Patrick Motola Photography Blog bio picture

About Me

I grew up as an Army brat in Hawaii and Okinawa; played basketball at Cal Berkeley; have degrees from Cal, Stanford and UT in Computer Science; have been a flight instructor; and have worked for companies ranging from IBM to startups. I have 3 wonderful children and live in Austin with my wife Nancy.

I absolutely LOVE wedding photography for three reasons. People, Art and Computers.

PEOPLE
I love to delight my clients. When a bride calls me filled with emotion and tears of joy when they first see their wedding images, there is no greater feeling on earth. I also love to provide people with exceptional service while having fun at the same time. No matter how crazy the Wedding Day becomes, we put our couple at ease, we get great images, we work closely with the other vendors and we interact professionally with the family and guests. I often have guests come up to me at the end of a reception to say "You did a great job!" when they have yet to see a single image. This tells me they appreciate how I work with people.

ART
I have always had a creative streak and I am passioniate about photography as an artist. Capturing great images requires a creative eye, photographic skill, technical skills and good equipment. On the technical side, I am an insatiable self learner in addition to attending several weeks of formal training each year from some of the best photographers in the world. I am proud to be a Certified Professional Photographer by the Professional Photographers of America (PPA). According to PPA, only 3% of professional photographers are certified.

COMPUTERS
The other thing I love is computers and the creative, artistic side of digital imaging. What can be done digitally is simply incredible compared with the days of film. And the photographic fine art that can be created is breathtaking. We make incredible albums that just weren't possible 10 years ago. And our Digital Oil Paintings are designed to be a legacy centerpiece in your home for a lifetime.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Christina & Mikhail Engagement

I met Christina and Mikhail at a Star Ranch Golf Club Bridal Show in late January. Their wedding is March 23rd. Not a lot of time, but really not a problem. We got together last weekend, did the engagement shoot and already have our unique “Sign Yearbook Style” Guest Book Designed. I appended some of the Guest Book spreads at the end of this post so you can see what our Guest Books look like. The left hand side has album style images. The right hand side has a low opacity image where that page is designed to be written on yearbook style. These Guest Books always create a “buzz” at the wedding in addition to capturing the thoughts and best wishes of your family and guests on your Wedding Day in a way a tradtional “name, rank, serial number” Guest Book can’t.

Christina, Mikhail and I along with my son Michael who assisted me, had a wonderful engagement shoot right at the venue – Star Ranch Golf Club. This is a beautiful venue and famous for its spectacular sunsets (see below). There are beautiful grounds and lots of fun niche micro locations to shoot in. Stand by for more images of the wedding in early April.