Caroline Fontenot

Manchester Derby

Manchester United vs Manchester City. The Derby. Or, to Mancunians, the Darby. As two of the best clubs in the English Premier League, Man Utd and City have a rivalry that dates back to 1881. The Derby has taken place 173 times between the two clubs and the match in Houston was the first one played outside of the United Kingdom in their 136-year history.

Needless to say I, a Man Utd fan since middle school (hi, David Beckham!), freaked out when the announcement of this match took place. I bought pre-sale tickets and had it marked on my calendar in bold font for months…

And then, a week before the game, through a kind recommendation from my friend and fellow photographer Christian, I was on the phone with Soccer.com. I booked the gig to shoot pre-match content for City (and vowed not to wear a United shirt) as well as the Derby itself. It was the experience of a lifetime for me, and I’m so grateful to have had it. I’m not as diehard into the rivalry as most fans, being a fan of the overall League and someone who has huge respect for City and and their roster. It was all fun, all the time. But yes, I was pretty happy about the 2-0 United victory! And maybe even happier that I was, for a brief minute, mere feet from Drake as he presented the game ball. Here are the highlights from a night I’ll never forget!

J.J. Watt. 

Drake looking deep into my soul and me, behind the lens, trying to keep it together. 

The Manchester worker bee is on the city’s coat of arms and represents the industrial heritage of the region. It’s been used as a symbol of strength following the Manchester Arena attack in May, and the two teams wore custom shirts at the match in a show of solidarity for the victims.

Photographed at NRG Stadium in Houston, TX.

Inspire Soccer – Spain

The reason for our recent trip to Spain was to photograph Inspire Soccer‘s training and International Tournament. Inspire is run by our friends who live in Spain (Hi, Susan and Sergi)! It’s a unique program with Union of European Football Association (UEFA) coaches who travel from Spain in order to provide participants with the best soccer camp experience in Texas. Their mission is to provide players with a unique, rewarding and unforgettable experience with the same training the best Development Academies (DA) from La Liga offer their players. It only takes about 15 seconds of watching the La Liga DA teams play to know that Spain does this game unlike any other. It’s beautiful, and it’s something Inspire is working hard to bring to American soccer. As someone who grew up in the select soccer world, I adore and appreciate what they’re doing.

This year, they selected players from their camps in Texas to travel to Spain to participate in an International Tournament – the Cerdanyola Cup. And that’s where we got to join in! What a blast to document this experience for these kids.

The training part of their trip took place in Santa Susanna, Spain, where this collection of my favorite photos begin…

Inspire’s first friendly in San Pol de Mar against San Pol.

The Cerdanyola Cup was in Cerdanyola, Spain, the home of Cerdanyola del Vallès Futbol Club (CFC). The boys played CFC along with three La Liga DA top U13 teams – a friendly against Real Club Deportivo de La Coruna and two tournament matches vs Granada CF and Atlético Madrid. Even at this level, watching these La Liga boys play was incredible. They’re machines, and I can’t wait to watch many of them playing pro on my TV one of these days.

Thank you, thank you to Susan and Sergi for bringing us along for the ride.

Barcelona – 2017

We had the privilege of spending two and a half weeks in Spain last month, half for work, half for wandering just the two of us. My next post will be the work side of the trip, though it was hard to call it that (spoiler alert: I got to photograph kids playing soccer every day). These are a few photos from the wandering around part. I didn’t take near as many as on our first visit to Barcelona, but it was not for lack of love for the city.

Dry Martini, on the list of Top 50 best bars in the world and part of the Top 25 year after year. Until current owner Javier de las Muelas (recognized as one of the best bartenders in the world) bought it in the early ’90s, it was a one-drink bar. Out of the frame is a counter on the wall displaying the number of Martinis sold (it hit 1 million in 2010!) We had a lovely experience last night in this iconic and gorgeous space.

We took a break from the city on one of our last days and hiked into the clouds. We took a train from Barcelona to Monistrol de Montserrat and then, instead of taking another train or a cable car, we hiked our way to Monistir de Montserrat (Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey).

One of the best cocktails I’ve ever had (and by far, the most interesting) at Paradiso! This little speakeasy through a “refrigerator door” in a pastrami shop is the perfect mix of class and Tom Cruise in Cocktail. But let’s talk about this drink…
Solera Presidente: Ron Zacapa 23 rum, Carpano Anitico vermouth, oloroso sherry, banana liqueur and Fernet Branca aged for six months in barrels. Served in a glass pipe smoked with vanilla tobacco, bathed in bitter chocolate and wrapped in a cloud of cotton candy! So whimsy and balanced and delicious.

All photographed with the Fuji x100t.

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 – DJ Traffic (Brent Rayfield)
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