Who are we?

We are George and Lanette Garvin, and together we are George Garvin Photography. Lanette and I have been married since 2003, and we have been photographing weddings together since 2007. Lanette is a native Texan, born, raised, and residing in Cypress. I was born in the Philippines on a U.S. Air Force base while my father was serving our great nation in the Navy. I have lived in Washington state, Hawaii, Utah, California, and of course Texas, where I have lived most of my life. We have two loveable Labradors, one black and one yellow. We are Texas Proud and love the Texas way of life and the people who live here. We like small towns and festivals. When we're feeling adventurous, we strap on our helmets and ride the highways and back roads of our great state on our big cruiser.
Lanette and I both love working with people, we're easy going, but work hard for our brides and grooms to preserve the precious memories of their wedding day. We are very passionate about our craft, and we believe it is reflected in the images we present to our customers.
We're photographers in Cypress, TX, but we're available for service in the greater Houston metropolis and beyond. We can even be available for destination locations. Lanette and I have been together for over 10 years; we know each other's idiosyncrasies and strengths, and have developed a communication level that goes beyond an ordinary photography team. The way we each approach wedding photography compliments the other's style and we believe raises our artistic capability to a unique level.

How would you describe your style of photography?

Our approach to wedding photography has evolved selectively into a style shaped - in varying degrees - by a number of influences such as artistic vision, fashion, and focusing on the things that are most important to our customers.
Our mission of capturing the essence of the wedding day that is not simply a series of simple snapshots, but beautiful and artistic images that will mean something to you not only the first time you view them, but the next day, and every day thereafter.

We are not traditionalists. Nor are we strictly photojournalistic in our approach. We call our style "Storytelling" because that is our mission; we wish to create a montage of images that tell the wonderful tale of the day two people joined their hearts and lives. We prefer to mainly photograph people when they are unaware of our presence and not intimidated or feel under pressure to pose or "ham it up" for the sake of the camera. We of course do formal group shots, and we even bring portable studio lighting to enhance these portraits, but the main focus of our day is to capture the events of the day as they unfold, the actions, emotions, and expressions of the bride, groom, the wedding party, family and friends as they take part in the preparation, ceremony, and celebration, and all the details - great and small - that make this day so special. Although we tend to interact with the wedding party and guests only when it is necessary, if artistic inspiration calls for us to create an image of great impact, we will not hesitate to give some direction and guidance when needed to enhance an unforgettable moment.

We want to meet our photographer before we sign a contract. Is this possible?

Absolutely. We love meeting our couples to introduce ourselves, show you our sample albums, and answer any and all questions you might have for us, as well as offer you helpful information you may not have considered yet. You can get a lot done through e-mail, but there's one thing that is very difficult to translate in text, and that is character. Your photographer(s) will very likely be with you the nearly the entire day of your wedding. You want to be certain that the person behind the camera has a personality compatible with your own. After our meeting, you should have a pretty fair idea of not only what we do, but who we are as people. And in turn, we can see who we will be working with, and get to know some of your desires and expectations.
We usually select a weekday evening for meetings, typically using one of the ubiquitous Seattle-based coffee shops around Houston as a meeting place.

What camera equipment do you use?

Cameras don't make photographs! People do!
With that said, we want to deliver the highest quality, best looking photos we possibly can, and we don't want our artistic vision held back by the limitations of our tools. So we each use what is arguably Canon's best digital wedding camera body to date, the impressive 21 megapixel 5D Mark II. These "full frame" professional camera bodies have large, 35mm image sensors in contrast to the small sensor consumer or prosumer grade cameras many other wedding photographers use. As of this writing, the 5DMkII is Canon's only camera to combine a full frame sensor with their latest Digic 4 processor, which means the 5DMkII is set to deliver the highest image quality of all of Canon's digital cameras. These large sensors not only allow for great detail in an image, but give the camera the extraordinary ability to capture high quality images even when the lights are dim.
We also employ Canon's top-of-the-line "L" series of lenses, which are quite expensive but are crisp, sharp, and produce images with gorgeous color and depth as well as that quality that I just call "pop." These lenses also allow us to photograph in low light situations with great success, such as indoor or evening ceremonies when flash is often neither allowed or preferred.
We also bring a trunk full of other equipment: flashes, studio lights, reflectors, etc. to ensure we are able to deal with any lighting situation and ultimately deliver you beautiful wedding photographs.

What areas do you service?

Generally, we service the greater Houston metro area, which includes Houston and the immediately surrounding cities and communities. We live in Cypress, and for any location within 30 miles of Cypress, there is no additional travel fee involved. We also do weddings, engagement, and bridal sessions in other parts of Texas, and would even consider destination locations with a reasonable amount of lead time. Depending on the distance we have to travel, and the amount of time and additional expense involved - for instance, if it was far enough away that a hotel room would be required - there will be an additional travel fee to cover our time, wear and tear on our vehicle, meals, lodging, etc.