Jonathan L Golden Photography - Houston Texas Wedding and Portraiture Photographer

Deborah, Jules and Marjorie – Houston, Texas Pet Photography

Jonathan — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 05:01:11 +0000

Aunt Deborah rarely goes anywhere without her two best friends – Jewels and Margery. When I say anywhere, I mean, she won’t buy a car that isn’t a station wagon with room for two 70 lb dogs. As a person who grew up with cats (my mom is terrified of dogs), I learned about the loyalty and friendship that dogs bring to people after I married my wife. If you say a cross word about Jewels, Margery or Venus (my mother-in-law’s papillon), you might as well be talking about their owner. If table food didn’t result in thousands of dollars in medical bills, I’m convinced most dogs would have a seat at the dinner table. They really are members of the family.

A couple weeks ago, I stopped by Deborah’s house for what turned out to be a very fun shoot. When I arrived, Jewels and Margery had just returned from Petsmart where they received their monthly $100 pampering. They were very relaxed and posed for some great photos.

Here are a few images from the session.

Goodbye until next time!

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2010 Marketing Campaign – Houston Wedding & Portrait Photography

Jonathan — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 05:14:28 +0000

In 2009, I mainly focused on using Social Media sites like Facebook (jonathan.lgolden) and Twitter (@jlgolden) for marketing. While I was able to get great exposure, it is important for me to use some of the “battle tested” marketing techniques of the past as well. Inbound marketing techniques (blogs & social media) are great but I see no reason to shun traditional (outbound) marketing.

Bob Bates’ was kind enough to give me permission to use his beautiful daughter Sophie on my flyer. I plan to battle the elements and go door to door getting the word out about Jonathan L Golden Photography!

I read a few photography blogs religiously, and right before Christmas, Tony Hoffer had a contest where he gave away a free photo shoot. His readers had to send in stories explaining why they should get the free shoot. I was shocked when Tony wrote that more than a few readers sent in stories mentioning that they had not had a portrait taken in 20 years! One of the best ways to document you and your families journey through this beautiful life is with annual (or bi-annual) portraits. Please allow Jonathan L Golden Photography to document your timeless memories.

Check out the new ad.

***Whether your first time seeing the ad is here on my blog or you find it near your front door, mention it for a free 8×10 at your first sitting.***

Don’t hesitate! Before you know it, another year will have gone by. Contact me to book your portrait session today!

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Meghann – Bridal Photography in Houston Texas

Sophie’s 2nd Birthday Party – Houston, Texas Photography

Jonathan — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:02:13 +0000

As my last photography assignment of 2009, I was hired by Mr. Bob Bates to shoot for a few hours at his daughters 2nd birthday party. Bob is currently stationed in Afghanistan and came home for the holiday’s to enjoy some much needed R&R with his family.

One thing all children need is an overdose of love and care (and to be slightly spoiled). The whole time I was taking pictures of Sophie and her family, I couldn’t help but notice how close they were. Sophie has such a great spirit and really enjoys being the center of attention. She had definitely been in front of a camera before because as soon as I set up my lights, she started posing. I love it when my clients are as excited about photography as I am!

With the love that’s in the Bates household, Sophie is destined for great things in life. As for the celebration, Bob really set the bar high for himself; bounce house, friends and family, food, cake and loads of toys. When a man loves his daughter, she can have the moon and it not seem out of the ordinary. I can’t fault him, see where we did the same thing for our daughter here.

Enjoy the pictures from Sophie’s 2nd Birthday Party.

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Ava Loves the Snow! – Houston Texas Photography

Jonathan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:39:18 +0000

Last Friday Houston was greeted with an early “White Christmas.” If we get snow, it’s usually a 10 minute freezing rain storm that we call snow. This time, Houston had a full blown snowstorm. To top it off, as my final photography purchase of the year, B&H (via UPS) delivered a brand new Nikkor AF-S 70-200 f/2.8 to my doorstep! I all but shredded the box getting to it, strapped it on my D700, grabbed the family and headed out into the snow.

At first, Ava (my little one) thought the big snow flakes were making her “dirty” and refused to venture away from the porch. Eventually, determined not to let my wife and I have all the fun, she gave it a chance. As you’ll see in the pictures below, Ava could not get enough of it.

Don’t act like you didn’t try dirty snow the first time you saw it!

A lucky man…I know

Daddy gets to adventure into the middle of the yard. You’ve got to love my “cold weather socks!”

Contact me to book your session or holiday event today!

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Meghann – Bridal Photography in Houston Texas

Jonathan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:34:04 +0000

Meghann had a fabulous wedding in Tennessee a little over a month ago. Before the wedding we were on the fence with regard to Bridal photography. With the amazing weather we’ve had here in Houston lately, she decided to go ahead and invest in what turned out to be some beautiful photos. We had a BLAST! I think taking Bridal portraits after the wedding is a great idea. The dress has already been worn so the bride does not have to worry about getting her dress dirty. With a huge stressor removed the bride has the freedom to be much more relaxed and enjoy the session.

At dusk, we headed out to Houston’s Discovery Green park armed with multiple flashes, Nikon CLS and many more beautiful backdrops then we could use. After two full hours of “look how awesome that is, lets go shoot there” Meghann was a little worn out (I don’t blame her). As you will see, I think we came away with some fantastic Bridal photos.

Meghann is beautiful! Jesse (her husband) is quite a lucky man.

Special thanks to Adrian Green who help with lighting and creative inspiration!

Contact me to book your wedding or portrait session today!

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Halloween Fun 2009 – Houston Family & Event Photography

Jonathan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:16:15 +0000

With a long overdue post, I bring you Halloween 2009! I started off taking a few pictures with my wife, daughter and a family friend. We never go to overboard with the holiday but Ava (my daughter) was tickled pink when she looked in the mirror with her costumes on. She screams with joy and giggles every time she looks at herself in the mirror. Here’s our little family and friends photo shoot.

Wife: Bunny

Ava: Chicken and Honey Bee

Friend: Lobster

After family time, I went to work a party for some long time friends of mine. I arrived just as the party was warming up, and as you will see in the following images, it was quite the shindig! Halloween is one of those holidays than when combined with alcohol can quickly get out of control. In good judgment, I put the camera down after 1AM. I have to protect the potential for future political careers.

Enjoy!

Why YES, I will have a cookie!

Cheers!

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Houston Headphone Meet – Houston Texas Photography

Jonathan — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:13:39 +0000

While I have a passion for photography, I also have several other passions (much to my wife’s frustration). I love running, PC’s, PC gaming, music and pretty much anything electronic. Today I will be talking about the last two on the list; music and electronics.

About 3 years ago, I was relatively new at my PC overclocking forum of choice, Overclock.net. My Logitech 350 headphones were acting up and I had just spent a few hours at Fry’s trying to find a new pair. None of their models looked exactly like what I was looking for so I challenged my OCN friends to see if they could help me out. I was met with a ton of comments advising me of the fact that everything that I new about headphones / headsets, music, gaming and sound in general was completely ignorant (and newb). I took the criticism and shook it off. After the bashing was complete I was shocked to find out that $30-50 headset was not going to get me anywhere near what I was looking for. To get close to any sort of improvement, I needed to spend $180 and visit Head-Fi.org.

Over the next year I think I spent around $700 buying a good entry level system. It included a Darkvoice 336i with upgraded tubes, a cheap Digital to Analog converter (DAC) and a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro headphones. I basically erased and re-burned all my old CD’s from 128k MP3’s to Apple Lossless files. As I sit here writing this, I think back to how AWESOME that sound was. Granted, I had been listening to those 128k MP3’s for years without knowing any better. Note, a lossless file sounds 100% better than an MP3 to start. When combined with my $700 system, I was blown away!

For my next upgrade, I knew I was wanted to make a huge improvement, “just to see if I could hear the difference.” As far as Head-Fi goes, I went about “middle of the road.” I got a really good system but didn’t spend $10,000. I got out the door for about *censored* (including Singlepower MPX3 SLAM, tubes, Cambridge 840c, power cables, Senn HD-650 Headphones, new PC sound card, digital coax and Zu Mobius Headphone cable).

If you think I’m crazy or that I wasted my money, please contact me if you are ever in the neighborhood. I’ve allowed several of my close friends to experience the sound and as they get goosebumps, the first word is always WOW!!! Its not like sitting in the high school parking lot and having your best friend blast you away with his brand new 12’s. Its a clean 3 dimensional sound with ultra wide sound stage, deep solid bass, lush mids and crystal clear vocals and highs. While I can blast your ear drums out of your head, its not needed. I prefer a comfortable listening volume over an ear ringing headache music any day.

On to the meet…for the second year now, Ken aka Orcin has put together a Headphone meet in Brightwater outside Houston, near Sugar Land, Texas. About 20 or so members from Head-Fi get together to listen to each others rigs, share ideas and just hang out. With a good sized meet, top vendors will usually send demo products. This year the JH Audio 13 Pro in-ear monitors damn near took money right out of my pocket.

We have pretty much everything from portable rigs, solid state rigs, DIY (do it yourself) rigs, high end PC rigs and turn tables based systems. I had an absolute blast!

Since this is a little bit different from my usual post, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. I know most people still listen to their iPods. If you want to open Pandora’s box and treat your ears to audio nirvana, the please drop me a email.

Enjoy the photography:

Awesome custom built and modded turntable

Ken’s Table complete with Woo Audio Amp, Sennheiser HD 600 cans and MHDT Paradisea+ DAC

MHDT Havana DAC with Ray Samuels Audio “The Raptor” amp

$2000+ in headphones…yes, the wood is real!

For the DiYer the quest for perfection never ends!

Shelly demoing a DiY electrostatic amp.

Shrine – o – Shelly aka the can’s queen. Her Woo Audio amp is stunning!

Closer look at her Woo

If anyone wants to treat me to a Christmas present…look below!

My PC! Yes, its labor of love and yes its FAST!

I got so busy at the meet I forgot to take a picture of my amp…here it is.

A little tube glow never hurt anyone. Can’t wait to see everyone again next year!

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Antoine and Cassandra – Houston Texas Photography

Jonathan — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:37:09 +0000

Antoine and I met each other 8 years ago as members of the Baylor Bears football team. Antoine came in my Sophomore year and we were great friends from the beginning. He was a member of the amazing offensive line that made one of the most memorable nights of my life possible; the night I scored 6 touchdowns. I haven’t kept up with a ton of people from college but Antoine is one of those people that I’ll know for the rest of my life. We’ve had some devastating lows together (football can do that to you), but the times I remember most are when we have laughed so hard we had tears streaming down our faces (I’m laughing as I write this).

Antoine and his lovely wife Cassandra have been married for 3 years now and they decided to add a little omph to their 2009 holiday greeting cards as well as get some updated photos for their home. Time flies and before you know it, the family photography will be dated. I was trilled when the Murphy’s chose Jonathan L Golden Photography for their images. We started with the water wall located at Main and Holcombe then moved over to Houston’s lovely Herman Park and Japanese Gardens. The Japanese Gardens have several amazing backdrops as your will see in the images.

Antoine tried to play the “hard” football player in front of me in the beginning (y’all know that football player mean mug), but over the hour and a half we spent together he really loosened up. I was able to capture some great images that show the strength of their relationship and the love they have for each other.

Enough with the dialogue…enjoy the pictures!

My favorite!!!

Time is running out to get customized Holiday cards… Contact me to book your session today!

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Ava’s 2nd Birthday Party – Houston Texas Photography

Jonathan — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:34:34 +0000

On October 11, 2007 in Houston, Texas, Kristen and I were blessed with a beautiful baby girl; Ava Golden. The last two years have been incredible. Well, the first 12-18 months are “exciting” but actually just a lot of work taking care of an unresponsive human. Now, Ava has developed into a running, jumping, playing, laughing, joking, singing, waking up in the middle of the night begging for apple juice buddle of joy!

As a kid, I thought all those birthday parties “just happened.” Ya right! They are a ton of work. My wife did most of the creative work and I played handyman/garbage collector. The Dora the Explorer themed celebration was complete with turkey burger sliders, chips and queso, Capri Sun, fruit trays, cookies, cakes, balloons, a pinata and a crayola themed bounce house.

I don’t think i’ve ever seen Ava so happy! I think all those involved (Paw Paw, VG Ma, Pa Pa, Mi Mi, Aunt Pat, Uncle David, Aunt Deborah, Mommy and Daddy) all deserve a pat on the back for bringing this special day to reality.

Ava, we love you very much a wish you many MANY more wonderful birthdays in the future.

Enjoy the pictures:

I think she is a natural!

Pinata time!

OK…ya’ll are a little weak. Come back in a few years. We need to call in the terminator…this is taking to long.

Ahh…much better!

I didn’t teach her this…

She absolutely LOVED her play kitchen. As you will see over the next few images, she basically shrugged off all the other gifts and never got more than an arms length away from the kitchen.

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Emily & Chris – Houston Engagement Photography

Jonathan — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:29:33 +0000

If Chris looks familiar, its because many of you saw him as a groomsman at Chad and Katie’s wedding a few posts back. Chris and Chad lived together and were in the same fraternity at Baylor University. I can’t remember exactly how I met both of them but me and my roommate lived across the parking lot in the same condominiums. We have a lot in common so it’s no wonder we’ve stayed connected to this day. Along with Chad and myself, I think Chris would agree that those were the best days of our lives.

I met Emily when she attended Chad’s wedding as Chris’ date. She is extremely funny and great to be around. As we drove from Austin, I joked with my wife that Chris and Emily would soon be getting engaged. HA! Two weeks later, I see and RSS update from Emily’s blog One Day at a Time where she was glowing with excitement. Chris proposed while on their annual trip to Scottsdale, Arizona.

If you get the chance, read through Emily’s blog. They’ve been engaged for a month and Emily has been on top of every detail! I’ve never seen (or heard) of anything like it. If I know Chris, he is doing his best to hang on for the ride.

As part of that ride, the two of them drove down from Dallas to Houston last Saturday for their engagement photos. Emily chose me for their engagement photography after I posted an image of the two of them from Chad’s wedding. We went out to Rice University in Houston where we found a wealth of amazing backdrops. While at my house the night before, we chatted about what they were looking to get out of their engagement session. I was convinced that I would have to slowly warm the two of them up to get some interesting shots for their engagement session. WRONG! Chris took complete control; positioning and posing Emily, telling me how he wanted his backgrounds to “properly fade” (Bokeh for the photographers out there) and finding quite a few unique settings. Part of it probably had to do with his comfort level, but the other part is talent. Chris aka Cousin might have a new calling!

In the meantime, enjoy the photos:

Ohh…I forgot to mention, they’ll be getting married in the Dominican Republic! Its going to be an absolute BLAST!

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