I realized that I never shared these photos here, even though they were posted on my personal site.

Back in early April, I made a quick trip down to Galveston to take shots for my friend Shelley’s storytelling website. While we were up on the rooftop of the Tremont, I spotted this cute couple on the other side. The light was so wonderful up there at sunset, I couldn’t resist snapping a photo of them earlier as they sat by the railing, enjoying the great weather we were having.

As I was switching memory cards, I heard her … Crying? Squealing? Laughing? All of the above? I’m not really sure. It was enough to make me turn around though and start snapping more photos of them. The above photo is the first one that I caught. I then walked closer to Shelley & told her that I thought he had just proposed.

We both got a bit teary. Yeah, I’m a sap like that. As soon as we had a chance, we called out to them and asked if he had just proposed. When she said yes, and that he had totally surprised her, we then told them that I had taken photos of them seconds after it happened.

It was a happy twist of fate.

We all exchanged business cards, he immediately asked about buying prints, and she asked if he had planned the fact that I was there too. (Not sure what else he had surprised her with!) I told her he had not - but I am still so thrilled that I was there!

A week later, we got together for a planned engagement photo session at Eleanor Tinsley Park, just outside of downtown Houston along Allen Parkway. They were such a fun couple to work with, and I loved the skyline photograph so much that I used it in the print ad we will have coming up soon in the Weddings in Houston magazine!

Their wedding is planned for September, back at the Tremont in Galveston. It is the same place where I had my wedding reception - I just love that place! Such a neat historic hotel, and a great place for a destination wedding! (Ok, maybe not a destination wedding to those of us that live just north of Galveston in Houston, but they offer great destination wedding planning services, so they still count!)

Hello everyone - hope everyone had a lovely Memorial Day weekend spent with family and friends. I know that I did despite the constant rain. We had friends over and had a wonderful “gourmet” BBQ mostly prepared by my husband.

I also made my way out to Hermann Park Saturday afternoon to try to take pictures for a Flickr group I participate in called Assignment Houston. It is a group of local photographers and each month we are given a very specific assignment. Photographs submitted must be taken during that month so it forces you get out there and shoot. I know it has sparked a lot of my creativity in me over the last year and this month was not a disappointment.

Since the deadline is this week I drove out in the rain hoping it wouldn’t be too bad at the park. It was still sprinkling lightly but I decided to use my umbrella to protect myself and the camera from the rain. My perseverance was rewarded though when soon after arriving the rain let off and an umbrella was no longer needed. By the time I was returning to my car there was even some blue sky peeking through the clouds. Below are a couple of favorites from this rainy outing… I hope you enjoy!

Just checking in from Dallas! I just published the Alley family portraits, which we took in honor of the parent’s 50th anniversary. 50 years! Such a fun family - it was great working with them. That is one of the great things about the internet - clients no longer have to meet with the photographer to review proofs, or send them around from one household to another to select what they want prints of (there were 5 families total - the parents, their 4 children, and their families); now everyone can review and order them online! It really is a great system.

Today I’ll be photographing the wedding of Jim & Leia. I just adore the website they created for the big event, and we used their logo on the event cards for today! It has been dubbed the “Blogger Wedding of the Year ™” and it should be wonderful! You can’t go wrong with cupcakes and a chocolate fountain. Now if only it would stop raining…

I’m on the public computer at the Bradford Suites here in Dallas, so no photos for the moment. I’ll post some on Sunday night once we get home!

Hello everyone - this is my first post here in our awesome new Fresh Photography blog and I am excited to share with you some vacation pictures. While Christine has been doing a whirlwind tour of portrait sessions and weddings, I followed her to New York and took a much needed vacation. I took over 1000 photos so bear with me if I throw a few of my favorites up here! Here is my favorite picture of the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset looking towards Manhattan.

 More coming soon as they get edited…

This week is going to be all about editing photos for me, so hang on - it is going to be a busy time around here! First up, the Mother’s Day weekend session! The Alleys have been married for 50 years, and since everyone was gathering to celebrate, we set up a portrait session for that Saturday afternoon. We met in Hermann Park at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, and found a nice quiet spot to set up. We captured all sorts of family combinations while we were there - just the parents, the parents with the grandchildren, the parents with the children, the children & their families, the grandchildren together, just the older granddaughters - you name it, we did it! When Donna contacted me to find out if it would be a session fee for each family, I told her no because that just wouldn’t make sense. A session fee is for 1-2 hours of my time, and since it was all one big family, why not make the most of it? I don’t see any reason to limit a session based on the number of people involved!

Here are a few favorites of mine from the day - the parents and the children, and one of the big group shots with all 20 people in it - and no one is blinking!

I am just wrapping up the latest senior session and uploading it to our proofing system at Pictage, and I had the hardest time converting any of these photos to black & white - Kenneth has the best deep blue eyes! He was in town visiting for a family event, and he asked his mom (Hi Robin!) to contact me so we could set up a senior session for him. He originally wasn’t going to do pictures for his graduation announcements, but changed his mind she said after looking through some of our other work. What an honor! He was so much fun to work with, and we had a really good time. I loved working with him!

While I hate the name of it, I seriously want to find someone that is willing to participate in a Trash the Dress photo shoot! Come on … you can’t tell me you’re really going to ever wear the dress again. Plus most of the things we would consider doing can easily be handled by a drycleaner when we’re done.

So? Anyone game? Road trip to the beach to frolic in the sand? A city setting where we play in the streets, or splash in a fountain? Anyone?

Update - July 10th, 2007 - the first THREE clients to come to me to book a trash the dress session will get the session for FREE! All you have to pay for is the prints you choose to order. Interested? Contact me through the new wedding photography site!

I just returned from my trip to Philadelphia & New York City yesterday, and Elaine left for New York City today! I can’t wait to see what she brings back from her trip - I was only in the city for just over 24 hours, and she will be there for close to a week. So exciting!

I had never been to New York before, but now? I can’t wait to go back! I visited Park Slope & Williamsburg in Brooklyn, plus mid-town Manhattan with breakfast right across from Grand Central Station, lunch down in SoHo, and a visit with a long time friend, Faith & her pug Boris, in Murray Hill. A walk across 34th Street found me at the Empire State Building, but I ended up not going up to the top. (Decided to save that for my next trip when I can enjoy it with Mike & Jason!) Eventually I continued down 34th past the Macy’s store and then on to Penn Station for my return to Philadelphia. So much to see - I just wanted to soak it all in!

Wednesday morning in Philadelphia I got a chance to visit Love Park, Reading Terminal Market, and see a bit of the scenery inbetween the two before I headed to the airport to fly home. I had a nice breakfast with my friend Wendy at Reading Terminal, and it was a great way to end my stay in the city. I am so very thankful that Mac and her husband were so kind to let me come and stay with them! I had a great time, and can’t wait to return!

“Real” photographs to come soon as soon as I get them downloaded off of the memory card! Check back for more! The ones below are just a few that I captured with my Blackberry Pearl while out and about - that way, I could upload them to Flickr right after I took them to share with family back at home.

My first view of New York, right as I walked out of Penn Station.

Manhattan skyline from the esplanade at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Love sign in Philadelphia.

Thanks to everyone that came out to see us at the Yale Street Market this month! I had to miss it this time around, unfortunately - I got to make a trip up north to go to Maryland Sheep & Wool. It is a big fiber festival with lots and lots of sheep & goats, and tons of crafters. Weaving, spinning, knitting and crocheting - I saw it all. I tried not to do too much damage to the credit card, but I did manage to end up bringing some goodies home with me. Many, many thanks to my husband, Mike, who went to help out Elaine with the show!

I am not home yet as I’m in Philadelphia right now - I flew into town last week to visit my friend Mac, who I went to Maryland with along with our friend Dell. Tomorrow, I’m off to New York City to photograph a sweet new baby, Julia! She is about a month old now. Mike & I met her parents while we were at Stephen & Kimberly’s wedding in February, and when I realized that I would be just down the road in Philly this weekend, I added on a few days to make time for a photo shoot with them. It will be my first time in New York, and while it is just for an overnight I can’t wait! Hopefully I’ll get some time for some city shots too - check back here for updates!

In just a few days, Elaine is going to be in New York too! We miss each other up here by a few days. I can’t WAIT to see what she captures while in the city! Looks like we’ll both have good weather for it, so it should be perfect!