dreaming of a bigger hole in my backyard.

i am loving every moment with our sweet boy.  he has me wrapped around his finger already and is certainly a mama's boy.  so blessed to have him in our lives!  here are a few snapshots that i took on day 9. 

Kim and Zak had a DIY wedding in Dallas, Texas that was beautiful!  The best part about this wedding was that it had perfect details that fit who Kim and Zak were!  They are both creative spirits and they, including the wedding party had every little detail made by hand.  The bride even learned how to felt so she could make a custom cake topper.  I was sure that they could all start their own event planning business.  My eyes were in creative heaven to see the aqua and red designs unfold throughout the day!  A special thanks to Lauren for assisting me.  Congrats to Kim and Zak...

Getting ready at The Joule Hotel




The wonderful details the wedding party provided.  I love the old fashioned straws that were placed in blue jelly cars. The flowers were provided by Tami with The Blooming Bride.

A family friend and WONDERFUL baker, Terri Edrich provided the yummy cupcakes and the brides handmade cake topper was a hit!
 

I am happy to feature one of my amazing vendors this week.  If you are a bride who has received your wedding album you have likely worked with Katie at KruBooks.  She is my album designer who has been amazing this year in designing all of my wedding albums.  Katie has had a passion for album design for a long time and wanted to make that into a full time job...in 2007 she made that happen and started KruBooks.  Her work shows her passion for her job, plus, she is amazing to work with.  Here is a recent wedding she designed for Oscar and Jessica! I think it turned out wonderful and I know that they will love it!  Click on the slideshow link to view the full album! 

this week i was able to attend a workshop to better my skills as a photographer.  i highly recommend pushing yourself to do things that make you a better photographer.  this workshop was amazing and it really spoke to me in how i will be spending my whole life learning about photography...and pushing myself further.  zack arias is a great teacher and really pushes you!  here are some images that i shot from the day shoot.  thanks to mark and tracy for being our beautiful models.

this wedding was sweet and beautiful!  laura and susie two met 6 years ago through a job and fell in love quickly.  they moved to maine to work and knew that this is where they would be married.  these two were fun brides and I learned that it sure does take a lot longer for two brides to get ready.  we shot along the coast of maine and in a national forest prior to the ceremony and it was beautiful (minus the rain).  the reception was held at a beautiful home with an attached barn where they had an early dinner with friends and family.  this misty wedding day was a beautiful affair.

stella is going to turn 4 this year and we thought it may be time for a second one in the family.  well, we found out a couple of weeks earlier that we were in fact expecting a number 2!  i am excited about this new chapter in our lives.  it will be fun for stel to have a friend to play with and most likely boss around.  i think that she is tired of playing with her imaginary friends.  this morning she told me about her new little mouse friend that she was talking to!  any guesses on what the gender will be?  here are my cravings: veggies, fruit, salty snacks, root beer, and lots more!  no morning sickness is a plus too.  here is a link to the video (it was fun to see the heart beat and little "b" moving.

meet katie and her family. we have been the best of friends for 6 years now.  katie is a wonderful mom and is in the business of selling houses and you may have seen her shooting weddings with me on the weekends if you are a bride.  their family is very special to me and i have been blessed to capture both births of her girls and now her sweet family of four.  their family and my photos have also been seen in the texas children's hospital ad campaign.  if you are having a baby at TCH, their face may be familiar! enjoy.

if you have a wedding on a day where there are sunny skies, pouring rain and a rainbow, i think you are most likely going to have a wonderful life.  jessica and oscars day was simply elegant.  everything was perfect!  thanks to scot wharton for second shooting this wedding with me!  fun times.

here are some details from their wedding:
getting ready at hotel icon
ceremony at the co-cathedral of the sacred heart
reception at the rice hotel's crystal ballroom

one thing that i loved about this wedding was that we were able to spend a lot of time with the bride and groom after the wedding.  they had an early ceremony so we made sure to get some shots of them without rushing to the party!  it is a great way to enjoy your day!

chrissy and bucky were married in galveston on july 11th.  the ceremony was held at an old historic church that withstood the hurricane of 1900.  this was the hurricane that wiped the island clean. 

these two have been living in london for their jobs and made it back to get married!  their wedding reception was held at the hotel galvez.

wedding planner:  valerie with belle of the ball.

neha and mohit's part two is rather lengthy.  this consists of the pre ceremony and ceremony shots.  the baraat is a marriage procession. it is customary for the groom to travel to the brides on a horse.  this event is spectacular with lots of singing, laughter and dancing and mohit could not have worn a bigger smile on his face. 

the ceremony took place at the houstonian.  after the ceremony they have a final good bye and the father of the groom and his family escort the bride out to say good bye.  this was one of the most emotional experiences i have ever seen.  the bride is parting from her family and joining her husbands.  it was very moving.

neha and mohit were married on a summer day in june with the party lasting 4 festive days.  we were there from the start and thrilled to be a part of their wedding.  this was such an amazing experience since it was my first EVER indian wedding! it is like a fresh canvas to me. learning about their culture and the love they shared was beautiful.  the wedding was planned by ann whittington, who did a fabulous job. the entire wedding was perfectly orchestrated - leaving NO detail left untouched.

neha was surrounded by family and close friends during her 2-day pre-wedding festivities.  mohit celebrated with his family and then first saw neha at the ceremony.  the hindu wedding celebration is focused on rituals and centered around family. deeply rooted in tradition, the colors and sounds of this event were truly a unique experience AND the food was to die for!

neha wore two amazing and elaborate dresses; one for the ceremony and another for the reception. she was a stunning bride.  all of her attire and the details were brought in from india. check out all of the amazing colors from the family/guests. many kudos to neha and her mom for all of their hard work in the planning, too!

the wedding brought lots of joy and also some sorrow in watching their oldest daughter part from their family, which was very touching. this post will come in 3 OR 4 parts since i can not put all of them together in just one!  to start, i'll introduce the bride and groom, and then the festivities leading up to the ceremony.  enjoy.

here are a few more vendors that we enjoyed working with:

video :: alex from elysium productions
make up :: leslie wright
florist :: plants 'n petals
catering :: udipi cafe
dj :: yogi
cake :: susie's cakes
henna :: anju garg

here are some beautiful shots that we took on monday with christi and jeff.  they are having a very small wedding on saturday with family and close friends.  although i cannot be their for their wedding day, we still got to do a session with them!  christi wanted me to take photos of them before their wedding this weekend!  she was so brave to work with me in her dress less than a week before!  we even had her standing right next to mud and water!  this weekend i wish you all the best! have a happy wedding day! 

this song is so real for me.  so simple...and touching.   i heard it for the first time back in college, (a time when life was raw and reflective) laying in my bunk bed at young life camp.  ryan long was introduced to me at camp (summer of 2000) and i fell in love with his songs.   one song in particular really stuck out to me and i could not help but imagine my own daughter in it.  very strange because i did not know my daughter... but i would dream of her. don't most girls dream of their life with a family?!

friday afternoon (summer 2009) we were out taking photos of my sister and her belly.  stella wanted to put on her new dress on that my mom had bought her and tag along with us.  she was a sight to see.  my little princess had her shoes on backwards, her face was dirty and she wanted to be in on all the action!

it was not this day that i remembered my thoughts about stella and this song - but something did feel real when i snapped this photo of her running with flowers in her hand while she held her dress up.   to finally know my daughter...and remember this song.  very moving for me.

for the past couple of weeks my sister has been in town visiting from north carolina. we had her down for a baby shower earlier this month and it has been good to hang out with her before she has a baby.  we get to meet her baby bane in 6 weeks!  before she headed back home we thought we would grab some shots of her and her belly.  i wanted to do something besides the pull up your shirt and smile shots. :) imagine that!  here are some fun ones that we grabbed.

i can't wait for stella to have a boy cousin to play with!  she will need one to play with for those holiday's together cause we all know i am not having one any time soon! :)

who knew that starting at a sticky farmers market would be perfect for this couple!  i had it in me to think outside of the box and find a different spot to shoot (never shot at before) when i woke up. before sessions i like to gather some facts about the couple, understand what they enjoy together,  so i have some ideas flowing....but we did not get that far.   we had a get to know you session in the car on the way to the location!  the first thing that they mentioned that they do together is eat! i keep talking trying to ask them more.... then they threw out that they backpacked throughout asia together!  i was so excited the car was going towards the direction of the farmers market.  it would be more than perfect to shoot there and i knew it would bring back some good memories from their travels.  i had a wonderful time hanging out with them and trying to avoid the summer heat!  here are some from their hot day!

i am excited to announce that we are hiring at bsp!  the time has come where we need some help around the studio.  we are looking for an organized and self motivated studio manager with client service experience!

must have OR be...
- excellent verbal and written communication skills
- detail oriented
- punctual
- transportation to/from the studio and other errands
- working knowledge of mac os x (leopard) > specifically mail,
address book, calendar, ftp (fetch), and photoshop

responsibilities include...
- day to day managing of studio
- client inquiries (both phone and email)
- scheduling photo shoots
- receipt management
- mailing of packages (both client/vendor) and other random errands
- ftp images to hosting company
- image backup
- working with album designer on design workflow

part time (20 hrs/wk). prefer tues/weds/thurs, but flexible.

please email resume, 2 referrals, and a short paragraph on what traits you would bring to our studio that someone else might not . also, please include your favorite beverage!

sometimes life gets so busy that i forget to breath.  i am often thinking about how precious this time is here on earth and feel as though it goes by way too fast.  and sometimes i am numb to life and the daily interactions that i have.  i hate it when that happens!  these past two weeks i have felt alive and it has been amazing.  to start off my first week, i shot a 20 hour indian wedding that was beautiful and full of rituals and family.  i have never felt more bonded to a family after a wedding.  i guess when i are standing next to the bride, groom and their parents for 20 hours, you get the feeling that you know them and it is really special.  the food was amazing too! my point is that this wedding was full of life and made me realize how special family, friends, and traditions are in our lives. after my wedding on saturday, i flew out to midland to get together with my new friends (13 women). i have been planning this trip for some time now and it was a complete success and i could not believe how perfect the trip turned out to be!  it is always a little nerve racking to invite people to a retreat not knowing most of them!  we had the best time and a few tears were shed when we had to depart.  i could not have asked for a better time away!  check out the marfa[trip] blog to see where we went!

after processing my week with these amazing women, i have realized that my glass is flowing over.....i am feeling alive and blessed. i encourage everyone of you to find a group of girls or guys that you can share yourselves with.  it is the greatest thing to know that you are similar to someone.  i will miss the late night rendezvous and the deep conversations that took place.  i look forward to the next trip and the things that will take place. 

here are some shots from one of the nights.  we drove down to the prada marfa store after our dinner.  i want a pair of those amazing kicks.  good thing there was only one left shoe in the store, it kept me from breaking the glass to go in and get some!

this first shot is taken of a large semi truck driving by.  you get a tiny piece of the wheel on the right side of the shot.