video by OK Go. I don’t really follow this band or anything, but I do follow their music videos.  They always make the most amazing ones.  This one blew me away. After you watch it, dig around and look for all their other one too.

2. Mila’s Daydreams: This woman is AMAZING.  Ever few days while her daughter is napping she plops stuff down on the floor and “builds” a photo around her.  I wish I had this woman’s level of creativity.  Total proof that you don’t need a fancy camera to take good photos.  All you people out there with kids.  Start snapping.

3. Sseko Designs:  My friend Lane Davis had the chance of interviewing these folks when was in Africa a few weeks back.  They are doing some amazing work and I know you ladies are always looking to buy new footwear so here is a good reason to drop some cash.  Go to their site for more info.

OK so here is the deal.  Right now I’m hovering at around 300 “Likes” on the AlexM Photography Facebook Page.  We need to get that number to 1,000.  I have a plan.  Phase 1 is get the number to 500.  Once we hit 500 then I’ll randomly give away an iPod to any one of those 500 fans.  (I’ll even let the winner pick their favorite color.)  I have something special planned for when we get to 1,00 but we’ll talk about that as we get closer to 1K.

So all you need to do is either head to the page and “Like” it, or post a little something in your status update encouraging your friends to Like it.

Example:
The best photographer ever in the whole wide world is giving away an iPod to a random person.
Like his page to be entered. http://www.facebook.com/alexmphoto

If you already Like the page you can still win so get of this boring blog of mine and jump back to the book of face.

Cheers.

Since I got it about a month ago I have had about 6 client meetings and each of those couples has almost been more interested in it more than my photos.  I get all kinds of questions about it and basically the meetings end up with me talking about the wedding with the bride while the dude just looks at comic books on my iPad.  Hey, as long as they’re booking right?

The most common theme seems to be “It’s basically like a big iPhone right?”  Let me answer that question with a little story.

Imagine all you knew as a child were bath tubs.  Then one day, someone explained and told you about a “big bathtub”  it’s like 10 times the size of a bath tub.  No big deal right?  I mean, we’ve all seen bath tubs and know what they are.  The thing is, once you actually get into a swimming pool you realize this is nothing like a bath tub.

That’s exactly what owning an iPad is like.  The photos and technical specs don’t begin to do it justice. I can’t even begin to express just how much our kids love this thing.  They are constantly reading, watching movies, or playing games on this.  This will be the only computer they grow up knowing.  It’s amazing just how “strange” a keyboard and mouse seem to a 3 year old, but every kids just “gets” this device.  It took Luke, our 2 year old, about three minutes to figure out everything he needed to know about it.  This is the future of computers, education, books, movies, and wedding planning.  That’s right, I said wedding planning.  You know that ridiculous binder you have full of pages, phone numbers, lists, and photos.  They will all be on this device within the next year.  Now you are interested right?

If you are a parent of younger kids, you HAVE to really consider getting this for your family.

If you are a student, you should totally convince your parents to get you one for school.

If you are a bride, you and your fiance will fight over who gets to keep this till you get married.

If you are thinking about booking, call me up and I’ll give you a free demo at our meeting.

One of the fancy features is that you can buy books on it.  It has a real pretty and shiny bookshelf looking thing on it.

I don’t really read, but I do have two books on it.  The Winnie the Pooh one came with it and I’ve been reading it to my kids at night.  The second, is a book called Stuff Christians Like. (Here is an Amazon.com link to the old fashion paper copy of the book for those of you without iPads.) It’s a book that pokes fun at Christians and some of the things we believe or think we believe and covers such great topics like…

“Making sure everyone knows your fiance’ isn’t living with you.”

A little known fact about me is that I used to be a “Super Baptist”.  When I lived in Houston my family went to the biggest Baptist church in the city, once we moved to Palestine, the church was smaller, but still the biggest we could find.   Since then a few things have changed and some have not.  I no longer attend the biggest Baptist Church I can find, but I do still enjoy making fun of Christians…  in a happy fun way.  I am and have been a “Christian” for most of my life.  The longer you “are” something the harder it is to think in terms on not being that.  Jonathan Acuff runs a little site called Stuff Christians Like and it’s one of my favorite stops every morning.

Anyway, he is running a little contest/game on his site and requested a few other blogs to link to his.  Mine was chosen so here is the info for those of you coming from his site.

The “Is that contestant on American Idol a Christian Scorecard”

7. The contestant is a former worship leader = – 3 points

Those of you coming to my site for stunning beautiful breathtaking imagery… scroll down a bit more.

Thursday is “Move That Bus” day.  If there is any way possible, you should to head out to Mineola, TX for the big reveal.  Everyone will be parking at the Wal-Mart in Mineola and get shuttled from there.  You will want to get there by 10:00AM-ish if you hope to get on TV.  The actual reveal will be around NOON and you won’t want to miss it.  Visit KLTV for more info.

See you there.

AlexM

I was contacted a few weeks ago about doing some behind the scenes shooting for when EMHE would be filmed.  I jumped at the chance and could not wait to get started.  This also led to me being able to photograph the Carr family before they went on vacation.  The show likes to do some family portraits so they have tons of images to fill up the new house.  (That is a crazy blog post with a story all of it’s own that I’ll tell you about later.)

It has been a blast being “on set” the past few days and here are just a few of the shots I’ve captured.

Anyway, if you want to find out more and learn about this amazing little family, you should go to the Bayless Construction website.  They are the builders heading up the project.  You can also view a live feed of the construction here.

Oh…. I guess the main reason you stuck with the post was because you were hoping to see a photo of Ty right?  Here is a shot of him right after they showed up and told the Carr’s they were getting a new house.

We all stare at computers anywhere from 3-10 hours a day. Why not make that desktop wallpaper a bit more interesting? Here is a great site that has some deliciously clean and stylish images. Sometimes I’ll let the kids come in and pick one and that’s what I use for the day. (Sara leans heavily towards the pink one and stuck me with this one day.) Other times I’ll take a 5 minute break from editing just to look them all over again and pick something that “fits” my mood. (This is my current one.)

So, ladies and gentlemen of the internet, I give you, Simple Desktops.

AlexM

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A question that I get asked form time to time is “Do you back up your images?” Of course the answer is yes, but I thought it would be nice to share with you you just how obsessive I am about keeping your images safe and backed up.

Before we get rolling though, let me offer this quick disclaimer: No photographer can guarantee that nothing will happen to your images, memory cards go bad, camera’s break, things get stolen. What we can do is take as many steps as possible to protect and safeguard your images to give you the best shot at never losing them. OK, on to the steps…

Step 1: Take and amazing image. Sometimes this step takes me a few tries.

Step 2A: Put memory card in super secure waterproof, crush proof case in my pocket. This thing is crazy tough. It’s the best protection you can get in a memory card holder. (Amazon Link)

Step 2B: Copy cards to notebook computer at wedding. My couples that do a First Look at their wedding also get a slideshow of their wedding images set up during the reception so I already have them backed up to my notebook at this point! Here is a great shot of Kim at the Villa di Felicita in Tyler ignoring her 200 plus guests while she looks at some of her wedding photos. (WHOOP!)

Step 3: Copy images to my computer in my office.

Step 4: Copy images to multiple DVD.  I take these to my safety deposit box at the bank. I’ll be honest, I totally felt like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible while I snuck this photo inside the vault.

Step 5: Copy images to back up hard drive in my house.

Step 6: Sleep. I don’t sleep until I have backed up your images and they are in 3 places.
(A photo of me with my eyes closed and drool coming out the side of my mouth seemed inappropriate to blog)

Step 7: Edit images

Step 8: Copy edited images to DVD & take them to the bank. (I was too scared to try and take more photos inside the bank vault.)

Step 9: Upload final wedding images to a computer in California.
(That’s right, way far away from here, that way if Palestine gets nuked, you’ll feel safe knowing I have backed up your images in another state.)

Step 10: Delete original images from memory card.
I don’t delete the images form the card until I am completely finished editing your wedding. That way I am as “safe” as possible when it comes to backing up.

I’m sure this may seem like overkill to some, but if you are a bride then I hope this gives you some peace of mind and if you are a photographer I can’t encourage you enough to make multiple copies and back up your images.

Anyway, if you can take 5 seconds and fill out this little poll for me.  It will help me know which direction to take this site and what to post more of.  Thanks so much for reading and visiting.

Also, as a little treat for voting, I’ll let you see a recent Project Sara 365 images.