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Caroline Fontenot

Lauren Brooke Grayless

I’ve been making photos for almost nine years so it’s always refreshing to do something completely new to me. This was both new and an incredible honor. We met the Grayless family through mutual friends after moving to Houston. Haley was pregnant with their second and I shortly after learned a bit of their story regarding that pregnancy. I’m going to let her tell it below, but not before I reiterate how amazing it was to be involved in a small way on this day. I cried when I read her inquiry asking me to be there when their son Nate met his baby sister. I’m so glad the timing worked and I was able be in the madness of the Medical Center just hours after Lauren Brooke Grayless was born. Fun fact: this was the newest baby I’ve ever met! Below is a bit of her story, in Haley’s words. And yes, it was really hard to keep it together while shooting Nate meeting his baby sister with the proudest little smile I’ve ever seen!

After multiple losses and years of monthly disappointment, we had all but given up hope that we would have more children. What made it even harder was our now soon to be 7 year old son longed to be a big brother. When he was about 3 years old he started praying faithfully each night for a “baby brother, baby sister or a puppy”. There were so many times we wanted give up on our dream of having more children, but in God’s perfect timing it was during those moments we found ourselves consoling our child who couldn’t understand why God had not yet made him a big brother. Most of his friends had one or two younger siblings at this point which made it even harder for him to understand. These moments gave us the strength to keep pressing forward knowing that it was all in God’s perfect plan. If our son hadn’t given up hope, how could we. In October of 2016 Ryan and I were beside ourselves when we finally got to tell Nate he would become a big brother that May.

Photographed in Houston, TX

The Stapp Wedding – Madison, GA

The hardest thing about this post is not sharing all 700 photos. I absolutely adore Anna White (oh wait, I’m sorry, Stapp!) I was there when another dear friend and past bride Hannah had the lightbulb moment to get these two to spend time together. The minute I saw it, truly, it made sense. I’d been around Matt once before, at a Christmas party, on a dance floor. I pointed him out to Mark and said “that guy looks cool.” A few months later, when Matt and Anna were introduced, it all made sense. I grabbed Hannah and said “that’s the fun guy from the Christmas party!” The coolness between the two of these humans is almost too much for one room.

Fast forward a few months, when they were on the dance floor at this wedding that I shot. I leaned over to Mark as the two of them mimicked each other perfect and hilariously in their Nike’s, and said “they are absolutely getting married.” And a few months after that, at this wedding, I said it again. The bride (and Maid of Honor to Anna), agreed.

Anyone who spent time with Matt and Anna, pretty much minutes after they became a couple, knew that they were perfect for each other.

This was too much fun to call work. Surrounded by so many friends, back in Georgia, it was all just too good. I’m the happiest about this marriage and the chance to capture day one. I freakin’ love you, Stapps!!

Some double exposed film from the Nikon One Touch passed around the dance floor…

LUV U GURL!

LUV U MARK!

Venue – Variety Works
Second shooter – Chris Bartelski, The Reason
Video – Trevor Blesse
Wedding Dress – Sarah Seven from The Sentimentalist
DJ – Brent Rayfield, DJ Traffic
Bride’s bouquet & flower crown – Bud & Bloom

The Beger Wedding – Montgomery, TX

Shooting Danny and Karlie’s wedding was exactly how I wanted to spend my Cinco de Mayo. There is never a dull moment when Karlie is around, and it was so awesome to spend the day and night with some of my most fun friends.

I love their story and am so thankful to have been able to capture this small piece of it. Stay smitten, Begers.

One of my new favorite moments in my eight years of doing this: these two kicking off their reception by performing “Aaron’s Party (Come Get It)” after walking in. Classic. 

For the first time at a wedding, I passed a Nikon One Touch around the dance floor and double exposed one roll.

Venue – The Farmhouse
Florals – Striking Stems
Wedding Dress – Whittington Bridal 
DJ – AJ Mascoll, Party Loud Events
Video – Joe Rupprecht
Hair & Makeup – Allison Hughes Specialties

Sharon

This is my friend Sharon, self proclaimed as The Thrift Connoisseur. She’s the kind of badass girl that you hope picks you to be on her team. Once a stranger whose photography I started following eight years ago, Sharon is now someone that I’m proud to say I’ve tricked into being my friend. I feel colossally cool when we drink Old Fashioneds together, her newfound love of whiskey something that I take full credit for, thank you very much.

Sharon is always preaching “Experiences Over Things,” something that this travel lover has no problem getting on board with. By simply following her thrifting adventures, I was inspired to set a challenge for myself of buying no full priced clothing items in 2017. So far, so good. Her love for the hunt makes you want to take it on for yourself.

I’ll let her talk now…

On her motto…
“Experiences over things is my message and motto. As a thrift Connoisseur, I have a champagne taste on a peanut budget. I choose to spend less on things (especially inside my home and closet) and invest money on experiences & traveling because life is too short! Thrifting and vintage shopping is an experience all in itself. It is never the same. It challenges me and excites me to imagine what I can find with a little patience and determination. Secondhand shopping allows me to fully embrace my own sense of style (and change it often) and I hope to encourage lots of women by sharing more of an inside look into my life.”

On her favorite find so far this year…
“My buttery soft black leather jacket that I thrifted for $8. Pretty high up there with this is thrifting $800 Isabel Marant ‘Jenny’ boots for .25 cents!”

On adventure…
“I traveled to Tulum, Mexico with my hubby in January and we spent a week exploring this beautiful slice of paradise with no agenda. I photographed unending colorful walls and old VW bugs and texture and palm trees while being surrounded by some of the most beautiful people I have ever seen who travel to Tulum from all over the world. Walking the dirt road of the beach town you hear many languages being spoken. Tulum is a magical town that draws you in with delicious food, crystal clear water and encourages a way of living that is simple and against the fast paced life that we find ourselves in. I found myself inspired in ways I couldn’t have imagined during that week in Tulum and cannot wait to go back.”

_____

Go follow Sharon here and here for all kinds of pretty!

Hues of Man x Gucci

One of my first gigs in Texas was for Hues of Man featuring Gucci in creating a stylized retelling of Bonnie and Clyde. The editorial film Bang Bang, directed by Nina Hawkins and Alan Ballesteross, re-imagines the story of Texas’s very own featuring Gucci collection pieces from Pre-Fall16, FW16, and Cruise 2017. These are my favorites, a lot of the highlighting the “Trouble Gang.” You can see the full editorial piece on Hues of Man.


Photographed in Freeport, TX

Models:
Josh Robertston
Joey Garcia
Alyson Cafiero
Erik Tjon
Tucker May

Sedona 2017

Add another week in Sedona with Mom to list of our great adventures together! Three years ago I fell in love with this place. It was awesome to be back and experience entirely different weather. We hiked through and were hit in the eyeballs with rain, sleet, hail and snow but it somehow still managed to be incredibly magical. Seeing the red rocks with snow on them was something my Mom always wanted to experience, and little did I know how much I’d be captivated by it as well. All photographs taken with my trusty and true buddy, the Fuji X100T.