New York

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In December, my wife and I got to travel with my family to New York for a little vacation.  It was Regan's first time to visit New York, and was the first time that I got to really experience the city.  I had been to the city on a couple other occasions (once to shoot photography for my brother's thesis on Jazz music...which was a pretty cool experience), but had never really gotten the chance to roam around the city, see shows, eat at resturants, etc.  The trip was amazing, and I loved our time in New York.  I brought along my old Nikon F5, and shot several rolls of film (mostly Ilford Delta 400 black and white).  It felt good to shoot black and white film again.

Regan and I got back and were like, "We've got to get back to New York again soon!"  Well, several weeks ago I got a call from a fellow photographer here in Houston, and it looks like I'll be heading back to New York to do some work with her!

Here are some of my favorites from our trip in December.

This is probably my favorite photo from the trip, I took this one outside of Macy's while Regan shopped.  I just sat at a street corner and tried to find interesting people as they crossed the street.  As soon as I saw this guy and got this shot, I knew I had what I was looking for.

Another one of my favorites.  On our bus ride into the city from Newark airport, we stopped right next to a school bus.  I spotted this kid staring up into the sky out of his window.  That is probably what I looked like most of the bus ride in, looking up at all of the incredible buildings that surrounded us!

My mom and dad.  Mom is going to get mad at me for this one, I'm afraid, because her eyes are closed.  However, this was the only photo that I had of her from the trip (I think she purposely eludes my camera...).  But I actually like it, it is kind of a light, fun moment...it has a good feel to it.

I never got the hang of the Subways.  My brother's wife, Alice, was a pro, and lucky for me, Regan got us from one spot to another when it was just the two of us.

Our awesome view from where we stayed.  Central Park was right outside our window...about 30+ stories down...

A visit to the Empire State Buidling was a lot of fun.

Looking down from the Empire State Building

These were the guards at the Empire State Building.  They did not like being photographed.  There was another guard that I really wanted to photograph, and I almost got the shot I wanted.  He saw me and just said, "NO" and turned away.  I snuck this one in from a bit further way, before he could notice.

I wish we could have stayed at the top longer.  The people were neat to watch, and the light was beautiful.  However, we had to get back to the apartment to get ready for a show, so I left some photos untaken.

This was a pretty funny moment, and I couldn't pass up taking a photograph.  These two guys were loaded down after a shopping spree at Hollister.  Nothing against Hollister, these just weren't the same guys from their ads...

This series is of my brother, Joe.  He grew out a mustache for Movember, and was looking pretty cool.  Joe and his wife, Alice live in Austin.  Joe is now a film maker...check out what he's been working on here.  He has co-directed a documentary film titled Incendiary that will be debuting at SXSW this March in Austin.

Joe's wife, Alice.

My beautiful wife, Regan, laughing with Alice.

Lauren's Bridal Portraits

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In August, I had a great time taking Lauren's bridal portraits at Rice University.  In September, she and Bryan married at the Cohen House on Rice campus (which is where we did some of these photos).  I'll be posting about their weddding next, but I wanted to start it off with a couple of my favorites from Lauren's bridal shoot.

A quick shout out to a job well done by Point2Point Movers

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About a month ago my wife and I moved into our first house.  We are very excited to have some more space and a yard for  Georgia, our 90 pound dog.  I have some space to print and work in at home, which is very nice because I recently bought an Epson 9900 printer!  It is HUGE...the printer itself is over 70" long, and it can print giant 44" wide prints!  I've wanted to own one of these for a long time, as much of my personal photography work is taken with large format cameras, and I enjoy being able to print large prints full of rich detail.  To my wife's joy, this monster printer wouldn't fit upstairs where I office, so it now lives in our back room!  Thank you, sweetie!  Luckily it goes really well with all sorts of furniture... ; )

Anyhow, the real reason I'm posting is to give a shout out to the moving company that we used, Point2Point (http://www.point2pointmoving.com/).  An old friend of mine and my wife, John Shaeffer, opened this business after graduating from UT, and they are the most professional, careful and efficient movers I've ever worked with.  The movers were extremely friendly and trustworthy, and we were so impressed with them.

They did an awesome job transferring my new printer.  I was very concerned about handling this machine.  It weighs several hundred pounds, and must remain absolutely level during transport (otherwise the ink could spill and require an expensive clean).  The Point2Point movers were so careful, and did a wonderful job.  They treated the printer (and all of our other things) as if they were their own.  If they can handle this beast of a printer, and move it perfectly, they can handle anything!

Point2Point does a lot of work with designers here in Houston, so they have a great reputation, and know how to handle anything, from cheap to very expensive, fragile to rugged.  After they left we walked through the house and there wasn't a single mark on the walls...they were so careful and respectful.  And, one more plus...they are priced very competitively!

Thanks, John for an awesome and easy move.  We will certainly be recommending you to everyone we know.  Here is their website again:  http://www.point2pointmoving.com/

Here's the beast...

Elise's Bridal Portraits- The University of Texas Architecture Library

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This past weekend, Elise and David tied the knot in Lakeway, TX, outside of Austin.  The wedding was held at the Lakeway Resort and Spa, and was absolutely beautiful!  With Lake Travis in view, the happy couple married in front of their family and friends.

I've been waiting anxiously to post these online, and now that Elise and David are married, I finally can!  In June, I took Elise's Bridal Portraits on the University of Texas campus.  We began our shoot in the Architecture Library, one of the most beautiful spots on campus.  The library is an incredible space, and Elise looked gorgeous in her dress!  After the library, we headed outside for some photos by the tower.

Here are some of my favorites from Elise's Bridal Portrait session.  Photos from the wedding to come soon...


Santa Fe At Last!

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Well, after two long days of traveling, I'm finally here!  And man, it's good!  Santa Fe is so beautiful, and there is so much I love about spending time here.  The food, the weather, the beautiful scenery everywhere, all of the different people, the art...I'm lucky to be spending some time here this week!

I've come for Katie and Patrick's wedding, which will be held this weekend at the El Encantado Resort.  It is going to be absolutely stunning.  I've come early to take some tintypes of Katie and Patrick.  We've got a shoot early tomorrow in a little town south of Santa Fe called Lamy.  Back in the day you used to have to come through Lamy to catch the train into Santa Fe.  There is an old bar called the Legal Tender, and the train station still runs trips into Santa Fe.  I'm looking forward to a fun morning of photographs tomorrow!

I'll try and post some throughout the week with photographs.  Thought I'd share some from tonight (see below).  I had plans of heading south of town tonight towards Galisteo for sunset, but when I got to my room after spending all day on the road, I decided getting back in the car to drive again was not what I needed to do!  Instead I got settled, then grabbed my camera and headed out to walk around town.  Ended up finding a cool live music concert on the square.  Listened to some music and watched as the light got better and better.  It was wonderful.  Then headed over to the Coyote Cafe for dinner, and ate on the rooftop.  The sunset was incredible.  The whole time while I was eating and watching the sun set, I was feeling guilty that I didn't hit the road to photograph in Galisteo.  O well, more beautiful sunsets to come.

After dinner I returned to my room to find two musicians playing a violin and cello on the street outside my window.  How pleasant that I get to open my windows and listen to them as I write this post. 

Time to rest.  I look forward to a beautiful morning of tintypes and photos with Katie and Patrick tomorrow.

 

 

This is how I arrived to my room.  The door was lit up beautifully by the sun.  What a wonderful way to be welcomed.

 

 

 

 

 

Anna's Bridal Portraits

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We took these bridal portraits of Anna in March, before it started getting so dang hot!  Anna and Luke married in mid-May in Austin, TX (pictures from their big day coming soon...), so we decided we'd do the bridal portraits in Austin as well.  We discussed several different locations, but decided to start at Laguna Gloria, and end at the Texas State Capitol.

Laguna Gloria is an ideal place to take bridal portraits.  There are so many places to photograph, both inside and outside.  The grounds around the main building are perfectly kept, and inside there is plenty of warm, beautiful window light.  This site was the original home of the Austin Museum of Art, and is still owned and operated by the museum.

Anna looked gorgeous in her dress, and we had fun working with everything Laguna Gloria and the Capitol had to offer us.  Here are some of my favorites from the shoot.

I'll be posting soon about their beautiful wedding day.  Stay tuned...