Having shot DJ’s sister Amoni’s wedding to Toju about 3 years ago, when Obi and DJ walked in, it was pretty much a done deal. They basically just wanted to confirm I was available on their date and to sign their contract. I love shooting client’s family members because they’ve already met me, seen my work and as an added bonus, there’ll be a previous client at the wedding – always fun! And fun it was – I got invited to an excellent party the night before, and the entire reception was a blast – the inimitable Julius Agwu was the MC and he was hilarious! At one point, he made almost everyone on the high table kiss, which was veeery interesting. Oh, and see if you can spot my next clients in the crowd

Just a quick note – the groom asked me to point out that just when he saw his lovely bride for the first time, a bug flew into his eye, right at that moment. Also the church roof was leaking right where he was standing, hence the water that looks like a tear rolling down his cheek. It’s true. I was there. He really wasn’t crying.

I’ve just had a prospective client ask to see 5 of my favorite images. I generally post some of my favorite work on the front page slideshow or on this blog, so if I were to pick out 5, they would be images he’s already seen – so I decided to go with 5 of my favorite images from my last wedding. I think I’l narrate them a bit, and also I might do this on a regular basis. It’s a pretty interesting idea.

It’s always an interesting challenge to creatively shoot the bride’s dress and shoes – there are so many parameters and so much going on during the getting ready – there’s makeup flying around, bridesmaids and maids of honor getting things done and of course the bride. It’s always fun to find a nice quiet moment to shoot the details. This was shot outside the bride’s hotel room, while I was waiting for her to get halfway into the dress. On the right, sometimes a great image (in my opinion) is not defined by how much is lighting the scene, but sometimes areas of dark as well. This was shot by lovely, soft window light and a little kiss of light from inside the room.
  
I love images that hold emotion. It’s important to stay attuned to the events of the day as they unfold – in this image, the coordinator tries to help the bridesmaid (the groom’s sister) as she reads a poem written for the bride by the groom. It was beautiful. In the background, the makeup artist holds the emotional bride’s hand as she applies finishing touches.

It’s important that images tell a story. Each image is a building block of the story of the day. In this frame, the groom’s other sister waits for the right moment to present the bride with a little gift from Tiffany’s from the groom. It’s all about the anticipation. On the right, the couple is bathed with light from a single spotlight in the reception hall. It’s always lovely to see the connection between the couple. There’s nobody in the world but the two of them at that moment.

This past weekend, I participated in a lovely small bridal show at the Hilton Americas in Downtown Houston. It was a really great experience, and it was so much fun to show my work and meet so many brides! I got lots of great positive feedback, and it was so worth the behind the scenes work of getting everything ready really early in the morning! Thanks to all who come to say hi at my booth! It was really nice to meet and speak with everyone. I was really excited to get to show off lots of the things I’ve been working so hard on. I took photo guest books, of course flush mount albums, my matted image portfolios, my stunning Vision Art books, canvas prints and lots of other great samples! One of the funniest things that happened was there were two brides in front of me at the same time who had the same date – I tried to start a bidding war!

I’m so so so excited right now! A couple of months ago, I decided to experiment with album cover materials, and I went to a few unorthodox places and ordered different materials – a plastics company, a glasscutter and a couple of others – and I had my favorite album company – Albums Innova – help to bind them into covers for my new sample books. The results completely blew me (and everyone who has seen them) away! Well, as I type this, B&G – whose wedding I shot a couple of months ago, are on their way into Houston from Dallas for the weekend and they’re stopping by. They have no idea I’ve made this kickass sample with images from their wedding, and I can’t wait to show them! They’re also my first clients to let me pick the images for their album and run with the design, which is the model I’m working towards using from now on. Check out a few images of this new sample book!

My dear, dear friends B & G got hitched recently, and it was amazing! Coordinated by the incredible Vivian from The Event House, who also happened to be the brides sister! It was a really beautiful event, and since I’m so close to the bride and groom – hey their initials are B & G just like bride and groom! I just noticed that! – I got a little emotional. It was such a beautiful event.

The day started off early, lots of great images at the groom’s house (had LOTS of fun with them), then the bride’s house and pretty soon we were at the church. The bride’s dress was incredible, and she had on stunning pink shoes.

I bumped into 4 brides whose weddings I had shot, 2 sets of parents from previous weddings and a couple of bridesmaids – it was so much fun!

The reception was great fun, and the couple danced as a friend sang “At Last” by Etta James – that’s a really special song to me as well. I was all excited because since Vivian is a very accomplished wedding coordinator, she picked me to shoot her sister’s wedding. Thanks V!

Ja’Nee and Sebastian’s wedding was a blast – the groomsmen, in particular were completely off the hook. I was assisted by the magnificent @deji_01, and together we came back with some pretty awesome images. The wedding was coordinated by Willie Childs, who was also the florist. It went off without a hitch. Check out the image of the bride at the altar with her jaw completely dropped – Sneaky Sebastian switched rings on her, and she got a much bigger rock than she thought she was getting. It was a pretty cool surprise

I arrived at Dolly & Red’s venue a couple of hours before the ceremony was to begin, and I freaked out because there was nobody there at all. A couple of phone calls later, and a small trickle of early guests, and we were let into the venue. It turned out to be a really nice ceremony, with a mariachi band!! as well as the live band from Sambuca. They were fantastic. The bride and the groom were so much fun, and they were completely surrounded by loving family – the groom has  5 brothers and 6 sisters, and both the bride and groom had their children there – it seemed like everyone there was either family or loved like family. The band soon turned the reception into a hardcore party, and the groom’s dad danced all night as all his daughters, and lots of the other guests wanted to dance with him. Trust me, I wouldn’t have left if the band hadn’t stopped playing Anyway, check out the images!

I hadn’t shot at this church before, so I went and checked it out the day before the ceremony. Since the church holds up to 16,000 people I was wondering what it would look like with 200 guests in it. Fortunately, they hold ceremonies in a purpose-built chapel on one of the upper floors. It’s actually quite nice. The wedding was awesome, and I got to work with some of my favorite vendors – Niles Dillard of Superior Video handled the video, Chioma Nwogu of Dure Events coordinated wonderfully, the amazing cake came from Who Made The Cake, and the invitations were designed by the magnificent Vivian at The Event House.

Trivia: The reception was the highest one I’ve done so far – on the 49th floor of One Shell Plaza in Downtown Houston. Cool!

Some of you may recognize Angie from the pictures – she’s assisted me at a few weddings, our kids have played together, and now it’s time for her to be on the other side! It was a really fun wedding, it was great to meet her husband Patrick for the first time, as he lives in Oklahoma City. Unfortunately (for me), after the wedding, she’s moving out there to be with him. If it was anyone else moving, I would say great! – less traffic in Houston, but Mrs. Angelia Wilson will be missed.
Patrick and Angie had the DJ play a Michael Jackson tribute – it was awesome, but a little hard to focus on shooting. I’m pretty sure I busted a move in there a couple of times Everyone had a fantastic time, even the ceremony was standing room only, and yes – that IS a prom picture of the happy couple, 20 or so years ago!