Houston, Texas Wedding and Portrait Photographer
Recently, Laura was asked to cover our friend Rob’s mother’s 80th birthday celebration held at Cullen’s Upscale American Cuisine. Rob is one of our favorite wedding vendors and owns the floral and design company Events in Bloom. It was a great time and his family is so gracious and sweet! There were also some beautiful decorations as one can only expect and imagine when it comes from Rob.
Recently we were asked to cover a going away party for Larry O’Donnell President and COO of Waste Management as he stepped down to begin his next big adventure. Larry was also recently on the reality TV show “Undercover Boss“ on CBS. The party was held at the Downtown Club at Houston Center.
This past week Nancy Aidee, another fabulous Houston photographer, asked Laura to take some portraits of her for her new website design. Nancy wanted Laura to use FILM to take the photos and since Laura is all about the film, she was more than happy to oblige! They started out at Cafe Brasil in Montrose, had a walkabout along Westheimer and then went to a few local parks to get some other shots. Laura’s favorite red swing also made an appearance.
Equipment used for this shoot
Canon 1-v 35mm SLR with 50mm f1.2 lens
Contax 645 Medium format SLR with 80mm F2.0 lens
Color film by Kodak and B&W film HP5 by Ilford
This past weekend while David was working a wedding at St Paul’s and the Houston Club, I (Laura here) was over at Chapelwood United Methodist Church and the Junior League for Caitlin and Brooks’ amazing affair. They had such a beautiful ceremony, you can really tell these kids are in love! After the vows were said, rings exchanged and they sealed it all with a kiss, we headed for the Junior league to have a party. Caitlinn hired a band from New Orleans called ELS and they really knew how to get everyone on the dance floor! This was such an elegant and lovely affair that their friends and family will remember for years. After the couple get back from their honeymoon they will continue to reside in Ft. Worth.
Wedding coordinator – Theresa Rimkus
Florist – Tara Quigley
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Caitlinn, who lives in Ft. Worth, came into town for a few days in April so we could do her bridal session. We chose to use the Junior League because she is having her reception there and it offers quite a bit of variety for portraits. The weather was even being unusually cooperative, so we got to take a few photos outdoors, which is rare! Here is just a sampling from the session. We can’t wait for the wedding in May!
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Elisabeth and Alex met me downtown for their engagement session. They wanted something with a little bit of an urban feel to it, so we had a little walkabout as downtown has a lot of textures and colors to work with. They met about seven years ago and have been inseparable since and are getting married this October in Cypress, where Alex’s family comes from. By Cypress, I don’t mean north Houston. I wish we were going to cover that one for sure!
This past Friday I had the privilege of photographing a shopping trip for the Moran Norris Foundation. Moran and his wife Tamera formed the foundation to help disadvantaged kids in the Houston area. Although Moran is a fullback for the San Francisco 49ers, he and his family still reside in Houston for at least part of the year and this is one of the ways he gives back to the community that he grew up in. Moran also throws a youth football camp in the summer for the kids.
For this particular event, 25 kids from 4 different local middle schools were chosen based on good character to get to go on a shopping spree to Super Target on Main. Each of the 100 total students was given a gift card for $100 to spend as they wished. I want to say that each and every one of them bought a little something for their mothers as mothers day was the following Sunday. Did I mention they were all chosen based on good character? The kids bought anything and everything from clothes, to computer games, shoes, toys, cosmetics, you name it. Target does have some pretty awesome stuff for sure! After the shopping was done, the kids met in a conference room in the back to chill and eat pizza while Moran and Tamara congratulated them on their successes in school and encouraged them to reach for the stars.
This is a little quote from Moran’s web site and I think it about sums him up
“Pay Now – Pay attention in class, do more than the given assignment, desire to learn more, participate in extracurricular activities, volunteer.
Play later – Travel the world, entertain, become president of the United States, make a touchdown in whatever you do.”
This past week Laura got to photograph some set up shots for Imagine That! Buffy and her team always do such a wonderful job. The theme for this party was Brazil Carnivale and it was so vibrant and beautiful. The way she transformed the ballroom at the Westin Galleria with lighting, murals, sculptures and flowers was pure genius!
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Imagine That! at Westin Galleria
Imagine That! Spindeltop Holiday Ball
This past Saturday I had the privilege of covering a wedding of a slightly different sort. Since Hollister and Richard had both been married before and he now has grown children, so they decided to do something a little less traditional. They did not want to do the whole white dress, cake, dancing and tossing of bouquets that you see at most weddings. You see, Hollister is a food writer in Richmond, VA, so they decided to have a gourmet five course dinner with matching wine instead! It was wonderful. Their venue of choice was the Hotel Icon, and their chef is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. The food looked sooooooo delicious!
I know these two lovebirds will be happy together and I hope to see them again when they are visiting their grand babies in Houston.
Congratulations you two, you deserve all the happiness in the world!
I have known Justin and Brandi for years. I actually knew Justin before he and Brandi had got together and he was a fresh faced young man that came down to Houston from Oklahoma, where his sister Amberly lived and to be a part of Ecclesia church. I think he must have been about 18 at the time. I was around when he first met Brandi, and you could tell that she was “the one” for him. My family even went to their beautiful wedding at South Main Baptist Church and Bammel Gardens. I remember them being so patient because my daughter Maddie was just in awe and must have asked to dance with them a million times! She thought Brandi was Cinderella
I took their first maternity portraits when Jonah was about to be born and at this time I only did fine art photography, in fact I think they were probably my first commissioned portrait! They just had their third child a few months back and Miss Betty is almost 4 and J0nah is now 6! They have also planted a church in Brenham, which started out with the two of them a few years back and now they have about 100+ members, which is quite an accomplishment. It has really been great to see their beautiful family grow.
For this portrait Brandi wanted to get some photos in the Bluebonnets. But she did not want those typical cliche bluebonnets photos, so we tried to go with something a little different. She picked out an awesome wardrobe and we grabbed a couple of vintage chairs from Casa de Hyde on the way out. She actually did the scouting for me and we came to this great, secluded field in Chappell Hill. There was a little climbing of fences involved. I had actually driven through the area the weekend before and was AMAZED to see the bluebonnets and wildflowers along the side of the road. It was truly awesome! I was even more amazed to see the sheer amount of people pulled over on the side of the road taking photos! I have lived in Texas most of my life, and I have made this drive many times, but I guess I missed out on bluebonnet season. Now I can say I know what all the fuss is about! In our field there was not a plethora of photographers, but there was one lonely painter going at it with his oils!
Anyway, I really want to thank you guys for choosing me to document these times in your life. You have one awesome family and it has been an honor.
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