Kylon

Photographing Kylon was one of the best times I've had as a photographer who sometimes photographs seniors. I absolutely cannot believe all of the things that this young man has accomplished in just his high school years. This guy is going into his first year of college as a junior. Yes, you read that right. He completed the first two years of his college coursework while in high school! Can you believe that?! When he and his mom explained why he had two different cap and gowns, I felt like I could run laps with excitement. I certainly was not that great of a student in high school, so when I hear about young black men accomplishing this, I can't help but feel an immense amount of joy.

Kylon, I've already said it once, but I'll say it once more. I'm very proud of you and what you have managed to accomplish thus far! Continue to grind and put in the work. The fruits of your labor will taste sweet when the time comes!

Rockwall Harbor

I'm sure you guys remember Alex from my Valentines Day post.  Well, she made a surprise appearance back on the blog.  We got to work together last week after not doing anything since February.  This time it was an awesome, summer themed shoot at Rockwall Harbor.  It was my first time at the harbor since before I graduated college in 2016.  Dallas has all of these awesome places to visit and do photoshoots and I never take advantage of it!

Anyway, working with Alex is always a pleasure because everything about her is genuine and she is truly an amazing person.  And yes, the entire fam bam was there for the occasion!  My homie Fredy was there and Anthony came along for the ride and gave us a few awesome photos as well!  We couldn't end the evening without grabbing a bite to eat at the local Chili's!  There's literally nothing better than these friendships that I've made through the power of photography.  If it wasn't for photography, I wouldn't have met all of the people that I have met here.

What do you guys think of this shoot?  It's definitely one of my favorites of the year so far!  Definitely can't wait until we do another shoot.

Gabrielle

Gabrielle and I have been trying to do a shoot for a while now.  The day finally came yesterday after both of us had some free time after work.  We hit one of the trails in Dallas for a quick shoot and I must say that I am very pleased with how the images turned out.

Also, if anybody wants to send some fall weather to Texas, let me know!  It's still in the 90s out here during the day!  Keep your eyes open on shoots coming in the next month or so.  Looking to have some fun things to photograph and great people to work with.

Neighborhood Basketball

On my way home, I pass this park every day but for some reason I told myself to look over towards the basketball court today.  So I looked over and saw a bunch of guys playing basketball...at 2:30...in this heat... So kudos to them for being out there and not passing out like I would've done.  But the guys were all very welcoming and cool to be around.  Some of them asked me if I was shooting for someone big which was a big "no" from me.  I explained that I did a lot of sports photography in my college days and that I needed to get some extra practice for what I have planned for this week.  I definitely need to get my eyes back into the swing of catching action so this was the next best thing for some extra practice.  Also, it's been four months since I last shot with my 1D Mark III so I had to dust that bad boy off and get some shots with it.

Some of the guys actually enjoy going to Downtown Dallas and doing shoots so I can't wait to link up with them and head down to Dallas for some street photography.  These are the moments that I live for.  Making these connections and getting to know people that I wouldn't normally make an effort to reach out to.  After being at work since 5:30 in the morning, that's the last thing I want to do is interact with people but today was different.  Maybe next time I see the fellas out there playing ball, I may just join them.  Don't know how well that would turn out since my soccer and track running skills don't cross over to basketball very well. *inserts wide eye emoji*

I would write more but I'm feeling a nap coming on! 

Also, can y'all believe we're halfway through the month of May? I swear it was just April last week!!  Where is the time going?!  Another thing, guys!  I'm interested in know what you all listen to on a daily basis!  If you have a Spotify account, feel free to send me a playlist or two or comment your favorite songs below.  I've been listening to a lot of Spanish music lately so I'm sharing one of my playlists with you guys!