A fuller look... at fotography

Clayton and Blair's Wedding Day Whirlwind!

2010-08-02T17:17:00.001-05:00

I must confess... I'm about a week late on this blog post, sorry guys! I thoroughly enjoyed taking these pictures. I went to UMHB with Blair and Clayton and while I haven't been able to spend much time with them as a couple since they started dating after college, but the little bit I had I knew how comfortable they were together and how relaxed they would be during the wedding. So of course I said I would love to be a groomsman and stand up for Clayton on his behalf… Then they asked me to be their photographer.

Now as a photographer, you don't pass up opportunities to capture moments for your friends, it's just how we show our love. To make sure that special things/events they want to remember are well documented. But that would mean giving up being a groomsman right?? Weeeellllll, not so much. Me and my big mouth said, I don't see why I can't do both? This is where the "whirlwind portion of the title comes from. While Clayton and Blair were fairly relaxed and calm about the day and enjoyed the ceremony and all the festivities at the reception, I added a little bit of a whirlwind to the day.

Started by, taking pictures of Blair and her bridesmaids getting ready, cleaned up myself, grabbed my second shooter to head off and get pictures of Clayton and the groomsmen as well as jump in a couple of pictures myself, to then rush over to where Blair and her girls were to get pictures of all of them in their dresses (all while I'm fully dressed in my tux) and then off to the church. This is where I got a little bit of a breather. A few shots with both sides of the bridal party at the church, and then I got to escort my bridesmaid down the isle. Waited till Blair walked down the isle and was received by Clayton from her dad, a short prayer by Father Ed and I snuck out of the groomsmen line to start taking pictures with my second shooter. Maybe you're thinking - Tyler this isn't really the best plan, groomsmen don't usually step out of line on stage - well not by choice anyways. But then again I'm not your usual groomsman. I made my rounds, got the shots I wanted and then snuck back in line after Clayton and Blair walked up the isle as Husband and Wife for the first time to escort my bridesmaid out of the church.

A quick post-ceremony execution of rounding up family and bridal party for church photos and we were off to the reception, via a sweet covered trailer and a ride around downtown West, Tx where many a local were happy to honk their horns in honor of the happy couple. A sweet detour at a local watering hole for a brief toast and more brief dance on the bar top and we made our entrance to the ceremony.

Let me tell you, there were more people at the reception than there were at the ceremony and rightly so, because while the ceremony was about hour, the reception went strong for 8 or 9. This included about a 30-45 minute wedding march with all attendants and guests around the entire reception hall, inside and out. The Bride and Father dance, that may or may not have had judges from the hit ABC show Dancing with the Stars, unparalleled speeches, and singing and dancing that never stopped. "Eat, Drink, and be Married", was exactly what we did per our instructions on cozies that were given to all.

It wasn't just a wedding, but a fun filled weekend shared by two families uniting in the marriage of two of their finest. Friends and Family sharing in laughter and helping one another, as God showed us best, in all that it took to pull this incredible weekend off. My congrats to the happy couple, it's just the beginning - but what a way to kick it off!

These are just a few of the countless many that were taken, many more to share on Facebook and with the Bride and Groom.

--T

BRIDALS! Sheridan Rainey... Officially Sheridan Parker

2010-08-01T20:34:00.000-05:00

Oh snap! Sheridan and Derek got hitched this past Saturday and I can finally post these so everyone else can enjoy them too. Sheridan, her Mother, her Mother's friend, and I had an absolute blast taking these portraits! I kid you not, Bridals are pretty fun. Especially when you can incorporate fun locations like local Georgetown sweet spot, Galaxy Cupcakes and the San Gabriel House Bed & Breakfast. Thanks so much to Dee and Neil Rapp, the Innkeepers at San Gabriel House, for allowing us to shoot in their gorgeous house and going above and beyond to assist the ladies and myself to achieve the best portraits possible. If you're ever considering a fun location to visit in Georgetown or need a stay-cation away from your own home in central Texas, please give them a call: (512) 930-0070 and check out their webpage to see just exactly what I'm talking about - www.sangabrielhouse.com. Also thanks to Emily at Galaxy for getting the a-ok for us to shoot in their fun little shop off the square in downtown Georgetown. Seriously boys and girls, Georgetown is where it's at! And one more special thanks to my friend Mrs. Donette Birkelbach for allowing us to invade her awesome backyard full of fun decor to take sunset shots.

Hit up the website and Facebook to see more fun portraits we took from that day. Congrats Sheridan!!

--T

Derek & Sheridan's Engagement Fun

2010-06-23T13:23:00.002-05:00

Engagement Session: Derek & Sheridan

I met Derek and Sheridan through a mutual friend of Sheridan's mom and immediately hit it off with them. I knew the session would be a blast! We started off the afternoon with some fun shots of them playing basketball together. It was just fun to hang and watch them play, they really made it easy on me and were troopers for hanging in there while Texas brought down 90˚ heat on us.

In case you didn't notice, Derek likes basketball.

We headed back in to Georgetown and perused around the square where we found some great locations to duck in and take some pictures. Thanks to Down the Alley Bistro and Landmark Tavern for allowing us to use their facilities.

Derek and Sheridan are super fun so I also wanted to take them to some cool eclectic spots in Austin and really let them play.

I just love the shot above! The first one you take is usually the best. Get ya some Derek! :]

Seriously these two are awesome!! Love this moment where Sheridan is looking to see how much Derek is committing to mimic the poster and starts to crack up.

And of course the Oasis was packed on a Saturday night so we had to wiggle our way to an "empty" spot, but we got a couple that I think captures how much these two love each other. I had a blast guys, thanks so much for allowing me to share in the fun!

--T

Kites O-Plenty!

2010-03-16T12:59:00.001-05:00

Sunday was Austin's Kite Festival in Zilker Park. It was ridiculous the amount of people that were out flying kites. For every one person flying a kite there was at least 1-2 people lounging and watching the kites fly. But it was fun nonetheless. Here are just a few from the perfectly breezy day.

Austin is packed full of unique little events like this all year. Good places to check for such events are Austin360.com, do512.com, austinist.com, and 365thingsAustin.com. So pay attention and get out there and enjoy the great weather!

Have a blessed day!

--Tyler

UNO UNO UNO UNO UNO... by Lauren Clark!

2010-03-12T10:26:00.000-06:00

The FINAL GIVEAWAY with UNO by Lauren Clark

The FINAL GIVEAWAY by UNO is only one of the ultimate giveaways this year and it's only March!!! As a photographer you grasp at what you can achieve, stretch to grow and be creative, and learn from those that have come before you. Lauren Clark is UNO of the best portrait photographers out there right now. A chance to learn under her wing would be UNO-believable! A BRAINWASH by Mrs. Clark is exactly what I need. To do so I get to tell you all how I got into photography.

When I think back on life, I've always been intrigued and had a passion for photography, but the primero UNO thing that pushed me over the edge to go from amateur/pleasure picture taking to entering the professional realm would be the first wedding I photographed for a friend. They decided to have the wedding in Florence, Italy and haphazardly said if you'll take the pictures we'll fly you over with us. Uh let me think about that... (I did not need UNO second to think about that) even if I knew absolutely nothing about photography the answer is always YES when someone overs to take you to Italy!

When I look back a year and a half ago to that trip, there was not UNO things but a lot I could have done differently. However, I think I did fairly well with the equipment and experience I had to work with. This UNO event, the experience and amazing-ness of being in stinking ITALY of all places taking pictures, ignited a fire under my butt to learn all I can to become a better photographer. I haven't had the excitement and pleasure I get from photography in any other job I've ever had. It's not a job, it's accepting payment to play and give joy with a photograph.

So that's how I got into photography. UNO chance I took, with UNO-believable rewards. The Lord has blessed me immensely! Here are a few pictures from that first wedding in 2008.

And here is UNO of my favorite pictures from the last wedding I did in 2009.

Someone is going to shoot skittles from their pores from the sheer excitement of winning the UNO contest with Lauren Clark! I really hope that's me :] To learn more about Lauren Clark, UNO, BRAINWASH, and all the amazing photos she is taking check out the following links. She is also in my photographer's blog I read daily at the bottom of my blog. Keep up to date, you don't want to miss her stuff. Side note: she is really focusing on kids portraits, so if you are close to Lubbock or Stillwater (OK.), definitely look her up!

http://www.unobylaurenclark.com/index2.php?v=v1

http://unobylaurenclark.com/blog/

http://www.brainwashtutoring.com/index2.php

http://www.laurenclarkphotography.com/#

Have a blessed day!

--Tyler

UNO!! (I seriously want to play that game right now)

As long as there are women, there will be dancing...

2010-03-05T17:36:00.000-06:00

This past weekend (ya... I'm a little behind - blame the IRS) I had the opportunity to take some photos for the Chaparral Women's Club. Their 2010 Carnivale Gala was a blast! Chaparral is a non-profit service organization serving the community of Round Rock for over 36 years and has also donated over $338,000 to Round Rock and Williamson County Charities since 2000. But don't be fooled, these ladies know how to play hard as well. If you'd like to get more information about CWC or have any questions about the Charities they work with, visit their site at: http://www.rrchaps.org/

The actual auction before the silent auction. I wish I could talk that fast sometimes...

When the band was playing there was no shortage of dancing or awesome 80's music!

It's not a party without a little SHOUT!

I loved the wine bottle ring toss idea, and so did everyone else.

Just a few group shots of the lovely ladies of Chaparral Women's Club

I had a great time, I know everyone at the Gala had a great time. Be sure to check them out if you'd like to know more about the organizations they work with. Many more events to come this spring, can you say Crawfish Boil? Super pumped!

Have a blessed weekend!

--Tyler

When it SNOWS in TEXAS...

2010-02-24T16:32:00.000-06:00

When it snows in Texas... there is one common theme: SNOWMEN!! And they were out in full force yesterday. All shapes and sizes, single snowmen and families of snow-people, creative snowmen, and simple snow-figures. To commemorate Texas SNOWDAY 2010, here are some fun things I saw and put together.

All over Georgetown, Tx., the Square, and Southwestern University

The "Canuck" snowman at the Fuller house and the Amantes Snowman

San Gabriel Park

Down the Alley Bistro

The crew at Sonic had fun putting this guy together! And a Southwestern Snowman - Bones Up!

I had a blast taking these and playing in the snow and watching the kiddo's chase each other with snow balls and knocking each other's snowmen down just so they could re-build them. Here's hoping next years is just as good! Hope you have a great day.

--T

Forging New and Wondrous Things...

2010-02-19T11:26:00.000-06:00

About a month ago a friend told me about Jose Villa and I completely forgot about him. However, this morning when I was looking for some photographic inspiration I came across Mrs. Britteny Melton's blog and she had entered a contest through The Wedding Chicks and Jose Villa and I was reminded to go check out his work. If amazing and visually wondrous aren't cool enough adjectives to go and check out his work, maybe these reviews will entice you:

"Jose villa is one of the hottest youngest photographers in the industry" -WPPI

"One of the most inspirational wedding photographers in todays industry" - PDN

"1 of the top wedding photographers in the world" - American Photo Magazine

Seriously, if you are in California and need a wedding photographer and can spend some serious dinero on a photographer, please call Jose Villa!

Hope you have an amazing weekend!!

--T

Giving your time to a cause

2010-02-11T23:14:00.000-06:00

One of my goals as a photographer is donate my time, when I can, to help a charity or individual or group with knowledge, physical labor, and/or photographs. One that I have seriously been looking into is, Now I lay me down to sleep. The organization works with photographers who donate their time to do selfless work for families that have lost their newborn.

"For families overcome by grief and pain, the idea of photographing their baby may not immediately occur to them. Offering gentle and beautiful photography services in a compassionate and sensitive manner is the heart of this organization. The soft, gentle heirloom photographs of these beautiful babies are an important part of the healing process. They allow families to honor and cherish their babies, and share the spirits of their lives. The NILMDTS mission statement is to introduce remembrance photography to parents suffering the loss of a baby with the gift of professional portraiture. We believe these images serve as an important step in the family's healing process by honoring their child's legacy. The Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation (NILMDTS) administers a network of more than 7,000 volunteer photographers in the United States and 25 countries. At a family's request, a NILMDTS Affiliated Photographer will come to your hospital or hospice location and conduct a sensitive and private portrait session. The portraits are then professionally retouched and presented to the families on an archival DVD or CD that can be used to print portraits of their cherished baby."

While I wasn't involved with anything quite like that, this past weekend I was able to photograph a unique charity event. A local Austin group named Brewing Hope is an organization that hosts social events in cities all over the country with a goal of raising money to help find a cure for MS.

"There are a reported 350,000 cases of MS in the US alone and that is only those you have been diagnosed. Many people go years without even recognizing symptoms for MS. Our goal is to help the National MS Society raise money to continue research for a cure and treatment as well as make more people aware of this disease and it’s symptoms. "

I had a great time assisting the staff, here are just a few pictures of the day.

To learn more about Brewing Hope, the work they are doing, and when they might be in your town next, visit them at: http://www.brewinghope.com/

To learn more about Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, the work they are doing, and when how you can participate and or assist the organization, visit them at:

http://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/

Thanks for reading, hope your week is going great!

--T

What's one thing you want to do before you die?

2010-02-03T15:49:00.000-06:00

So I was watching TV while I ate lunch the other day. Skimming through the guide to see what was on and I saw something that caught my eye, called The Buried Life (don't ask me why that caught my eye). It's this show on MTV about four friends who travel the country with a group bucket list they dreamed up. Anyways, this is not your normal MTV, wild boys type of show. Four honest guys that are buddies trying to accomplish real goals as they travel the country. The kicker is that in each town that they stop to try and accomplish one of their wishes on the list, they ask a random person they come across what one thing that would like to do before they die. Regardless if they accomplish their item on the list or not they still try to make the person's wish happen. It was a very cool show, check it out.

That got me thinking about the things that I would like to accomplish before I die: Skydiving, Eiffel Tower, Scuba-diving, the Great Wall, climb to the peak of an actual mountain... Then I checked my email while I was day dreaming about fun stuff I'd like to do and got the weekly email from DPS (Digital Photography School). http://digital-photography-school.com/

This my friend, is one of the most helpful photography sites you will ever come across. I subscribe (for free) to their weekly emails, to which are chalk full of tips, tricks, forums, how-to's, new gear... you name it, they talk about it. I highly recommend you check them out. Back to my initial thought, the email had a note from the editor and founder of DPS (Darren Rowse) on his Photography Bucket List (http://digital-photography-school.com/my-photography-bucket-list). What are the odds right? A couple of mine are very similar to his own.

The perfect sunset over the ocean picture. Somewhere luxurious like the bahamas, jamaica, hawaii...
A foggy tree line in the middle of a forest. Calm, quiet, peaceful - perfect.
A long exposure waterfall. I don't know if you've seen waterfall's in hawaii. Take my word for it - picturesque. I kick myself every time I think back to my trip to Maui and not having a DSLR...
Actions shots: whether it be a sports figure make an amazing play. A bird in mid-flight, perfectly frozen in stride, or some other natural wonder. Just being somewhere at the right place, at the right time and capturing that moment forever.
Completing an entire wedding day to perfection. Getting home and not having to do a single edit! (Ha, wouldn't that be awesome!)

Those are just a few that I could conger up. What's your bucket list? What's your most sought after photo you have to take before you hang up your hat?

Have a blessed week! --T