Adam & Aundie’s Wedding VIDEO

24.01.11 the latest & greatest

Boy, do I have a treat for you!  This July and I had the wonderful privilege to work with Joe Simon of Joe Simon Films at Adam and Aundie’s Austin, Texas wedding.  Joe is, as Adam says, the king of his craft.  And as I say, he’s the Mike Colón on wedding videos.   Well, their video just got released two days ago and you MUST watch it.  Be warned: you will have goosebumps and probably cry!

I don’t know how Joe didn’t get more of me in his shots.  hah I felt like I was always in his way!  I love the part where I’m setting up with groomsmen to jump on the count of three and you can hear me. :-D  And that’s the thing about being a videographer and I’ve heard videographers say this: the photographers do all the work, looking for the good light, setting up the shots, and the videographers just get to film it all.  It’s fun for you as viewers to watch the bigger picture of how the shots were set up.  Definitely take a look at Adam and Aundie’s wedding posts here to catch their wedding through stills:

Part I of Wedding Photos

Part II of Wedding Photos

Denver Wedding: Cynthia & Jason

21.01.11 weddings

I can’t believe it’s Friday already!  It seems like only a couple of Fridays ago that Cynthia and Jason were married.  It was an abnormally perfect day in October – in the 70s – that these two tied the knot.  It was nearly a full year ago that Cynthia first met with me, her fiancé still back east in their home state of Connecticut.  As soon as she opened her mouth, I knew she wasn’t from around here.  That accent was unmistakable.  We sat on my couch and talked about everything under the sun.  My heart simply broken when she told me about the recent loss of her mother due to a stroke.  I was amazed by Cynthia’s strength as she shared her heart.  And absolutely honored to be invited to document her and Jason’s day.

Cynthia’s niece was the sweetest little girl.

Cynthia is incredibly sweet herself.

Meanwhile, Jesie was with the guys.

We headed to the church in stretch limo – Ford Expedition style!  I love the architecture of this building shot through the limo’s window.

After a few wedding party shots, it was time for Cynthia and Jason’s first look. Jes grabbed this shot of me givin’ my standard pep talk. :-)

The priest waiting to start.

Things got a little emotional before it was go time.

Love this limo driver! His name was Big. :-)

I love this!

Cynthia, you are so beautiful!!

It was a really good entrance!

I caught dad rehearsing his toast.

Michael

20.01.11 the latest & greatest

If you follow me at all, you’ve probably heard about this elusive Michael person once or twice.  Maybe in passing.  Maybe in a Tweet.  Maybe on the blog.  Maybe you’ve received an email from him.  Perhaps you’ve heard of him referred to as Miguel, as he often is, and were extra confused.

Because you see, Miguel is a really big deal at René Tate Photography.  Miguel is my assistant.

And I’m pretty sure the guy has been with RTP for over a year and he’s never been properly introduced.  Don’t ask me how this happened, but it’s about time that I introduce you to my work buddy, Michael.  Or as I coined him: Miguel.  I don’t know where I’d be or what I’d do with out him!

This kid has the best work ethic, he runs errands, wraps albums and makes them look super girly, he edits like it’s nobody’s business, and most importantly, he puts up with me.  Like after hours of sometime mind-numbing work and I say, “Miguel, you know what time it is?” and then I turn up Iyaz’ So Big as loud as my little Bose speakers can shout.  Yeah.  He hates that song.  But let’s me play it loud and pretends to like it. :-)

An incredibly talented photographer, he is.  Super creative.  And super cool.  He posts a photo a day on Facebook. He also has this awesome photography blog, too!  Which you can view here. He just shot his first wedding this December and will be doing more where that came from.  You may even see him at a few RTP weddings!

Michael’s awesome.  ‘Nuf said.  He’s going to be taking on a few big projects this year including a fancy new marketing campaign and streamlining the client life cycle.  Oh yeah.  Here he is ladies an gentlemen, Miguel:

And because a picture isn’t always worth a thousand words, here are a few of his. :-)

1. So…. What’s your story? I don’t quite know the best way to answer this question cause it is such a common question that usually gets answered in a way that does not show the actual story of a person.  So I suppose that I will answer this as honest as possible briefly showing the journey of my 20 years on planet earth.  To start with the basics I was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado and moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico when I was eight, lived and grew up there for the following 10 years and then moved back to Colorado Springs to go to UCCS for college.  I can tell you what I did those years and tell you what sports I played but that would not really show you who I am and my story so…. I would say that those first 18 years of life where lived in quite desperation, desperation for LIFE and to know something true and something eternal.  As each year passed and I grew older and more acquainted with the World we live in my eyes seemed to be opened to pain, suffering, anger, love, flickers of hope, envy, lust, and empty pursuits that looked fulfilling but never seemed to fill the longing in my soul.  Then as I came to college with thoughts of everything but God, it seemed through the workings of his grace that God had been pursuing me and filled me with that which my soul longed for since the day of my birth, namely Himself.  So I would say in short that my “story” is I was Dead in the ways of my own pursuits and fulfillment without Christ and then my God he sought me out and relentlessly pursued me and now I am Alive. Death to Life I supposed would be the summation of my story.

Now I do love and enjoy photography and graphic design lots and tons! Not as a means to an end but as a way to Know God and enjoy the beauty of Marriage and Life.  I enjoy reading, learning, and talking with people about life and listening to learn well.  I have met an amazing girl who I have been dating for 1 year and enjoy the time I spend with her and growing together.  So I suppose that is my story.

2. How’d you get into photography? What do you love about it? I got into photography because my friends and I all got into Mountain Biking in high school and they where all REALLY good and I sort of sucked at it so I decided to take photos of their awesome biking instead. And found out I had an eye for photography and capturing moments in time.  There has been a lot of progression in my photography from that point about 5 years ago and never thought I would enjoy Wedding photography as much as I do. :-)

Capturing life is hard; writers, songwriters, poets, and photographers all try their best to do this challenging task.  So I suppose that I enjoy capturing all the things we call life from wedding to orphans in Peru.  I need this creative outlet of photography because pictures can do many things to the human heart.

3. What do you want to do after college? Hmmmm. Well it seems as though my passions have changed so much within the last 2 years, so this is hard to say what I will actually be doing after college but I can give you a little glimpse at my plan.  I want to go to Seminary and get my Masters of Divinity and then teach others about the infinite grace that is in the eyes of Jesus.  I don’t know what this will look like exactly, but it will be good!  Oh and of course take pictures till the day I die.

4. What’s the coolest part about working with Rene/RTP? There are a lot of awesome parts about this job but I would say all the things I have learned!  Knowledge is very valuable so I am thankful for that.

5. What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned from assisting René? Tough, but I am going to say the ever increasing importance of customer service and how one can show the value of a company in the way it treats the customer.  Yep, pretty textbook answer but it’s big.

6. What’s one thing that no one knows about you? Well, I imaging there are lots of things but lets go with the fact that I used to have a guilty pleasure of listening to Taylor Swift.

Comfort in the Challenges

19.01.11 personal

Martin Luther King Jr. weekend and the week succeeding it finds me in a time of life where my heart is open, my dreams are big, and my energy to persevere and flourish is unmatched.

I keep saying 2011 feels like a big year.  A year of change.  A year of growth.  A year of giving back.  I really believe some pretty magical opportunities will blossom.  Right now, I feel as if I have the world at my fingertips.

First, I finally have enough experience under my belt to define what the “next level” of this business could be and the opportunities and resources to take it there.  Perhaps it’s patience from above that’s keeping me from exploding out of excitement and passion.  My dreams to change this world and use my gifts to do so are constantly at the forefront of my mind. Cliché as it may sound, it’s true.

Secondly, I have the most amazing, amazing man in my life.  He’s incredibly intelligent.  Wildly funny.  He’s encouraging.  He’s so patient and tender with my heart.  Everyday I am in awe of not only what he does, how it does it, but who he is.  We find ourselves facing some new journeys in the coming years.  Ones that I can’t always wrap my head around, ones that seem challenging and overwhleming, but ones I know can only make us more like Him.

I know there is a big future ahead of me.  The desires of my heart say so.  But getting there?  I have no idea.  It’s not easy.  It’s scary.  It’s risky.  The path to fulfillment is probably one that will never end.  I suppose fulfillment must be found along the way.  On the peaks and in the valleys.

And so there I was this past Sunday, tears gently streaming down my left check, because for some reason that eye always crys first.  As I sat in an unfamiliar church, in an unfamiliar city, listening to an unfamiliar pastor talk, with unfamiliar challenges resting on my shoulders, I felt an all too familiar Comfort.  This time, it came in the form of a couple of references about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Because if anyone knew about peaks and valleys, it was this guy.

He got it.  He got what this life and mankind were all about.  It was him who said,

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience,
but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

And it was him who knew about faith.  About unfamiliarity.  About never being quite where he wanted to be.

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

It’s just that simple, I suppose.  The rest are just details.

Here’s to the first step…