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!

About 5 minutes into Megan’s bridal session she became my least favorite bride of 2009. Here is the problem. Megan found out about me and booked me AFTER she had booked her wedding photographer. Boo. However, she liked my work enough to ask me to do her bridal session. Yeah! Then I met her and started her session and realized that the bridal session would not be enough and I wish I was shooting her wedding in a few months. Boo again.

In all seriousness it was an absolute blast to work with both Megan and her mom. It was super hot the day of the session so they suggested doing some “in their house”. Let me be blunt. This is typically not an idea I jump up and down about, most houses are not designed to host bridal sessions, they are designed to live in. Once I walked into their house however I pretty much felt like I was in photography heaven. Super cool furniture, great lighting, and the perfect dress/bride combo to complete the look. Enough blabbing. Enjoy…

My new favorite picture.

My new second favorite picture.

I totally could not pick just one to blog.

At her house Megan’s mom also told me about a “friend who has a great back yard”. (Another phrase that gives me chills.) Again, nothing against back yards, but potted plants, and green grass do not a Secret Garden make. But, being polite and well paid, I played along and hoped for the best.

Ladies and gentlemen… I give you the Best. Backyard. Ever.

Tyler, Texas everybody.

Thanks so much for an amazing session. I can’t wait to get you the rest of your images and am still mad at you for getting married without me. :)

You may remember these two from a video I posted back in February. I had talked to them before the session about wanting to try something slightly different with them and they had said they were up for anything and for me to do whatever I wanted to. A lot of couples say this to their photographer, but few actually mean it. I knew they did so it was really fun to have complete creative freedom and I’m really excited about how everything wen

Here is a little background before we get to the images.

I absolutely LOVE doing engagement sessions, they are a great way to hang out and get to know each other before the wedding, but sometimes they come with a huge level of awkwardness. For many couples they go like this….

Photographer: “Hi, it’s great to see/meet you guys again.”
Couple: “Hi.” (In a nervous tone that indicates they may have even had a fight about what to wear 30 minutes ago.)
Photographer: “OK, let’s get started. You guys kiss and act in love and I’ll take pictures of you.”

You can see how this is less than ideal. I am constantly looking for ways to make these sessions look and feel more natural and I love it when at the end the guys say, “that was kinda fun”. (I’ve had a few couples say it was their “best date ever”. Which, if you think about it is kinda sad, but anyway… :) ) One of the things I am looking to do more are “Lifestyle Sessions” This is where we document what your real life looks like, rather than me sticking you by a tree or having you walking on a train track and pretend to hang out. It’s a lot more natural for you guys and it’s a true reflection of what you guys are like as a couple. These sessions take a bit longer, but are totally worth it in my opinion. The best part is, they don’t cost any extra, so if you are due for a session and think this is for you, E-mail me and we’ll chat about it. OK, enough about that, on to the images.

As much as they talk about Stanley’s and eat there I knew this would have get included. (This is even where we had our consultation.)



Remember, “natural”, that’s the goal of these sessions. They ALWAYS eat ribs this way. ;)

It’s like a before and after photo.

Lilli has great eyes and perfect little smile and Cameron knows just what to say to make it all happen.

I totally did a double take when Lilli was putting her shoes on. Give it up for the skull socks.

When Lilli was winning after 3 frames I was pretty impressed that Cameron didn’t go into “guy mode” and abandon the photo shoot in order to focus on his game.

Thanks guys for a great morning.

Chelsea & Tyson had a great little wedding out on Lake Tyler. I first met up with the girls at Chelsea’s house and found this note on the door.  

See if you can spot my petite little shoes

Tyson is a smooth guy, but I think Carson, the ring bearer, may have him beat.  

They seriously look like one of those families that you get a picture of when you buy a frame. You know, the pretty people that we all look at and go, “why don’t we look like that?”  

Carson apparently had had his fill of being photographed.  

Ok, so I’ll admit it, while at a wedding I’m always on the look out for engaged or super cool maybe they’ll be engaged soon couples. Later in the evening these two came up to me and said they were close to getting engaged and wanted to chat about me shooting their wedding. I was pretty excited because I had spotted them earlier and was like… “ooh, they would be fun to photograph!” Anyway, I’m blogging a shot of them dancing to be nice to them and increase my odds of booking their wedding. :) (Hey at least I’m honest.)  

From what I can tell, there are basically 2 types of people who are music majors, the first is the stereotypical “band nerd” (Yes Wes, I’m looking your way.) The second are the people who are so stinking cool you wish everyone else was like them. Erin & Chris are prime examples of type 2.

These two rocked my socks off pretty much all session long. Every time I kept thinking the session could not be going better, they would take it to another level and up the ante.  They are my first wedding of 2010 so the rest of my 2010 couples better bring the funk if they wanna keep up with these two.

Let me be very clear, I pretty much think I have cornered the market on great couples, but to earn a Same Day Edit you pretty much have to ooze with coolness. So what is it that pushed them over the top? Was it the fact that during our session they got like 3 or 4 txt messages asking when their engagement session would be online? Was it the fact that they both have iPhones? Was it the fact that Erin has eyes that are so great they might get their own session? Yes, yes, and yes.

Did I mention they are also ninjas?

It’s like they are prisoners of each others love!

Thanks so much guys for a great session!