Lauren and Bryan's Wedding

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Every once in a while I get the awesome opportunity to work with close family friends of mine.  I always consider it a gift to be able to do this.  It is so much fun to see and photograph people that I've known for most of my life.

So, when Lauren first contacted me, and said she was going to be marrying a Frazier, I was honored and excited they had contacted me.  I've known Bryan and his family for as long as I can remember.

From our engagement session at Minute Maid Park to Lauren's Bridals at Rice University, and through the big day, I had so much fun working with Lauren and Bryan.

One of the highlights of the night was when the Frazier family band took over the stage.  It was awesome!

Here are some of my favorites from the day.  Thanks, Lauren and Bryan, for having me to photograph y'all's wedding day!

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

Elise and David's Wedding

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In August of 2010, Elise and David married at the Lakeway Resort and Spa outside of Austin, TX.  You might remember Elise from her bridal portraits on the UT campus.  Elise and David are both so much fun to be around.  They're both such joyful people, and if you spend about two minutes with them, you'll know that they are obviously in love!
Here are some of my favorite images from the day, I hope y'all will enjoy.

 

Elise and David used Central Market for their cakes, Lakeway Resort and Spa for the venue and food, Bouquets of Austin for the flowers, and Sound Source Entertainment for lighting and a DJ.

 

 

Katie and Patrick's Santa Fe Wedding

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Over the weekend of July 10th, Katie and Patrick tied the knot in Santa Fe, NM with friends and family by their sides.  The ceremony and reception were held at El Encantado Resort right outside of downtown Santa Fe.  It was a beautiful wedding day, and the reception was a blast.  The Patrick Smith Band brought the house down with their awesome sound, while Andrea Soorikian created beautiful bouquets, floral arrangements and an elegant and unique setting for the celebration.  Make up artist, Monica Stark, did a wonderful job, and Keely Thorne and Emily of Keely Thorne Events coordinated the weekend's events beautifully.

My work started on the Wednesday before the wedding, when Katie and Patrick met with me in Lamy, NM, a small town about 15 minutes outside of Santa Fe.  Back in the day, when you'd travel to Santa Fe by train, you'd have to come through Lamy to catch the spur into Santa Fe.  Today, there's not much left of the town, just the train station (which is still operating), and the old Legal Tender Saloon, which is a museum now.  I thought it would make a neat setting for what we would be doing...TINTYPES! 

If you've read my blog before, you might have seen me mentioning tintypes.  I took some for Kate and Garner's engagement photos in front of an old historic home in Chappell Hill, TX.  The tintype process was developed in the mid-1800s, and is an antique photo process in which one photographs directly onto sheet metal.  It is a labor intensive process, with many factors, and you must have a darkroom ON SITE to process and fix the photo immediately after exposing it.  The tintype cannot be replicated, it is a totally unique image, which is a strange way to photograph in today's digital world.  However, there is a certain beauty in that idea.  In a later post I will show some of the tintypes that I took of John Boland, an art director at the Andrew Smith Gallery in Santa Fe.  He also took some photographs of me working, and I'll be sure to post those also.

Anyhow, Katie and Patrick spent several hours working with me in this process, and I've posted two of the tintypes we took during the day.

Here are my favorite images from the weekend, including the tintypes we took.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Kate and Garner's Wedding, Part 1

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In mid-May, Kate and Garner had a beautiful wedding in Brenham, TX.  It was a very special wedding for me to photograph, as Kate's family and my wife's family have known each other for a long time.  Kate and Regan grew up together, and Kate's mom was actually one of my pre-school teachers!  It was a fun weekend, and I enjoyed watching Kate and Garner celebrate their marriage amongst good friends and family.  

Here is part one of their wedding, with another post coming soon from the reception.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anna and Luke's Wedding

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I had so much fun photographing Anna and Luke on their wedding day.  I knew Luke from The University of Texas, where we were both Texas Cowboys together.  When he gave me a call last year and told me that he and his fiance, Anna, were interested in my photography, I was really honored and excited.  I've really enjoyed getting to know Anna better.  She and Luke are both a lot of fun to be around, and are wonderful people.

One of the things I really like about my job is that I get to meet family!  I get to sit down with the bride and groom, hear about the wedding and plan all of the photography.  And through it all, and of course on the wedding day, I get to witness all of the family together, interacting on such and important and exciting day.  Often times people wonder about the stress...they want to know if I've seen dramatic things come up because of the stress of the day.  But that's never happened.  It has always been a beautiful thing, a sweet interaction between father and daughter, son and mother, etc.  I think it is very neat that I am able to witness this, to capture it in photographs.  It is extra special when I know the bride and groom well, like I do Anna and Luke.

Anyhow, Anna and Luke had a beautiful wedding.  They married at First United Methodist Church in downtown Austin, then shuttled over to The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum! All I can say is how cool!  The museum looked awesome, the lighting was spectacular, and the band was superb, to say the least.  Anna and Luke got to dine with Bob himself (see photo below, "God Bless Texas.").  And the Texas Cowboys cannon sat peacefully outside (unfortunately we didn't get to hear it sound).

Anna and Luke pulled away in a classic car, with the state capitol behind them.  It was a wonderful night.  Hope you enjoy the photos.