Category: east texas photographer

Eweni & Thompson Engagement (and Family) Portraits

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Amber & Ashton, high school sweethearts, live in the DFW area with their adorable toddler Jace.  They’re both from Tyler, TX so they are getting married in their home town at the Tyler Rose Gardens on August 20th!

All of my wedding clients receive a complementary engagement session and with their wedding FAST approaching we had to coordinate them in the dead heat of summer with 100+ degree temps + 90% humidity.  (Good thing they’re Texas natives 💁)

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Here they are looking cool as a cucumber….

I’m originally from the DFW area and most of my family lives there, so I immediately thought of the Dallas Arboretum but then I was warned about how much more humid it is in the gardens. 😫 Wilted clients are just not cute (or happy). After talking it over with some other photographers Amber and I decided on the Fort Worth water gardens, thinking that it “might” be cooler if we happen to have a breeze. WHEW we lucked out and although it was hot as….well you know those sayings…. we did manage to occasionally catch a breeze.

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Safety is a big concern at the water gardens especially with a toddler in tow for the shoot. There are some deep (but beautiful) fountains with motors that have a lot of suction.  There is no swimming signs posted everywhere.  Jace however was the most well behaved toddler that I have every seen in a public place.  I was sorely tempted to see if Amber & Ashton wanted to trade a toddler for a teenager!

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I loved how Jace’s outfit coordinated with mom and dad. Bringing in elements of both of their wardrobes brought the whole look together without looking too “matchy”.

Their wedding is THIS Sunday (and the temps are supposed to be in the 90s 😬)  So stay tuned for what is sure to be some beautiful wedding portraits at the Rose Gardens!

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My Philosophy : Pictures are our way of capturing a sliver of time, a moment, so that we can tell it back to ourselves later. It’s my job to capture that moment for you in all its intensity and beauty so that you can hold onto it through times both bad and good.  My passion is storytelling, I just use a camera instead of a words.

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Criss can be found floating around on her  Website,   Facebook,  Instagram, or Twitter accounts when she’s not running around the house in her cape or digging in the dirt in East Texas.

Sangria After Dark Series (Copyright)

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SO…. there I was, lying in the bathtub with a nice glass of Riesling near at hand and it comes to me (as things always do when one is having a nice relaxing bubble bath, right?) that I really need to have a series for my readers.  All 32 of you now!  So here is the new Sangria After Dark series.  It will be full of sarcasm, maybe some NSFW material and lots of wine.

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It’s getting so crowded in here!    Image via morguefile

Do you have a job and some people seem to have no idea of all the things that you do or how any of it works?

That’s probably everyone right?

SAHM’s seem to have that problem a lot.  You’re just a housewife. You lie around, watch All My Children every day and feed the kids some Benadryl in cheese so they nap well.

They do that right? …..

How else can one watch their stories in peace?  …..

No?……

Clearly they don’t do that AND I would make a horrible SAHM. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that I am raising little assholes that act like….. their father….

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I said “Look at me” not “look like the spawn of Satan”

So what’s something no one understands about my job and how it works?

WHO OWNS THE IMAGES THE CLIENT PAID ME TO TAKE

Why do I need a print release?

Why can’t I scan these and then have Walgreens print them?

Why does it say I can’t alter the image?

There’s this REALLY AWESOME filter I’d like to put on my image on Instagram and I like it more than I like your filters. GAHHHHH

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My frustrated look… also the look when someone tries to talk to me before I’ve had my coffee in the morning.  It’s a versatile look.

Then I realized that none of my clients are photographers and very few are artists in general (and I love the clients I have) so HOW WOULD THEY KNOW?

Copyright is really Property Law

  • A photographer owns any photograph, or other work of art, they create the moment they click the shutter on the camera (paint it on a canvas, etc).
  • FROM HERE ON OUT WE WILL SAY HOUSE because it’s property, just like my house.
  • Even though you are in the house (photograph), I still own the house
  • You cannot paint, move walls, or share the house (even online) with other people without my permission
  • You may pay me to share my house (photographs) with you but you still do not own the house.
  • If you would like to do any of the above, I have to sell or lease partial or full ownership (ie: print release) of my house (photographs).
  • It is cheaper to rent the house than to own the house. (although I WILL totally sell it to you if you want!)
  • If I want to make more money on the house with you in it, I have to have your permission. If you want to make money on the house, you have to have my permission! (selling the image of you to an advertising agency for example)

Here’s a link to the FULL US Copyright law.

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morguefile /verbaska

What CAN you do with the images? (Please read your contract, every artist is different.)

  • If you received digital images from me, you will receive permission to print them at any consumer printer of your choice up to 11X14 in size (anything larger has to come through me & that’s a whole different post). You may also share them online with family and friends provided they are not altered in anyway and you tag PRA in them.
  • If you received wall art or albums you may decorate your home, or your loved one’s home with them!
  • If you see your image on my social media TAG, SHARE, COMMENT, SAVE!  Please do not alter the images in any way (like cropping out my logo) or attempt to print them.  Online images are very small and would look distorted if printed.

So remember, in most instances, photographs belong to the individual who took the image and not to the person(s) in the image.

What’s the one thing that people don’t realize about your job?  Tell me down in the comments!

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About the Author: Criss is a full time mother, public servant and artist. She has 2 kids, four rescue dogs, a rescue fiance, a rescue horse that she can’t ride and 49 and counting chickens.  She has a passion and love for preserving history and storytelling.  Follow her antics on Facebook & Instagram!

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Make My (xxxx) Smaller – Larger – Firmer – Taller – Prettier -Uglier in Photoshop (the not so fugly truth)

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Before you ask down in the comment section, YES, it has been requested that I make someone uglier.  Specifically a bridesmaid that (to the bride) looked better than her.  I think she was joking……

Why You Hate Photos of Yourself

Your mirror is F***ing You

Seriously, you’re not fugly (probably). It’s just science that makes you think you are. I mean, I’m a photographer for goodness sake.  I have been for over 15 years and I still absolutely despise most images of myself and I KNOW how to pose my body to my advantage. Also, I am confident person, I don’t have body image issues. I can stand in the mirror prepping for a session, think heck yeah I look good, Look at that sexy bitch! (You do it too, don’t lie) then a client or my assistant will take a BTS (behind the scenes) photo and I’m like…. NOOOOO… how can I post that? I look hideous! OMG why didn’t someone tell me the top of my crack (love handles, bra bulge, bra strap, double/quadruple chin) was showing when I knelt down? (Seriously people, let a girl know if her crack is showing)

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Check out the cartoon artist HERE

 

So who do I blame?

Because of an effect called “mere-exposure,” people react more favorably to things they see more often. Like their mug in the mirror everyday! A psychologist named Robert Zajonc, who formulated mere-exposure, tested this with everything from shapes, to facial expressions, even nonsense words. Since we see ourselves most frequently in the mirror, this is our preferred self-image. According to the mere-exposure effect, when your slight facial asymmetries are left unflipped by the camera, you see an unappealing, alien version of yourself.  In case you didn’t know, the more symmetrical your face is the prettier/handsomer you are (supposedly).  But very few people have perfectly symmetrical faces. So when you see your face swapped, and others telling you how awesome your photographs are but you think they’re hideous, remember that you’re not seeing the everyday face in the mirror but this is how your friends and family see you! (Don’t cry)

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On the left is how I see myself (my preferred image)- The right is how other people see me :Photo Credit: Bree (my 11 y/o daughter)

 

The camera’s “eye” is better than yours – Your brain is better than the camera

Our eyes see color differently at different light levels than a camera.  Typically, if you saw an image of mine prior to processing, it would appear darker than the final edited images but the color would look  a lot brighter than it appeared to your eyes in person. Also, cameras freeze motion and allow us to see details that are typically not noticeable while a person is in motion. Those two sun spots on your face, no one really notices them when you’re standing around talking to them or walking by. The camera however latches on to every little detail and captures them forever (and ever and ever) and in a sharp focus.

Why can / can’t you Photoshop me (more) beautiful?

Different photographers and editors do things differently based on their personal style and tastes. Some think PS is a no no – (besides basic light & color adjustments) you should never change how a person appears, it’s insulting. Some like to  make their clients look like a plastic doll.

Personally, when I edit client images, I like to edit out things that were either my fault (that belly lump because I didn’t pose the client well or notice that DANG HAIR BAND on their arm), or things that aren’t permanent on their body (acne, stray hair, redness, bruises, those weird marks your skin makes when you’re cold, minor tan lines etc.) If I know prior to editing, that a client has a special request (like removing a scar) I will take care of those as well. Most clients never realize I’ve even done so much work. I just want people to feel good about themselves, so I’m going to present them with the best (realistic) them possible!

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This is a typical client edit with minor changes made all because of Photographer error (and the redness because she was chasing her child around in previous shots)

 

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This is an example of the amount of PS work I will not do for a client without them paying a per hour PS creative fee.  It’s not you, and unless it’s for some special project why would you want an image that didn’t represent you at all? Also, if this wasn’t a silhouette it would take hours to do and look realistic.

 

“You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.” ― Amy Bloom

 

 

Tyler TX photographer

5 Priceless Wedding Keepsakes That will Last a Lifetime

Published on by Phoenix Rhys Artistry3 Comments

We have talked before (well I rambled, you nodded along reading, agreeing with everything I said because you’re awesome like that) about preserving memories and how on your 50-year anniversary, likely, the ONLY thing that will be left from your wedding will be your photographs. Except the dress that you lovingly have put away or your daughter wore to her wedding.  Below is a list of 5 ways to have something left from your wedding that you and hubs can still see 50 years later when some of the memories have faded.

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Digitally hand painted, printed to museum quality canvas, textured with acrylic, then either wrapped or framed for a finished wall art piece.
  1. Wall Art & Albums – Well HELLO welcome to a photographer/artist’s article. You knew I was going there right? Artists began to use canvas around 1500. Portrait of a Young Man and His Tutor is an oil painting on canvas by Nicolas de Largillierre. It was painted in 1685 and is on display at the National Gallery of Art. 14183914_598771376972320_7037315761255350905_nCan you imagine? This memory of a simple young man and his teacher has lasted 330+ years.  How long do you want your memories to last?  Offset reproduction of artwork began in the early 1900s and continued with the printing of photographs to canvas. Phoenix Rhys Photography offers many museum quality wall art options and even digital painting services to maximize your investment for the next 100 or so years.

 

  1. Save your bouquet. Shoot girl, that thing cost HUNDREDS of dollars (if you’re lucky)! Sure you could dry your bouquet, but that memory will probably only be around for your 2nd or 3rd anniversary before it deteriorates. Enter pressed & framed flowers. Everlastings Flowers based in Hampton, New Hampshire can take your bouquet, professionally press it between glass, and frame it creating a lasting keepsake from your wedding!  They have some beautiful design options. Be sure to contact them BEFORE your wedding for instructions on how to preserve and ship your bouquet to them.   Contact them to find out more information if you have had a recent wedding.brideandgroomgilmertxphotography

 

  1. Consider creating a living keepsake by adding succulents to your bouquet or hair piece. Besides the fact that these bouquets are GORGEOUS, succulents can be planted in the couple’s first garden (or indoor/outdoor flower pot) and can live (or be propagated from the original plant) for years to come. Urban Succulents has some beautiful succulent bouquets.
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    Photograph & Bouquet by Urban Succulents

    The price averages about $150 and it can be shipped to you.  Remember here in East Texas, we likely get TOO much rain and a little too much frost for most succulents to survive outside of a pot.  Be sure to talk with your floral designer about the type of succulents you would like to have in your bouquet to create a living keepsake. Also, learn how to preserve your succulents with Succulents & Sunshine HERE.

 

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This bride made her bouquet from her mother’s wedding dress!

4. Use your wedding décor as home décor. This one is an oldy, but a goody.  Unfortunately for me (or maybe fortunately because we are now divorced) my 17-year-old engaged self could not afford a Hawaii wedding.  So I brought Hawaii to us with a Hawaiian themed wedding!  That’s right I had it all.  Grass skirts, coconut bras for the bridesmaids, tiki torches etc. It was very gaudy and FUN!  All in all, I think there was about 2K dollars’ worth of wedding décor that was mostly junk.  Nothing we had could be used in our home.  I encourage you, when you’re planning your wedding to stop looking at Pinterest and look inside your home.  That Pinterest perfect wedding you’re planning, is any of that ACTUALLY your style?

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Signs & Image by Paper and Pine Co.

 

5. You worked so hard on your wedding vows. That DVD you ordered from your cinematographer  will probably be obsolete in the next 10 or so years.  So how do you preserve those precious words your husband poured out of his heart that one time (that you may never hear again…because…men…).  Hand lettered and framed wedding vows! Have your vows professionally hand lettered and framed for many years of enjoyment.  Make sure to use museum quality glass in your frame and to keep it out of direct sunlight to keep your vows in pristine condition.

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Photograph, Artwork & Frame by Elle Luck Artistry

 

In year 2066, you and your love will be sitting on your couch in your home holding hands.  There will be a flowerpot sitting on the coffee table overflowing with succulents from the original succulent from your bouquet, reminding you of the expanding love from that day. Tyler TX photographer Your children grew up walking by and reading every day, your hand-lettered vows currently hanging on the wall in the hallway. Children, grandchildren, and even possibly great grandchildren will be seated around you both in celebration of this everlasting love.  You’ll be perusing your wedding album with a grandchild pointing and asking “Who’s that gamma?” And you will begin to tell them all of the beginning of your love story as a portrait of you and your love looks down from the wall smiling upon you both.

 

My Philosophy : Pictures are our way of capturing a sliver of time, a moment, so that we can tell it back to ourselves later. It’s my job to capture that moment for you in all its intensity and beauty so that you can hold onto it through times both bad and good.  My passion is storytelling, I just use a camera instead of a words.
Criss can be found floating around on her  Website,   Facebook,  Instagram, or Twitter accounts when she’s not running around the house in her cape or digging in the dirt in East Texas.

 

 

 

Annual Blue Santa Event

Published on by Phoenix Rhys Artistry5 Comments
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They really need some adult supervision (the cops, not the kids)

Most of my clients know that along with owning and running my photography business, I am also a police officer in East Texas.  And if you know any officers or any other public servants, you know that this is not something that we just do, it’s who we are.  (Because we dang sure aren’t doing it to get rich)

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It’s so nice to see old friends and co-workers and it NOT be for a funeral! (Source: Facebook)

 

Rarely do my skills in both of my jobs get to come together in any kind of good way but this year I had the absolute privilege of photographing (along with Ryan Jordan from Ryan Jordan Photography) this years Blue Santa Event.

Blue Santa was sponsored by the East Texas Fraternal Order of Police in Tyler lead by Tyler PD Officer Chuck Boyce. With donations and assistance from officers and various businesses in the area, it gives underprivileged children, children that have been victims of crimes or that have lost parents because of crime, the opportunity to go Christmas shopping at Wal-Mart with a police officer.  Children were allowed to spend around $100 and on several occasions this night, I saw officers pulling out their own cards and cash to pay for the children to have extra.  Or in the case of one young man, the officer purchasing him a helmet to go with his new bicycle!

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That was probably a good idea officer.

 

Blue Santa was there taking pictures with the kids and asking them what they wanted for Christmas when they first showed up, then they received a Christmas stocking full of goodies made from old uniforms by Michelle Askew.

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The stockings were a big hit!
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Santa puts on his blue suit for us! Thank you Cops 4 Cops for sending Santa to us! (Source:Facebook)

Animal Control officers were also on hand to wrangle the stuffed animals that they were handing out to all the children.

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There were so many officers (around 80+) who volunteered that Officer Kerry Long called the fire department across the street so I could stand on top of the fire truck to take the group photograph of them! I’ve never been so proud in my life to call these people family.

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Officers, Deputies, Animal Control, Game Wardens, State Troopers and MANY MANY MANY departments represented from all over E. Texas as far as Dallas and Marshall!

One officer joked that he didn’t volunteer he showed up for a call and saw all the kids and wanted to shop with them, the call could wait.

The children were awesome!  I got big smiles out of everyone and was even informed by SCSO Sergeant Schultz and  LISD PD Officer Wilson that I was to address their child as princess and princess only.  My bad!!

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For a little while, I thought we were going to have to arrest some officers for kidnapping because I didn’t think they were going to give the kids back to their parents!

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Deputy McDowell, your husband is right behind you, he says you have to give her back!

For anyone who has never spent much time with an officer, most of us are just kids ourselves at heart.  We were those kids that wore capes and were going to save everyone and the world.

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CBS left their mike behind on accident, that provided at least 30 minutes worth of entertainment for Officer Boyce. Thank goodness they didn’t leave a camera!

And you know what, maybe we aren’t still running around with bed sheets tied around our necks (well maybe some of them are, we won’t talk about what they do at home) but on days like this maybe, just maybe we kept a child from going without for Christmas or MAYBE  we even touched a kid’s heart enough that it breeds a whole new generation of cape wearing heroes.

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Do me a favor, readers of mine (all 4 of you), please share this. There is so much bad news out there that these stories of love and happiness need to be shared, recognized, and appreciated this holiday season. And if you would like to donate for next year OR sponsor a child please check it out HERE.

 

Criss can be found floating around on her  Website,   Facebook,  Instagram, or Twitter accounts when she’s not running around the house in her cape.