July 29, 2009
July 24, 2009
Really fast...
I have a client running late for a proofing session and I was all ready...not enough time to do anything else, so I decided to take a few pics of where I have been lately! Between outdoor spring/early summer sessions, portrait parties, and baby-planners, I have been remodeling my studio, moving my home office to my new studio office and I have a new assistant!!! Oh, and of course, it is summer, which means our marina business is in full-swing!
So, here are a few pics of the new studio...my new website and blog will be up the end of next week...I will be emailing everyone on the mailing list to get your feeds switched to the new blog.
Have a great weekend :-)
We call our new office "the cave." It's dark, which is great for proofing...but see that blue room, that's lake-front real estate. My new assistant Kari will be relocating to that real estate as soon as we move the natural light shooting room in Jan. I prefer to stay in the cave :-)
The viewing room. We have a drop down screen now to view images on...and my kids are excited to have their media room back at home!
More of the viewing room...we are still waiting on some pictures/canvases that have been ordered!
June 06, 2009
Under Construction...
Lots of new, fun stuff going on. I guess some people get spring-cleaning fever...I get spring-remodeling fever! Last year I added my natural light room, which I have so enjoyed using this year! So, this year, I wanted to add some color to the studio. I am such a nature-girl...some call me a hippie, that I shy away from studio shoots as often as I can. However, it gets hot...and as my Friday night shoot found out, there are BUGS out...yeah, okay, and some poison ivy, too...so I have decided to bring some of my favorite colors of nature into the studio! Some blue sky, wild grass, grainy wood...oh, and a little brick, too. Here's phase I of like V or VI. OH...and GREAT news...I will be moving my proofing sessions to the studio, as well!!! Can't wait to share the finished product with everyone. I am planning an Open House....soon...stay tuned :-)
Learned this pose from his sister :-) I was just looking at the wall color....I get bright west sun in here in the summer, so I can't tell yet!
Just hanging out with mom!
hunky is a word, right???
Let's face it...the older we get, the less cool we get, right? Or maybe I have never been cool and I just accept that now. So, I had this crazy fun session last night...at the end of a long week of working sessions into my remodeling schedule! This was a great way to end my week. Mr. M has just been accepted into Booker T. Washington High School for Visual and Performing Arts!!! We are so proud of him. I have done several shoots with his younger brothers...yep, this mom has THREE boys...so last night we wanted to capture him before he heads into HS. I have to say singing Elmo does not do it for a 14 year old boy...but when I told him he was hunky...he cracked up. I wasn't being funny...but at least I got a laugh from him!!! Thanks Jenn for allowing me to capture your boys and for allowing me to advertise in your store :-) www.teach-mart.com
Yes...Mr. M you are hunky...you are going to do GREAT at Booker T...I want your autograph before you get too famous, though.
June 01, 2009
Busy boy...and girl :-)
The first year...I was able to capture this little guy no problem, but his big sister would hide from me! Now, she has warmed up to me after a few sessions and we can have fun together but he hides those beautiful eyes from me! Still, we had so much fun, just capturing a family fun session, in lieu of a typical portrait session...here are a few quick ones!
T-we have to capture his eyes in the new studio as soon as we're done!!!
May 19, 2009
God loves hot pink...
Proverbs 16:9...this is one of my all time favorite verses...The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps. Josh and I are big believers that God's plan for our lives involves us being active parts of the plan...but sometimes we get so caught up in our plans...we don't leave room for God to work!
Well...as you know, I offer a complimentary planning session for every client. It is an opportunity for me to get an idea of the artwork you have in mind...and I can offer suggestions for clothing, props, locations...etc. to achieve those ideas. So, I spoke with Miss "K's" mom a few weeks ago about a these amazing flowers in a field nearby that I wanted to caputre with a blonde haired, blue eyed child...that was a little older. I suggested my typical spring/summer session outfit...blue, yellow, white...or cream dress, no shoes, etc.
Well, spring is in full swing at the stores and we wound up with this really, really hot pink dress. When I first saw it, I immediately though...OMG...how will I get this to work with red/yellow flowers?!
So, we get to the location a little early...because as God would have it, wild sunflowers only grow in the...uh...sun. Yeah...makes is really hard to caputre images of our children's amazing eyes...when they are squinting! So, I noticed this cool fence that I have stood in front of a million times feeding the horses, and my car was providing a bit of shade...so I started snapping images just to check the lighting...when I realized, these were "God-breathed" images...the hot pink dress, her blue eyes, the blue fence, the soft colored flowers....bam, God had a BETTER plan than me!
I did still get my red sunflowers pictures...and they are nothing short of beautiful...but I will always cherish this session...learning to trust God just a little more than the day before.
Enjoy :-)
Remember when...I used to blog???
Hey ya'll! Hope you are having a terrific spring!!! Things are crazy busy around here...but nothing new really...self-induced, as we say alot around here. So, so many exciting things going on! I am working with an amazing interior decorator in some re-design of my studio! As much as everyone knows I love outdoor sessions, the truth is it gets really, really hot soon, and I want a place to be creative indoors...so keep your eyes peeled for the renovation pictures...I will be posting updates! Second, we are having an open house mid-July...save the date cards are going out soon, so please email if you want to be included...there will be great giveaways!!! And last but not least...if you have not booked a spring/summer outdoor session, there are only a few spots left...please call today to save your date.
Here are a few shots from a session this evening...these kids are incredible to work with. One can only hope their children have this great relationship with one another...thanks, always Erin, for trusting me to capture this special time in your children's lives...can't wait to capture baby #3!!!
March 13, 2009
February 17, 2009
Not perfect...
...but PERFECTly WONDERful.
My life...that is.
It seems like yesterday, that cool November afternoon, me in my "perfect"ly tailored outfit from Banana Republic and impossibly high hills because they made me feel taller when meeting with managers about their hiring needs...somewhere on that ladder I was climbing....checking the calendar again, my temperature because in my "perfect"ly planned life...I thought I could schedule a pregnancy. This being the tenth month of "trying" to get pregnant...was just the beginning of God teaching me a new meaning to "perfect". As, I ripped open a pregnancy test and at last saw the positive sign...I had NO IDEA how my life was about to change.
Even the next day, I was not sure how "it" was going to fit into the plan. I had recently changed my plans, giving up on God, assuming a child wasn't in my future, and had taken an Executive Recruiter position with a well known company in Fort Worth. Yet, sitting across from an Executive one afternoon, in a job that I had long dreamed of, trying to ignore the urge to puke, the words of planning and bonus structures going in one ear and out the other...I found that I no longer cared about where I was on the ladder. I only knew I wanted off. I had a baby growing inside of me and my "perfect" life was changing.
It has been four years and three months since I sent that infamous email to my amazing husband that simply said "how much do you love me?"
Four years of transforming myself from a "pefect"ly put-together corporate-ite, with a sporty Audi sedan, in a house so "perfectly" clean my own family was uncomfortable to visit, and spices that were used regularly and alphabatized...to a flip-flop, jeans and t-shirt wearing artist that lives to hear my children scream Daddy when he walks in the door, is guilty of smelling my kids heads every chance I get, has dated spices, and the floor of my red (my pregnancy hormones love color!!!) SUV disturbs me of what "that" green thing used to be...
...and yet today, I look out the window at my kids playing on a mild day in February and there "it" is....both of them...and I realize, my life couldn't be more "perfect." My precious daughter who is caught in her own self-discovery between her love for bugs/animals and becoming a little girl and my curly headed little boy who worships his big sister, trying to scrape out the last of her bubbles she has left behind. I feel like my heart might explode with the love I feel for them.
My AMAZING husband has gifted me the opportunity to spend a few precious years with my little ones...and my Heavenly Father has gifted me with a creative outlet to beautifully capture each moment as I see it.
Who could ask for more?
She has figured out that he's younger and "doesn't know better..." so she will ask him to do thing I tell her she can't do! "Zachary's helping!" I pray daily for them to grow up to have an amazing sibling relationship. God is hearing me :-)
February 04, 2009
Pretending it's summer...
Flip-flops, t-shirt, and jeans...that's my favorite "wishing it was summer" outfit! I pretty much wear flip-flops anytime the weather is over 50ish....and pretend it's summer!
So, today I was working in the studio and watching the temperature get warmer and warmer...and wishing I could be outside working! So, when my 5pm session showed up in the cutest, matching attire...I asked if 55 was too cold!? They were up for something different...this is Miss "A's" last session in her baby plan, she just turned one!
So, we quickly went to a nearby location, racing the sun and captured some images well worth the rush!
Brody & Kelley, thank you for trusting me to catpure your precious baby's tomorrow's "remember when's" this year. It has been an honor to get to know your family!!!
I love this one of Avery...it shows her personality that has come alive this year :-)
January 12, 2009
Two in one day....
Well, I had to post some of these images...I had a session last week on a WARM Thursday! There are two things I love about a warm day in the winter...running and shooting outside :-) So, we met at the park and then I went for a run after the session!
I didn't get to post any of this family's images from their holiday session, so I wanted to post a few from this session.
It was actually to celebrate Mr. J's 1st birthday! He is graduating from the baby plan...my how time flies. After a few sessions with families, I usually begin to predict what their favorite images will be...so today I am posting a few of MY favorites and saving Mr. J's mom's favorites for her viewing!
...and I am sooooooooo excited that I captured so many images of Ms. E. She never, ever lets me take her picture but she really warmed up to me this time!
Enjoy!
Merry Christmas...Happy New Year....and...and...and...
Cool, I do still know how to work my blog! I was afraid I might have forgotten my password, but it worked, yippie!
Okay, so it's been a while...if you are a creative person at all...scrapbooking, writing, photography, sewing, decorating, etc. you know that we all go through creative block...once in a while. Well, I have had just that, creative block!!! It has been nice to put the camera down, put the "pencil" down, and just take a much needed break. It is HARD to NOT do what I love, but when God says, "take a break..." you kind of have to listen. I finished all of my sessions and orders by early December, took a few newborn sessions and then took a break!
I had an amazing time with my family and closest friends in December celebrating the birth of my Saviour...as well as the birth of my best friend's daughter! What a joyous event.
I also am celebrating that my daughter has taken up my love for photographing EVERYTHING. She has learned to frame, focus, and shoot my Canon Rebel...and she's actually quite good. She comes to get me when there is a colorful sunset, I set up her manual settings and off she goes! She even occasionally lets me take a picture of her now.
Evie Kate and Zachary are becoming fast friends now that he is walking and talking...guess EK finally figured out that having Zachary around means TWICE as many toys...and someone to play with. It WARMS my heart to watch them play. I can still remember a friend/fellow photographer telling me that seeing her daughter pushing her son on the swing for the first time was when she knew she'd made the right decision to bring a second child into their family. Well, seeing EK run to Zachary's room on Christmas morning and say "hey buddy, Santa came..." will forever be etched into my memory!
My husband bought me the most amazing gift for Christmas...a mini-vacation in the middle of winter for just the four of us! I can not wait to stay up late, eat ice cream and swim all day with the kids...and enjoy being a family without email or telephones!
Believe it or not...Facebook has been alot of fun over the holidays. I had the opportunity to reconnect with some old friends! It became a major time-eater...and I have grounded myself from the application...but it was fun while it lasted.
Most of all, my sabbatical was filled with time to reflect and celebrate the amazing blessings God has gifted me in this life. My most precious Saviour, my amazing husband and best friend...I would not be who I am today without him, my two beautiful healthy children, my parents who love my kids as much as I do, my Nana who reminded me of what really matters in life, my friends, my photography, my love for running, and my love for the lake.
You know how the painter's house is never painted?! Well, the photographer's family is never photographed, professionally at least... MY photographer was booked for the holiday season early this year...I would tell you who she is...but it's my secret, ha! I did dress the family and head downtown with close friend's family with the hopes of capturing my own family after we did their session. It was memory-making, to say the least! Trying to teach her on the fly to focus/recompose while "posing" my family and keeping my kids happy...hmmm...well, we made some "remember whens" - and isn't that what is most important anyways?
Josh and I sat staring at our family picture on the mantle last night...and we agree, it is us. It is who we are...where God has us...now...and for that, we'll find joy for where we are in our journey!
I truly hope your holiday season was beautiful, memorable, and that you caught some of it on "film"! My New Year's resolution...PRINT MY PICTURES...that is a post coming up...watch for it.
We have no idea where she gets her pout from, ha! Family picture are always so much fun!
The love of my life.....I am forever grateful to spend my life with him.
December 06, 2008
Love the chubs...
If you've seen pictures of my beautiful daughter, she has some chubby cheeks. When she was six months old, her eyelashes began to grow up into her eyes because her cheeks were so full. I can still remember loving her each of her rolls along her legs...it was so wonderful! I was standing in the post office one day when she was about nine months old and I saw this really chubby baby boy. I remember thinking the only thing more wonderful than a full-bodied chubby baby girl is a chubby baby boy...now that's cute! I dreamed of my little boy and how he would be so full and round and soft like Evie...I couldn't wait! So, along came my gorgeous, blue-eyed, sweetest spirited little boy, ever...and he's a stick! Never had an ounce of chub on him...weird! He feasted on the same mommy-milk as Evie...and I ate like a pig with him since I knew he would be my last baby (I ate fish and veggies with Evie!) Yet, my little guy...is still that little. Soooo, when I get a cute litte chubster, I just have to love on them!
This is one of my baby planners (the baby on the antique white chair w/blue blanket!) He just turned four months old and ah, the belly, I LOVE it...just wanted to nuzzle in his little belly, but that might be weird...so I just took pictures of his cutest ever belly!
Enjoy :-)
November 23, 2008
October 29, 2008
A new location...
For those of you that are clients already...you know my love for outdoor locations by the lake! For those of you that don't...I love outdoor locations by the lake! My sweet husband grew up on Eagle Mountain Lake...he is the third generation to live out here and now we're raising our little ones here. Lord willing, we will get to spend many, many years in this community!
So.........I found a new dig and the Meister family was brave enough to try it out on a whim Sunday night...and I am so pleased with the results. There are so many great spots in this location that you will be seeing more of as the season goes on.
Angie, thank you so much to your beautiful family for allowing me to capture your tomorrow's "remember when." It was such an honor to work with you and I look foward to sharing the rest of the images with you :-) Yes, there are posed family portraits...but ya'll did "lifestyle" great, so I had to share!
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