Light Walk

If you want a great place to get some unique portraits, take your favorite photographer over to the Texas State Capitol at night. You can pretty much get the run of the place if you go later in the evening, and there are some fun, out of the way places to go. On the North side of the Capitol there is the Extension which is not as well known as a tourist attraction; you get there from within the Capitol. I love the stairs, the granite, the lighting, and the grand feel of everything!

Here are a few of the places you could use for a setting:

The North hallway in the upper level

Awesome Stairs

The Extension Rotunda to the Stars

Another Round Area

It’s our birthday today! (Well, we got our sales tax number on this day, so that’s probably the best day to celebrate.) imageclectic.com photography is two years old. I can hardly believe it. We started this endeavor thinking we already knew enough to run a business, but of course we have learned way more than I really expected. It’s been a wild, fun ride, and we love it! We still have a lot to learn, so keep watching and comment on what you see.

Our first wedding (pre-blog days!) was with David and Laura in Round Rock at a church building that is now True Life Fellowship; here’s a fun shot from that day:

David is Not So Sure

A wedding photographer’s dream is to capture the special moments of the day that really demonstrate the connections between people and the beauty of the whole event. I just wanted to post some more shots from a recent wedding that exemplify this kind of photography.

Just before the ceremony

Looking at the badge

Something Shared During the Ceremony

Dancing alone with everyone

Another Shared Moment

Another shoot at the Capitol! We had a great time; even though we’re in the middle of the hot Summer months, places like the Capitol give a ton of flexibility for locations to shoot and can bring a lot of “Austin” to a photograph. Oscar and Amy are getting married in December and we needed to get their engagement photographs done in time to make a “save the date” card for their family and friends, so even though it’s Summer we were able to capture several great shots for them to chose from.

On the Staircase

The Faces of Joy

Kissing with the ring in the foreground

A good breeze and some fun

I had the honor of photographing a candidate for the Texas House this past week. He chose to do it at the State Capitol, which was great since I’d had just been there for other reasons and had some ideas about where to shoot. The Capitol is very photography-friendly; you can basically shoot almost anywhere as long as you don’t get in anyone’s way, and it’s always fun to shoot anywhere you get onlookers who are interested in whatever is going on out of the ordinary. While you can generally see flashes going off all over as tourists photograph, people stop and look intently when they see a professional toting around equipment to see if the subject is someone they should know …

Here is one of my favorites from the session. There was an event going on in the House chamber, so we had the added benefit of real people in the scene.

Running for the House

Last night we had a great sky, so I ventured down to the Capitol with my lovely wife and we photographed from several directions. Here is one of my early favorites. If you haven’t been, it’s a very interesting place to visit and it is a great spot for family, wedding or corporate portraiture. This image was captured as 9 consecutive photographs, all combined to create a single image.

The North Side of the Texas Captiol

This past Saturday, Hannah and I photographed Halei and Austyn at the Hamilton Twelve venue in South Austin. We had a wonderful time, especially just being around all the great family and friends as they celebrated the bride and groom. The venue is a wonderful outdoor spot with a great setup for a distinctly circular wedding. The awesome thing was, we were allowed to photograph from wherever we wanted, so we walked around the ceremony as needed to get all the right shots. What fun!

Dancing in the Dark

In the Round

Dad Knows His Stuff!

Chillin' in the Freezer

Checking Out the Bar

Dancing Like You Mean It

As a photographer, I’ve learned to go with the flow, and go prepared! This wedding provided a little test for me; before we even made it to the ceremony my main lens figured out how to detach itself from the front of the camera and completely shattered the front and bent it so it would not function at all… Man was I glad we carry several lenses for different perspectives and views! I just had to modify my shooting style a little. Of course, the fact that we always shoot with two cameras brings overlap that gives great photographic coverage even when something goes a little wrong; generally one of us shoots with a long lens and one shoots with a shorter lens to get both wide and narrow views. So even with a hampered equipment set, we have what we need to make beautiful images.

Gravity is NOT your friend

A quick call to my insurance agent confirmed that I indeed have this lens fully covered, so it’s just a matter of the down time without the lens while it is repaired or replaced. Whew!