Leona & Landon

March 5, 2010


Because I am submitting Leona and Landon’s wedding to certain publications I am unable to post too much from their amazing wedding at Trois Estates in Fredericksburg. However, I just couldn’t resist giving at least a sneak peak at some of their stunning portraits. This particular location is probably one of my absolute favorite venues to date and I am so excited to have the opportunity to photograph there again just next month. God willing, the light will be just as perfect then as it was for Leona and Landon. Keep an eye for the entire post soon.

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Trevor Dayley said: Eye candy!!!! Caroline Ghetes said: These are beautiful! Love the flares and the textures/tones. AmyPunky Photography said: Incredibly beautiful!!! Jasen said: All of these are beautiful images. Gotta say the last one is my favorite. As always…stunning.

Syracuse, NY

March 3, 2010


 Last month I had the amazing honor of being invited to speak at the Central New York PUG meeting in Syracuse, NY. It was an all around amazing experience and I will forever be grateful for my gracious host, Alice Patterson, who is not only a kind soul but an amazing photographer to boot! Oh yeah and she comes with an incredible family who welcomed me into their home for Super Bowl Sunday and though there is truly no place like home, it was a VERY close runner up. Being from Texas and shooting the majority of my weddings in sunny California I just couldn’t resist the urge to photograph in the snow. Here are a few of my favorite images from a quick shoot I did with Alice’s sister Beth, husband John, and their daughter Abby with her high school sweetheart Charles. 

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AmyPunky Photography said: love the photo of the coupe unfocused with the snow in focus! am i clear? lol Trevor Dayley said: Beautiful photos my friend. I love how you really draw out the emotion of people in your photos. So beautiful. Elizabeth VIlla said: Absolutely love these. It is photos like these that make me sad that I like in Southern California and not someplace where it snows so beautifully!
Beth your family is gorgeous! Alice your PUG must be amazing :) Alice said: Awww Clayton… mi casa su casa! Thank you for your your very kind words, your inspiring presentation, and most of all these gorgeous photographs of my family in the snow! So lovely!

Prelude

February 28, 2010


“Love is that time when when the mirrors in my mind turn to windows, and instead of seeing the reflection of myself, I see you…” Unkown

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Jody Truly said: GORGEOUS!!!!! completely gorgeous. kellie finch said: amazing! leona is going to be such a happy girl! :)
fun meeting you.. you are CRAZY talented!! Trevor Dayley said: Diggin’ the focus. AmyPunky Photography said: this is beautiful!! love the orange wall and the big flare!

…when we are both cats.

February 24, 2010


Here it comes. I’ve seen this tens, if not a hundred times. I can quote it word for word…”Look at us. I’m frozen and you’re dead…and I love you.”  Best lines. Ever. And as if on cue, I cried. I always do…

 Often I am asked where I find my inspiration. Inspiration comes in many forms but you must never set out to look for it. Inspiration can not be found. It, quite simply, finds you. Most often when you least expect it. It can not be contained, or boxed in, or written into an equation to be followed. Inspiration is completely personalized, almost intimate. A kiss between our hearts and our minds. Such was the case when I was relaxing earlier this evening watching one of my all time favorite movies, Vanilla Sky. So much in fact that I just had to share this inspiration with someone. This scene in particular is one of the most inspiring three minutes and eighteen seconds of my life. The Goodness – in a leading role. The colors. The framing. But most importantly the way I felt when I watched this scene. The line “I will see you in another life…when we are both cats”. So. Good. Surely I’m not the only one who has been inspired by a movie, a song, a poem. I would love to hear where inspiration has found you lately! Feel free to share in a comment.

 

Katie said: I, too, hold “Vanilla Sky” in a special place in my heart. Lauren Carlson said: NPR’s “This American Life” always offers me inspiration. Just hearing other people’s stories gets me thinking and the wheels in my head start turning.Also, walking around Austin on a beautiful sunny day always offers up a heaping dose of inspiration. Caroline Ghetes said: I’ll be honest, when I first watched this movie years ago, I never really “got it”, and o I was a bit annoyed with it and haven’t watched it since. With that said, after watching this little clip, I’m willing to hit up the video store and give it another shot : ) Thanks for sharing! Kaysha Weiner said: Music has always been a huge inspiration to me, I love Ben Harper’s “Walk Away” It still stops me in my tracks whenever it plays. Jasen said: Such a powerful scene in a very underrated movie. Great choice. A song I just recently started listening to again kind of inspired me. Its called “Last Request” by Paolo Nutini. Love this line in the chorus, “Sure I can accept that we’re going nowhere, But one last time let’s go there” kind of painful yet romantic. Good stuff.

Just Because

February 21, 2010


 ”So why did you decide to have portraits done again?” I asked as I climbed down from the ladder. Berk gave me an inquisitive look, shrugged his shoulders and replied “Well…um…just because?”.  I gave a little laugh and went about putting on the finishing details to the shoot. A little to the left here, a tad higher there. Your pocket needs something pretty. Those boots are aaamazing. There. Perfect. At the time I didn’t give it much thought, after all I had a job to do and the sun waits for no man. No, not even for me. Then thirty minutes later I had just released the shutter as the golden, buttery light of a perfect sunset flared from behind a tree in the distance when it hit me. So this is what “just because” looks like.  At that very moment I found myself wishing that every session was a “just because” session. Every client a “just because” client. Every beautiful sunset, god’s way of shrugging his shoulders and saying “just because”. And I smiled. So often I find myself documenting some of the most important moments in a person’s life. A marriage, a pregnancy, a birth. But to be there in a wide open field, the cool winter wind gently blowing through Leslie’s auburn hair, the perfect Anthropologie dress, and most importantly with two young people who simply love each other and want to be able to remember this day for a lifetime. No immediate plans to get married.  No babies on the way. No one going off to war, or returning home safely. They are here simply because they want to be.

After finishing up this edit, I locked up the house, turned out all the lights, fed the dog, and crawled into bed with my baby. We snuggled into the late night and spoke of how we first met and how drunk I got on our first date because I was so stinking nervous. We laughed. And we congratulated ourselves for making it this far despite all we have been through together. Then we snuggled some more. Oh how I wish someone was there to take a picture because like Berk and Leslie, it is the small moments in our lives that are really the most memorable…

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shelby said: yowza! awesome!!! Diana Lupu said: I have to say, I look forward to reading your foreword to your shoots all the time. And I too love “Just Because” shoots the most…it just seems like the most beautiful reason is no reason at all. =) It helps the pictures are AWESOME!!! Kristi Wright said: Ok these are pretty good ;-).These are fabulous. I would have to sit down and point to each one I love the most and why. There are too many to mention in a comment. Beautiful work, beautiful couple and what a beautiful day to be photographed ‘just because’.
Btw, my grandmother had an old stereo/record player like that growing up. I wish I had it along with that slide projector ;-).What an incredible find. Sarah said: you are killing me with these! so stinking gorgeous – what a stunning couple… Amy said: I am digging the post processing on these photos! Beautiful! AmyPunky Photography said: the colors are yummy!!! Trevor Dayley said: So stinkin’ super nice! Love it to the umph’ degree!!! Kat Forsyth said: I’ll take a ‘just because’ with you any day. JUST BECAUSE you’re freaking amazing. Um, I think I’m just going to gush on every post you do from now until forever, so you’ll just have to deal with that. Mmmkay? :-) Ashley said: oooo these are so lovely! i just did a “just because” mention of someone and this would be a perfect follow up on my site! do you mind if i feature it on hi-fi weddings? i love your work! thanks!

Prelude

February 20, 2010


“If you live to be 100, I hope to live to be 100 minus 1 day, so that I never have to live without you…” Christopher Robin

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AmyPunky Photography said: I love this… sigh… <3 Leslie Ellison said: Absolutely stunning Clayton! Kat Forsyth said: Oh, the COLOURS. The light. Her eyes. This is perfection! I don’t think I’ll ever get over how talented you are. I’m blown away everytime you post something new!

“Kiss” (album preview)

February 19, 2010


 Every kiss is different. Some tender, some passionate, and well, some just plain awkward.  All beautiful and no two alike. There is the kiss of welcome and of parting. The long, loving present one. The stolen one and the mutual one. There is a kiss of love, of joy, and of sorrow. A kiss that seals a promise. A kiss that breaks one. Oscar Wilde once said “A kiss may ruin a human life”. Oh to be ruined!  It is not the touching of lips that brings us to our knees. Its the very moments just before. The moments when she is thinking “I love you. No, I need you. You have found me and I can’t wait to grow old with you. I will tell you of my inner most fears and you will save me from them. You have saved me from myself.”  All the while he too quietly whispers to himself,  ”You are my girl. You are beautiful, and sexy, and when I look into your eyes I see the faces of my children. I am just a man and I will most certainly make mistakes. But you will forgive me and I will be better for it. I can not wait to make you my wife.” Yes, it is in those moments that many a life has been ruined. Kissing is like drinking salt water: you drink but your thirst only increases! This is what I love most about being a wedding photographer. I get to experience every kind of kiss vicariously through the amazing couples who have graced me with the presence of their love.  Thank you universe.

It is the kiss that inspired me when building Mandy and Ben’s engagement album. Their kiss was soft and gentle, like a secret. Normally I would post an album in the form of a slide show. However I wanted you to be able to take your time and enjoy their album at your own pace. And when you get to the part where they kiss, don’t forget to sigh, and smile, and thank the universe for the Goodness, because after all, that is the best part… 

 

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Diana Lupu said: LOVE every. single. shot. Amazing…and the blue in her dress is incredible!!! Great job, as always! AmyPunky Photography said: this is so gorgeous!! love the kiss! kristin cook said: beautiful!
love the layout and phrases


*For Photographers*

These days it seems like everyone is jumping on the “outsourcing bandwagon”. Every time I log on I come across a new start up that promises to take on as much of the work load as possible. I recently came across such a company who offers to “do all the work so you don’t have to”.  Don’t want to build your own albums? No Problem. Don’t want to spend a single minute in the digital darkroom? We have you covered. Want to just collect paychecks and not even take pictures any more? Not to worry. We are working on that. It is unfortuante how disconnected many photographers have become with their craft. I have always considered myself more of an artist than a photographer, the camera being the chosen medium for my creative expression and I am so proud to see an image through from potential to Goodness. Every image that a client sees has been hand edited by me personally because my desire is to be proud of everything that I produce. Every moment. Every image. Its not that I am a control freak. I’m just emotionally attached.

It is a very rare thing for me to show raw images. However, for the sake of proving a point, I wanted to show what generally happens to an image during the process. The following is an image of my intern, King Brad, who is going to storm the wedding industry like a Spider Monkey. The process shows the transition of his raw image to B&W. The Goodness, un-outsourced. And for those who would argue for time management, I timed myself for this edit. 16 seconds. Flat.

 

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AmyPunky Photography said: I’m with you, I like to do things by myself. Great post-processing! Ashley said: As a fellow wedding photog myself, I agree that some people in “the biz” seems to be after money and “fame” only…and forget what an art form it truly is! yadira richards said: Beautiful, can you imagine if picaso would have had someone else perfect his art? great post Clayton!! claytonaustin said: Yup, 16 seconds! The key to being truly proficient in PS is using short cut keys but most importantly assigning your F key functions. For instance my Shift+F4 runs the action that allows me to sharpen eyes while F6 runs my Fill Flash action. F8 is my B&W and F9 burns my edges. etc. So. Easy. Q said: Very cool tutorial … but 16 seconds? really? wow! pam said: Amen! no production line photography here! Kim said: Great processing Clayton. I’d love to know what you did for the flare action. Love your work and look forward to seeing your posts! Shannon said: 16 seconds?! that’s great! how long do you estimate it takes you to complete the sorting & editing for a single wedding? Caroline Ghetes said: I completely agree with you. People keep telling me I should outsource, but I JUST CAN’T. I feel like I would be cheating myself. megan welker said: thank you for posting this!! I agree 100% with you! Plus, I actually like post processing :)
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