Busy Week... the website will be down for maintenance ;)

Howdy! I hope you kept warm last week and are ready to enjoy hopefully much more pleasant weather... I just wanted to briefly inform my clients, past, present and future, that the website will be getting a makeover... a much needed one! So I've decided to tackle this long awaited project this week and I am determined to accomplish the daunting task soon. In the meantime, stay tuned to the blog for daily posts as well as any news ;)

Happy Monday!!!

Winter Storm, Valley Style ;).

Whoah.

It was cold, really cold. While the a large chunk of the country was buried under snow and stressing over freezing temperatures, the Rio Grande Valley froze. For a night, that is. The past two days were really cold and the most winter we have had in a few years. Now 29 degree fahrenheit may be nothing for eskimos, but for valley natives, that's cold!!! 

We don't have cold weather. We have chilly nights and one day out of the year, usually way after Christmas, where we can actually wear a jacket and not look silly. But this week, we joined the nation in the winter storm. Boy was it interesting ;)

Although we lost electrical power the first night, having my mommy and little brothers around made up for it. I think by the end of the night we went a little crazy... just a little. We anxiously waited for snow but it never came. Every hour, we'd peek outside but there was nothing, just ice. And more ice. 

Because of lack of electricity, my job has been a little more difficult to accomplish without a working computer. So much time at home and nothing much to do, but take photos. With a phone, a phone that had very little battery! Alas, iphone came to the rescue and allowed us to entertain ourselves, a lot.

See the craziness below... All photos are iphone photos taken with insta.gram (the best app ever!). 

For my friends here at home, I hope you are still keeping warm... in the sunny weather making its way back! And for my friends everywhere else, keep warm!!! 

Happy Friday :)

Leslie and Rick, Engaged - Harlingen, Texas

As much as I love photographing weddings, I truly enjoy the time I spend photographing my fabulous couples during their engagement session. The time in front of the camera is much more intimate and definitely way more relaxed. We have all the time in the world, ideally of course, to play around with the surrounding locations and travel to as many places as we could possibly think of. More importantly, we get to interact with one another as photographer and client. This, this is my utmost favorite part. 

I am allowed to be goofy and make them laugh so their portraits are much more relaxed. The engagement session serves as the perfect opportunity for the bride and groom to become acquainted with the photographer's shooting style and personality. We will spend a great chunk of the wedding day together so it is essential that the bride and groom feel comfortable around me and in front of the camera. This results in relaxed imagery even on their most nervous and intimate moments. 

When I first met Rick and Leslie, we had emailed back and forth for a while. It was nice to put a face to the lovely bride I had been communicating with :) Leslie and Rick are truly sweethearts. They have spent a few years learning about one another and are finally ready to wed. The two of them are genuinely a loving couple. They are loving and caring towards one another and to those around them.  Leslie exudes sweetness, she is just so darn sweet! Rick is caring and dearly in love with his fiancee. Together, they are both very intelligent individuals ready to conquer the world as a married couple. 

The self-proclaimed "once-bully and once-bullied", have matured and fallen in love through the years. They have spent countless of hours on Leslie's front porch talking, talking about each other and their futures. I am delighted to have met them and very much looking forward to their August nuptials. Leslie and Rick, thank you for trusting me with photographing your big day!!! I am anxiously awaiting the late summer wedding :) In the meantime, how about some of their engagement session.... 

A quick stop at the church where they will be married... and definitely one of my favorites ;)

I love photographing bride's engagement rings... each one is so unique and tells a very special story.  

Happy Monday!!!

Please Note: Clients free to use these watermarked images on your social networking sites. Please refrain from altering the photo in any shape or form. Re-editing of images is strictly prohibited and infringes upon copyright law. Otherwise, please don't steal my images :) Thank you!  

CONTEST!!! Tell me about L.O.V.E.

Close your eyes and slumber,

fall deep within your sleep.

I am here to hold you closely

as you dream so carelessly. 

- Marisol Izaguirre, 2011

As January comes to an end later on this week I decided it was time to host a little contest, just in time for Valentine's Day.  When I was little girl my dad would always send me flowers and candy to school on Valentine's Day. I knew nothing about boyfriends or even thought about getting married someday. I came to know Valentine's day as truly a day celebrating love, love of family, love of parents, love of siblings and, later on in life, as love of a special someone. Every aspect, it is unconditional love. 

So yes Valentine's Day may seem overtly commercialized and all about seeing red, but I truly loved receiving valentine's day cards and feeling giggly when the little boys brought you flowers back in elementary school. But the best part, the best part was receiving flowers and chocolates, tons of them, from your family. 

So as for the contest, here is what I am proposing...

The Details - Are you in love? Odds are, you most probably are. Love is not merely about being married or engaged. Don't have a boyfriend or girlfriend? That's okay. Love is caring for your family, your mom, your sister, your friend. Love is caring about your husband, your fiance, your boyfriend or maybe your pet. Whatever love is for you, I want to know. 

The Contest - Tell me who you are in love with!!! Contest begins today and ends on Friday January 28, 2011. To participate, you must post a comment on this blog or on my facebook page telling me who you love or are in love with and a short statement about why. It can be a sentence or it can be a couple. On Saturday January 29th I will place all of the comments in a big bowl and my fiance will do me the honors of reading them and choosing the winner. All comments will be anonymous so he will decide the winning statement based on content.

The Rules - Sweet and simple... Leave your comment on the blog or the facebook page. Tell me who you love and why. Deadline is Friday January 28th at 12:00 PM. Contest is open to all and anyone, including past clients. *Please note: future clients whom have already booked a session are ineligible due to the nature of the prize. I hope you understand :)

The Prize - A completely stylized LOVE SESSION... a specially customized Portrait Collection for the winning entry will include the following: A 45 minute on-location stylized session, complimentary web-ready images (a minimum of 3), private online gallery, and a completely FREE and custom designed 20 page 6x6 Flush Mount Album {A $300 value on its own!!!} and you get to hang out with me for a while ;)

So what do you say, will you enter and hopefully win? 

Spread the word and THANK YOU!!!

Portraits - Arianna

Arianna is such a beautiful young lady. She has increasingly blossomed into a true natural beauty and I have had the pleasure of photographing her twice. Ariana is diving into the modeling, acting and singing and I am delighted to watch her in the beginning stages of a promising career. I look forward to watching her grow into a young woman and when she makes it big I hope she remembers her little photographer back home.

The first session we did was literally last-minute and put together extremely quick. Literally, our session was about 35 minutes long. Right before the sun set, we managed to get some really cute and youthful-looking shots.

Arianna, I wish you much success!!!

Her adorable dogs showed up early during our session and I just couldn't help but snapping a few photos of them...

Happy Monday!

Please Note: Clients free to use these watermarked images on your social networking sites. Please refrain from altering the photo in any shape or form. Re-editing of images is strictly prohibited and infringes upon copyright law. Otherwise, please don't steal my images :) Thank you!  

Itzel and Nathan, Engaged - Pharr, Texas

During one the summer's bridal sessions, I met a lovely young woman who was helping the bride for her bridal portraits. Itzel was quiet and somewhat timid. But very helpful and always looking out for the beautiful bride. As we struck conversation, Sarita - the bride - mentioned Itzel was her brother's girlfriend. Itzel and Sarita's mom said soon it would be Itzel's turn to have bridal portraits. So, naturally, I asked Itzel if she was engaged. She smiled and said no. Then I said, well, when you become engaged you'll make a lovely bride and maybe I'll get the chance to photograph you. 

A few weeks later at the wedding, I met Nathan. Nathan was a groomsmen and Itzel was a bridesmaid. Fast forward a few months and I received an email from Itzel... "I'm engaged!..." I was beyond excited :) Photographing Sarita's (Nathan's sister) wedding allowed me to meet and interact her family. I feel honored to be asked to come back for another wedding. 

Itzel is the ideal bride... in the sense that I completely see her as a young woman delighted to be engaged to the man of her dreams and eagerly awaiting the day she can begin the rest of her life completely with him. I am really looking forward to photographing their wedding because I can't wait to see what Itzel has planned. She is always on top of things and puts a lot of thought into every aspect of their wedding. Her and Nathan's engagement session was so well thought out that I was so delighted and simply just had to click the shutter and snap a picture.

Okay, so it wasn't that easy... I did kneel down a time or two, which totally makes my job a little harder ;) Kidding aside, spending an afternoon with them was fun. We began their session with some casual photos in their favorite basketball team's jerseys. How fun and cute is that?! Tons, trust me. Then we moved to Nathan's grandmother's house which has such an exquisite yard, all around. It is absolutely beautiful and very natural. 

Nathan and Itzel are completely in love with one another. After dating for a few long years, it is evident neither one wants to be without the other. That is truly amazing. The love they share for each other is apparent in the subtle ways they look at and speak to each other. But most importantly, they are wholeheartedly caring individuals, with everyone. 

I must add that Nathan is an exceptional pianist. He played throughout this whole segment and I was delighted to hear some amazingly played classical music. I almost wanted to put my camera down and just hang out and listen. But I had to be professional, of course ;)  

The light was golden that late afternoon, so romantic ;) 

Itzel and Nathan, Congratulations on your engagement!!! Thank you for spending a lovely afternoon with me and I am so looking forward to your wedding day!!!

Be blessed :)

Please Note: Clients free to use these watermarked images on your social networking sites. Please refrain from altering the photo in any shape or form. Re-editing of images is strictly prohibited and infringes upon copyright law. Otherwise, please don't steal my images :) Thank you!