Never have I put my clients’ lives in danger more than I did during this session. Despite facing peril at every turn, Stacy and John handled it like complete pros! And that is only one of the reasons I think these two are the bee’s knees. Stacy doesn’t know this, but I have admired her from afar for quite awhile now. She is super stylish, uniquely beautiful, and one of the sweetest, kindest girls you’ll ever meet. I have been so lucky to have some of the coolest brides ever, and Stacy is certainly one of the coolest of the cool. Although I don’t know John quite as well, I know that if Stacy loves him, he must be equally as incredible, because no one but a total stud could win her heart!

The risk-taking begins in Soho, where yours truly wandered around Canal St. for a good half an hour because she didn’t take the time to write down the hotel address before she left. Whoops! I meandered aimlessly, clutching my camera bag to my chest, darting inside McDonalds every time I saw a sketchy character, but luckily Stacy and John found me, and we snuck into the Soho Grand Hotel for a few very-against-the-rules photos.

Then, I decided that breaking into an old courtyard surrounded by locked fences and big semi trucks was a good idea. It only took us about 1 minute to get kicked out, but I got my shot!

Next we decided to brave the streets of Soho again, stopping wherever we felt inspired (and that was quite often!). There may or may not have been some pigeon corralling involved…. I plead the 5th.

My favorite way to risk my client’s lives is to make them play in traffic!

Next it was off to the much more safe and peaceful Central Park…

Did I say safe? Well, I’m sure laying on the side of a bridge with a 30-foot drop is relatively safe….

Stacy and John, thank you so much for putting your lives on the line for me and allowing me to hang out with you in the Big Apple! You guys are troopers, not to mention super hot models, and I can’t wait for April!

Does it count as a destination portrait session if the couple lives there, but I don’t?

Although Andy and Natalie are Texans, born and bred, they currently live up in the Big Apple. I cannot wait to photograph their Dallas wedding late next year, but in the meantime, it was great to be able to meet them in their neck of the woods for a fun “destination” engagement session. Although I never met these guys before our first consultation, it feels as though I have known them my entire life. They both have this way of making virtual strangers feel like best friends, and I consider myself extremely lucky to be their wedding photographer. It doesn’t hurt that they are both unfairly good-looking, as well. Oh, and little miss Natalie is a brand new NY Jets Flight Crew member! If you live up in New York, stop by a Jets game and give the gorgeous blonde dancer an extra loud cheer for me!

Here are a few images from their New York City session:

We started off in the good old NYC staple, Central Park.  I am a huge fan of shooting engagement sessions in parks.  The backgrounds are always beautiful, the light is always great, and the simplicity of it allows me to focus on the couple, rather than the location.  And, of course, Central Park is THE park of parks, so I could shoot there all day and be perfectly happy. 

Next we headed to the Lower East Side to take a stroll around Andy and Natalie’s former neighborhood.  I learned quite a few interesting things on Avenue C that day (Aware, Beware, Caution, Danger - haha!).  It was great to be able to shoot around the places that Andy and Natalie spent their free time.  Now, even when they move back to Dallas (*fingers crossed*), they can remember the time they spent up in NYC.







Finally, we ended up in Times Square, one of my favorite places in the world. 
This is probably one of my favorite photos ever
Andy and Natalie - Come back to Texas!  It’s just not the same since you went away ;)  June is oh so far away.. Hopefully you guys will come visit before then!  Natalie, if the Jets ever play the Cowboys, I am TOTALLY there.

Carrie and Preston are easily two of the most fun clients I have ever had. I have been blessed to work with some really awesome people (no Bridezillas yet - knock on wood!), but few people I know have been able to make me laugh as hard as these two. Their smiles and laughter are infectious, it’s really impossible to be around them and not have a good time. So, when they asked me to fly with them to New York City for a destination portrait session, even my fear of flying couldn’t keep me from saying yes!

Here are some of my favorites from the trip:

We started off in Central Park, which I thought would be cheesy, but it actually turned out to be fantastic for photos. There are so many neat areas with cool and unusual architecture, I could have shot there all day! I really loved how you could see the city peeking in through the tree branches.

We found this neat Roman-esque area by the fountains.

Getting romantic

One of my favorite shots of the day.. I’m not sure why, I just love it!

See what I mean about these two being hilarious? Preston had to get in on the dipping action, too!

Then we hit the subway…

And headed to the Brooklyn Bridge!

Finally it was time to finish up at one of my new favorite places in the world, the heart of New York City, Times Square!

Carrie and Preston, thank you so much for hanging out with me and helping me to see the gloriousness that is New York City for the very first time.  You guys are a BLAST to hang out with, I am so so excited about your wedding.  I can already tell I am going to have so much fun with you two!

If anyone out there is interested in doing a destination portrait session, send me an e-mail and let me know.  I travel worldwide, and destination packages including my session fees, airfare, and hotel start at only $750 for select locations!  Where would you like to go? 

Little did you all know that not only am I a wedding photographer, but I am also a matchmaker, as well! I totally claim credit for facilitating Britt & Corey’s marriage, and now I can add Alli and Matt’s marriage to my repertoire. Story time!

I am a bit of a goody two shoes, and for the most part, I try to follow the letter of the law, so I never had so much as a sip of alcohol until my 21st birthday. My roommates at the time, Brittani and Allison, decided to celebrate the momentous occasion with a big birthday party (another first for me.. My Christmas Eve birthday never lent itself well to parties as a child ). Well, as I’m sure you can imagine, I had a pretty looooooow tolerance, and after about one cup of trashcan punch, I was completely useless. Luckily when I have too much to drink I tend to get really friendly, so I allegedly (I have no knowledge of anything after the first drink) wandered around the street, inviting random strangers to my birthday party. One of those strangers was Matt. He and his buddies came over, he met my lovely roommate Allison, and the rest is history.
Naturally, when they got engaged, there was no way I was going to let anyone else photograph their wedding but me! I know people say not to work with your friends, but I do it all the time, and it has always been a wonderful experience for me.

Alli and Matt originally wanted to shoot near a park of some sort, but while I was driving into the Woodlands I noticed a carnival on the ride of the road, and KNEW we had to shoot there. However, I wanted to get them the nature-y shots they wanted, so we found a small clearing with a lot of pretty trees and great light near the carnival to shoot at first.

They also brought along some letters so we could have a little fun making them a Save The Date card!

And across the street from the clearing was this lovely factory thing.. Not the most romantic background but the light was killer!

Next it was off to the CARNIVAL!

Matt checking out Alli’s nice big rock.. He did a great job picking it out!

I love bright, colorful murals!

I had this brilliant Idea to take photos of them on a rollercoaster.  Not my brightest moment - the photos are super fun, but after about five seconds of staring through that viewfinder, my stomach was not in a good place

As the sun set, the lights of the carnival came on, kids started arriving in droves, and the whole place got chaotic.  I love how this photo sort of symbolizes that, the whole world is spinning around like crazy but these two are focused on each other

I can’t wait to return to the beautiful Woodlands in September for their wedding!

I just got back in town from Vail and I have some great stuff to show off for tomorrow’s Humpdates, but until then you can sit back and enjoy these photos from Julie & Jeff’s engagement session in downtown Frisco!

I just love downtown Frisco.. It is still new so there aren’t a ton of people around, but everything is so new and colorful and quaint

Look at this dreary weather! Blech.. But it sure makes for some awesome moody photos!

Getting a little steamy in here…

We saw this old pitchfork on the ground and we just HAD to recreate American Gothic!

I take this shot a lot but I still get tons of comments on it every time, so here it is again! Although these guys are Aggies (like me!) and are showing off their Aggie Rings, this same shot could be done with other college rings, or any other rings that has special significance (service academy rings, promise rings, religious rings, etc).

The Kissing Game.. works like a charm, every time

Jeff showing off his sweet moves…

Julie and Jeff, thanks so much for hanging out with me and having some fun.  I can’t wait for the wedding - it’s coming up so soon!

I am still in the most beautiful city on Earth, The Woodlands, TX (seriously.. This place is ridiculous), but I had a little down time and I was able to finish Laci & Josh’s engagement session that I shot yesterday. Laci is a friend from college, so it was so great to be able to spend some time with her and her fiance Josh. Laci’s uptown Houston apartment is absolutely adorable, so I can only imagine how beautiful their small-town Hereford, TX wedding will be!

Laci totally made my job easy and found some really cool locations for us to shoot at. Here are some of my favorite photos from the session!

First up was this gorgeous tree-lined street.. Wouldn’t this make a PERFECT canvas for their wall? It would look so good in black and white, too, especially with the texture!

Next we headed to a really cool law office built in an old-world Mediterranean style.

This photo is SO Laci and Josh, to me.. They are just fun, happy people in love!

An engagement session just isn’t complete without a little dancing!

We saw a bridal shop across the street - and, conveniently enough, the most beautiful wedding dress I have ever seen in my entire life, and I have seen a LOT of dresses. It was STUNNING!! I totally wanted to buy it right then and there, just in case I ever get married. I think Laci liked it, too

Finally we headed back to their apartment complex, where there was a cute little courtyard with some great backdrops.

Ahh, the kissing game.. works every time.

Last but not least, we drove up to the roof of their parking garage to take advantage of the awesome view of downtown Houston.

Laci and Josh, thanks for the yummy breakfast, braving the gross weather, and showing me another side of downtown Houston. You guys are awesome!

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!