Samantha Photography's Blog

moved to new blog…

samanthaoulavong — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:03:58 +0000

Hello everyone. I just want you to know that I’ve moved to a new blog at: www.samanthaphotographyblog.com. I look forward to seeing you there.

Sincerely,

Samantha

amy & conrad

samanthaoulavong — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:47:00 +0000

Three weekends ago I had the honor of covering Amy and Conrad’s very elegant wedding at the historical Aldolphus Hotel in Dallas, Texas. The decor and set up was just absolutely amazing. White orchids and roses everywhere! I met Amy and Conrad while I was documenting Bobby and Tuanh’s wedding last summer. Ever since then, I got to know this lovely couple and their beautiful children quite a bit.

Amy and Conrad met while working for the same company in 2005. Conrad was working in the Houston office and Amy was working in the office in Chicago. They would talk on the phone daily and Conrad’s British accent was the tease of the most of their conversations and it wasn’t until New Year’s Eve that Conrad decided to visit Chicago. When she picked him up at the airport, they both knew that there was more than just a friendship. They had a long distance relationship for 45 months and in May 2006, Conrad decided to move to Chicago to take the next step in their relationship.

Amy fell in love with Conrad when he first met her son. She loves the way he interacted with Nathan and how patient Conrad was. She knew then that he was the man that she wanted to share the rest of her life with. Conrad said, “I fell in love with Amy when I realized that I could not live withou her and how much family meant to her, family is very important to me.” After the birth of their daughter, Ava, that was the icing on the cake and he proposed to her, his soulmate.

Congratulations again Amy and Conrad. Thank you for honoring me to cover your big day. I had to say that I cried maybe 3 times that night. The love that you both share can be seen and felt through your interactions and the side way glances you give one another. I wish you two nothing but love, peace and joy.

the handsome hairdresser.

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their daughter joined them on their first dance...you can hear the whole going, "awe..."

I cried when the groom said, "now I can officially call Nathan my son."

there was a "his" cake and a "her" cake.

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stylist: Ryan Chambers

make up artist: absoluteradiance.com

Cake: Opulent Cakes

videographer: Lite Dallas

wedding planner: Bride Associates

location: Aldolphus Hotel

A slide show of their big day can be viewed at: www.samanthaphotography.com, under “Galleries” sub heading.

krysta & philip finally…

samanthaoulavong — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:43:35 +0000

I finally finish editing all of my favorite photos from a wedding I second shoot with my friend Peter Cruse of Peter Cruse Photography. Here they are.

Photos by: Samantha

For: Peter Cruse Photography (www.petercrusephotography.com)

the lovely bride and the dress she designed.

I don't think I can ever stop myself from crying whenever I see the tears of joy streaming down the face of a bride.

I love, love, love this image!

krysta & philip

samanthaoulavong — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:23:20 +0000

I worked as a second shooter for Krysta and Philip’s wedding this weekend with my good friend Peter Cruse of Peter Cruse Photography. I have loads of images that I really liked from the event, but here’s a quick sneak peek at my two favorite photos of the beautiful bride. Krysta is one of those natural beauties…very earthy and very fun. Her dress was designed by her and her engagement ring was designed by her architect boyfriend. They are both architects so it’s definitely a match made in heaven for these two lovebirds. I will be adding more images to this post some time this week. Thanks again Pete for giving me the honor to document their wedding along side you.

For: Peter Cruse Photography (www.petercrusephotography.com)

courtney

samanthaoulavong — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:24:18 +0000

I got to practice my strobes again a couple of weekends ago with this beautiful model. I processed some of my black and whites to get that retro grainy film-look. The make up and hair of course is inspired by Brigitte Bardot. I think I need to add more noise to some of them, but I like them just fine as they are. What do you think?

It’s been a crazy and hectic month and more craziness to come until the end of March. I look forward to the end of this madness. But here’s my form of therapy to save my sanity, these photos I worked on tonight.

Model: Courtney

MUA: Jessica Burnett

courtney

samanthaoulavong — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:04:05 +0000

Here’s a photo from a session I did some time last week.

MUA: Jessica Burnett Model: Courtney

jessica

samanthaoulavong — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:03:37 +0000

The past couple of months I have been doing some studio sessions. I never thought I would enjoy studio photography as much as I have been. All of these photos were taken with my two 580 ex II strobes, a reflector and umbrella as a filter. Jessica is a make up artist and she and I have been collaborating together on a couple of projects. She asked me to take some portraits of her for her new website and here are some of my favorites from the session.

I wanted to capture her fun and laid back personality and here she is. She had no idea I was taking these photos of her, but I love the results.

A more serious side of her and she looked dynamite in green.

haiti…

samanthaoulavong — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 04:29:30 +0000

you’ve not been forsaken.

At times like this, we all want to help, but how and to which organization? Here’s a link to share with everyone. The biggest NGO is not necessarily the most efficient.
www.charitynavigator.org

Doctors Without Borders
Medecins sans Frontieres

www.cmiprojectpapillon.org

spread the holiday cheers…

samanthaoulavong — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:24:45 +0000

At times like this it’s easy to forget those less fortunate than us. As Christmas draws nearer, the song, “Do they know it’s Christmas,” comes to my mind. It reminded me of my Christmas at the orphanage of Project Papillon in Haiti in December of 2008. If you are interested and would like to help out please visit the following web pages:

AYUI (safe house for at-risk hill tribe children in Thailand)

Los Quinchos (landfill in Nicaragua)

CMI Project Papillon (orphanage in Haiti)

As a founder of LOVE, I have worked with these amazing organizations. The joy and life that they bring to the children is priceless.

Los Quinchos provides more than just a meal for the children of the landfill of La Chureca, they also give love and attention to the children too.

an 8 year old boy who wants to be a garbage pick up truck driver when he grows up because that's the only thing he knows in life: picking garbage for food and recyclables and driving the truck.

tell them to the wind…your secrets and dreams…

samanthaoulavong — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:05:39 +0000

we go through life with great plans of our secret ambition and dreams that we thought would work out somehow…but when other factors come into play, those plans become disappointments and break our hearts…