Christina: Quinceanera

This past weekend I photographed a much anticipated event, anticipated both by me and one of my favorite mother/daughter duos of all time-Christina and Marie. Ladies, I think your bash was amazing in every way-the details, the love, the fun! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to capture it for you. I cried a few tears, laughed a lot and had the best time, and I could tell by the looks on the faces of all of your guests that they had an amazing time too.

Enjoy your show!



Oh, and by the way, I know there are bunches of you watching Christina's show-she'd love to get some comments from you!

Christina: Quinceanera Portraits

Sometimes I get to photograph the most amazing kids. You might already know this, but I really love to do sessions for teenage girls. There are so many different reasons, but one of the things that I always marvel about is how different they all are, even when they are the exact same age, as is the case with the Quinceaneras I've done lately.

So this girl, this soon-to-be young lady, had an inner glow, a sense of peace, that I know for sure I didn't have at that age. She was so innocent, sweet, and loving, especially toward her mom-who I happen to know has put many luxuries aside for herself , in order to give her daughter a solid foundation.

Mother-daughter relationships are so hard sometimes, but these two made it seem easy, so natural and in particular, incredibly beautiful.






Her Quinceanera is less than a month away, so the last minute details are being taken care of. I recieved a shot list from them a couple of days ago, detailing every image that they want to ensure that I take-Christina with her escort, her grandparents, at the altar, with the girls, the boys, etc. Two pages of shots, two pages of memories that they are looking forward to.

I'd like to add one more shot to the list, one that trumps all the others as the image that sums up the entire event. I plan to get a very special portrait of Marie and Christina, mother and daughter, to record the incredibly special bond they have, and to represent the perfect love that they have.

Marie, I know that you are focused on making the party perfect for Christina, but make sure you doll yourself up-the camera will be on you, too!

Daisy: Portraits at the Southwest School of Art and Craft

I think I have 5 minutes before I have to leave for an appointment, so I'm going to attempt a blog post in that amount of time...Mark, get set, GO!

This young lady is about to turn 15, and her amazing mom is throwing her a huge party for the occasion. I shot the formal portraits for her Quinceanera last week, here are some of my favorites:



Love, love, love the regalness of this one. There was pollen falling all around us from the tree above, and I think it looks almost magical:


We took dozens of versions of this image, and I like all of them, but this one really grabs your attention.


I almost deleted this image because it wasn't centered well, but the more I look at it, the more I like the placement:


This image would be my choice for an enlargement:


Daisy came up with this pose. I love it because it's strong and soft at the same time:


Have you been to the SA Library lately? The enormous purple pillars that accent the enchilada orange walls of the building serve as the backdrop for this image. I thought the yellow of her dress would look striking against purple, but it turns out that my favorite image from the series doesn't include the dress:


Another royalty-inspired picture. What I love about this one is that if you look closely at the top right, you can see what looks like the top of a castle in the distance:


Thanks for a great evening of shooting, Daisy. I hope you enjoyed it!

(P.S., this obviously took more than 5 minutes. In fact, I think it's been a couple of hours!)

Alyana: Quinceanera

I've been waiting for what seems like forever to post the following images. I photographed a Quinceanera last weekend for the sweetest girl ever, and we did a portrait shoot months ago downtown. I couldn't post the images sooner because she didn't want anyone to see her dress before the big party, but finally I can show them off!

The location for the session was a gorgeous Bed & Breakfast in the King William area near downtown called Oge House. I think it was just perfect:

We roamed around the grounds and stopped where ever we found a pretty spot:

The back of the dress is a showstopper! This image was enlarged and beautifully framed, and placed at the sign-in table at the party:

Her hair was so pretty, I had to feature it in a shot:

Here's a slightly more dramatic look:


Alyana and her mom have been working on the details for the quinceanera for over a year, and it all looked fabulous. I don't think there was a detail that was overlooked. They even provided flip-flops for the guests to wear while dancing, and of course they cordinated with the theme of the evening-black and white polkadots with fun splashes of lime green.

I could describe it all night, but it would be best if you just saw the show:

Joseph and Grace, you truly have an amazing daughter. I loved her to death. And Alyana, your party was smashin'!