playa

my caracas happy place. 20 minutes and a $2 buseta. chevere!

these were all taken with with a handy coolpix...perdoname for the blown out highlights...taking good gear to the beach = not being able to leave it to go swimming...so not an option today!

new clips

chavistas

venezuela votes

recent revista clips

familia

by far the best part of going back to texas was getting to spend time with my family...i'm blessed to have an incredibly close-knit family who all live relatively close together, so i was able to see just about everyone. my very sweet parents and sisters carefully planned each day that we had together and went above and beyond to make sure that i had the opportunity to do all of my favorite things and visit all of my favorite places...we had a great trip to lake austin and wakesurfed past sun set under the 360 bridge....kayaked down the brazos river...and celebrated our first "Christastergivingirthdayween" the coolest family holiday get-together, that combined an entire year's worth of holidays that i've missed over the past year. my sweet grandma made her thanksgiving dinner, we had birthday cake, a christmas tree, easter eggs, halloween costumes...and my sisters decorated the house with nearly every holiday decoration stuffed in the attic. it was so memorable and so special. thanks to everyone who drove out to visit, i miss you all loads and think of you often.

speaking of holidays, today is my dear dad's birthday. we stopped counting, but he still looks better than most 35 year olds that i know, and can also paddle down a river quicker than most people decades younger than he is! feliz cumpleanos papa! i love you!

savannah

while in texas, we also shot a last-minute portrait session with savannah...who i think just might be the most brilliant 12 year old i've ever met. we spent all morning climbing on hay bales, navigating fields of wildflowers, sloshing through mini waterfalls and dressing up in princess dresses. i've known savannah and her family for years and was delighted when her mom booked a shoot to capture her coming of age. my sister morgan was savannah's nanny for a long time, and that is the age that i automatically pictured savannah in my thoughts preparing for this shoot. i still have to do an occasional double-take looking at these photos making sure that it is really her...i can't believe how quickly she has grown up...but am quickly reminded that she is 12 when remembering the tactic morgan (who graciously came along to help and lug around a 6 ft ladder!) used to render a 100 percent success rate of getting the most genuine smile across savannah's face after hours of shooting...embarrassing potty humor stories...it worked every time. my favorite story morgan told her was of when savannah outed her dad during a christmas eve church service while she was quite young. when being interviewed by the pastor in front of the entire congregation, savannah announced exactly how and how long it takes her dad to go #2. if he only knew how we got that smile of her in that sweet princess dress...i hope the photos we produced were able to capture her as she grows into an even more beautiful young lady...

updates updates...

thanks for all the emails and pulse checks from everyone that reads this blog...i'm still around just busy busy with a lot of travel and shoots that are still under embargo.

here's some recent photos from my october trip to tejas....i flew back to document justin and mandy byers' wedding...which was pretty incredible. they were real troopers adjusting to a lot of changes in their plans consequential to hurricane ike...thanks to tam and bob for letting us shoot in your beautiful home when ike destroyed their wedding site! justin and mandy, thank you for allowing me to be a part of your special day...it is so great to witness the awesome love that you both have for each other! i hope you enjoy your photos as much as i enjoyed making them with you.