A Simply Glamorous Bride|Katy Houston Portrait Photographer

Makeup: Brandi Alea/Hollywood Hippie

Hair: Tisha Zuercher

Flowers: Kim Boyd-DeBerry/ Boyds Blossoms

One of the hardest things about creating bridal portraits is waiting until AFTER the wedding to share the images, but now that Leah and Ben are an officially married couple, here she is!

Traditional beauty with an artsy Boho vibe capturing moods of awe, wonder, and a little bit of fantasy. That’s what Leah wanted in her bridal portraits, and we were more than happy to deliver from Dutch Master dark styling with rich colors, intense light and deep shadows to a flying Disney-esque princess.

Leah’s bouquet, an abundance of delphinium, dianthus, eucalyptus, and sweeping greens designed by Kim Boyd-DeBerry of Boyd’s Blossoms in Baytown lit up the room almost as much as our bride did. Soooooo! Gorgeous!

Leah brought her own hairdresser and makeup artist to our portrait session so that they could all get a trial run together. Tisha Zuercher of TMZ styled those fantasy locks, and I was beyond excited when I learned that Brandi Alea, owner and founder of Hollywood Hippie Cosmetics would be in charge of her makeup. I’ve known Brandi and worked with her in studio countless times before, so it I knew from the beginning that Leah’s look would be in the best of hands.

In addition to gorgeous traditional images, I wanted to create a fantasy portrait for Leah, something like a real live Disney princess on her magical day. This was all in fun, but I love the way she seems to glide through the clouds.

The day we held our portrait session was a warm muggy Houston-style early fall afternoon so we chose to do most of our work inside the studio with the air conditioner cranked. We did, however, wrap things up outdoors to add a little landscape and warm fall colors to our collection.

Best wishes to Leah and Ben. May you both be blessed and joyful together for years to come.

Wedding Week for Hollie and John-Katy Houston Photographer

This is such an exciting week!

Hollie and John are getting married on Saturday, and I can hardly wait for their big day to get here.

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 It rained on us when they came to town for their engagement session, so we caught a few quick images at the park with umbrella and boots, but the skies really opened up, so we skedaddled back into the studio to finish up.

They say that rain on your wedding day is good luck, so we’ll go ahead and claim that luck from the engagement shoot as even more good luck to come.

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 This wedding is very super special to me — and NOT just because Hollie is a stunning redhead like yours truly.  It’s special because Hollie was my very first senior client EVER!

I had met Hollie and her mom through the Taylor High School Cross Country team when she was a senior and my son was running as a Freshman.  I attended every cross country meet that year with my camera and photographed the runners as if there was no tomorrow. That was when all that stood behind my photography business was a name, a sales tax number,  and a dream in my heart — I had a WHOLE LOT to learn about photography and about the business side of the art.

Cross Country meets take a long time, and you wander around with the rest of your team parents a LOT … so we got to be friends. Then, in the springtime, Hollie’s mom, Sarah, actually hired me — did you hear that???? HIRED ME!!! — for money — to take senior portraits for Hollie.   I don’t think I netted  $40 on that job, but I DID get paid!  It might as well have been a $4000 session as excited as I was.   To be honest, though,  I am very disappointed in those senior portraits when I look back at them today because –well, I was a beginner. Like so many people,  I had a great eye and a lot of passion, but I had barely started honing my skills.  Still, I will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be grateful though,  that Hollie and Sarah put enough  faith and support behind my dream to start my baby steps.

Now HERE’s a flashback!

Hollie and the other senior girls on the team started a tradition that lasted for several years.  They would run in the last “extras” race but would drop out somewhere along the course to get muddy before running in together.  OHhhhhhh how I loved their spirit!

 

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Hollie still plays in the mud, but in a serious way — now she wears coveralls and a hard hat as an oilfield engineer with Schlumberger.   I STILL love her spirit and sense of humor — oh and she snagged herself one of the sweetest guys EVER while she was studying in Kansas.

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They’ll both definitely be rocking a more formal look on Saturday, but I’m sure there will be plenty of spirited antics with these two — and I’ll be there to capture the whole event.

Did I say that I can hardly wait?!?!?!?

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Lisa -Trash the Dress – Rock the Frock by Any Name, it’s Gorgeous Fun.

There’s this gorgeous young woman who officially joined our family nearly a year and a half ago — and there’s also this amazingly scrumptious dress that’s been hanging in our front hall closet ever since the day she and my first son returned from their honeymoon.

I’ve been waiting and waiting for her to get back into the dress and go play with me and my camera. The old adage about the shoemakers children having no shoes definitely carries over to photographers as well.  Our own kids are the last ones to get booked on our portrait schedules. It finally fell together not too long ago when we had a trip planned with just a little extra time to kill.

Lisa earned her degree in nutrition from The University of Houston, and she is very good at creating oh-s0-yummy and still super-healthy goodies in her own little kitchen.  That’s why Sweetpea’s Bakery provided a perfect first stop for us. Unfortunately, there was no cupcake sampling for us that day because the shop was going out of business. Everything was still adorably decorated, though, and we had private access.  Definitely a lucky coup for us.

  It’s great to have inside connections, and I’m thrilled that we got to shoot here before this place went away. BUT… an Italian Cream Cupcake sure would have tasted good about now.  RATZ!

Oh how I love working in  back alleys…. small towns, urban centers, doesn’t matter… give me some good grunge, and maybe a little street art… HEAVEN!

 Moving garbage cans out of the way gets a little bit nasty, but I know to carry wipes and hand sanitizer.

Probably the highlight of our session  for me was spending a little time at “The Station.”

We drove over to an old empty Mobile Filling Station that my grandfather owned and operated until the mid 1970’s when he retired.  It wasn’t just an ordinary filling station either.  This station had a  bar that served up ice cold longneck bottles of beer, and for the kids, every flavor of sodie pop you can name… and ice cream sandwiches. Mmmmmm!

I think that about a half dozen local retirees used to practically rotate shifts, sitting on the bar stools, drinking and smoking at the station.  I never knew their names, but can still see their faces in my mind’s eye.   A liquor store was attached, but with a separate entrance on one side of the building.  On the other side, a corrugated tin drive- in awning, or car-shade as we called it, allowed people to sit in the shade in their cars, drinking cokes or beer and eating snacks as long as they pleased.    When the customers wanted to place an order or were done and ready to leave  they could honk the horn and Pawpaw or one of his employees would come out side, take orders, and deliver treats on a window-mount tray.

I ran around this building with my brothers and cousins, barefooted and out of control for years…

My my how times have changed. The gas pumps are gone.  I do NOT get out of the car without shoes at a filling station or anywhere!

The  doors are locked, but the station building still stands, just a little more worn from the years that have passed.

I am so glad that I got to share this little bit of family history with our newest family member. 

 

A Lovely Bride Named Hannah – Katy West Houston Bridal Photograper

Well, here’s to an exciting  first at SPCcreative Photography.

Hannah is my very first Senior Portrait client  to also become one of “MY” brides, and I can hardly WAIT to watch the next chapters of her sweet life unfold.

I still remember her senior session.  She brought her ultra-handsome and oh-so lovable new boyfriend, Jake, along for part of the shoot, and we included him in a few of our images. While I could tell they had something very special between them,  logic tried hard to convince me that  I was just being a sucker for young love.

Who would have thought that Jake  really was  going to be THE ONE?  I guess  they both knew a good thing from the get-go.

Hannah and Jake were married in the chapel at The Brookwood Community where, as it turns out,  I worked as a development officer for the first three years that we lived in Houston.  Brookwood is  a beautiful campus with a fascinating mission.  It’s located just outside of Brookshire, Texas.

RATZ my link didn’t seem to work, check out www.brookwoodcommunity.org for more info.


I love it when a bride has a special idea  that she wants  incorporate into her session, and Hannah wanted to create a special gift for her father. Ahhhh the sentiment!

You can’t tell here, but we all shared a few tears while she wrote this note on a  slate.

Best wishes Hannah and Jake — for a LONG and HAPPY life together.

Houston Katy Wedding Photographer – Aubrey and Michael’s Wedding at La Colombe D’Or

Aubrey and Michael.  What can I say?  I ABSOLUTELY adore this couple.

It’s not just the bride and groom who made this wedding such a joy to photograph, but their parents and their bridesmaids and groomsmen as well.

Talk about a kind and helpful and  . . . well …  just downright genuine and fun-loving group!  If I could photograph an event for people this delightful every single weekend, I would do it in a heartbeat.

A dream in her ruched and pleated ivory dress, Aubrey made an absolutely stunning bride.

Then, when the groomsmen came outside with their amazing fedoras, I knew we’d be in for a delightful evening.   And you know what?  I was right.

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