Stancey & Chris

At the beginning of November, during a trip home to San Antonio to visit my family, I met up with my lil' sis, Stancey, and her boyfriend, Chris, to take some portraits at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful day and after a couple of hours of walking around the grounds we left with some gorgeous images. I think these photos depict the two of them and their relationship with each other perfectly, but I could be biased.

The Shiflett Family

Over the past six months I've been able to follow this family through a life-changing time. At the beginning of June I took April's maternity photos, in August I photographed the newly born, Heath, and now I'm able to post photos that I took of the entire family together! We took these photos in North Dallas last month and it was so much fun to see how baby Heath has grown over the past few months. This gorgeous family is also one of the sweetest I've photographed and I look forward to being their photographer for many more years to come!

Vaughn-Totten Wedding

On October 25th in Decatur, TX, Jay and I had the opportunity to photograph the wedding of our friends, Bekah and Jody. Since the ceremony took place on Bekah's parents' land, there were several cute niches for us to choose for our photo backdrops. The red barn, the girl's boots, and the rockin' band, the Bois d'Arcs, only added to the quaint, down home, country feel of the wedding! Here is a slide show of some of our favorite pics from the event, thank you two for allowing us capture this memorable time in your lives!

Daddy's Little Girl - Garrick & Ryllie

Here is a slide show of little Ryllie with her dad, Garrick at Keller Pointe Park in Keller, TX. The weather was gorgeous and made Ryllie's beautiful blue eyes just POP! Father and daughter were very sweet together and we think it shows in these photos.

Carolyn & Robert Slide Show

Here is the slide show of some of our favorite images from the wedding of Carolyn & Robert at the beautiful location of Rough Creek Lodge in Glen Rose, TX on Saturday, October 11. The country setting and gorgeous sunset definitely set the stage for some memorable photos. Enjoy!

Daddy's Little Girl

A couple of weeks ago we went to Keller Pointe Park in Keller, TX to take photos of little Ryllie with her dad, Garrick. The weather was gorgeous and made Ryllie's beautiful blue eyes just POP! Father and daughter were very sweet together and we think it shows in these photos. Here are the first few preview images. Check back in a few weeks to see their slide show with more images from the shoot.

Amanda & Paul - Fort Worth Stockyards

Here is Amanda and Paul's slide show from our night-time shoot at Stockyard Station in Fort Worth, TX. These two were so cute and natural, they made it easy to get some fun shots in this unique location. Thank you guys for being so patient and willing to take a few chances!

Carolyn & Robert - Married!

We had the privilege to photograph the quaint wedding ceremony of Carolyn & Robert at the gorgeous setting of Rough Creek Lodge in Glen Rose, TX on Saturday, October 11. The couple timed the occasion to perfectly match the sunset and we got gorgeous skies for our backdrop! Thank you two for inviting us to be a part of this precious time in your lives. We enjoyed getting to know you, your adorable daughters, and friends! Here are a few of our favorite pics, more to come in a slide show later.

Amanda & Paul Adkison

While spending a fun, Friday night out on the town at the Stockyard Station in Ft. Worth, we got some great night-time pics of my friends Amanda & Paul. After photographing Amanda's bridals (whose photos are on our website) and Amanda & Paul's wedding over two years ago, it was great to see these two, and their smiling faces, again! Here are just a couple of my top picks, more will be coming over the next couple days with a slide show.

Swafford Sons Slideshow

On September 22nd we photographed three generations of men from the Swafford family at Prairie Lakes Golf Course in Grand Prairie, Texas. Here is a slide show of our favorite images from the session. Thank you guys for a great evening on the course and allowing me to spend time with your family!

Art Show Announcement!

Coyoacán Performer

Plaza Hidalgo - Coyoacán - Mexico City - 11.04.07

We are proud to announce that Jay's Mexico City photo, 'Coyoacán Performer', was accepted in the 2008 DIA DE LOS MUERTOS (Day of the Dead) Art Exhibition at the Bath House Cultural Center: 521 E. Lawther Drive Dallas, TX 75218

Exhibition dates: October 11-November 8, 2008

Opening reception: Sunday, October 12, 2008 (5-7 PM)

www.bathhousecultural.com/dod2008.html

Bain Family Photos

Here is a slide show of photos taken of my friend Chris and her family on the
grounds of the Kimball Museum in Fort Worth. Thank you to the Bain family
for a wonderful morning and allowing me to capture these memories.... Enjoy!

Christina & Lindsay

Here is a new slide show of photos that I took last Friday for Christina and Lindsay, some dear friends of mine. Taken on location at Lower Greeneville, and Down Town Dallas, we captured some great evening and night shots. The environments lent themselves to some cool effects that I threw in with light and color. Thank you two - I had SO much fun! Please post comments and suggestions - I'd love to hear from you and as always, please send this information on to others who may be interested in portraits or any other work that we do. You can check out more at www.opaquevisuals.com.

Jay and I combining our talents

These are a set of combo photos (BW, & Tinted) of two images that I took, one of April's belly during her maternity photo session and one of baby Heath during his newborn photo session. Jay used his design talents to superimpose the two. One of our goals is to be able to offer more "artistic" styled photos to our clients so let us know what you think.

Baby Heath

I had the privilege of photographing my friend's newborn, Heath, last Friday. I had so much fun at this shoot. I have never photographed a newborn before, but Heath just slept the entire time. There were only a few moments when he opened his eyes to figure out what was going on! Here is a preview slide show of some of my favorite images.... Enjoy!

Catch Up & Update on Web Site

It's been awhile since I last posted anything. I thought I was going to have some more time to keep up with this blog but after a couple of trips to visit family and spending some time around the house to get things back in order, we have also, over the past month, had a car almost die on us (thanks to my cousin, Robert, for saving the day), a computer completely crash, Jay & I celebrated our 4 year anniversary, and Jay was able to get a backstage pass to go to Ozzfest with my friend's husband, Bill. Thank you Steph for making Jay's year!

In between all this, I have actually gotten a little bit of work done ;) Thanks to Jay's help and motivation, I finally got new photos on the website! We finally got my work up from this past year, changed the photos in the opening slide show, and Jay changed the song on the site, it is actually one of his originals where he plays all the instruments in the recording himself. So check it out and let us know what you think: www.opaquevisuals.com

I also just shot some newborn photos for my friend, April, and some new portraits of friends, Christina and Lindsey, that I hope to show some previews of here, then get up on the site soon, so be looking for those. Lastly, I am going to start sending out email blast to friends, family, and clients starting very soon. In these, I'll let you know about up coming photo sessions and discounts that I'll be offering. If you would like to be added to this email list, please visit the website and fill out the "contact us" form or just email us directly at: opaquevisuals@hotmail.com.

A Shout Out to My Peeps

Over the course of the past couple of weeks I have been sorting through my collection of photographs taken through out the years. I have been trying to come up with some sort of organization to this madness that I can actually be satisfied with, and as obsessive compulsive as I can be, this organizational process has taken me awhile and has been somewhat frustrating.

This evening though, looking over these photos, especially from the earlier years when I first started photographing couples/engagements, bridals, and weddings, I have almost been overwhelmed emotionally. Why? Most of these photos are taken of my family & friends; my loved ones. Even though I was just starting out in this business, these people were the ones who entrusted me with some of the most precious moments in their lives.

It is to these special people that I owe so much. With out your trust, love, and support, there is no way that I could have ever gotten to where I am now, and the only thing that I can really say is "Thank You!" From the bottom of my heart, I feel truly blessed and am indebted to each and everyone of you for providing me with these opportunities.

So, over the next week I will be posting a special series of blogs "From Then to Now." Each day I would like to add some of these earlier photos, and give a little info about the shoot and what it meant to me personally. This is the only way I can really think of to give back to these people who have given so much to me.

Thank you all and much love.
amy

Updates and Such...

Hello friends of mine who I have probably not talked to in WAY too long... or maybe the random person who I have never talked to before. Here are updates of my life and contact info. Enjoy...

I have left my job as an elementary art teacher and will be working with Jay, my husband, out of our home studio in DFW to get our business, Opaque Visuals - design, art, and photo - off the ground. (There will be more to come in the following days on what exactly "Opaque Visuals" is.) This will enable me to put the effort into my photography career that, as many of you know, I have been wanting to do for quite awhile now.

You can also reach me through opaquevisuals@hotmail.com (this is the email addy that both Jay and I check for business on a daily basis).

Also, my cell number is the same (if you have it) but if you are trying to reach Jay or I during the day, please call our land-line at 972.283.9546.

If you have not had a chance to check our our website you can visit and contact us through www.opaquevisuals.com. Now that I have some time to catch up on things I will be adding photos from shoots this past year that are not up currently, so please check back soon.

I hope that all is well with you guys/gals and I hope that if we have not had a chance to talk recently that I will hear back from you with updates on how life has been.

Keep in touch.
W.Love,
Amy (Hubbard) Lamar

The Ends and The Beginnings

So, we're coming up on the end of a couple of things...

1) The end of my career as an art teacher. I have been working as an elementary art teacher for the past 3 years but it is time to move on. So, yes, for those of you who have not heard yet, I am currently counting down the last 7 days of my teaching career.
2) The end of a very exhausting 3 month stretch that has been Non-Stop for both Jay and I. We have given ourselves the "Trooper Award." Juggling several jobs at a time, traveling, spending time with our beloved family and friends has found us quite worn out! So what are we doing this weekend - Nothing! Oh we might go to the State Park down the street and grill out with some friends but at the end of the day my head is going to hit nothing but my nice soft pillow ;)

So for the fun BEGINNINGS...
1) I will begin working from home FULL-TIME! I will now be working with Jay on Opaque Visuals and finally launching the photography side of our company into full-swing!
2) This blog ... So this has been in the works for awhile now, but I figure that I don't have an excuse anymore on why I should not be posting regularly.
3) Summer! Yeah! The beginning of summer is always an exciting time for me... Time to recoup, catch-up, and get a chance to enjoy life, the outdoors and the SUN for awhile! Perfect photography weather...

Be looking out for new updates here and on our website, www.opaquevisuals.com, as we start to revap the company and get ready for the fun times ahead...