You know, often we Texans get a bad reputation as being hicks or rednecks.  I just don’t think that stereotype is justified!  Here are a few groomsmen from Drew and Sarah’s wedding showing their more refined side…

Even us hillbillies know how to get all gussied up for them there fancy occasions

Well I am very close to being done with the Jones/Baker wedding - which is a very strong competitor for the “Most Photogenic Wedding EVER” award - but in the meantime I thought I would post some photos I took of Rachel, Sarah’s younger sister. Rachel never got the chance to have senior photos taken, and since we had some down time and every girl deserves to feel like a model at some point in their life, I jumped at the chance to photograph this stunning lady!! Here are a few of my faves:

To all my present and future clients,

If you need some convincing that you should see each other BEFORE the wedding.. Here you go:

All of these amazing images were taken BEFORE Jena and Justin’s ceremony. If they had not taken the risk and abandoned the tradition of waiting to see each other, there is no way we could have gotten all these gorgeous images. Otherwise we would have left the guests waiting for hours! Not to mention that their wedding ceremony was fairly late in the day, so there was very little time left between the end of the ceremony and sundown. Jena is a fellow wedding photographer, and she understands the importance of leaving plenty of time and light for photos.

Here is an example of how a First Look happens…

We find a nice, secluded area and then we step aside to give the couple plenty of space. Then we have the bride walk in, and let the groom turn around to see her for the first time. Why is this so great? Well, for starters, we get to pick the location, the lighting, and the time, resulting in beautiful photos and a special, private moment. Many churches force us to shoot from the balcony or won’t even allow us to shoot the ceremony at all, and even lenient locations are restricted with shooting because we don’t want to interrupt the ceremony, so if you want a great shot of your fiance seeing you in your dress for the first time, often the First Look is the best way to get it.

Okay, enough lecturing about the First Look. Onto the important stuff!!!

Jena is one of my best friends in the world, I love her dearly, and we have been discussing her wedding for over two years now. She and Justin have been together since they were in high school, so she has had plenty of time to plan out her dream day! In addition to being a talented wedding photographer, Jena is also extremely crafty and creative, and her DIY decor was as inspired as most of the professionally planned decor I have seen. Can you guess from this collage what her wedding colors and fabric pattern were?

I was on lime green and gingham overload - it was adorable! Jena put so much thought into every aspect of her wedding, and it truly showed. From the decorations to the photography to the many little “secrets” she had planned for Justin throughout the day to the music they played (My Jason actually wrote the song she walked down the aisle to - I was so proud!), everything reflected Jena and Justin’s personality and relationship.

I am trying something different for this blog post.. I am only posting the posed group and couple shots. If you want to see the candids of the preparation, ceremony, and reception, you will have to wait for a slideshow later this week!

Some of Jena and her hilarious bridesmaids, who were absolute troopers for letting me drag them all over the countryside in their heels!

Jake did an awesome job on the guys’ portraits, as usual!

It was pretty much impossible to take any photos of this wedding party without cracking up.. These guys are fun!

One of my new all time favorite photos!

And a few more of the happy couple after the ceremony

And last but not least.. RINGS!

Jena and Justin - you two are among the kindest, friendliest, most gracious people I have ever met. Your love for each other is so genuine and true that it just radiates outward. I have so many great memories with you, and I can’t wait for a whole lifetime of more fun with the Millers! I am so honored to not only call you clients, but very close friends, as well. Jason and I love you guys

Now that Ms. Sarah Baker is Mrs. Sarah Jones and they are off for two weeks of honeymooning in a top secret location, I can finally show off her gorgeous bridals at the ever-popular canals in Las Colinas.

Now that I have met Sarah’s sisters, I can see where she gets her amazing modeling ability from.. All of her sisters are gorgeous and are amazing posers - every time I pointed a camera at any of them at the wedding, they struck the fiercest poses! It was great!

Jason and I are celebrating our one-year anniversary this weekend, and I am a bit busy and can’t add my normal captions on all the photos, so I’ll just let these beautiful bridal portraits speak for themselves. Here is Sarah showing off some of that trademark Baker hotness:

Drew and Sarah knew from very early on that they wanted to shoot at the canals in Las Colinas, but due to time restrictions and their need to get a photo for their invitations very quickly, we ended up shooting at a local park instead. Although those photos turned out better than any of us expected, they still had their hearts set on the European feel of the canals, so we went ahead and did a second engagement session. Here are a couple of my favorites from that day:

This is one of the reasons they wanted to shoot here. Check out the amazing architecture!

Love the simplicity of this one.. I know these two prefer smiling photos, but man, they pull off the hot serious look so well!

A nice normal portrait

These guys are so willing to do anything for me, including laying on a stair rail six feet above the ground!

Another view of the same pose..

See what I mean about the hot serious look??

The great thing about shooting with my friends is that they let me try out crazy new ideas on them. What do you guys think of this one?

I love the colors in this one, and the way the texture really separates them from the background. It almost looks like they are standing in front of a painting!

And it wouldn’t be Sarah and Drew without a fun, goofy shot!

My last shot of the day.. You should have seen me taking this photo, I was laying completely on the ground, shooting straight up and backwards. It was dizzying, but worth it!

And of course, THE ring

I am headed to Quail Ridge Ranch in Glen Rose, TX (Anyone ever watch Celebrity Bullriding Challenge? That was held at Quail Ridge!) for Drew and Sarah’s wedding this weekend. I can’t wait!

Jena and Justin got married this past weekend, and it was clear that their top priority was making sure their guests had a good time. And what better way to do that than with their very own PHOTOBOOTH! Jena is a fellow photographer, so she understood the importance of getting photos that truly captured her guests personalities, and a Photobooth is a perfect way to do that.

We put together a slideshow of some of our favorites from the night. You do NOT want to miss this slideshow, it is hilarious!

If you were a guest at the wedding, don’t worry, there are MANY more where that came from. If you didn’t get to sign up on the e-mail list, shoot me an email and I will let you know as soon as the proofs go live!

Keep an eye on the blog for more photos from their wedding.. We have some stunners to show you soon!!

I tried my hardest to think of something fun to prank you guys with, this being April Fools Day and all, but I couldn’t come up with anything that wouldn’t give my poor mother a heart attack, so I will be boring and skip the pranks this year.  No promises for next year, though
Since it has been awhile since I have updated you guys on what is going on with me, I figured I would do a general What’s Happenin’  post.

This summer is turning out to be incredible for me!  I looked at my calendar the other day and realized I only have ONE free weekend from now until August!  Crazy!! That includes two destination weddings, FIVE destination portrait sessions (love it!!), two roadtrips to visit friends, three fearless bridals, a huge meetup/seminar with some of my favorite fellow photographers, and a ridiculous number of Texas weddings and portrait sessions.  I am also launching a brand new branch of my photography business.. More on that to come :)  It will be a very hectic summer, but I couldn’t be more excited about it.  Poor Jason won’t get to see me until August.  Good thing he has Lucille to keep him busy!

Speaking of Jason, he and I will be celebrating our one year on Monday.  I can’t believe it has already been that long.  Time flies!!  We are technically going to celebrate it on Sunday night AND Monday night.. I am fffrrreeeeaaakkkiiiinnnggggEXCITED about what we are doing Sunday!  EEEEE!!!  More on that to come later, as well…

Vladimir is almost two.. My baby is growing up so fast
Finally, my second shooters got some photos of me at work during my last few weddings, so I thought it might be interesting to show you guys the photos of me at work, and the resulting image that I shot.  Enjoy!