April and Tony tied the knot May 24, 2009 in South Padre Island, Texas. The story continues…After Kate and Ryan’s wedding, I get in the car and drive South, out of Austin and on through the night. Let me tell you. Texas is a big BIG state. It goes on forever, and then it goes on some more. Around 2am, I’m on the southern outskirts of San Antonio, and I’m driving my usual 6 to 7 mph over the speed limit. Lights. Ugh. I get pulled over.
The sheriff asks, “where ya headed to.”
I tell him, “I’m a wedding photographer, I just shot a wedding in Austin, and now I’m on my way to Padre to shoot another.”
“Yup. Uh huh. You know you were speeding?”
“I was going 6 over, sir. Hardly a major offense.”
“Yup. Uh huh.”
Grrrrr….Ticket! So, my drive through the remainder of Texas goes that much slower. Finally, I pull into Padre around 6am, and get to the hotel that April and Tony booked for me. I drag my tired body to the front desk.
“I’m here to check in.”
“Name?”
“Danny Brod…it should be under April and Tony.”
“Oh. You never checked in so we gave your room away.”
What. The. What?? I have no room to sleep in, and I start shooting again in 6 hours. This can NOT be happening! So, I get in my car, drive around to find a vacancy. It’s South Padre on Memorial Day weekend. Cha. Right. But I do…a dump of a place, and they have the nerve to charge me $200 just to lay down for 6 hours. Sigh. And of course I can not sleep. The room is a sauna, the A/C barely works, and even though I’m exhausted, I’m wide wide awake. So I breathe…and breathe. Calm my french-fried nerves. Ten AM rolls around, I’m making calls, I’m on the phone with the hotel that bumped me, I’m on the phone with April. Things are getting fixed. Finally, I head over to the hotel room around noon, ready to shoot. And for working with no sleep, I am amazed at how well the photos turned out. Add 1 amazing couple + 1 gorgeous beach + a great wedding party, and that equals an incredible wedding shoot. Whew!
by Danny
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