Olga's Photo Journal

Houston Girl's Cotillion 2011

2009-11-24T18:55:00.005-06:00

Clai and I got to shoot a Cotillion last Friday. It was my first time shooting an event like this. Just imagine, 275 teenage girls with their dates in one ballroom! Yes, you read that right! ha ha But we had fun. Especially being the girly girls that we are and checking out all the pretty dresses the girls were wearing. I sure hope you enjoy these photos, we really did have fun that evening.

Warning! Lot's of images coming up! This is a big post! ;-)

Linda and Michael

2009-11-24T12:15:00.009-06:00

Long awaited post. Linda, Michael, I hope you do enjoy the photos. We had loads of fun at your wonderful wedding. We both wish you all the best to come and many many years together. You two make a perfect couple and we could not have asked for a more beautiful and loving pair to work with. And what a perfect sunset we had!! The timimg of the wedding was perfect as the next day we had a tropical storm go through TX! What a great wedding!

Linda and Michael, thank you for having us and letting us take part in such a wonderful event in your life. We truly do feel honored!

Best to you
Olga and Clai

Some samples of a recent album...

2009-09-15T00:18:00.002-05:00

I hope you enjoy these. Some sample images of a recent album I designed. Beautiful full page prints with no crease. Album is custom made by hand. All the details are carefully paid close attention to and beautifully designed. This album is a horizontal layout with a dual color cover. Many colors are available to choose from and we have a galore of different sizes. The album is absolutely exquisite!

Become our fan!

2009-08-10T21:40:00.002-05:00

We would love it if you become our fan on Facbook. We now have a nice little fan page. Go here to view it and become our fan.

Olga and Clai Photography on Facebook

Olga and Clai ;-)

Larisa and Sorin

2009-07-29T09:44:00.007-05:00

Had a blast at San Antonio. What a wonderful wedding and an amazing couple. I'm in awe every time after seeing such genuine pure love! It's just a pleasure to work with a couple who are so much in love with each other, posing becomes effortless! Love takes over and you just shoot!! I loved the experience and the location they chose for their portraits. They could not have chosen better! The Japanese Gardens were amazing and every little spot in the garden was just perfect for this couple!

I had a blast shooting this wedding. I hope you enjoy some of these images. I wish all the best to Larisa and Sorin - a match truly made in Heaven!

Getting ready

Groom waiting to see his bride for the first time that day! Can you tell how nervous he is? We told him that the stylist (me, yes I did her hair) messed up her hair and she looks awful! So he had no idea she looked so gorgeous!

Ana-Rosa belly pictures

2009-07-29T09:32:00.004-05:00

Well, I should have posted these a long time ago, but didn't have the time. Still don't, but they need to go up. Because Ana-Rosa was just a beautiful woman with a beautiful belly! Clai and I had a great time shooting this session and are very happy with the images that we ended up with. I hope you enjoy some of these. See link bellow for a slideshow of all the images from the session.

ANA-ROSA SLIDESHOW

Lana's Fine Art

2009-06-09T10:27:00.003-05:00

Amazing modern abstract art! Please check it out and make sure you show your support - purchase a painting!! It's all original art, no copies!! Lana has great visions and a wonderful talent!!

Please click HERE to take you to Lana's E-bay page.

Thank you!!

Lendsey Kersey

2009-06-01T11:24:00.005-05:00

Last weekend Clai and I shoot a beautiful model/actress Lendsey. We had loads of fun and a nice sun stroke!! ha ha But no worries, I recovered during post processing of some of the images. Here is a sample, hope you enjoy! I sure am looking forward to doing this again in the future.

Also, I had extra fun doing Lendsey's hair and makeup for each of the looks we achieved. It's a learning process for sure, but it was lots of fun!

I'm still waiting for Clai's images, when I get them I will post some of hers as well. Until then hope you enjoy some of mine.

You can also find Lendsey on Model Mayhem.

Tatyana and Roman

2009-05-21T21:17:00.003-05:00

Shot this wedding not too long ago. Had loads of fun. Wishing Roma and Tanya all the best in their marriage.

Mark Hurd, CEO of HP visit in Hoston TX

2009-05-02T18:55:00.009-05:00

So today the CEO of HP visited our site here in Houston, TX. For those who don't know, I do have a regular job at HP. Technically Mark came to the Houston HP site on Friday. He had a nice 1hr speech with live streaming on the campus televisions. For the first time I really enjoyed the speech and the information Mark provided us about the company and it's future.

It was a last minuted deal for me to volunteer to be one of the photogs for today. Mark is an ex-pro tennis player. He joined a nice large group of HP employees and spend almost an entire day playing tennis at a local racket club. It was fun and HOT!! Boy was it hot out today. But we got some good shots and it was 4 of us who teamed up and had some shooting fun.

I was responsible for the shot of all the teams and Mark together. I had set up the flashes and crossed my fingers that it was going to come out right. The nerves really did not kick in until the shot was done. After the lost shot I was about to fall off the ladder. I realized I just took care of a group shot with our company's CEO in the middle. Not a thing you get to do everyday.

Well enough story telling. Here are a few shots from the day. Hope you like and don't forget, comments are appreciated.

We first did all the group shots. Clai took the individual teams and I did all the team together.

Group shots by Clai Duvall

Group shot by "mua" ;-) In this one everyone was a "CEO" ha ha, got them all to laugh though!!

Clai and I!!

Rex, Clai and I putting our equipment together after the group shots.

Testing the speed of the ball!

Mark warming up for the challenge rounds

Mark serving

Check out Rex in the right corner with his mighty telephoto toy!! NICE!!

All photogs for the day with Mark

Mark and yours truly!! ;-) (BTW, my camera adds about 25lbs for ME only!! Really, it's true!)

Well, I overloaded this site with images so now the spell check will not work. I apologize for the misspelled words if you find any, but I'm sure you can forgive me since in Russian you may not understand much!! ha ha

Have a wonderful weekend!!

P.S. I finally figured out how to make an animated GIF file! Here goes nothing! ha ha

Our work

2009-05-02T01:20:00.002-05:00

Here is a last minute flyer I made for our work combined. Clai is an amazing photographer and I am so very happy to be now working with her on our new plan. We can't wait to start shooting wedding together again. The two following images show a sample of our work together. I think it looks pretty good, don't you?

I will soon give Clai access to this blog so we can blog some of our work together.

Thanks for stopping by!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

The Vintage Plazza photo shoot

2009-04-25T11:04:00.002-05:00

Some of the photographers from work got together for lunch and went on this photoshoot. I just wanted to share some of the images I was able to get in the short time we spent shooting. Looking forward to doing this again. It was surly fun.

An this here is my friend Clai!! She is a wonderful, funny, generous, energetic and overall great person! I love being her friend and can't wait to work together in near future. We are going to start shooting together and simply having fun!

Tanya and Danik Wedding

2009-04-15T20:34:00.002-05:00

What a beautiful couple! Had a great time. Tanya is just gorgeous! Loved shooting their wedding. Here are some of my favorites.

Lizard

2009-04-14T12:05:00.001-05:00

I have been looking through some of my older pictures and found this one. I had joined a challenge on a photography forum a few years back. The challenge was to combine a few images into one. The images were, a pumpkin, a lizard, a rock formation and an image of city street. This was my result. I won the challenge with this image. Not too many joined that challenge, but still, I sure like the way it came out. ;-)

Sam and Laura!

2009-04-14T08:48:00.005-05:00

What a wonderful couple! Hope you enjoy these. These were taken at Laguna Beach, CA. Beautiful place for photos.

Julia and Paul

2009-01-03T02:14:00.002-06:00

This session was done on the last day before I moved back from NC to TX. We were very fortunate for the weather to cooperate with us. It did get rainy at one point, but not for long. And then the sky just gave us a great view at the end of our session. It was just perfect.

I did get an ant byte on my back though! LOL This was during one of those last shots by the gorgeous tree. I was laying on the ground on my back and felt a sting in my lower back. Tried to get it off and realized that it was attached to me!! I then realized I was laying on an ant pile!! That was scary!! But it's worth it in the end, we got some really great shots and I'm happy to have worked with Julia and Paul. Now we wait for the Big Day! Can't wait!!

Here are just a few of my favorite shots, but there are so many more, I just can't post them all on here. You will have to go to my proofs site a bit later to check out the entire session. I have to say though, this was one of my most accomplished sessions. I have waited to shoot in a Downtown for a long time. And Julia with Paul let me do that. I'm so happy they did. Oh and Paul, thanks for paying for the parking!! That is very generous of you.

OK, now on with the pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Tanya and Danik

2009-01-03T00:30:00.003-06:00

Well, I know I have been slacking on posting in my blog, but I hope to post more often as I can. I have recently returned back to Houston and planning to continue with my photography here with a friend of mine. I will introduce her a bit later when we have a change to put together a plan of action for this year. I know you will love her work, she is a great friend of mine and I loved shooting with her in the passed. And looking forward to shooting with her this year.

Hope you enjoy these. Just a few of my favorites. I will try to post some of Danik and Tanya's wedding sometime soon. They are truly a beautiful couple.

Vacation in TN

2008-08-31T15:55:00.003-05:00

Some family pictures from our TN vacation to Smokey Mountains. Pictures do not do justice the beauty in those mountains. It is absolutely wonderful there. We wished we had more time to stay and enjoy God's wonderful creations. Hope you enjoy these pictures. We also went to visit the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. It was fun to see all the weird things collected there. And we went on a 10 mile hike to see a waterfall. That sure made us all tired. But it was fun.

Yarmarok (Russian Festival)

2008-08-31T13:43:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to share our display at the Russian Festival a couple of weeks ago. The Russian Yellow Pages here in Charlotte has organized all the Russian businesses in the Charlotte area to come and present their business at this festival. We had very little time to prepare so our display was not as I would have liked to present it, but it was good enough for people to see some of our work. This was a display of my dad's and my work.
So here are some snapshots of that day.

And the last two are Innessa trying to blow out her candle. This was the same day as it was her Birthday that day. She was actually scared to blow it out, she thought she was going to burn her self. She was very cute.

Nick and Alla Wedding Pictures

2008-07-19T13:31:00.002-05:00

Some from Nick and Alla's wedding. This couple is so much in love it was easy to shoot their wedding. Here are just some of my favorites. Check out the candle shot, isn't that just plain cool? That was completely by chance and I love it!

Liuba and Stefan Wedding

2008-07-06T02:01:00.002-05:00

Wow, what a wonderful couple. I love working with a couple who is so much in love! Here are some from the wedding, but there are so many more that I call my favorites. Hope you enjoy. Make sure to leave a comment for me and thanks for looking.

Alina and George.

2008-05-22T21:53:00.002-05:00

Just a few from last Saturday. This wedding was a lot of fun. I wish Alina and George all the best in their new life together. You guys are a wonderful couple. God bless you!

Alla and Nick Engagement

2008-05-22T20:56:00.002-05:00

Invitations, custom designed by me.

Front

Inside spread

Back

Liuba and Stefan

2008-05-22T20:50:00.002-05:00

Some from the recent engagement.

And a sample of the custom designed invitations.

Front

Back

Kids at the park

2008-04-22T16:41:00.003-05:00

Just a few recent pictures of the kids at the park. And some dogwood flowers. I love them, they are everywhere here in Charlotte. It's just beautiful here all around.

Moved to NC

2008-03-05T13:48:00.003-06:00

Well, as some of you may have heard I have moved to North Carolina. Charlotte is where my family lives and where I will now be continuing my photography as well as my career within HP. We are still getting used to being here. The city is beautiful, but the move is hard on the family, and I miss my husband. I wish he was here with us, but I have faith that he will be soon.

So now I'm ready to take on the photography world here in Charlotte and very excited about it. Hope to start booking weddings and portrait sessions soon.

Andreea Senior Pictures

2008-02-05T00:13:00.000-06:00

What a beautiful girl. I had so much fun. Here are just a few pictures that I really like and a sample of a potential invitation to Andreea's graduation.

Jolly and Wilson

2008-01-14T21:22:00.000-06:00

Beautiful wedding I assisted on.

Update on Sam Paulescu

2007-12-31T00:06:00.000-06:00

I got a call yesterday morning from Sam's mom that he signed a 3 year contract with Denver Broncos. We are so excited for him. His first game with the team was today and they won! Here is a link to a picture of Sam. We are so excited! Great job Sam! Click HERE.

Romanian Festival

2007-11-04T00:42:00.000-05:00

If you never tried Romanian food - you are missing out! You have to try the "mici" pronounced - meetch. They are amazing! And the authentic Romanian cabbage rolls are out of this world! Here is a visual taste which does not do this wonderful food justice.

Christopher

2007-11-04T00:39:00.001-05:00

New pictures of my little boy. I love that he pozes for me!

Some New Pics

2007-11-04T00:29:00.000-05:00

Persimmon Picking

We took a trip to the orchard today. Kids had a lot of fun and now we have about 20lbs of persimmon fruits!! Yammy!!

Beautiful Eunice and Peter!

2007-10-04T21:30:00.000-05:00

I had the time of my life at your wedding! Thank you so much for letting me a part of the most important day of your life! I loved it!! Thank you guys, you are truly beautiful. God Bless!

Recent Senior Shoot

2007-10-02T20:53:00.000-05:00

Spider

2007-08-14T19:56:00.000-05:00

A three inch spider I found in our neighborhood. That thing is scary!

Homeschooling

2007-08-07T10:07:00.000-05:00

So I wanted to post this and hoping to get some people involved. If you live in the Houston area and are homeschooling your kids, please visit this FORUM.

We need all the support we can get! Any information you can provide, or in any way that you can get involved would be great.

Thanks,

Olga

Nicholas and Naqueotte

2007-08-01T22:24:00.000-05:00

Well... I guess it's about time I post some of these.

IGI Photography Album Samples

2007-07-25T20:46:00.000-05:00

With window

No window

Eunice and Peter

2007-07-23T21:59:00.002-05:00

Engagement Pics

Hope you like. Leave me some comments if you do and thanks for looking.

Olga

Bridal Cave, MO.

2007-07-23T21:32:00.000-05:00

Just a pictures I like of my toddlers little wet feet. This was at the Lake of Ozarks in Osage Beach, MO. :-)

Cave pics.

Pictures of Samuel Paulescu

2007-07-23T21:19:00.000-05:00

Well as promiced before here are some pictures of Samuel Paulescu. See previous blogs for more info about who Sam is.

Samuel Paulescu with Samuel T. Paulescu (no kidding)

New Recent Photos

2007-06-23T22:06:00.000-05:00

Some recent favorites. We took the family to a nice relaxing vacation to Osage Beach, MO. What a beautiful location to visit and get away for a little. I hope the photos reflect a little of what we experienced. Leave me a comment... or two.

Ha Ha Tonka State Park. Yes, that's the real name of the park.

Some pictures of my sister, her husband and their baby.

More of my sister.

And one of my son. He found these flowers and picked them and gave me one. He is just the sweetest!

Thanks for looking!

Olga

Samuel Paulescu

2007-06-19T09:21:00.000-05:00

Sadly, I have neglected this blog. Been busy with moving and shooting and work. Have lots of pictures to post and will have to do that very, very soon. But for now I want to share a joy in our family.

A member of our family has been picked to train for the Dallas Cowboys. He is currently training and is waiting to see if he will be picked to play in the NFL. We are extremely excited for him.

If you are interested to see him or read about him, search the net for Sam or Samuel Paulescu. Here are a couple of helpful links.

http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=182&p=8&c=1&nid=1816932
http://www.osubeavers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4700&ATCLID=129813
http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/1226299

Tune in for some new pictures or go to my myspace page to see some recent photos.

Have a wonderful day!

Benjamin and Corina

2007-01-29T08:23:00.000-06:00

This was a last minute booking for me. Had a blast at this wedding! What a fun couple. They were ready to go outside into the rain for me!!! How much better than that can it get!?! Too bad it wasn't raining anymore :-(... Still, I loved taking pictures of them, and these are just a little tease of lots and lots more to come.

Thank you Beni and Corina for letting me be a part of your wonderful wedding day! I wish you all the best and God bless you in this new journey!

Scott

2006-12-28T07:42:00.000-06:00

Some portraits of Scott.

Erica and GA

2006-12-26T12:33:00.000-06:00

This is a recent wedding I assisted on. As in the previous wedding I had to cover the groom.

At the grooms house.

GA, the groom.

No time

2006-12-26T11:08:00.000-06:00

Sorry everyone for those of you who are regular visitors on my blog for not posting anything. Have been very busy trying to juggle sick kids, full time job, working on pictures, trying to complete my web site and a new business all together. I will attempt to post some new pics sometime soon. Just wanted to let you know know that I have not forgotten about my blog, just have not been active on it very much.

I promise, more pics coming soon! So keep tuned!

Doris and Romulo

2006-11-22T22:05:00.000-06:00

I was the second shooter for this wedding to cover the groom. Here are some pics from 11/18/06. Great couple and was a fun wedding.

I'm working on posting a gallery of some of the images from this wedding on my web site. So check back soon.

A Logo

2006-11-17T14:09:00.000-06:00

Finally took the time to make the logo for my husbands business. Go see it here. Scroll down to the bottom of the page. Now I need to come up with one for my business.

A Business is Born

2006-11-16T10:43:00.000-06:00

I finally opened my photography business. This is very exiting for me. Still getting all the legal stuff worked out. Can't wait to start shooting on a regular basis.
Here is my web site. IGI Photography

IGI Photgraphy

2006-11-11T00:27:00.000-06:00

I am now officially a photographer with her own business. I have been working late nights and most days to get all my things ready. Have been putting a contract together, price list and checked out a pro lab that I think I'm going to use for my prints. This is very exciting for me since I am so passionate about photography.

Also have been checking out some albums online. Would like to be able to get a sample of a picture book. Those are great and becoming more trendy. Hopefully everything will go smooth and I will be getting some business. I just have a hard time sitting around and knowing that there are so many beautiful and interesting people out there that I could be photographing!

So to celebrate my new business opening, here are some random images that I have captured in the last couple of weeks.

Thanks for looking!

Flowers

2006-11-06T21:34:00.000-06:00

Water Lilies

Photo Restoration

2006-11-03T17:33:00.000-06:00

Here is a couple of photos for today.

Before

After

Jamie and Aurel

2006-11-01T10:05:00.000-06:00

At the Park

Contact Information

2006-11-01T09:59:00.000-06:00

I wanted to post my contact information in case any of you are interested in my photography services. I am available for portrait sessions, event photography and any other photo services you may need. Please contact me for price quotes.
If you like my style of photography and would like to get in touch with me call me at 832-443-9776. Please call only if you are a serious customer. Thanks

also see here

Pretty in Red...

2006-10-31T13:35:00.000-06:00

This is Innessa on the day of her dedication. When I took these pictures the mosquitos were so bad. Bit through the close too. I hate those little buggers. They are all over right now. Can't go outside during the day either. They bite like crazy.
Anyway, here a some pics for today.

I know some of you may say that there are branches growing out of her head, but I like it anyway. I wish the mosquitos were not too distracting so I can concentrate on the background more and have Victor turn a little. There was nice green trees to the right of the camera. It's just that those little annoying blood suckers were feasting on us and I did not want them to get to Innessa. So we had to do this quick. I think these came out pretty well. I'm going to frame a couple of them.

Before the dedication...

2006-10-29T06:27:00.000-06:00

Today we have out little girls dedication in church. So I will post some pics of that event later. But since the time changed and I forgot and woke up an hour earlier I have some time to kill. And thought I would post some more pics for you to look at.

I used this picture for my desktop background for a long time. I love the water droplets on the leaves. You can't even go wrong with water droplets. They make everything look good.

The short life of some mushrooms on my lawn...

Some more pics...

2006-10-27T15:16:00.000-05:00

Chris showing me a bug

Crazy day!

2006-10-27T00:28:00.000-05:00

Finally got around to starting this blog. Today was a crazy day. I almost got run over by a SUV in a parking lot of a grocery store. The woman didn't even blink an apology and drove off! She came extremely fast at me from around the corner and stopped inches from my knees with the front bumper! I was shaking all the way home and my heart was racing. I don't wish that feeling on anyone. I'm glad I came home in one piece.

Well, since I'm starting a new blog maybe I should write a few things about my self. I guess the idea to do this blog came from me trying to get into the professional photography world. I have been passionate about photography for a long time and it's about time I let others see what I see through the viewfinder of my camera. I eventually want to do event photography as my business and especially weddings. I love to shoot weddings!

My name is Olga and I am originally from Russia. More specific from Moldavia. I have lived in the great USofA for 15 years and love it here. This is my home. It's not perfect and it can surly improve, but it's my home now. I have been married for 12 years and have 4 wonderful children. They are Maria 11, Samuel 8, Christopher 2 and Innessa 2 months. As you have probably realized by now you will see many photos of them here. I love to photograph them all. And wish that my toddler would stit still for a minute so I can take more pics of him. He is like the energizer bunny - keeps going and going and going.

Well thanks for stopping by and hope that you will come back again and check on new posts. I will try to post as often as I can and stay as active as I can on this blog. I would also love to get feedback on my images that I will post here. So don't hesitate to comment on them.

Good night.

Newest member of our family, Innessa Grace.

Two months young