Marci + Joseph's Wedding

Marci and Joseph were married in Port Arthur with a ceremony at Our Lady of Guadalupe and a fantastic reception at Marci's parents' home. There was a giant white tent strung with festive pink flowerballs... the party was hopping alllll night long! This crowd was definitely looking to have a good time, which they did, well beyong the couple's sparkler-sendoff. Congratulations Marci and Joseph!

A special thank-you goes out to Marci's mom Melinda... she was very helpful on the day of the bridal portraits.

Wheeeee! New business cards!

It always feels great to have something new! Here are the Summer 2009 editions of the Monkey Tree Business cards (one for weddings, one for the other stuff).

The wedding card features Alma & Stevan on the front, with a great dancing image from their morning-after session at Discovery Green. Marcie's beautiful silhouette with umbrella graces the back of the card.

The infant/child/maternity card features handsome and bright-eyed Drew from a recent session... and on the reverse side is one of my all-time favorite infant shots: Baby Kendall with an orchid. It's so hard to believe I have been photographing her for three years. She's such a little lady these days... talking and going to the nail spa with her mommy for pedicures!

It's like... making cookies from scratch... smelling them cooking... but not being able to take a bite.

So last week, my Mac flatlined (as my lovely friend Ren described it). The Mac is my editing computer-- it's where the magic happens. It's where the beauty, joy, and laughter emerges and is culled down to the best of the best.

I opened it up, waited for the chime and happy screen... but nothing. Just a little noise that sounded like it was trying to play a CD or something. Oh, river of tears. I took a trip up to the Mac store where I was informed that my sweet little computer had to go away for a week.

I needed a coke and some pretzel sticks to help me deal with the trauma. Auntie Anne's was there to oblige. Sweet and salty deliciousness were my only consolation. Gotta love the mall, man.

It's not that I'm missing data, or files or anything... all my images are backed up and safe. It's that my schedule has been thrown off because I'm left unable to proof/edit all of this beautiful work I've done for my clients, knowing how anxious they are to see their beautiful weddings, their beautiful babies, their sweet smiling children. Erasing all those blocks of editing from my calendar was a heart-wrenching process.

I have this stack of memory cards that's burning a hole in my pocket!!!!

It's like when you make a big batch of delicious chocolate chip cookies from scratch. Not slice-and-bake, people, the real deal. Artisan cookies, beautiful lumpy mounds of dough with Ghirardelli dark chips, organic flour, cage-free-chicken eggs. You've spent this time thinking about them, creating them, you just want to be able to TASTE them. You pull them out of the oven, smell that sweet aroma, pour yourself a giant glass of ice cold milk... sit down to a plate of them and your mouth is watering...

and then find that your cookies have to be away from you for a week or so.

I thrive on seeing my work take shape. I love shooting, I love manipulating the images on my screen, and I love LOVE love revealing them to my clients!

I'm going a little crazy with my post-processing powers having been taken away from me. On the bright side, my Mac should be back in my arms later this week, good as new! If you don't hear much out of me next week, it's because I'm on some sort of turbo-editing marathon session and can't stop to see the light of day ; )

I can't wait to show you Marcie & Ed's beautiful outdoor wedding and night of dancing... LaTrice & Dan's military sabre arch and Cinderella formals... Tyler, Zofia, and Aidan's sweet baby portraits... and more. I even did some "just get out and shoot what your lens finds" stuff last week. I shot some of my own textures! I want to play with them so badly!

At any rate, that's why you haven't heard much from me. I'm sure I'll be blogging like a crazywoman in a couple of weeks and you'll have plenty of eye candy. Patience, my dear grasshoppers.

Alma & Stevan in the Park

You may recognize Alma & Stevan from their wedding that was blogged about back in April. The following session was a post-wedding shoot, which they opted for when time constraints kept them from scheduling engagement portraits before the wedding.

It was a beautiful cool evening downtown. With the wedding planning over and the two of them having settled back into the everyday grind, this was a welcome outing for some silly fun-- in wedding garb! They were so happy and relaxed as they toured the park hand in hand, smiling, giggling, maybe even a little bit of dancing and prancing here and there : )

These are the kinds of shots that are often difficult to get on the actual wedding day, since there's such a tight schedule to keep and so many of your family members and friends are demanding your attention... not to mention brides and grooms are in "my head is spinning!" mode. Planning more relaxed session afterward is an excellent way to grab those shots you wish you'd had time to take on the wedding day!

Gloria & James

Gloria and James met me at Rice University on a perfectly cloudy evening for some engagement portraits-- they had hired me sight-unseen, so this was actually our first time to meet in person. There was a crew taking down bleachers from an event that day on the lawn, so we weren't able to utilize the full potential of what Rice has to offer (but I think we managed to do a great job anyway!). We captured lots of sweet, loving glances and serene embraces... lots of tender togetherness. Both Gloria and James have eyes that speak volumes, see for yourself!

I can't wait for their wedding to arrive; they're getting married at the church I attended during my childhood (in which I've never shot a wedding), in the brand new sanctuary. It should be gorgeous!

Ode to Lori Nordstrom

One last Drew portrait-- this is my "Ode to Lori Nordstrom", one of my instructors at Texas School of Professional Photography a couple of weeks ago. Lori's niche is the beautiful, timeless hand-colored black and white children's portrait.

If you're a fellow photographer and ever have the chance to hear Lori speak or take a class with her, do it! She's a great mentor and a wonderful all-around person.

She's also got this cool little company called Pepper, if you need a little spice for your camera!

Drew!

It's crazy baby birthday season! I met Drew and his mom at a recent playgroup portrait party, and she decided she'd like for Drew to have some one on one time with me for his very own session. He'll be two years old in a couple of weeks.

This silly little guy showed up at my place ready to rumble! He was all over the place with his infectious smile and laughter, making friends with Beau the cat, throwing Freddy his ball (which he enjoyed so much that his mom had to drag him away when it was time to leave).

During his 30-seconds-of-shy, he was happy to hide behind Mommy's sunglasses (which, after all, make one invisible, right?).

Thanks for all the fun, Drew! I've included a lovely portrait of his "woobie", Eeyore. Check out that last picture-- showbiz, anyone?