I like to go fast!

Recently SHUTTERWHALE was invited on a collaborated shoot in Dallas with Texas Motorcars! (www.TEXASMOTORCARS.com)

It was a Dodge themed shoot- consisting of a fancy schmancy Viper and a top of the line Challenger. After taking the cars on the freeway, through an airport tunnel and getting kicked out of a garage we ended up with some great shots!

As much as we love to photograph people, the change to superfast car mode was a pleasant one. While photographing we used a combination of studio light for the parked shots, and natural light for everything in motion. We suggest for all shiny fancy things to point your studio lighting down onto the subject. This will give you the cleanest look, while showing off all of the curves. This differs from people in that shooting your light down onto a subject can give you that "raccoon eyes" look.

The originals in this tunnel were a mess! We did some tweaks in Lightroom to clean up the color and exposure, then followed up with Photoshop to make the red pop.

You can find the vehicles (for now!) on TEXASMOTORCARS.com and find a selection of our favorites at www.SHUTTERWHALE.com

The sweetest Family Ever!

I love this shoot. Kathy, CJ and little grace have the cutest little family ever and I love them. We met up in Memorial park on a perfect Monday afternoon and THIS happened. Could this be any more perfect?

Service roads are a photographer's best friend. We look like we are out in the middle of the country on a perfect little dirt road, but in reality hundreds of joggers were running by just a few hundred feet away on the main trails. It was our own private piece of the park!

Grace was such a little ham! When setting up their shots she would just kind of do her own thing, which was just what I was hoping for! Her sweet hugs and kisses helped me snap some of the sweetest little family portraits ever, like this one above that ended up being my favorite.

Kathy is expecting a new addition to the family in July, I can't wait to meet her! The name isn't certain yet, but i am sure once they lay eyes on their baby girl it will come to them. All we know now is that her nickname is Emmy. (cute cute cute!)

 We left the private road and headed to a field of wildflowers and tall grass. Again, it looks like we are in this perfect middle-of-nowhere setting, but in actuality we were in the middle of the two roads and cars were zooming by! I imagine we put on quite a show! Grace had a blast showing everyone all of the flowers, and the shot above is her telling mommy about pretty they are. Heart. Melt.

Who doesn't love covering mommy in kisses?

Grace made sure to show everyone her finds, including both grandmas! They helped us get great smiles out of Grace.

THOSE. EYES. THAT. SMILE. Heart melts!

There's something about Grandmas. Seriously, hats off to Grandmas. They're pros! Years of family portraits under their belts and babies of their own that have grown into adults with their families, Grandmas know what's up. Both Grandmas were so sweet and the shots with grace were so lovely!

After all of the serious picture-takin' was over, we switched little Grace into her tutu and set her loose. She found a tasty bit of grass to chew and quickly started climbing all the trees and running at to speed through the pretty grass.

Thank you again Kathy, CJ, Grannies and Grace for an amazing afternoon! We laughed, we joked, and fun was had by all. This. THIS is why I love what I do.

Madison & Luke

Engagement shoots are just so FUN!

The couples are always so excited, and they loooooOOOoooove each other, they're fun to direct... It's all around a good time. I met Madison and Luke in League City at Challenger 7 park... AND. IT. WAS. AWESOME. I couldn't have asked for nicer people!

 I wanted a touch of whimsy in this shoot, so the lovely Katy made the beautiful wreath pictured above. It's the little things!

The weather was grey and overcast (a photographer's dream!) and I felt so lucky to be in such a gorgeous spot with such pretty people. I shot this session on a 50mm 1.4 and compensated with shutter speed to keep my aperture at 1.4 throughout the shoot. Nothing says lovely like a gorgeous creamy soft background!  

They laughed, they kissed, they danced, and fun was had by all.

It's always a good time to dance in a field for absolutely no reason without any music. But hey, they got some kisses out of it aaaaand a great shot.

The cloud cover helped the green forest really POP! The whole forest felt like it was ours. I tried to capture both shots that show ten off (They're pretty adorable, yes?) but also to show the scenery and give them a few "moment" shots. 

This shot. THIS SHOT. THIS. Thiiiiiissssss.I can't get over this shot. Isn't she perfect? Love it.

You'll see more of these two lovebirds in November when we're out at their wedding.

That shot.

A Sweet 16 Shindig

This little lady right here sure knows how to party.

Photographing a party is an amazing experience. The food, the muisc, the people, they're all geared up and ready for a good time. Chasitty's Sweet 16 had a beautiful mask theme, which for me was awesome because it made for some great shots. They ate, they danced, they laughed, they hugged, and all in all it was just a fantastic experience for everyone, myself included.

The belle of the ball in her lovely silver gown.

Veronica and Leo couldn't be more proud of their little girl, all grown up!

Always have to get a gorgeous family photo! (Don't they look great in their party attire?)

Daddy and Daughter dance

Wobble with me y'all

Audi and Mommy showing off their masks

All in all a festive night!

Thank you so much for allowing me to come party with you guys! 

And...

Happy Sweet 16 Chassity!

Oh the places you will go

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Senior Portraits are an opportunity

When you get right down to it, I love what I do. I love the equipment, I love the sound of the shutter being released, I love meeting new people, and I LOVE the look on a client's face when I show them the back of a camera during a shoot and they see themselves the way that I see them. 

Graduating Senior Portrait sessions are my favorite. There is something about being 18 and on the brink of a life change that makes a person fun to be around. Life is full of potential, your interests are all encompassing, and this photo shoot, THIS ONE, this is the one that lets you show off who you are, RIGHT NOW. You know your whole life is going to change, things will get better, things will get worse, and when you wake up and you're 30 you will look at these and see them with an adoration that you can't even grasp now. 

That being said, I love them. If I never pointed my camera at any other type of human again I could be completely happy just photographing seniors.

I was lucky enough to spend some time this spring with Briana, a graduating senior in south Houston, Texas. Her smile, personality, and downright smashing good looks has left me with all of the warm fuzzes that I can handle, and to date I can say this is probably my favorite senior session. (That's a challenge to you seniors, show me what you're made of and let's get shooting!)

I took her to Bay Area Park in Webster because of the simple backgrounds. Don't get me wrong, I love some architecture, but this lovely lady needed some nature in her life to make that delicious red hair of hers really pop. 

She loved the look of some of the more contemporary magazine style shoots, so that's what I went with. She brought an amazing makeup artist and the resulting look was fantastic.

Using simple backdrops made the shoot that much more elegant. The park has a lovely growth of tall reeds and grasses near the water that brought an unusual but interesting texture. The combination of low depth of field, soft lighting (All natural light by the way, it was cloudy and the world was my giant soft box!) and glamorous dresses really made the shoot pop. simple props like white flowers also added a perfect touch.

All in all, it was a lot of fun, and the resulting shots are ones that I think she will always treasure. Thank you again Briana and Jenny for getting together with me and making my day so much fun!

Senior sessions are available throughout the year in a variety of locations. Please see my webpage for package details and specials!

We are located in Houston, Texas, but often travel to meet clients and make memories together. Package rates for local or travel can be obtained by contacting Carlynne at carlynne@shutterwhale.com and telling her a little bit about your dream session.

www.SHUTTERWHALE.com

Street Poet

Heath is a talented poet based in New Orleans, LA and SHUTTERWHALE had the distinct pleasure of meeting him on our visit! We hired him to create a poem to commemorate the night and we couldn't be more happy! He will write a poem and happily mail it to any location. Here's our little gem: 

Love you Guys!