Crazy wedding weekend

Its been sometime since we've shot back-to-back weddings, until this past weekend. Not only was it 2 weddings in one weekend but 3 weddings in 8 days. On Saturday the 15th we shot Summer and RJs wedding. We shot Summer's cousin John and his wife Maria's wedding last December. It was awesome to see them and their families again. Summer and RJ we hope you guys had a blast in Jamaica.

Friday we took a trip down to Pasadena and were at the Rice Hotel for Donna & Juan's wedding. Donna unfortunately was late getting to the church so that delayed the portraits considerably. Donna & Juan decided that they would see each other before the wedding, to have their special moment and to get a jump start on all the portraits they'd requested. Unfortunately that didn't happen but we were able to make up for the time lost after the ceremony. What a fun couple they were.

If shooting one wedding in a weekend wasn't exhausting, we shot Sylvia and Anibal's wedding the very next day. The race was on after the Donna & Juan's wedding to get all the batteries charged and all the images backed up before the next morning. Sylvia and Anibal's wedding was a long day, 10 hours to be exact. What a great, sweet couple. They were a blast to work with and their reception was so much fun as well. We had the privilege of working with Kelly with Eventology again. We love Kelly. This was the second time we've worked with her. She does such an exceptional job for all her brides. If you are in search of a wedding coordinator, don't hesitate to call and book Kelly.

Helping others...

Today was a special day. I spent some time today helping a dear friend with her buiness. I met Janice this past February while working together at Shlane & Mike's wedding. At the reception we got to talking about our buinesses and the topic of our faith was brought up. There was something special about Janice, I saw that immediately. She was so glowing with a zest for life. I'm often guilty of getting down on myself and not letting the light of God shine through me. Janice, as am I, is a Christian. She lives everyday, allowing Jesus to be the central focus point and her inspiration.

Today I visited with Janice and helped her with the marketing of her business, Flowers by Janice. www.flowersbyjanice.biz. We shared stories, we reminised over old photographs and I shot photography and video of her and her business activities. I will be designing her a new Flash web site to showcase her true passion beautifully. Her web site will include a personalized opening video and beautiful photographs of her truly amazing floral designs. Thank you Janice for allowing me to help you and thank you for sharing our name and services with all your friends and brides.

Intro to Multimedia Class

Its always been a struggle for me to balance teaching and operating the studio at the same time. Until Bridget started working at the studio on April 28th (little over three months ago) it was hard for me to get any real work done on the days that I taught. For the past four years until this past Spring I taught only one class.  Then at the end of last year I was informed that I was being given the privilege of teaching not one but two classes at the Lone Star College North Harris campus; Digital Video (which I've taught since Fall of 2004) and Intro to Multimedia.

The Intro to Multimedia class allows me to share with all my students my true love of all the different types of media... photography, graphic design, video, web site and DVD creation. In this class all the students get hands on practice and learn practical knowledge of how to use the variety of multimedia software that Adobe has on the market (Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Premiere, Encore and After Effects). The students are also introduced to the superior Apple Macintosh. Yes, I said superior (PC's and Microsoft are of the devil), not because I have only ever used the Mac, but because the Mac is truly the world's most user friendly and most stable operating system. But, we'll leave that for another discussion. Those of you who have taken my class you know how I feel about the Mac.

This summer was only the second semester that I taught the Intro class. After teaching it last Spring I knew that something had to be changed. Last Spring I had several students who were simply bored with the repetitive book reading, writing papers and only working with the Adobe software for about half of the contact hours. I had to create a more functional way to teach them all how fun it could be to use all the software packages together to create a user friendly multimedia experience. I'm happy to say it was a success. Normally on any given semester the turn over rate for students staying through the semester versus those who drop the class (for whatever reason) is generally 1/2. If 20 students enroll, likely 10 will drop. This summer, every student stayed to the end. I am so grateful that you all stuck through it. I know the class can be tough, learning the software can be daunting, working with the Mac for the first time is a challenge, but you all did it; I am so proud of you all. Not only did they all stay for the duration of the class, few were ever absent and you all demonstrated a drive to learn all that you could.

Thank you all for allowing me to make a difference. Thank you for not just being my students but my friends. I will miss the eight hours a week that we spent together. I look forward to seeing you all go on to do great things. I will always be here as a mentor and friend if you ever need help with your careers or simply just want to talk about life. Remember who to come to for your photography when you go to get married. I hope you all took something away from the class that allows you to go on to not only help yourselves through life but also those around you. Thanks again Barbara for my new box camera. It will be displayed prominently with my growing antique camera display. Don't be strangers guys.

PHOTOS AND VIDEO COMING SOON! COME BACK!

The storm is coming

Bridget and I took a trip to Wal-Mart this afternoon (Monday the 4th) and we were in for a surprise. Having only heard about the storm Sunday night I'm not sure what we really expected. What we found is an unGodly number of people at Wal-Mart on a Monday afternoon. Our thoughts were, "doesn't anybody work?" But then again we were there, right? :) With the scare of tropical storm Edouard coming our way people have exhausted the stock of water in just about every grocery store, Wal-Mart and Target in our area.  What gets me is that this storm is not yet even classified as a hurricane and everybody is going wild trying to stock up on bottled water and dry goods. I'm just like the next guy, wanting to be prepared for whatever may happen, but for the water to have already been sold out is amazing to me.

Now, the wait is on to see if Lone Star College will be open or closed tomorrow. I teach the morning Intro to Multimedia class at North Harris. We'll see if the class meets. If the storms get too bad our studio will be closed.

Babies, Babies, and more Babies...

I guess whenever you reach a certain age you always seem to know someone that is pregnant or just had a baby. It seems like for the last two years I have on a continual basis known someone that is pregnant.

When I left my job at Baker Hughes three months ago there were to ladies in my department that were pregnant and one that was on maternity leave. Currently, I know about 5 pregnant woman. My step-mom is pregnant. I am super excited about that. I can't wait for my little sister to get here. I know having a sister that is going to be 27 years younger than me seems weird but I am truly excited and happy for her and my Dad. One of my friends from my old job is also pregnant at this time. I know her and her husband are super excited. They've been together a very long time, although, they've only been married since March of this year. The most recent pregnancy we found out about is Kris and mine's sister-in-law. Her and Kris' brother, Nik already have two young children. I know they are excited as they had been wanting a third child for some time now.

Not only have family and close friends been having kids lately so have quite a few of our clients. Krystle and Chad had a baby girl as did Brandon and Ann. Jessica and Blake also welcomed a baby girl into their household. Celeste and Jeremy had a baby girl as well this past December. Man girls must be in season as my step mom is having a girl as well. I know that we have at least two other clients that are expecting a child in the next couple of months. I guess that is to be expected when we are in the business of weddings. Babies are the natural progression.

I am very excited for every one on the birth of their children. While Kris and I love kids we had set out originally to wait a couple of years to start a family. We've been married a little of a year now. I'd say by next year we might be ready to start for kids of our own. Maybe we'll have a little girl so she can play with and grow up with my little sister.

Congratulations to everyone on their pregnancies or on the recent births of their babies!

Bridget

Two Years Ago Today...

I have to say I don't find anything sexier than a man wearing his wedding band. Especially, when its my husband. For me it shows love and commitment and that he is not ashamed to show that in public.

Today is the two year anniversary of the day that Kris proposed to me. I cannot believe it has been that long. Okay a LOT has happened in the last two years so when I think back to that singular event it does seem like a long time ago. Its so funny because leading up to our engagement I decided that we should document that time via a video journal. Well we finally got around to watching it today. I know it's been two years, but you get busy and when your life's work is documenting other peoples memories you don't always have time to go back and look at the ones you captured for yourself. It was so much fun to watch that journal. I think it covered about a two week period leading up to the day of the proposal. It shows me about to loose my mind waiting for Kris to pop the question and it shows Kris talking about buying the ring and planning the proposal. I really could not have asked for a more perfect proposal and I am happy that Kris thought out how he was going to do it rather than rush into it. He knew us having a special story was important to the both of us.

      THEN            AND         NOW

I am so happy that Kris and I celebrated our One Year Wedding Anniversary this past March. I look forward to many many more years together.

Today is also Nik, Kris' brothers, birthday. Happy Birthday Nik!!

David Jay's Free To Succeed Tour

Bridget and I are excited about the seminar with David Jay and Jasmine Star this evening. We're such nerds; we arrived only two hours early at the Sheraton by the Galleria. So now we're sitting outside the doors, the first ones to arrive. Still no siting of DJ.

All I can say is WOW! And DJ, don't take this the wrong way... but I LOVE DJ! He is my inspiration. What an awesome speaker and motivator, oh and he's not a bad photographer either. :) I would truly would have followed these guys to experience the tour all over again Austin and Dallas if I had the time. You guys are truly blessed to do what you do!

It was joy and an honor to finally meet DJ in person. I have kept up with him and his blog, his software and have awed over his work now for years. DJ and I got started in the industry at about the same time. Fortunately for DJ he saw the error of his ways far sooner than I did and he has gone on to be one of the top 15 wedding photojournalists in the world. You know how most kids in the eighties who loved and adored Michael Jordan religiously repeated Nike's catch phrase, "If I could be like Mike..." well if there were one person in the world that I would want to model myself after it would be David Jay. Ohhh "If I could be like DJ."

DJ is truly the most humble person I have ever met. He honest to God truly cares about us photographers and the struggles we endure being in this fantastic but ultra challenging industry. He truly loves what he does and it shows. Thank you DJ for being our inspiration, for helping to create the awesome, sweet software you are constantly making available to us; for your love for us and for what you do. I hope one day to be just 1/10th as happy as you are. You have truly found your calling; you have sought out God and His will for you. You will truly be rewarded in heaven for being a light to soo many lives. All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you for challenging and inspiring us to be better people and do the work that we are called to; not only to better ourselves but ultimately to better our fellow human beings. I look forward to someday talking with you again and sharing our successes we will have the privilege of experiencing thanks to you.

You Rock DJ.

Today Is My Bride's Birthday

Today is a very special day, it's my bride's birthday. On July 20, 1981 Bridget was born. It's an honor for me to be able to call her my wife on this day. We plan to have a day doing only the things she wants to do. We served on the children's ministry at church this morning with the 4 and 5 year olds and right now we are at the movies. We came to Tinseltown in The Woodlands to see Handcock. Movie review coming soon, stay posted. :)

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David's-Dad's 50th Birthday

From Bridget:
Today is my dad's 50th birthday. I have to say my Dad sure doesn't look 50 yet. Since there was the big surprise party for my Dad last Saturday tonight Kris and I are meeting my step mom, Ginger, and Dad for a quiet dinner at Red Lobster! Yum cheese biscuts!!

I always remember sharing birthdays with my Dad. His is the 17th and mine is the 20th. Usually, my Dad would pick the restaurant and I would pick the activity we would do. My Dad was never shy about beating me at minature golf even when I was a kid and it was my birthday too. LOL!!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Love, Bridget (and Kris)

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David's Surprise 50th Birthday Party

Sounds of the Silver Screen

What a great time. Tonight we went to our church, Fellowship of the Woodlands and experienced a one of a kind show from the Woodlands Symphony Orchestra and the Fellowship vocalists and band. The show showcased some of the best sound of the movies. Of course the show wouldn't have been complete in my mind without some music from Back to the Future (my favorites movies of all time). Kevin did a fantastic rendition of Huey Lewis' "The Power of Love," of course from Back to the Future.We sat with my parents, my aunt Cathy and uncle Ted and Linda. Linda owns the Harding House which is the home decor shop just below our studio in Old Time Spring. It was good to see Rachel and Max there as well.

Just after intermission the symphony performed a compilation of movie soundtracks from the past 100 years. There were approximately 25 movies in all and we came about 3 shy of getting them all right. The prize for the winners were two movie passes. :( Me unfortunately didn't get Patton, Bridge Over the River Kwai and Summer's Place.

I strongly encourage everyone to go out to Fellowship of the Woodlands, of course to go to church, but also because of the music. The vocalists at the church are truly amazing and well, the band is rockin' too. :) Tonight the melding of sounds brought the amazing movies of the silver screen to life. We had a wonderful time. Hats off to the Woodlands Symphony and the Fellowship vocalists and band. 

Chelsea & Jason's Wedding

Over a week has already passed since Chelsea and Jason's wedding and we've been lazy about our blog posting as of late. We couldn't go without posting a blog about Chelsea and Jason's wedding. Despite their wedding bring completely outside, we had such a great time at the wedding.

ME for President? Could it be true?

Relaxing weekend

Its been awhile since we've had a relaxing weekend. A weekend that we didnt think about work (okay so that didn't happen exactly) and simply caught up on rest and took some time to do a few things for ourselves. This weekend we were able to do all of the above.

Saturday we got a late start to the day after getting up fairly late. As we went to lunch before running some errands we talked about some things related to work. This wouldn't last long as we knew if we went down that road we wouldn't have a good weekend. I believe that there comes a time for everyone to step aside from work and concentrate on those things in your life that matter the most, family, kids and your spouse. Right now thank God we don't have to worry about kids. I often joke sometimes that our business is our kid. As a small business owner, it seems that work is your life and your life is ruled by work. As we tried to distract ourselves from the normal routine of "work talk" we settled in and had a great weekend. I was able to catch up on some much needed rest yesterday afternoon (Bridget of course can't take naps) and as it turned out we had a very relaxing day.

Today we served in the children's ministry with the 4-5 year olds at church and only ended up having two kids in our class, Cole and Mikeala. This was a welcome change since we've been used to having upwards of 16 kids when volunteering with the 2-3 year olds. Today was the last sermon on the series on Johna, When Life Takes You Under. I don't know how someone can say that they aren't rejuvenated for the week after going to a service at Fellowship of the Woodlands. We've been at Fellowship for almost two years now and I haven't once thought that we needed to look elsewhere for a church home.

This week will prove to be another challenging one as we have many major projects to tackle. I will continue to teach the grueling schedule with my two courses at North Harris. In little over two weeks the Upward Bound Video class will come to an end and I'll simply have just the Tuesday and Thursday Intro to Multimedia class. Say a prayer that our work schedule at the studio survives while I am teaching the two classes.

Lindsey & Brian's Wedding

Last Friday we shot Lindsey & Brian's wedding. What an awesome day! Lindsey's parent's are good friends with my parents and are in a small group at our church together. Of course it made it a little easier working with them since we already knew each other. Despite it being so brutally hot out everything went perfectly.

We started the day at John & Amy's (another small group couple) house to get ready and to shoot all the family portraits. Lindsey and all the girls were a little late arriving, but that didn't seem to put a damper on our photo schedule of the day as a whole. John and Amy have a beautiful house in Spring and it made the perfect backdrop for the wedding photos since shooting outside was basically not an option.

Lindsey and Brian's ceremony and reception were held at Shady Oaks in Spring, just a mile from our studio. It had been sometime since I'd worked at Shady Oaks. Thank you Nancy for being so nice to us and for making our experience working at your venue a joy. The ceremony started just after 7 PM. Since Lindsey and Brian had agreed to see each other prior to the ceremony (great decision) we only had to shoot the photos of the entire wedding party after the ceremony. I can't stress enough how important it is (in some cases) for couple's to see each other prior to the ceremony if they are passionate about having exceptional photography for their wedding. In Lindsey and Brian's case they didn't have a lot of time after the ceremony to take portraits. Also, the chapel doors at Shady Oaks would not be opened until just 30 minutes prior to the ceremony, thus taking photos in the chapel before the ceremony was out of the picture. Also, it would have been suicide to take the family photos out doors, thus it was necessary for everybody to meet at another indoor location to shoot almost all the photos prior to the ceremony.

Thank you so much Teresa and Les for allowing us to be such an important part of Lindsey and Brian's wedding day. It was a pleasure getting to know you all more and being there with you Friday. We appreciate you guys and wish blessings upon you and your family. God Bless.

Darcey & Robert's Wedding

Darcey and Robert are married!!!! I worked double time at Darcey and Robert's wedding this past weekend in an effort (just as we always do) to give them the very best photography and video for their wedding. The only difference this time is that Bridget wasn't at my side to help. Bridget was in the wedding serving as Darcey's matron of honor which meant not only was I to perform the duties of two photographers I always was to shoot their wedding video as well. I'm sure it was comical to see me running around like a turkey with his head cut off with not only a huge digital SLR camera on one shoulder but a huge digital Sony HD video camera on the other. :)

I have known Darcey now for almost three years and that doesn't even seem possible, it feels as if she has always been a part of my life. For those of you who do not know Darcey, Darcey is Bridget's best friend and was Bridget's maid of honor in our wedding last year. Of course it was only fitting that Bridget be Darcey's matron of honor this Saturday. Darcey and Robert met just a year ago, but its clear that they are destined to spend their lives together forever, though the road may be rocky we know you guys will be forever happy with one another. Darcey and Robert are both very unique people. 

Darcey, there are few people in this world that understand you, but somehow you found Bridget, and she understands you completely. Those of you that know Darcey and understand her for who she is knows that she is hysterical and always has some whitty thing to say. Darcey and Bridget met each other back in high school over 10 years ago. Little did Bridget know back then that that little flaming red head would turn out to be her best friend. I met Darcey just three years ago when Bridget and I first started dating. I loved Darcey from the start and loved hanging out with the both so much. In fact the first time that Bridget and I hung out with each other, Darcey was there. :) 

Robert, what can we say about Robert. I truly have never met someone like Robert. Robert is "one crazy little man." Robert is opinionated and somehow know a little something about everything, but that just makes Robert, well... Robert. I have enjoyed getting to know Robert this past year and I look forward to all of us growing old together and hanging out with each other on Sunday afternoons. 

We love you guys so much! Congratulations! We hope you enjoy your photography and video! :)

Grand Opening Coming Soon

Things are moving right along for our official "Grand Opening" on April 28th. Though we are officially open for business with our new studio space in Old Town Spring we decided to push back our grand opening until April 28th. Why April 28th? This date coincides with Bridget becoming a full-time employee of 4 Leaf Photography and the 28th happens to be the date anniversary of us dating (2 years and seven months to be exact). Those of you that don't already know; I'm privledged to call Mrs. Bridget my wife. She has worked at Baker Hughes for almost six years, and after many years of debating has finally decided to hang up her Baker hat for the position right along side me at our studio. This Friday (tomorrow) the 11th will be her official last day as a Baker Hughes employee. It was a good long run babe, I'm proud of you for sticking with Baker this long.

Its always been our goal for us to work together. We simply never saw it coming this quickly. Though we have prayed and looked forward to it for a couple of years now, it almost seems surreal that the time has come. Bridget will first take a few weeks of much needed time off before she assumes her position at the studio. We know things will run much more smoothly with her and I in command (I need some help). We both work really well together and this only means good things for our current and future 4 Leaf customers.

To start off the grand opening we will be offering a special "Grand Opening Promotion." 

- ONE FREE 30 minute portrait session with the purchase of (2) 8x10 portrait units ($30)

 - Limited to weekday portrait sittings

- Up to 4 subjects, unlimited photographic images, poses and candids

- Promotion valid through the month of May

Call soon to book your session, slots will book up quickly. This sitting is perfect for a short senior session, simple modeling or corporate head shots, expectant mom's wishing to get a few maternity photos, families, babies... you get the picture, this offer is open to any type of studio portraiture. Please call for details and to book your session soon.