The Knot Best of Weddings 2012 Pick

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We are proud to annouce that Chris Bailey Photography has been rated by local brides and voted The Knot Best of Weddings 2012 Pick.  Thanks so much for your support!

 

 

Savannah Bridal Shoot

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In July I did a bridal shoot in Savannah, Georgia.  Wormsloe Plantation and Bethesda were kind enough to let us shoot at their stunning locations.  Bethesda is "the oldest child caring institution in the country," established in 1740.  The history is so incredible in this great city, and I love the oaks and moss everywhere.  Enjoy!

Back in the office, and hitting the ground running!

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After an epic road trip to Savannah, Georgia, with stops in Biloxi/Gulfport, MS, and New Orleans, LA, I returned to the office middle of last week with thousands of images to sort through, and senior portrait shoots galore!  The trip was wonderful.  First stop was for a beautiful wedding in Gulfport.  After that I continued onto Savannah where I shot some bridal portraits under the iconic old oaks and moss of the South.  On the way back to Houston, I stopped in New Orleans to photograph an off-shore facility for Tana Exploration, an oil and gas company based in the Woodlands, TX.  After a hot day photographing the various activities at the facility, I flew out in a helicopter, and was able to take some ariels of their facilities that afternoon, before heading to their Lafayette offices the following day.  It was an exciting couple of weeks, and a neat opportunity to cover a wide variety subjects!

The above photo was taken at the Wormsloe Plantation in Savannah, GA.

Kate's Bahamian Bachorlette Bash

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In February I traveled to the Bahamas to photograph Kate over her bachelorette party weekend.  Kate and her friends had traveled to an island called Green Turtle Cay, and I met up with them for a couple of fun days.  We had such a great time hanging out and getting some fun pictures.

On my second day there, we boarded a boat that left from Brendall's Dive Shop.  Brendall is world famous for his dive tours and his delicious cooking.  Brendall himself was our captain, and we set out with our snorkel gear ready for the day.  I of course had my cameras.

What followed was some of the most beautiful snorkeling I have ever done.  We found a large reef that was full of incredible wildlife.  Shark, stingray, barracuda, and all sorts of colorful fish swam around us.  Some of the girls even saw some baby sea turtles.  While we snorkeled, Brendall swam around and gathered lobsters for us.  It was incredible to see him work.  He would hold his breath and dive down, searching out the nooks and crannies for lobster.  As you can see in the photos below, he caught us a feast!

When we were worn out from snorkeling, we headed back to the boat to break out the rum punches.  Brendall returned with his catch, and took us to a beautiful stretch of beach on a small neighboring island.  We unloaded, and walked the beach, finding an abundance of sand dollars and starfish.  While we enjoyed the waters and wildlife, and took some photos, Brendall was hard at work cooking up an awesome lunch.  After about 45 minutes, he blew his whistle for us to return and eat.  I have never tasted anything more delicious in my life!

We returned that evening late hoping to take some bridals of Kate.  Kate had brought her short wedding dress, one that she was going to change into in the middle of the night at her wedding.  We only had about 5 minutes to shoot before we lost all light, so we moved quickly and got a couple keepers.  The next morning we woke up for sunrise to get some more photos of Kate in her dress.

Here are some of my favorite photos from an incredible weekend in the Bahamas.

Thanks Kate for everything!

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

Senior Portrait Favorites from 2009

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Well, I've been meaning to make this post for a long time, so here we go.  Here are a few of my favorite Senior Portraits from 2009...

 

Senior Portraits specials will begin in May, so stay tuned after the spring!

To come, I had a wonderful afternoon taking Erin and Daniel's engagement portraits at Herman Park and the Museum area.  We had a lot of fun, and got some great photos.  I'll be posting some of those soon!