Posts Tagged ‘Texas’

Good times with Chad and Emily

August 24th, 2010

Chad and Emily. they reminded me a little of my husband and I. She is so vivacious and full of life. Chad is a little quieter with a great sense of humor. What a great match they make. They are truly a great couple to know.

Chad and Emily wanted some outdoor, more rustic shots, interesting colors and textures. As a photographer, one scratches their head and comes up with a plan. We did that. We drove about 30 minutes outside of town and it was so much fun.  I always enjoy the little road trips that I take with my couples, we have a great time in the car. We joked and laughed-laughed a lot.  Talked about their upcoming wedding and all sorts of subjects… 

Unfortunately I will not cover their wedding day because I was already booked but they were still able to get us by having Nathan cover their wedding. I will do their engagement, her bridal and their “after the wedding session”. Nathan was there assisting for the engagement session in order to get to know them better and the second shot below is a candid shot that he took while they were posing for me. I can’t remember what we were all laughing about but what a great capture.   I went through and gave it a beautiful antiqued finish and I love the photo.

They are getting married in October at Casa Blanca and it will be a beautiful day because they are truly beautiful people. Emily and Chad, thank you for a lovely experience.

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Congratulations to Caitlin and John

August 13th, 2010

Hi everyone.  It has been a long time since the last time that I wrote. I have been so busy and I have been gone again.  This week, I was fortunate to be asked to speak in San Diego at the Professional Photographers Association there. It was so much fun!  I got a chance to see one of my best friends, William Bay (photographer in San Diego) and got a chance to go ocean kayaking in La Jolla and had the best time!  After that, I got a chance to come to San Francisco (which is where I am as I type this blog) to photograph an engagement session for John and Caitlin.

John and Caitlin met me in Austin and that is where they will be getting married next year. The location for their wedding is at Villa Antonia.   They are two of the most fun people I have ever met. I truly enjoy them so much!!!   Seriously, they are hilarious.  They decided to do their engagement session in San Francisco so they brought me here.  I told them I would be in California for the PPSDC and told them that it would be cool to do their engagements in the same week and they took me up on it. 

San Francisco is one of my most favorite cities in the world, I have been coming here off and on over the last 15 years and I truly love it here. I got a chance to eat at one of my favorite restaurants in the world:  North Beach Restaurant. I have eaten there everytime i have come through.  The owner, Lorenzo still comes in every day like he has for40 years. I have had the same waiter over the last 15 years and he always kisses me on the cheek when I come, this year was no different.  If you are ever in San Francisco, go there, you will not be disappointed. Great Italian food, great ambiance, great service…

Oh yah, so this is a blog about Caitlin and John right? Yes it is. So, what did we do?   Well, we went out to a vista point to see the Golden Gate Bridge…the fog rolled in much much earlier than expected so we only could see the base of the bridge but, we got our shot.  Then, we went ove r to Treasure Island and we got some photos of the water, the bay bridge and the San Francisco city skyline. After that, we went downtown and did a few shots there and then we ended our photo session in Chinatown.  It was so fun!  We laughed the whole day and evening!!! Caitlin and John are hilarious and we all share the same type of humor. we certainly ran into situations where we needed some humor (Caitlin and John, if you are reading this…downtown was very interesting. I live in Austin and…)  Yes, folks that was an inside joke. :)

I can’t wait to photograph Caitlin in her wedding dress and I can’t wait to photograph the two of them again on their wedding day!  Thanks John and Caitlin for choosing me becuase I could not have imagined a better couple to hang out with in San Francisco for the day!  Here a few photos. 

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Congratulations to Lauren and Ryan

July 18th, 2010

I am blogging about Lauren and Ryan today. Lauren and Ryan were married yesterday, July 17th at One World Theatre.  This was my first time photographing at One World Theatre, I really really liked it.  Here are a couple of photos of the location.

 I met Laruen’s mom and dad at J’me and Michael’s wedding in June of 2009 and at the end of that wedding, Lauren’s mom, Michelle, informed me that they would be “honored to have me photograph their daughter’s wedding”.  That statement stuck with me a long time-still does. Anyway, Michelle has become one of those ladies that have touched my soul and I am so thrilled that I was the one chosen to photograph her daughter’s wedding!

So… anyway, Lauren and Ryan are awesome kids. I really enjoyed working with them!  They are so sweet and so fun and I was so excited to be there on their special day.  My favorite two favorite moments were the first time that Humberto, Lauren’s dad, saw his daughter in her dress and  the moment we unveiled her bridal portrait to everyone.  Unveiled? Yes. I did a digital oil painting of her bridal and so we decided to do an unveiling like artists would do in the olden days. We kept a sheet over the portrait, an announcement was made and everyone stood around the portrait and we unveiled it. WOW to see the look of Ryan, her dad, and everyone else’s face when they saw it was priceless. Her grandmother went over the painting and stood there for what seemed an eternity and cried. She was so happy for her granddaughter and that touched me.  I have a special place in my heart for grandparents, I always wanted grandparents but they passed away when by the time I was 5 years old. I secretly adopt any grandparent that I meet :)

Anyway.. enjoy a few photos from the wedding

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I love “love”

April 9th, 2010

SPRINGTIME. FLOWERS.LOVE. Can it get any better?

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.

Here are a few moments in their day with me.

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Personal Blog: Maria takes home trophies from Annual Texas Regional PPA print competition!

June 17th, 2009

I AM SO EXCITED, here is why:

Over the last four days, the Texas Professional Photographers Association has been holding their annual seminar and print competition. I didn’t get to go to it because I could not get away from the studio for that many days during prime wedding season.    I have never entered any of my prints to this annual competition but I am in Texas and I am a member of the PPA and the TPPA and why not enter? So.. off my prints went without me on Saturday morning.

Yesterday, I am on the freeway driving home from having lunch with my buddy John when I get a text from a “a little birdie” and it says to me.. “you might want to come to the dinner tonight in Kerrville (TX)”. That was the text.  Just so you know, Kerrville is a 2.5 hour drive from me and I was thinking. “wow that’s far considering I was not prepared to go spend the night elsewhere tonight and then…I thought to myself–>holy cow, I look like hell!”. I texted back and said…”why?” I got nothing back. So I texted back again and said I would re-arrange my schedule and I would go ahead and come and the reply was ”good.”.  Really helpful :) I dropped everything I was doing and going to do and drove down to Kerrville, Texas. I want everyone to know that before I left,  Maris Malone Calderon airbrushed my face!  Thank you Maris,I needed it-my makeup was so pretty! I love it when someone else puts makeup up my face!!!

So, anyway. I am so excited because I took away a ribbon for “DISTINGUISHED PRINT AWARD” and  a trophy for “BEST ENTRY” in the first time entrants category and a trophy for “BEST WEDDING ALBUM”. I am so excited. Oh yah and I merited on prints as well but, not as big of a deal as to win trophies.

For the professional photographers that are reading this blog, BWC printed my print case and I walked away with several merits so I am so excited because they did a great job printing my competition prints.

Next on the map for me is the SOUTHWEST conference (several states compete in that one) and then the final one is international print competition so..wish me luck!

If you want to see the wedding album that won , click here

Here is the image that I won with last night. This won the distinguished print award I was mentioning and also the Trophy for Best Image in the fist time entrants category.

Distinguished Print Award

 

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Congratulations Ginny and Santiago!

April 7th, 2009

Well, this is my first blog. I guess this is a good one to start with .

Have you ever met folks and thought to yourself…”I hope I know them for a long time?”.  It turns out that I feel that way about all my brides and grooms and their  families.  Here is another prime example: Ginny and Santiago.  They just got married and I had a blast photographing them this weekend. Their wedding was held in Smithville, Texas. Okay… I want you all to know that Smithville is a REALLY CHARMING town.  I had a blast photographing on those streets; here is a photo of the girls hanging out downtown.  The ceremony was held in this itty bitty little church and it could not have been any more perfect-apparently, Ginny’s family has been attending this church for over 80 years. The reception was at the Hyatt Lost Pines and it the ballroom was gorgeous, well done Hyatt!

Ginny and Santiago Wedding smithville Texas

Being a fashion and details fan, let’s talk about the bridal clothes!  I loved the dress, it was an asymetrical cut and it was awesome on her.  Her veil…of course custom made by my favorite veil maker in the world, Dorene from  unveiled bridal designs- I do have a soft spot for birdcage veils. The flowers…Brenda Abbott, need I say more?

Anyway… Ginny and Santiago were so much fun to hang out and laugh with. I truly enjoyed every moment of the wedding ! Congratulations Ginny and Santiago!!!!!

Ginny and Santiago wedding in Smithville, Texas

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