Wish me luck!!

This past week I got wind of a photo contest for the magazine called F-Stop and this month the theme is Focus. Well, since you all know how much I love my Lensbaby, I decided to limit my submissions to nothing but my Lensbaby shots. The prize for this contest is a new Lensbaby (the step up from the one that I have), a write up in their October issue and some serious bragging rights. This is not by any means the only photo contest that I have entered my images in and hopefully I will do just as good as I have in the past!

I don't call myself a Prize Winning Photographer for nothing ;)

Wish me luck!

We were allowed to enter up to 12 images ... I entered 10 and they are as follows ...

Brian & Morgan Box!

Yesterday was the wedding of Morgan and Brian Box and let me tell ya, the day was absolutely perfect! The weather was picture perfect,the River Rock Ranch venue was beautiful and the entire wedding party was a blast to be with. Between Morgans infectious laugh and Brian's crazy groomsmen, I can honestly say that I have never laughed so much at a wedding party! What a fun group! The only thing that I didn't like about the night was that it had to come to an end :)

Here's a few of my favorite images that I'd like to share with you!

Run baby run!!

I took my kids downtown this weekend to enjoy a car show in front of the Alamo. Now THAT was cool to see! There were cars from the 1920's all the way up to our current time ... this must be the week of flashbacks for me! This is about the 3rd shot that I have the pleasure to attend and because of them I have created quite a collection of car pics to add to my library! I took all of these with my very favorite and very specialized Lens Baby, which you all know by know that I LOVE this little lens!

First, let me start off by showing you a shot of my daughter ... kids just can not resist the urge to run through a flock of birds ;)


And now for a few of my stock car pics ... :)

An Event at La Villita square

Last week I had the rare opportunity to shoot a corporate event for The San Antonio Education Partnership at San Antonio's' charming La Villita square .. what a treat! Sure, it rained on an off the entire week leading up to the event and yes, it even rained for a bit in the morning while the vendors were trying to set up. But, as if on queue the clouds parted, the water dried out and the open air square became the perfect backdrop!

The theme for this party was "Flashback for the Future" and the decor for the night was fittingly 1980's ... WHAT FUN! Guests were entertained with a live band that played nothing but 80's music (Talk about a walk down memory lane!). The tables were decorated with the cutest little glow sticks and Rubik's cubes. The great tasting food was all American with roast, hot dogs and mini burgers. And just to make sure that our Texas roots were not forgotten they opened the night with a class act mariachi band. And no flash back would be complete with out a sparkly clean Delorian parked right out front!

Can you tell I had a good time too ... man, I'm getting dangerously close to showing my age here ;)

Check out these B2S Supplies!

B2S as in Back To School and can you believe all the supplies kids need now-a-days to start off the school year!?!?! It's just crazy! All of this stuff belongs to my 1st & 2nd graders and hopefully the teachers wont spring another list of needed supplies on us come Monday morning! It's times like this that I am so thankful that we only have two kids!

Whoo hoo! School is almost here!

Can you believe it!?!!? Monday is the first day of school! And yes, I can honestly say that I think I am more excited that my kids are :)

It has been a long and busy summer and I will need all the kid-free time to catch up on my processing work. I've got so many slide shows, albums and images to process that it's gonna take me an entire month just to get back up to speed.

But, with all of that in mind I am also going to use the quiet time to re-evaluate my business plan. This is something that I do every fall and every time I do think about things I begin to make some changes ... for the better I hope ;)

First and foremost I am going to dial back the amount of weddings that I take on next year. Don't get me wrong, I love working weddings but I don't enjoy all the time that it takes me away from my friends and family. Working almost 10 Saturdays in a row this summer really took a tole on me, my equipment, my family and not to mention my neglected house chores! Also, all of the time that I needed to devote to these wedding couples took me away from my devoted portrait customers. To those of you who know who you are, I am so very sorry for playing phone and email tag with ya and I have vowed to never let that happen again.

So, with all of these things in mind, by business plan is going to go through some major restructuring, re-pricing, re-scheduling and some fun re-vamping! Keep your eyes peeled and I'll be sure to let you know what is coming up soon :)

The wedding went great!

Well here it is, the Monday after Jennifer and Roberts' wedding and I'm still smiling! Everything was great and I got some killer shots! The newlyweds are off on romantic cruse and won't Be back for a week ... I am so jealous! So even though they wont get to see these pics for a week I can still share them with all of my friends here on my blog. Thanks for looking and enjoy :)

Another day, another wedding!

Yep, today is a day for another wedding ... Jennifer & Robert! I've been working with these two for several months now and I can honestly say that I am looking forward to tonight's wedding! These two are so laid back and relaxed ... today should be a great day! Here's a few shots from the engagement session held at the Botanical Gardens a few months back.

Introducing Robin & Michael!

These two are by far the coolest couple that I have worked with during this wedding season! Talk about a laid back pair that enjoy a laugh or two ... and their families are just as fun! The sweet wedding and reception was held entirely at the awesome Ft Sam Houston Golf Club and they could not have asked for a better place or better weather!

Here's a few of my favorite images from the engagement session, the bridal portrait and of course that day. Enjoy!

Revisiting Lauren & Beau

As promised I am back to share with you some pics from my La Cantera wedding featuring the sweet couple Lauren & Beau. There were so many great photo opps from the great details, beautiful bridesmaids and darling flower girls! In fact, I got so many great shots that I thought it would be best to share them in this simple rolling show ... Enjoy!

My cousin is married!

And he picked the most awesome gall! When they announced that they were gonna get married I insisted on shooting the wedding ... NOBODY was gonna mess up their wedding day pics! Here's a few of the bridals and wedding day detail shots. Isn't she just a doll and complete knock-out!?!?!

Love ya both!!!!!

I am asking for a favor :)

Hello all! I am here to ask you a favor. As part of a personal project I would like you to take a moment and think of 5 words that you think describe my personality. No, you do not need to pass this on, you do not need to wait for me to reply back and no, your computer will not self-destruct in 30 seconds if you don't post your 5 words :)

Like I said, this is a small self project that actually relates to my business (Don't ask!). And don't rack your brains ... just type down the first 5 things that describe my personality (Not my body .. I already know about all my grey hairs and wrinkles thank you very much!) Thanks so much for doing this for me!

Seminars & Workshops Galore!

Wow!!!!! What a ride! That's the best way that I can explain how the last few days have been for me. First off I got lucky enough to got to a very small and intimate workshop with the fantastic John Michael Cooper, A.K.A. The Godfather of Trash the dress. Talk about a great experience. This talented guy was a bundle of energy and excitement that could talk 90 miles per minute ... and it was so awesome to be able to hang on for the ride as he shared with us his views, philosophies and creative insights!

Next, only a few days later I got to attend a totally inspiring seminar hosted by none other than Mr. David Jay and the beautiful Jasmine Star! What an inspiring pair those two are! They are so hyped about what they do and more over they just can't wait to share with you their insights on the photography of business and how everything works together. What fun!

As I am typing this it is after 1 in the morning and I STILL want to learn more and reflect on what I have learned in the past few days! But, since I have to get some much needed rest, I'll just have to call it a night and share more with ya later!

So for now, here's a quick shot I asked to take with David Jay himself! What a treat to get the chance to stand next to such greatness ;)

Another wedding!

And this one was so much fun! Everything ran on time. Everyone was genuinely happy. The families were a dream to be with. The wedding coordinators were on their best game. The folks at the Westin La Cantera were awesome. The bride and groom were in love!

Can you tell that it was a great wedding :)

Here's a quick shot that I grabbed of the couple at their rehearsal dinner which was held at the Guenther House ... now THAT was a great meal! I'll share more pics as I can get to them.

Lady in Red

Cool title for a great image, don't ya think! This is another great image from the Buda Baby session. I could have shot this sleeping little one all day!

The sweetest sisters :)

These lovely ladies were just a dream to be with and talk too. You couldn't ask for a better set of girls to work with ... and don't they just look so stunning in the morning window light!?!?!?!

Beautiful Buda Baby!

This is from today's newborn session. The Mom & dad are very into Asian things and brought in this Buda wall thingy and asked if I could use it at all ..

... umm... HECK YEAH!!!!!!!

The red Chinese symbols spells out the baby's name (That was my idea and thankfully they loved it!)
I'll share more as I can get to editing them .... this family was a total dream to work with!

New Products!

Yep, it just goes to prove that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks! Check these gorgeous collages out! Thankfully my kiddos were willing models for this series :)

I will start offering these soon as high-end gallery wraps and let me tell ya, they are just stunning in person! If you would like to have one of these made from your photo session don't hesitate to contact the photographer today!

The studio is almost ready!

Yes, I am taking some time out of my busy time to re-vamp my in-home studio ... and let me tell ya, IT ROCKS! Plus, as a fun way to celebrate the new studio I'll be hosting a very special contest soon. The folks that are registered to receive my blog posting notifications will get first crack at this great contest ... subscribe today if you want to see what's coming soon! You'll be sorry if you don't!

Holy COW!!!

I have been trying soooo hard to get identical pics of my kids for soooooooooooo long now! But every time I try to get them to do it, one chooses to not cooperate!

This time I was sneaky ... I placed a sticker of a smiley face up on the wall behind me and asked the kids to look at it .... and VOILA!!!!!

I'm so happy with these that I think I'll order me a new Gina bag with one on each side!