Grant Family – Portraits

One of the things that I love most about my job is getting to know my clients and creating photographs that truly reflect who they are. I try to do this 1) by really focusing on the person — their facial expressions, personality, etc — and 2) by placing them in an environment that feels natural and comfortable, and that is the perfect match to their “style”. I love that every session is completely unique. One of the ways that I try to do this is by having them come up with five words (or thereabouts) that describe themselves. It sounds simple, but it’s an awesome way for me to understand who you are!

The Grants called me a few weeks ago about taking their family portraits, and I gave them the five word challenge. They talked about it and called back with these words: laid back, traditional, comfortable, silly, love the outdoors, and playful. So we decided to go spend the morning in Gruene for their portrait session. Gruene is the perfect place for comfortable, outdoorsy fun! I had a great time getting to know January, Chris, and their boys! There are few families so genuine and sweet. The boys loved throwing rocks into the river, talking about Lightning McQueen, and exploring all that Gruene had to offer. Thank you, Grant family for such a great morning! Here are some of my favorites…

Adam + Joanna – Engagement Portraits

I grew up in a town of 2,500 people. My class was the largest class that had ever gone through our school with 89 students. As a teenager, I dreamed of escaping the small town where I grew up and moving to the big city. In a small town everybody knows everybody and everybody’s business, and if my friends and I wanted to go do anything, we had to drive the hour to Dallas. We had a good time, no doubt, but I wanted something different. Finally, when I was 19, I left and I moved here to San Antonio. The city fascinated me. It took me months, maybe even years to stop saying, “I’m just gonna run into town for a few things.” (“You are in town“, my friends would always say.) But it didn’t take long for me to miss my hometown. I found a new appreciation for the fact that everybody knows everybody, and I missed that. Things were different in the city. The pace was different, high school sports were different, and the people. And now, when I do make it back home, it makes me sad to see all the restaurants and strip centers popping up everywhere. I would’ve killed to have a Sonic and a Target and a Starbucks within 10 minutes of home back then, but now…

I met Joanna last summer when we met to talk about her wedding, and I knew I wanted to be a part of telling their story because I felt connected to it in some way. Adam and Joanna grew up in a small town, and in high school Joanna fell for him, a baseball (and basketball) star, and they fell in love. They have since moved away, built their lives and careers, but they still have their small town roots. They plan to get married “back home” in the small town where they fell in love. Joanna asked me a few weeks ago if it would be weird to do some of their engagement portraits at their high school, I said no way! Iove it! So Saturday, I drove out to meet them and we had such a fun time (despite the gale force winds – only half joking)!

Thanks to Adam and Joanna for trusting me with your memories, and I can’t wait for your bridals and your wedding! It’s been fun getting to know you!