New Year, Same Start

Happy New Year, everyone!  Man, I tell ya.  What a start to the New Year!  This year started off exactly like it did last year.  James Madison University (JMU) came down to compete in this year's NCAA DI FCS Football Championship game against North Dakota State University (NDSU).  But before I talk about this crazy game, let's talk about an event that transpired the day before the game!

My good friend, Scott came down to photograph the game so you know we had to get together and hit the road.  Thursday night, Scott asked me if I wanted to go to Waco and visit Magnolia.  You know Magnolia!  The Magnolia from HGTV?  Yes, Magnolia!  I had no idea what Magnolia was and HGTV wasn't my first choice when it comes to watching tv.  I happily agreed to take the trip down since I have never been to this Magnolia.  Come to find out, last year when I photographed JMU softball at Baylor, I stayed in a hotel right down the street from Magnolia and still had no idea where or what it was.  Seeing this place was pretty neat.  I posted to my Snapchat and within 2 minutes of posting, I had several friends send me a message saying how jealous they were of me being there. 

Scott and I walked around the store so that he could pick up something for his wife and while we did that, I was taking in the ambience of this place.  It was certainly a place I would want to visit the next time I go to Baylor.  Maybe even take a friend or two and do a photoshoot there?

So Saturday was the big day and probably one of the most exciting events to add to my list of crazy things to happen in 2018.  JMU, looking for a back-to-back win, while NDSU was fighting to reclaim their title.  A nail-biting game to say the least.  I was shooting and trying to keep my emotion out of the game but could find myself actually getting stressed at almost every point in the game.  I didn't go to JMU, never taken a class there, but I am a self-proclaimed, die-hard JMU Dukes fan!  Don't @ me.

Ok, so not only was the game super exciting to shoot, I also got to photograph Terrell Owens!  Like, the Terrell Owens.  You know, T.O.  It was a pretty good day, other than the loss.  Lots of excitement, lots of photos, and even getting to spend some time with the FCS's best photo team!  Big thanks to Cathy for getting the squad back together for another year of photos, laughs, and love.

Maria & Family

Sup, everyone!  Long time no see!  It's been a while since I've done a blog post.  My coworker and good friend, Maria finally got a free day for us to go do photos with her kids.  We literally planned to do this since the summer and have both just not been able to do a shoot because of our lives being so hectic.

The day before the shoot, we confirmed where we wanted to go. The photos that I saw online made the locations look beautiful and a place that would be good for family photos.  Well, that wasn't the case after we got there!  We pulled up, looked around, and everything was brown, dead, and ugly.  I had another location as a backup and we made our way to that spot.  Literally the exact same thing.  Everything was ugly, the park was extremely small, you could see the back of people's houses, fences.  Just a pitiful park.  Should it have even been called a park?  Maria mentioned that she had a park where she used to do her morning runs that could work.  We hopped back into the car and made our way to Rockwall, Texas.  This park in comparison to the first two was perfect for what we needed.  What really made this shoot so great was that it was almost 70 degrees!  Perfect December weather if you ask me.

After the shoot, Maria's son wanted some Wendy's so we stopped and got him a 4 for 4 because he killed the shoot and had a great time!  No better way to end a long afternoon of shooting than a pitstop for some food and a Wendy's frosty.

I'm always interesting in meeting more people in the DFW area so if any of my readers know anybody, send them on to me!  I'd love to do more work with families and couples.  I'd really like to do some lifestyle shoots with couples in an Airbnb or some really awesome location.  So again, let me know if you all know some folks!

Trip to Virginia Part II

Thursday

Well, we had a huge promotion in the family this past week, guys!  Aunt Rita was just promoted to Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) with the United States Army!  The promotion ceremony was in The Pentagon and I tell you what, I felt like I was doing something wrong every second I was there!  I was even walking down the halls feeling like I wasn't doing it right!  It was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity to be inside of The Pentagon.  Maybe I'll be able to go back one day.  Anyway, Aunt Rita has been in service for almost 17 years and is still kicking it and doing well.  I couldn't be more proud of her for her accomplishments over the years.  Now we're just sitting back and waiting to see if she will pursue a Colonel position in the near future *inserts winky face emoji*.

Saturday

Saturday rolls around and I took off to the old stomping grounds of Harrisonburg, VA.  There, I met up with my best friend, Sarina.  We invited Tenisha (Teeni) to do a photoshoot with us in the blistering cold because, why not?  We probably spent about 20 minutes in each location and ran back to the car because it was just too cold for this Texan to take in one day.  After the shoot, I was pretty blown away at how we were able to make Harrisonburg not look like Harrisonburg.  It low-key felt like we were out west somewhere.  New Mexico?  Anybody see it? Maybe it's just me.

Sunday

Just like my last VA visit, I went to Divine Unite Community Church (DUCC) and worshipped with my spiritual family.  There was nothing better than seeing all of my good friends, hear good music, worship, and even have a jam session after service!  My dad came up and experienced his first service at DUCC as well.  It was good for him to finally put names to faces as I am always talking about DUCC. Every time I come back, the worship team asks if I'm going to be moving back.  I'm always super hesitant to answer because if the Lord wants it to happen then it will happen.  However, the inside of me is screaming, "PACK UP AND GO!"

Later on Sunday, I was able to meet up with some of my other good friends, Steele, Alice, and Cedar to do a quick family session in Purcell Park.  It's so wild to me that Cedar was literally so small before I left from Harrisonburg last November.  Now, Cedar is getting big and is talking!  Crazy how quickly kids grow up.  After the photoshoot, we went to eat our family dinner together and catch up on each other's lives.

Monday

Well, Monday was my last day of being in Harrisonburg but I couldn't leave until I did a shoot with my homie Caleb and his wife.  We met up at Purcell Park around 7 in the morning to do a quick shoot and it was awesome!  Yeah, it was cold but I sucked it up for these photos!

Before leaving Harrisonburg, I had to run over to EMU to see Scott and my former EMU professors.  It was super nostalgic to be back on campus for a few moments to see everyone.  Even more nostalgic to be hearing some wisdom from Jerry Holsopple.  He continually says things that makes me really rethink how I'm doing things in life.  I think those words of wisdom is what pushes me to see things in a different perspective.  I've always appreciated that.  Good times.  Let's close this thing out!

Overall, a good trip.  My "vacation" turned into me taking a bunch of photos and running around VA like a chicken with no head but I can't complain.  It was a great time to be around friends and family knowing that everyone was in good health and doing well.  Keep living well.  I love y'all!

Dallas in October

Fredy and I finally got back together to shoot after over a month of planning and failed attempts because... well... life.  We met up with Arthur yesterday and set out to take some photos.  

We set out and walked all over downtown to see what we could create and I'm super happy about the shots that I got.  We made a pit stop at Carmines, a New York Style pizza joint, where you can converse, laugh, eat good food, and look outside the window and see two Fisker vehicles like it's just a normal day in the neighborhood.  By the way, anybody visiting Dallas should stop by Carmines because the Philly Cheesesteak is absolutely amazing!

Also, I'm planning on taking a trip to Cali towards the end of this year so if you've ever been, let me know what places to check out!

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.