The Last Photoshoot of the Year...

My last photoshoot of the year was of 2 sisters, who coincidentally I did a photoshoot with a year ago almost to the day...except 4 other sisters were involved. Maggie & Catherine come from a big family, 10 children in all. Catherine was in need of some "senior portraits" and Maggie never had any taken ... so it was a belated senior shoot for her. They're a couple of beautiful ladies. And despite their misgivings on how self conscious they looked, I think their photos turned out lovely and natural looking. Especially since it was FREEZING that day...it's no wonder chattering teeth didn't show up in the photos! =) Go HERE to see more photos of these lovely ladies!

Just in time for Christmas...

I got to do a family photoshoot just a few days before Christmas with this friendly family. It was bright & sunny and pretty cold. But they were such good sports and we got several fun photos of the siblings!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

AMZ Photography would like to wish everyone a:

Welcome to the newest member of the team...

After my big photoshoot(s) in Austin, I noticed a decreased photo quality with the photos from the old XT. Of course it is 3 1/2 yrs old and has had almost 40,000 clicks with it's shutter. And as I'm getting a lot more photography work it only made sense to get a new camera.

But as with a lot of us these days, money is tight. So I couldn't shell out $1500-$1800 on a new & fancy camera body. It was suggested to me to buy refurbished and after doing some research I decided that the Canon EOS 40D was for me. I ordered it the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and it showed up a week later. I was excited. It's been a little bit of a learning curve and getting adjusted to the new design, but so far I'm really liking it.

I wrangled the kids and did some test shots with the 40d & my 50mm lens. These were straight off the camera (except the ones that are b/w) and I'm amazed by the quality. I always had to do some sort of exposure fix, color correction or balancing with photos from the XT. So here's to a new chapter in AMZ Photography....

Long distance relationship

Last weekend (Thanksgiving weekend) my brother-in-law came to town for the holiday. He currently lives in San Marcos and his girlfriend lives here in Lufkin. They get to see each other about every other weekend. And while Phil was here they asked me to snap a few photos of them together before he had to head back home.

This "photoshoot" literally lasted 5 minutes. It was cold, and it was about to rain. So we very hastily threw this together. The poses are pretty generic and I told them we'd have to do this "right" at a later date! But in the meantime...

The beginning, middle & end...

I get asked all the time "What does AMZ, in AMZ Photography stand for?" Well, let me tell you! =)

A=Ava (my youngest daugher). M=Megan (my oldest daughter). Z=Zander (my son). So we have a child with the 1st letter of the alphabet, a child with the last letter of the alphabet and a child with the exact middle letter of the alpha. I thought it was poetic and somewhat symbolic: the beginning, middle, end. So in other words, you could call it Beginning, Middle, End Photography but AMZ photography just sounds better! =)

Plus I liked the idea of incorporating my children somehow into the name, because they were what really inspired it all! =)

In other news...

This past weekend I did a photoshoot for my brothers-in-law. I was going for a "Sons of Anarchy" kind of feel. I was told I succeeded! =P

Last but not least...

My last photoshoot from the Austin weekend. These guys were a quiet bunch but very willing to walk all over creation and back to get a few family photos. You can see more of their photos HERE!

I'm finally done editing all the photos from that weekend. 10 days later...pheewww! That was a project. But that weekend enabled me to purchase a refurbished Canon EOS 40D from Adorama Cameras. I was in desperate need of a new camera body as my old XT is about to bite the dust. And with all the money I saved buying refurbished I can buy the 24-70mm 2.8L lens!! =)

Laughter makes the world go round...

Another family...a small one. Just mom, dad, son & grandmother. They were a photogenic bunch and seemed to have a good time hamming it up for the camera. You can view more sample photos from their shoot HERE!

the above image is an 11x14 storyboard (white background)

A Family Affair

Yet another family photoshoot! But this one was a bit different. It involved 3 different families. The in-laws, the parents, siblings, grandparents and even the family dog. This family was full of energy. You can check out the sample photos HERE.

Family Photos at the State Capitol

Another photoshoot from last weekend in Austin. This family wanted their photos taken at the Texas Capitol Building. I think it made for a dramatic backdrop. You can view all of their sample photos HERE.

A mother & daughter

This past weekend I had several family photoshoots in Austin. I had the pleasure of working with a lovely mother/daughter duo. Aren't they beautiful? It was a very casual, informal photoshoot and I think it yielded several really fabulous shots. I hope we have the chance to work together again in the future! (you can catch the rest of their sample photos HERE!)