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The Smile House – Photography by Laura Kay Wootan bio picture

Welcome To My Blog

Thank you for visiting my blog. Here you'll find my most recent client sessions as well as stories about my life and my family. Here is some information about me!

My name: Laura Kay Wootan

Age:  35 (although I am going to stop counting after this year)

Birthday:  August 5th, 1973

My Family:  I have a wonderful husband named Bryan and a six-year-old son that I love very much. My son only makes funny faces at my camera. He might just be slightly over photographed.

Education: Bachelors of Fine Art in Photography from The University of Texas Arlington.  I graduated in 1997.

My style:  I’m a journalist at heart. My portraits are story telling mixed in with classic portraiture. I strive to create timeless portraits. I believe that portraits are an investment in your family history. I believe children should see what their great grandparents looked like. I believe that every family should have a yearly family portrait.  I believe a portrait really can say 1000 words.

The technical aspects of photography are every bit as important to me as the emotions and relationships I capture. You'll never find me shooting on anything but "full manual." I make all the decisions when I'm photographing. I don't photograph on automatic and hope the camera will do a good job. 

I pose people. Photographers who claim not to pose because it looks "fake" just don't know how to pose their clients.  Not posing people can make a beautiful Mom look ten or twenty pounds heavier than she really is!!  I’m so not kidding.  Posing people is an art. You can absolutely pose people and still have them look natural and animated.   I pose my subjects because I want you and your family to look the best they can. If posing was a bad thing Tyra Banks on Next Top Model wouldn’t spend so much time talking about “the pose!!”  Posing… it’s not just for supermodels!  Posing is the difference between “snapshot” photography and real portraiture.  I believe if you’re hiring a custom photographer they should be providing you a top-notch beautiful product that isn’t something you could do yourself. 

I love beautiful light. I am comfortable shooting on location, in the studio and with natural light. I’m always prepared for whatever lighting situation I will encounter. I am obsessed with finding beautiful light and if it’s not there I can create it.

I believe without a doubt Mothers are the ultimate family historians.  Mom’s that love photography are my favorite people. I fall in love with every baby and child I photograph.  I love nothing more than to see how much they change over the years. I consider it an honor to be your family photographer.

Thanks for visiting! Please leave comments! I LOVE them!

Melanie & Les – East Texas Wedding

When I first photographed Melanie and Les’s engagement sessions I knew they truly loved each other. There was definitely a special connection between them. It was easy to capture those emotions because if you spend any time around them you can tell they’re genuinely meant for each other. After having spent their special day with them I also have an appreciate for how much their families love them too. I’m always jealous of people who have large families. My family is so very small. These two families were gracious, kind and so much fun! We had a great time at this wedding.

I HATE to be late. So because this wedding was out of town I drove to Eagle Lake the night before the wedding. I’m always worried about directions. Those of you that know me know that I’m terrible at directions. I even have a Tom Tom navigator! That thing seems to be wrong more than it’s right. I was excited to go to the dress rehearsal and see the church. Melanie said that the Parish of the Nativity Catholic Church was small and it was a little bit small but it was also very beautiful. The iPhone picture she sent me didn’t do it justice! I loved all the stain glass windows and the warm colors of the church. As I watched the practice and did some test shots I knew the church would be perfect.

My second photographer Anthony drove in from Houston. We met that night and went over our game plan. When I shoot a wedding I always like to know what to expect. I’m just a planner!! It’s the things you can’t plan for though that make for the best portraits. It’s those moments when people have forgotten that I’m there that I love the best. It’s the laughing between sisters. The tears of a Mom who can’t look at her baby without happy tears. It’s those moments like those in weddings that I love.

I’m posting some of my favorites. There are a bunch because I truly couldn’t narrow down.

Of course to truly appreciate this wedding you MUST watch the slideshow!! Click here to see the pretty NICE BIG VERSION. (Download the plug in if you don’t have it. It won’t hurt your computer I promise!) I’ll also post the low rez not nearly as awesome small version below.

Congratulations Melanie and Les! I’m so happy for you guys! Thanks choosing us to photograph your special day!

The beautiful rings! The flowers were so beautiful!

A funny moment at the salon!

Handsome Les getting ready!

His beautiful bride putting on makeup!

I love this shot in the mirror.

Melanie getting ready to put her gorgeous dress on.

The ladies


I love this shot of her Dad giving her a hug before we head out the door to the chapel.

The Dudes!

The beautiful church. It really was standing room only.

I loved this image of her Dad watching her. The next day I mentioned to Mike that I saw him watching her and he said he was having his own personal slideshow of her life going on in his head. I thought that was so sweet.

Kids always steal the shows at weddings. This is the sweet little ring bearer.

Tears and smiles as they exchanged vows.

The kiss!

This church had some really beautiful windows.

I love this shot too!

We stole them away from the reception just in time to catch the sunset.


I LOVE this sun flare!! These are hard to capture and to do it well! Anthony shot this one!

The wedding reception had an outdoor theme complete with antlers and pine cones!

This was Melanie’s grandfather’s watch. It was her something old and she carried it in the pocket of her dress.
I love the Wedding March!

LOL Melanie making sure that Les didn’t plan on doing the smash cake thing!

Husband and wife during the first dance. It was so sweet.
Dancing with her Dad. I loved the light on this image.

Les dancing with his Mom

The send off!


Melanie & Les from Laura Wootan on Vimeo.

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September 25, 2008 - 5:19 am Sharon - Beautiful work, as always! I love to look at your weddings, Laura!

September 17, 2008 - 12:20 pm Melissa - Awwwww these are so good. Sweet!!!

September 17, 2008 - 11:40 am shelby - Oh, of course, Mike. Obviously. ;)

September 17, 2008 - 10:20 am Melanie - yall r friggin awesome! im so happy with EVERYTHING! thanks sooo much!

<3

September 17, 2008 - 10:17 am leah - WOW!!!! These are amazing, I tear up everytime I watch the video. Like Mike said you guys are the best. Thank you for making my baby girl's special day so unforgetable.

September 17, 2008 - 7:30 am Michael - Your are such a girl. Obviously that's an Armalite AR-15... Geesh

September 17, 2008 - 6:15 am Shelby - These are beautiful! You are so good at capturing the emotion and spirit of the day, Laura.

But is Mike holding a shot gun? That is tooooo funny.

September 17, 2008 - 5:22 am Michael - Thank you Laura and Anthony for all of your hard work. You guys are the best!!!

FOB... aka Mike

January 22, 2010 - 1:53 pm Sneek Peak for Melanie and Les » The Smile House – Photography by Laura Kay Wootan - [...] handsome Tyler! He’s the new baby of Les and Mel! I had the pleasure of photographing their wedding year and a half or so ago. I love it when my [...]

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