Two quick images from Laura and Chad’s great wedding at The Belgium House in Longview.

How amazing is this cake from Edible Art? Seriously? A drum that you can eat? Awesome! If you are looking for a cake for a wedding or any other occasion you have to look into Edible Art. I interviewed them a few months back on the site, click here to read and find out more about them.

Here is one from their First Look.

Laura and Chad were pretty much smiling all day long. I had a great time and can’t wait to go through all their images.

Congrats you two.

I mentioned in my last post that I did a bit of second shooting in August. Leisha and Chris were married at Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, TX and for this wedding I shot for the fun and talented Lauren Dennard out of Dallas. I had never second shot for anyone till these past two weddings so it was neat to document a wedding and not be the main photographer. It’s almost like it was happening in slow motion and I picked up lots of little tricks for my next “real weddings”.

I was in charge of the guys and had a blast coming up with crazy stuff for them to do. The basketball court was too good to pass up.

All four of the groomsmen played during the ceremony, so I decided to give Chris a shot at being a rock star.  I actually shot Brant’s wedding (the one on the right) way back in 2006 at Roseland Plantation.

A few from their First Look



Once again I was allowed to do the rings shots. Serious fun.

Leisha had coloring books for any kids to use during the ceremony! (Don’t tell anyone, but I snuck one home for Sara.)

A few more portraits of them right after the ceremony.

Congrats Leisha & Chris!

I had most of August off so rather than sit a home and get rusty I picked two weekends to second shoot with some other photographers I know. The first wedding was at Friendly Baptist Church in Tyler, TX and I shot for the wonderful, talented, and 7 months pregnant Rachel Robinson of Don’t Blink Photography. (She not only does weddings, but also does family photography as well so be sure and give her a call if you have kiddies!) I’ll be posting the other wedding later, but for now here are a few of my favorites.

One side note, it was so much fun to not be “in charge” the whole day and just run around taking photos of whatever I wanted too. :)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE doing ring shots.

A few from their First Look.

I had to sneak past the cucumber angel girl to get the next shot, but I felt it was worth the risk.



They were married on 08-15-09 so even though it was a bit cheesy I re-did some of the numbers. I also hope I freaked out some church members that next Sunday.

This is me doing a mini-maternity session for Rachel during a wedding.

Flower girl gifts make for great props.

I don’t think the DJ was taking requests.

Congrats Amber & Brian!

One thing that a lot of “cool” wedding photographers do is post stuff on their blog that other wedding photographers are interested in. I really like to keep my site “bride-centric” but I do have a post that might benefit both bride and fellow photographers.

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.

Warning 1: If you don’t like to look at lots of pictures of incredible photogenic and cool people this post may not be for you.

Warning 2: Davi is an English teacher so I’m going to type this out and not spell check or proof read it jsut to make her mad and show everyone just how horrible I am at spelling and such :)

I absolutely LOVE spedning the day from beginiing to end with my brides. This is one of my favorite shots fromt he day.

Her and her mom getting ready for the day.



The guys were rockin’ the Chuck Taylors

Davi was absolutely giddy on her way to the First Look.

I love giving couples these quite moments alone together. It’s my favorite part of the day.

A bit of fun at teh formals.

Reason #284 why Jonathan makes a great groom. When the ring bearers are freaking out and don’t want to be still for the photos, he jsut squats next to them and makes it look cool.

Jonathan’s mom did an amazing job on their wedding cake.

I am crazy about theses next two shots. It’s just them being sweet to each other. Nothing posed or force. Just two people who are crazy about each other .



Casey Brown of CMB Music Productions was there and he brought his laser lights. It really helped set the mood for the dancing and made the photos that much cooler. (You brides who are booking him for your wedding, be sure and pay the little bit extra it cost for those. They are totally worth it!)

Anytime a 100 dollar bill makes an appearace, you know it was a good Dollar Dance.



There were 3, count em, 3 former Alex M. brides at this wedding! Canon has not cut his hair since his wedding, Kerri the trampoline bride was there, and it’s great to know Tonya still likes to dance with her dad.

Once it was pitch black outside we snuck out for a few more shots and I’m glad we did.

Venue: Elmwood Gardens
Videographer: Vanessa McKellar
DJ: CMB Music Productions
Flowers: Dagley’s Flowers (903) 729-8665
Hair Stylist: Amanda @ T&G Hair (903) 729-0318