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.