Sigur Ross

Enjoyed the show, but I should have been doing my taxes.

Grand Champeen

The Grand Champeen guys were great. We had to do the shoot in the rain.

Robbin and Phillip

:) I love the idea of colored wedding dresses! No need to buy a white dress when you will look so much more fab in brown. Robbin and Phillip had a very small ceremony in Georgetown for very close family and friends. Instead of just photographing the ceremony + reception we also did a portrait session before the excitement got started.

Tiffany

An homage to the work of my pal Todd wolfson.

Voxtrot

Photographed at the Belair House.

Mary Beth and Michael

Awww! We did some photos at Mayfeild Park. I met Mary Beth in a coffee shop. :)

Portrait

Engagement portrait taken at the capital.

Box

This is for the March issue of Box.

Spoon

Photographed at La Zona Rosa for The Austin Chronicle.

** this is what my music editor had to say about the portrait of britt **
i do believe this is your single best Music picture
thus far! should print VERY nicely tomorrow. nice work killer :)

A side not about Spoon ... Britt was my boyfriend in college. :)

Berries

Took this at home yesturday.

Shearwater

Photographed on the greenbelt. Some of the members are in the band Okkervil River.

School of Rock

Preforming Pink Floyds the Wall.

Vintage Villas

This was my first wedding at Vintage Villas. I was pleasantly surprised to discover my childhood fiend Wendy was the coordinator.

NPR

One of my photos is on NPR.com

Ad.

K would hire me.

Culinary Delights

I took all of the photos for this website Culinary Delights which launched early this week.

Zycos

At Emos during free week.

Upcoming photo shows

I have a couple of upcoming photo shows, both at Progress Coffee. One show opens March 16 and is lots of photos of rock stars. The other show there will be a big opening party April 1 and it is a joint show with Mel called "Country to Country". Should be FUN!!!

Blog

This blog has moved. Please email for its new location. Thanks. myname@gmail.com

cooking

my new years resolution is to start cooking at least once a week. if y'all have any recipes y'all like please share them. its going to be a long year.

Sugar

Went home for Christmas. I love home. I'm going to start making more trips to Blue. We wormed the horses today and I went for a nice long walk with my camera. I even saw a big snake.

Soup and Poker

Thanks everyone for coming to my soup n poker party. A good time was had by all! The soups were extra yum - even if half the party opted for the creamy tomato instead of the clam chowder i slaved over all day. Mmmm... I have lots of left over soup.

My plan is to become a poker super star. If anyone wants to sponser an up and coming player please let me know. I look great in sunglasses and I can bluff with the best of them. They're gonna call me Mary "all in" Sledd.

Babies and Telephones

Photographed another family for holiday cards today. (even though it is very close to christmas)The baby was only 7 weeks old and the mom looked FANTASTIC. The baby is yawning in this photo, but it sort of looks like he's hollering.

Ever gotten stuck in a phone tree? This site has an amazing collection of customer service numbers and the back doors to talk to a real human.

Gallery News

Last night at a party at the Artist Studio Studio I met a guy who is putting together some gallery shows and asked if I'd like to hang some work in them. (Nothing beats sight-un-seen gallery representation) The location I'm most excited about is Spider House. Its been a long standing goal (since high school) to show my photos at that coffee shop. Granted it may seem like an odd venue choice for me at this point it is going to be radical. Not sure what work I'm going to show - but I'll create something spectacular and I expect all of y'all to come to the opening. Gosh I hope he actually calls... : ) Isn't that guy in Voxtrot?

Alpha Sigma Sigma

Just wanted to let everyone know Alpha Sigma Sigma is closing its doors forever and is having one last party... here's the scoop.

"Saturday, December 17th @ Art Studio Studios, party o'clock. This is the last bender that will ever be held at the warehouse, as we have to move out at the end of the month to make room for the bulldozers. But don't cry, unless that's just a little "party" in your eyes.

We're at the corner of Jessie St. and Butler Rd. One block north of Barton Springs, and one block west of Lamar. You've been here before, you know this stuff.

So, bring your friends, bring some booze, and have sex in the secret bathroom. Whatever. A.S.S. doesn't give a fuck. Go nuts." - Rush Captian '04-'05, Sterling Allen

holiday fun

took prom photos at an AWESOME party last night for the alamo. it was BIG fun - even if i was BEAT from a long day of assisting. working all day today was tough and i just wanted to take a nap.

Dad

I found this picture of my dad while I was going thru my old stuff. So strange the things we save. Most of the stuff in the trunk was junk so I threw it away - but I'm going to keep this old photo. I sure was a sleepy baby.

Its very cold in Austin today so I've hulled myself in my house and I'm not going out. Out of bordom I got a subscription to Rhapsody. Its AWESOME! I should have gotten one ages ago.

I survived.

Bookish Cat

Mom gave Dexter a new sweater for my birthday. He seems to really like it. Its pink argile. Dexter also enjoys wearing glasses and pretending to read for my stock photos. Such a good cat. It's all the kitten yoga I did with him when he was very young. Imprint training is very important with cats. It may also be that he is mildly retarted and I feed him into complacency.

T Day Update

Mom just got here. She wants me to sweep, mop, fix the record player, clean my study, vaccuum, wash my hair, and boil some eggs for gravy. Luckily I have an hour and half before guests get here. I love her!

Thanksgiving (a day early)

Thats my turkey. He's still raw - and maybe a tiny bit frozen. Hopefully noone will get food poisoning. My entire family that still lives in austin (about 12 people) are coming over for Thanksgiving (+scott) I'm a bit nervous that he is going to think my family is strange. Thankfully my mother hasn't showed up yet to freakout! I just know shes going to show up and start bossing me around even though its my dinner and my house. Sometimes she has a hard time letting go.

My favorite thing about holidays is my families Purple Jello. Its sooooo yummy. Its black cherry jello with pineapples, creamcheese, coke a cola and bing cherries. (and then pecans on top, but I grew up on a farm with pecan orchards, so i don't like them much. I also don't eat beef the other thing we raised on the farm.)

Wren

Wow. My friend Lazlo has one heck of a cute baby.

Wheres my cheese???

The answer is - in the trash. I stopped having a regular house keeper months ago because she had a habbit of throwing away important things. She also likes to hide things - once she hid my hasselblad and i almost had a heart attack because I thought it had been stolen. Turns out it was just at the back of the linen closet behind a blanket (don't ask how I found it) The latest victim was my aged yellow gouda. I can just imagine her putting the cheese to her nose, curling up her bottom lip, and then throwing it away. *sigh* At least she seemed appologetic and promised she won't throw anymore cheese away. If it weren't for silly thanksgiving she won't even be here.

Gym

I joined a gym. This may be hard for y'all to believe but I've but on almost 20 pounds since graduating college a few years ago. I used to run a few miles every day and eat extra healthy food. Then I discovered the sloth lifestyle - I stopped running, started drinking and ate mostly cheap food. Putting on pounds happened slowly at first and then all of a sudden - I'm pudgey!

So I've been doing cardio and yoga and some weight lifting. Joining a gym wasn't quite as expensive as I thought it would be and I joined an all girl gym (which is populated primarily by old ladies) so I don't feel any pressure to "preform" for others.

December 4

I'm having a big birthday party and tv show screening. Party starts at 7pm. If you need directions to my house please drop me a line or leave a comment. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone there! If you need gift ideas here are some things 20 something year old girls like...

Good Ideas-
Hensel Porty Plus 1200wts Light Kit w/ Modifiers
Epson Stylus Pro 4800
Fuzzy Slippers with Hard soles
Anything from Christian Diors J'adore line
Capes
Mixed Cds
Rechargeable AA Batteries
Dress socks (argile or other size 7 or M)
Trashy Magazine Subscribtions
Photo books
Pink sound blocking ear muffs
Funny medium(small) tee shirts
Victor 1460-3 adding machine (or equilivlant)
Silver Jewlry or anything gaudy
Tea (green, peppermint or other)
Records
Stinky Cheeses (gouda yum yum)
Baked goods
Sun Hats and dresses (size 6 vintage 36,26,full)
Scarfs (not wool)
Fun-feti Birthday cakes
Power tools
Furs
Patio Furniture
Cat toys
Olives
Art (nothing bigger than 10" x 10")
Purses (homemade is better)
Staionary
Anything Monogramed (ie pink towels, gym bags)
Inky pens

Bad Ideas-
Candles
Pictures Frames
Sented Soap
Stars
Journals (i've already got one)
Cooking gadgets
Home manicure kits (the dirt likes living under my nails)
Concert Tickets

Leah and Bradly

Leah and I both went to Austin schools in Jr. High and High School. I ran into a her a few months ago and she asked if I would photograph her wedding. She didn't want tons of photos just casual shots of what was going on. I thought it would be fun so I volunteered. I loved her polka dot theme! She even had guests get into by requesting they all were dots too.

Boating

i left my gloomy house and go boating with lorenzo candice and scott this afternoon. we had a lovely time. a coldfront is blowing in later this week so it was probobly the last of the summer fun for the year.

nothing beats drinking beer and boating. what made it ultra nice was that we had the lake to ourselves!

Felix

i've decided to have Felix, the old cat that lives on my front porch put to sleep. i feel TERRIBLE about doing it, but i think its the most humane thing i can do. i've tried giving her antibiotics and cleaning her wounds with all sorts of stuff, but she just doesn't seem to heal and now she is having a hard time eating. the weather is also about to get cold and i don't want her to be uncomfortable. its silly, but this is one of the hardest decisions i've had to make in a long long time. my wonderful loving mother is going to take her in for me. i was going to, but i think it'll be easier for me if i don't. i don't want the vet to guilt me into have any treatments done. the cat is almost 20 years old. when she was about 15 she was attacked by a dog on the 4th of july. she was missing (presumed dead for 14 days) and then one day her corpse showed up on the lawn. when i ran up to her i discovered she was still breathing. $1200 later she was all fixed up. after that i decided no more extrodinary measures when it comes to old critters. so. dear old felix this is the end. :( i'm so happy i don't have anyone else i have to justify this desicion to. i can remember getting sooo mad at my mom when she had my dog put to sleep when i was a kid (that poor old dog should have been put to sleep about a year before she had it done) now i understand. it was for mom to decide to put the dog to sleep and me getting mad about didn't help. rrrg.

weddings

Leah had a great polka dot theme wedding. :)

Dinner Party FUN

I hosted a dinner party last night. I had a great time. We served eggplant parmisan and a ceasar salad. between the 7 of us we drank 9 bottles of wine and a six pack. WOW. the kitchen is almost back to being clean and I'm not AS hungover as I thought I might be. I highly reccomend dinner parties. They are a bit labor intensive and can get expensive fast, but they are well worth it. i don't think the last guests left until after midnight.

Folio

For the first time EVER (in my memory) a potential employer wants to me come by and show them a portfolio. Like a book of photos. Real prints. WOW.

So I had to go thru thousands of files to find my favorites. I choose all color photos shot with strobes. Its frightening how "tight" they are. My style is more defined than I thought it was. I decided to only include photos of people. This ad agency needs lots of different kinds of photos and once upon a time i would have taken in a book showcasing my many different photo skills - food, buidlings, still lifes - but not anymore. I only want to take ad photos if they involve people (i say that but if they offer enough i'll photograph anything)

wish me luck guys!!!!

Ryan J and the plumber

Exciting day yesterday. The plummer came over to fix my slow drains, leaking faucet and broken sprayer. I wanted him to replace my faucet with a new mroe fashionable one and he WOULDN"T!!!! He said I had a fine faucet and they don't make them like that anymore. So strange. He didn't seem to care at all that the thing looks old. He just swore up and down that if I replaced it - it would break all the time and never be as nice again. He blaimed china.

Also photographed and up and coming country musician... guess up and coming may not be the right term. He's already had a song in the top ten of the charts.

Texas Prize

This was the fanciest party I've been to all year. Tix were $300 each and the celeb attendants included - Ann Richards, David Hickey, Michael and Susan Dell and on and on. The theme was Excess and wow did everyone take it to heart. I wore a little black dress with lots of jewels and some patton leather farragamo shoes with bows. I went with my friend Ryan because he is the only other person I knew who was near my age, not gay and had a ticket to the party. We did a lot of drinking ( i was still hungover at 9pm the next night ) some dancing and lots of hob nobbing. A very fun night all together. The longhorn band played, the signature drink involved taquilla and dinner was served at the Driskill.

Records

I'm in a good mood. Someone dropped off two boxes of old records at my office this morning. They were just going to throw them away! Lots of AWSOME classical stuff and some rock and folk. Its making my day at work much more fun.

Anyone else going to see the new HP movie when it comes out. I'm tempted to buy matinee tickets for the friday it comes out and watch in the afternoon.

Cutest girl in Texas

For a night!!!

Canon Pro Service

Today I got my letter from Canon Pro Service. I'm now on the team. Yipee!!!

Chronicle

Did y'all see the photo they ran? Looks more like a portrait than a live shot. Sometimes they pick the strangest ones - i'm not saying i don't like it... just that lots of the other stuff was way more rock star like.
http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2005-11-04/music_TCB_all.html
scroll down half way to see the photo.

Plants

Interesting. I'm working at the shop today because my mother is on a buying trip. Its fun to answer peoples plant questions. I know an alarming amount about plants. If y'all ever have any burning horticulture questions - i'm your man.

In other news. Think i'm going to the big fancy Texas Prize party with my buddy Ryan. Its going to be TONS of fun. Tickets are shockingly expensive so i'm hoping mine gets "taken care of" for me. What to wear? Black. I think i'll wear a black dress with sparkles on it. I'll be the prettiest one (i mean youngest/poorest one) there.