Brynne & Caleb braved the sub zero weather in Palestine to shoot their engagement session. (OK, maybe it was just like 40 degrees, but still. it was cold.) Even though the elements were harsh and frigid their love kept them warm. :) :) :) :)

On to the images.

This is Cooper. Caleb calls him Dumb Dumb. (I like Caleb.)

By the way… the next time you see these two it will be their wedding at Elmwood Gardens in June where it will be like 140 degrees. :)

I know that none of you really asked me for marriage advice, but guess what, you are about to get some! Right now, as a bride, the last thing in the world you may be thinking about is how to keep your marriage together. I’m sure it may seem like it’s all Disney Princess fairy tales and mushy gushy moments. The reality is at some point, one of you will wake up and look at the other person next to you and think, “I can’t believe I married this person.” (In my case it was Danielle looking at me.) Anyway staying married has little to do with how you physically look, how much money you make, or how fancy your wedding was.

Staying married is about learning to live with someone who gets on your nerves.

Staying married is about changing yourself and not the other person.

Staying married is about Amy Adams, Ben Stiller, and a Digiorno’s pizza.

You may think I’m kidding, but I’m not. One of the best choices Danielle and I made was to have a date night every other week. Now, every other week may seem like forever to some crazy young kids like yourselves. Going on a date every other night and staying up till 3:00AM talking about life together may be “normal” now, but at some point that will go away. Couples don’t grow distant overnight. It happens slowly.

One of the things we have done since we were married was have a date night. We look forward to it, plan our week around it, and ignore all incoming phone calls while we are on it. The past 3 years have been extra easy because of our friends the Sokolowski’s. We have been “trading” date nights with them. We watch their kids, they watch ours. (We were tied for kids when we started, and now we kinda feel bad when we drop off 4 kids and they only drop off 2.) Here are the 10 of us standing next to a Dark Knight punching bag.

Anyway, last night we dropped the kids off, came home and watched Night at the Museum 2 and had an exquisitely delicious Digiorno pizza. That would be a 6 dollar date for all of you keeping score at home. Sure the movie was cheesy, so was the pizza. (And that joke.) The point is we spent time together, we talked, we laughed and we fell in love a little bit more. I’m not an expert on marriage or relationships, but I do know that Amy & Ben helped my wife and I stay together.

Make time for each other. Hang out. Keep falling in love.

With Jamie’s wedding only a few weeks away, we were scrambling to find a date that would work for her session. It worked out great because it was one of the coldest days yet, but she LOVES the cold. :) We started at the Villa di Felicita in Tyler, TX. It’s always a blast to shoot there. Mary, Rhonda, & Lisa do a great job running the place and if you need a place to get married this should be near the top of your list.
(Go ahead and call them now, I’ll wait. 903.579.0002)

OK, back to Jamie! :) She was relaxed and really enjoyed the whole process. A few times I caught her skipping around the Villa in her dress. It was kinda crazy to watch.

I always encourage brides to bring a little prop or something that might be special to their groom. This gives the session a more unique look and makes the images that much more special to your fiance’ once he gets to see the photos. Sometimes it’s golf clubs, a Harley, or maybe a tank if he served in the army. Well, Jamie’s fiance’ is a geek. (That’s a good thing.) He loves his computers, TVs, hard drives and internets. The problem was she could not sneak any of these away from him.  So, somehow we ended up with the idea of just heading to Best Buy to get it all in one place. :)

We didn’t really “ask” anyone, we just kinda walked around and I secretly snapped some shots.  (I felt like a spy.)  We were pretty sure security was going to ask us to leave at any minute.  So, we just kept running from one end of the store to the other taking photos along the way. Good times.

My favorite part was all the stares Jamie got. Not so much because she was in a wedding dress. Remember, it is mostly just 20-35 year old guys who shop at Best Buy.  They were just glad that they were in the same building with an attractive female. I’m not sure they even noticed the dress.

The danger in this next shot is that Dave will only see the 40 plus TVs and miss the fact that his wife is in the picture.



Fun with Rock Band.

There was a channel 6 news guy there doing a report on video games and we think Jamie made the news.

My favorite shot.


Thanks Jamie for a great time.  See you guys soon!

Amy & Mike are planning a destination wedding but they still wanted some fun engagement photos. I’m super glad they called because this couple is just the type of couple I love working with. They a fun, laid back, and have great style. Well, Amy has great style, Mike just wears what she tells him too. :)

Ryleigh is 6 and her and I got along just fine. We talked Cinderella, Princess and the Frog, you know…. important stuff.

Swing Fight!

Hello, we belong in a magazine.

What’s better than a swing fight? Scarf Tug of War!

Ryleigh had this little puppy names Sara, I told her my little girl’s name was Sara and she offered to change her puppy’s name. :) How crazy sweet is that?

Thank you guys for a great session.

AlexM – Contact Me

When chatting with brides, one of the things I always encourage them to do is get their wedding filmed. Photos are obviously important, they help feed my family, and they are something that you can place all over your house and look at over and over day in and day out. A good wedding video is a completely different thing. It really becomes like your favorite movie. When it first comes out, you may watch it 2-5 times over and over. (Think back to Titanic girls.) Then, as the years go by, you watch it once or twice a year. It becomes a way of refreshing your memory of your day. The sounds and music remind you of the feelings you had or tell part of the story you may have already forgotten.

When Danielle and I were married, we just had a few friends with cameras film it for us. It is the single biggest regret we have about that day. We have plenty of “home movie” like footage of our wedding, but nothing at all like what a good videographer would have been able to document for us. I can’t encourage you enough to book a videographer; it’s just something you HAVE to do.

Anyway, one of the best videographers in the area is Vanessa McKellar. I love her work and I love working with her and her husband, Brent. I thought I’d share a few of her recent videos from weddings we have shot together just to give you guys a taste of how powerful video can be.

Erika & Phil (Wedding Post)


Some Super 8 video goodness.

Stephanie & Michael (Wedding Post)

Davi & Jonathan (Wedding Post)

This is a super example of where photos just don’t do the moment justice. This is a shot from their First Look.

Now, watch this trailer and see that First Look in action.

Kim & Josh (Wedding Post)

Click here to jump to Vanessa’s blog and see more of her work.