Congratulations Blake and Jamie!

I had an absolute BLAST with Jamie and Blake yesterday!! We sailed out from Sneaky Pete's off of Lake Lewisville, and had a little mini cruise! A dockside ceremony while the sun was setting, swimming, throwing babies on big bean bags, what else could you ask for?!?!

Jamie is the chillest bride ever. She has become one of my good friends, and I expect our title as friends will looooong outlast the title of "client and photographer"! I love you Jamie!

Here's some of my favorites from the day!

Congratulations Jamie and Blake!

My Pooky's gone...

I am so bummed because John is gone! He'll be gone for 2 and half weeks in South Africa. He's going over there with a group of students and professors (only about 6 total) to speak at several Bible Colleges, Non religiously affiliated universities, and some churches about "the Christian Mind". It turns out, pretty much the two main people that are speaking are him, and the professor! He's such a stud! The professors, from where he got his masters, are really showing a lot of confidence in him lately. I think he is probably going to get booked on more and more speaking engagements. If only we can get them to pay for me to go too:( He gets to go to all these cool places, and I get all weepy missing him.

Awesome Bridal and my thoughts on style

I just had one of my most favorite bridals that I've ever done!! I love this imagery! I never really knew if I had a "style" or not, (a cohesive style that is the same throughout most of my images). You can look at a picture and KNOW if Richard Avedon took it or not. Or Jill Greenberg (awesome chick!!!), she has an unmistakable style.

I think that as a photographer, you are too close to your own work to really look at it objectively. It's like a mom with twins who thinks that they are super easy to tell apart, because she knows them so well. Anyway, so I think I'm actually starting to understand my style a little better. I've known what I like, but I never placed a cohesive theme to it: I like nature. I know the real "vogue" thing right now is to do all that super grungy stuff next to graffitti with a homeless dude in the background digging through the garbage, but I only do that occasionally. When the time, place, and subject are all screaming for that kind of look. But for the most part, I REALLY love the outdoors, and especially tall grass.

There is something organic about being shot in nature. Its like you attempt to take your humanity, and diguise yourself among the earth, from whence you came. I know that sounds all Kum Ba Yah, but you get the point. Oh, and I'm also obsessed with people "parts" and not just their face. You can make a portrait of a person with almost any part of their body, but I tend to gravitate towards their posture, their feet, and their shadow.

Anyways, here is the shoot that I'm in love with. Tell me what you think!!

Granna's talking chair

So, a few weeks ago, my mom and I took a trip out to see my grandparents, because my grandfather had unexpectedly gone into the hospital. (everything is a-ok now). But, while sitting in my grandmothers living room, I couldn't stop looking at her chair, until I finally said, "I keep looking at your chair because it looks like it's about to talk to me..." At this point they both looked at it and started cracking up, because it really did look like it was about to talk. In case you're wondering how it got that way, my grandmother keeps an atlas stuffed under the chair for... well actually I don't know why. She's kinda eccentric. (gotta love the eccentric grandmas. they're way fun!) So, when she'd stuffed it under, it left the cushion up a bit, and the atlas looks likes teeth, and the throw pillow, having two white flowers, looked like eyes. I left it exactly as it was and grabbed the camera. You be the judge! OOH! better yet! Tell me what you think it is saying!!!

My awesome husband

So, I haven't introduced you cats to my super hot hubby. He is sweet in helping me when I'm preparing for shoots. Here is a shot I got of him while I was testing the light for an upcoming
shoot. Yup. That's my hunka-hunka-burnin'-love... All that and brains too! (He's getting his PhD in Philosophy. We're gonna make millions. haha!)

Hillary Morgan Photography has MOVED TO DALLAS!!!

You've probably wondered why you haven't heard from me in a while. Its because Hillary Morgan Photography has moved to Dallas! So, for the past few weeks, I have been moving. Phew! It has been a lot of work, but it has been worth it! So, I now reside in the famous Southside on Lamar Lofts. It is so fun here! It is like a dorm for artists! And I think pretty much everyone has a dog, so I am getting plenty of canine quality time. It has the most amazing structure. On of the main reasons I loved it was because it offers so many places to shoot. The history behind it is that it is the old Sears-Roebuck building. So, it's got so many quirky little areas.

I've also moved the studio. I am now at 1921 1/2 Greenville Avenue in Dallas. We are next to Elan Make-up Studio, and sharing studio space with a few other photographers and event planners. I'll take some pictures and post them up.

Business has been great since I've gotten here. I had a few awesome shoots! I'll post some pics after I process them. Until then! Have an awesome day!

Lauren's Bridals

Lauren's dress finally came in!! Yay! You might remember Lauren from my previous post (the 2 part engagement session) I shot a wedding out at this lady's house, and had the most gorgeous light and just fell in love with the decor. So naturally, I had to shoot there again! Shelly is the most amazing decorator and has exquisite taste that is obvious with everything she touches. And she's the hostest with the mostest to boot! Thank you Susan for introducing me to her!

Jamie and Blake Engagements

I had so much fun doing Jamie and Blake's Engagements! We kept having to postpone because of rain, but I knew that I wanted the clouds that you get right after the rain. Since the lake is super important to them, I knew that it was only fitting that we do the engagements there. I don't think any of us were prepared for the out of control grass and mass of mosquitos that greeted us as we made our way down to the shore. My poor assistant brought flip flops. I had prepared ahead with knee high boots. I probably should have better warned her!

The light was soooo beautiful. I love how soft the light is when you have a whole sky full of clouds. It is this giant softbox that gives the most beautiful even light, with just a shaft of drama here and there. I have to hand it to Jamie and Blake (any my assistant Heather). This was a hard core shoot! (closer to national geographic than wedding photography!) But we got some awesome shots!

Cutest kids at weddding ever!!!

I shot a wedding last weekend where I think I had some of the cutest kids ever! Or at least the cutest ones that didn't mind me following them around with my camera. The pictures you get from kids are so much cuter when they are just being themselves, than when mom, dad or aunt are trying to get them to sit still and smile. I've thought about having a list of "thall shalt nots" to hand out when I have a session with children that include things like "thall shalt NOT try and pose the child for me", "thall shalt NOT demand that they smile or do anything in particular that you think would make the perfect picture" Why? Because that is the most surefire way to get really awkward, cranky kid pictures. When they are just running around and being kids, and you just follow them, THAT is where the real magic happens. They'll get shy and peek around someone's leg, or they will be a total diva (like my flower girl here!) But usually eventually, you'll get that shy curiosity that makes a photo so endearing. Kids are actually pretty smart when it comes to pictures. They will almost always give me something way cuter if I let them do their own thing, than if I try to make them do anything else that I might want. I think my favorite aspect is the deterioration from perfectly groomed angel to a disheveled, slightly weepy, needs-a-nap. Such raw emotion. The look on her face says it all. We all felt like that by this point. Children just don't hide it like we do:)