The weather has been H-O-T in Houston this summer. The temperature has routinely danced above 100 and it remains almost 90 degrees (and humid) well into the evening hours.

So I wonder how a couple like Stephanie and Dan managed to go out and effortlessly crank their charm and playfulness up to such high levels. We started out at the Menil (a new favorite area) and headed into Rice Village as the sun set. Cova was gracious enough to host us and their wine bar was an excellent environment for us to continue their engagement session.

We then headed to rooftops and streets to finish up—you know that urban areas are a favorite of mine if you've been a regular to this blog for any length of time.

Here are some of my favorites from our time together. I just can't wait to photograph them again for their wedding in December. I'm looking forward to making more magic with them. :)

I usually tell my clients that their job during an engagement session is a lot tougher than mine--I just have to press a button here and there while they have to be active and entertain my ideas.

And on some days that's harder to do than others--it was a triple digit temperature day in Dallas when I met up with Ife and Sina. Despite the heat and humidity (it was still almost 90 degrees when the night came) they did a great job of enjoying themselves while we were out shooting.

They will be getting married this fall so I'll be looking forward to hitting I-45 again to see them.

Here is a small sample of the day's take:

Just over a year ago I photographed Dami and Niyi's engagement photos in New Orleans and it was one of my most memorable times making images of a couple.

Yemi, Niyi's brother, is getting married himself this year and his fiancee, Jazmine were able to produce their own magic in front of the camera. Their natural chemistry kicked in mere seconds after I lifted the camera up to my face—it was really incredible.

We started off at CityCentre, migrated our way over to Uptown Park, then quickly went by RDG + Bar Annie (where Yemi proposed to Jazmine). Then finally we returned back to CityCentre and I convinced them to let me grab a few more photos by their car.

Here are just a few of the great photos we made that day:

(If you haven't seen yet, I have a few more photos of this couple over on my facebook page-—check it out here)

I met Becky and Rob on a cool, windy day last December for their engagement session. Despite the cool weather and Becky's hair being tossed back and forth we managed to have a great time and got some great photos of them. I can't wait to photograph their wedding in a few weeks!

Here are a few selects:

In a few weeks, I'll be photographing Megan and Mark's wedding, so I wanted to share some photos from their engagement session late last year. We worked our way down I-45 and took some photos on the beach in Galveston. We also had a special guest--their dog, Jax. His presence cranked up the energy early and it payed off as they ended up being very comfortable in front of the camera. :) The weather in the fall is much less volatile than other months and we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon which transitioned to evening. I can't wait to see them again as I'm sure they'll be an even more joyful mood.

Here are just a few favorites:

Eric is an awesome photographer and a great guy I've had the privilege of knowing for the past 2 years. He's also helped me deliver some great photographs for my clients--working with people so talented motivates you to push your game to a new level--and his presence has definitely done that for me.

Recently I had the pleasure of hanging out with him and his fiancée, Carrie. I had such a great time talking and catching up with them I almost forgot we were there to take photos. ;) Their chemistry is great and I fed off of their energy to produce the photos below. I'm looking forward to hanging out with them again soon. Thanks for making me look good guys!

My "secret" engagement photography formula usually involves talking a bit with the couple (or a lot--haha) and taking a few photos in between. That process was made extra enjoyable when I was hanging out with Kari and Ryan. I received the treat of getting to know them a little better (they both have great wit and senses of humor) and observe them enjoy each other's company. I'm really looking forward to their wedding later this fall and wanted to share a little of what we came up with on a beautiful spring day in the meantime.

A few months ago I traveled to the heart of Who Dat nation to share an awesome day with one of my favorite couples, Dami + Niyi. Since they are going to be married soon, it's time to get these photos onto the blog!

Though these two live in New York now, New Orleans is very special to them. Dami was in school there but moved to Houston as a result of Hurricane Katrina where she met Niyi.

We spent the day hitting several spots in the Big Easy including areas where the graffiti artist Banksy had been busy. It was my first exposure to his work and I was surprised at how well-known the artist is after doing more research on him. It goes without saying we had to incorporate a bit of his work into the session. :)

We continued our tour of the city where I followed them as they 2nd-lined, hit the French Quarter (where we enjoyed beignets at Cafe du Monde), and finished the night on Canal street.

Here are a few images from their awesome engagement session:

I'll be documenting their two wedding ceremonies very soon so be on the lookout for those images.

OJ (Owen) a talented fellow photographer, frequent collaborator, all around nice guy and friend gave me the awesome news that he'd like me to photograph his wedding to his beautiful fiancée Idia.

In advance of the wedding (those photos will be ready in a few days) I took some engagement photos in the Market Street area of the Woodlands. I'd love to claim credit for the location, but OJ gets the kudos for directing us here.

After getting some frozen yogurt, catching up, and spending some time talking about the wedding we explored the area and tried to make some magic. Here's how we did:

Acho, a longtime friend of mine (we first met in high school at my first job at Oshman's), and his fiancée Courtney met up in CityCentre to have fun and take some photos for their engagement session. We ventured all over, including the fantastic Hotel Sorella where these two will have their wedding reception later on this year.

Until then, you can see a little of what we came up with:

Yoav's sister, who had seen Amber & Vicente tear up the museum district already, kindly nudged this wonderful couple in my direction for their engagement photos as well. I hyped them up by playing to their competitive spirits. "If we're going to go to the same area, you've gotta outdo them".

I think the ploy worked out nicely. As they brought great energy to their session.

Check out a few selects from our time together here:

Amber and Vicente have been together for 7 years and you can see their connection in every photo. We went to the museum district and I just let these two wreak havoc--the good kind, of course. :-)

Once again, it's always fun to take on the challenge of going to familiar areas and coming up with something new.

Here's a few from a fun Halloween late afternoon and early evening...

And a few after dusk images we made, which I'm always down for....

It's a small world after all and I'm reminded of that all the time. I know Fran from college and met his fiancee, Ranesha, at Patricia and Uzo's wedding last January as she was a bridesmaid in that wedding. A side note, Ranesha actually was the one who wound up with the bouquet after this photo was made.

I'm looking forward to their wedding at Ashton Gardens this November.

We started out at the popular Discovery Green. It's always a challenge to come up with something a little different when an area is so often used in photographs but I think these two were up to the challenge.

Next we went out and about Downtown Houston after the sun set...

Last weekend I flew up to DC to hang out with Kelly and Ethan. Of course, by hanging out I mean taking some cool photos to commemorate their engagement. ;-)

Kudos to Ethan for the great location scouting! The colorful and varied grounds at Dumbarton Oaks provided seemingly endless possibilities for the session. And considering the time of day we were out there, the shade was certainly welcome as well.

They did a great job of being more into each other than my camera and following my "lack of direction" directions. Here is a sample of what we got:

I'll be headed back up to the district in a couple of months to photograph their wedding. I can't wait!

A couple of weeks ago I had the awesome pleasure of being a part of a new beginning for one couple and revisiting with another.

John told me about his plans to propose to Paige at the spot of their first date, a Loews Theatre and I was excited to be asked to document everything.

Now of course a guy hanging around the front of a movie theatre with camera equipment may raise some flags, so I recruited my friends James and Chevonte (whose wedding I'll be photographing next month) to be my decoy subjects and serve as some misdirection for Paige. While waiting for John and Paige to arrive, we chit chat, joked around, talked about the wedding....and made a few images. ;)

Now here are some images from the main event. While I could hear what was being said, I could tell John's tone started to change and Paige covered her face. I was told later she said "No, John, not here." Ha! (she was like this for about 5 minutes)

After the initial shock/surprise wore off, we then proceeded to take a few engagement photos and here are a handful....

I just had to make a small cameo. ;)

Congratulations to both couples! Chevonte and James will be making at least one more appearance on the blog after I photograph their wedding in April!

I just photographed this Becky & Kris' Valentine's Day wedding this weekend and after they told me their plans for their very unique wedding and what they promised to be a huge party of a reception, I was sold! It has been a pleasure getting to know them and can't wait to share those wedding photos with you.

Their engagement photos will have to do in the meantime. ;)

I met up with Sally and Nathan, whose wedding I'll be photographing in a little over a month, at Hermann Park for their engagement session.

Hermann is a popular choice for couples (and photographers, for that matter), but I was very much focused on trying to get some unique images of them enjoying each other's company.

Here are a few of my favorites from the day:

Looking forward to the big day guys!

I just photographed Diana & Ed's wedding (and reception on a separate day) and while those images are coming soon, I wanted to post a handful from their engagement session in Uptown Park.

The couple are honeymooning in Belize right now and having what I'm sure is a fabulous time.

I have a few days to recoup from roughly two weeks worth of travel between New York and Seattle. I'll be off for the Dallas area again this weekend but in the meantime, I wanted to blog a session that somehow slipped through the cracks.

I photographed Nicole and Tim's engagement session a while back and when we discussed what she wanted out of her session, she mentiioned she wanted an urban setting. After the success of Celine & Justin's session, I felt it was only right to head back downtown to see what else we could come up with.

Here are a few of my favorite images.

Some of you may remember this wall from Angie & Zach's party at the Alden. I couldn't resist recyling it!

We headed to the Magnolia Hotel next. These two will be exchanging their vows here next spring. I'm already looking forward to it!

I'll be posting some images from my trip to Seattle as well as many images from New York very soon.

Christiana & Olu are getting married this October so we got together to shoot their engagement photos at the Sugar Land Town Square. We stepped outside the box and went up and down the commercial district scouting new areas and trying new ideas. Here are a few of my favorites:

They were an awesome couple and I'm looking forward to their wedding this fall.

I just photographed a wedding this past weekend Saturday (and I'll be posting all about it soon), which officially marks the wedding season picking back up for me. With that in mind, I figured I'd start adding some more wedding-related posts to the blog as I continue catching up with older images.

Celine, a friend from middle school, her fiancé Justin and I went on a nearly two-hour long tour through downtown Houston, midtown, and Hotel ZaZa. I'm really excited to show the photos from this session: they have a great sense of humor and are naturals in front of the camera. In addition to being willing to try almost any idea I threw at them, they also had some of their own (including a "dip" shot that continues to stop people in their tracks).

Celine wanted a shot of a dip in the middle of the street, so we waited for the traffic behind them to be halted by a red light. We are right in front of the Magnolia Hotel here.

We rode the light rail train back to the midtown area and continued to take photos. :)

This image was taken by the Contemporary Arts Museum

I love this sequence by the Mecom fountain:

Finally we head to the Hotel ZaZa, which had special significance for them. They celebrated here the night of their engagement.

There's a bit of cool background with this next set of photos. The staff saw we were taking their engagement photos and helped us set the mood by bringing by a complimentary bottle of champagne and some strawberries. How awesome is that?

Keep an eye out tomorrow as I'll post images from the couple's engagement party where they celebrated the occasion with friends.

My friend (and fellow photographer) called me up out of the blue a little under two weeks before the turn of the year and asked me if I'd mind photographing his proposal to his girlfriend.

This is now the second time I've photographed a proposal but it was no less of an honor this time around.

Unlike last time, I didn't have to hide behind any bushes or buildings (ha!) since CJ had the proposal coincide with a birthday dinner he had planned with their friends and family. The thinking, of course, was that she her suspicion wouldn't be raised since this is a typically photographed event.

Before the CJ popped the question, everyone enjoyed a great meal at Benihana:

Crystal and CJ

Some tried their hand with the chopsticks...

...others went the more traditional route

After the food, it was time to pop the question. CJ got some help in announcing his intentions

I love the shot of Crystal's reaction here.

An embrace (and she indeed said yes)

A group hug and prayer

I convinced them to take a few shots in the restaurant just as they were closing (we were the last people inside).

Examining the goods

I am super happy for CJ and Crystal and thank you for trusting me to capture such important memories for you two. I want to wish you too many years of happiness going forward!

You can see the slideshow here:
http://www.collinsmetu.com/cjandcrystal/

Looks like I have some more blogging to catch up on (as usual!)...

I always try to foster a connection between myself and my portrait subjects and that process becomes all the more natural if they already know me. I had been meaning to take some photographs of my good friend (of 15 years) James and his girlfriend Chevonté for a little while now, but due to busy schedules and such we hadn't gotten the chance to make it happen.

Yesterday we were finally able to meet up and get these photos knocked out and to say it didn't even feel like a formal portrait session feels like a huge exaggeration. We spent most of the time just chatting it up and joking around--somehow we got some great photos in the process.

Here are some of my favorites from the evening...

Hmm...maybe some engagement photos could be in their future? ;)

EDIT: James popped the question and these two are now, in fact, engaged! I'm looking forward to photographing their wedding next April! :)

I made the trip up to the DFW area last weekend for Ebere and Femi's engagement session.

I'm glad I got an opportunity to meet them prior to their wedding day--they are a great, easy-going couple so I know we will get along great! They were very open to trying different posing ideas and laughed at all my jokes (even the corny ones!).

The session was very fun and I believe we got some good stuff that represents their relationship and captures their energy.

Ebere and Femi, I'll see you guys on 7/7/07!