Veteran's Day: Honoring those who have served us.

On occasion I am privileged to shoot for someone who is serving (or has served) our country in the military... This is a shout out to all of those ladies and gentlemen-- and the families who support them. Thank you for making the choice to join the ranks and make our safety and freedom all part of a day's work.

You'll probably notice that this is a compilation from years of photography...
it's fun to look back and see how my technique has improved has improved : )

I'm also including a shot of the good old American flag that I took at Minuteman National Park in Massachusetts. I had walked the Freedom Trail in Boston that week, then went to the woods at Lexington & Concord and saw many of the Revolutionary War sites and markers. Walking along the dark woodsy trail, it was beautiful... but imagining being there in the middle of a war was a little harrowing. I came upon Paul Revere's capture site and could only imagine how scared he must have been out there, all alone-- it's almost unthinkable that someone could put his life on the line for something like freedom, which is such a given in my world today. When I got to the visitor center in the clearing and saw that flag flying, I really felt more sense of patriotism than I ever had before in my life... thinking about the actual day-to-day of someone serving our country, and how big of a deal that really is.

I thought about how we send our own soldiers all over the world to protect our freedom and fight for the rights of others... and how awesome it really is for an 18 year old to stand up and say, "Yeah... I'll do that." How much of a sacrifice it is for someone to marry into the military, knowing that her husband's job is to go up in a fighter plane... or that he's going to be deployed halfway across the world... or on a boat out in the middle of nowhere.

All for the service of others.

Fancy Facebook Ladies' Nights!

So admit it... how many of you ladies out there have a Facebook profile picture that leaves much to be desired?

Fancy Facebook Ladies' Night is all about YOU! Each month, we'll have a different fun and funky theme set up to take your best headshot. You'll get two shots, and they'll be posted to Facebook the next day. All you have to do is visit the Monkey Tree Photography page, find yourself, and add the picture to your profile. VOILA! Facebook perfection.

For December, we'll probably do something in a happy aqua tone... I'm currently trying to figure out how we can rig up falling "snow" as well. Brainstorm time : )

Bring a friend or two if you like-- the more the merrier. Leave the boys and kids behind or drop them (the guys, not the kids!) off at one of the many pubs in the area; you can join them later!

The December Marketing Piece...

This is our half-page ad that will appear in the December issue of Modern Luxury's Houston Brides magazine... can't wait to see it in print... hehehe. Thanks to Molly and Lisa (my sales rep and editor at Houston Brides) for stopping by the Open House on Thursday-- and for the gorgeous bouquet of flowers to celebrate the occasion!

Bicycles on the Beach with Laura Beth & David

WHEEEE!!!!

I love when I'm meeting with a bride, and we're talking about how we can do engagement portraits and incorporate my awesome aqua beach cruiser bicycle. Then she hires me. Then we make the bicycle portrait wishes come true : )

That's how it happened with Laura Beth and her fiance David in Galveston on a bright and happy Sunday morning. She showed up in this flirty little yellow dress (her wedding decor will incorporate marigold and pewter) and they even managed to find another blue cruiser bike for David to ride! We threw everything in my husband's truck and headed down to the island. These two were great sports as I drove around prospecting for great shot-spots. They'd jump out whenever I asked them to, and we all three totally laughed the morning away during this session... mainly because laughing is how you make it work when you're trying to ride a bicycle in a dress and heels and it's windy.

I should also mention the technical difficulty in getting two people to ride past you, on bikes, at the same time, with just the right spacing between them, and both people looking at you-- and not falling off the bikes or running over one another. Oh and not covering up the "save the date" sign, or whacking the other person with it while holding it and steering a bike.

We didn't use stunt doubles, I swear ; )

We finished up at the beach for a little spashin' fun in the sun. I'm really looking forward to their wedding at The Parador and the cute little bicycle centerpieces!

I received their save-the-date postcard in the mail one day and it was really WOW factor... Laura Beth had used the image I shot while lying on the ground (you can see the bike wheels really big) and the colors popped with the sky so well. It's the last image on this blog post, and I love it!

Stacie & Brian

Stacie and Brian were married at the elegant and tranquil Paraiso Maravilla on an early fall evening. Stacie was absolutely stunning in her gown, and Brian was beaming with handsome pride!

The couple lives out of state, so we relied on the expert coordination of Kelly Balfour with Eventology Weddings to make the day run smoothly. This was a rare instance where I'd never met or spoken to the bride and groom before meeting them at the wedding venue with camera in hand... but it all went beautifully, and we were able to build instant rapport. I really enjoyed meeting the families and friends of the couple as well; everyone so joyous on this occasion.

Cafe Natalie catered the event (yummy as usual!) and the beautiful centerpiece lanterns were provided by Dream Bouquet.

For their guests' favors, the couple had the cutest little personalized tins of... drumroll please... one of my favorite candies....

JELLY BELLIES!

Veronica, 2 weeks

I'd met Veronica's mom, Lisa, when she was planning her wedding. It was several years ago (very early in my career) and she chose another photographer for the wedding day, but I did end up shooting their engagement portraits. It was wonderful to hear from Lisa again when her daughter was born.

I went to Veronica's home for this shoot when she was 2 weeks old. Day one of our shoot was okay, but she was particularly fussy and not feeling chipper at allllll (would NOT close those eyes for us!), so I went back 2 days later to finish out the shoot and keep everyone in their comfort zone (on day two, she slept and snuggled happily like a little angel). Hooray for persistence! We got some great peaceful shots on that second day.

Holly & Nick's Engagement Portraits

Holly & Nick decided on Galveston for their engagement portraits-- one of my favorites because of all the bright paint on the buildings (especially post-Ike since there have been many renovations). These two are a bunch of goofy fun, and I could not WAIT to photograph their wedding after having worked with them for the engagement shoot.

We found this really bright aqua building and pulled over-- it happened to be the backside of a daycare center... but who cares when you've got color that fantastic!

As usual, we ended up at the beach for some sweet romantic shots... the last one (in sepia tone) is the image they chose to blow up and display at their reception. It was absolutely perfect.

Becca & Sergio's Wedding

Becca and Sergio (high school sweethearts, awwwww) were married at Servants of Christ UMC, and held their reception at the beautifully historic Garten Verein pavilion in Galveston. There was lots of red and black, fun with mariachis, and sweet, sweet celebration. I can't hear the Black Eyed Peas' "I Got a Feelin'" without thinking about the limo ride to the church-- the entire wedding party was there, with Becca and Sergio sitting in the back, very "chill", just riding to their wedding. It was perfect : )

Becca's "something old" was a picture of her grandparents... I thought that was pretty cool.

Open House!

New and exciting things are happening!

Well folks, it's been a long time coming...

I signed a lease yesterday on a studio/meeting space in Rice Village on Morningside (above Brian O'Neill's). I can hardly wait to get in there and get started making it all my own.

Not only will this put me closer to many of my current clients' homes for location shoots, it will make me more accessible for shorter studio sessions-- and allow me more flexibility within that space. I'm looking forward to being more centrally located for my wedding consults, and having lots of wall space to showcase my artwork and amazing clients!

For the boudoir and bridal clients, I'll be just a couple of blocks from MAC and Salon Beaute for your makeup and hairtyling needs. The word on the street is that Celebrity Cupcakes is setting up shop nearby as well... so bring in those birthday babies and let's let them smash up some cupcake during their session!

Also exciting, I will be neighbors with the fabulous Kelly Balfour of Eventology Weddings. She's setting up shop next door : )

Only time will tell, but I hope to begin booking studio sessions in the new space by early November. I hope to see all of your smiling faces!