Angela: Lifestyle Session

I had the great pleasure of meeting Angela at the beginning of this year. With her birthday on the horizon, Angela decided to embark on the unfamiliar journey of commissioning a personal photographer. Her birthday gift to herself (a concept I completely endorse, of course) would be a tailor-made set of photographs.

We should all give ourselves a b-day gift every year! In fact, I even wrap my own for the sake of thoroughness. But I digress.

To my great delight Angela found me with a search on Google and we soon sat down to chat about her photo session and learn more about each other. Her warm personality quickly captured my admiration and in this quiet and gentle person I saw a glimmer of excitement that immediately infected me as well. Oh, the possibilities!

When the day came we had our lifestyle session on location in Downtown Houston. Whatever nerves she had, she soon overcame and I witnessed something very special: I got to see the real Angela. No longer shy and quiet, she laughed freely at my dumb jokes, posed like a super model and just came out of her shell entirely.

Today, she sent me an amazing note of thanks. Her words touched my heart and continue to inspire me. Once again I am praising all of the goodness in the world for making our meeting possible - Google gods included ;). Angela, you are the one who deserves the thanks. You took a leap and you flew. I am honored to have been a part of this experience.

Tiff & Matt: Wedding Sneak Peek

Tiff & Matt had a gorgeous sunset wedding at the Hidden Palms in Santa Fe, TX. Here's a sneak peek at some of my faves!

The award for most lively person I've ever met goes to Molly, Tiff's sorority sister. I wish I could bring her with me to every wedding. She's a total hoot!

A really great mother-daughter moment. Tiff surprised her mom and it got a little emotional. :)

Here's Tiff giving me the "do I really look gorgeous?" look. Yep, you do. ;)

These are the fairy princesses of the wedding!

Absolute favorite quote EVER: "I love these shoes so much, I'm going to wear them to my own wedding!!" - Spoken like a true flower girl-bride in the making!

More to come soon!

A Look Behind My Lens

life·style pho·tog·ra·phy noun.
Photography re-creating real life situations in a controlled setting. Lifestyle photography is one of the most popular and consistent types of photography in the market today. Lighting is generally bright, airy and quite natural looking. There are many commercial applications, including magazine editorial and advertising usage.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle_photography

Here comes the disclaimer...I can only speak for myself. That out of the way, I believe there is a difference between a Portrait Photographer and a Lifestyle Photographer. I strive to be the latter...and then strive some more.

Now, I prefer the natural moments, which are referred to as Photojournalism. But I know that, on occasions, a beautiful and very real moment can be fostered (if not created). For me, a picture taken is like an unfinished canvas. Sometimes there are elements that would be left behind if said photograph weren't carefully nudged in the right direction both before and after the shot is taken. And usually (with emphasis on the usually) a straight camera can only do so much in capturing the vision of my mind.

I am currently working on an edit for a couple of shoots I did while in Seattle and Vancouver, BC. To show you what I mean, here's an example of a shot pretty much straight from the camera:

and then the finished product after that little, loving nudge previously mentioned:


***On a side note, this example can also serve to answer why it takes about 10 business days to get your finished photographs from me.

As with all art, it is all subjective. I can only tell you what it's like for me. I can't really give much insight on how it is for others because as artists we all see and produce in different ways. If there is one thing I know for sure is that I will never stop learning, and as the old adage goes, there's more than one way to skin a...well, you know. There are no wrongs or rights - just a peek behind my particular lens. ;)