My Favorite Images of 2017

Every year this is one of the hardest things for me to do. I agonize over this task because I love so many of the photos I've gotten to take over the course of the year. And this year was no exception. The first cut of this group was over 60 photos, and I agonized over removing each photo to try to get down to 10. And I (finally) did! And then I found one more that I just couldn't cut. So yes - I can actually count to 10. I just couldn't cut any more. Click through the photos for descriptions of each. And thank you so much for to joy and honor of allowing me to create these images in 2017. I'm looking forward to a 2018 full of memories and even more images to share!

This was a shot shot early in the summer of Madison, a Brenham High School cheerleader. Her cheer portraits were awesome, but it's this shot that I just love. I don't know whether it's the frozen motion or the troll hair or the silhouette, but I think it's fun.

This amazing sunrise was shot in Cancun, Mexico in April on the morning of Katie and Johnny's destination wedding. It was the perfect beginning to an amazing day - a day that was supposed to be rainy and ugly but that turned out gorgeous!

This is one of my absolute favorite shoots of the year. This was from Kayci's 14-year-old portrait session. She has a quirky, elegant style that is just beautiful. It was a tough choice between this shot or the one where she's holding a painted turquise pineapple. But those eyes...

We shot Katie's bridal portraits on an overcast day at the Zilker Arboretum in Austin, and I think the weather added a beautiful, elegant moodiness to her photos. She was such a beautiful bride!

This photo, shot in late January in West Texas, was one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen. But it literally only lasted for a minute. Almost as soon as the sun crested above the horizon a thick layer of clouds rolled in and the day turned cloudy and gray. I was glad to have been there to witness this brief burst of color.

This photo was shot in March at Brenham Crossfit. I didn't know it when I shot this, but this man was in the midst of training to compete in a Crossfit competition. He worked out so hard that he just laid on the floor while he regained the strength to get up.

Hannah knew exactly where she wanted to shoot her senior portrait - in front of her favorite mural in Houston. I absolutely love the color of this photo and her decision to wear her prom dress in front of the wall. It has an elegant and very sweet feel that I just love.

Alex and Laurie just got married in December and I haven't shared these yet because of my sabbatical. But their engagement photos are some of my favorite ever. This image was shot at thre Veritas Wine Bar in College Station. I just love the elegance of this image, from the color of the wall behind them to the reflections of the bar top. I'm looking forward to sharing more form this session soon!

This image was shot in Durham, North Carolina in March. This little guy was hesitant to have his picture taken. But most 7-year-old boys love to jump and play, so I got him to do just that. I simply love the action in this photo and the joy on his face as he launches himself into the air.

This image was shot in Carborro, North Carolina in March. My favorite part of this image was that just as I pushed the shutter a burst of wind came along and sent his bowtie flying sideways - a perfect addition to the shot that I couldn't have planned.

This is the shot I just couldn't leave out. It was shot in April near Canton, Texas, Several strong tornadoes ripped through the countryside, leaving paths of destruction in their wake. This is a country homestead that was destroyed and all the leaves stripped from the trees, leaving a dead and otherworldly-looking scene behind. I was stuck that among the bent-ver fences and tangles of barbed wire and debris that an old tractor sat in the field, undisturbed. Smoke in the air from burn piles nearby gave a hazy glow to the sunset, and even though seeing such distruction breaks my heart I still find the contrast of dark brokenness and the light of hope beautiful.

Christian S. {maternity}

Almost five years ago I was just starting out as a professional photographer when Christian asked me to take her maternity portraits - some of which are still among my all-time favorite photos. So I was thrilled when she asked me to do another round of maternity photos for her second baby!

Christian brought patience and flexibility to a whole new level on this shoot, too! You can't tell (except maybe for the ice on the ground in some of the shots), but it was 23 degrees at Independence, Texas when these photos were made. That's pretty cold for Texas, folks! But this gorgeous mom-to-be ROCKED it and I'm so happy to share some of my favorite shots.

Thank you yet again, Christian, for trusting me with these important times of your life. I hope these photos are a reminder of this time for years and years to come!

Amber & Reagan {married}

Amber and Reagan's wedding was amazing from start to finish. What started out as a bitterly cold day turned into one of the most gorgeous Texas spring days you've ever seen. You might say their day was blessed - and why not? Reagan and Amber come from two of the most awesome, Christ-centered families I've ever had the honor to know - and that was certainly evident throughout the day with so much prayer and laughter and joy.

I'm excited to be able to share the trailer for Amber and Reagan's wedding. Thank you, Taylor and Cameron families, for allowing my team all-access to capture this incredibly special day.

Music licensed by The Music Bed
Second shooter: Matt Parker
Flowers by Moosefeathers

Claire D {senior}

'm very excited to share these portraits of this stunningly beautiful senior! Claire was awesome to work with. We photographed her portraits on an early-summer evening recently when the bugs made things a bit difficult (I swallowed a love bug during this session!) But Claire endured it all and totally rocked it! When she smiled she just seems to shine from the inside out, and I think you can see it in these photos. But she also wanted kind of a "modely look" (my words, not hers), so we took a bunch where she wasn't smiling at all.

Thank you, Claire, for allowing me the honor of capturing this important time in your life. I wish you all the best in the future!

Lauren & Tyler {married}

A few weeks ago I posted Lauren and Tyler's wedding photos and I've been chomping at the bit to post this, their wedding video trailer. I knew as soon as I started looking at the footage the day after the wedding that this was going to be an awesome video.

Last spring we spend a beautiful morning on the campus of Texas A&M University shooting their engagement photos and some video. Then last fall they were married at a gorgeous small country church in Ellinger, Texas.

Some awesome wedding day camera work in here by my pal Matt Parker.

Thank you once again, Lauren and Tyler, for allowing me and my team to capture this very special time in your lives.

First Light on the Giddings Stone Mansion

My Favorite Images of 2015

I am extraordinarily blessed to LOVE what I do for a living. 2015 was such a great, full year for me. It was a growing year and a year of trying new styles and techniques and getting out of my comfort zone a little. But it was a fun year.

This list simultaneously is my favorite and my most hated post of the year. I love going back through the year and reliving so many great memories with so many amazing people. But I have the absolute WORST time narrowing down this list to the top 10 images. The first cut was more than 30 images and I slowly, gradually, methodically whittled the list down to these.

I still didn't get it down to ten. It killed me to have to cut so many photos that I absolutely love.

So here they are, along with a brief note about each. I hope you enjoy these images as much as I did creating and sharing them!

Thank you so much for allowing me to do what I do. Here's to a great 2016...

It just doesn't get much cuter than this shot of these sisters hugging and playing. I love this shot.

In October I had the opportunity to hike around Big Bend with one of my favorite landscape photographers, Laurence Parent. The week before, hurricane Patricia has come through and dropped a lot of rain on the park, which led to the sagebrush and ocotillo plants being in bloom while we were there. This a part of the Chisos Mountains with sagebrush in bloom in the foreground.

I had a lot of fun doing more real estate photography in 2015. This shot is one of my favorites. It's a rustic fire pit outside a log barn that was built in the 1800s in upstate New York and moved to Texas.

Photographing seniors is so much fun - there's such a feeling of capturing their energy and potential in the frame. I had the great opportunity to photograph Adam this spring. Adam is a very talented musician and just a great guy. He didn't need a lot of direction - I just basically put him in a field and said "okay - be yourself."

This summer my family and I traveled with some friends to the Frio River in Central Texas. While we were there we went to a bat cave where we got to watch 10 million bats (the second largest population in the world) leave the cave in search of food. It was an experience I'll never forget. I love the moodiness of this shot and the bat shapes silhouetted against the sky.

One of the many weddings I photographed this year was of Adrienne and Rodney. This shot was form their engagement session in the spring. I love the intimate setting in the grove of trees, but more than anything, I love that he's whispering to her and the look on her face. They were so great to get to know this year!

This image was shot in April outside of Austin. The sun was setting behind the mesquite trees, giving the leaves the appearance of glowing. Add to that one of the best fields of bluebonnets I saw this year and you have a shot that screams "Texas!"

One of the seniors I photographed this year was Blake, a baseball player who plans on playing at the University of Texas.  You can just feel his potential in this image.

This summer on vacation I travelled to the panhandle and Palo Duro Canyon - the second largest canyon in the United States. It was a gorgeous, sunny day with beautiful puffy John Ford clouds. I love the contrast of the browns, reds and greens agains the light blue sky in this shot.

I was in Abilene this spring when a series of heavy storms and tornadoes rolled through the area. This is an interesting shot of the moon and a storm front approaching with some great clouds and lightning.

This image from Big Bend shows the Rio Grande winding through a wooded canyon as the full moon rises above the Sierra del Carmen mountains/

The Davies were one of many families I had the great pleasure of photographing this year. They are great people and I love the perspective of this shot.

Photographing these boys took a bit of coercion. One of them didn't want to have his photo taken, but a bribe went a long way. What we ended up getting out of this mini-session were some of my favorite kid portraits of the year. 

Lauren was such a beautiful bride. She wanted her bridal portraits to be elegant, but rain made us cancel at our original location. So we moved inside to the Ant Street Inn in Brenham and captured some gorgeous light in an elegant setting.

One of my favorite projects this year was the Step Into the Past film series for Main Street Brenham. This is a photo of "Trailboss" Troy Arndt portraying Texas hero "Bigfoot Wallace." The light on that August evening was just perfect.

This year was also sadly moving as a friend and client lost his battle to PTSD. I was asked by his family to photograph his homecoming as his casket arrived and was removed from the plane on the tarmac at Hobby Airport in Houston. This was one of the only times I've ever cried while shooting photos.

I stopped in Albany, Texas in the spring to photograph the courthouse and happened to see this old restored Sinclair station behind me in the shadows. So I light painted it.

Adrienne and Rodney were married in a gorgeous outdoor ceremony at the Royalty Pecan Plantation in Caldwell. Following the ceremony, we ventured into the  plantation grounds for some portraits. I just love how joyful they are here as newlyweds of less than an hour.

This summer I ventured into the middle of the Frio River to get this shot of crystal clear running water at sunset. Yes- there are places like this in Texas!

This family's session yielded some great photos, but my favorite was this whimsical shot of a little Texas girl turning cartwheels in the middle of a field. 

I had a lot of fun getting to know this great couple this year. Lauren and Tyler were married in the fall, but earlier in the spring we shot their engagement portraits in and around the campus of Texas A&M, where the met. This is my favorite shot from that session. You can just feel the love.