Michelle and Trey: Engagement Photos on the Riverwalk

  While we were down in Austin Texas for Katherine and Matt's wedding, I had the privilege of photographing engagements for another close friend.

Trey was one of my favorite people back in high school, where we were both part of the french horn section of the Westlake High School Marching Band.  (It's true.  I was a nerd.  But a really cool nerd.)  So first, here are their photos, then I'll share a few from the good ol' days.

Because we had a wedding dinner that evening, the only time we could do these engagements was about 4 hours after sunset in San Antonio!  It was a challenge, but Trey and Michelle were amazing!  And with the cool atmosphere of the San Antonio Riverwalk night life and the help of my lighting specialist (Thomas carried all the light stands and flashes as we walked the whole way - he might say he was the sherpa, but I'll give him more credit than that), we were good to go!

  

  

Going back to Austin always makes sentimental.  I loved my high school years and it's always fun to get back in touch with friends from band (or choir, church, theatre, soccer, etc.)  When I got in touch with Trey a month or two ago, I took some time to back through old photos and it brought back so many memories!  Below are (left) 3 of us French horn players during a Westlake football game and (Right) more band nerds partying in the... wait for it... that's right.  Taco bell parking lot.  It was tradition.  And the cool place to be.  That's Trey's car we're sitting on.  It's possible that he and I took it up to 100mph on the freeway when we discovered we had taken a wrong turn that made it way late on the way to an important music competition.  That car rattled, but we made it to the competition and Trey performed so well he went on to the next round.  Must have been the adrenaline. :)

  

Katherine & Matt: Formal Wedding Photos at Zilker Botanical Gardens

  Now some of these photos might seem familiar from the wedding highlight slideshow I posted recently.  Katherine and Matthew (or "Kat" and "Matt") are both friends that I have known for a loooong long time.  Coincidentally, they have also been dating a loooong long time.  How long you say?  How does since middle school strike you?

It's been a wild ride as they've dated on and off, and throughout the whole remained the best of friends.   Though if I had a nickel for every time someone said "I am so excited y'all are  finally getting married"... well I would have a lot of nickels.

Thomas and I flew down Thursday before the wedding, which was a grand two-day affair on Friday and Saturday.  We managed to catch a flight early enough in the day that we were able to do this bride and groom pre-shoot at the Zilker Botanical Gardens.  We got some individual bridals as well as some photos of the two of them.  After the shoot we headed on over to Katherine's home for some pre-wedding day barbeque and some music, where I sorted and edited like a madwoman on my laptop so that we could order some enlargements for the reception on Saturday. (On a side-note, anybody going to Austin that wants great bbq MUST go to Rudy's.  It's not optional.  But I digress...)

Matt and Katherine both looked fabulous, and had that glow that only those on the brink of the best day of their life really can show.

Having moved out of Texas before I really started shooting professionally, I had never taken photographs at the Botanical Gardens quite the same way before.  I used to come here all the time, but I never realized the wealth of photo locations this place has.  It's chock full of beautiful spots like this one below...

I've known Katherine forever, and she's one of the sweetest, most outrageous, talented, and "out there" people you will ever meet.

  

Katherine is a playwright, and has directed many a play (she and I even ran a theater camp once-upon-a-time, but that's another story).  So of course, we had to show off her very official director's chair.

There will be more to come of these two as I finish up the photos from the wedding day in San Antonio and the reception in Austin.  We'll probably have to break it up over several days, because a LOT happened, and there was so many cool things that I wanted to share with y'all.

Sneak Peek: Austin Texas LDS Wedding Photography

  As I mentioned the other day, we were back in my hometown in Austin TX shooting a wedding over the weekend.  Here is a sneak peek of some of the photos from the formals shoot that we did on Thursday at the Zilker Botanical Gardens before the wedding, and some photos from the wedding day itself on Friday at the LDS Temple in San Antonio.  They had their reception on Saturday at the Vineyards at Chappell Lodge, so I had some time to quickly go through and get a few of my favorites from the two shoots for this slideshow.  We ran it for the wedding, and one of the coolest things about it (aside from the awesome photos, of course)?  The song is actually the bride singing!!!

It's a song she wrote for her (now)husband a year ago about their relationship.  You can actually buy the song on itunes- her name is Katherine Gee and the song's title is Sunshine and Rain. She is fabulously talented!  In fact, her entire family is unbelievable as well... the whole wedding process was like a big broadway musical, with spontaneous poems, musical performances, and some really awesome dancing.

I'll definitely be posting more pictures from the wedding later on in future posts, but I just had to share a couple now so y'all can see what I was up to.  I had so much fun, and was so honored to be a part of it.