Mele Kalikimaka

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry X-Mas and thank you all for visting the blog and making it such a great year! So, I give you my little one wishing you a Hawaiian Merry Christmas.

X-Mas Touchup

My mother in laws best friend had an old beat up photo of herself riding a horse that she wanted to know if it could be fixed. I think she'll be happy with it when she gets an 8x10 of her new photo for X-Mas. I have a few more in the works, that I will share later, for now though let me know what you think.

You know you've spent to much money

at Apple when they start sending you X-Mas cards! I got this great X-Mas card in today from the fine folks at Apple. If you're a photographer and not using Apple, shame on you! If you aren't a photographer and not using Apple, shame on you too!

The new Apple Intel Core-Duo is simply awesome, as you can see in the background of my new 15" Macbook Pro and for all you photographers out there... Adobe Photoshop relased the CS3 yesterday and it is much improved and faster for the new Macs!

Please, if you don't use a Mac and don't know why you should leave a comment and I will post some reasons why you should.

Time to start posting some bridals

This year I think I spent more time at the Arboretum than any other photographer, so now that the weddings are over I will start posting some of the pics from some bridal shoots there. I enjoy shooting at the Arboretum because it has so many great backdrops, but you don't always have the best light out there. The day I met Shelby out there, was probably the most perfect light I have had all year and doing them as late in the year as we did I didn't expect much color, but I was wrong, it was very vibrant with all the fall colors. Shelby was very photogenic with great bright blue eyes, as you can see below. I know they just got home from their cruise where they were married and had a reception last weekend in Anna that my friend Jim Miller shot for them. So anyways, take a look, leave your comments that's what the blog is for. I did find a new favorite spot in front of the rock wall and I think almost had her talked into getting in the fountain, maybe if it had been after the wedding? We would have had to post them on Trash The Dress if she did!As always, click the pic for a bigger view!

TomKat wedding...

Of course any big wedding that comes up or gets mentioned, I immediately start wondering who shot it and what do the pics look like. So, I have to go and do a little digging to find out... Surely by now, everyone has seen this image of TomKat together

The photographer that was lucky enough to shoot this wedding was Robert Evans, I mean what better marketing than having your name attached to every picture in People, Enquirer, etc. as well as every website in the world. Robert is not one of the photographers I keep up with, mainly because I haven't seen a blog from him... but I will save that for another post to come. I have a handful of photographers that I keep up with to see what they're doing, what's new on their blog, etc. So what makes TomKat pick Robert Evans? I wish I knew, but I imagine the fact that he also shot Brad Pitt & Jennifer Aniston's wedding. So how did Brad & Jennifer find out about him? The Bridal Bar, an LA based special events referral service

So an offer to any celebrities that might stumble across this blog, I'll shoot your wedding for free. I mean think of the marketing...

Cole & Susan's Wedding at the Chapel at Chestnut Square

Cole & Susan were married at the Chapel at Chestnut Square yesterday and had a really lovely wedding, I really liked how Susan kept the same clean lines and theme throughout. You can see some of the details along the left side of the collage, just click the pic to make it bigger. The dress, the cake, the flower girl, the chairs, even the asparagus had a wrap around the middle (ok, that ones a stretch), but it was a lovely wedding in a historic setting. Cole got a friend's band (Ryan T, Briggs Band) to come play at the reception and they are a really good band if you like Pat Green, or my buddy Chance's band Spur 503. Last I heard there was a delay in the honeymoon, and had nothing to do with Cole's planning or getting out of work, but I believe they were headed to Mexico somewhere. Well I hope you guys enjoy your collage and even more so enjoy the honeymoon, I'll talk to you soon.

David & Tiffany's wedding at Cross Roads Chapel

I had the pleasure of shooting David & Tiffany's wedding last night at the Cross Roads Chapel in Cross Roads. As far as I know they are my first eHarmony wedding, my cousin also found her match on eHarmony although they got married on a cruise that I couldn't make due to another wedding already booked. Davids daughter reminded me of someone during the entire wedding and I finally figured it out... Jack Bauer's daughter on 24. She wants to become a photographer so hopefully I gave her some good tips while she was snapping away, good luck.

David & Tiffany are on their way to St. Lucia for their honeymoon, hopefully the humidity has dropped some since we were over that way a few weeks ago. I still need to post some of their engagements from our shoot downtown McKinney, but I have enough trouble keeping up with my Sunday posts. Hope you guys have a great honeymoon and enjoy your collage, let me know when you get back.

Kent & Lisa's wedding at Lantana Lodge

Kent & Lisa had a great wedding yesterday at Lantana Lodge on Lake Ray Roberts and had quite a party afterwards. They had planned on having one of the horses that they show at the wedding but it wasn't able to make the trip. I still think it's great that Kent, being a Texas A&M grad, has his weddng on the day of the Texas-OU game. They made a perfect couple and were very photogenic, not to mention Lisa has a notebook of photos from brides magazines that made it a great challenge to impress!

They are staying close to home and having a quick getaway so they aren't to far away from the horses, so ya'll let me know how it is out there. I had a great time at the wedding, and hope you enjoy the collage. Congratulations you two.

Jimmy Ray & Shelleys Wedding at Storybook Ranch

Jimmy Ray & Shelley had a great wedding at Storybook Ranch last Saturday and it now ranks as one of my favrite places to shoot at. It's a great Ranch house with a saloon that looks over a creek for receptions as well as an old country chapel in the middle of the old west town. You can see the chapel and part of the old west town in the collage, just click it to enlarge it. Jimmy (the groom) was telling me that movies have been filmed there as well as some photo shoots done by that magazine that Hugh owns. I wish we would have had a little cooler day to be able to do some shots down there before the wedding but everyone would have been soaked by wedding time. Hope you enjoy the collage, and a big thanks to Jimmy for helping me with my electrical problem at my house.

Cole & Susans Engagments

I think I am finally catching up on things since getting back from St. John, so here is some engagements I did before I left out of town. Cole & Susan will be getting married at the Chapel at Chestnut Square in McKinney early November. For now here are a few of their shots...

Down in St. John...

For the week and will post some late engagement pics and a wedding on Saturday once I get back.

For now, take a look below.

Been a few days since my last post...

So I thought I would share a vide of our little dancing queen. I actually just took her to a dance school that allows two year olds and she is ready, I couldn't get her out of the tap room full of older kids.

News Story I Gotta Share

Ok, I think I can tie in both of these. Frisco teacher being fired and then my picture with Kinky!

A 28 year veteran art teacher was let go because of a school approved, parent approved field trip to the Dallas Museum of Art. Sydney McGee the 28 year veteran at Fisher elementary took her 5th grade class to the DMA and was let go because a parent (one parent) complained about their kid seeing a nude statue. The school had to approve it, the parents would have had to sign a field trip waiver and the teacher contacted the museum to see if it was 5th grader friendly. The fact that the principal and the school board wouldn't stand behind her or grant her a transfer is ridiculous. I went to the DMA in 5th grade as well, if some parent complains because her kid sees the Statue of David, probably the most famous nude statue done by Michelangelo or the Venus de Milo housed in the Louvre, then they need to be home schooled. For the parent that complained, here's a few more statues you should take a look at.. The Thinker by Rodin, Discoblos (The Discus Thrower) by Myron, The Kiss also by Auguste Rodin
Dallas News Story

I know politics is touchy and never wins, but just in case some aren't familiar with our current governor and the new guy running... A few weeks back I had the opportunity to go see Kinky Friedman, the independent running for governor. I have never been a two party system fan, being one of the only guys that actually voted for Perot and Nader, Kinky makes perfect sense for me. He tells it like it is, "the two major parties blew $100 million in the last governor's race to elect a candidate to a job that pays $100,000 a year". Why would they do such a thing? Lobbyist kickbacks! Texas has the 8th largest economy in the world and 1st in drop out rates, 32nd in education spending. Teachers salaries are $6K below the national average and get canned for a field trip to the DMA! Here is a pic of myself with Kinky taken by my buddy Jim.

Top Ten Reason to Pick Kinky That's not Kinky as in nude statue Kinky either... Kinky could actually end up the first independent since Sam Houston (another statue, but he is in clothes)

One of my favorite movies...

I don't know if it has something to do with being in the wedding business but I loved this film. I'm sure even if I wasn't that I would still like this film because Swingers with Vince Vaughn is still one of my all time favs! Makes me wonder how many crashers I have seen at weddings and not known it though?

This is a great site where you can take a pic of you and a friend, in this case I used myself and fellow photographer buddy Jim Miller and whipped up this little video. I am the one that is playing Owen Wilson (bushy hair) and Jim (glasses & goatee) is the guy playing Vince Vaughn. If you liked this movie, you have to go and crash the trailer and make your very own trailer.

Click here for the trailer...

My daughter Abby's 2nd Birthday

Last week my daughter had her second birthday party and had some of her little friends and kids of our friends come over. She got a toy kitchen that looks nicer than our real kitchen, a little tikes basketball goal, a tricycle, tons of dolls, play food and dress up toys and of course her very own bounce house that fills up our backyard. Enjoy the collage. She's the one in the green dress and then on the bounce in her diaper, thanks to the over 100 degree days!

Mike & Catrina's Wedding in Duncan, OK

Mike & Catrina had a great wedding at the Moose in Duncan last night. It was a late drive home but Balinda (Catrina's Mom) sent us back with a huge chunk of wedding cake! Thanks Mom! They're delaying the honeymoon trip for now due to some conflicts but will be on a cruise very soon. I did their engagements a few months back and they were just as cute a couple then. Although there was less licking at the wedding!











I had a great time at the wedding guys and will talk to you soon. Have a great honeymoon and congratulations.

Jason & Catie's Engagements

Jason & Catie had an emergency engagement session last weekend at Catie's parents lovely house in the backyard. It was a little humid, but they toughed it out and fought off the camera loving cats that followed us through the yard. Here's a couple shots from their shoot, it's just too bad they had already booked a Vail photographer because I do destination weddings as well.

Derek & Meagan's Wedding in Whitesboro

Derek and Meagan had a lovely wedding at First United Methodist Church in Whitesboro yesterday and then moved over to Gainesville for the reception. They left early this morning for a nice cool getaway from the Texas heat and will be on a cruise to Alaska. Derek might have to be restrained a bit from the casino on the boat, especially with the room right next to the tables. I actually ran into Derek one night up at Choctaw, so I know he's as big a poker junkie as I am, hopefully he's a little luckier than I have been lately.

Have fun on the cruise and I'll see you when you get back, it's been a long weekend with their wedding yesterday and some engagments this morning. Congratulations you two!

Justin & Angela's Wedding at the Bingham House in McKinney

(Click the pic to enlarge)
Justin and Angela had a lovely wedding at the Bingham House in McKinney last night and now they are sitting in Mauai. They make the cutest couple and are so photogenic, Angie is a news anchor and I'm sure we'll see her sitting next to Matt Lauer in a few years. I haven't seen a hit from Hawaii yet, so maybe they'll take a look tomorrow.

Enjoy the honeymoon guys, I really enjoyed shooting your wedding last night and we got some really great shots. Hopefully this collage will tie you over until I have your Fine Art Flush Mount Album online for you to see.



The Bingham House had a great Videographer filming a commercial that will be playing locally at the Studio Movie Grill so once I hear it's out I'll let everyone know on here. They actually have a showing August 13th, so take a look at the site and if you're planning on getting married, this show will definitely help you out. Thanks to Ben for checking the blog and sending me the link.

What would you do?

Tuesday (trashday, and the only day we're allowed to water due to drought) morning about 7AM with my daily muffin in hand, I was heading out the garage to go do some work when I remembered take the trash bins out. Then I hear what sounds almost like crying and pleading and I have no idea what it is. I get closer to the end of the driveway when I see a dog running towards me and a woman asking me to help catch him. She sounded a little winded and upset as she had probably been trying to get him for a while. If you've ever tried to catch a dog that doesn't want to be caught, it's not an easy task.

So, I try to speak real softly and kneel down to get the dog to come to me to no avail. When I move towards the dog he does his little playful "try and catch me" act and now i'm hesitant because I don't want to make the dog run off any further...

With my trusty weight watchers muffin, (indiviually wrapped in plastic and the lowest fat muffin you can find that still taste like a muffin) I think maybe the sound of crinkling plastic will get him coming. So I try shaking and crinkling the plastic wrap to get him to come to me, of course he doesn't. The lady then says can you give him some of the muffin, I'll give you $10 for it if you can just get him to come to you. I say sure, and open the muffin and she tears some off and tosses it towards him, he sniffs and I guess doesn't like blueberry? She tears off some more and when he goes to sniff, she jumps on the dog and finally gets a hold of him. I pick up her leash and garage door opener and bring them to her so she can get the dog's leash on. She gets it on and thanks me and heads out with dog in tow, I finish pulling the trash out and head out for the day, after I run back in and grab another muffin.

This morning I am backing out of the drive when I notice something yellow on my windshield, I stop and get it and it's a card. So I start opening it up as I am heading down the road, the outside says "Thank you for helping me catch my dog...". I say that's nice of her, then I open it up to find a $20 bill inside. Wow, that's a big thank you for a 75¢ muffin, I would want someone to help me catch my dog if it got out (even though we have a psycho yorkie). I go on reading the note she wrote and it quickly turns somber, as you can read below.



I can't accept $20 for a 75¢ muffin that helped someone catch a dog, nor take money from someone that tells me they were just diagnosed with breast cancer? Problem is, I don't know her name or where she lives... I search through the Central Appraisal District and find someone that might be her, but she gave this as a token of appreciation and it would be kind of rude to go try and stalk her out and make sure it's her and return the money? So what to do? I decided the best thing to do, take her $20, add some more to it and make it a nice round number and donate it to the Breast Cancer Foundation. If you have a wife, mother, sister, grandmother or know a woman, do your part and donate to this cause, it could help someone you know.

National Breast Cancer Foundation Inc
Susan G. Komen

Matt & Tammy's Wedding at Tartan Thistle

Matt & Tammy had a nice bed & breakfast wedding at the Tartan Thistle, which is a historic landmark having been built before the late 1880's. It's a great older house with an octagon tower that extends three stories high. Hopefully Matt & Tammy are enjoying the sun down in Mexico right about now (marriage license permitting). They ended the wedding leaving in high style in a 1937 Rolls Royce, I can only wish I had that car... maybe a couple hundred more weddings and I can talk him out of it! Enjoy the collage and Mexico and see you when you get back.

Todays Fed-Ex shipment wasn't photos but my new Holga!

For the first day in the last few weeks the Fed-Ex man didn't deliver an order of pictures but instead brought me my brand new Holga camera. I know what you're all thinking, that sounds like a cool expensive camera! Think again, the Holga is a twenty dollar, medium-format plastic camera. That's right, I said plastic. Plastic body, plastic lens, plastic mechanism and even the gold made in china sticker on the bottom. I included a picture for you to see, but one might wonder what I want to do with a $20 medium-format camera? The characteristics that make it special are the same things that would make any other camera a “lemon”--light fall-off, lack of sharpness, distortion, accidental double exposure, flare, or any combination of the above. I plan to mod this one out and do some really neat shots that will be the start of my storefront for poster prints. My next Holga purchase will be modded into a pin-hole camera, although I might go through a few of them changing the shutter from the set 1/100th of a sec. If you want to get a good look at what the Holga brings to the table visit DigitalSucks. While I don't think digital sucks, I think it's great shooting in film, there's just still something cool about film. After the Holga, I think a nice Lomo would be a good addition, just in case someone is wanting gift ideas.

Matt & Amber's Wedding at Swan Court

Matt & Amber had a lovely wedding at Swan Court in Richardson and now are sitting somewhere in Maui. It hadn't rained in weeks until last night and unfortunately that wasn't the only sprinkle(r)s we saw. It made for a good laugh and Amber just rolled with it without a hitch. Just think of it as practice for the daily shower ya'll see in Hawaii. Congratulations guys and have fun in Maui, hope you get a good fireworks display for the fourth.

Gabriel & Holly's Wedding

Gabriel & Holly had a wonderful (and hot) wedding at Celebration in the Country in Fairview yesterday. What a day to remember too, not only do they get to celebrate and spends the rest of their lives together... the Mavs make it to the finals for the first time. Holly & Gabriel, if the Mavs end up in game 7, we might have to renew your vows!

Thanks for the wonderful evening, and congratulations guys. Here is a collage from their wedding, click to view bigger.

Adam & Krystle's Wedding

Adam & Krystle are probably already on the beach enjoying something with an umbrella in it, but maybe they can find an Internet cafe to get a sneak peak. They had a great wedding at the Ray of Hope in Comanche, OK yesterday and had the cutest little flower girl. I heard there were a few others in attendance that were engaged or soon to be married, so don't hesitate to call.

Hope you guys like your collage and I will let you know as soon as I get all the pictures uploaded and your album ready. Have fun on your honeymoon and congratulations on your future together.

MIke & Catrina

Sunday I did some engagement photos for Mike and Catrina, they were such a fun couple to work with. They are such a cute couple and were just so playful, I can't wait for their wedding.

Saturday at Lantana Lodge

Saturday night I was at Lantana Lodge on lake Ray Roberts as the sun was setting and got to capture Nathan & Lisa's wonderful wedding. I just hope the girl that caught the bouquet gets an engagement ring, she deserves it!


Below is the album design for the flush mount albums that I have started producing. These will become the next standard in weddings and what will be offering instead of the bound albums that I do now. Here is a snapshot of what they look like.



Click here for the album design

Bridals, Bridals and more Bridals

Been a while since I've updated so here is something to tie over the masses, I promise the weddings are coming and then I'll introduce you to something new! Keep checking back, I'll have at least three weeks of weddings for you starting the 20th.

For now, click here to view some bridals and the last couple of weddings.

If you're up around the Collin County area you know we had a storm the other night and even some tornadoes a little further north. For us in McKinney it was neat just to watch the clouds roll in and the lightning show going on in the clouds. Even neater was how the clouds just stopped almost right above us and then it was clear skies to the south. Anyways here's a picture of some of the lightning I captured from our backyard.

Nathan & Amy

I was back at the Bella Vista in Durant this weekend for a nice Texas/OU wedding. I think there's some fun Texas/OU games to come in this household! Nathan & Amy make a great couple and made my job so easy with their fun easy going attitude. It was weird to run into my buddy Kimmy K and then find out she's the Maid of Honor. What a small world. As great as this wedding was, I think Cameron (Nathan's Son) the ring bearer and dance extraordinaire stole the show with his fancy footwork on the dance floor. Have fun in St. Lucia and hope you enjoy your collage.

Click to see the bigger version.

A Little Late...

I know I said I would have these up on Sunday but two in one day puts you a little behind! I was the second shooter at a wedding this weekend with Jim at La Cima, then immediately shot a banquet of 1600 people at the Hilton Anatole. You might recognize some of the faces in that collage, one of the guys is trying to win a job on tv right now. Right now I am just working on getting some albums done to show everyone.

Sergio & Juanita

The last two days have been cold and rainy, but it didn't stop Juanita (Alicia) and Sergio from having a great wedding at the Lightcatcher Winery in Ft. Worth last night. It was my first time there and I really liked the backdrop of the wine barrels. Thanks Sergio and Alicia for allowing me to be part of your special day and I hope the after party didn't get to crazy. Hope you all enjoy your collage for now and I'll let you know once the pictures are ready. I know Patricia (Alicia's Sister) has been a frequent visitor, so if you see this first be sure and let Alicia know.

See you next week

We are down at the beach house in Galveston (Jamaica Beach), check back for more pics soon. Wedding this saturday at the Lighcatcher Winery in Ft. Worth so the collage will be up on Sunday.

New Offerings

We spent this wedding offseason coming up with great new product offerings, last year was the wedding DVD of all your pictures set to music in a slideshow format. Which I am working on creating some small video copies of those in flash format for the website, so keep checking back for that and the new wedding site.

This year, we will have not only the collage photos, but we're taking it a step further and creating fine art photo books of your wedding in a collage style. This will result in some new packages and I will let everyone know all the details soon enough.

To get an idea of what we are talking about, here are a few pictures of similar books. Your wedding images will be printed directly on the pages of the book, the cover and the jacket. My goal on this and I am working on getting it all together is to have the album created for you to view as a movie and then you can add/subtract to it and make changes before we finalize the album. Keep checking back and you will start to see those things added for each wedding.





Another option I will have out shortly is your wedding DVD slideshow on your very own video iPod. Will have pricing for two Video iPods, engraved with your wedding date and your slideshow to always have your wedding album on hand!

Guys (& Girls), Get Help With That Engagement!

Are you stressing over that upcoming engagement? Want to do something memorable but don't have the know how to get it done, or maybe just don't have the courage and need some support? There is now some help, I ran across this site and thought it would be something that could help alot of people out. Link below.

I know when I started planning my own engagement, I ran through a million ideas before I settled on my ultimate decision. I knew my other half would not like the public engagement, but had a great idea for that.... I knew I would feel more comfortable doing it somewhere private too. So my choice was made. We had talked about it, so I felt pretty safe in her saying "yes". We had also recently been talking about different dogs that we liked, dogs and her birthday was just around the corner. I have my idea! I picked out the ring, the diamond and the jeweler went to work, I found a breeder that had a dog that we both wanted and put the deposit down. The day came and I picked up the ring, the dog and stuff for dinner. The whole time making her think she needed a new cell phone, so she thinks she's getting dinner and a cell phone. She makes it to her apartment where I am cooking dinner and have an almost 1 pound Yorkie, with a bow (made by my sister) around it's neck with the ring attached. I made her sit down as soon as she came in the house and when I walked out of the kitchen, the dog followed. She is all excited to see a cute little puppy for her birthday present, but soon realizes the dog has some "bling". So in the middle of the tears, I get down on one knee and try to put the ring on the wrong hand! It's the little things you always leave out..... That's where I assume Michael Bloomberg helps!

An Exclusive Engagement (817-887-4494 or anexclusiveengagement.com).

The Dog Used in "The Engagement"!

One video I will never be in....

I once attended a wedding where the photographer was climbing through the bushes behind the preacher while snapping shots. My wife and I were talking about how unprofessional the guy looked and we continued to focus on the photographer instead of the wedding but this video is just ridiculous. While I do take a journalistic approach, I always have good communication with the videographer and let them know where I will be during the wedding. I really like the part where the (I assume) wife bumps the preacher out of the way to get the close up ring shot.

Take A Look At This Video

As always, I have to show the latest pride and joy! Abby at 18 months old, available light against a textured wall.

A Weekend Off And Valentines Leftovers?

With a weekend to relax...oh, who I am I kidding, a weekend to run errands when it's too cold to get out and do anything is more like it. So what's a guy to do when he has nothing to take pictures of? Leftover Valentines flowers of course.... who needs Roses when you can get Tulips and Irises.

Meagan & Derek did swing by and pick up some proofs to pick out their engagement picture for the invitations and just waiting to see which one it will be. I think I know, but we'll see.

Glad to see Modano could score another goal in Torino, although we ended up losing and it doesn't look good for Team USA in the hockey department! Watching all this skiing really makes me wanna run to New Mexico one of these weekends.

Meagan & Derek's Engagement Shoot

Well, it turned out to be the windiest and coldest day of the last few months when we met at TWU (Texas Womens University) where Meagan is attending school. I was introduced to Meagans Mom & Dad and look forward to seeing them cut the rug at the wedding. We got some great shots even though we were freezing, Derek & Meagan were some real troopers braving the cold.

Something New

After spending an evening with Gary Fong, the creator of StoryBookWeddings.com and probably the most succesful wedding photographer in the world, I am following his advice and starting a blog. So check it out, your pictures will be posted here after the shoots for all your friends and family to see. This will result in some new offerings and the way they're offered, but will be for the best once I get it all sorted out.

It's a blog, so tell me what you think.