Ann and Daniel had dreams for their engagement session. Big dreams. More specifically, dreams of colorful plastic balls. They told me to meet them at a Mcdonald’s where they would jump into their ball pit, smiling, laughing, and acting like little children. It was going to be fun. Epic. Original.

Well, turns out there are absolutely NO BALL PITS in the DFW metroplex. Anywhere. Apparently, kids were peeing in the pits, “adults” (aka immature 21 yr olds) were throwing glass bottles in, and parents couldn’t buy enough Purell to disinfect each ball after not-their-kid put one down.  So, years ago, ball pits were banned. Forever. But, before learning that fact, we turned around and went to Chuck E Cheese’s. Surely, they wouldn’t take out the ball pit there. Wrong.  So, these images were taken in the parking lot of an abandoned Macy’s across the street.  Ball pit or no ball pit, these two are smokin’ hot.

We then drove down to the new arts district and wandered around.

Gotta give props to Daniel for doing these jumps. Obviously, we didn’t get it on the first try. But, he’s been doing the P90X and Insanity workouts together, so this was nothing.

If you haven’t seen the new Winspear Opera House, here you go. But, really. Go see it in person. You’re missing out.

Now, this next part is fate. For over a year now, I’ve wanted to shoot on highway 45 coming into Dallas. Highway 45 is what you take to get to/from Houston and the view of downtown from that side is just so much more unique than any of the other sides.  So, every time I drive back from Houston, I see the view and imagine ways for me to put a couple in front of it.  I even considered a drive by where I would drop off the couple on the shoulder, instruct them on how to stand, and then photograph them from my car as someone drove me by.  That way, I wouldn’t be parked on the shoulder and risk getting a ticket. Yea. Great idea.

So, when Ann and Daniel said they wanted to take a picture of the 45 sign, I told them my dream and slowly massaged the idea into their minds.  During most of their relationship, Daniel lived in Houston while Ann lived in Dallas.  Every month, he would drive up and spend the weekend with her, then drive back to Houston early Monday morning straight into work.  He’d visit her 3 weeks out of the month and she’d visit him the 4th.  So, needless to say, 45 has a special place in their hearts.

And so here we are, driving down 45, trying to figure out how to do this….and guess what? They’re doing road work.  How perfect could this be?  Someone up there must’ve wanted this shot as bad as me!

So we parked on the shoulder (the left lane was being merged right) and slowly got out.  One thing we didn’t think of was the fact that we were on a bridge. And bridges shake when cars drive on it. And it feels like an earthquake when semis drive on it. Oops.  I posted an image on facebook that accurately describes the…situation.

But, despite the cars speeding by (think 65mph+) and the semis roaring through, Ann and Daniel managed to drop it like it’s hot.

And, here’s that darn 45 sign you wanted, Daniel.

Guys, thanks for being so brave. And awesome. I can’t wait for your wedding.  I wonder what other life threatening shots we’ll come up with!

Kelly and Jay were married at Northwest Hills UMC and Lakeway Resort and Spa in Austin. We came, we photographed, we conquered.

Either Pastor Gaylord was really hot or he was really nervous. I’m going with nervous.

You guessed it. That is a froyo station!

Kelly and Jay gave away jars of honey to their guests. This is not photoshopped.

The day after, I went back to Lakeway to pick up Kelly and Jay for their day after session. The place was E-M-P-T-Y. You wouldn’t even know there was a 300 person wedding 12 hours prior.

After a few shots at Lakeway, we headed to Hey Cupcake, mainly because I was hungry. They bought me a Double Dose, which turned out to be a double bad idea. (Chocolate bottom, chocolate top)

Here’s Jay pointing at my cupcake and wishing me luck.

VENDORS

Church | Northwest Hills United Methodist Church

Reception | Lakeway Resort and Spa

Dress | Mori Lee

Catering | Lakeway Resort and Spa

Cake | Rise and Shine Bakery

Photography | Table4 Weddings

Kelly and Jay’s wedding was the last wedding that Andrew, my long time second shooter, shot with Table4. As of the beginning of April, he is no longer with Table4, but he is continuing his career in commercial photography. Join me in wishing him the best and success for his future. You can contact him here. All Table4 weddings will continue to be photographed by me and another photographer, maximizing our clients’ coverage.

On that note, I’m so excited for the future of Table4, it’s a little sick. First, there are a TON of new images coming. Second, I’m making BIG plans for this year and next, and third, I’m going to EUROPE this summer! I’ll be there for 3 weeks, committing one week to a wedding in Bordeaux, and then I have almost 2 weeks of vacay/sightseeing with some friends! I plan on going to UK, Paris, Cinque Terra, and Milan and I’d LOVE to photograph you in any of those cities/places! I’m excited to explore and challenge my creativity in a new environment with willing people/couples. Space will be limited but the best part? NO travel fees! Go ahead and send me an email (and pretend like you’re not excited!) You know you wanna!

Spurred from a conversation I had with my mom about work and the future of my business (Happy Mother’s Day, by the way!), I decided to post some info describing what a wedding photographer’s life is like.  My friend, and fellow photographer, Stacy Reeves, says it best on her blog:

“I’m fairly sure that if you asked my friends and family who has the best job in the world, the vast majority of them would say me.  In the past few years I’ve had the opportunity to travel all over the country and the globe (this year I’ve got scheduled stops in Paris, Milan, St. Thomas, Cabo San Lucas, and San Francisco – this is actually my schedule) all on paid vacations, working one or two days per trip and enjoying the rest.  I get paid thousands of dollars for what is perceived as one day of work.  I get to spend time with beautiful people doing something that most people enjoy as a fun hobby.  Almost every Saturday night I get a great meal by some of the best chefs in town and I get to party on the dance floor until the wee hours of the morning – and I get paid for it!  Talk about the good life, huh?”

The International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers did a study last year and based on public perception, this is probably how you think I spend my time:

However, ISPWP also followed 50 photographers and charted how they actually spent a week of their time:

Original article and images were taken from the International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers blog (ISPWP)

Now I’m gonna continue being lazy and let Stacy say the rest: (thanks Stacy! Copying your post probably saved me 1 percentage point on the chart!)

As someone who has been doing this full-time for several years, I can attest that that graph is about as dead-on as it gets.  And notice how just about everything except the “Taking photos” part involves a computer?  I always joke that so many people get into photography because they’re sick of spending Monday-Friday 8-5 sitting in front of a computer doing boring, menial tasks, only to find out that for most people, being a photographer involves spending Monday-Friday 8-5 sitting in front of a computer doing boring, menial tasks.. Only this time you work nights and weekends, too!  Granted, it is absolutely a labor of love – there is nothing in the world I would rather do, and I am so beyond thankful that this is my life.  In fact, I twittered earlier that I am probably the only person on Earth who is really sad when the workday ends, or sad when I have to stop working to do something personal like to go to doctor or run errands.  However, the reality is that I work 60 to 80 hour weeks most months, and I probably spend more time in front of a computer than anyone with a “regular” office job, as well as sacrificing my Saturdays and sometimes Sundays.

There are so many quotes I can relate to in that article (particularly about April-November being one long blur), but the biggest one is from a photographer who calculated that for every bride she books, that equates to 90 man-hours of work.  Hard to believe, but true for so many of us.  I posted this article so that brides who stumble across my blog can understand that although it may seem like you’re only paying for a few hours of shooting time, there’s so much that you don’t see, so many hours of behind the scenes work that you’re investing in without realizing it.  Yes, it’s true that your photographer has a pretty awesome job – but it’s not because they work so little, it’s because they get to work with great clients who appreciate their talents and their long hours of hard work – hopefully, people just like you. 

So hopefully, this will give my blog readers an idea of how I spend my time.  It’s not just photos one day a week and PS3 the rest of the week. As Stacy said, it’s a labor of love, and I.love.my.job.

Kim and Huy wanted to start their engagement session where they went on their first date.  So, we braved the smell and wandered around the Houston Zoo. The light was gorgeous and they looked dang good. That’s really all a photographer needs.

These next few images came from an idea that originated during the Great Storm of 2010. I envisioned a “field of balloons” in a snowy backdrop that a couple could stroll through, kind of like that after life scene from Gladiator.  It wasn’t until Kim asked me if I had any suggestions for their engagement session that I could finally try to pull this off months later.  I described to Kim exactly what I had envisioned and she executed it to perfection!  It also didn’t hurt that her and Huy looked incredible together.

24 white balloons: check. Brown box string: check. Save the date cards: check. Chopsticks: check. Mini clothespins: check. Hotness: double check.

Meet Kim. Part time consultant. Full time BA.

Yes, custom Save the Dates!