I’ve known Nancy for about a 4 years now, and with both girls away at college, we had to wait until summer to find a weekend where both girls were back at home.

Every girl needs a goofy dad…

Yes, even if they’re this goofy.

Feets! :p

Kadie shows them how it’s done…

… and now we’ve got everyone jumping!

This is probably one of my favorites of the family. I love it!

Nancy and Phil on a stroll

Back at the house we had to include the dogs because, after all, they’re family too!

All the girls!

Nancy and Phil had this home built less then a year ago. I love the porches! It’s an awesome home!

Before we left, we got a couple shots of Alex on the piano (she’s quite good!) And because I love details…

(added 11/10:) I was going to make this post short, but I lied awake last night thinking about her, and although my memories are just a fragment of her long life, I wanted to share.

I remember how she introduced me to the gooey goodness that is Cadbury Creme Eggs, which my mom told me I wouldn’t like….

I remember picking my Grandma up on Sundays on the way to church Downtown. On the way there, she’d complain. On the way back, she’d tell us how much she enjoyed us picking her up.

I remember my Grandma holding up a pack of her cigarettes and telling me, “Don’t ever do these” as she lit the one pursed between her lips.

I remember the stormy night my sister was born. My parents dropped me off at Grandma’s house and we stayed up late together in anticipation of the good news.

I remember the day my Grandma collapsed in the Wyatt’s Cafeteria and was rushed to the hospital. They discovered she had an aneurysm, but she beat the odds and survived. She was one tough cookie. When she got out, she’d forgotten that she’d ever smoked.

I remember how each Christmas and Thanksgiving she would say, “Y’all better be nice to me. This may be my last Christmas!” She said that each time we got together for the last 10 years.

We’ll miss you this Thanksgiving and Christmas, Grandma. We’ll miss you telling us its time to take you home. We’ll miss you.

Here is a listing of my available weekend dates for the remainder of the year for family, kids, and engagement session photographs. I will try to keep this updated as the dates fill.

Sat 11/15

Sun 11/16

Sat 12/20

Sun 12/21

Sun 12/28

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Update 11/4:

11/23, 11/29, 11/30, and 12/14 are now booked. Thanks!

I’ve found a renewed obsession with my wide angle lens lately to incorporate the landscape and sky into many of my photographs. I love the little arbor…

Then we went over to some old farm equipment for some more posed photos.

Kayla is such a stinkin’ ham. (She gets it from her mom.) :p

But an adorable ham.

I’ve had this kick with laying on airport runways or roads lately…

Here’s the middle of the street.

We all know who’s boss. There’s no need to hide it.

We saved a little sunlight for some romantic photos of Lauren and David together…

What can I say, I always seem to bring out the best in people. Its a gift, I suppose…

Thank you guys! I hope to see you again soon!

This lovely couple is finally going to be spending some time together after being apart. One is from Vancouver, BC, the other attending school in Connecticut (both by way of Shanghai, China). So, yes, apparently people do have destination weddings IN Houston!

Regardless, here’s the Houston leg of the tour for this absolutely gorgeous couple!

Arriving at the church…

Rock star wedding shoes:

Such a beautiful bride! Isn’t she absolutely stunning?

(She thought I was silly for standing on a chair, but whatever…) :p

The church was so pretty! Flowers everywhere! (and I love flowers!)

Lighting the unity candle…

… and exchanging the rings.

This was Pewin’s traditional Chinese dress that she wore for the reception. It was so detailed and beautiful!

Their reception was held at the Remington restaurant in the fabulous St. Regis.

Toasts!

These two were so sweet! This was literally, their first dance.

As you can see, they needed a little help getting closer… no, closer… even closer you two!

I love these close, emotional shots! And their bright Chinese wedding attire makes it feel even warmer.

And now, for a little faster song, Pewin rocks out with her dad…

Finally, some totally kickin’ ring shots!!!

Thank you Pewin and Xiaolei (and Teddy and Ming too!) for allowing me be a part of your special day!

Vendors:

Ceremony: Lakewood United Methodist Church, Cypress, TX

Reception: St. Regis Hotel, Houston - The Remington Restaurant

Well she’s 6 months old now! 

We headed out to Spring Creek Park in Tomball for a quick family session to get some adorable photos of this tiny red headed beauty!

Momma and her little girl… the first is my favorite. 

Look at her amazing blue eyes!  And that fiery red hair!  Soooo cute!

Child sessions definitely have a special place in my heart… especially when the kids are this cheerful!  

She’s such a happy baby!

Thank you Tricia and Angela!  Y’all both look so cute in purple!

We started out in Cinco Ranch. They have awesome ponds and waterfalls everywhere and they totally complement this fun couple’s cool personalities.

I adore these sweet and tender moments!

Oh, and we’re totally going to pretend that there was never a “stay off the rocks” sign… because if there was, we totally ignored didn’t see it.

After the neighborhood park, we went to the La Centerra at Cinco Ranch shopping center for some more unique locales.

See? I even make stores under construction fun! (Okay, Vanessa and Johnny totally make it awesome, but I can take a wee bit of credit, right?)

Right next to LaCenterra is this lovely lake. I couldn’t have asked for more perfect light.

And I never asked them to kiss… but who needs my permission, right?

These two will be tearing up the dance floor at their wedding! Check out those moves!

Thanks you two! I can’t wait for your wedding!

For my blog (and for sharing, fun, and sometimes silliness), I host the photos I post on here on my flickr account. Flickr had an area called Explore and shows some of the best photos based of what they call “intrestingness” and… well, they can explain it better than I can.

Since I’ve posted the below photo last Sunday (up until right now) I’ve had 4,867 people view the photo, 334 people mark it as a favorite, and 95 people comment. On Sunday, September 28, 2008, I had the #1 photo on flickr. I’ll have more from Mark and Jackie’s wedding (and subsequent day after / trash the dress session) later, but for now, let me show off.

Phillip is active duty Navy, currently stationed in Virgina Beach, VA. One of my best friends since Jr. High is also in Virgina Beach right now with her man in the Navy, so we got to compare notes.

I’m feeling rather rebellious today, so instead of going in chronological order, I’m going to start off with one of my favorite images from their wedding.

The little flower girl was ready for her role while the groom anxiously awaits his bride.

I love this look she gives him at the altar!

I love these tender moments!

They had such a beautiful wedding cake! (yummy too!)

After the cake, it was time for more dancing!

Rose petals for the exit…

I’ve been incredibly busy lately with a burst of summer weddings, lots of traveling (3 out of state weddings), and now families getting ready for their joyful Christmas Cards.

While I love each and every family, couple, and client I meet, I am getting a little busier than I would like. I feel I need to give each and every client (and their images) special attention.

With the start of the new quarter on 10/1/08, we are going to increase our session fees for family portraits, engagements, and bridals and take on fewer clients per month. Also, due to increasing costs from our lab, prints and albums will be increasing too. Our wedding packages will be restructured to handle these additional charges and will increase as well.

For those of you who have already paid your session fee and signed a contract, don’t worry, nothing changes for you. For those of you who have been on the fence or waiting, now is the time!

It is almost time to be planning for your photo Christmas cards!

Since I’m a photographer and not a designer (well, not a good designer ), I’ve decided to focus on what I’m good at and leave the rest up to design professionals.  I’ve purchased these beautiful and customizable templates from designers at Beyond Red and Green.

Front:

Back:

Card prices are in addition to session fees. Prices are listed as follows: 

Contact me today to schedule your session!

I haven’t shot in downtown Houston in quite a while.  Many of the parks, including the new Discovery Green require a fee for each session.  Well, Rachel and Rob decided to brave it and instead of heading to the big parks, we started our session at the outdoor cafe across from the Alley Theater.

I love their tiled walls!

We found a little area to get some shots with the iconic Bank of America Center behind them…

After a few shots there, we headed away from the pavement and down to Sesquicentennial Park on Buffalo Bayou.  This was actually my first time shooting down here, but it is now definitely one of my favorite places in Houston!

Playing with desaturation and some textures in the best light ever.

This has got to be my mostest favoritest photo EVAR.  (I’m a dork, I know.)  :)    

Total Hottness…  :P

… followed by silliness…

… and love.

Thanks Rachel and Rob!  Y’all were so much fun!

I really enjoy senior sessions because you get to work with some young, beautiful, and intelligent students, and Erika was certainly no exception.

When we first arrived, Erika and her mom told me that they loved this photo on my website:

I love that photo too, but I am partial. (She’s my little sister!) Erika reminds me soooo much of Kristin (liking similar movies, plays, games, ivy league schools :p ). For the record, much to Chad’s dismay, Kristin is starting her second year at The University of Texas at Austin because it’s relatively local, and because of their awesome Geo Sciences program.

But enough about Kristin… this blog post is about Erika! So here’s some of my favorites, plus some photos of the whole family!

Doesn’t she have such beautiful eyes and long lashes!

While we were inside, we had Erika’s younger sister join her for some sisterly shots.

We headed outside for some nice outdoor shots in the family’s lush backyard. This fun shot below is the one she chose for her high school yearbook! Doesn’t she have gorgeous hair?!?

Then we grabbed the whole family for some fun and unique family shots!

Thanks everyone! It was a… splash!

- Kel

Little Evyn is a girl after my own heart.  I too was bald until the age of 2, but little Evyn wears it so well with precious little curls in the back!!

She truly adores her Mom and Dad, so we got lots of family shots of this wonderful close family.

Molly also wanted some photojournalistic style photos for their home, so we we had lots of fun creating unique, one of a kind images.

Enjoy!

Isn’t she the most adorable thing ever?  Plus, we found a boat, of all things, and got some fun shots playing in our lake of grass. 

Silliness is best viewed large. 

This one may very well be my favorite…

Doesn’t she have the most gorgeous blue eyes?

This little girl loves bugs.  We told her there was a bug on my camera and she wanted to see for herself!

What’s that gator got in it’s mouth? (It ended up gobbling up lots of grass, rocks, and a sippy cup!)

Chad picked up a camera and helped me out.  While I was so enamoured with little  Evyn’s activities, he got this wide shot of the whole family.

Finally, I have got to get me a polka dot table.  Look how fun these are!

Thanks Molly, Travis, and Evyn!

I’ve been behind in my blogging, so blog posts from past edited sessions are going to be coming out of order in the next month or so, but I thought I’d start with a personal one.

Since Chad has been second shooting with me more and more frequently, we needed to have a back-up camera for each of us. So instead of buying an additional back-up, we just decided to upgrade his camera.

Chad got himself a(nother) brand new Canon 5D. But when Chad isn’t commissioned to second shoot with me, you’ll see me at weddings dual wielding, looking like a small pack mule.

Without further adieu, here is Chad unveiling my his newest toy (and doing it while looking like a total dork).

Yes, a total dork.

It was sweltering hot, and Bryce (and his parents) were so patient in scheduling the session (it was re-scheduled about 5 times due to afternoon summer storms), but it was worth it!

Janae and Brad are new to Texas, so we found an area close to their home for the shoot. We went to East End Park in Kingwood which backs up to part of Lake Houston. We started the session by taking a 1/3 mile hike to a spot in the shade by the lake thinking it would be cooler, but it’s hard to escape the Texas heat without an air conditioner…

After our walk by the lake, we returned to the open field at the front of the park. We even encountered some wildlife trying to stay cool.

And when I had just one more shot left on my memory card, we captured this little jewel.

Thank you, Bryce, for being such an angel and making my job so easy!

Maybe I’ll find somewhere tomorrow to “borrow” Internet access and post photos.
And if I don’t, I’ll see y’all next week!

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Updated!

Every 3 years that we have the reunion, we hold an auction to raise money to pay for the next reunion.  The item Chad and I brought to auction off was an Aaron Brothers frame with a thick mat for everyone to sign around a photo. 

Since all of you couldn’t make it  , here is the picture we took of (almost) everyone who was able to make the journey.