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We are proud to announce that Solaris has been rated by local brides and voted The Knot Best of Weddings 2008 Pick. Please pick up a copy of The Knot Best of Weddings 2008 magazine and check out our listing.
In fact we are one of only seven Houston photographers selected for this recent accolade.
Real brides know best. Straight from the source, The Knot Best of Weddings is an insider’s guide to the top-rated wedding professionals across the country, including bridal salons, reception sites, cake bakers, and photographers. With 360 pages worth of gorgeous photos, unique ideas, and advice from real brides, The Knot Best of Weddings is the ultimate planning resource for the bride-to-be who expects nothing less than the best for her wedding day. Published by The Knot Inc.
"he's truly an incredible artist!" raves one bride. "He manages to turn the most ordinary image into something special," notes another impressed Knottie. "If you want something unique and incredible, he's worth every penny spent!
My wife had a fabulous idea last week. After looking at the weather report, the suggestion was made to take the kids to the beach, as we both had the day off.
It’s only a bit longer than an hour from the Hoek Casa, so the car ride wasn’t two bad for our two year old twins… once you get used to the kids kicking the back of your chair.
We pulled into Galveston only to discover a fog bank covering the entire island. As a photographer, I really find that sometimes great images can come from the worst weather.
Houston Wedding Photography - Aric C. Hoek, the Master of Shadows
713-524-3303
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There is no perfect wedding album, there are only perfect wedding albums.
Watch this video and you will understand why Solaris offers it's clients seven different packages, with 6 different albums to chose from, consisting of four different styles of album design.
By embracing the diversity of our customers, we can provide a better service.
Houston Wedding Photography - Aric C. Hoek, the Master of Shadows
713-524-3303
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The Ison family is are personal friends of Toni and I, so it was a pleasure having them into the studio. It seems that their family keeps getting bigger and bigger!
Theirs was the last holiday session of the season. Everyone’s holiday cards will be back from the lab and here at the studio on Monday. I was expecting them to arrive today, but it looks like they are going to be a day late.
Houston Wedding Photography - Aric C. Hoek, the Master of Shadows
713-524-3303
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My wife really loves to go all out when throwing Birth Day Parties for our twins. The last one happened only three weeks ago now. There were a good amount of kids and parents there, and I have come to the conclusion that one or more of those parents we’re actually aliens from outer space!
The party went smoothly. Nothing out of the ordinary, although it was only their second birthday party. It wasn’t until about 48 hours after the party that I began to suspect something. Our twins had changed somehow.
I now believe that our babies have been replaced with alien spies! Spies planted that look exactly like our children, here to run experiments on my wife and I! It must have been one of the kind parents at the party that swapped our kids with the aliens, or even the owner and operator of the facility where the party was held! To the normal observer, it would be easy to come to the conclusion that the facility was family friendly and run by an individual with a passion for what he does. He was so nice to everyone. He must have been in on the abduction from the beginning!
My guess is that the aliens abduct the children of the world and insert the replacements just as the children turn two, thus keeping the parents of the world preoccupied with what they think are their kids. This of course gives them time to take over the world!
The conspiracy… yes conspiracy goes much wider and deeper than I anticipated! Tonight for example, my commute home from the studio took over 1.25 hours, and I really didn’t feel like cooking dinner. So when I got home I called my beautiful wife to see if she would entertain the idea of going out to dinner with the kids.
When we got to the restaurant of our choice, we were immediately taken to the darkest, deepest, corner table to be found. Far away from the other patrons. As if the hostess knew something we didn’t. And that’s when our two year old babies babies started their evil experiments!
I first found a green bean in my adult beverage. How strange is that!?!? The drink tasted fine however, even with the bean at the bottom of the glass. Placed there to throw me off no doubt. I didn’t flinch, acting as everything was normal. Then the psychological experiments began. Each baby craving some item of food on the table, demanding it through ranting and raving, then only to through the item onto the floor in disgust once they had acquired it. Obviously in some futile attempt to frustrate us.
There were people all around us, glancing briefly to apply pressure on us. Testing us. It was then I realized that the entire restaurant was filled with aliens! We got our food to go and headed home, our little adorable aliens in tow.
My adult beverage empty, the green bean resting on the ice. My wife at the wheel.
Houston Wedding Photography - Aric C. Hoek, the Master of Shadows
713-524-3303
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Well tonight’s the night! My tuxedo is out of the closet and fitted, and my wife and I went out and bought the most beautiful gown. She looks stunning!
Anybody who’s anybody and into photography in Houston is going to be there. The annual Professional Photographers Guild of Houston is sold out and is sure to be a great party! It’s a Mardi Gras theme this year.
The PPGH is THE source for professional photographers in Houston. If you’re a professional photographer, then you are a member or thinking about becoming one. Currently the PPGH, a subsidiary of the Professional Photographers of America, is the largest chapter in the nation.
Each month there is a new speaker at the monthly meeting, and at each meeting members bring in prints to be judged by their peers. Different categories can be entered into each month, each category defining a different discipline. As you can guess, I regularly compete in the wedding side of the competition. This includes bridal portraits, illustrative images, wedding albums, etc.
In 2004 I won Wedding Album of the Year, and I haven’t really competed since then with the birth of my twins in 2005. This year though, I went all out. Even if I don’t win, I do have the education and the personal satisfaction of growing as an artist.
Awards for 2007 will be given out at tonight’s gala. There will be a “best of” in each category and “photographer of the year”. It is my understanding that photographer of the year is awarded to the photographer that has received the most ribbons from competitions in the same year.
Normally I wouldn’t write about an event like this until after the event had passed, thus saving face in the case that I didn’t do to well in the results.
But I'm just to excited….. Keep your fingers crossed! (hope I didn’t just jinx myself)
Houston Wedding Photography - Aric C. Hoek, the Master of Shadows
713-524-3303
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Too bad they don't have a bride and groom dance that I could send to my clients on their honeymoon!
Aric C. Hoek – The Master of Shadows
Solaris Studios
713-524-3303
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And what did they steal? A baby bag. Yes, an individual risked time in prison over two pairs of baby shoes, diapers, and sippy cups. The silver lining is that a security guard gave chase in his car, but had to stop when the thieves started running red lights. The security guard actually got the license plate!
At any rate, we were both a bit mad last night. Toni, my most beautiful wife, got home from work about midnight. This morning, I woke up to find the following email from her and I can’t stop laughing!
The other person in the video is my son. Enjoy! I know I did as it was just what I needed.
Houston Wedding Photography - Aric C. Hoek, the Master of Shadows
713-524-3303
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Top Gear is smart and fast, and it’s all about cars. Cool cars. Guy stuff. And because it’s British, it really takes a different twist on things, which I like.
Well, I was surfing through past episodes today, and I came across this. If you are tired of planning your wedding and you need a bit of comical relief, then have a look.
Houston Wedding Photograhy - Aric C. Hoek, the Master of Shadows
713-524-3303
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This entry is a bit more on the personal side. As you may or may not know, my wife and I have one year old twins, and their birth day party was last Saturday! Just over 40 people attended. I thought I would share some of the images. The cake was flying, and my boy loved climbing around in all of the wrapping paper. In the end you can see the babies get really sleepy after the sugar rush wore off.
It’s Monday at 4:25 pm, and I am in The Woodlands, which is North of Houston. I am here to give a talk tonight to the Woodlands Photography Club. My talk doesn’t start until 6:30, so I have a few hours on my hands. I got here early to avoid traffic.
Beth and I spent today working on the final images for the promotion we ran with The North West Houston Mothers of Multiples. All the images have gone to the lab for printing and should be back on Wednesday, which will give me just enough time to reprint any that don’t meet up to my standards. Just in time for the unveiling on Saturday.
I wanted to take this opportunity to post the images that went to the lab today. If you don’t see yours, don’t worry. I will make sure your image is ready for Saturday.
My daughter Katie is pissed off! She is pissed because her brother just took his first four steps yesterday and she is jealous! She has been pushing every toy that she can get her hands on in what I can only assume is an accelerated effort to learn how to walk. At lest that is what I like to think it is.
Aric C. Hoek
The Master of Shadows
Houston Wedding photographer
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A magazine contacted me, and said that they needed some headshots for an upcoming article. Turns out, my sitters are both astronauts! The shoot happend today at about 8:30 am in the studio.
Both mission specialists, Christer Fuglesang and Danny Olivas will launch this December and February respectively. Christer will be docking with The International Space Station in December where he will conduct testing which he has been training for intensively.
Dannyâs mission in February will depend on the success of Christerâs experiments in December. Danny will also be docking with The International Space Station during his journey into space.
I asked them both to bring me back pictures. Look for the follow-up blog.
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Aric C. Hoek
The Master of Shadows
Houston Wedding Photographer
I had the opportunity to photograph a Houston Celebrity recently while on assignment for The Buzz. The Buzz is a neighborhood magazine whose distribution reaches Bellaire, Memorial, West University, and Tanglewood. Almost a year ago now the editors contacted me with a proposition of a monthly exchange for photographing their cover stories in return for ad placement in the magazines.
This month, the stories covered cooking, more specifically, grilling. The subject for the Memorial Buzz was a popular Houston anchorman Bill Balleza. When I learned of this, I knew I wanted to do something that pictured him as Master of The Grill. Originally, I was thinking of bringing a bit of gasoline to put in his grill to get some high flames. And then after about 2 seconds of contemplation, lighter fluid would work just fine.
Aric
Houston Wedding Photographer
Contact Solaris Studios and book your wedding photographer today!
I had some fun with my babies at home over the weekend. It seems that they are always good for a laugh. They are going to be so embaraseed when I pull these out at their wedding.
Aric
Houston Wedding Photographer
Contact Solaris Studios and book your wedding photographer today!
