Kelly Lee Photography

Wow, what a whirlwind! Texas was awesome. It always is, but as quick as this last trip was… it was REALLY awesome.

First of all, I flew into Houston and had this amazing Engagement Portrait session with October clients, Justin and Christina. I have a special place in my heart for my firefighter clients, as my brother works for the Houston Fire Department… and BOTH Justin and Christina are firefighters. Of course, we had to do a few at their fire station… and christen their stations brand new truck… but we started at the gorgeous Mercer Arboretum & Botanic Gardens.

Let me just throw out, I am TERRIFIED of snakes! Terrified may not be strong enough of a word. It doesn’t matter where we go, they find me. As a camp councelor in college, no one EVER saw a snake in the Georgia woods…. except me… weekly. When I moved to Va Beach no one ever saw snakes… until I came along. I even used to kayak, asked a local expert where to go and not see snakes and I saw four of them on a river he has never seen a single one on. I sold my kayak after that trip.

Needless to say, I wasn’t to happy when I got to the gardens. There was a sign taped to the rail that I saw in the distance. It looked like blurry little words and then in BOLD, LARGE, and UNDERLINED letters…. SNAKES!  I had to take a deep breath, lol. (I totally forgot to take a picture of the sign! I had meant too!)  So I walk a little further scoping out locations for when Justin and Christina arrive and I find this sign…

Yes, on top of snakes, we apparently needed to watch out for the bee’s.  Luckily, I’m not allergic so I could care less about the bee’s. I quickly forgot about snakes and bee’s though. Mercer Arboretum is beyond amazing and gorgeous! Ooooh, and did I mention it’s free to the public and photographers? Many botanical gardens require a sometimes steep portrait fee. All they ask is that you don’t crush the flowers.

Christina and Justin arrived, and we had an awesome time. They are so easy to shoot, completely relaxed, sure of themselves and their love for each other. As we began to shoot, we found some great locations… and I kept my eye out for the snakes.

The whole time we were shooting in the bamboo and leaves I had my eyes and ears peeled for snakes. Of course, as we left to walk back into the woods, another guest in the garden calls out to us and points to us a dead baby copperhead. (WHY would you do that!) Then they tried to explain that it was only a baby and they saw another live one not too far. Um, babies are dangerous too…. lol.  I’m happy to report we never saw any alive snakes. (I’m seriously happy to report that). Unfortunately, I saw another snake the following day.  Thank you mom for pointing that one out…. not long after I shared the above story with you.

I think the one below is one of my top favorites from the day.

After we finished up and the Mercer Arboretum closed for the evening, we still had plenty of light left. I had noticed that right next door to the gardens there was a completely empty field… the future home of a neighborhood in Spring, Texas… not far from Bush Intercontinental Airport.  I figured because of snakes, that it looked pretty heavily brushed. I didn’t think we’d be able to go very deep into it for safety reasons, but it actually resembled more of a west texas desert than a gulf coast marshy field. I was VERY happy to discover that, and loved the results.

After having some fun in the field, we made our way to their firehouse and took out the newest truck.

So, I hope you enjoyed their engagement images.  I enjoyed every single moment of our session and was sad to see it end. I can’t wait to go back to Houston for their October wedding.