July and August are heating up! And what better time is there to show off your passion for your fiance with an engagement portrait session on a steamy summer evening.

Well, I’m excited to announce that I will be holding a drawing for four lucky couples to score a free engagement session with yours truly and an 8×10 print.
Two random entries will be chosen on July 10th and another two on August 10th. The sessions will need to be scheduled before the end of each month. And after the session you will select your 8×10 and I will have it printed and delivered to you.

If you are interested in entering please fill out the contact form with “Hot Summer Nights” in the Subject field and good luck!!!

*Oh… and this is for Austin area couples only.

I joined the Austin PPA (Professional Photographers Association) two months ago. I figured in order to get my name out there as a legitimate wedding photographer in Austin, I needed to belong in the professional organizations, network with other photographers, and continue my learning process with the guest speakers they have every month.

Last night was my first foray into the print competition though. It turned out to be a very competitive night. There were about 12 entries and after seeing each one I was really thinking I’d be lucky to place.

As it turned out, I took the Red Ribbon! I just nudged out a maternity shot with very pretty lighting, and my photo BFF Maria Bernal nailed First Place with an exquisite fashion portrait.

I actually owe Maria some credit on this photo. She offered a little critique that really pushed this portrait from good to great.

And thank you to Seasha McKay for being a sport and climbing up on this stump, and basically doing all the crazy things asked of you, including swimming in a dress that had to weigh sixty pounds wet.

I’m really excited to unveil the “Print of the Year Club” for all my wedding clients.

If you have known me for anytime, you know I have a huge passion for Fine Art and Landscape photography. Well, each year every one of my wedding clients  will receive a FREE 10×15 print (5×15 or 8.5×15 in the case of panoramas), matted and signed by me. This is merely a constant “Thank You” for choosing me to document your wedding.The best part is, the clients get to vote for the winner! I will post 5 pictures and everyone will vote for which print gets to be the print of the year!

The first one will begin this November, and the prints will be sent out to arrive in December, so please make sure I have your latest address. All past wedding clients are eligible (even those first ones that I shot for $600), and all future clients are automatically enrolled too.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Friday:

I was very excited to start heading out to Krause Springs, where myself and some fellow photographers from an online photo group were going to get together and do a TTD (Trash The Dress) session with a couple models for portfolio type work, and just to have fun and meet each other.

On my way out for a pre-trip errand, I noticed that I missed a call. I check the voice mail, and chills begin running down my spine. The voice on the message said, ” Hello William, This is Grace Ormonde… Give me a call back. I’d like to talk to you.”

It was all I could do to keep the car on the road! For those that don’t know, Grace Ormonde is the woman behind Grace Ormonde’s Wedding Style, a high-style wedding magazine. I had submitted a wedding I had photographed a few months to just get a gauge for where my photography matched up to everyone else that was submitting. And she just called me… I had to collect myself for a few minutes, and then made the call back.

We talked for at least twenty minutes about the funny post I wrote about my odds of getting published with her, how much she loved my fine art portrait work, and that she wants to see my next submission.
*Note: Some of the work below may be part of that next submission

After I got off the phone, I had to call my photo BFF here in town Maria Bernal and I made her guess who I just talked to… She wasn’t very good at that game, I had to tell her. I could barely walk my knees were so weak! I also called my Mom, and I posted to my Flickr group of wedding photographers.

And I was still excited about camping and the TTD session!

I am the first one out to Krause Springs since it’s just a short 40 minutes from Austin, and Laura Burlton and her family were coming from Houston. The others weren’t coming until Saturday. I set up my own camp, and then began a recon mission and found some amazing places to photograph.
Laura and her family arrived, and I went to meet her and Alex her husband and two little girls. We got their camp all set up and then ran down to jump in the swimming hole to cool off.

And then…

I jumped into the swimming hole with my keys and my iPhone still in my pockets!!!

I did not realize this for 10 minutes!At which point I could only hope that it would dry out and work again.

After speaking to Grace Ormonde, there was not much that could have dampened my high, but drowning a phone that I had paid $400 for came really close.

Saturday:

After a great nights sleep in my tent, I woke up with the sun. Laura had slipped off and came back with some coffee to share. Our model Seasha (who Laura and myself both know separately) arrived shortly after with her wee ones, and one more photographer from the group, Nana Aikins, showed up, and we went off to shoot.

We photographed for about an hour (photos below) and it began to rain. I hadn’t put my rain fly on the tent the night before, and when I got back I had a soaked sleeping back and a puddle on the downhill side of my tent.

The four of us gathered under a metal cover and drank beer as a lightning storm began to pass through (no one said it was smart). We polished off 4 beers each, while the kids played in the mud puddles, and then decided it was time for a BBQ lunch at Opie’s Barbecue in Spicewood. It rained while we ate delicious brisket and sausage and chicken.

Then it was time for another round of photos in a different dress. We had another model lined up, as well as a couple other photographer friends that had planned to come out, but the rain ruled them out. Our afternoon session was a lot of fun.

Nana had to leave a little early, and when we wrapped up photographing Seasha invited us over to her house where she found us places to sleep, I threw together a big stockpot of chicken soup and we all sat around, chatted, looked at some of the photos, and enjoyed everyones company until we all fell asleep.

Sunday:

Sunday was a lazy day. We all had to leave, but we delayed that as long as we could. After a delicious egg and sausage scramble that Seasha whipped up, we all went down to her parents pool, and watched the kids swim and play. Slowly, we all got ready and headed off to our separate lives once again.

I had a great time, with some great people.
I took part in a kick butt TTD session.
I lost my phone, but not before Grace Ormonde called me.
This weekend may have been my strangest/weirdest/funnest ever!

Enjoy the photos.