Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Where are they now: Ladies of the Damned!

If there was a darkest spot in a black hole, it would be Roseburg, Oregon. If there was a pinpoint in the darkest spot, it would be Idleyld, Oregon. But I only came to learn this the hard way.

Roseburg is about 70 miles north of where I lived in Oregon. It was more rural than Grants Pass, but the bridal fair was only $100 for a booth. How could I go wrong? So Christina and I loaded everything up, drove up there, set up our booth, and planned to book a bunch of weddings.

My wife, Christina, met a nice woman there who owned a little wedding venue called the Idleyld Lodge, in the very rural community of Idleyld which is about 20 miles further into the wilderness than Roseburg. Barbara happened to have owned a bridal shop in Portland some years earlier, but had sold it to move out to the country and run the lodge. Christina noticed the most beautiful vintage dresses at her booth and complimented her on them. She said she had tons more dresses. They got to talking and decided it would be fun to come out to her lodge and do a fashion shoot. She would get some models together, and we would bring our favorite hair and makeup artist, Gioia. We would be trading images for lodging and try to cross promote each other's businesses.

Well, the lodge ended up being one of the strangest, scariest places I have ever been. It was more Dukes of Hazzard than the Driskill, that's for sure. The rooms were homier than I cared for with kitschy themes and plastic flowers. As it turned out Barbara only wanted to trade for one room, so we had to pay to put up the makeup artist and our assistant. The whole place was so unphotogenic, that I was hard pressed to find anywhere I wanted to shoot. We finally found a antique room divider screen with a pineapple motif that we were barely able to drag down the stairs. Then our makeup artist broke some antique vase and was trying not to freak out about how much it was going to cost her.

But the dresses! That's where the real fun began. We had seen about four or five gorgeous vintage dresses in her booth at the bridal fair. That's about all there was hidden in the vast sea of the ugliest 80s reject wedding gowns you have ever imagined. There must have been thousands of snow beast monstrosities not to mention fuchsia, emerald green and royal blue bridesmaids' dresses with no shape and only one sleeve. We had to comb through all the hideous dresses to find the gems among them in the hot, musty attic of the lodge where the dresses were crammed together, all the while feigning amazement at the awful dresses Barbara was trying to pick out for us.

The models were nice, local girls excited to be modeling for a "real" fashion shoot. I think Barbara had inflated the credentials of our makeup artist, as one girl seemed to think Gioia was straight out of Hollywood with connections in the modeling world. Gioia worked her wonders, and the girls looked incredible. One of their mom's even modeled a bit. I though she looked very Jackie O.

We had offered to give all the girls who participated a print and let them buy the CD for a very nominal fee. We also gave prints and the CD to the Barbara, the owner. We sent the CD to Barbara first and waited to find out what prints she wanted. We emailed a few times and never heard another word from any of them! I was somewhat relieved as I prayed that I would never have to go back to the Idleyld Lodge, let alone do a wedding there. We have fondly called the shoot the "Ladies of the Damned" ever since. All I can say is, "Viva Texas!"









Saturday, August 16, 2008

Two Rings Bind Them: Estella and Carlos at St. Mary's and the Caswell House!

What a sweet couple Carlos and Estella made, shy but so perfect for each other. They had a very intimate ceremony at St. Mary's Cathedral in downtown Austin and their reception at the Caswell House where all the proceeds benefit the Austin Junior Forum. Estella is a vegan, so we were a bit surprised that their caterer was going to be Pok-e-Jo's, but Estella said their chef wowed her with all the veggie options that were available. I was also quite impressed by the vegan wedding cake that Mr. Natural baked up. Moist, chocolaty, and delicious!

I knew Estella was musical, but it was awesome to see finally see a bride perform at her own wedding! She did a very sweet rendition of "You're Love is Better than Chocolate" by Sarah McLachlan for Carlos. Then he surprised us all with by playing "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds Five on the piano for Estella as she chimed in on the lyrics. So adorable! Then they danced the night away to the sounds of Estella's dad's band who came all the way from Laredo.







Wednesday, August 13, 2008

ENGAGE! Lindsay and Berry!

Wow, what an adventurous couple with a zest for life! Lindsay and Barry are having quite the wedding in September: a quick ceremony on the Capitol grounds followed by a rockin', video game themed reception at Buffalo Billiards on 6th St. Who else but Rebel with a Camera could shoot that kind of wedding?

We headed out to the UT campus and the student underground for some very unique engagement pictures. From what I understand, Berry finally beat Lindsay at air hockey. I think the revenge will be catastrophic at the reception!






Sunday, August 10, 2008

High School High: Cedar Park Coaches

I was recently asked to take the official pictures of the Ceder Park High school football coaches and their families for the football game programs this year. Not having played football in high school, I had no idea how many coaches a team needed. I suppose football is a bit more complicated than say, basketball, perhaps. I only figured out to how score football when first covering it as a rookie photojournalist, but I think I figured out basketball when I was three.

Anyway, thank God these guys know what they're doing. I think Cedar Park's shaping up to have a great year!

Saturday, August 09, 2008

Two Rings Bind Them: Megan and Josh!

Happy people are so fun to shoot! Megan and Josh just smiled all day long. But they knew how to look cool, too! They were friends of Nycole and Brad, one of the coolest couples ever, whose wedding we did in March.

We started the day at JR Salon where all the gals got dolled up. Green Pastures put on a flawless wedding once again. They actually had two weddings there simultaneously, but you never would have known it. Tanya, their awesome coordinator, asked us to take a picture of her two sweet brides.










Wednesday, August 06, 2008

ENGAGE! Lindsay and Caleb!

Lindsay and Caleb didn't have the best of luck scheduling their engagement session. I think it took three times for the weather to cooperate and everything to come together. But it was worth it! Lindsay is a high school dance teacher and carried herself like only a dancer can with such grace and poise. She just knew how to pose.

She and Caleb are getting married this December with a reception at Chateau on the Creek which is a cute little venue in Round Rock.





Saturday, August 02, 2008

Two Rings Bind Them: Amber and Brandon at Villa Antonia!

What a sumptuous wedding! Villa Antonia already sets the stage for a very classy affair. But Visual Lyrics transformed it into a lush, almost tropical wonderland with hanging orchids and some of the most creative bouquets I have ever seen. The cakes from Sweet Tempered were scrumptious as can be.

Amber and Brandon looked fabulous themselves and so in love. A few snags came about on the wedding day, but they handled them with amazing grace and patience. That's the way to start a lifelong marriage!