This is a detail shot that I like to capture at every wedding. I’m intentionally blurring the background so that the focus is on the ring.

This image will be some what of an heirloom for Doug & Kasey. The ’68 Chevy Chevelle is this image is a gift from Doug’s parents. It is the original car that his parents drove away in right after their wedding.

With the bright water as the background, I decided that this image looks more dramatic as a Black & White.

I try to offer every client a “Break Away” moment for portraits. Here, we slip away from the crowd and find an area for the Bride and Groom to relax and have a few fun moments to themselves.

No wedding is complete without the traditional removal of the Garter and the Bouquet Toss.

…and finally, the grand finale of the Bride and Groom leaving the reception.

My warmest thanks go out to Kasey and Doug for allowing me to be apart of their very special day!

This posting is about my recent wedding assignment of Amanda and Brad. I had photographed Amanda’s Bridal portraits back in May and now the big wedding day had arrived.

This event was held at a very neat location, the Craig-Heard Hall in Downtown McKinney. Their theme was set in a 50′s style lounge with music from the greats like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Big Bands. All the tables were already set to the reception style layout which gave the atmosphere of the audience watching a lounge stage production. VERY COOL!

As I have previously stated, Flower Girls are very adorable.

Here, I am incorporating a photo journalistic style of capturing the motion of the group as we moved from one location to another prior to the ceremony.

I found Amanda to have amazing eyes. Thus, I wanted to capture their beauty with this tight crop image. I had ask her to pulled the veil across her face and lowered it just below her eyes.

During the preparations, I saw Amanda blotting her lipstick on a piece of napkin and this gave me a GREAT idea!

…I quickly told her not to throw the napkin way and handed her a pen. With pen in hand, I asked her to write a note to her Groom, Brad.

I immediately delivered the message to him and captured his reaction…

Finally, I can’t close this posting without exposing the very outrageous and funny people that I get to meet at weddings!

Congratulation to Amanda & Brad.

This next image is one of my favorite images.

I will typically instruct either the Bride or the Groom to tell the other person a secret. This secret is STRICTLY between the two of them. I love the reactions that I typically get.

As part of a typical wedding package, I always capture the preparation time before the wedding ceremony.

Here you can see Jonette releasing a little tension on her Maid-of-honor.

Now that the Bride is ready, images of all the details in the dress are captured for her memories.

I personally love adding the Sepia tone to this image. It gives it a warm antique feeling.

This is one of the funniest wedding cake toppers that I have ever seen!

Now it is official! The “I do’s” are said and The Rings are exchanged.

Finally, Mr. and Mrs. Brian and Jonette Phegley are ready to set off for their honeymoon!

I must give special thanks to my assistant, JD McLeod, for capturing this particular image.

Congratulation to Jonette and Brian!

**See more images from Jonette & Brian’s wedding here**

First, we setup to photographed in front of the Art Institute of McKinney. After looking at this photo, I wanted to create an image with a little nostalgic flair. Thus, I came up with this next images of a Black & White with selected isolated color.

It was an early morning shoot and the cloudy sky was wanting to rain on our photo shoot. However, as we walked down the street to the nearest corner, we got a break in the clouds. I quickly jumped at the chance to capture some close-up images of the Bouquet and the detail in the dress. It was just enough light to capture this detail image.

Since I’m also an Architect, I could not resist the row of columns directly across the street.

Personally, I live with a strong Faith and a very positive outlook on life. I believe that when something bad happens, something BETTER comes out of it. As it was getting more cloudy and beginning to sprinkle, God sent me a gift. A lady that Amanda knew approached us from the street and offered the use of her facility nearby, the old Collin County Prison Building. This building is an Historical Landmark!

This Prison building is known to be the last jail to house Bonnie and Clyde just before their deaths. Recently, it has been renovated and turned into a Coffee Bar, Bookstore, and now an Art Gallery. The current owners of the building has maintain much of the interiors. They kept the Isolation Chamber with steel doors on the first floor and the jail cells on the third floor. Again, the Architect in me thought that this was a PERFECT place to photograph!

Here you can see Amanda with a real, life Ball and Chain that was attached to one of the Isolation Chamber doors. It was a concrete ball attached to a steel chain and shackle and very heavy.

On the third floor remain 4 jail cells. Amanda has told me that this is one of her favorite images. This location has become my second favorite place to photograph indoors. I will definitely be offering more Portrait packages to photograph at this location. Thus, my all time favorite location to photograph in is the old Cotton Mill in McKinney. This is where we were schedule to complete the photo session.

The Cotton Mill offers a tremendous amount of natural lighting to come in from the warehouse style windows. It also offers a very nostalgic and historical environment for a portrait session.

We definitely spent more than 2 hours with the entire Portrait Session and had fun doing it. This is my favorite image from the Cotton Mill location. It has now become the new cover image on the home page of my web site. It was an absolute pleasure to work with Amanda. I can’t wait until October arrives.

My “Standard” wedding package offers 5 hours of photographic coverage. On the average, I will show up to the venue about 1 1/2 hours prior to the ceremony. During this time, coverage of both halves of the wedding party are captured during the Preparations.

Bride’s maid helping the Bride.

Having a drink.

Groom’s men preparing.

Almost ready.

These moments of anticipation and anxiety are always treasured by the Bride & Groom.

Flower girls are always adorable!

During the final preparation, I will try to isolate the Groom’s party and photograph their formal pictures first.

…and then once the Bridal party is ready, their pictures are captured next.

On the average, the Ceremony itself usually takes about 20 to 30 minutes. It’s ironic that the most important part of the entire day happens so quickly.

Being escorted down the aisle.

Eagerly awaiting.

Every venue has it’s own set of rules with regards to the photography during the ceremony. It was very fortunate that this Chapel allowed me to move around during the ceremony. Otherwise, I would not have been able to capture this next image.

Of course, I will always provide the Traditional formal group shots.

Then finally, the remaining 2 1/2 or 3 hours are spent during the Reception. This is the time that most of the photo journalistic type images are captured. I strive to capture all the essential moments and emotions from this event.

Cheers!

Get down and boogie!

Girls just want to have fun!

Vanilla Ice is back!

To wrap up the evening, the Chapel organized a “Last Dance” strictly for the Bride and Groom. After capturing this image, I was even ask to leave so that they would spend one last quite moment together.

Congratulation to Barbie and Louis! Thank you for allowing me to share your special day!

One new feature that I like to use is the Panoramic format. In a wedding album, a wide panoramic image can span across two pages.

When shooting the preparations of the Bride, I always make it a point to capture an image of the back of the dress. This is the view that the audience will mostly see the Bride during the ceremony.

…and of course, we will always capture all those details shots that most Brides and Grooms will never get to experience.

To a very special couple, congratulations to Enlik and Vincent!

Mandy – the Model/Bride: I personally like this high-key image with a strong contrast bewteen her and the background.

The editorial shot: I like to use these types of shots for my own marketing purposes and stock photography.

The Classic pose: I specifically like to frame some of my images with a diagonal from one corner of the frame to the opposite corner.

The cute and adorable pose: Mandy says that this image really reflects her true personally.

Shortly after this photo shoot the Groom to be showed up with a beautiful golden retriever for an engagement photo session. Images from that session will be posted soon.

Inside the Lobby:

Outdoors under a columnade: I desaturated this image to give it that seductive “Bond Spy” like mood.

One HAPPY WOMAN!:

What makes this session even more amazing is that Amr had suffered a minor heart attack one week prior to this day. Thus, he was moving a little bit slower than normal, but manage to pull off an excellent photo session. Sophie was so excited when I delivered the proofs within a metal cover album that had a built-in CD page insert. I was even more excited to received a BIG box of her favorite chocolate from overseas. Well actually, my wife and daughter were more excited.

CONGRATULATION to Sophie and Amr!

As a wedding present to the bride and groom, I offered my services to them for free.  It was a small ceremony and reception that only lasted a couple of hours.  A few weeks prior to the wedding, I began researching and reading about wedding photography from books and Web sites.  Some of the basic principles that I learned was to anticipate all possible scenes that I wanted to capture.  My photojournalism experience from high school played a big part with this skill set.  Needless to say, I arrive to the ceremony very prepared and full of confidence.

The Preparations:

The Reception:

The Fun:

 A couple of weeks afterwards, I had delivered to them a CD of all the images from their big day. This was the start of my endeavor to become a Portrait/Wedding photographer.  Click the link below see more images from their wedding.

Curtis & Keri

First – The previous 2006 home page featured a cropped image of a previous wedding client, Mia from McKinney, Texas. This image was taken as part of the formals portraits right after the ceremony. I cropped in close to focus just on the flowers and her dress with a little touch of her necklace and new wedding ring. I actually use this image on my current business cards. However, after one year of the same home page, I wanted to change the image.

Second – The new 2007 home page features one of my favorite models, Mandy from Dallas, Texas. Mandy has access to a local wedding dress designer and was gladly to obtain this dress for a TFP photo shoot in Plano. I have started to use images from this shoot in my 2007 marketing programs.