These two are kinda sorta perfect for each other.  And fortunately for me, they were perfect for how I love to shoot!  They are stylish, edgy, love to eat, and so incredibly into each other.  They were comfortable being intimate and opening up their relationship to me and my camera.  I don’t think I can thank them enough for the privilege and can’t wait for their wedding!

Jon has been a friend since high school.  We share a lot of similarities too actually.  He plays drums, plays basketball, and has a twin brother.  Just kidding, I don’t have a twin brother.  But, we used to chat a lot about drums and he’d beat me in basketball all the time.  Funny story. Once, after being beat by him in basketball, we were leaving to go home and he rear ended me at a stop sign.  I was driving a 4runner at the time, so the damage was minimal, but his car’s front hood was crushed.  Needless to say, we took one car for the session, hahaha.

Jon and Gloria have both moved to Austin and are starting to call it home, so it was only appropriate that we shoot in their hometown.  They took me out to the Austin Greenbelt…in July.  A place commonly used for swimming and cooling off became the setting for their hot, bug-infested engagement session.  The first thing we did when we arrived was put on a layer of bug spray…and despite the greasy limbs, I’m glad we did.

So here’s something sweet about them that you don’t see too often anymore; I found out they’re saving their first kiss for the altar!  So I can’t wait until their wedding day because I know how incredible that moment will be.  Congrats guys!  Looking forward to celebrating with you!

Jon did pretty good on the engagement ring, don’t you think?

Here are some images of the super hot combo Ngan and Michael (To see the night shots, scroll to the end). We stayed in one area and even grabbed a quick dinner to wait for the sun to go down since I love shooting at night.  If you scroll to the end, you’ll see that the Dallas skyline and city lights provided a perfect ending to a fun and sexy engagement shoot. Their wedding will be at the Anatole Hotel this weekend and I have a feeling it is going to be s-t-u-n-n-i-n-g.

Back in early June, I took a last minute trip to Auckland, New Zealand. Part vacation, part smoking hot deal. Can you believe Air New Zealand was running a 48 hour sale from Los Angeles LAX to Auckland for only $400 round trip?  I couldn’t believe it either.  So, I quickly put up a post on FB/twitter to see if anyone wanted to take advantage.  Lucky for me, Jerri Ann and Anthony were down for this crazy idea!  As soon as there was interest, we started chatting and it became real. They were willing to take their engagement pictures in Auckland, thinking they could also make it a pre-wedding honeymoon.  So, two hours before the sale ended, we purchased flights and started researching locations.  I couldn’t believe that I was going to New Zealand!

You have to understand one thing about this situation. In 7th grade, I had a geography teacher named Mr. Coates (I think) who talked about NZ and Australia during class. I remember him talking about how the weather in NZ is nearly perfect year round and just so gorgeous. From that class in 7th grade, I decided to one day go to NZ and see for myself.  Well, 15 years later, I get to.  However, since it was a last minute trip (3 week heads up), I could only stay for 2.5 days. Yes, less than 100 hours.  But, it was worth it.

Meet Jerri Ann and Anthony. Their wedding isn’t until August, but I think they would’ve eloped in New Zealand on top of Lion Rock if they could have.  They’re adventurous people who love nature, love each other, and love randomly breaking out in song together in the car.  So, our engagement shoot turned into a 1.5 day shoot and exploratory musical adventure. We started off at Brick Bay Winery, where we found vineyards, cheese, and sheep.  Then, the next day, we headed to the top of Mt. Eden (a dormant volcano) and took some incredible photos with downtown Auckland as the backdrop. That afternoon, we headed 45 minutes west to the Waitakere Ranges and Piha beach, home to Lion Rock.  It’s incredible to me to start in downtown, drive 35 minutes, be inside the mountains of northern New Zealand, and then drive 10 more minutes to get to the beach.  It takes me 45 minutes to drive from downtown Dallas to the suburbs of Plano.  All highway.

Lastly, you’ll find a few images from the actual “vacation.”  We had the pleasure of having Kim Le and 1 of her couples join us in New Zealand as well.  We had a great time exploring the city together and just running around taking pictures.  You’ll see a few of the non-engagement photos near the end, including a really strange GOLDEN ice cream bar, freshly caught fish and chips (OMG YUM), and a group photo in front of the Waitakere Ranges. (and you’ll see why I try to stay behind the lens, not in front of it :p) Enjoy!

P.S. It should go without saying that I love traveling and would go back to New Zealand ANY day for ANY reason!  Plus, I still want to visit Hobbiton!

I had the fortunate pleasure of hanging out with Abby and Matt a few months ago for their engagement session.  They took me to a local ice cream shop called Wild About Harry’s in the charming Knox-Henderson area of Dallas. It’s one of their favorite date spots. We also stopped by Lakeside Park and lastly, the top floor of Matt’s parking garage.

So everyone knows that heat melts ice cream.  Put that ice cream in Texas and you increase the speed at which said ice cream melts. Then, add in Abby and Matt, who are hot for each other (as you’ll see), and the ice cream reverts back into milk.  Seriously.

Abby and Matt brought their A game to this shoot. Abby showed us that Loubitins aren’t just for wedding dresses and Matt showed us how to keep a straight face while standing 15 stories above downtown.  Do you realize how awesome my clients are??

Abby and Matt are getting married in October and I can’t wait for their big day! (to see what other life threatening things I can get Matt to do.)