class of 2014 ~ brandon ~ betzey

All of my sessions are special to me but this one means so much more emotionally.  I had the honor of photographing my nephew/godson over the Christmas holiday.  I had always hoped to do this but was not sure it would happen since we have moved around so much and are currently in Pennsylvania.  Brandon lives in South Texas (Rio Grande Valley) which is a good 1800 miles away.  As luck would have it we were able to make it home for a couple of weeks and worked in a session.  Where there is a will there is a way.  I carried my gear with me on the plane, had some packed in my luggage, and shipped a few things ahead of time.

I keep going back to “I can’t believe he is a senior!” mode and am not sure it’s real.  I may be in an alternate universe right now and will find my way back to my current reality soon.  Sherri was 8 months pregnant when Paul and I got married and I know we are not old enough to have an 18 year old nephew.  It is just that simple.

Brandon has always been a natural in front of the camera.  I think it’s because my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law were constantly taking pictures of him.  He was the only grandchild in my husband’s family for several years and they loved to take pictures.  To this day it’s hard to get a shot of him not smiling.  One of my goals with this session was to get a variety of expressions.

So much has changed back home that I had no idea where to go for this session.  Sherri, his mom and my sister-in-law, asked for suggestions on Facebook and had a great list going by the time we arrived.  We decided on a popular location in a neighboring city, the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse.  It has several interesting areas for photos and luckily we arrived hours before other local photographers.

A few days prior to the session I went through his closet with him to see if a shopping trip was needed.  Brandon is an awesome tennis player and his wardrobe showed that he lives in his tennis attire.  Sherri and I headed out to find some other types of clothes.  We do what we must for our children.

The day arrived and Brandon showed up at his grandparent’s house (where we were staying) with tons of clothes for me to go through again.  It didn’t take long to get it all sorted out and a few outfits chosen.  With that done we were able to load the cars with clothes and assistants and head out for this very special session.

I decided to stop off at his high school on the way out.  I have to add that he is a student at Memorial High which is the wrong school.  Well, it’s wrong to us since his mom, uncle, and yours truly all went to McHi.

He attends our rival school.

The future…

A few days before the session Brandon asked if I would be willing to take a few shots of his girlfriend, Betzey.  She just wanted a few good shots for her senior year.  She is a sweet and beautiful young lady.

This is the first of many images of them together.  They are so sweet together and I love the way they interact.  As the session was ending my hubby, Paul, told them that they are not allowed to break up because we are not going to be removing anyone from the photos.  My response was, “What do you mean WE?”.

All of that time spent searching for the perfect clothes, ironing and I have Brandon wear one of Paul’s white t-shirts.

We were done with the school and headed out to find the Pumphouse.  None of us thought to do a recon of the location before hand and took off with Paul’s directions.  We took a few detours but eventually found our location.  I had both of them change and since Betzey finished first I started with her.

Brandon was ready so we moved on to our next location.  It doesn’t look like much but I saw its potential.

I get some ideas that make others look at me like I have lost my mind.  Luckily, Brandon is kind enough to not look at me that way and just go with the flow.  I did find out that he is not fond of heights but he loves his Aunt Mel so much that he climbed up to the top without any complaints.

I was done with this location and it was time to move on to the next area.  It’s a good thing that we had a gorgeous Texas day because I had them remove their shoes for some water shots.

 

It was now time to let their toes thaw out so we grabbed our stuff and headed to the next spot.

 

 

I quickly realized that I had no close ups of Brandon so I found a spot that would allow me to focus in on his handsome face.

I had all of the close ups I needed (there are many more that I didn’t post here) and it was time for a change of outfits so I decided to have a little fun as they were heading back to the car.

They changed into their sporting attire to finish off the session.  Brandon is the captain of the tennis team and Betzey is a cheerleader.  Very fitting couple.

These two are so much fun to watch.  They were comfortable around the camera and just having some fun.

I wish I knew.

Back to a mild form of seriousness.  Well, as much as is possible with these two.

My favorite moment was when I talked his mom into taking a picture with her oldest baby.  I love the bond between these two.

I hope you have enjoyed the photos.  I am beyond thrilled that I was able to be there long enough to get this done and glad that I had the opportunity to meet Betzey and photograph her.  She is a sweet young lady and I am sure that she will go on to do great things.  As for Brandon, he is a wonderful young man and I am proud to call him my nephew and godson.   I can’t wait to see how this new chapter in his life will unfold.  Elmo loves you very much!

 “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.  Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.  And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

Steve Jobs