A Day By The Water

I had the privilege of meeting a wonderful family this week. Mom said that she had lots of photos of her boys, but wanted some of the entire family. This was her birthday gift to herself. She wanted the setting to be nature, but not too much green because they camp alot and she has tons of pictures of the boys in the trees. I think we satisfied that requirement and got some great shots.

Here are a few of my favorites...





These boys are so wonderfully behaved. They were polite and cooperative and nice to each other. I couldn't always get them looking at me at the same time as boys can be easily distracted, but they were patient and willing to tough it out to the end. I love the serenity of this shot.


Every once in awhile I can capture that special moment of peace and love between mother and child. It stirs my heart to see a child close his eyes, if even for just a moment, and lean back against mom. He probably didn't even know he did it...but I caught him!



If you have seen many of my pictures, you know I love to capture feet. This pose, though, was mom's idea and I thought it turned out great.




I love this shot - the contrast between the bright red flowers and the turning leaves of fall in the background. I got all four boys looking at me at the same time too!




Every kid needs a moment of levity after a 2 hour photo shoot.



What a great morning we had. Thanks to the "A" family for a fun time! I hope you love your pictures!

A Day To Remember

As we pass through life, there are often moments in time and people that cross our paths that impact us forever. On Sunday night I had the honor of spending time with a family whose attitude, faith, and love have changed me forever. This family has endured tragedy that no one should ever have to experience and yet they have maintained a strength and peace about them that have inspired me. In January of this year, their precious 9 year old son, Noah, lost his life in a boating accident along with his grandfather. In the midst of their grief, they have persevered and are an amazing and beautiful family!

These were their first family photos without Noah. I am so honored that they entrusted me with what surely must be an emotionally raw moment. Noah was a beautiful little boy who loved God, his family, and baseball with a passion. The family brought along Noah's batting helmet to include in all of the family photos. What a wonderful way to keep him alongside the family in their photos.

The following photos are some of my favorites from the evening. Please read through to the end of the post for a special tribute to Noah...



This little guy is Mr. Personality! It was hard to choose which was my favorite of him to post on the blog...and I am still not sure this is my favorite, but I had to choose or my blog would be way too long!



Junior High is such a difficult age. Zach, however, is such a polite and cooperative young man. I know he wasn't thrilled having his picture taken, but he did a great job!



To take the words from a good friend...this one is a "cutie patootie". I had so much fun taking pictures of her. She temporarily filled my "needing a daughter to photograph" hole. She posed and posed and just ate the camera up. Love her!



I think the princess costume makes this photo!



I don't think I have ever captured a picture where all three kids spontaneously looked at mom and dad with such affection. You can just tell they are a great family!


A great end to a special evening!



I wanted to end my post by talking about Noah Field. Noah had a love and passion for baseball. He dreamed of one day playing baseball for the McKinney Christian Academy Mustangs on their own field. The Pell family approached MCA about building a baseball field in tribute to Noah. Construction has begun on Noah field but more funds still need to be raised. I encourage you to consider donating towards Noah field and helping the Pell family see a dream come true. If you would be interested in contributing, please contact the development office at McKinney Christian Academy at 1-214-544-COLT. You can also view a video about Noah field at http://www.mckinneychristian.org/noah_field/noah_field_video.html.

The Pell family asked me to take pictures of their family on Noah field the day it opens. I look so forward to posting those photos on my blog in the spring!

I want to give a special thank you to the Pell family for asking me to do your family session. I enjoyed my evening with you and I hope you love your photos!

Just Playing Around

I have two kids home sick this week. Both are on the mend, but can't go back to school yet. I can't get any real work done while they are home as the word "mom" comes echoing through the house every few minutes with whatever need they have at the time. So, I decided to play around with some things I have been wanting to do but never seem to have time.

First, I changed my blog. I wanted to have larger pictures and with the help of a friend, I finally figured out how to do it (although she told me at least a month ago what to do, but time never seemed to be with me to figure it out). I also decided to play with some new textures I found and put them on some old photos. I love the way these turned out and can't wait to try them on the photography sessions I have coming up this month!

This is my niece Steph in a session we did last March. I love the grunge of the stone and the iron railing.



This little girl was in class with my son last year. She is extremely photogenic and was wonderful to work with. I wanted this picture to pick up more brush strokes in the background - more like a painting.



I love the way this picture is a bit "blown out". The exposure is way off, but I thought it added to the ethereal nature of the water.



The next two photos I took in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The first is an iron deer sculpture in a meadow. The other is, obviously, the real thing. One of my frustrations as a photographer is capturing the image the way I actually saw it. It never comes out the same from reality to photography. I tried to really capture the rustic beauty of New Mexico in these pictures.

I had the honor of photographing the "A" family last night. They were all together for the first time in awhile and wanted a picture of everyone as a gift for their mom this year. We had a last minute change due to a sick baby and had to shoot everything with him in the house because it was COLD in Dallas last night! I think we did ok considering a last minute change. I took some pictures of individual families as well. These were some of my favorites.

Urban Grunge

I was playing with one my software applications to try and get that urban grunge look that is so popular. In shooting seniors, I wanted to be able to offer them that look if it was something they desired. So...here are my attempts. I discovered it takes the right lighting and the right backgrounds to pull off the look. I think these turned out really cool!

Two Adorable Boys

On Saturday I had the pleasure of taking family pictures for the W family, who also happen to be neighbors of mine. They have the most adorable little boys ages 3 and 5. Of course, there are always challenges when taking pictures of ones so little and this day proved a greater challenge than normal. We had meltdown central in my house as I was leaving. I was so frazzled in trying to get out of my house to make the session on time, that I forgot my candy and my squeaky toy I planned to use to get the boys to look at me. I ran by the store and got the candy, but I had to make due without the toy. I had many pictures of the boys looking in all different directions, but I still was able to get some good ones. Of course, when you are working with subjects this adorable, it isn't hard!

Meet the "W" family boys - they could be on a magazine cover!






My intention was to get a shot of the boys looking at me with mom and dad in the background. The best one turned out to be a fluke. They just couldn't help but look at what mom and dad were doing in the background. I thought this turned out adorable.



I love it when dad gets into the photo session and will be spontaneous with the kids. This picture is so precious. You can just see the "no kissing, please" written all over his face. How like a little boy is that!



Mom wanted feet pictures...a girl after my own heart. I LOVE taking pictures of little feet. I will take the dirt out for their printed picture, but I just love seeing it on there. Little boys and dirt just go together, even when they are all dressed up!



I just love this family. Mom wanted pictures of the boys as they really are at the end of the session. We pulled out some ice cream and just took some shots of them eating with all of the mess a 3 year old makes when he eats! This picture was spontaneous. What a great way to end the day!

A really cool place!

We recently had to travel to San Antonio for a family event. On our way home, we got really hungry around San Marcos. I was born in San Marcos and raised in Austin, but I don't remember any places to eat in San Marcos (and if I did, it probably wouldn't be there anymore). I hate to eat in chain resteraunts when I am in another town because by doing so, you miss the culture and flavor of the place you are visiting. As I am always grumpy when I am hungry, I gave my husband the task of finding a place to eat. WELL...he pulls up at this "hole in the wall" looking dump and I have to say I was hoppin' mad at his choice. But, I did give him the task to find a place to eat, so I bit my tongue...really, really hard...and followed him inside. I am so glad I did! This place was really cool, and very Central Texas. The glassed-in porch area had neat items from a day gone by the kids could play on. Right inside the door they sold homemade fudge and had a wonderful eclectic shopping area that was part boutique and part Texas chic. I think the entire area had been formed from three old buildings moved to the location and attached together. The wood and floors were too old and too mismatched to be one of those new places made to look old. The food was amazing - again, part Texas chic (hamburgers and the best fries I have ever put in my mouth) and part refined (with chicken salad stuffed avacados as one example)! It is called "Centerpoint Station" and is at the outlet mall exit in San Marcos on the opposite side of the freeway from the outlets.

Needless to say, I had to have some pictures. I think this is one of the cutest children I have ever photographed...but I might be biased. There might have been another cute child in the photos but only one seemed to want to cooperate that day! If you are ever in San Marcos, be sure to stop by...but be prepared to stay awhile. If we hadn't been on a time crunch to get home, I could easily have parked there for a few hours!

This was an old version of the current electric jeeps kids ride around on these days. This one ran on foot power but the kids thought it was really cool. Be sure to note the "new" smile he has adopted since the loss of the first tooth on the bottom!

When was the last time you saw one of these mechanical horses? Now we have Barney and Dora sitting in big cheap plastic cars for the kids to play on in stores. The horse allows for much more imagination!

The entire place was filled with old signs - all for sale. I feel a photography road trip coming on. I only got away with these pictures because of the kids. I wanted to spend hours recording the signs and antique items with my camera. Sigh...next time....