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Revital contacted me through my website's calendar date-booking feature to book her wedding with David, which was just a few weeks away at the time. Fortunately I had the date open, and I'm glad I did- I had such a blast working with these two. They were really laid back and literally up for anything. They even had some great ideas of their own. I love when clients suggest stuff because that makes the shoot all the more interesting and different than any other session. They can look back at the photos and say "That's my shot..."
David and Revi also opted to do a pre-ceremony shoot, which is just the best thing you can do, in my opinion. Many people are skeptical about seeing each other before the bride walks down the aisle, some due to tradition, others due to superstition, and still others due to personal preference. If this is your final decision, it's all good. But consider a few things if you will...
Spending some time alone before the ceremony allows you to really appreciate what is about to happen. I've spoken with many brides who say their wedding day was just a blur. Spending time together before the ceremony, you can really soak in the significance of this special day before all the distractions happen. Before all the guests arrive and before all eyes are on you.
Couples who see each other before the hectic ceremony are able to calm down and relax, allowing you to really take in the details during the ceremony- seeing friends and family gathered to celebrate one of the most important days of your life.
I really appreciate when couples choose to do this because it makes for better photos since it's early in the day and nobody has gotten tired or began to 'glisten' yet :o)
Not only that, things go smoother since time is already allotted for photos and there's not as much rushing as there would be after the ceremony and before the reception. It also frees up family and friends to mingle and talk and catch up after the ceremony, instead of rushing everyone out to get group shots done.
But whether you choose to see each other before the ceremony or not is totally fine. Just consider the benefits of a pre-ceremony photo session before that day flies by faster than the speed of life. Yes, I said life. Moves fast, doesn't it?
Several times per day for the whole week leading up to the wedding I was checking The Weather Channel app on my iPhone hoping to see some improvement. One day it projected sunny skies with a high of 68°, other times it showed rain and a high of 55°. But in the end it worked out fine, with the exception of wet grounds. The overcast sky is a photographers best friend, as it makes the largest softbox known to man, and you don't even have to have an assistant hold the stand for you!
We started at the Downtown Aquarium. It's a great place for photos, and the staff is really nice. It seems that walking around with a man and woman in wedding apparel will get you things the general public only dream about. More on that below.
This next photo is trying out some use of Textures. I think I like it. Makes a nice vintage-weathered photo look...
So walking through The Aquarium, everyone stopped and stared, pointed and smiled. They had a dance floor with a DJ entertaining the crowd, so David and Revi paused for a brief dance...
The crowd went wild...
The staff was so cool- they let us on the Carousel without having to stand in line for a ticket. They would have let us on the Ferris wheel, but we didn't have time :o(
After the Aquarium, we were on our way to a local park that David had scouted the day before. He's a recon specialist in the army, so he knows a thing or two about scouting...
At the park...
They wanted a fun, urban feel to their photos, so we opted to find some places around Downtown Houston that would work. Since that's where the ceremony was going to take place, it worked out well given the time constraints that come with any wedding day. David pretty much planned the whole photo route, and it went like clockwork. Nice job, David. Made my job a LOT easier.
As you may have noticed from the title, this is only part 1 of the post. I had so many favorites that one Blog post couldn't contain it. Once again I will have managed to break my own record for number of photos posted at one time. And this is only a portion of the great shots on that day.
To be continued...
It's a really cool story how David and Revital met. It begins overseas, in the historic land of Israel...In fact, I'll just let David tell the story:
"I went to Israel on a work trip. My buddies and I were running on the beach and he went to talk to a hottie sun tanning on the beach. She invited us to Haifa University and the second I walked in I noticed Revital dancing- she blew me away. She was beautiful, sexy and an amazing dancer.
I didn't have the nerve to go talk to her. We bumped heads at the end of the night and danced together. She gave me her number and invited me to the infected mushroom concert. So I go to the concert the next day, I didnt have a cell phone so I was asking random girls to borrow their cell phones to call Revi. I tried calling like twenty times and my buddies were looking at me like I was a dumb-(@*#), telling me "look around dude there are tons of women here!"
I remember them talking but truthfuly it went in one ear and out the other. So once I got to about 30 calls she finally anwsered and we hooked up. She introduced me to all her friends and to top everything off, she was trying to pawn me off on one of her friends! But I was persistent and the rest is history.......Call it love at first sight......She still wows me to this day!"
Is that a cool story or what? Thanks David, for writing that down for me. A little background adds a ton of insight to the photos.
I broke this shoot up into two posts, the first one was from the pre-ceremony session, and now it's time for the ceremonial part of the day. This wedding was unlike any I had been to before. It was a Jewish ceremony, which has several significant events that have to take place before two people are married.
We begin with the signing of the Ketubah. The Ketubah is considered an integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride. First the witnesses sign it, then the groom, then the bride, then the Rabbi...
Next we go outside to the Chuppah for the ceremony, which includes several procedures including lighting a multi-wick candle, smelling of spices, sipping of wine, the bride and groom encircling one another, the exchanging of rings, and finally culminating with the stomping of the glass, finalizing the marriage, at which point all the guests shout "Mazel tov!"- expressing their congratulations for a happy and significant event.
The rings are exchanged as follows: The Rabbi holds both of the rings, he then hands one ring to the groom, and he slips it over the brides right index finger during which vows are said.
He hands a ring to the Bride, who then slips the ring over the Groom's right index finger. Then each person moves the ring from their own index finger over to their left-hand ring-finger.
There is a lot more to this ceremony than what's seen here. I don't want to post too many pictures, but I did post more from this event than any other assignment to date. But like I said, there were just too many favorites to choose from.I had such a great time working with Revital and David, and I wish the best for their future together.
Lates
My Facebook page hasn't been up for very long, so I don't have many friends and fans on it. ☹
In an effort to populate my Facebook Friends and Fans page, I'm running a special for all High-School Seniors, class of '10 or '11- it doesn't matter.
The deal is, if you "Fan" my business page on Facebook and book a session either through Facebook or Twitter, you will get a 15% discount on any Senior Portrait Photo-Session and Print-Package.
That's savings of up to more than $50!Not only that, on all sessions booked through Facebook or Twitter, I'll provide you with 5 Facebook-Sized Digital Files for your Facebook profile pics FOR FREE.There's some blog posts of past session on here, but here's a few for now:
For more information on packages, just email me through my website, or call me and provide me with an email address. I have a special Seniors Information Packet loaded with great suggestions on how to look your best on your photo shoot.
You might want to book soon, this deal won't last long. You can also be sure to pass the word on to your friends.So visit my Facebook Page, become a fan and receive 15% off your choice of photo packages!
Don't forget about the FREE Facebook Photos too!
Lates
Well Faten contacted me for a shoot with her girls a few weeks ago. The occasion was that Nancy is getting married soon in the country of Jordan (Congratulations, Nancy!)
Faten (pronounced fah-TEN) wanted to do a shoot before Nancy's big day, and before her bachelorette party.
Her idea was to have kind of a "Sex and The City" theme behind it. I don't watch the show, so I had to spend some time researching screencaps from the Series. But it did make for some cool ideas and a little brainstorm adaptation to try and get a similar look.
The weather couldn't have been nicer- not too cool, but not too hot, gorgeous blue skies and just the occasional breeze. We visited an area in The Woodlands, Texas- Market Street to be exact. If you read my blog regularly, you might have noticed that I did an engagement session there in The Woodlands not too long ago, but it was more on the Waterway and not exactly on Market Street.
The area is nice and clean, and it also has a water way area and some shopping centers which matched our criteria given the theme of the session.
With that, I present to you (from left) Nancy, Faten, and Leial (said lay-AL):
For some reason I like the B&W conversion on this next shot. I think it looks kind of 3-D, if that's possible in a B&W photo...
The girls workin' it for the camera...yeah!
Early in the shoot I first heard, then saw an Italian Exotic drive through Market Street. I always stop and stare when I get the chance to see one of these rare works of handcrafted obscenely fast art. It was then when I thought, "It would be so cool if we could get that guy to let us take some photos with his car..."
Well it drove by again about 30 minutes later while we were still in the area, and the girls mentioned how cool it would be to take some shots with that car. Well he pulled up to the valet parking area, and as he stepped out of his Lamborghini Gallardo, I approached and politely asked if I could take a couple of shots of his car with the girls. He casually shrugged and said "Sure, you can use it", then looked over at the valets and said "They can use my car" and just walked away! How cool was that?!
Well the valet parked it for me pretty much in the middle of the street, so I had to shoot fast and with a quickness. It was a little difficult with the harsh sunlight so direct, but I think we got some okay shots.
In keeping with the theme, we had to stop in for some Cosmo's. We dropped in at The Cheesecake Factory- they have a really nice bar area. But as I was doing some light tests, one of the managers comes over and tells us no photos are allowed inside :o/
So we took it to the patio area.
And a little B&W action...
Then it was off to the waterway-
which is right outside The Cheesecake Factory's front door...
I had a lot of fun doing this shoot, and I hope Faten, Nancy and Leial did too. The girls were great in front of the camera, and it's such a joy working with people who like being on camera. I am also pleased with the results- I think we more or less accomplished the desired theme.
I also want to say "Thanks!" to the gracious owner of that amazing piece of machine called the Lamborghini Gallardo, who ever you are. Hats off to you, kind sir!
Feel free to drop a note, yea or nay.
Lates
Well we couldn't have asked for better weather. The 1st Annual DHL Charity Car Show was great. It was to benefit the American Heart Association and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk.
We had cars from all eras, all makes, a few bikes, trikes, and even a rail car-dune-buggy looking thing. I haven't done a great deal of automotive photography, (although I was published once in Sport Truck Magazine thankyouverymuch :oD ) but I do like Automobiles a lot, so I wouldn't mind getting to shoot them more often.
This Nova was one of my favorites of the show. Really slick paint, great attention to detail, immaculate interior, and the power to back it all up. (Click on Photos to view large)
Just look at that engine bay- You could cook hot-dogs on the manifold AND eat them!
They had a really cool DJ playing great music all day. Notice the 17" Macbook Pro. FTW!
A Supercharged (and I'm sure super-fast) Lingenfelter Corvette was out. Complete with a giant hood intake vent.
I think this next truck had to be another one of the slickest of the show. Just an amazing looking vehicle from any angle. He won two awards- Best Interior, and The DHL Choice Award.
The Brickhouse girls presenting the awards to the owner of the above truck...
The Chevelle Car Club made a strong showing with around 14 cars total...
Marco and his Satin Black '70 Chevelle won the Best Under Construction Award 
The Brickhouse Girls checking things out under the hood
This guy was a show-stopper. When he rolled up in this '60 Caddie, every head turned. It was even cooler when he dropped the tail on the ground with a loud "SSSSSSSSSSSSS"
A clean pair of bikes...
Check out the magnificent glass-like paint on this extraordinary '67 Vette
Winner of the Rev it Up contest with his award in front of his Orange 502 El Camino SS. It was pretty funny- he kept it tame at first being relatively quiet, but when he opened up those exhaust dumps, people gasped and heart-rates increased, bringing a grin to every guys face within 1 square mile
You'll want to click on the next picture. As people were pulling out, they took their turns layin' some rubber. This was one of the more spectacular displays.
Not much smoke on the next one. With such fat cheater slicks mounted, it was just grab and go. If you look real close, you can see the tires wrinkle.
And the DHL Crew and Volunteers.
I had a blast at the event, and look forward to shooting more automotive subjects in the future.
To see the full gallery, head on over to my website at www.SlickPix.net and click on the "Client Galleries" link in the bottom menu, then click on the gallery.
Keep in mind too, that 25% of all Print Sales from this even is benefiting the American Heart Association and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk. So go ahead and purchase a nice large print or several, and donate to a good cause at the same time.
Until next time,
Lates
