Don't they look like the came out of a magazine?  I really get the best clients.

Josh went to Vanderbilt and is now working in Houston while India is in Atlanta.  Long distance sucks, but it looks like they're handling it well!

India told me they swim, can you tell??  I would kill for those arms.

How cute are they?!  These next few are so sweet.

They wanted to get a shot by the skyline, but when we got to the location it was all blocked off!  After some quick thinking, we settled on doing the last few shots at this spot not too far away.

I love this next shot .

Lastly...the ring.  Dang.

Koree grabbed awesome close-ups like this next one while I did more full-body shots.  LOVE Scotty's face here, what a sweet smile while he nuzzles Lakesha .

I frequently tell people to be serious for a certain shot.  Often, it's a secret ploy to get them to laugh.  Scotty nailed the serious pose here and totally stayed in character, but this is what happened with Lakesha!  I love how hard she's trying to be serious in the second shot!

Another great shot by Koree!

See?   We did lots of laughing.  I'm training myself to stay composed during all this laughing or else I get blurry pictures from all the bouncing.

I loved how the purple flowers in the background matched her dress.

They really like the color orange, so this spot was perfect for them!  Just in time too, a few days later I drove past this spot and it had been tagged.

Perfect way to end the shoot.

I'm going to show you a few examples of each image below.  The first in each example is what photographers call SOOC, or straight out of camera.

This is what the picture looks like the moment it goes onto my memory card and the first thing I see on my computer.

The second shot is after what happens to every picture that gets proofed.  I import it into Adobe Lightroom and contrast/color correct each picture.  All of the images that go on my proofing site or get put on a disc have been edited in Lightroom.

The third shot is what happens to my favorites, the client's select favorites, and anything that gets blogged or printed.  These are what I called "detailed edits."  A limited number of these also go onto a disc.  These pictures have all gone through Adobe Photoshop after I export them from Lightroom.  I often get rid of blemishes (though there were none to be seen in this shot!), smooth skin, selectively increase contrast in certain areas, and sharpen the picture.

First, SOOC.

Next, after it's gone through Lightroom.

Last, after it's been photoshopped.

Last example, SOOC.

I cropped this one in Lightroom just a touch, but kept the same dimensions.

Sometimes, there's not much of a difference between the Lightroom and the Photoshop version.

Occasionally, I'll edit a picture in color and also want to do a monochromatic one (black and white, sepia, etc).  This was also done in photoshop.

So there you have it.  I hope that clarifies things a bit.  If anyone's interested in step-by-step Lightroom or Photoshop editing leave a comment!

This background was so random and so awesome.  The paint job looked like Van Gogh's "Starry Night" and then Sponge Bob lanterns??  Sweet.

Can you see how striking his BLUE eyes are?!  They're incredible.

We did these last since the ground was wet and they walked away with damp pants!  Many of the bluebonnets around Houston have been mowed, but we were able to find this little spot in the middle of a busy road.   I think this last one is my favorite .

They're getting married in Canada this summer; wish I could be there!

There was something new around every corner.

I couldn't stop telling her how amazing this color looked on her, don't you agree?!

It was my first time shooting the Houston skyline.  What a great spot!

San Francisco is such a wonderful place.

It rained/misted on us intermittently the entire time and everyone took it in good stride! We hardly even used the umbrellas (though we were protecting the cameras like mad) and Katrina and Gordon both looked amazing throughout .

Want to know how I managed this next shot with my short self?? Keep scrolling.

Me, in all my wet, cold, trying-to-protect-myself-from-the-wind-and-rain glory.

I got that above shot the same way I got this one...

All I needed was one awesome boyfriend. It was his idea. He's a genius.

This was almost as fun as the double date we went with these two to a sketchy mini golf place a few weeks ago . Congratulations!

Be excited. The awesomeness has just begun.

Angelin and Ryan have been together since high school! They were obviously so comfortable and in-love and fun around each other. It's always so fun to see how two people in-love interact and be able to capture that .

This first shot is one of my favs!

Another favorite!

I often have people tell me they love how a lot of my portraits seem more candid and photo-journalistic. I think this is a good post to point out that, while most of these pictures seem pretty non-invasive, I actually posed them (told them where to put their hands, to look at each other, to look at me, how to sit/stand, nuzzle each other, etc) in most of the shots and then let them do their thing so it looks natural and unforced. I think they did a pretty good job with all my orders .

upI'll probably be blogging less in the next month or so I can get all my client's proofing galleries, but I'll try to sneak in a picture or two every few days!