Say hi to Jay

Jay graduates from Hutto High in May and will be heading off to Blinn College in the fall. We met Jay at our favorite park, Round Rock Memorial because it offers so many background options in one place. waterfalls, urban looking walls, rocks, trees and nice greenery. Jay played basketball for the Hutto Hippos and ended his high school career with a winning season. It was a fun session and nice thing about men...you don't have to worry about hair blowing in the wind, but you do have to work for those beautiful smiles.

Photography Tip - Digital Media – Your wedding images

Just think about the changes in music in 50 years: Vinyl records, eight tracks, cassette players, CD, iPod nano, to iPod with video. You can hardly find a record player, eight track players and most car manufactures are phasing out offering cassette players in new vehicles. Who would have thought you could upload personal video to You Tube in minutes? What will be next? Ever stop to think about changing technology in relationship to your wedding photography?

No one shoots with film anymore. Do you look through your parent’s pictures and find slides or old Polaroid’s? Do you even remember a floppy disk? That was the standard from 1980 to 1989 …9 whole years. The first CD came out in 1983! This is around the year most of you were born.

Just about every photographer will offer you the all of your high-resolution images on a DVD because so many are taken that they will not fit on a single CD. New computers all come with a DVD. What will be next?

It distresses us when we survey our brides and we ask them what they have done with their DVD of images. Many will tell us that they printed off a couple to frame. What? Do not think that current technology will stay the same! Make an album or have your photographer make an album. There are so many album options available. You can make small books on Snapfish.com or Kodak.com. The new composite albums your photographer can produce are simply stunning. They are not inexpensive, but are seriously worth the investment.

What if you let your DVD sit on a shelf and some day, your children are looking for a player just to see them? This may be the only thing you can do with a floppy disk today. What about DVDs in the future?

Do something with those important photographs....... please.

Ally and Blake

Ally and Blake will be getting married in Kansas, but they were in town for an engagement party and took time for a portrait session with us. When Ally emailed to set up this session, she said "I want something that reminds me of Austin". Ally suggested the Pennybacker Bridge. J. Mark Photography has used the bridge for a backdrop on several other occasions and totally agreed it would be a great location. Cute couple, awesome session and we ended with a few pictures with their dog, Austin. Do you think Ally may miss the great state of Texas just a little?


Fun factoid: Often called the 360 bridge, the bridge is named after Percy Pennybacker -a civil engineering graduate from UT who became a pioneer in the technology of welded structures.

Elegance at the Mansion at Judges Hill - Trisha and Majed

Trisha and Majed decided to get married "two" months ago... and you think it can't be done! Trisha and her mom pulled together a spectacular day! J. Mark Photography has never had a rain out and Trisha sent us an email saying... cross your fingers for no rain. Well, it didn't rain on Saturday but it was windy and burrrrr cold....in the 40's. Her matron of honor is a "get it done" kind of girl and with one short phone call 12 portable heaters arrived to warm the guest while waiting for the outside ceremony to start!

The couple decided to see each other for a special moment before the ceremony. Not many of our couples decide to do this, but think it is great! The wow moment, the whispered words and emotions are super cool.

It was such a fun wedding. A silver glove was handed to the guest because Maj is a big Michael Jackson fan and they rocked out to classic Michael. Heart warming toasts, a lovely venue, great staff, Greenbelt DJ churning out the tunes and our extremely fun live photo booth created a memorable wedding.

For a little history, Dr. Thomas Dudley Wooten purchased one acre of land where the Mansion at Judges Hill currently resides at a cost of $2,500 in 1900 and began the conversion of a small house into a Mansion. Construction was completed 10 years later. Restoration began in 2002 and the Mansion re-opened in 2003.

Live Photo Booth

With this live setup, the booth actually becomes part of the entertainment! This is a super fun and interactive addition to any party or reception! Majed and Trisha's wedding was not only enjoyable for us but a blast for their guests. We bring in a studio backdrop and lighting and let the bride, groom and guests do the rest. Plus - what could be better than free? Not a penny extra for this service! We captured the ridiculous to some sweet traditional portraits. It was amazing to add memorable moments to an already awesome day! Check out samples from the J. Mark Photography new "Live Photo Booth and Portrait Station"