Sophie's Bat MItzvah

Last weekend I had the pleasure of photographing Sophie's amazing Bat Mitzvah at Temple Emanu-El and the Nuvo Room. Her party theme was Surfing with Sophie and it was a fun beach theme. I loved it. It was great working with Kristen Powell from Amazing Events, she did a fabulous job with the decor. Here are the highlights :)

 I'll start with the portraits we took the week before the Bat Mitzvah for her sign in board. She is gorgeous.

She brought some balloons and we had fun with them. At one point we were walking through the trees and all the sudden about 6 of the balloons popped. It sounded like firecrackers. We had a good laugh about that.

 A few at sunset. I love these.

 So Saturday morning the family showed up bright and early for some portraits before the service. I love, love, LOVE the stained glass at Temple Emanu-El it has such beautiful color.

 Mom, Dad and sister.

 Dad and sister.

 A few details from the service.

 Sophie with the Torahs.

 I love this series. Sophie has personalty that really shows through in her photos. :)

 All the parents with Sophie.

 Reading from the Torah.

 Later that evening the beach party was at the Nuvo Room.

 Kristen turned the room blue with light and filled it with seashells and candles. LOVE!

 We started the eveninf with a few portraits of Sophie in her party dress.

 She made her "surfing" entrance on a skateboard through smoke. It was pretty cool I must say. This is the first time I've seen a smoke machine at a Mitzvah and it was used very well. Not too much smoke, just enough to cover the floor. It was cool.

 Party time.

 You can't have a Bat Mitzvah party without a hula hoop contest.

 It's a battle to the finish.

 The winner.

 Time for the Hora.

 Th next two photos are my favoritest photos of forever. Her dad and stepdad started dancing and she just covered her face. I can only imagine I would have felt exactly the same way when I was 13. It was awesome to see all the parents having such a great time at the party.

 Up in the chair!

 Perfect!

Finishing the Hora with a little dosey do  with her sister.

 The mom's dancing.

 Dad and sister having fun.

 Nothing beats a snowball dance.

 Snowball!!

The kids all had a great time singing and dancing all night.

 Then the DJ gave the mic to the adults who rocked out to a little Bon Jovi.

 So much fun.

 Even mom got a chance at the mic.

 At one point some beachballs were tossed out into the dance floor.

Sopie Dances with her grandfather.

 and gives her dad a hug at the end of the night.

Congrats Sophie! You are amazing.

Jacob's Bar Mitzvah

A few weeks ago I photographed Jacob's Bar Mitzvah at Temple Emanuel in Dallas. His party that evening was a super cool pool party that was perfect for a summer Bar Mitzvah celebration. Jennifer Watkins of Tie a Bow Special Event Planning was so easy to work with all day and DJ P Love kept the party rocking. They even had my very favorite Sprinkles Cupcakes and ice cream for dessert. Here's a peek!

I loved the program. I go to lots of Mitzvah's and I don;t often see a program, especially one that explains the traditions so well.

 Jacob and his family in front of the gorgeous stained glass at the Temple.

With the Torah

 Jennifer did a fabulous job decorating for the lunch that followed the service. I'm loving all the blue and orange, flowers and balloons. Such great eye-popping color!

 Party time! Love that smile.

 Jacob made a splash with his introduction.

 "Turn down for what!?"

 They played a frozen t-shirt game.

 and they were pretty amazing with the pool basketball. I was impressed.

 Before it got too dark all the kids lined the side of the pool for a group photo jumping in.

 DJ P Love kept the kids dancing until it was dark.

 They even did the Hora in the pool. I've never seen that before and it was fun. Instead of a chair the kids all lifted Jacob in the air as they swam around him.

 Love this!

It was a perfect day!

Congrats Jacob. You did a fabulous job!

Published photos

It's been a while since I've had time to post some of my published photos. But today...I'm actually caught up on editing and I have several clips from the last few months to share.

 Some NBA basketball in Sports Illustrated.

and the same photo on Bleacher Report.

More NBA Basketball on Bleacher Report.

 Major League Baseball in the Dallas Morning News.

 and on Fox Sports

 NFL Football in the Houston Chronicle

 and in the Las Vegas Sun.

 and finally a photo taken at the Veteran's Hospital on a Benefits website. I shot this long...long ago so I was surprised to see it recently.