Chicago Shoots!
November 28, 2008 | Filed Under Fun Stuff! | 1 Comment
My husband, Mike, has had a business trip to Chicago planned for awhile now. I wanted to go with him, because I grew up in Illinois, living in Decatur, Champaign, and then Kankakee before I moved to Houston — I’ve always wanted to go back to Chicago as an adult to visit. I was probably 17 the last time I was in Kankakee - so it has been awhile.
I asked my parents tonight if my son Jason could stay with them so I could tag along on Mike’s trip — once they said yes, I booked a last minute flight to Chicago and I’m going with him!
I’m SUPER EXCITED!!! Added bonus? There is SNOW in the forecast!
Since I’ll be in the city, I figured it was the perfect opportunity for you to take advantage of it too - if you are in Chicago and you would like a portrait session of any kind - engagement shoot, boudoir session, family shoot - let me know and we’ll get it set up! I’ll only be available Monday, December 1 to Wednesday, December 3, but I want to make the most of it while I’m there! (Of course, I’m always willing to travel any other time as well - just let me know!)
Changes Ahead!
November 26, 2008 | Filed Under Administrative | 1 Comment
With 2009 just around the corner, there is a big change coming up that I wanted to make sure everyone knows about!
New pricing will go into effect on December 1, 2008 - if you have contacted me and received the current price sheet, that will be honored until December 10, 2008. The new pricing structure will be completely revised, and you can choose between them to decide what fits your needs best. I don’t normally announce pricing changes like this, but since it is such a radical overhaul, I wanted to get the word out!
Many weddings, engagement sessions, and boudoir shoots to be blogged soon! My number 1 priority is getting galleries online, so I have a long list of posts to make once I am done! (Recently posted in the galleries: Andrea & Rich’s wedding, Sarah & Jason’s wedding, Samantha & Ben’s engagement session and civil ceremony, and many others!)
Brooke’s Bridal Portraits - Downtown Houston, Texas
November 23, 2008 | Filed Under Bridal Session | 11 Comments
I’ve been waiting for weeks to be able to share these photos! Brooke’s bridal portrait session was back in October, but we had to keep the photos under wraps until the wedding day yesterday - we didn’t want to ruin the surprise for Billy! (Who thought she was truly stunning - it was a gorgeous wedding!)
I could have never gotten these great images without Beth, Dana & Karen’s help! We took photographs at Discovery Green and Eleanor Tinsley Park in downtown.
These are some of my favorites from the session - I love bridal portraits! It is so fabulous to get some special time to get great photographs, either before or after the wedding!
The Rachael Ray Show!
November 21, 2008 | Filed Under Wedding Photography, Weddings | 2 Comments
The fairytale aisle for the brides to walk down!
The Rachael Ray Show with the Houston wedding at Minute Maid Park will air today in Houston at 2pm on KPRC (channel 2). It has already aired in different locations around the country - here are the photos I took before the ceremony started! I’ll be posting photos of the three couples I worked with over the next few days!
I still find it so very heartbreaking that Bella Terrazza and Tuscany at Garden Oaks closed down and left so many couples stranded. It was truly an honor to be asked by the Rachael Ray Show to help with this event — I’m so glad I could do this for the couples impacted by this! You can see a full list of the vendors that helped out with this on the Rachael Ray Show website, and more details on the event itself here!
On a side note, I’m offering a 20% discount to any couple that books me for 2009 that was impacted by this situation. Contact me right away if you’re interested — 2009 dates are filling up fast!
The officiants - they had several denominations covered!
News, News and More News!
November 20, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 4 Comments
All the photos on this post were taken the first full day in Mexico, when we had free time to explore Carmen and Teochteilan.
We have an air date now for the Rachael Ray wedding episode! It will air on Friday, November 21, 2008 on your local NBC station. You may have seen my previous post about how she came to Houston and put together a fabulous wedding for 40 couples that were victims of the Bella Terrazza and Tuscany of Garden Oaks closing. I took photographs of three fabulous couples after the ceremony, and I’ll post photos of them after the show airs!
My DVR is all set to record the show! We had to sign releases for them to air footage of us shooting, but I’m not sure if they will actually show me or not. Lets hope that if they do, it is something flattering, and not me in one of those crazy photographer positions that we get into to get the best light and angles!
Left: My friend who made me lunch and laughed with me at my poor Spanish.
Right: Ruben wanted him to name the bunny Nikon, but I think Canon sounds much better!
Speaking of the Bella Terrazza and Tuscany of Garden Oaks situation, I’ve selected a couple to receive free wedding day photography coverage! (The first couple whose name I drew had already been picked by another photographer too!) I’ll post more about that as soon as we have all the details ready and I have photos!
Now for the other big news! I’ve been a huge fan of Anne Ruthmann’s photography work ever since I first discovered her online. If I remember right, it was one of her informative photographer forum posts that first caught my eye. I found myself nodding my head in agreement with every word. Over the past year, I’ve been lucky enough to meet her and get to know her even better - she is an awesome woman, and so inspiring! So it was such a thrill to get an email from her last week while I was in Mexico asking me if I would be interested in being an editor for her PhotoLoveCat site. I’m all about sharing knowledge, so I was so giddy about the opportunity! I’m in good company with Anne and the amazing Jillian Kay - check it out!
Top Row: The arts - photography and fiber arts (crochet) - my favorites!
Bottom Row: From the Hip shots around town.
More from Mexico!
November 18, 2008 | Filed Under Workshops | 4 Comments
I returned home from Mexico last Friday evening, and yet I’m still swirling with thoughts about the trip. Amazing doesn’t seem to sum it up. I was truly blessed to have had the opportunity to spend time with some truly, truly amazing photographers.
On the second day of the workshop we went to a different Hacienda in a nearby town for a shoot. We spent part of the time with Cameron Ingalls and one set of models, Valeria & Martin, and the rest of the time with Jose Villa and the models that we had worked with the day before, Miiriam & Daniel. It was great seeing how Jose & Cameron work, and learning tips from both of them!
All of the photos in this post were created while at the Jose Villa’s Workshop. The top photo was take while Valeria was waiting inbetween shots with Cameron. The rests were all created during my time working with them. The language barrier was interesting at times — in one of the photos, I asked Daniel to kiss Miiriam’s forehead - and instead she kissed his! But I loved so many - it was hard to narrow it down to just a few!
I’ll write more about the workshop - along with photos of everyone - once I can get it all together.
