a father and daughters first dance in a wedding reception
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July 2024 Favorite Image of the Month

ByPhilip Thomas

July 2024 Favorite Images of the Month ~ It’s been another busy month here in the house. I’m learning the guitar—an absolute newbie, but I love it. With the scorching temperatures, we’ve been finding cooler air by visiting art museums with my girls. The Texas summer heat brings a slowdown with weddings, so with a…

Shadow on wall shows clinking of glasses and the couples at The Houstonian during cake cutting - a WPJA award winning images
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image-of-the-week-4 – play with shadows and silhouettes

ByPhilip Thomas

In this week’s image of the week, I love shooting indoor weddings. I use available light, working with shadow and light. It’s always a rewarding challenge to use whatever light is spilling onto the dance floor, be it the DJ’s LED’s where I have to shoot into them to avoid the odd colors cast on…

South Asian Wedding New Orleans Chandni Tyler New Orleans Hotel Marriott Philip Thomas Photography
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Favorite wedding images of 2021

ByPhilip Thomas

Thank you to all my beautiful couples in 2021. Here’s my roundup of favorite wedding images throughout the wildest twelve months in my 15-year career photographing weddings. We all know how challenging and complex 2021 was, so I’ll dispense with those comments and let you know I love what I do with a passion that sees…

Bridesmaids in a San Antonio wedding venue make their way to the ceremony start position
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Bridesmaids – This weeks top 6 favorite images – March 18, 2021

ByPhilip Thomas

Bridesmaids gather as bride gets ready Leica M9 + 35mm summilux A Bride shares a joke with a bridesmaid on her wedding day Leica M(240) + 35mm summilux A prayer circle with the bride, bridesmaids and flower girl before her ceremony Leica M(240) + 21 mm elmer Bridesmaid greet the bride in a wonderful reaction…

Emotional image showing bride and groom moments after getting married and calling her grandfather who could not attend wedding. Galveston, Texas photographed with a Leica M(240).
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Grooms – This weeks favorite six images – March 11, 2021

ByPhilip Thomas

Bride and groom at The Lyceum Museum, moments after getting married and calling her grandfather who could not attend their wedding. Galveston, Texas Leica M(240) + 35mm Summilux F2 1/250 Toward the end of the night a final dance for groom and groom LM105046 Leica M10-P + Noctilux 50mm f1.4 1/60 During a baraat, the…

Little boy asleep is captured at wedding reception Hotel Galvez wedding reception in Corpus Christie, Texas. Photographed by Philip Thomas with a Leica M(240).
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Kids snoozing on a wedding day – This weeks favorite six images – March 3, 2021

ByPhilip Thomas

A sleeping child at Hotel Galvez, Galveston, Texas Leica M10 + 35mm Summilux A little boy on the patio at Welfare Cafe, Welfare, Texas A sleeping flower girl naps on the sofa at Barr Mansion, Austin, Texas Leica M10 + Noctilux 50mm f2 1/80 It’s been a long day. Two boys falls asleep at a…

Guests light up cigars in celebration of the couple Texas Hill Country Ranch Wedding - Bri + Joe - American girls meets a Brit-Wedding photographer-Philip Thomas-064
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A quiet moment – This weeks favorite 6 images – February 24, 2021

ByPhilip Thomas

Grandmother and granddaughter in a quiet moment away from the crowds at Driskill Hotel in Austin Texas Leica M10-P + 50mm Noctilux f1.7 1/350 The bride walks through the door at Barr Mansion in Austin, Texas. Leica M10-P + 35mm summilux f1.4 1/250 A groom at Hidden falls Bridal Veil swallows some liquid courage. Leica…

Beautiful bride tears up as she reads a love letter from her husband-to-be at Hayes Hollow Hidden Falls
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Bridesmaids – This weeks favorite 6 images – February 17, 2021

ByPhilip Thomas

On a wedding morning at Hotel Galvez and Spa,Galveston Texas. Bridesmaids surround the bride as the hairstylist shows how to fix the veil. Leica M10-P, 50mm Noctilux f1.7 1/180 A newly minted couple hug in celebration during a wedding reception at a family home during the pandemic. Leica M10-P, 50mm Noctilux f1.7 f1/180 The groom…

A proud mother of the bride observes her daughter getting ready on her wedding day St Anthony Hotel
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This weeks favorite 6 images – February 10, 2021

ByPhilip Thomas

Starting today and just for the sheer love of the craft, a new weekly blog post, a favorite selection of six photos and what I like about them. My style is mostly as a wedding photojournalist and what I love is to capture a wedding day as authentically as possible. I want to also ‘demetricate’ myself from the slave…

Modern documentary wedding photographer Philip Thomas serves San Antonio and beyond - WPJA 2020 v1 winner
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Favorite wedding images from 2020

ByPhilip Thomas

2020 favorite wedding images. Every wedding I photograph is precious and distinctive in so many different ways. Here are some of my favorite pictures from my couple’s beautiful wedding days. To view my Top Ten Places for Engagement Pictures in San Antonio, click here. All photos are clickable for larger versions. Enjoy!  

Loran and bridesmaids in a decisive moment at St Anthony Hotel San Antonio Texas -0386-L1003507
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Decisive moment – Image of the week 11 – Philip Thomas

ByPhilip Thomas

I love what I do for a living. For over 25 years, I’ve been fascinated with the ‘Decisive Moment.’ My style of photography is primarily based on this concept and what I look for to tell a story in one image. The ‘Decisive Moment’ is the idea that Henri Cartier-Bresson spoke of when all the…

I love images that look seemingly simple, and yet this shot was challenging to capture. The focus is on Alison, our beautiful bride, and her father during their joyous first dance. But I’m always looking for more, and I love multi-layering my images and tell the story in the most profound way possible. The challenge is to capture these moments in real-time with interactions from the photographer. If I can do this in one shot, then this is a good example. My back was up against the reception wall when capturing these. At first, the flower girls noticed me but eventually placed their attention back toward the subjects.
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Layering images – Image of the week 10

ByPhilip Thomas

This weeks it’s all about layering! Stuck inside during COVID-19 lockdown, I thought I would have so much time to shoot mini-projects. But in reality, I’ve been busier juggling kids, online school, cooking, and everyday household chores; time is getting away from me. Plus, um, making those homemade Old Fashioned’s. Yum! Actually, no, I don’t…

Rosenburg-Sky-Room-at-UIW-San-Antonio-Wedding-getting-ready-winter-wedding-Leica-photographer-Philip-Thomas-Photography-L1003732
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Image Of The Week 9 -Finding Reflections – Philip Thomas Photography

ByPhilip Thomas

This week’s picture of the week shows the reflection of the couple’s first dance through the Skyroom’s glass and downtown San Antonio’s. What’s great about editing images for a couple, like this week for Loran and Andrew, is coming across a picture I missed kinda the first time. Perhaps I didn’t’ recognize why I liked…

Mother and grandmother of the bride help bride with her veil at The Westin Riverwalk in San Antonio Texas - WPJA Award winning image
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Next Presentation: Capturing Dynamic Images using Geometry

ByPhilip Thomas

When- April 11, 2019 at 6pm – Go here to book your place on the Meetup site. $10 at the door. What’s is about? I’ll discuss design/geometry in my images, my influencers, and present and analyze examples of how you can apply learnings from the masters of the 20th century to the genre of documentary wedding and street photography….