Portraits

We went to have the obligatory family portrait made about a month ago, along with some shots of both boys and just Joel. We went to JC Penney's, I guess because that's where we've had Gabriel's pictures taken and it's affordable. My problem with them is twofold. The result is nice, but very generic and boring. And they have ridiculous turnover so you never know if you're going to get someone who knows how to photograph kids. We got lucky with Gabriel. Not so much this time. I ended up having to make Gabriel smile for every picture, and she had NO clue how to deal with Joel. She kept trying to get him to sit up by propping him with some pillows. And of course, being three months old, he kept falling over. When we left, I vowed in my head to not waste our money there again.

When Jav and I decided to get married in Fredericksburg, my Mom and I took a really fun trip to find the cake baker and photographer. I had come up with two, one an established studio and the other just a person who came up in the search. His name was Michael Roche, and we had our first meeting with him at the local coffee hang out. He seemed very stand-offish and even a bit snooty, and informed us that he never worked in color, only black and white or sepia. So if we had wanted shots of the Fred. Herb Farm in all of it's spring color, he wasn't our man. I liked the samples of his work that he shared with us, but I left the meeting thinking there was no way in you know where that I was going to let that jerk take pictures at my wedding.

So we drove to Kerrville to see the big studio, and it was there that I discovered how little I like the standard, posed pictures that people have taken at weddings. You know what I mean. The close up of the hands with rings. The bride simulating taking off her garter and all the groomsmen lined up. Gag. Yawn. Driving back to Fredericksburg, I decided to give Mr. Roche a chance and just hoped I wasn't making one of the biggest mistakes of my life.

It turned out to be one of the smartest moves I've made. He really wasn't a jerk, either, just extremely shy and cursed with one of those "artistic" personalties that are hard to converse with. He took the most beautiful pictures. They have life and movement, and show the joy from the occasion better than I ever thought possible. Even his posed pictures of the wedding party, etc.. have a playful quality. And he did take quite a few in color, the first time ever for him. He ended up staying way past the time we hired him for and took pictures of everyone dancing and the mariachi band. Whenever I flip through the album, I am transported to that happy day. I will never be able to repay him for what he gave us. And I have a dream of having him take the boys pictures some day.

The link to his website is here. He has ten pics from our wedding, numbers 10 through 13 and 17 through 22 under "Weddings".