One of my best friends recently got engaged right around the time that I did. They needed some engagement photos for their save the date so we picked a few spots in Hermann Park to take some photos. It's been a while since I've taken photos for couples so it was a great opportunity to brush up on my skills.
My First Studio Shoot
A while back, my friends Liz and Sandy got The Houston Studio for a few hours to do a photoshoot. Liz wanted some farewell photos before she moved to Chicago. It was an awesome location right in the heart of downtown, so I jumped at the chance to sharpen my photography skills.
Around the same time, one of my friends bought a new set of studio strobes and he was dying to test them out. It was the perfect opportunity to bring it all together. With this being my first time doing a shoot in a studio and my first time using studio strobes, I'm pretty pleased with the outcome. Get ready for a LOT of pictures!
We had a couple themes throughout the shoot. The first being a dramatic noir style with long black gowns.
We then took a break for a wardrobe change and shifted to the other room of the studio with these awesome windows. We went with a black and white casual theme that worked out pretty well for the setting.
Sightseeing in San Francisco
I always like visiting the San Francisco area. There's always so much to see and eat, but not enough time to do it all. Here's some pictures from my favorite sightseeing places the past few times that I've been.
The Golden Gate Bridge from Fort Point
The Golden Gate Bridge from Fort Point
Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Headlands
Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Headlands
Muir Woods
Muir Woods
Palace of Fine Arts
Japanese Tea Garden
Japanese Tea Garden
Chinatown
Fisherman's Wharf
Pier 39 with a view of Alcatraz
The Ferry Building
One of my favorite things to do is heading up to The View around sunset, getting a spot by the window, then waiting for the city lights to come on.
The Proposal
I haven't been updating much, because I've been pretty busy planning my proposal, and now getting busy going into wedding planning. I wanted to write a blog on it, mainly so I have a written record this momentous occasion in my life.
To start the story off, I have to talk about the ring. I bought the ring in April based on an image she pinned to her secret wedding Pinterest board. I hid the ring for a few months in my house, while I went back and forth on ideas for the proposal.
On Mother's Day, we took a trip to Austin to visit her parents and I used this as an opportunity to formally ask her parents for their daughter's hand in marriage. While Dawn was getting ready in the morning, I pulled her parents aside to ask them and to show them the ring. I later found out her mom was so happy with tears in her eyes that she couldn't even see the ring.
Now that I had the approval of the parents, it took me about another month to finally get everything together and ready.
The date would be our 1 and a half year anniversary. I chose this day so I could take her out to do something and she wouldn't be suspicious of anything else going on. I could play any suspicion off as if it were for our anniversary. I brought her to Backstreet Cafe, which was where we had our very first date.
As soon as we left for dinner, my brother and a few of my close friends came over to help set up the proposal. They helped tremendously in getting everything together
There were about 60 tea lights
and a HUGE box of rose petals
A few days prior, I snuck out to my best friend's house to do a photoshoot because I wanted to include the twins in our proposal. I had these printed out and framed to be laid out on the dining table.
They gave us champagne and dessert to celebrate!
Around this time, we were finishing up dessert at Backstreet and I was texting my brother what their status was.
"STALL... NOT DARK ENOUGH"
I had to stall.
By now, the anxiety was building and I still had to buy more time before I could bring her back home. We finished up at Backstreet, and I persuaded Dawn to stop by another place for a drink. With it being another opportunity to get a second dessert, she obliged and I bought more time for them to get set up, and the lighting to get dark enough to have the right mood.
Our second dessert.
A job well done!
Towards the end of our second dessert, I get a text from my brother:
"COME NOW!!"
They were finally ready.
They finished lighting all the candles, placed all the flower petals, arranged the pictures and tied up all the balloons with scattered pictures of me and Dawn all over.
Now it's the waiting game for them.
As I made my way home, my nerves were building up, since I haven't seen any of it and had no idea what to expect. Up to now, it has just been lunch meetings with my brother with line drawings on a notepad of how it was going to be laid out.
Right when I pull into the garage, I ask Dawn to pull the trash can back in from the street. This gives me time to run in, set up my cameras and stand in place for her to come up to the surprise.
Right as she walks in, she's greeted with this:
The bouquet I sent to her at work earlier that day for our 1 and a half year anniversary.
The stairwell had a few balloons, candles and rose petals leading up to the living room.
This is the other bouquet I handed to her when she got to the top of the stairwell.
Rose petals, tea lights, balloons and pictures of us were littered all over.
While all of this was going on, everyone that helped set up was hiding down in the bedroom on my first floor, trying to listen in.
Then the big question...
And now we're engaged!!
Graduation Portraits
A while back I did a quick set of graduation portraits for a friend graduating law school. It was a short shoot, but we got some really great shots!
