I was excited to video Josh and Amanda’s wedding a couple of weeks ago and got a few good photographs as well. Congratulations guys and have a really fun honeymoon!

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I have been super busy with editing, videoing, photographing, and building websites! So much fun and not near enough time to get it all done as quickly as I would like to! Over the next few days, I’ll give you a peek into what I have been up to!

Today, here are some snapshots of some (not all!!) of my favorite Abilene Cooper Cougars! I’m excited to announce that these as well as other player portraits are available for sale on my website!! Click here to see the galleries!

Tim and Jordan had a beautiful wedding in Midland, Texas! Here is Jordan and her crew at Traci’s Salon getting their hair and makeup done for the big event!


Jordan at Traci's from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.

Oops, looks like I hit a blogging desert lately! I have been working alot! I am back with the Abilene Cooper Cougars, who are doing AWESOME by the way, and I am working hard to wrap up Tim and Jordan’s wedding! Yay! I can’t wait to show the segment I am working on now! It’s a fun piece that’s different from anything I have ever done before! Putting the finishing touches on it now!

Here’s last week’s Cooper video!


Storm Saturday Night from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.

We started school since I last blogged, so here’s the obligatory first day of school pic! The boys aren’t really big fans of group photos the way they used to be. I think you will find that quite obvious!

It’s the first time all three boys have been in school together, and I have had a little boy at home with me for the last 12 and a half years! I am working on getting a routine established for myself.

Part of that routine for the last two days has been going to Boot Camp at 5:30 in the morning! I thought I would absolutely hate it, but I actually love it! I may feel differently later today when the soreness kicks in! Pretty sure I am not going to be able to make it up the stairs by tonight!

Whew! I have been working, working, working, and catching up, but not blogging! I had a CrAzY week last week, putting about 1300 miles on the old minivan in about 5 days. But it was so fun! First stop, Abilene to shoot Timmy Dixon’s acoustic concert. Last time I shot him, he was performing with his band. It was great to hear the acoustic versions of all his songs, plus some new ones he had written just the last week or two.

Here’s one of the videos. He’s singing “Only In Time” that he wrote last week after one of his friends drowned.



This is Glimpse, one of my favorites out of his original songs.



Check out the rest of the videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/txlonghorn2314. They include his amazing original songs and several great covers as well!

August 7-8 I was in Midland at Rock the Desert, my favorite! It’s hard work, but so much fun. The lineup was great this year and it was fun interviewing all the bands with Shigity Sean!



This is Mr. David Grosse and I love him! He is so awesome at Op Camp and then he came to RTD to be my boom mic guy. He was so nice to carry the huge camera, drive me around and make sure I always had tape and batteries. I could use someone like him pretty much all the time!



This is Kevin Copeland. In a word, he’s amazing. He can do anything in the world of video production and pulls off the production for this huge event every year! I am so thankful he calls me to come out and help!



I grabbed this shot of the Newsboys on stage. I kinda like it.



Here’s Jason from Hawk Nelson. They are so great! They always end up signing autographs for HOURS after their performance!



Mr. Soul Glow Activatur from Family Force 5! There is no one who puts on a show like these guys!! He’s looking rather tame here. Must have caught him in an “off” moment!

After resting a little bit from Rock the Desert, it was back to Abilene to shoot my favorite Cougars on their first morning of two-a-days! This is Cole who will be a sophomore this year! There is so much talent on this team!
Funny story, the head coach’s son is in the Marines and just finished working at the White House. Coach Spradlin got to meet President Bush at some kind of ceremony the soldiers go through after their assignment is done at 1400 Pennsylvania Avenue. They walked into the room and President Bush asked Coach what he did for a living. When he answered that he coached the Abilene Cooper Cougars, the President said, “Oh! Ya’ll just dropped to 4A!” I love that! Currently, my coogs are ranked 3rd in the state! Whoo hoo! It’s going to be a great season!

These boys are ready to play some football!



I also met Monday with Donny and Randy Vaughn, the Marketing Twins and was excited to hear about things they are doing and how I may be able to do some production for them in the future! So fun catching up with old friends. I was a little tired that day and forgot to take a picture of them, among other things! But check out their blog - they have a lot of exciting things going on!

Okay, Tim and Jordan Philbeck are up next! Stay tuned!

Check out Amanda and Nathan’s Highlight from their wedding day here.

It’s my favorite time of year! I get to go to the desert (Midland), wear a cool t-shirt, grab some earplugs, gear up with a 1000 pound camera (okay, maybe 30 or 40 pounds) get on stage with and interview the coolest Christian bands, and hang out with thousands (literally) of their fired up fans! It’s so much fun! I get to see old friends, work with AMAZING people that I wish I could spend more time with, and rock out for two solid days! Come see me there! Click on the logo to learn more about it!

Go to the website to see the whole lineup!

It’s gonna be HOT!!!

Tags: Rock the Desert

Well, I am between travels now and scurrying around catching up and getting ready all at the same time! So it’s pretty busy around here, but we are never too busy for a little entertainment! I wouldn’t expect anything else from a house full of boys!

A couple of days ago, Elijah appeared in the living room dressed like this (Iron Man/Batman/Spiderman):

And don’t think these two aren’t always up to something! You can pretty much see it in their eyes! And yes, somebody always has a chocolate milk mustache. I don’t think they would make it through a day without the stuff.

And then there is their dad!

Ha ha! I love my boys! I will have Nathan and Amanda’s wedding highlight to post in the next couple of days! Stay tuned....

I first told you about Op Camp Como in April when we had the training retreat for the counselors. This past week we finally got to live the dream! This is the third year we took about 80 elementary kids from the Como neighborhood in Fort Worth, Texas to a week long faith-based camp at no charge to the campers’ families. It is always an incredibly powerful week and this year proved no different! God always assembles His very best among the camp staff and counselors. I am always so humbled to work shoulder to shoulder with some of the greatest people on the planet! I quickly chose just a few of the thousands of photos I took last week to tell some of the story!

First, a funny story. (Well, kind of!) My husband Van directs this camp and was the director of the same camp out of Midland, Texas for seven years, but this was a first! During the traditional “keep-away” game in the pool, he caught the back of Mr. Wes’s head in his eye. He had a fairly innocent looking, but very deep split near his brow bone.

Thank goodness for Dr. Brown who was there to stitch him up! (The color has been removed from this photo to protect the squeamish - and yes, I videoed it too!!)

This is what that “innocent” looking injury looked like 2 days later! Carolyn Street, the business manager at the campgrounds took this shot!

Here’s Cody doing his Mr. Gravitt impression!

This is Tyler, who prefers to be referred to as the best intern ever, as they all do! He was definitely the best intern this year! He pretty much had a new hairstyle every day! It started out like this, turned into a mohawk, and eventually he was bald.

Here are Van and I with our boys, Josh and Joe Norman! They were campers back in the early 90s at the Midland Opportunity Camp and still come back every year to help us out. We’ve had the honor of watching them grow up and they are family to us. BTW, today is Josh’s 28th birthday! Happy Birthday, Baby! We are so proud of both of them! Josh played football and was a National Champion at OU and went on to play for the San Diego Chargers, New York Jets and Oakland Raiders. He is now CEO of The Truth Records and JLee Productions. Joe was the Texas Defensive Player of the Year his senior year at Midland Lee High School, played at Texas Tech, and was in the movies “Friday Night Lights”, “We are Marshall”, and “Invincible” as a football player. He is working in the oil business now. Just a little Mama-braggin!

Josh ran a little football mini-camp for the boys at recreation time one day! Pretty cool to have a former NFL player showing you how it’s done! Byron, the boy in the blue shirt, is a Hurricane Katrina survivor. His brother was a counselor for us this year and did an incredible job! We are so thankful God moved them to Fort Worth!

We also had His Son (a.k.a. Vince Carter, former OU center who graduated in 2004 and was drafted in 2005) perform. The kids loved him!

A couple of my favorite shots:

There are no smiles like Opportunity Camp smiles!

Probably the best shot of the week was this one taken by my friend Anda! You can tell we had quite a bit of hair cutting going on in the boys’ cabins!

And of course there is video!


Op Camp Como 08A from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.


Op Camp Como B from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.


Op Camp Como 08C from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.


Op Camp Como 08D from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.


Op Camp Como 08E from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.

Tags: Opportunity Camp Como, NFL, Hurricane Katrina, His Son

Here she is with big sis Callie and big bro Jackson! This is the announcement for the church website and the bulletin.

I got to watch Laedin last night during church! And what’s a little babystiing without pictures? Look how much she has already grown since May 31! I am headed out to Elijah’s swim lessons and then to photograph Alyssa, the newest baby at church born last weekend! Check back to get a first peek at her!

Timmy Dixon played for the Abilene Cooper Cougars last fall. He was #5 and you can see him making some sick catches in the videos here. He also happens to be a completely amazing musician! Check him out on MySpace or iTunes. He’s only 18 and writes his own stuff. I think he has a Daughtry kind of sound. I also saw that he has been compared to John Mayer and U2. Wow! I am pretty sure you’ll be seeing and hearing a lot of him in the future! Oh, did I mention I am going to see him in concert Friday in Abilene?

Here’s Timmy Dixon #5 from last fall rockin his best locker room face right before a game!

Tags: Timmy Dixon

Last night was Julie and Brian's reception in Fort Worth. I can post the top secret Tahoe video now! It is one of my favorites because of all the beautiful scenery! Someone at the reception told me they felt like they were watching The Bachelor. Is that a compliment? I don't know! But it was an incredible trip, super fun reception, and a wonderful group of people to hang out with! The best part of last night: kickin' it old school to MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice with Molly and Bev!! Ha! The DJ, Steward's Productions, did an amazing job!

I loved all the comments on the lightning photo! Thank you so much!


Julie and Brian from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.

I am working on Brian and Julie's highlight video for their reception tomorrow night. They married in South Lake Tahoe, which was completely amazing! You might recognize them from their engagement photos. Here are a few photos I snapped and I will get their highlight video up after the reception!

After the wedding, we took a two hour dinner cruise on the Bleu Wave. Talk about gorgeous views! We had a fun time celebrating the brand new Mr. and Mrs. Ponder! I sneaked into the cabin (I think that's what you call it!) and caught this quiet moment between the two of them.

Both families were so sweet! I just loved Brian's grandmother. I took this photo through some pretty misty eyes right after she told Brian how proud her grandfather would have been of him! She had us all in tears. It was such a sweet moment.

There was an amazing lightning storm in Midland, TX the night of Tim and Jordan's rehearsal dinner. I got this shot from the infamous duck pond on the way to Jordan's lingerie shower - which was too much fun! BTW, I love to know who is visiting my blog! Please leave me a comment below the picture! Thanks!

I posted a few weeks ago about all the pregnant people at our church. Well, four of those sweet babies are here now! I visited them and their parents in the hospital to take photos for our church's website. They are too cute not to share! Laedin made her entrance first about a month ago. Rhett and Triton are twin boys that were born healthy and happy! About 36 hours later, Miller decided it was time to come join the fun!

And speaking of twins, I reconnected with my favorite ones from my days at ACU, Randy and Donny Vaughn! I was excited to learn that Randy and his family are back in the US from their time as missionaries in Africa, and Donny made a career change so the brothers could fulfill one of their lifelong dreams to own a business together. They are both incredibly creative, resourceful, passionate, and hardworking! They are in the DFW area and their marketing coach company is called 1429 Creative. They also have a very helpful blog at www.marketingtwins.com. Check them out!

I've recently done a couple of shoots out at DFW for a company called IAS Air. It was so much fun! They needed photos and video for presentations and their website. I love my job! Here are a couple of photos:

Hello! Check out Teryn and Brandon's new Highlight on the the "Weddings" page and here are Angie and Jose's "Getting Ready" Highlights!


Getting Ready from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.

I filmed Tim and Jordan's wedding in Midland, and grabbed a few shots for custom DVD artwork! The photographer was the wonderful Katherine Curry. I wanted to share this photo I snapped of the gorgeous bride! Look for the trailer coming soon!

I apologize for not posting for such a long time! May is always a busy time in the event video world and I produced my fair share of programs and graduations! I also got to photograph some seniors, and shot two weddings - one in South Lake Tahoe and one in Midland, Texas. I also did some commercial photography out at DFW and just got back from a video/photo shoot of a calf roping instructor! Whew! For today, here are some of my favorite shots from some of my favorite seniors!

I am working on the video for the seniors at my church. We had an AMAZING shoot that was so much fun! Thanks guys for a great time! Here are some pics, and look for the video after Senior Sunday!!

My son Caleb had to make a commercial for "Mother Paula's Pancakes" for a school project. How he decided to use "Cletus take the Reel" (a parody by comedian Tim Hawkins) to advertise pancakes, only Caleb knows! Here is the finished product!


Fishing for Pancakes from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.

I got to hang out with Julie and Brian for a great engagement photo shoot last week! I also get to do some video and photography work on their wedding weekend in South Lake Tahoe in a couple of weeks! They are such a sweet couple and really into each other! I can't wait for the wedding!

Meet David, a senior at Weatherford High School! He's a great guy with a bright future!

Sooo, Op Camp (www.opcamp.com) is this cool ministry that my husband has been involved in since he was in high school and I happily married into it. It's a faith-based free camp for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade underprivileged kids from Midland and the Lake Como community in Fort Worth. The unique thing about it is that the counselors are high school and college aged kids and there is a 2:1 camper to counselor ratio. After camp, the counselors and campers get together at least once a month and develop a really powerful mentor/friendship relationship. Character traits are reinforced, and the counselors become role models for them. We had the counselor training retreat last weekend at Camp Butman, the campsite. It's really intense and the kids always amaze us with their commitment and love for the ministry!

I love this pic! Matt is a former-camper-turned-counslelor from Midland and Dynecia is a counselor from Fort Worth.


Claire and Kayte - another Midland-Fort Worth friendship!

It's an amazing ministry! I'm off to the counselor training retreat, and I will give you more details and pictures from this weekend! In the meantime, check them out at www.opcamp.com

I have some really great ideas in the works and will tell you all about it as soon as I can! But for now, check out Angie and Jose's wedding highlight by clicking the "Wedding Clips" link at the top of the blog!

NO!! Not me! Just six beautiful ladies I happen to go to church with! What's amazing is their due dates are all within about 8 weeks of each other! One of them is expecting twins, but you would probably never guess which one! Looks like the local hospital is going to have a pretty busy summer!

My sister Candice got married on March 15. What a fun week we had! I was honored to be her bridesmaid, videographer, and, because I couldn't help myself, I also took a lot of pictures! She had a great photographer named Brian O'Neill (http://pnaproductions.shutterfly.com/action/). Since it's been a blog desert for me the last few weeks as we have been travelling and I have been working away editing and getting out weddings, I thought I would give you something to look at!

Cassi in her boots at the rehearsal.


College Roomies: Candice, Cassi, Val, Chelsea



Twins and Hubbies! Matt, Candice, Cassi, Nick









Love those eyes!


Me and the beautiful bride!

It's good to be home again! My sister got married and then we were off to Colorado for Spring Break. Lots of good times! I did manage to get some work done during that time as well! This clip is from the pre-wedding section of the twins' wedding movie. The boys played golf and the girls ate brunch! Enjoy!

Twin Brunch and Golf from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.

What a fun, busy weekend we had! The Weatherford Christian School Auction was Saturday night at Canyon West and it was a huge success! They hired Ross Bandy Auctioneers and they did an incredible job! If you have an auction coming up, you have to get these guys! Ross and his Wranglers were very professional and entertaining They made it a lot of fun for people to part with their money! It was also great to have most of Van's family here.

We had a great turnout! I love Weatherford! Cowboys and Cowgirls everywhere! There were very talented artisans in the audience who donated handcrafted, one of a kind items. There is always such a great variety of items to bid on!

Here's one of the wranglers with Van's sister and brother-in-law while they were bidding on Dallas Cowboy tickets! They didn't get them, but had a good time trying!

The very talented auctioneer, Ross Bandy.

Okay, I am really sad this is blurry! We haven't had a picture of us in a long time, guess we'll try again sometime! Anyway, this is what we look like when you're not wearing your glasses.

Sunday afternoon I went to a baby shower for our friends Stacey and Shane. Wow! They got a ton of stuff! I love little girl things and all the pink - probably because there is none of it in my house with all my boys! Stacey was glowing and beautiful as always, and Shane looked a little overwhelmed! Here are the pics!

The food was as tasty as it was beautiful! I was blown away by Jan's baking skills!


The happy little family and Stacey's sister!


They are probably going to have to add on a wing to get all this stuff in their house! What a blessed little girl!

I am working on a project for a company called Management Resources. As a result, I am spending lots of time researching marketing trends and it is very fascinating. It is amazing how the advertising platform is changing so quickly. The project is still in it's storyboarding stage, but stay tuned for what promises to be a great end result!

Well, I did it. Took the big step. Made the plunge. Left the comfort zone.

Today I registered to go to the Re:Frame 08 conference in October that takes place in New Orleans! Some of the biggest names in the wonderful world of wedding videography are going to be presenting, and I am feeling a bit out of my league! But I know I will be incredibly inspired and will learn more in those three days than I probably have in the last 12 years of doing this! And that promises to be a blessing for all of my future clients/friends!

I haven't told you a lot about me or where I am in the life of Gravitt Productions. So if you're interested, here's a little history:

I started out as a newlywed fourth grade teacher in Midland, Texas on a soccer sideline shooting game film for my Coach Husband. I fell head over heels for video and started making CHEESY highlight films of the players to get them pumped up for games. (Turns out I didn't like shooting at the angle required for game film so I was fired pretty quickly! But I kept filming for the players and their parents.) We started buying equipment and over the next three years, my two oldest sons were born. I quit my day job to stay home with the boys and started Gravitt Productions. I worked on tons of different projects and loved most all of them! Some of the more memorable were football highlights, athlete recruiting, United Way Campaign highlights, school programs, promotional videos for non-profits - pretty much anything that someone was willing to pay me to produce.

Then we jumped on the coaching train and started moving around Texas, landing in Navasota and then in Round Rock (right near my old stomping grounds in Austin!). We then headed back to Midland in 2000 when our oldest was entering Kindergarten.

The freelancing was actually getting really overwhelming and took a lot more of my time and energy than I expected or wanted at that time in my life as a mom of two preschoolers. I was hired on part time at Golf Course Road Church of Christ as their videographer and got to work with Ken Young of Hallal Ministries. I began shooting the occasional wedding during this time. I also had a blast traveling and running camera at Rock the Desert every year, at Community Bible Study's National Conferences in Austin and Myrtle Beach, and also at Fidelity Investments' Christmas Follies in Irving. (Thanks to my good friend Kevin Copeland of Franklin, Tennesee!)

I worked at GCR and continued light independent work until we moved to Weatherford in 2004 with our two boys and our new 7 month old one! With a baby at home, living in a new place, and not even owning a camera anymore, I didn't pursue video work for awhile. But it pursued me! I received several calls over the last four years to do work, mostly weddings, for former clients in Midland. I also work on projects for Weatherford Christian School where my husband is the Headmaster, for our church, and most recently, for Head Coach Mike Spradlin and the Abilene Cooper High School football team.

NOW, my youngest will be entering preschool in August and I am gearing up to turn Gravitt Productions into a full time studio. Out of all the incredible experiences I have had, I have decided that I really enjoy telling wedding stories. I consider it a blessing and a huge responsibility to be a part of a couple's life on a day they will always treasure and remember. I consider them all my friends and love watching them over the years, happy and bringing kids into the world, knowing I was there when they marked the beginning of their life together!

I am anxious to offer even more to my clients, learn more cutting edge trends and techniques, and am already implementing great new ideas!

But when I visited the Re:Frame website, I felt completely pulled in. It wasn't really "should I go?", but I HAVE TO participate in this to really grow in and hone my craft! I can hardly wait! Stay tuned for exciting changes over the next few months!

Today is our 15th Anniversary! I am one of the lucky ones that got to marry my soulmate! I adore our family, and I'd marry him all over again! (Although I'd probably choose different attire!)
Happy Anniversary, Babe!

February 27, 1993

Check this out!!

My sister Candice and her fiance' Matt are getting married on March 15! Enjoy their engagement shoot movie!

My four year old has decided to take up skateboarding! Yikes! I ran for his helmet and my camera yesterday and we had a lot of fun, although the session quickly came indoors. I guess the hallway seems a lot safer for someone just learning to balance! I just love little boys! Every day is a new adventure! I never know if I will be playing with a Power Ranger, Spiderman (or Peter Parker donning his sport coat over his costume!), Superman, Batman or a Jedi! Or maybe all of the above. Yea for little boys!

I also added a "Wedding Film" page for you to view samples from weddings I have filmed. I posted Gaylen and Nicholas' Highlight today and hope to get her sister, Ginna, up tomorrow. It was the most incredible day! A set of identical twin sisters married identical twin brothers! I have never, and probably will never again, see anything like it! I will write more about it coming up in the next few days as I finish production on these amazing weddings! In the meantime, be sure to check out Gaylen and Nicholas' highlight!

Some very dear friends of ours had their sixth baby a couple of weeks ago! He is absolutely perfect. I love new babies. Every one of them is such a miracle! It's hard to believe my own three boys have grown so much - it REALLY does seem like yesterday since I was in the hospital with each of them! God bless mothers and babies everywhere! (Dads too!)

Last Sunday officially marked the end of football season, always a depressing day for me. So I am sharing my football love with some photos I took this past season of the Abilene Cooper Cougars. I did their highlight video and made all but one of their games. It was so fun hanging out with them! You can check out some of the videos by clicking on "Football Films" at the top of the page. I am actually working on wedding videos today - more about that later - but here's some Cougar Love!

So, I've been a little sick the last couple of days, but still managed to work on some things - including more pics of Keeley! I loved these extreme closeups. She has the most gorgeous eyes! More to come...

Exciting News-- New website on the way!
Until then, I figured I would go ahead and start blogging! This weekend, a dear friend came into town and wanted me to take some photos of her 15 year old daughter before she cut off all her hair to donate to Locks of Love. I have always thought that was the coolest organization and had major respect for the people who donate, I had just never met anyone who had - until now! Keeley was awesome and made my job so easy! I am going to be working on a few of her pics between editing weddings and I will do my best to blog about both. Here are a few previews of the beautiful Keeley that we shot at nighttime!