CATEGORY card

One of the nice things about real estate photography (there are a lot of those) is meeting all the great agents around the Austin area. Jill Foye is a beautiful new Keller Williams Realtor® , though as an ASP certified stager certainly no newcomer to the industry. We networked while she was staging, and I had the chance to take her head shots today for her new business cards. KW isn’t as fun with their cards as they have premade designs to choose from and therefore less creativity on my part there, but I loved this design…I think because it looks like my web site header!

With a few days left to get holiday cards in time to be mailed out for Christmas, this weekend has been a push to get sessions proofed and cards out to the printer! Here are some from recent family and Santa party shoots.

Texas Neurorehab Center had its annual holiday party at the Omni Hotel Southpark (does the first one in 3 years count as annual?), and I was expecting a bunch of middle-aged psychiatrists. So to my delight the place was filled with an amazing crowd of fun people with personality and outfits that make we wish I didn’t have such boring fashion sense! I printed holiday cards I designed right at the event, flirted with the waiters, laughed more than one should while on the clock and sober, and worked some Photoshop plastic surgery magic for a few brave souls! Just think, all these people are actually in charge of others’ neurological health. Can’t wait for next year!

From my family to yours this holiday season, wishing you much peace, happines, and true joy. This is what brings me joy: my beautiful, loving, wonderful family, and creating art for others and myself to enjoy. I am thankful to all of my family, friends, and clients for allowing me to be a part of your lives!

The R family, owners of Austin Signco, found my portfolio online through our local Dripping Springs homeschooling group, and this shoot was the first time we had met in person. Their twins are absolutely delightful! Adorable, well mannered, full of exuberant energy, and the parents were down to earth and incredibly friendly. I always try not to show just how much work a photo shoot is, managing everyone and capturing not only their emotional interactions while making them all look good, but a family like this makes it fun. Honestly, I can’t wait to get to know them better and let our daughters play.

Ho, ho, ho! Especially for this Santa event and Christmas party for Belterra homeowners at KC Memory Lane in Wimberley, TX, I designed 8 greeting card borders to be printed on site for our guests, which was a huge hit. Of course, my family had to test out the setup, lighting, and printer, who else? Merry Christmas!


A 4×6 holiday card custom designed from scratch. 150 of these babies and some envelopes, and Christmas couldn’t be merrier!



When will I learn that newborn shoots are a painful marathon with the sweetest moments at the end? The general pattern seems to be arrive to a sleeping baby whom I promptly wake up while trying to photograph sleeping while mom gets her make up on because I forgot again to warn her that she’d likely be in the the photos. Then the wriggly baby gives me some weird faces and postures before turning into screaming baby who nurses despite not really being hungry. For just a bit, I get active baby who makes great eye contact with the camera, or at least the appearance of it, for the “money shot” for the birth announcement. Then wriggly baby returns and swaps place on and off with screaming baby, who finally gets very hungry, and while stressed mom lamenting that her newborn won’t “cooperate” settles in for a long nursing saying, “We should have something decent by now, maybe we should call it a day?” But I persevere and assure her this is where it finally gets good, hours 2-3. Nursed and relaxed baby falls asleep and allows all sorts of prodding and repositioning. Finally, we’re shooting nothing but net! Thanks for putting up with me hanging at your house, even if we nurse and talk as much as shoot!

An addition to my own family, and I can attest that the most challenging newborn photo shoots are those for our own children! This baby is exactly 1 day old and wide awake! My husband took all the kids out, so with 2 hours alone and the baby in a good mood, I thought, “Why not?” Her hands are so young they’re still a tad purple, and all her wrinkles not yet filled out with chub.

This announcement is created as a standard 4×6 print using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. The small mouse hiding in the vines is symbolic of her Chinese zodiac sign in honor of her 08 08 08 birthday, and the 5 symbolizes her birth order in the family.