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Category Archives: Engaged

Ansen & Kacy’s Houston Zoo Engagement Portraits

Ansen & Kacy’s Houston Zoo Engagement Portraits

If there’s one thing my family and I LOVE, it’s the zoo. My kid has been to the zoo so many times, he could give a tour. In fact, he’s given me a tour before. When I found out that Ansen & Kacey are going to have their wedding reception at the zoo next year, I knew exactly where they should take their engagement photos.

We met in the early afternoon at the front gate and proceeded to wonder around. Ansen and Kacy showed me where they were going to have their cocktail hour, at the elephant’s pool. We joked about how we’ve never seen the elephants swim in their pool. One day (fingers crossed).

The zoo was preparing for ZooBoo when we got there so some of their decorations were up. They had hanging bats in the cave near the chimpanzies and hanging orange, green, black and purple umbrellas. It was a lot of fun to incorporate those elements that are only there a short while.

My favorite place for Ansen & Kacy’s portraits was the Pantheon. It was gorgeous. Check out their photos below!

 

Russell & Amanda’s Bowling Alley Engagement Photos

When I say I like to step outside the norm for engagement photos… I mean it. I would love to say “Sky’s the limit,” however I’m not about that skydiving life & sometimes there are limits when it comes to who would let you take photos or not.

Russell & Amanda are big bowling enthusiasts. When they told me this, I thought, why not take their photos in a bowling alley. Their photos were scheduled during summer, and since it is so hot outside, it’s nice to do things inside for a change.

They showed up to our engagement portrait session with a whole rolling bag filled with their balls, shoes and so much more. Bowl & Barrel was so amazing to let us take photos in their industrial styled alley.

Though the alley was not a place the couple would usually go to bowl, they loved the look and even had a Red-Bull at the bar before the couple headed off to celebrate Russell’s birthday later that day.

 

‘Til Death Do Us Part – Cemetery Engagement

It’s an understatement to say I was excited when John & Morgan requested a cemetery engagement to go along with their “‘Til Death Do Us Part,” engagement photo idea.

The couple came to me with this idea of a darker style engagement photo shoot at the cemetery that Morgan’s family was buried in. First off, I loved the idea of a cemetery engagement. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done one (and yes, this wasn’t my first rodeo). Second, it was a historic cemetery, which meant there were headstones so old you couldn’t make out the name or death date any more. Last, I was ecstatic that the cemetery held family history for the couple. John & Morgan got a chance to share their engagement story with their deceased relatives. We even took a few photos around the headstone.

Though their wedding will be a much lighter occasion (figuratively and literally), it was fun to do something a little different for a change.

Check out their photos below!

Are you interested in scheduling a unique engagement portrait experience? Email me!

 

Ponderosa Walking Park Engagement Portraits

Earlier this spring, I met up with Tanner & Olivia to take their engagement photos at the Ponderosa walking park on the north side of Houston.

A lot of times, I pick an engagement portrait location virtually (meaning I don’t always visit it until the day of). This location was one of those virtual picks. It looked good from google maps, and my google image search. I realized, as I drove up to the park that it was in Shirley Acres back yard. It’s crazy to me how I find new locations right next to places I’ve been before.

I love how lush and green everything looked in these engagement photos. Tanner & Olivia looked amazing and had fun goofing off and dancing to the cicadas for their engagement portraits.

Check out Tanner & Olivia’s engagement photos here:

 

Brendan & Christina’s Theater Engagement

Brendan & Christina’s thespian stage engagement portraits on the Sam Houston State University campus.

It was a blisteringly hot day near the end of spring when I met up with Brendan and Christina on their old stomping grounds, the SHSU campus. While waiting for the temperatures to drop a little outside, we started our portraits on the campus’s theater stage.

I always enjoy doing things a little different and hadn’t taken any engagement photos of a couple on a stage or in a theater. It was fun being the only people in the theater and getting to recreate theater lights with my lighting.

After taking photos inside, Brendan and Christina took me on a tour of the campus (I’d never been there before). It was interesting taking photos in places that held such rich history and memories to the couple.

 

Galveston Engagement Portrait fun

Chris & Rachel’s put-put & pleasure pier engagement photos.

Most of the time, when I go to Galveston for engagement photos, it’s at the beach. This time, I got to start the engagement photos at a put-put golf place first! I had so much fun putting around (pun intended) with Christ & Rachel.

We shot a couple of photos at Magic Carpet Golf (a haunt of the couple’s). Chris and Rachel were so much fun and competitive. I loved their fun, bubbly personalities. After put-put, we headed to the Pleasure Pier, but found out we were about a week too early. Sad face. The pier wasn’t opened so we settled for beach photos with the pier in the background.

See the photos below.

 

Kleb Woods Engagement Portraits

Arnold and Maritza’s engagement portraits in Kleb Woods.

It was a gorgeous spring day when I met up with Arnold, Maritza and her two daughters. We decided to take a combination of engagement portraits and family portraits, because of course the girls are a big part of the wedding. This was my first time exploring Kleb woods. There were old structures around the main part of the forest and trails that lead all around the park.

We chose a path that lead to a small lake. Unfortunately, we also found so many mosquitos on the path. I was thankful for my AllTrails app to let us know where we were on the path and how far away from the main area we were.

The engagement portrait session was filled with laughter, smiles and of course mosquito dodging.

Check out Arnold and Maritza’s Houston engagement portraits below.

 

Downtown Houston Engagement Photos

Nick & Jennifer’s Engagement photos in and around the Post building in Downtown Houston.

I met Nick and Jennifer on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at the park just across from the Post building downtown. This was my first time exploring the park in that part of town. We started on a cute hill overlooking the city skyline then explored the lower parts of the park where bikers zoomed past us every few minutes. I was pleasantly surprised to find a man-made waterfall there just by a cute wooden bridge.

After walking around in the lower parts of the park, we made our way to the top of the Post building to get some more of the skyline then we took photos on the different types of staircases (there’s such a variety!) Check out Nick and Jennifer’s Houston engagement photos below

 

Downtown Houston Engagement Portraits

James & Chelsea’s showed me the hidden haunts and gem’s of Houston during their engagement portraits this April. I love this city. It’s crazy that you can live here your whole life and still learn new things. I am slightly obsessed with learning about haunted sites and (though I knew of some of them) loved hearing the details about the haunted places downtown.

Our second stop (just after the “Houston is Inspired” mural) was the La Carafe Bar, one of the most haunted bars in Houston. As we made our way to the second floor to take some balcony photos, Chelsea was telling me about the ghost who likes to push women down the stairs. Needless to say, I was white-knuckling the handrails & still managed to slip on something at the top of the stairs.

After the bar, I took James and Chelsea to a little baby waterfall I discovered hiding under the street level along the Buffalo Bayou, then we headed to the place James & Chelsea had their first date. Unfortunately, COVID took it down, so we were only able to take photos around the building.

We ended up back along the waters edge where the haunted Spaghetti Warehouse is located (which is now replaced with a bar). We walked along the water then up to the Sunset Coffee Building and lastly to a colorful bar across the street.

I must tell you, as I was writing about the haunted spaghetti Warehouse building, something pushed over Andy’s golf clubs upstairs (everyone was downstairs at the time). Everyone freaked out. I told Andy the ghosts must have read my blog and decided to let me know they’re watching…

 

A Southwest Houston wedding photographer
Richmond, TX
kelly@kellyurbanphotography.comKelly Urban Photography

A Southwest Houston wedding photographer
Richmond, TX

A Southwest Houston wedding photographer
Richmond, TX
kelly@kellyurbanphotography.comKelly Urban Photography

A Houston wedding photographer