I am sooo trying to catch up with my blogging..sorry for my avid readers. I try to pick and choose different mixes of stuff and I realized that there must be at least 15 weddings or so that have gone by and I have not blogged about any of them and I have not posted a wedding blog in a while -oops. I will try to make it up with Sarah and Ronan. Sarah and Ronan were married in Georgetown on May 1st.
Sarah and Ronan were really nice and their families and friends were also really nice and they treated Nathan and I wonderfully-thanks y’all. (Ha ha, my new found Texan language is now sneaking into my writing-”y’all”, that’s funny. Although I am told I need to use “all y’all” at some point. hmmm) And there I go again, getting distracted. So… Sarah and Ronan got married in the sweetest little church in Georgetown and I loved it. It wast truly lovely. Then, off to Angel Springs for their reception. This ws my first time at Angel Springs and I thought it was quite lovely. The grass was green, there were beautiful places for photogaphy and by the time we got there, the lighting could not have been more perfect for us.
The highlights of the evening were cool. Sarah danced with her grandfather and honestly, he reminded me a little of my Dad (he would be 88 next month if he were still here) and it made me cry a little when I saw them dance together. Her uncles were a lot of fun and I guess they have a tradition in their family where they have the “crazy uncle photo”. Sarah and Ronan were so great to take photos of and Ronan kicked butt in a drum circle that night. I had never gone through a drum circle so that was cool. Their whole family is quite musical and in fact, her brother wrote and composed a piano piece that he played for them during the wedding ceremony.
Anyway, enjoy a few images of them.
If you want to see a little more of their wedding, feel free to look at this little slideshow-you can’t see it on phone but you can see it on a regular computer
My BFF is a twin. I always wanted a twin, but I don’t have any siblings.. Anyway, meet Jake and Cole. They are so cute! They were both little preemies and so adorable. I can’t believe how little they were. I mean, Dad’s ring was the size of the palm of their hands! We did the photos at their home because they were too small and they needed to stay in their environment in order to stay healthy. So, I got to their place where I was greeted so nicely by Mom and Dad and their beautiful Labrador (Whom I thought was a riot and I loved him. I love dogs. Anyone who knows me, know this fact.., yes, I know, I am getting sidetracked)
On to Jake and Cole–Ha ha, photographing little baby boys cracks me up because they ALWAYS HAVE PROJECTILE PEE. Ha ha ha… So, being a photographer, I am so used to babies peeing when they get their photos taken but the priceless thing is the look on the parents’ faces when their baby pees on me or them or whatever while they are getting photographed. It happened during this session and it was so funny and it is almost always the same reaction: Mom is…HORRIFIED. Dad is…”wow, look how far that went!”. LOL. What a job sometimes but then you see these precious little babies and it just makes it all worthwhile, you can wash your clothes but those babies are only teeny for a short time in their lives. I am looking forward to photographing these two as they get older.
I used Westcott Spiderlites onsite with these little ones and I know I have been talking a lot about these but I am telling you-I am truly in love with them. I think all photographers should have at least one set in their repertoire of lighting equipment. They were very useful on location for me.
Enjoy!
P.S. I think Cole is actually smiling in his slumber-that is sooo precious!!!
Now that things are going to calm down a little, I plan on catching up on all the people that I want to blog about. there is no particular order but, I got a new tower and these are some of the newest photos and they are on the new tower so, she gets a blog first.
Meet Taylor: 9 years old. sweet.full of energy. total ham on camera. Taylor has discovered that she loves to be on camera and just wrapped up her first film! impressive? yah. Asked her to give me different emotions and she did it without even batting an eye, impressive? yah. I think you get the drift, I was very impressed with her. Taylor, her mom, her Dad, and I would love for her to get an agent-I hope she does. Taylor was made to act and to be on camera!
For the photographers out there, her headshot with the yellow shirt were done with the WESTCOTT spiderlites. I have been super impressed with them! I cannot believe how much I am loving these lights. For the other shots, I used my Profoto 600R lights and I always find those to be super dependable and beautiful, like always. Why two different types of lights? Not every photograph needs to be shot the same way with the same lights. I am so excited to have the new Westcott spiderlites in my studio. I plan on demonstrating those in November when I speak in Dallas as one of the pros on the Westcott 25 pros in 25 city tour.
Anyway, if you are an agent looking at this site and you want to talk to her parents, let me know and I can arrange a meet.
The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind–and at some moments, literally a whirlwind. Over the last few weeks, this is where I have been. Dallas, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Austin.
First. one week in Dallas..Had a great time at the TPPA event there. It was great to see all my photographer friends from around the state and other states! Loved every minute of it. Came back for one day and did a bunch of sessions and then left again for Oklahoma. I went to go speak in Oklahoma City on the night of their first huge, national news making, destroying tornado. Holy cow! Before you ask..no, I did not take any photos of it. So, I went to Oklahoma as the May keynote speaker to the professional photographers association in OK city and the tornado came. long story short…city sirens went off, got sent to the freezer in a restaurant…still ticking in Austin Texas - Maria survival rate: 100% I had a great time with that group. They were so inviting and they treated me really well. The next day I went to Tulsa as the May keynote speaker to the Professional Photographer’s Association of Tulsa. That was a funny group. They laughed a lot, they were so much fun! Overall, speaking in Oklahoma was a great experience, minus the tornado.
After that, I got back to Austin in time to photograph clients for two straight days and then the Austin Professsional Photographer’s Association held their annual print competition. I entered and I was so excited to win a First Place Tropy for Best Portrait, a Second Place Trophy for Best Portrait, a Third Place Tropy for Best Illustrative Image, a First Place Trophy for Best Wedding Image, The BEST IN SHOW Trophy, and a Judge’s choice award. Overall, I was super duper excited but to tell you the truth I was more excited for my associate photographer, Nathan who entered one print and received the second place trophy for an Illustrative image, and my friend Dianna Walker who won first place. I was so proud of them!!!! I gave them huge hugs..
Then, I have had session after session, a couple of personal things that got me distracted and another wedding to shoot. I am finally back in the office for a few days. I am on vacation this weekend, then I leave for Fort Worth to speak to their Professional Photographer’s Association, then I come back and then I go to Kerrville for the Texas State Annual Print Competition, then I go to Iowa to photograph the Bridges of Madison county and then, I am flying to Chicago to photograph one of my favorite couples, Esosa and Marcus for their anniversary. Nathan and I photographed their engagement last year, her bridal and her two days of wedding (Nigerian and traditional european ceremonies). You can probably find them in a previous blog.
Talk to you all soon and I know that I have a lot of photos to post and I will do so very soon!!!
We did a fashion shoot for publication and then we did some sexy photos for them as well. Montana was a riot! she kept me laughing the whole day and I just kept thinking how absolutely beautiful she was. Montana is out there and fun and she really is the life of the party. TJ was very laid back and fun to work with. We cracked up a lot. It was nice to have them come into the studio for their fashion shoot and personal session.
I do want to give a shout out to my neighbor, Mike, who loaned us his plane to do part of the fashion shoot-that was super nice of him to do ! I wish I could show you the photos but I cannot yet. I also want to give a shout out to Chuck, the owner of Keepers in Austin-as he provided all of TJ’s clothing. There was some really nice stuff and I really coveted the Versace and Jhane Barnes suit that he wore in one of the formal shots…mmm….Versace. I would have loved to keep those and give them to my husband Also, a shout out to The Garden room for providing all of Montana’s clothing for their shoot as well!
Anyway, these photos are not with the clothes I mentioned since those are for magazine publication but, here are a couple of the shots from their sexy session and that I have permision to release on my blog… enjoy!
I was invited as the speaker to the San Antonio Professional Photographers Association Wednesday and I had so much fun! I presented “The Art of Fashion”. I did a long program with a live shoot and showed folks how to do some basic lighting techniques that I have done in my studio.. I like doing that sometimes because it is great to meet other photographers in another town and we all have photography in common.
I was so blessed that people seem to really like my work because I was told that they have not had that many people turn out at a meeting ! In fact, so many people showed up last minute withouth RSVPing that they actually had to add another table and they ran out of food. Thank you to all the folks that actually came out to hear my speak. I will be presenting this program in Oklahoma City on May 10th and in Tulsa on May 11th-I am looking forward to that too. I will be in Forth Worth in June and Lubbock in September..
I showed a couple of lighting styles, here is an example of my clamshell lighting-with strobe (although I did a clamshell withouth strobe). Now… the projector did not do these photos justice but, check it out.. all the detail is there and I just love it. This was shot in the hotel conference center.
Again, to all the photographers that came in from all over the place to see me speak, thank you so much-it means a lot to me
This week has been a good week. I had a great time teaching my studio lighting class on Sunday and Monday was the Monthly Austin Professional Photographer’s Association. I am excited to win first place this week but not like my other wins.. why?
As a photographer, we all have a style that we are known for and we should be able to be versatile enough to do other styles when called upon. This week I decided to throw something in that no one would know was mine just by looking at it. That happened this time. I put in a piece that was more traditional in portraiture and.. a dog! I didn’t have one person that walked up to me to tell me that they liked my piece and pointed it out. I had several people who actually asked me if I entered before the results were announced mission accomplished.
I am particularly pleased with this because when this puppy was brought into my studio, I had a vision. I was going to get a competition print out of one of her portraits. It took a while to get it because puppies (and this one is 8 weeks old in this photo) are not easy to photograph. I needed her expression to be perfect, I needed her stance to be perfect, I wanted her litttle wrinkles to show and I needed the lighting to be spot on.
Anyway, here is the actual photograph of little Emma (soon to be really huge Emma).. did i mention she should grow into a 230 pound Great Dane?? Holy cow!!
Have you ever been in a restuarant, or on a boardwalk, or some place and watched people? I do and I love it when I see “love”. No matter the ethnicity, No matter the age, No matter economic status…people who are in love always look good. I might be on to something here… Anyway, one of the reasons why I love to photograph engagement sessions or weddings is because I get to see people in love all the time. I think it is uplifting…
Anyway, congratulations to Kendall and Michael as they are getting married at the end of May and we just completed their engagement session and I had such a great time. They are so much fun and we laughed the whole time-EXCEPT for the moment when we saw a HUGE, TEXAN TARANTULA. There is a potential that I may have screamed like a 5 year old girl..I am admitting to nothing. I just was not expecting it, that’s all. oops.
Hello to all the photographers that faithfully read my blog and to any new photographer that is reading for the first time. There are no photos in this blog and there is no lesson on lighting or posing or anything like that. This is a little different.
As artists, we are our worst critics. Not that I don’t like my work or think that it is okay, I have been feeling a little in a slump the last couple of weeks. Why? Well, I get comfortable and I do what I do. I do it well and am happy with the results but there is something else…something from deep inside that says “hmm….you need to do something else”. WHAT?? What the heck am I supposed to do? Well…I thought about it and decided to go “back to my roots” in photography. When I was a kid and there were things that were cool back then and I would just photograph for fun because I could. When I was young, I had an affinity for dead trees and weird architecture and then whatever else just showed up on the path.
Okay, so I am not 8 years old anymore and so getting back to that, not easy. But I did it. I went out and photographed random things from weird angles, didn’t think too much, just photographed stuff that I thought was cool. I didn’t photograph stuff that I thought would win a competition, I didn’t photograph stuff that I thought would sell a print. I just photographed. You know what…after about an hour, I started really getting into it and then…BAM! my mind went nuts and I started clicking like there was no tomorrow. I was having fun doing something for no prupose. Then came my inspiration-it showed up-unexpectedly. wow, that was a cool feeling. Next thing you know I have a photo and I am in love with it, I start working on it, more and more and more and then… I ended up with my next competition print for Texas State in a couple of months. I am so excited.
So, the point of this blog is.. we are all artists and we all go through an artistic block sometimes. Why? Well, the older we get, the more comfortable we get, there are more rules, there are other talented photographers out there that do something different than you and you wonder about your work, we are harder on ourselves due to bizarre and sometimes unrealistic expectations…whatever. I challenge you to ”forget about it all, go back to when you first picked up a camera and photographed for pure joy. Go out there with no expectations and just photograph stuff for two hours or more and just photograph because you can”
If you end up taking this challenge, come back and write me a note in the comment section..let me know how it went for you
Hello avid readers and newcomers. I hope you are having a fabulous day. My blog today is about kids. Talented kids. I am fascinated by how talented kids are these days. I know my parents used to say..”this new generation is so smart, not like when I was a kid”. I used to think to mysef “why are my parents so weird and duh…of course we’re smart”. ha ha. So, this last week, I have had 4 child actors come in for their headshots and I talked to them and the youngest was 6.5 years old and I thought to myself “this new generation is so impressive, not like when I was a kid” HA HA HA HA HA. I am sooooo my parents and their friends. When did that happen? eek.
I know I have a lot of agents that read my blog so, I thought…why not blog about these kids and get their faces out there? So, if you are an acting agent and you are interested in any of these kids…let me know and I can pass your information on to the parents.
Number 1: Hayden, age: 6.5. Hilarious. Hayden was just in his first movie within that last month or so and he is so funny. It was so impressive how he took direction. He listened, interpreted what I asked him to do and then-BAM, he did it. Amazing. At 6.5, not sure if I would have done what I was told. ha ha, I may have been a little hardheaded back then (as my husband is in the backgound thinking…”back then?” ) When I met Hayden, I said ” Hi Hayden, I’m Maria” and he smiled really big and with as much happiness as he could, his reply was ” look, I lost my teeth” . I guess he really wanted me to know about the teeth and how excited he was about losing them. that is so funny.
Number 2: Ilaria. Age 10. Okay, I have to tell you that listening to her speak was AWESOME. That little girl was amazing. She walked in and she says “I really love your studio, I think it is lovely”. Really? Lovely? I love that word. Then, she sees some of my wardrobe and she tells me about how she “loves antiques” and she saw that I had the hardback book for TWILIGHT: New Moon in my smakeup room and proceeds to tell me that she read the whole thing in two weeks. SHE.IS.TEN. I haven’t even gotten past page 1 yet. Ha ha, lucky if I read the articles in People Magazine. Anyway, that is one thick book. and she finished it in two weeks. She was so well spoken and I was just so impressed with her
Number 3: Aly. Age 12. Already has a list of plays that she has been in. Would love to do some catalog modeling too. So impressive. She has had headshots before but never catalog-style shots and more modeling. I was so excited when I told her “sell me that shirt you are wearing” and she did. She pulled out glee and happiness like no other, she pulled out several emotions and I was super impressed with that. She had good posing, few tweaks were needed. Seriously, at 12, I could not believe how well she pulled out emotions on her own.
Number 4: Lindsey. Age 17. What a sweet girl. Already been in tons of plays, very well read, very well spoken, great disposition. Loved her!! The awesome thing about Miss Lindsey is that she has no idea how cute she really is. When she saw her photo, she said “is that me?” Uh.yah. Had great conversations with her and had such a good time photographing her, I look forward to seeing her on Broadway one day. Sings, acts…wow.
Anyway…meeting all these kids with these talents was awesome. The parents are all equally awesome because they are so supportive of their kids being in the arts. My parents were very supportive of me doing things in the arts too because they thought it would better me as I got older. Well, I don’t know about that but I do know that being in the arts as a kid really helped me see things differently. I wish success for all these kids.
I had a great time with that group. They were so inviting and they treated me really well. The next day I went to Tulsa as the May keynote speaker to the 
