A story that started with chips and salsa…
We are Paul and Sammi. Along with our beautiful daughter and mascot, Cate, we are the husband and wife team of Black Hat Studios. Paul is the photographer; he does the design work, photography, digital artwork and sales. Sammi is the studio manager; she interacts with the clients, helps with the viewing sessions and sales, and acts as the liason during portrait sessions. She makes sure the sessions go smoothly and that the clients have anything they need.
In 2001, a sweaty waiter with a black leather hat met an auburn haired Texas beauty while she was waiting to pick up an order of chips and salsa from a mexican restaurant. Little did we know that God had one wild and crazy ride ahead of us.
Paul had been to school for photography and left when his major was cancelled to apprentice with one of the best photographers in Mississippi. Sammi had just moved to Mississippi, and was working her way through college. Eventually we both ended up at the same university. We finished school, got married, and in 2008 moved to Birmingham. After being a chef for 3 years and missing out on his family due to the long hours, Paul decided to go back to his first love-portrait photography. We dove back into marketing, consulting, and photographing, and on Oct. 1, 2012, Black Hat Studios was officially opened for business. It was created and branded with one idea-to provide our clients with images that will blow their minds, and to treat our clients with a Christ-centric view of people and business, filtered through good old Texas values. We run our business like we live our lives; honest, open, and on the edge.
We bring over 16 years of experience specializing in Senior portraits, Family portraits, and Weddings to our clients. We pride ourselves on being contemporary, cutting edge, fashion-forward, and most importantly, for providing a completely custom experience from start to finish. We meet with our clients, listen to what they need and want, and use our artistry and experience to design a portrait session exclusively for them.We guarantee that you will not only like your portraits, you will love them. From start to finish, we will show you why we say we are "Creative by concept, and distinctive by design!"
In 2001, a sweaty waiter with a black leather hat met an auburn haired Texas beauty while she was waiting to pick up an order of chips and salsa from a mexican restaurant. Little did we know that God had one wild and crazy ride ahead of us.
Paul had been to school for photography and left when his major was cancelled to apprentice with one of the best photographers in Mississippi. Sammi had just moved to Mississippi, and was working her way through college. Eventually we both ended up at the same university. We finished school, got married, and in 2008 moved to Birmingham. After being a chef for 3 years and missing out on his family due to the long hours, Paul decided to go back to his first love-portrait photography. We dove back into marketing, consulting, and photographing, and on Oct. 1, 2012, Black Hat Studios was officially opened for business. It was created and branded with one idea-to provide our clients with images that will blow their minds, and to treat our clients with a Christ-centric view of people and business, filtered through good old Texas values. We run our business like we live our lives; honest, open, and on the edge.
We bring over 16 years of experience specializing in Senior portraits, Family portraits, and Weddings to our clients. We pride ourselves on being contemporary, cutting edge, fashion-forward, and most importantly, for providing a completely custom experience from start to finish. We meet with our clients, listen to what they need and want, and use our artistry and experience to design a portrait session exclusively for them.We guarantee that you will not only like your portraits, you will love them. From start to finish, we will show you why we say we are "Creative by concept, and distinctive by design!"