A couple of weeks ago I turned twenty-something, and to celebrate I bought myself a little birthday gift this year.  I saw these camera straps on another photographer’s site and decided I had to have one!  They are made by Denise of August Blossoms and she does a wonderful job!  She custom-made one for me so I could fit a bigger lens cap in the little attached lens pocket (an awesome feature by the way).  If you want to add a little style to your gear, head on over there and check her out!  She has lots of gorgeous fabrics to choose from, or I think she can use any fabric you want.  I love my new strap – super comfy and so cute!  Happy birthday to me! 

I knew exactly which shot I wanted to use for this week’s theme!  I just adore this picture of my Emmy getting all ready to go out into her first big snow adventure!  We ended up with over 12″ here in Dallas by the time it was all said and done – unheard of!  We were actually both sick, but I decided this was “once in a lifetime” snow (at least in this area), so we bundled up and went for it.  She had no idea what was going on, and I think this picture captures her perfectly.  Love that girl!

To see more great shots, go check out i heart faces!

DISCLAIMER:  This is hands down my favorite product, and I will not try to hide it! 

Seriously, these are the coolest!  You get the beautiful look of a fine art canvas in a more modern format.  And, here’s the best part – no frame to buy!  I have had more than one client come back to me wishing they had gone with the gallery wrap rather than a print enlargement.  After adding in the cost of a frame to a wall print (and framing is not cheap), the gallery wrap begins to look like a great option.  Sorry to gush, but I’m just so in love with these, and I know you will be too!  If you have a session with me in the future, you can look forward to seeing one of these in person.  I’ve begun taking product samples to show you after our session so you can get a better feel for my product offerings – often my pictures and descriptions do them no justice.  As always, please contact me if you have any questions!

Welcome back baby Madeline!  The last time she was in front of my camera she was only around one week old!  My, how the time flies.  Madeline (actually her mother) answered my casting call last week, and we were able to set something up right away.  I’ve recently invested in a large variety of items to add to my home/portable “studio” set-up in preparation for a new type of session I’m offering: Milestone Mini Sessions.  These sessions are meant for those “milestone moments” during your baby’s first year, whether it be six-month portraits or celebrating baby’s ability to sit up on their own.  These are short and sweet (and very affordable), so there’s no excuse not to capture every moment along the way during that ever-changing first year.  You have the option of coming to my home studio using my studio set-up or shooting on location.  Since you’ve seen plenty of my on-location work, I wanted to take the opportunity to preview some of my new and improved studio work.  I’m so excited about the possibilities!  This is just a small part of what I can provide in-studio.  Look for more coming soon when I post Emory’s first modeling shoot!  For more information on the Milestone Mini Sessions, visit my website and go to Sessions under the Pricing tab.  Madeline was such a wonderful model – she was very tolerating of both wardrobe and background changes.  And isn’t that smile to die for?    Thanks for letting me experiment with your daughter, Amy!

Have I mentioned lately how big my little baby is getting?  It’s killing me!  We came back from an out-of-town wedding over the weekend, and I swear she grew 2 inches.  She runs all over the house, tells us “No” when we ask for kisses (lots of the time), eats like a 5 year old, and loves to color with her crayons.  She can climb on one of our couches now with the assistance of the ottoman, and I caught her trying to put a Veggie Tales DVD (that she had gotten out of the case) under our DVD player.  She was close!    She says “Mommy Daddy” and it just melts us, and she loves her “puppies” more than anything.  She goes from room to room yelling “Puupppppeeeyyyy!” until she can locate one that will sit still (normally Rocky), and then she proceeds to bear-hug him (knocking him to the ground) and tickle his feet (“tickletickletickletickle”).  Sometimes she looks and acts so big it makes my heart hurt, and other times she cries and wants to be cuddled just like a little baby (and it makes me happy).   Here are some shots I took of her while we were location-scouting last week.  After I took these (at a nature preserve right around sunset), I proceeded to lock my keys in the car while putting away my camera.  Thank goodness my grandparents only live a few miles away, because my husband was still downtown at work and it took him about 45 minutes to get to us.  We weren’t really dressed for a night trip in the park, so luckily my grandpa came by and let us warm up in his car.  It’s always an adventure around here … enjoy!

Float wraps are a very cool way to display your images on the wall. 

These are a really great alternative if you don’t want to mess with a frame as they come ready to hang!  We just ordered one for my mom’s “nursery” (yes, Emory has a room at my mom’s house, and yes, it’s cooler than her room at our house), and it looks so great - it really has a fun and playful feel to it.  As always, please let me know if you have any questions!

UPDATE:  I had one time slot open up due to a cancellation – email me if you are interested!

Yes, I’m already announcing these highly anticipated Bluebonnet Mini Sessions!  Bluebonnet season is just around the corner, and this special is too good to pass up. 

I’m only scheduling a limited number of theses sessions on this one evening, so contact me soon if you are interested!  You will need to pay your deposit to reserve your time slot.  These may be the only promotional mini sessions I have all year, so don’t miss out on this great opportunity!  Let me know if you have any questions.

I was beyond thrilled when our friend Mary contacted me to shoot headshots of Albert Cheng for the soon-to-be published book about his life.  Having known some of Albert’s background, I was so honored to be involved.  Albert is from Cambodia, and the road he took to get here today is definitely worthy of writing about.  Having escaped from a communist concentration camp, here is where he found himself next: “Emaciated and exhausted from four years of forced slave labor by the Khmer Rouge and barely alive from the past three months of seeking freedom running barefooted through the jungles of Cambodia, 24-year-old Albert Cheng had arrived perhaps 100 yards from the border with Thailand, and freedom. Yet, the danger was not over. Buried in the field before him were landmines and oft-times poisoned bamboo “punji” sticks. Behind him came Khmer Rouge troops and before him amidst the trees were Thai soldiers, all ready to shoot anyone they saw attempting to cross the border. Going back, staying put, were not options. Cheng thought to himself, “If I can cross, I can be free. But if I die, at least I will die free.”  He did survive that treacherous journey, but he was only one of two who made it across.  The book Grace Will Lead Me Home chronicles Albert’s journey both physically and spiritually that brought him to the United States and to the discovery of Jesus Christ.  He is truly a remarkable man.  Meet Albert:

This is Albert and the author of the book, Del Hayes.  This bay window was the place where they conducted almost all of their interviews during the writing process, and therefore became a very special place to both of them.  If you are interested in learning more about Albert, than you are in luck!  There is a pre-publishing special going on until March 31st.

Thanks again Mary, Del, and of course, Albert for allowing me to be a part of this project.  I look forward to seeing the final product in print!

If you are a photographer of any kind, you NEED to head over to the Bloom Workshops site and check out their Anniversary Giveaways!  I took this workshop over the summer, and I really can’t say enough good things about it.  Brenda and Kristy are celebrating their one year anniversary by having a huge giveaway every day of products from their awesome sponsors.  Today’s prize is worth $500!!!  What are you waiting for?

This is one of my FAVORITE new products, and they’ve already been a big hit! 

I can’t even begin to tell you how awesome these are.  They really make such a wonderful little gift for family and friends, and the really neat thing about them is that you can include so many images from your session.  You can include fewer images as well by spreading them across more than one panel – the possibilities are nearly endless.  The template designs are gorgeous as well!  The design process itself has become so much more streamlined since I added a separate viewing system for book and card design.  In this system you can ”Favorite” the pictures you want to use in the book, and you can also Comment on the images to leave notes about whether you want color or black and white, which images you want for the covers, and whether you want it to cover more than one panel.  I just used this system for the first time for this exact purpose, and it made it too easy.  I will also upload your final proof to the same system so you can make comments regarding any changes that need to be made.  Let me know if you have any questions, and as always, this product is available to past clients as well!