Bold and dramatic photographs telling stories of people’s lives
Central Texas is full of beautiful texture and color. Stephanie and Daniel live in Kyle, a small town that is no exception. We decided to have a little fun with the travel theme and the old railroad depot and caboose and then just enjoy the texture and nice weather.
Been a bit of a whirlwind this summer with assignments and shoots around the big state of Texas. And truth be told this engagement session in Dallas had me a bit nervous. See, Antonio is a photographer himself and has high expectations. Michelle’s older brother turns out to be a running friend of mine. So we had a bit of pressure on either side to turn in something fairly epic. The shoot itself took place mostly in the Arts district in downtown Dallas and finished in a secret parking garage to get twilight skyline views. The pressure went out the door the moment we pressed the first shutter. Tonio and Michelle are just a riot to work with; funny, smart, charming and a very beautiful couple. We had a bunch of fun playing with water, light and lines in ways to tell their love story. My favorite is the last photo in yellow… comfortable in front of the camera much?
Look for this couple’s wedding at Lone Oak Barn planned by Life Styled Events in September, we have been plans for that day too!
–JB
Uptown Style. Bhumi & Savan’s Houston Engagement session featured backdrops at the Williams Water Wall and then into the Theater District. Bhumi wore 3 distinct dresses, from her traditional sari to a classic little black dress. Savan was the perfect future husband accessory to Bhumi’s style, he looked great in a suit and stood stoic in the photos letting loose with the occassional ear to ear grin.
Tell us your perfect Engagement Experience and how we can help photograph it, always up for new ideas
Whirlwind! Julie & Garrett wanted to do an engagement shoot that showed off their rambling, adventuresome side. We met at the Japanese Tea Garden in San Antonio and palled around there for a while in the giant pagoda and near the waterfall until we found these exploding red flowers. Also had to utilize the old concrete kiln that produced the first Portland Cement west of the Mississippi.
From there a quick trip to Alamo Brewing Company and the restored railroad bridge that traverses the train tracks. A needed pint of hefeweizen and off again to the Riverwalk area of downtown.
This was the crazy part of the session. The Riverwalk was packed with tourists making it hard to walk along the historic sidewalks. The river barge operators spotted us every time and cajoled the crowd into cheering for Julie & Garrett. But finally we found the quieter parts of the old river and made the glowy sunset photos we were after.
We love this type of engagement session, where only a rough outline of the day is drawn and we spend our time chasing the light and color we seek to define the mood. Thanks to Julie & Garrett for running around town with us!
–JB
We are loving a new trend in our engagement photography, to stay in the neighborhood of our clients and photograph in the places that are meaningful to the couple. For Emily and Joey’s Travis Heights engagement session we focused on areas that Emily found on her running routes from her house. We started with the uber-Texan Mockingbird and Bluebonnet graffiti wall off Riverside, found a great tree on a corner street (that was gone a week later!), utilized some huge agave plants near little Stacey Pool, and then finished up by strolling around St. Edwards at sunset. We hope to see this trend continue because we think it adds to the intimacy of the photographs to have meaningful locations as a layer in the final images.
Laughing around Austin is seriously all we did for Noah & Vanessa’s engagement session. Our goal was to hit up fun spots around Austin while staying away from the cliche spots (I am looking at you Jo’s Coffee Shop). We managed to get 5 locations in 3 hours and only had to slide through one chain link fence to get our East Austin Skyline photographs. We all were laughing the entire shoot, even when I broke one of my flash tubes, or kept losing my balance. Vanessa and her infectious Jennifer Garner smile kept us all in good spirits. Noah you have your hands full with that one I tell ya. Truly one of the nights when I didn’t want to stop shooting, if only to stop and have a beer and hang out with this super fun couple.
We are excitedly looking forward to their August wedding with reception at Brazos Hall, all planned by one of our fave event teams, 11:11 Events.
We love our couples that give us the freedom to create a mini-storybook of their lives. Michelle and I had quite a few brainstorming sessions about what silliness we should photograph that best represented her and Todd. Wine Stomping, Pedicab with their Dog, and a few others hit the cutting room floor as we nailed down our three locations to the Graffit Wall on 11th, Paddle boarding on Town Lake and at Big Top Candy Store.
First up was the graffiti wall on 11th where Todd and Michelle wanted to recreate the hip hop vibe of the 80’s. Sadly we couldn’t locate a boombox the size of small truck but the hard light and fisheye pulled a lot of the weight on this section. We even got them to spray paint their wedding date and initials onto the wall.
Second was the most challening as we ventured onto Town Lake in 2 person kayak photographing Todd and Michelle sharing a SUP board. Todd did all the work as he paddled around and around chasing the light. I was directing them holding onto my camera secured in our underwater housing while our gal Marina paddled us around to get the right angles. Michelle made cute faces as she does.
Last we hit up South Congress to visit the Big Top Candy Shop. Apparently Todd has a bit of the sweet tooth, and Michelle, well, she is a dental hygienist. Natural tension ensued and then they brought the dog into the mix to decide which parent’s vice he preferred. The lollipup, er, lollipop won out to no one’s surprise.
We are looking forward to their wedding at The Union on Eighth in December with some of our fave vendors and seeing how they decorate and plan around the fun that is this couple.
Recommended Listening to this blog post – Beastie Boys Paul’s Boutique
You know those whip smart guys whose sense of humor gets hard to follow because they are running 2 steps ahead of you? That’s John. And the lovable lady that puts up with him? Well that’s his soon to be wife Kelly. Put them together and we got one of the quirkier and most excellent engagement session in the South Austin neighborhood around Eureka Dr. that, as John told me, means I found it! For them, they found the loves of their lives and are perfectly matched for one another. Oh, and John skateboards so we had to shoot that as well. Before we got there though we utilized their front porch that serves as the meeting place for them and their neighbors and lost chickens apparently. The last place we visited was also a skate venue with super cool drainage culverts, old tunnels, and new trains rumbling overhead.
Thanks to John and Kelly for taking me on an adventure through the area, glad we could make a little magic happen for y’all!
–JB
