Yabba-dabba-doh!

These are the things life's made of. I wish I could say these kinda things don't happen very often to me, but truth be told it's more frequent than I care to admit. Case in point - remember poor Mac? (On a side note, just this past weekend I left poor Mac's replacement in the seat back in front of me on my flight from Houston to Dallas, and I didn't realize it until I got all the way out to my car. Long story short, I'm sure I looked like OJ dashing through the airport in those old Hertz commercials, but I got the laptop back from the gate agent just before the plane went on to Toronto.) And just a couple weeks ago there was the pile of spaghetti that free-falled onto the white carpet below when the plate it was on just randomly snapped in half as I was carrying it to the couch. And I can't count the number of times I've searched for my car keys for more than a few minutes only to realize they're in my hand... I could go on (and on, and on), but I digress.

Any long time blog readers know I'm a big fan of Fruity Pebbles. Yes, I'm 35. Yes, I know 12 year olds love this Bedrock favorite. Yes, I know it's basically pure sugar. I. Don't. Care. Nothing you can say will change my fondness for the Pebbles. Sometimes I like to take a bowl with me to eat on the drive into the office. I know, I know... I shouldn't be eating and driving at the same time especially given my multi-tasking deficiencies, but it's a trade-off. I can either get up 10 minutes earlier in the morning and eat breakfast, or I can sleep in 10 more minutes and eat on the road. I dunno 'bout you, but it's no contest for me. Maybe God was telling me he doesn't approve of my choice because this morning as I was walking out the door with hands full, well... you can see for yourself below. Sorry Fred. Sorry Barney.

It's usually when I'm trying to do too much or too many things at once when these things happen. I think God's got a sense of humor (after all, He did invent it), and these are his ways of saying 'Slow down, chief. Maybe you need to focus just a bit more."

I'm getting the message. And I'm also getting more Fruity Pebbles.

Melanie {bridal images!}

Last week I got to photograph my friend Melanie in her wedding dress for a few bridal images, and you're a lucky man, Mike... she looked gorgeous.

The whole thing almost didn't happen (the bridals, not the upcoming wedding), because to say that the weather looked ominous was an understatement. Melanie and I talked a couple times throughout the day as we watched the weather reports and kept checking the skies, and if there was any way possible to do the images on the day we scheduled it, we were going to make it happen. Ladies, you know how much planning, effort and money goes into getting the hair and make-up done and getting the dress on... it's an ordeal. Melanie was a good sport about it, and I kinda tried to talk her into rescheduling because the skies were dark and gray and it was sprinkling on the way to meet her at the park. We decided to just stick it out and make a decision once we both got there, and God smiled on us. Almost as soon as we pulled up, the rain stopped, the clouds parted and the sun even came out for a bit. Apparently God knows what an ordeal it is to plan these things, too.

Melanie told me I couldn't post anything until after the wedding so Mike couldn't see the dress until they get married a month from today. Whatever. Here's a few cool images from our session.

I love the way she's standing in this image. Looks so natural and relaxed.


Don't her eyes look amazing here. And her hair looks fantastic.


This is probably my favorite image from the session. Check out the way the sun's providing awesome backlighting on her hair and dress. Awesome.

Tamara

I met Tamara almost 2 years ago at a party at Mike & Melanie's house, and after seeing their engagement images, she referred her newly engaged friends Casey & Samantha, and then she contacted me about doing some photography for her and her mom. Mom wanted to get some new photographs of her 'little girl', but Tamara only agreed to the deal if her mom came with her and was in a few of the images as well. Ahh... who says blackmail doesn't work?

Lemme tell ya, Tamara is one of those people that's just got an instant smile... it's hard work for her not to smile. Here's just a few images from our session.

Friends, Families, Festivals & (Craw)Fish

I just got back from an awesome weekend where I got to visit some old friends and meet up with some new ones. I met Karen and Sharon - both from Sugar Land, TX - several months ago as part of a photography forum I'm a member of. We've become friends and I was honored - and a bit nervous since they're photographers as well - when they asked me to come to Houston to photograph their beautiful families. I'll post images of their precious little ones in upcoming posts, but I'll warn you, you may very well melt when you see their kids. Sooo sweet and adorable.

I took the 42 minute flight down to Houston on Friday and was stoked to find out that the guy sitting next to me on the plane was Jack Gruber, one of the 5 staff photographers for USAToday. (just a warning that if you check out Jack's site - and you should - a few of the images are a little graphic, especially those in the Irag, Afghanistan, Sunami sections) What are the odds? 42 minutes wasn't nearly enough time to hear all the amazing stories he has of the places he's been, the things he's seen, and the people he's met. Truly a down to earth guy and a pleasure to talk to.

In Houston, I was able to visit and stay with my friends Eric and Liz, and I can't thank them enough for their hospitality. I met Eric when he used to work at Texas Instruments and through him I met Liz, and they were gracious enough to trust me to photograph their engagement images and Liz's bridal images a little over two years ago when I'd never done any bridal photography. Not only did they pick me up and drop me off at the airport and give me an awesome room to stay in, they also gave me a car to use for the weekend, cooked me breakfast both mornings, took me to the annual Old Town Spring Texas Crawfish & Music Festival, and gave me unlimited play time with their sweet Schnauzer, Macy. How cool is that?

Here's a few images from the weekend.

Here's yours truly, Liz and Eric at the festival. It was pretty sunny out that day (probably somewhere in the neighborhood of a gazillion lumens if I had to guess), and Eric offered to take one for the team by letting me where his cool Oakley glasses while he sported the Elvis specs he picked up when they passed through Graceland a couple years ago. Thank you, Eric. Thank you very much.



Yah. Ummm, this is why I don't eat crawfish. I like my food a little more processed thank you very much.



Macy!!! She was my buddy the instant we met.



Meet Karen, Jen & Sharon. Jen is part of the same photographer forum and lives near Houston, so she met up with us for Sharon's session on Friday night and then went to dinner with us afterwards. My hat goes off to these ladies. I don't know how they do it - each of them is married with multiple children and still find time to have a photography business!

BTW, this photo was made possible by the kind folks at Apple. Long live the Mac and the iPhone!



Karen and Jen getting ready to assist with Sharon's session on Friday. This answers the question no one's been wondering, "Just how many photographers does it take to hold a 24" white balance disc?"



After dinner at Sambuca we walked around downtown Houston Friday night just to see if we could find any fun shots. (BTW, for anyone that's curious, all these night-time shots including the "iPhaces" image above were shot with the Nikon D3 with no external flash using only available street light @ ISO 5000.)




Having a moment of Zen on a street corner downtown. I couldn't keep my balance for more than 2 seconds, so not sure how Karen got this one.



Karen looking all saucy on the construction scaffolding.



Uh... don't ask. This is what dorky photographers do when they've got a camera and time to kill.



Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.
Oh, c'mon... gimme a break. Tell me you weren't thinking it.)



Too easy. Dumb, I know. But easy.

Cara & Reed

A couple days ago I had the pleasure of meeting Cara and her younger brother, Reed. Cara & Reed's mom, Rhonda, was the winning bidder in a recent auction benefiting the Legacy Christian Academy in Frisco, Texas. She was so sweet; she said she saw my friend Robyn's family images from last fall and she knew what she wanted to bid on. Thanks, Rhonda!

Cara is such a sweetheart - a little shy at first but she warmed up in no time and was so well-mannered... a blessing to photograph. Reed was your typical eight and a half year old boy - he was off exploring and checking out the park as soon as he got there throwing sticks into the pond and pulling lily pads out of the water and just doing what boys do... he was a trip down memory lane for me. Fun times!

Here's a few images from our time together.



















I love this image because for me it probably most appropriately captures their personality and relationship. Cara was soft-spoken, patient and sweet while Reed isn't the type to sit still for very long, always looking to move on to the next adventure.

I've been labeled.

So I saw this Personal DNA test on another blog, and decided to give it a try. At the end it spits out a report and a label that describes you. When I read my report, it's actually relatively accurate for me. There were a few things I questioned, but in general I agreed with much of it. Give it a try, and see if you learn something about yourself.


My personalDNA Report

Faithful Architect

Party for a Princess

Princess Trinity turns 3 on tax day this week, so to celebrate the royal parents Jerry & Tina hosted a party and a feast for your highness. Cinderella even stopped by and entertained the court with some dancing, story-telling, a treasure hunt and a little face-painting.

Mom and dad really went all out for this one, which is nothing new for the Tackett's. They are truly the host(esses) with the most(esses).

Here's a few photos I managed to capture amidst the festivities.



Here's the invite. Tina designed and printed these on parchment paper and mailed them to the guests rolled up in a tube like a scroll.


What would a Cinderella party be without a glass slipper?


...or two.


...or 20.


Tina's super-talented friend Leanne made a whole castle full of cupcakes disguised as mice. Too cool.




As usual, Tina never misses a detail for these parties.


Ahem... a little subliminal [read: shameless] self-promotion for yours truly.


The best part about this image is the little knight sitting across from Cinderella watching her intently with his helmet on. Rocks.


No comment required.




Each knight and princess had a royal costume to change into when they arrived at the Tackett castle. This little guy was off looking for his damsel to rescue.


Knights un-armored and princesses back in their street clothes, it was time for some mice cake and other royal treats.


Cinderella and the birthday girl.


BTW, the castle was custom built by King Jerry and the Queen mom, Tina, using 2 refrigerator packaging boxes, an oven packaging box, some rope for the (working) draw bridges, and a whole lotta purple paint and brick stencilling. Nothing like doing a nice, small, low-key birthday party for your 3 year-old.

Emily & Reese {sisters!}

Okay, seriously... who has kids that are this cute? I mean, c'mon... are you kiddin' me? Both big sister Emily and baby Reese have gorgeous big, blue eyes, and check out Emily's curly blond hair. Beautiful.

Mom Sarah and I have been trying for a few months to find a good time to have a session to capture her breath-taking little girls, and along with proud dad, Dan, we all met up in the Deep Ellum Arts District last weekend and made it happen. I couldn't be happier with the results. Then again, with looks like these two have, you'd have to try really hard to get a bad image.

I can't wait for mom and dad to see the rest of the images, but here's a few sneak peeks until then.