It’s really rare to be able to start an engagement session at the location a couple first met.  Especially when they first met over 20 years ago.  With Audra & Brian we were lucky enough to do that.  We went back to the place it all started.  We went back to the house Audra grew up in.

Sometime around 1985 or so Audra & Brian’s fathers were coaches together for Texas ATM. (Whoop!) I’m sure this led to many family get togethers and team functions where little Audra & little Brian would spend hours playing together. That’s were they fell in love. OK, not really. They were like 5 years old or something, this isn’t a Disney movie. Anyway, They did hang out at Audra’s house so that’s where we went to start their session.

There were so many memories at this house. It was neat to see Audra back in that setting and hear her talk about how different yet familiar it felt. We were doing a few shots on the porch and I noticed a wasp’s nest in the corner. She told me a story about when she was little and her mom was stung by them and she almost ended up calling 911. I thought the wasps deserved to make the blog.

Then, like all good Aggies, we headed onto campus.  Some of you may be familiar with this tree.

The thing is though… Audra & Brian didn’t go to ATM together. Audra’s dad took another coaching job a few states over and moved away, Brian’s dad did the same and that normally is how the story would end.

Brian did end up coming back and becoming a full grown Aggie so at least he gets credit for that.

Fast forward to 2012. Audra’s dad is still a college coach and he’s filling out his new staff. He know’s a former college of his has a well qualified son who is looking for a job so he decides to give Brian an shot. Well, one thing led to another and one day he’s doing his new boss a favor and picking up Audra from the airport. Well, one thing led to another and now they are getting married. Because that’s how awesome their story is.

Multiple states, multiple campuses, multiple teams. Their journey started together, went thousands of miles apart, then led them right back to each other.

i met lauren & alex way back in 2010 when i photographed his brother’s wedding.  i love shooting multiple family members weddings and i can’t wait for this one.  speaking of love… i think these two may have one of the best “how we met” stories ever.  they were on the same campus at northwood university in dallas for a few years but did not meet until their senior year.  alex was a pitcher on the baseball team and lauren & him had started dating.  on game she was sitting in the stands and this lady asked her who she was there watching.  she pointed to alex and it turned out the lady also knew alex.  (she was his mother.)  alex had not yet introduced lauren to anyone in his family, so all he could do the entire game was watch form the dug out and mound as she “met” his entire family while he played his baseball game.

we knew we had to start the session in the stands where it all began.

it was such a great day for a baseball game we decided to play 2.  next up, the ball park in arlington.

thanks random ballpark employee for taking their photo.

are they really on the wall of fame?  nope.
will their great grandkids know this in 75 years when they see this photo?  nope. :)

meet the boomstick. 24 inches and 3 pounds worth of nolan ryan beef.
(you know a hotdog is a big deal when cnn money is talking about it.)

thanks for a great afternoon.  let’s hang out again…. how about october 5th? ;)

let me start by saying i can’t believe that this is my job.  i get to hang out with wonderful people, totally in love and take photos of them.  that’s amazing.

amanda, clayton, and alexis were just perfect.  (alexis may be my favorite 6 year old on the planet.)  they love to cook, so this was the perfect setting for their engagement session.

i’m not sure clayton understands the “proper” way to taste things.

thank you guys for a great session and for sending me home with a bag full of cookies.

I became a HUGE fan of Lisa & Rory about 3 minutes into their session.  They are the exact type of people I love to photograph.  He is fully present and completely in love with Lisa and she basically tuns into a middle school girl with a HUGE crush when she looks his way.  The story of how they met is so great and I can’t do it justice but I’ll do my best.

They both work together at a hospital and one day Rory spotted her pony tail walking around the ER.  A few days later her pony tail caught his eye again.  He finally decided to try and talk to her and the day he was set to approach Lisa she was no where to be found.  1 week went by, then 2, then 3.  Rory thought he had lost his chance when after 4 weeks she came back to work and he ran into her.  He stopped in his tracks and jumped all over the opportunity to talk to her.  Even though he was a bit creepy about it Lisa managed to stay interested in him and over the next few month they started courting.

Courting is kinda a funny word that we don’t really use any more.  It’s a throwback work to a time when a man would spend time with a young woman’s family and this would allow everyone to give an opinion about the relationship.  Courting is exactly what these two did.  Lisa went on and on about how much it meant to her that Rory would do this and how much it helped grow their relationship.

I love their story and I love the two of them.

Fast forward about a year or so and these two people are getting married.   I’m honored that they want me there when they start their marriage.

I have the best job ever.

Enjoy the images.

a few months ago lee proposed to this one girl names kristin. we thought going back to the place where it all went down would be a fun idea. check out a few of the images and if you have not been there, you totally need to check out lago del pino.