Mike Reed Photo Blog

The Blog Have Moved!

2010-11-22T11:32:00.001-06:00

I moved the blog to my own website finally, here's the link: http://www.mikereedphoto.com/blog/

Epic in Shiner

2010-05-03T22:33:00.012-05:00

Over the last year and half I’ve booked a lot of brides over the phone (a lot), I don’t know why it’s just worked out that way. Maybe I have some great phone voice that I never realized??? Anyway not to get off track, coming up in May two out five weddings will be of happy couples I never met before. Wow! The great thing is I get to trapes all across Texas... does that make me a destination wedding photographer?

So Carli and Claudio where a little bit different, Carli booked me a while back and I got the chance to meet both of them briefly about a month before the wedding so at least we weren’t total strangers.

The wedding was epic (they have the pose to prove it) and totally beat any expectation of a back yard wedding, wait until you see the “tent”.

I had a great time, the day and evening were perfect and hope to head back to Shiner real soon for yet another wedding.

Oh and did I mention this is one out of three Aggie weddings in a row? Don’t get me wrong I love my Aggies but for an Austin guy that’s pretty good! For the record my loyalties lie in East Tennessee.

Props to Barbara (http://www.barbaralegerephotography.com) our 2nd shooter for stopping to get this shot.

Getting ready with Summer.

The little blue hose rocked! We got a ton of great shots back there.

Summer's little girl rocked it out as the flower girl.

I really wonder if any bride and groom can actually hear what's being said during their ceremony? I recently celebrated my 10th wedding anniversary and watched our footage, it was a really good sermon!

This was the most fun wedding party I've seen in a long, long time. It was a lot of fun to shoot them.

In true backyard wedding fashion the bride and brides maids were barefoot.

The "Epic Pose".

Here's the tent from a far... it was enormous.

The best man was great, he was slaying the audience.

Claudio's dad during the speeches.

Oh and the brewmaster hooked Carli and Claudio up with their own special wedding day brew.

Kristen and Clayton Engagement

2010-04-26T22:15:00.004-05:00

I've been looking forward to shooting Kristen and Clayton for a long time. Their wedding is fast approaching and it is always super-helpful for a photographer to build a personal connection with a couple prior to the wedding day. Kristen and Clayton were excited about shooting in the wildflowers! We don't have wildflowers in Northern Virginia so they are always fun for me to see and photograph even after being in Austin for 10 years (can't say as much for the 110 degree weather that comes every summer!).

I think this was my favorite out of the session.

Swing time with Colby!

http://www.mikereedphoto.com

My Poor Mistreated Children

2010-04-21T08:51:00.004-05:00

They say preacher's kids have it tougher than regular kids growing up, but what about the children of a photographer? Sure they look happy in all their pictures, but I wonder if deep-down inside they are screaming, “Dad put down the camera and just let us go play!”

For the record, I rarely ever pose my (or other people's) kids. I like to capture them in action and let their true personalities shine through; BUT these are bluebonnets for crying out loud! I can’t have my kids just romping around in a field of bluebonnets; 1) I understand it’s a life term in prison for destroying the coveted state treasure 2) we were WAY out in the country (Mason, TX) and God only knows what was lurking 10 feet in the middle of that patch.

Laser focus here on the grandmother, just off to the right of the camera if you couldn't tell.

Cole is usually pretty cooperative when I whip out the camera, lights and reflectors... not this day.

Caleb on the other hand is the one that usually takes a bit of coaxing if you're after a certain look but when we shot this he was on! I think it was three frames and done (and they were all good images!).

Emma Grace was in the zone, EVERYTHING she did was cute... she was unstoppable.

Notice the state treasure in here right hand? Fortunately she's a minor and I'm hoping the local authorities will take it easy on her.

Unstoppable!

http://www.mikereedphoto.com

Sofia and Derek

2010-04-19T21:42:00.003-05:00

Party on a Sunday afternoon at the Vintage Villas! The day of their wedding the weather started out lousy - cloudy, raining - nothing really redeemable about the day if you were having a wedding (now if you’re a fish or just wishing Lake Travis to fill up and get rid of some those islands you were in luck, but alas Sofia and Derek were neither). As fate would have it, right before the ceremony kicked-off the clouds parted and it turned into an amazingly beautiful day... just the kind of day you always wanted to get married on!

The bride's maids were super giddy just before walking the isle.

Derek seeing Sofia for the first time that day.

This makes my top ten favorite wedding shots of all time.

Who is this guy and why does he show up at every wedding??? I actually wish I could do this, the getting down and spinning isn't the issue, it's hopping back to one's feet that always gets me. (I practice this move when no ones in the house!)

http://www.mikereedphoto.com

Drury Lane Studios

2010-04-16T09:05:00.006-05:00

This goes to show the power of M&M’s. For my long time readers you all will recognize my pride and joy under their baking attire, Cole, Emma Grace and Caleb. I’ve been wanting to do this shoot for about six months now in an industrial kitchen but one never presented itself so we shot it in our breakfast nook!

***click the images to enlarge***

Caleb was nice enough to help out with a quick light test.

www.mikereedphoto.com

Ryan

2010-04-15T12:15:00.008-05:00

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

I wish they had senior pictures like this when I was in school... maybe I would have picked up a camera earlier in life!

This was a great shoot, for all their bravado teenage boys (sounds weird to say boys, I can’t say teenage men and teenage males sounds a little sterile like I’m a cop or a lab tech), tend to be a bit shy in front of the camera but Ryan nailed it. Oh and if you didn’t notice another Austinite headed to Aggie Land.

Austin, Mayfield Park, Aggie, A&M, senior

www.mikereedphoto.com

Long Center Engagement

2010-04-02T10:58:00.005-05:00

I am so psyched to work with Mary and Jamieson! From the first time we met they were so easy to get along with, we hit it off right away. Come wedding day something I am really looking forward to is the music! They are both deeply involved with all kinds music, and it’s my understanding so are their friends. Oh, and a bunch of them are performing the day of the wedding! I thought it was REALLY cool than they wanted to be photographed in front of the Long Center because it holds a lot of personal meaning to both of them. Stay tuned…. Mary has a bridal coming up soon.

www.mikereedphoto.com

North Carolina

2010-03-30T13:26:00.004-05:00

I have tons to catch up on but wanted to post these first! I just got back from visiting the family on the east coast and made a quick trip to the shore... I can’t wait for warmer weather.

This was my favorite out of the series. Click for full size.

www.mikereedphoto.com

Sunrise Over Lake Austin

2010-03-08T21:14:00.004-06:00

Christinana and Pete are so perfect for each other, they are one of those couples that complement each other very well.

They meet over seas.

While stationed together.

In a Iraq!

What I thought was really interesting was our first meeting together talking about their wedding and I asked them from a photographic standpoint what was most important to them and Pete replied the “posed pictures...”.

Really?

No one has ever said that to me, now keep in mind almost every couple I’ve ever worked with wanted some kind of posed picture but without fail just about all of them were most interested in the candid images, you know more of the documentation of the day type of images. He wasn’t done “...because I come from a family of photographers who will all be hauling around their Canon 1Ds’ (it’s a $6000 camera) getting plenty of candid wedding day shots.”

Great.

A room full of veteran, seasoned photographers watching me, critiquing me... judging me. Their is a joke that goes:

“How many photographers does it take to change a lightbulb? 20. One to change it and 19 to tell you how they would do it differently.”

So that joke probably isn’t that funny if you don’t shoot for a living but it KILLS at photographer get-togethers. Oh and I am totally guilty of that myself, I’ll see an image somewhere and think to myself “Wow that lighting was weak.”, or “Boy if they had just moved a foot the right.” or my favorite “Who are they freaking kidding with that Photoshop job?!?”. Don’t get me wrong I see way more stuff that I think is really good but that still leaves me come wedding day in a room with what I’m guessing will be 3-5 REALLY good photographers and me. Then again who knows, I may pickup something new!

OK enough ranting onto the engagement pics!

This was one of our last shots and my favorite, we were right under the bridge.

I like the crop on this one.

http://www.mikereedphoto.com

Heather and Reagan's Wedding Day

2010-02-19T17:36:00.010-06:00

Heather and Reagan’s wedding day was finally here! Heather (and her family) are from the same part of the county I am... Northern Virginia (it’s funny because people from Northern Virginia are VERY quick to make that distinction, so as not to be confused with the rest of the state of Virginia, it’s like it’s own little state or something. I never really noticed that until my native-Austinite wife pointed it out on a visit a few years back! I digress….

So, for the record, Heather and Reagan have been really good luck for me (or maybe it’s the other way around?!?). I have captured some of my all-time favorite wedding and engagement images with them. Their engagement pictures were great, we lucked out with this very groovy field at the end of that shoot and their wedding was no exception. Great location, the church was so cool,the time of day couldn’t have been better and we had such great light pouring in from the side windows!

As always click on the image to see the full size.

Amanda Pye is the "rock-star" of make-up artists! http://austinmakeupdesign.com/

We had dozens of great getting ready shots, but this shot I processed three different ways. This was a deviation from the standard color or black&white processing.

Very cool chapel!

All smiles on the ring exchange.

The chapel had tons of little nooks with great windows that let in very cool beams of natural light. PLUS that stone and plaster work was very, very groovy.

This is my favorite posed shot of the day, great light spilling in, great colors and expression. Heather you rocked it out!

I love this shot. The groom, best-man and I were stepping outside for some shots of them in front of the chapel, when I caught the bride and maid of honor in action.

These two were beaming all day, I never had to coax a smile out of them.

This is the first time I'd had ever seen this, they threw dried lavender!

Oh, and dried lavender smells really, really good.

www.mikereedphoto.com

Sofia and Derrick Engagement

2010-01-17T21:49:00.008-06:00

*** click on the image for a larger size***

Here’s an engagement we did right before Christmas (I know I am so lame for not posting sooner but I had gifts to wrap!). Sofia and Derrick were AWESOME! They were so creative and full of great ideas, we spent a ton of time shooting, it slipped away too quickly.

We started on on South Congress and slowing made our way north.

I thought the sky came out great in this one.

The firemen's tower on Lake Lady Bird (or is it Lady Bird Lake?)

This was cool, this one was actually a light test for a shot to be done in the middle of the intersection but I think this one turned out better.

This might be my favorite out of the shoot.

http://www.mikereedphoto.com

365 Project Update

2010-01-17T21:10:00.003-06:00

***click for a larger image size***

Long time readers may recall way back on the 1st of January (was that only 17 days ago???? seems a little longer) that I committed to doing a 365 project, one new picture a day for the next year and no five picks on Monday to cover the week, a legit new image everyday. So far so good! I’ve learned a lot in just a short time, it’s been a great excuse to try new light set ups, to push my natural light shooting creativity and here’s one that’s had a big impact as well... post production. Shooting weddings, bridals and engagements, when I come back from a shoot I process a ton of images, a wedding can yield 800-1300 frames. The goal of all good photographers is to get it right in the camera so post production (Photoshop and Lightroom) is a simple color tweak and sorting out the wheat from the shaft. Here’s the cool part about the 365 project, I’m shooting 2 to 12 images which has give me time to go into Photoshop and/or Lightroom to experiment with different processing techniques.

Here’s one of my favorites so far, I think it was from the 7th of January (January - duh), but this a windmill off of Palmer between McNeil and MoPac. I’ve passed it hundreds if not thousands of times and alway thought I’d like to shoot it. Well it was FREEZING that day, it was sooo cold the first frame I fired off was under exposed, a quick adjustment and I got this one (with a little Photoshop love). I had run back to the car before I could get a third on account I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore.

http://www.mikereedphoto.com

New Logo

2010-01-17T21:07:00.002-06:00

After much thought and lots of versions I proud to unveil the new logo, hope you like it! Now if I can just figure out how to change it on www.mikereedphoto.com .

Erica and Justin

2010-01-04T13:00:00.009-06:00

This was a great wedding I shot a couple of months ago BUT never blogged it which is ironic because it’s some of my favorite photojournalistic work of the year! Erica and Justin were a fun couple to work with, they both live in Dallas and were married in San Antonio. Funny they both went to elementary school together in San Antonio but didn’t start dating until they found each other in Dallas. The church they were married in was amazing and I’m not over stating that, if they film a movie in San Antonio and needed a church THIS would be that church... oh and the reception rocked as well!

***Click on any of the images to see a larger version***

I could start off by saying this is one of my favorites (which it is) but I really liked/loved all the ones on this post for different reasons. I liked this one because the lighting was great, the action, the way Erica's hair fell to one side and the people in it. It's mom and little sister/maid of honor helping the bride-to-be.

This is a little more "standard" shot, it's a great point of view to slide out into the middle of the isle during the ceremony but the composition and light were good.

Great light all over this church (serious it's movie quality!) and I like the fact I was able to get in front of the couple, which is tough to do regardless if the ceremony is inside or outside.

I liked the action and expression in this one.

OK you got me this one is posed but I'm a sucker for wood doors.

This one wasn't posed, I forgot what we were waiting for but it's funny how a random moment will produce some of the best images.

Little sister again, the reception was downtown and no where for the limo to park. This is our lovely maid of honor waiting on the street corner with snacks in hand for the newly married couple (they were starving).

Down on the dance floor.

No idea who this dude was and I pretty sure this is the only pic I got of him.

I'm guessing Justin was tired of me by the end of the night popping out from behind the potted plants and surprising him.

Sisters on the dance floor.

http://www.mikereedphoto.com

365 and Happy New Year

2010-01-04T11:43:00.002-06:00

OK along with the slew of New Year resolutions comes yet another and although it’s not very original it’s been a great exercise so far. I’ve committed to do a 365 project which is a picture a day every day for an entire year. At first it doesn’t sound that, challenging a picture a day but I’m after a little personal growth so the image will be more than just a snap shot here and there (that being said I’m sure throughout the year a snap shot or two will sneak in there).

What brought this all on is my oldest son is in Kindergarten and he had a project due that required a picture of him. Easy enough considering his dad is a photographer but of course we waited until the night before it’s due. As I rummaged through some old portfolio work from school looking for a single piece of photo paper to make his print (I found two!) I realized when I was in school I was really pushed to make good compelling images. This isn’t to say I don’t think I take compelling images for weddings, I do (at least in my humble opinion... I really like what I shoot!), I just don’t get out and shoot like I used to (outside of weddings, bridals and engagements). I think is mostly because I’ve been shooting a wedding just about every weekend with engagements and bridals during the week, which is great! (Thanks to all the great couples in 2009.) Now it’s time to grow a little more and just after three days it’s paying off dividends. Here’s the first two days.

Oh and a side, these images are OK but they are not killer make a portfolio image and I had to (very) quickly come to terms to that an image a day there will be some so-so ones.

New Years night, this was one of our favorite bottles of wine and Elyse was savvy enough two years ago to stow away a few bottles for a special occasion (they don’t make it anymore). Only one more to go.

Little Buddy, this one was easy to shoot all natural light in a gym it was in post production (Photoshop in this case) is where the learning experience came.

http://www.mikereedphoto.com

Sun Shining Day

2009-12-17T14:28:00.005-06:00

Here’s a little sunshine to brighten a cold wet winter’s day. Oh and they happen to be Heather and Reagan’s engagement pics as well! These first few were my favorite and we almost didn’t get them. It was one of those things we had just wrapped up and were heading home when this field and setting sun appeared out of nowhere, seriously neither the field or sun were there before... really!

This barn was great, it had a ton of cool stuff inside as well!

We shot at Pioneer Farms, tons of cool houses to shoot around and inside of.

Had to get the boots.

http://www.mikereedphoto.com

Nicole and Nick Engagement

2009-12-06T22:08:00.007-06:00

Nicole emailed me last week in need of some engagement pictures for their “Save the Date” that needed to get in the mail this week.

It’s a little a different shooting a couple that I've never met before (no little ice breaker session at Starbucks or anything like that), but in the end we didn’t need it... they were rock stars, we got right into it! Even though it was roughly 20 degrees outside, they muscled right through it, and lets face it, it’s REALLY tough to fake happy when you're cold! Growing up in Virginia, my football coach always said “Be careful, cold will rob you of emotion!" Looking back at the pictures, that certainly wasn't the case for Nicole and Nick, those are genuine warm smiles for the camera!

http://www.mikereedphoto.com

Tiffany and Aaron

2009-11-21T11:19:00.004-06:00

I loved shooting Tiffany and Aaron, start to finish.

Quick pause here I just had a thought, it seems that my blogging is all about me and less focus on the couple. I, I, I and me, me, me, I’m really not self centered and when I shoot it’s ALL about the couple... really it is!

Anyway I had a blast shooting their wedding! Awesomely amazing couple, great bridal party (one of my favorites thus far!), a fantastic family and great venue. Oh and did I mention perfect weather? Lot smiles mixed in with a few tears made the day perfect.

Aaron's "getting ready" pics were him priming the the kegs on his soon to be famous home brew.

Checking out the men.

"Borrowed" this pose from one of Elyse's fashion mags... I flip through strictly for the pictures!

Sarah and Kevin Engagement

2009-11-13T23:40:00.009-06:00

Sarah and Kevin are both alumni of Texas A & AM. Being big Aggie fans, they decided the do their engagement shoot in College Station. I had never been to College Station before, but we got some phenomenal shots from all over campus, The (infamous) Dixie Chicken and adjoining bottle-cap alley. Sarah and Kevin were a lot of fun to hang out with and they are going to rock it come wedding day!

Not only were they a lot of fun but Sarah and Kevin were great sports and would do ANYTHING I asked.

Penny for good luck before a test, what kind of grade does a diamond get you... a 3.5 for your sophomore year?

In The Century Tree...

...and under.

Aggies lover their rings.

I thought this alley was the coolest

I'm never shy to get down on the ground and crawl around to get a shot, I drew the line at rusty bottle caps.

Inside the Dixie Chicken!

Mercury Hall After Dark

2009-11-11T14:55:00.012-06:00

I’ve been looking forward to Kaysie and David’s wedding now for a while, they have a great story (see engagement post), they are a LOT of fun and they are totally and completely into each other.... which makes photographing their wedding just that much more fun!

Both of Kaysie's sisters were her maids-of-honor.

Major props to the girls that can tie theses things up, the strap is about 30 feet long and always becomes uneven about half way through. Really it does.

Vail hair.

Mercury Hall looked great after sunset, the people who put it together did a great job.

I am not complaining in the least, that being said it's tough to shoot in the dark without a flash!

Truly the happiest day of their lives.

Toast time.

Kaysie brought dancing shoes.

...and used them all night long

A little flash to freeze the hair.

Katie and Daniel

2009-10-27T20:11:00.007-05:00

OK so I think I can tell this video thing is going to get out of hand because I am digging it waaaay too much.

That was Katie and Daniel, you might remember Katie from her bridal a few weeks ago. The day of their wedding it poured buckets on us! Katie and Daniel were married on Brushy Creek however their was no creek to be had, it was a full blown class 5 rapid! Rain or not, there was nothing that was going to bring Katie down on her big day, she was so happy... and it shows in her (I mean their) pictures.

Getting Ready

Daniel and company.

I ran out and shot the men (with my camera) and was still able to get more getting ready pics.

The cake was by "Tiers of Joy".

I thought Katie looked like a princess being crowned.

Did I mention it poured?

I don't usually post group pictures but I never actually took group pics IN the rain!

First dance.

I caught the bridesmaids napping in the back room... too much dance floor?

A little bird seed for good measure.

2009-10-05T21:51:00.011-05:00

Mikki and David Wedding

You long time readers will recall that Mikki and David were my first ever blog post... you never forget your first post! That one was about their engagement and here finally the big day arrived!

They got married and had the reception at Mercury Hall and for what should have been a hot summer (fall???) day the weather was perfect.

I have this rule about the word "fabulous"; guys can't use it, period. That being said Mikki looked extraordinary!

The girls were working out some pre-game jitters.

More fab... errrrr, extraordinariness

They had this guy playing while the guest were being seated, he played this vintage guitar along with a single vintage speaker. This thing had to be older than my dad, maybe even granddaddy but it had the most amazing sound. (Yes, I know the guy playing was very talented as well!)

David and the men waiting to walk out.

I really enjoy getting a brides expression once her girls have walked down the aisle and it's just her and (usually) dad. And in this case including our fantastic wedding coordinator Lorena Molina(www.somethingtocelebrate.com).

Here's another favorite to capture, the groom when he sees his wife-to-be for the first time that day.

The maid of honor was great (really all of Mikki's brides maids were), she was so happy to see her best friend getting married.

First Dance

Hold the cake please! No cake cutting here, instead they chose to toast with chocolate martinis.

Speech time.

The best man opted for the Miller Lite over the chocolate martini...

...and no one notice, the crowd loved him!

Dance revolution.

Mikki, what did you see?

The big exit.

2009-10-05T21:39:00.003-05:00

Linda and Josh Engagement

If I could only say one thing about this shoot is that is was fun. Linda and (especially) Josh were having just a great time, which of course makes my job a breeze! We did this shoot looking over the Pennybacker Bridge.

Love that Austin sunset

Inky, saturated fashion magazine look

Even with all the horse play we were able to get a couple romantic shots.

2009-10-05T21:25:00.005-05:00

Katie Bridal at Laguna Gloria

Katie wanted her bridals to be extra special and after a few consolations she finally decided on Laguna Gloria, she actually surprised me with the decision. I’m not sure who was more stoked to shoot there, me or her. One of the greatest things about Laguna Gloria is every corner, every time you turn around it’s another incredible, immaculate back-drop!

Off the back patio.

This one is my favorite!

One of many gardens.

A little different development technique.

Jen’s wed to Ed

2009-09-21T10:25:00.010-05:00

Disclaimer - I “borrowed” today’s title from Jen and Ed’s website. These guys have a great story, they met at all places a Los Lonely Boys show in Corpus (they are both from Austin). So how does anyone meet at a show? I mean come on there is no way you can have any kind of meaningful conversation when it’s so loud your chest goes thump, thump thump with the base drum. That is unless you show up 10 HOURS EARLY to save your place in line because it’s a general admission show and you happen to be camped out right next to each other. So after many more shows and thousands of miles logged going from show to show the rest is (as they say) history.

Congratulations!

15 minutes to go time!

Five minutes to go and Jen was feeling a little nervous (who wouldn't).

Ed and Jen were all smiles once they had a seat and got to see each other.

Time to break bread with Father Mike

The recessional was just shy of a football field... their church was huge!

The had their first dance to a mariachi band! That was way cool.

I love this girl's expression.

When the band left the DJ took over...

This is what happens when you dance into the night.

2009-09-09T09:48:00.010-05:00

Jen’s Bridal

So the first thing that probably comes to mind is “Mike you can’t post a bridal before she gets married, what if the groom sees her!?!?!”

No worries, if you read the last post you’d know I am waaaay behind in postings. Jen and Eddie got married this past Saturday (post coming soon.... probably).

We shot at the Capital, lots of green grass and trees outside along with a tons of cool staircases, columns, and hallways indoors. Oh and a HUGE bathroom in the basement that always vacant, perfect for getting dressed, but don't tell anyone!

Front lawn, this was a warm-up shot to test the lights but it turned out to be one of my favorites.

Head shot - so after further review Jen decided her make-up looked too natural (I thought it looked great) and went with a little different look for her wedding day (I liked it better!). It pays to do the trial run.

Spot light

I like the blue tone on this with the fade to black all around her.

A little soft light

The back of Jen's dress was way cool, it must take for ever to lace up.

And here's the ring.

Rachel and Shane

2009-09-08T14:48:00.013-05:00

So I’m not one of those bloggers that makes up for lost time by doing a bunch of posts all at once... OK I’m busted. I’ve come up with every excuse for not posting, but in the end they are just excuses and I’ve shot so much. So here we go:

This is Rachel and Shane. They are one of those couples that knew within two weeks (or was it two dates?) of meeting each other that they were meant for one another. Fast forward almost two years and here we are!

ALL SMILES getting ready.

Obligatory shoe pic

We were literally in a closet! This is a super wide angle and if you look close you can see me in the mirror almost on top of Shane.

We did our group pictures inside their was no way on God’s green earth (although I think she phrased it differently) Rachel was going outdoors in the humidity to do pictures. It was one of those rare hot and humid Austin August days.

I love her expression in this one.

BEST bubbles pic to date.

2009-08-10T09:38:00.000-05:00

Julie+Maria

I attended this continuing education class yesterday and the pleasure of shooting Julie, she was so much fun and was a really good sport. It’s not easy getting flashed in the eyes 10,000 times over the course of a few hours and STILL be smiling by the end of it. She was a real trooper!

Yesterday’s class was nothing short of amazing and was put on by a fantastic instructor, now my favorite instructor of all time, Maria. How amazing? She has this unbelievable studio in her house and calling her house just a house is like calling King King just an ape... this thing was enormous.

Any way many thanks to Julie and Maria, I hate to miss a Sunday with the family but it was well worth worth it.

2009-08-07T09:34:00.008-05:00

Sun Rise Over the 360 Bridge.

Kaysie and David’s big day is coming up in late October and for their engagement they really wanted to do a sunset shoot at the Pennybacker Bridge (360 Bridge) which is fine other than it’s 130 degrees at sunset these days. Then we got the bright idea about a sunRISE shoot, only 80 degrees. Brilliant!

Kaysie and David have one those amazing “How we met” stories, they should really be on one those wedding shows and for sure get published in “Modern Bride”.... hmmmm. The story is long and detailed but it ends with “if you love someone set them free” endings.

I’m thinking of taking a tape recorder to their wedding and getting the details on tape for all my both my readers To top it off they are a genuinely nice couple, are totally committed to giving back to the community and making the world a better place. She works with, mentors and inspires incarcerated teenagers (giving back) and he’s an environmental artist for a gaming company here in town (making MY world a better place!).

Ring Shot!

Light Test.

2009-08-06T09:25:00.011-05:00

Chelsea and Matt

This is Chelsea and Matt! I shot their wedding a few weeks ago (middle of June) but since the blog is so new I figured a little extra content wouldn’t hurt.

Man was I ever intimidated walking into this one! The largest wedding I ever shot was 600 people but Matt and Chelsea had... 14 people, I made number 15! No where to hide, no corner to duck into, nothing and I ended up loving it! With just a few people present I really got to know my couple and made such good friends we’ve had them over for drinks (and a little picture editing) since. It was a great experience.

The other thing that made this wedding one of the most unique ones that I’ve shot was the fact that Chelsea and Matt were sooooo into each other. I know what your thinking, “Mike, it’s their wedding day you dummy of course they will be into each other!”. The thing is I’ve never seen anything like this, my first meeting was just with Chelsea (I didn’t meet Matt until about hour before the ceremony!) she just gushed and gushed about her husband to be, when did Chelsea’s bridal same thing and the day of the wedding... more gushing!

I love their expressions when Chelsea rounded the corner and they got to see each other for the first time.

The shot right after the ceremony, you know that first chance you get to talk to each other was a long passionate kiss, again like one I’ve never witnessed (I didn’t post that, it seemed like to private of a moment to put out on the internet), they were/are really in love.

Lake Travis

“Holy cow, we just got marred!”.

2009-08-05T21:16:00.003-05:00

Daddy just got a new wide angle lens so we rolled it out at the play ground the other day. I love this picture of Cole! So Cole has the worlds WORST fake smile, it’s painful... really it looks like he’s in serious pain! The key to a good smile (at least for a five year old handsome boy named Cole)? I get him to tell me a joke, I think he know exactly two. This one goes something like this:

What do you get an 800 lb. gorilla for his birthday?

I don’t know he you better make sure he likes it!

That one slays at the playground. Anyway he gets about half way through the joke and he just starts cracking up. The only thing that worries me is that one day, probably soon he’ll get wise to my ways.

The second pic is my baby girl Emma Grace, she’s cute

even when’s she sweaty! She and Caleb (pics of him to come soon) tend to run when I pull the camera out these days. All I hear is cries of “no daddy, no!”, I think the flash at a young age has ruined them. They run even faster when I come out with the light stand and umbrella!

Mikki and David Engagement

2009-07-27T14:17:00.000-05:00

Thanks for checking out the blog and lucky you, you found my first ever post! So for today's post we're looking at Mikki and David, I have the privilege of shooting their wedding at the end of August at Mercury Hall, it's a great venue and I'm geeked to shoot there. Oh yeah Mikki and David aren't bad either! They were terrific to shoot with, a lot of fun and their wedding day is only going to be better.

Mikki booked me sight unseen, OK so she found www.mikereedphoto.com and we talked on the phone and exchanged a few emails but this was the first time we meet (that's a picture of her finance David, not me).

They live in Michigan but originally met in Lubbock and Mikki moved to Austin when she was 10 (I think she said she was 10????)

Here's my favorite shot, she has that mysterious look working and I don't think David stopped smiling ALL DAY.

And what would an engagement shoot be without the ring????