Kathy & Clint's Engagement Pics

So when I met Kathy and Clint in Galveston for their session, my first thought was, "Aww, Kathy looks so pretty! and my second thought, as my eyes moved to Clint, was "HOLY COW! You look like Dave Matthews!"

Yeah, evidently he gets that a lot. They even have that same little eyebrow-raise expression... uncanny! At any rate, Kathy also brought along a helpful friend and the fabulous young lady who will be her flowergirl. The flowergirl was crazy hilarious and I can't wait to see her again at the wedding-- she's very entertaining!

We walked around The Strand Historic District for a while, then made our way over to Kempner Park. Garten Verein and its lovely grounds fared well through Hurricane Ike (no surprise, the octagonal pavilion also survived the storm of 1900 and the entire twentieth century), and though some of the vegetation wasn't quite back up on its feet, it still made for lovely portraits. The Strand had changed a little (my favorite bright blue bookstore wall is now a really neat blue and yellow tile mosaic... and still makes for a rockin' portrait background), but mostly seemed to be cleaned up with many of the businesses up and running.

Kathy and Clint met at Molly's, so we strayed a little from my usual path and took some pictures in front of the pub (see the embracing-in-doorway pic, last one of the bunch). I think it's so cute to have a little place like that, my husband and I met at a burrito joint, which just doesn't really carry the same romanticism/nostalgia as a cute little pub. So now, for your viewing pleasure... heeeeere are Kathy and Clint!

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 : )

AND... WE'RE BACK!

Ooooh it feels good to be up and running again!

We're Safe... but still Evacuated.

If you're reading this, you've got some sort of electricity... hopefully you're working off grid power and not a generator (if you're in the Houston area). Hurricane Ike certainly did not spare us-- I've spent the past couple of days at my mom's house (our evacuation destination) cleaning up and hauling debris from the yard out to the curb for pickup, and evenings in the living room huddled around the tv and one lamp that were running off the generator. Thankfully, our dear friends Marc and Stacy were able to help us out with gasoline from their ranch's reserve tank; otherwise we aren't sure where we'd have gotten it.

Cell phones have been sporadically available for making/receiving calls, and even text messaging has been unpredictable. If you've tried to contact us and haven't been able to get through, we apologize. Things seem to be getting better each day.

I'm happy to report that no serious damage occurred to our home or to the home we've evacuated to-- most everyone we know is safe and that's the best news we could hope for. Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to those who are still missing family members, or who have suffered great loss as a result of this storm... even to those who are still without electricity and/or water or are unable to return home. Power was restored to my mom's home late this afternoon. I have never jumped for joy at the sight of a ceiling fan beginning to turn, but I definitely did today!

Our home/my office in the Clear Lake area is still without power, and nearby municipalities are still under "boil water before consumption" warnings, so I'll continue to work out of the Cypress area for the time being. For those of you waiting on edited photos, I'm working as much as I can and will contact you by phone when I've got something for you. Now that we are back on grid power and not relying on the generator, I'm more able to get things done. I am unsure as to how frequently I'll have internet access (and/or be able to check e-mail).

Before I go, I'd like to also send out some thank-you's...

Our local governments have really done a stellar job of keeping us all informed (I suppose some praise should also go out to our local media and their outstanding coverage before, during, and after the storm). I can't even begin to imagine how difficult a job this must be-- coordinating efforts of all sorts of government agencies to assist the millions of people in need.

At the end of the day whether you are a mayor, a rescue worker, a police officer, a volunteer at a "POD", or simply the person who made it a priority to get yourself into work this morning at McDonald's so that others could have a little something hot and fresh to start our day with, thank you.

Thank you to Danny Goodale for being a kind neighbor and bringing your resources to our front yard, lighting a fire under all of us to stop wondering what on earth we were going to do, and start cleaning up the mess. Thank you to Connor and Andrew for putting down the XBOX controllers, stepping up to the plate, circling their wagons (literally-- kids' wagons really make great brush-haulers in a pinch), and moving thousands of tree branches and logs to the curb. Thank you, Jack, for all of the millions of little things (and dozens of big things) you have done to make this week so much more bearable... I wish everyone could have a husband like you.

We'll be closed for a few days...

We will be closed until Hurrican Ike has made its way to land and decided where to go. Our home is in a mandatory evacuation zone, so we'll return as soon as it's deemed safe to do so.