Sunday, September 26, 2010

Run, Kenny, Run

Last year at the end of October, I received a phone call from my cousin Amir in the Dallas area. He told me he was about to tell me something and I couldn't under any circumstances share it with anyone until the news was ready to be passed around. Sounded bad, and I was right.

You see, the previous year I had shared with him some bad news that I told him he couldn't share with anyone until the news was ready to be spread. I had told him and his soon to be wife (at the time) about my mom's battle and ongoing surgery schedule with Acoustic Neuroma. My mom wasn't ready to tell anyone about it, but Amir is a person I had trusted with conversations and information for a long long time.

So after a few somber moments of talking, Amir proceeded to tell me that his dad (my uncle) has Pancreatic Cancer. Mind you, this is around the same time the news was concentrating on this deadly form of cancer, because Patrick Swayze was dying of it... so I knew the outcome. I quickly jumped on the internet, looked up the treatment for it, chance of survival, etc. Needless to say, I was almost in tears once I learned almost 95% of the people diagnosed do not survive past 5 years.

A few days after the phone call, my uncle Kenny went into surgery. I remember texting Amir all day back and forth asking how everything was going. I was as worried as anyone else was, and I had nobody but Thao to share this with since I had promised Amir I wouldn't say anything until his dad was ready to reveal it himself. After surgery, recovery, came the reveal. The cancer was benign and it was positioned in such a place on his pancreas that it had not entered his blood stream. Needless to say, he was about to become one of the 5% who survive this rather than becoming a statistic. My uncle has always been a fighter and he's an example to many, including myself. I call him randomly for guidance and sometimes just to say hi, give him good news, or tell him how we're doing. It would be hard for me to not have him around. very hard.

A few monts back, he emailed my family and I about a run that was coming up that benefited Pancreatic Cancer in Austin he was going to participate in. Being the forgetful person, I didn't see or read the email until it was too late... but fear not, my brother Fred made sure I remembered. I was supposed to have a client meeting in Austin today (which canceled) but I went up there anyway for the Purple Stride Austin Run/Walk.

My uncle didn't know I was coming, and he didn't know I was planning on taking pictures for him. After all, its the smallest thing I could do to show how much I care. So on Saturday morning, Fred and I woke up at the butt crack of dawn and headed to the Hill Country Galleria in Austin for the run. Here are the pictures I took of the run and the day.

Please look at the pictures and leave my uncle some comments to remind him how big of a battle he's battling, and looks like he's winning. I'm proud to have him as a family member and to call him my uncle.

Kenny, this post is for you! hope you enjoy it.


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These purple roses were given to the handful of survivors among the 1,100+ crowd. Unfortunately, my uncle missed this part. why, you ask? Well, natured called and he was in the bathroom.
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Thursday, September 23, 2010

The Miller Family | Tomball, TX Family Session

A few months back, Courteney emailed me asking if I would do their family pictures before her new baby arrived. To say the least, I was beyond flattered. Not because she emailed me or asked me, but because Courteney is an awesome photographer herself and she has access to God knows how many other photographers here in the Houston area... and she chose me.

So a couple of weeks back, during the heat and humidity of beautiful Houston, Texas we braved the elements with her beautiful daughter Ella and husband Chris, went out to a local park near their house for this awesome session. Here's a few samples from that session. Hope you guys enjoy.


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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Kelsey & Kendan | Austin, TX Engagement

I had the whole thing planned. Talked to Kelsey about it... was ready to go. My plan was to drive to Austin Friday afternoon, do her Bridals (coming soon!) while Kendan was gone for the evening, then do their engagement shoot on Saturday morning before coming back home to Houston.

As I'm driving into Austin, everything seems great. I was making good time, weather was ok - a little cloudy, but not too bad - and Kelsey was getting ready. The closer I get, the clouds grow darker. Being the photographer I am, I'm thinking 'well, I like clouds... this could be awesome'. Ya, right! As soon as I pull into Austin... RAIN! and not just normal rain, either. Rain with drops the size of coins and very little gap between those coin sized drops.

So as I get to K&K's place, Kelsey is ready to go, sitting there in her awesome wedding dress and veil. I had to talk her out of doing the shoot, because as you can tell, I like fields... and fields get muddy when it rains. Not to mention, I'll be damned if I get a bride's dress dirty in a field for the sake of a picture. So, she reluctantly waited until the morning.

So the next morning, early, we did Kelsey's bridal shoot (which rocked... and you'll see it soon enough), then we headed out with Kendan to take some pics of them. The weather was awesome, Kelsey & Kendan brought along some props and we rocked out the shoot in Kyle, Tx.

Here's the results of the shoot, and I'm sure they would really appreciate your love - in the form of comments - after you check out their pics.

Ready? SET... GO!

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