A Day at the Beach

I first met mom Sarah when she called me a few years back to shoot Lindsay's portraits, as they had recently moved to Houston and needed a local photographer. It's been a while, and I've been privileged to shoot their family portraits, Baby Lauren's portraits, and most recently this beach session.

It's a treat to see these guys each and every time I'm invited! I can't believe what a beautiful girl Lindsay has become (I remember when she met me for the first time-- super-shy, we watched Clifford and had some goldfish crackers to break the ice). Lauren is growing like a weed, looking more like a little girl and less like a baby.

It wasn't the most fabulous weather at the beach (cloudy, sticky, and of course windy) but we definitely made the best of it and came away with some great family shots. One of my favorites is Lindsay walking into the surf with her dad, you can see their reflection on the wet shore. It reminds me of a picture of my father with my niece and daughter walking along the beach... one of those images she will treasure as she gets older.

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!

Katie's Senior Portraits

I don't shoot senior sessions very often but Katie, who lives in a far off land in deep East Texas, traveled all the way to Galveston for her senior portraits last week. Her little sister Ashley came along, so we couldn't resist snapping a couple of sister shots while we were on the beach.

If you notice a resemblance to me, it's no coincidence-- she's my cousin and we both look like our dads : )

Congratulations, Katie, Class of 2009!

Joyce & Guy

Joyce and Guy had a sweet, intimate ceremony on the beach in Galveston this past December. We were right across Seawall Boulevard from the Hotel Galvez, and to the west was the Flagship Hotel and the remains of several buildings that had been torn from their pier foundations by Hurricane Ike this fall. It was great to be there, great to see things returning to normal, great to see good old Rev. John Bostock again (who weathered the storm in his residence in Downtown Galveston... evidently he had a giant fiberglass fish from Joe's Crab Shack wash up on his balcony).

But back to Joyce and Guy... such sweet, fun people. They showed up with friends and a cooler full of champagne (for a toast afterward). It rained all day and I think we were all scared there would have to be some sort of Plan B... but much to my surprise as I drove to the beach... the sun came out and shone on them for their entire ceremony. It was one of those beautifully lit situations where we've got a dark and ominous sky in the background, but pretty soft light falling on the people. Add to that Joyce's long, flowing red hair and you've got the stuff dreams is made of!

Oh Hello! Back from vacation, and my first post-Ike Galveston Bridal Portraits

Vacation was great, Vegas was good to us.

The night before we left for vacation, I had a bridal session in Galveston with Dara, who is getting married this weekend. She's also drop-dead gorgeous and up for just about anything-- my favorite kind of bride! Living on the island, she wanted some beautiful classic beach pictures but also a few in and around some of the storm rubble (note the fallen-down building whose door is still standing, and the dock that washed up in a parking lot with the sunset behind it). For a lovely bonus, she lives in a home that's over 100 years old and survived the hurricane of 1900 in Galveston-- so we were able to shoot a bit right on her cute little front porch.

It was great to be back in Galveston and see most of my familiar haunts doing just fine... I was pretty sad, though, when we drove past 61st and Seawall, and noticed that the cute purple fishing shack is completely washed away.

It's hard for me to pick favorites from this session, I'm torn between the calm classic beauty of her beach shots and the drama-shadowy shots under my favorite dead vines in Kempner Park (one is great, but two's better-- so I did a color and a sepia version of that one). Either way, she exudes calm confidence and was just wonderful to work with! I can't wait to shoot her wedding : )