Jessica + Ben, Austin TX

Venue: The Vista on Seward Hill, Austin TX

A few detail shots, many from the fabulous Kristy.

The venue was absolutely beautiful.

And now for a brand new experimental idea… a video montage. This is a surprise to Ben, Jessica and even a little bit of a surprise to myself. I have wanted to use the video features of the Mark ii for a while, and with a bit of film class from Baylor under my belt I have been missing editing video, so at Ben and Jessica’s wedding I decided to make the plunge and just try it out. I’m not sure exactly how I will be incorporating this into my services, but I had a lot of fun making it. I am no videographer, but it was fun and I would love to do this for all of my weddings some day!

Jessica + Ben Wedding Montage from Kate Leverenz on Vimeo.

Jessica and Ben thank you so much for allowing me to photograph your beautiful wedding!

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What I’m working on today

Hello world. I’ve had a rough week. So rough, that I kind of want to just leave it like that, but I feel I should maybe explain a tad bit. Last week one of our cars went out on the day I was headed down to Waco for a portrait shoot. It was very chaotic and to make a long story short I drove multiple people’s cars and eventually got our other car from Dan who was at the clinic and left him stranded… woops… From Waco, I went on to Austin for my first wedding of the weekend. I had two weddings back to back this weekend. One of them was in Austin and the other in Keller which left me with little sleep and not even enough time to recharge all of my batteries for wedding number 2. In fact I was still recharging when I arrived at the church. I had my pocket wizard and slave flash batteries plugged in until they were needed. When I finally got home late Saturday night I crashed. I woke up about 12 hours later feeling like I had a wedding hangover, but this is not why my week has been rough. Sunday night our house was broken into. I know this happens to a lot of people, but most people don’t have other people’s priceless wedding photos on their computer. Luckily, I had prepared for such an event as far as backing up files, however the loss of one of our laptops has put me moving at a slightly slower pace. I am currently processing images for more weddings at one time than I have ever done before. Not exactly the best time for this little occurrence, but then again, when is the best time for someone to violate your personal space like that?

We have much to be thankful for though and so life goes on. I have been trying to get back into the swing of things but it’s been rough. We were planning on moving in about a month into my parent’s house because my parents just bought a beautiful new house and we will be renting/fixing up their old house and getting it ready to sell. We will still be moving, but we are moving my office moving date up to this weekend. This means all week I have been preparing to move. Burning DVDs and pushing through editing so that I am not incredibly far behind due to the office move. All of this to say, this week has been a little rough. I’m hoping to move smoothly this weekend and be up and running again by Tuesday, but if I do not respond to your emails or phone calls within 24 hours, this is why. Thank you in advance for your understanding.

And now, for what I have been working on today. I just finished editing Evan & Ryan’s wedding and have a new favorite from the end which didn’t make the original blog cut. I love it, I hope they do to!

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Kat Farmer - Katie – so sorry to hear about your house being broken into. That happened to my sister about 3 months ago, and I can only imagine how violating that would feel. But like you said – you have much to be thankful for in the midst of this mess. I hope this weekend leaves you with some time to spend with your hubby and enjoy each other’s company! Praying for you to feel encouraged through this rough time with God’s presence!September 2, 2010 – 1:02 pm

The Rodgers Family

The Rodgers have been close-family friends since before I existed. In fact, I hesitate to add the “friends” part, because they just seem more like family. Come Christmas Eve you can find me with my family at the Rodgers’ house chowing down to some amazing food and listening to the same stories retold year after year. You know, the stories that you roll your eyes at because you have heard them so repeatedly and could probably re-tell yourself, but secretly you want to hear again because they make you feel like you are at home. And, come Easter lunch you will find the Rodgers at my family’s house doing the same thing.

Danny Rodgers was recently elected the President of Optimist International. I was so honored when he asked me to take their family photo which would be featured on the front of the Optimist International Magazine!

Somewhere out there in youtube land, there is a video of me taking these fine images. I am sure it will lead to rich and fame. I mean, isn’t youtube the first step to greatness?

For those of you interested, I just found the link to this video. Click here if you would like to see me in action! (and if you would like to watch one of Danny’s MANY youtube videos :)

Oh my gosh I love this picture (above). I’m thinking about printing and framing it for myself. I mean, it’s important to have pictures of family around, right?

Congratulations Danny, you will be an excellent President!

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Tammy - SO GOOD!!! Can’t wait to see the magazine. Katie, you caught them perfectly.September 1, 2010 – 5:05 pm

Kristy came to visit!

My bff was in town and I just purchased a new tilty-shifty lens. Yes, indeed, I am now super trendy. How exciting for me.

I am having a blast figuring out my new acquisition. It’s actually more complicated than I had anticipated. Luckily I have a workshop coming up soon in which I am hoping to unload a list full of questions, the latest of which is “How the heck do you use a tilt shift”, although I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. I have been really overwhelmed lately with “business” and I am REALLY looking forward to attending this workshop and looking at a lot of things. Things like, am I running a smart business? Do I actually take good pictures? How can I improve them? and most of all, I am ready to fall in love with photography again. After a wedding every weekend and a handful of sessions scattered in between, my art seems to have turned more into a chore. Today I really enjoyed just playing around with my new lens. I remember what it was like to start shooting manual, and what it was like when I finally figured out how to mask things in photoshop–it was so fun discovering! Now, I feel like the romance is gone.. So, in a month I will be attending Love Affair with some of my absolute favorite photographers who I have viewed as role models over this past year or so of establishing a business. I can’t wait to fall in love again.

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Claire + Josh, College Station TX

Claire and Josh were married in College Station, TX. Remember their engagement session? I was really excited to shoot their wedding because I knew I wouldn’t have to work very hard to get good shots. Between Claire’s smile and Josh’s overflowing love for Claire, it seems like every pictures I take of them belongs in a magazine.

Oh, how I love sun flare.

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Bonnie - KATE! I’m resisting the incredible urge to type this in all caps, as I’m SO EXCITED! Creepin’ your blog has yet again proved to be a worthwhile endeavor! These photos are amazing! You did such an incredible job and I know that Josh and Claire are going to be beyond thrilled to see these bad boys. You are THE BEST!August 18, 2010 – 4:51 pm

Cil Stitt - Great Job Kate! I could look at them all day!!!! :) August 18, 2010 – 5:36 pm