Brianne and Brent's Engagement Shoot

Welcome to the first post of my new blog. Now I have finally completed my 2005 to-do list. On a technical note, I haven't yet mastered the image parameters for blogger, so I expect my next post will not have the compression and sharpening artefacts found in this first post (sorry!). To the point... It's a generally a cornerstone of my working style that I won't ask or coach you to do really cheezy and hackneyed poses of yesteryear (or of this year for that matter). However, if my clients actually ask me to do some whacky things, and we happen to be in Waco, Texas, I just might oblige!



If I told you, for example, that the picture above was taken atop an 800 pound gorilla dressed as Pooh, you might not believe me, which is why we have this next shot. I must also point out that Brianne was a fantastic sport, playing along with every odd location that Brent and I had selected while she was preparing for her bridal shoot.



Though I'm based out of Austin, I have strong ties to Waco, so this engagement shoot allowed me to visit some of my favorite beautifully derelict street corners in the whole world. I can't really explain the next one, except that I like "office in the rear" and thought it might look good all blown out like an Oliver Stone conspiracy movie.




We followed the arrow here...





Most Waco couples will be tempted to take a dramatic pose among the suspension bridge girders. Not to knock the bridge, which was a test run for the builders who later did the Brooklyn Bridge, but all three of us had done that shot before. We thought it would be way better to find the best fake suspension bridge that we could.




In case you were wondering, the official heat index in Waco at this point was 114 Fahrenheit! Next, we visited these really nice stainless steel doors. They belong to a bunch of secretive old guys. You can guess who.






Amazingly, we found another fake bridge, replete with a fake ALICO building and fake courthouse. We were thrilled.



Brent and I simultaneously burst into laughter upon finding this location. It defies explanation, except maybe to the members of the mysterious Tampon Crew.





Just as things are starting to look serious...





... Brent had to take a call.





Brent was also a big fan of Ken's Big Muscle. I remembered that Big Ken opened that gym back when I lived in Waco, but from the window display we couldn't tell if he was still in business or not.







Finally, we visited this old wall of blocks, which Baylor photojournalism students would frequent back during the second Clinton administration. Lucky for us, it hasn't been knocked down yet.