Sara’s Bridal Portraits

Sara and Derek got married last year, and before they did, I did a little bridal session.  She was hot, and so was I cause it was almost 100º.  Kidding, but not really.  Anyway, we did several looks.  After some thought we decided that it would be best to meet in the thriving urban metropolis of Perkins, Oklahoma.  I drive through this little gem of a town every day to get to work, so I had some idea of what I was going to do.  But when I got there I was kind of shocked.  This place is a gold mine of locations.  And we found the kind of light that dreams are made of.  Add Sara and you get some breathtaking shots.

Work it Sara (did I just type that?)

One thing led to another and we ended up in a wheat field.  And. It. Was. Awesome.

Dear Sara, sorry it took so long to get this blog up.  Hope you and Derek (Edit: when I originally posted this, I typed “Steven” on accident.  Stevens is her last name, not her husbands name.  I feel like a dummy, sorry Sara) are doing well.

Best Wishes,

Zach

Off Topic: I’m watching Glee on the interwebs.  And I think I’m hooked.  Crap.

 

Olivia Speers – Growing like a weed

She’s getting so big.  It seems like every time I see her she’s a whole new person.  I wonder if it will feel similar as my little Amelia grows up, or if I’ll be so busy changing diapers to notice.  Anyway, back to little Olivia.  She is starting to lose those adorable little chubby cheeks.  Last time I saw her she wasn’t this happy either.

Quick note about the location.  These were shot at the old train station in Shawnee.  It’s a neat little place and I can’t believe I didn’t know about it before.  Thanks Kristina for thinking of it.

Kristina has told me on multiple occasions to call her Kris, but I can’t do it.  I don’t know why, it just doesn’t sound right when I say it.  Also, you know how I know that Olivia won’t have any problems finding a date for senior prom, this is how I know.

More happy baby

And I’ll end with this one, which might be the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen in my whole life.  That’s her daddy’s shoulder there at the bottom of the frame.

Can’t wait for Olivia’s next shoot!

See you guys soon!

 

Hillari – Cheerleader, Senior, and Monopoly Shoe Wearer

A few weeks ago Me and the Snider girls woke up @ 6am just to see what that felt like.  Since we were all up and I had a camera in my hand we took some pictures.  We will be doing another session soon but I wanted you guys to see how the first session turned out.

I love this barn.  You can see more of it on the homepage of my portfolio website.  Here you only see a little bit of it because I covered it up with a Hillari.

When she showed up wearing these Monopoly shoes I told her that I wanted to be the car.  Not really, I never can think of stuff like that on the fly.

Downtown Chandler has some really cool, under appreciated doorways.  I think at this point we were all getting hungry but I kept shooting.

And I’m glad I did because I wouldn’t have gotten this one, and I think that it’s my favorite of the day!

 

Amelia Dean and Ava Leann – Genetic Half Sisters (yeah, wrap your head around that one for a minute)

Jessica and Katie are twins.  Jessica and Katie are pregnant.  Due two weeks apart.  Imagine that.

It was a few days after we found out Katie was pregnant when my wife Jessica told me she was too.  I always imagined that I’d be really excited and jump up and down like the dad’s on credit card and insurance commercials.  But I didn’t.  They’re twins.  As soon as Katie got pregnant it was a dead ringer.  So suffice it to say I wasn’t too surprised.

Jessica and I found out the sex of the baby during the World Cup.  We had the ultrasound during the game that decided whether or not team USA would make it to the knockout stage of the Cup.  Naturally I had score updates coming to my phone.  Now let me say quickly that I am ecstatic to be having a girl and really all I’m looking for is happy and healthy, but initially I wanted a boy.  So when the tech said “and these three lines means you’re having a little girl” my heart sank a little bit.  But then I looked at my phone. GOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!! Rollercoaster of emotions.  I know, I’m a big fat jerk.  My wife’s forgiven me, you should too.

For those of you wondering why I am just now posting belly pictures, I have two reasons: 1) Since they are both pregnant and they have shared virtually every experience in their lives, I didn’t want to break the streak so I waited.  And 2) because I can’t photograph my wife.  Every time she gets in front of my camera she gets the giggles.

But I got her and Katie to calm down for a couple lo-key dramatic portraits.

Then we went out to Gardner Farms to use their willow tree and country road (dirty road as 5 year old me would say).  I love what that willow does for a backdrop.

It looks like Ava might be here in about 6 weeks.  I’m kind of hoping Amelia takes after her father and stays in there as long as possible, though I may be singing a different tune when we get there.

Thanks for looking everyone!  Come back soon!

 

Expressions, and Being Surprised – Wyatt Franco

The thing that’s amazing about photographing kids is the expressions they make.  When we grow up we become afraid of making these faces and I don’t know why.  The other thing that’s amazing is that they go through so many expressions so fast.  Pictures of kids always surprise me because I almost never get the expression I was trying to photograph.  But most of the time it’s better.  Because I’m surprised.

Dear Katie, I know you’re an English teacher.  I also know I’m not a spectacular writer.  Don’t judge me.  Thanksomuch.

 

Labor Day 2010 – On Mowing Lawns and Sitting Around(on purpose)

Today, my wife and I are sitting around on purpose, but first I had to take care of the sticker patch back yard.  I’ve been neglecting the sticker patch lawn for a while.  At first it was 140º and I thought I might not make it back into the house.  Then it got to be about 3 feet tall and was just scary.

Now that that’s done, Jessica and I are going to spend the rest of the day relaxing.  I’m not sure how many more days like this we’ll have with just the two of us, so I’m going to soak it all in before Amelia arrives in November.  I’ve made some snacks:

And we’re about to throw in a few movies.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day.  Hopefully you can sit around on purpose too.

 

Long Overdue Wedding Post 1 – Rachel & Austin

So I haven’t been very good about blogging.  I shot this wedding last year during football season.  I know, I’m terrible.  But I’m determined to figure out a schedule.

When we got to the church, it was perfect weather.  Then it threatened to rain.  Then it cleared up.  Typical Oklahoma weather.  The church was kind of tucked away out of town, which was good considering it was a football gameday and Stillwater tends to get a little crazy on gameday.  We got some great shots.  I hope you like them!

I knew I had to photograph the rings on one of these flowers because, well, it’s orange, and it was gameday, and I bleed orange.

I don’t pretend to know anything about shoes or fashion in general, but I know what looks good, and this looks good.

It looked even better on.

I love churches with stained glass, I can do so much with it!

Anyhow, I asked them what they were doing after this, and they said “we’re going to Disney World!”, and I was really jealous.  If anybody wants to get married at the Magic Kingdom, bring me with you and I’ll make you a really good deal!

 

The Martin’s – Bun in the Oven

David Martin should be joining us pretty soon. Until then, look at these pretty pictures!

We braved what was at the time 100 degree heat at sunset to get this portrait in some really beautiful light.  I think it was worth it.

Then we went inside, cooled off, and made our own light…

And we ended with some sillyness.

Thanks for looking, hopefully the little guy will be on this blog very soon!

 

Anthony – Sneak Peek

Some photographs transform my understanding of my own vision in photography.  If you know me, you know I rail against people who take a blurry photograph, turn it black and white and call it “art”.  This moment, this simple, special moment for the family really turned me around a lot.  It reminded me that the only sweeping generality is that there are no sweeping generalities.

The second photo I want to show is another simple moment, and one of the few in which this little guy actually looked at me.  Neither of these are what I would call the “best” photos of the day, but they are two great, simple, special moments.  And I think that sometimes the quality of the moment trumps the quality of the photo.

That being said, if you want to see the rest of the photos, you can go to:  http://pictage.com/902433

 

The Other 2 Babies

Seems like I’ve photographed nothing but babies lately.  These two were easy, I’m really lucky to get such happy babies doing this!