How to Dunk a Photographer {New Braunfels Trash the Dress Wedding Photography}

Step right up everyone, now's your chance to dunk a photographer. Watch her get wet and drop her camera in the water. It's okay, she doesn't mind. Seriously.

Jayme had touched on the topic of underwater photography with me in the past. He suggested it and I considered it time and time again. He bought me big books of gorgeous underwater images and we talked about getting scuba certified and taking our gear on scuba dives. But it wasn't until one of my favorite former brides e-mailed me a photo of a bride at the bottom of a pool that she saw on Pinterest that I finally jumped on the chance to try it out. I finally had a client who was interested in the art and that's all it took to get me to invest in the gear I needed.

I'll admit I was nervous the first time I tried out my camera in that gear. The day I got it I put some tissue inside, sealed it up, then dunked it in a bathtub full of water. The tissue came out dry. But I was still nervous. So I put my old back-up camera in the casing and went for a swim. It survived. Not a drop of moisture on it. Okay, this was great! I gathered up the kids and took my gear to my friend, Teresa's house for a little impromptu pool party. The kids swam and cheesed for the camera. I took frame after frame after frame. We spent hours underwater and got maybe a handful of images that I considered halfway decent. This was harder than it seemed!

I took the gear out again a few times with the swim team and practiced some more on my own kids. Finally it was time for my trash the dress session with a beautiful bride who was ready to jump in.

The water was perfect that morning. It was crystal clear -- at least it was once we removed a dead scorpion -- and the happy couple had a great time swimming in their fine evening wear. We discovered that it was harder than it looks to swim without scrunching up your face while you hold your breath. And blowing bubbles wasn't such a good idea -- they obstruct the view of your face.

We spent a good long time and by the end of that session, they'd had quite a workout. After she'd changed out of her wet dress she decided she'd trash it quite definitely and throw it out. But I convinced her to give it to me. A lot of my lovely brides would love to trash a dress, but are hesitant about using their own. Thus I've accumulated quite a collection of formal wear for just such an occasion.

I can't wait to get swimming again. When you're ready to trash your dress -- or just go for a dive and capture the moment -- give me a call!

Lisa On Location Photography

Here's to Summer! Thank goodness it's almost over!

I love summer. I really do. I love hanging out at the pool or Schlitterbahn, I love being able to sleep late and having endless hours of daylight to do all the fun things I can't fit into the day when it's winter.

But as much as I love summer, I love the end of summer even more. My kids groan and complain when we go into a store at the end of July and see back to school gear. And I moan and complain with them to assure them that I'm sorry to see our freedom slipping away, (but I'm secretly pumping my fist and saying "yes").

You see, I'm a fan of summer, but I believe there is too much of a good thing and summer is just that.

A lot of people get married in summertime. A lot of them. So I continue to work in the summertime, but I no longer have the quiet hours of 7:30 to 2:30 Monday through Friday like I do during the school year. There are no quiet hours at my house right now. I get to hear the sounds of children squabbling over the Wii. The sounds of children playing the Wii. The sounds of children watching "My Little Pony" or that mermaid show from Australia that I've memorized every line of every episode yet the name of the series escapes me.

I get to feel the mommy guilt that creeps in after several hours of watching my children turn into zombies in front of a television/laptop/Nintendo DS screen. That's when I grab the towels and head to the pool. Or grab the bowling passes and head to the lanes, or the mini golf course, or the jumpy place, or the playground, assuring myself that I'll finish the job after they're in bed but I'll be damned if they're going to turn into couch potatoes.

As a result, the midnight hour has become my friend. I've never really been a night owl -- nor a morning person for that matter. I prefer to call myself a "sleep person". Yet I've grown quite accustomed to working late into the night to do my editing so that I can spend the days with my darling children.

We've had a blast this summer so far. We made a trip to Florida and Universal Orlando, visited with friends, spent some time at the beach, lots of time at Schlitterban thanks to our season passes, the kids have enjoyed several summer camps. The girls enjoyed their time with the swim team again this year and the boy tells me he got to the highest level on the Ben 10 PS2 game (I'm so proud). But now I find myself counting down the days until school starts again. Summertime, I love you, but you're days are numbered.
Lisa On Location Photography

How I Paid J.K. Rowling's Electric Bill for a Month

You may have noticed my absence from the world of blogging as of the past few weeks. Or perhaps you're thinking "oh, you went missing?" Yes, I was missing from the world of Blogger because I battled a tropical storm, throngs of people (and a dragon or two), took a wrong turn in backwoods Alabama during a flood and got to know the smells of my children a bit too well. The 2012 Blaschke road trip is now a thing of the past. It's one for the photo albums for sure.

If you've been reading up on it, you know that our destination was a surprise from the kids. It drove them crazy for months guessing and wondering. I didn't tell them at the time but they did guess it once or twice. When I first told my middle child about the surprise, the first thing out of her mouth was "is it the Wizarding World of Harry Potter?" I was hoping the surprise in my voice was contained as I answered her "I'm not telling you if it is or not."

But, yes, darling girl, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was one of our destinations on this family vacation. We also dropped in on some very good friends of ours who moved to Slidell, LA and got to catch up and stay the night not just once but twice. We were worried along the way about Tropical Storm Debby that was dropping throngs of water on the entire state of Florida the day before we left. Mostly the skies were clear along the way until we hit Lake City, where a cloudburst left us stuck in one spot on the interstate for 2 hours. I had to piddle quite urgently at this time and noticed many of my traffic jam neighbors getting out of their cars, opening their umbrellas to shield their rear ends as they squatted on the road to relieve themselves but I never got the nerve to do it myself. I managed to hold my bladder until traffic moved again and we made it to the nastiest Cracker Barrel I'd ever seen in my life.

We arrived at our hotel late that night -- sadly the contents of the diaper truck and the zuchinni truck that collided on the interstate along the way can't say the same.

We didn't see another drop of rain for several days and the theme park was quite crowded while we were there. But the Harry Potter rides were worth the wait. The kids were thrilled when they weren't squabbling.

We were a bit annoyed at their "Express Pass" method in which if we were willing to pay an additional $300 per day for our family, we could get moved to the front of the line. They failed to mention that, in theory, you could stand in the regular line all day while they let all their Express Pass holders through time and time again. But I'm not bitter about it. Nope not me. And I'm not bitter about the overpriced T-shirts that I purchased or the large quantities of butter beer that my family requested only to take two sips and leave because it was too sweet. J.K. Rowling is a fine woman who deserves my money for blessing us with Harry Potter. It takes quite a bit to pay the electric bill of that huge mansion she lives in and I wouldn't want her to have to sit in the dark for one moment!

After three days of theme park madness and massive commercialism, we hit Kennedy Space Center, a special treat for Jayme, but The Boy loved the place as well. Especially the part where he got soaked in the decorative fountain near the missile garden. Jayme was disappointed that a launch wasn't scheduled for the day we were there, maybe next time.

The next day we made our way up to Savannah, GA. I couldn't pass so close to the birthplace of Juliette Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts without making a stop! It was amazing being in a house that was almost 200 years old. If the walls of this place could talk!

We made our way home from Savannah too soon. It's on our list of places to return when we can spend a few days. We stayed one final night with our friends in Slidell and then ventured into New Orleans for the day before the long stretch home. We avoided Bourbon Street with the little one (if you'll remember my blog from our last visit there you'll understand why.

Before long we were home from the Great Blaschke Southern Adventure of 2012, as it will be known. As much as we love traveling, it's always nice to return home. Now I need a vacation.

Lisa On Location Photography