Amber and Brady were married in Port Aransas, Texas last month at the beach. Their reception was held at the Tarpon Inn. It was a wonderful wedding with fabulous details. Here are some wedding vendors that help make this happen: Outside the Box Events, Vincent’s Flowers, Simply Elegant by Raymond, and TNT Photobooth. Oh, and my favorite part was the BAND that came from Austin! RadioStar was an amazing 80’s band and kept the party going to the end! The wedding took place around 7 pm and it was perfect lighting! The sun was going down and allowed for me to have just enough time to shoot the wedding, group formals and some fun bride and groom shots! I love outdoor weddings and it seems that I have done so many this year. i think that I have had 5 and that is a good number for Texas! Amber and Brady are so much fun to take pictures of and it was easy to be their photographer. I have spent some time getting to know them even though they live out of town. This just shows that you don’t need to be in the same city to book your photographer! I traveled to their ranch to shoot their engagement pictures this past spring and then I was in Austin for their pre-wedding photos that you can see here. This was more of a project but it was fun getting to hang out with them. I think that this is really important before the weddings because this allows me to get to know the bride and groom on a deeper level. So lets see the wedding! Have a happy 4th of July! I am heading off to the Lake tomorrow so see you next week.

oh wow! this wedding was amazing….and organic! i loved shooting every second of this wedding. the bride and groom were so wonderful and it was a perfect day! the wedding took place in camp verde, texas. the bride and groom are from austin but decided to get married out at the brides family ranch which was the perfect spot for a wedding. the flowers were beautiful, the scenery was just right, the food was amazing, and the dj was kicking the dance floor up. one of my favorite moments of the entire day was their first dance. i don’t know what it was that happened…the song? or just the love that you felt between the two? but i almost started to shed some tears…and that is crazy! they danced to this song and it was so sweet! the words are touching…”Our house, is a very, very, very fine house. With two cats in the yard, Life used to be so hard, Now everything is easy ’cause of you.” take a look at their photos! there were too many to choose from.

I was excited to be featured on the Southern Weddings Blog the other day! I was contacted by them to put Kelli and Nick’s Wedding on their blog and I was thrilled that they loved their wedding so much! What is not to love about their wedding. They had a perfect Austin, Texas affair! I had my friend and photographer Laura {laura kay} shoot this wedding with me so it was fun to have some rocking images together. I have always wanted to shoot with her so that was fun! Maybe there will be more of those weddings to come! Take a look at this article and have fun looking at the fun ideas! Keep up with the blog….there will be some exciting news soon!

well, i am back from maui and i had a blast! it was beautiful in every way. we stayed at the grand wailea at their home rentals and it was beautiful. we had an ocean view and ate dinner outside every night! it was wonderful and i was enjoying every minute that i forgot to blog well, i did think about it but it did not happen! i do not think that a blog entry will suffice in summing up my vacation but i can show you some fun pictures that i took and fill you in on some fun activities that i did. a lot happened in 7 days and it flew by too fast. here are a few items that were on my list: went surfing, drove on the road to hana, sat on the beach, drove in our jeep to fun beaches, looked at plants, ate at mama’s fish house, went sea kayaking with ron bass, jumped in a waterfall pool, hiked (a little), ate some mangos, drank from a coconut, attended a luau at the feast at lele watched stella play lots, laughed a lot with my husband, swam in the amazing hotel pool, went to bed early, made sand castles on big beach, tried to swim at big beach (almost died!), and much more! i have to say that it was a fun vacation and i can’t wait to go on many more.

here is the view from our balcony

josh’s dream home. i thought it was a fun ride. wonder if it runs on vegetable oil?

our first morning on the island. it was around 6 am. stella was up at 3 am!

here is a shot of the volcanic rock left behind from the volcano. there were tons of rocks and little vegetation.

stella loved to ride in the jeep! we were going up and down some hills.

surfing for the first time. it was fun! big wake huh? photo credits to john and sol photography.

big beach looks beautiful but it is scary out there in the water!

an after dinner ride with the best friend.

self portrait on the road to hana

stella is enjoying herself at a waterfall

me again! just seeing if you guys are reading this! it is not me…just a local surfer on a lunch break!

my little assistant! she loves to take photos!

we are here!  what an amazing place.  i can not believe the views that are in front of me.  we are staying at an amazing hotel/villa and it is beautiful!  i got to go surfing today for the first time and it was so fun, josh and i got up on our board on the first swell.  it was amazing.  i walked away with a minor injury to my knee but other than that i was in heaven.  what a work out.  no one need to go to the gym when you have the ocean.  i can see why they all have wonderful bodies here! stella is having a wonderful time too.  she took to the ocean pretty well.  it was funny seeing her run away from the waves at the first visit!  she thought the ocean was going to eat her.  well, i wanted to blog to let you all know that i am here and will be gone for a week.  i will get back to working when i return! here are a few snap shots from our time here. more photos of us soon.  i am having too much fun to work!

nicole was a blushing bride and eduardo was… is there a term for a blushing groom? if there was one he would be it! these two were so fun to photograph. not only were they easy going but they were completely in love. they got married on may 3rd at st. anne’s catholic church and had a lovely ceremony. their reception was held at the courtyard at st. james and was beautiful. here are some of my favorite images from the day.

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it has been 6 straight weekends in a row that i have shot a wedding. two weddings in one weekend for one of the weekends. i have to admit it was crazy but fun! i realized a couple of things during this this time…

1. texas is really hot.

2. every wedding is unique and different! there are lots of similar traditions, but not one wedding feels the same.

3. i love what i do.

4. i love capturing the first dance!

5. i love taking pictures of the bride and groom alone.

6. i love a free weekend with stella and josh because i have yet to have one with them for 6 weekends!

this weekend we did nothing! i love that. i have gone to bed early and hung out with stella and josh lots. it is always fun to not have to go anywhere and do anything. this weekend we played outside and had fun. josh decided to climb this massive 100 year old tree in our back yard to hang a swing. i got to help! take a look at these funny picture. i was in my pjs that morning belaying my hubby. there were only a few minor scrapes from this challenge. my sister paige took most of the pictures of us climbing. i was not going to risk his life to document this. paiges boy friend ellis was over too… stella loves playing with them.

yesterday i went to see the movie sex and the city with my friend. it was one of the best movies that i have seen in a long time! i was hoping that i would not be too far gone during the movie because i did not start watching sex and the city until after the show was over. i rented a couple of seasons at the movie store and found that they were wonderful! so i was excited to see what the movie was like. i encourage all of you to go see this movie for the fashion, friends, and the wonderful lessons learned. take a look at sarah jessica parker as a bride. she is stunning. i also love how her bridesmaids are all different colors. that part of the movie was funny. they started calling the girls by their color instead of their names. brace yourselves for a 2 hour and 15 minute ride of excitement. it was pure bliss to be watching this movie. you will be sure to have lots of laughs.

ok, so i have to write a bit on what i prefer that brides and grooms think about before the wedding day. it is not that i expect any of you to do this (i highly encourage them). these are just ideas for you to think about and maybe it will change your mind to see your groom prior too the “i do’s”. i have been shooting weddings for over 5 years now and during these years i have seen lots of weddings and have though of some ways to make the day run more smoothly. it is not bad if you choose not to do these tips, i just feel that there are some ways to make your day easier and most people don’t think about these things while planning the wedding. it also helps for wonderful photos for the ceremony, formals and the bride and groom shots!

1. plan your wedding ceremony time according to the time of year it is. the reason i want you to look closely into this is because during the fall the time changes and it gets dark really early in the day. when it is dark this only leads us to shoot lots indoors. it is really hard to capture the amazing bride and groom shots when we don’t have any natural light. i love natural light and it makes for some great photos. take advantage of the god given sun!

2. if you see each other before the wedding then this will help reduce the time that you have to spend taking pictures after the ceremony. also, the churches these days only allow for 15 minutes of photos after the ceremony. it is really difficult to get everyone together in that amount of time. it can be done but most of the time the bride is frustrated because the family is slow getting together. also, couples are anxious to get to the reception! i don’t blame them…but this cuts down on the time that we could be taking pictures of you to and making memories for a life time. it also is nice because you do not keep hungry guests waiting for you to arrive to eat. you could save money and not have a cocktail hour! if we arrive and have time to shoot for one hour with the bride and groom that will leave us to be relaxed and ready to capture the action of the reception and not worry about all of the formals and making sure we catch the bride and groom alone after the ceremony. really, all you want to do is relax and not worry about more photos!

3. you will not have to run around screaming for uncle joe and aunt sue for family photos. it is a lot easier to give people an exact time for family photos. here is what happens most of the time: after the vows are said and the people exit the church, half of the family honestly forgets that there are pictures to be taken. they are so excited to see friends that they simply forgot that they were on call for family photos. make it easy on the guests and everyone meet before the wedding!

4. know that you don’t want to see each other before the wedding. lets take pictures soon after the wedding all dressed up again! this will be fun and you will not have to stress out about the day at all! and who wants to worry about getting your dress dirty. there is a option to do a shoot after the wedding.

5. getting married outside: this is fun! just make sure that you don’t plan for a sunset service if you are not seeing each other before. most weddings run slightly behind and you would not want to have a dark wedding! no one would see you unless you brought in tons of lights. it is hard to take pictures in the dark…and we love the bride and groom shots!

6. schedule more than 20 minutes with the photographer to shoot the bride and groom photos. you will be happy you did in the long run.

all of this said, your wedding day is special and the easier it is to capture great photos the better! we want you to have the best day ever and to capture that on film in the best way possible. here are some photos from a wedding shot last month. sarah and james chose to get married in a wonderful place called the alden hotel and they chose to see each other before the wedding! it was really fun to take photos of them before hand and i don’t think it took away from the two seeing each other at the ceremony. here are a few vendors: belles and beaux bridal consulting, and events in bloom.

here is georgia on her 1st birthday! i am so lucky that i got the chance to see her on her big day. i have been taking pictures of her since she was a couple days old… and now she is one. it was a fun photo shoot with her. we got to play with balloons, her toys, her big fluffy dog, and make silly faces. she is a beautiful baby and what a blessing. these past months have been trying for this little one and her family. they found a tumor in her chest and had to remove it and all sorts of things that you never want to hear were heard these past months. now, hopes are high and tests came back clear! praise the lord for that. please keep her in your prayers! it makes me stop and think about why i love what i do. i love to capture emotion, life and just the joy that we sometimes forget to see. i could just cry when i got to capture georgia and her mom loving on each other, it made me want to run home to stella and kiss her forever. it made me want to have more patience and love life more. life is too short people! we are all caught up in this thing called life and we get frustrated about little things that will not matter. i am great about doing this! we just need to stop and give kisses to each other and be thankful for all that we are blessed with….hopefully i get to capture a piece of it.