CATEGORY children

This family chose the gorgeous location of their Westlake church on a drizzly dark December day instead outdoors as planned near their Bee Cave home. The indoor conditions were much like shooting a wedding, but the bright and white interior made it light up so well. Their kids were active and giggly, both a challenge and a blessing. Formal shots are easier with quiet subjects, but the personality that comes through when kids are silly is always fun!

Dripping Springs, TX has so many great rustic, historical, and natural photo back drops, and I love shooting there! This family recently bought the dream home there and loves the quaint atmosphere of the place too, especially this historic cabin near the famed “dripping springs” themselves. Their kids were so well behaved and fun, and the parents so relaxed (or so it seemed to me, not a harsh word to anyone). Sometimes shooting families is so challenging because the tension level can be so high, but the more relaxed, the better the photos! The kids were giggly and playful, and that combined with such beautiful people made the shoot so smooth.

Time flies by: when I showed up to this family shoot, the newborn that I photographed was already a 2-year-old toddler running around and beginning to talk! Their boys and those gorgeous eyes were full of fun and personality, and my skills to capture artistic and natural candid moments were put to the test as I got to just follow the little ones around as they played. I always appreciate easy-going and laid-back parents because it helps bring the emotion of the family through in the photos. Plus they chose great wardrobe colors and back drops near their house and nearby preserve areas in southwest Austin.

I have been with this precious family since maternity photos for her first child. These were taken at their home in Spicewood, Texas. Certainly I hope this won’t be the last session with this gorgeous group of people: even their dog smiles well. This is their fall holiday card, 6-month baby, 3-year toddler shoot: multi-tasking!

Michelle Pulsifer of On the Spot Body Art needed some new faces to display at events highlighting a new product she’d like to use more. She’s also working on tribal inspired designs for older customers. After setting up the backdrop and all the lights for the models, I had Michelle snap a photo of me (yup, it’s me there at the end) for my first time under the brush! This brings up all sorts of interesting copyright issues, so it’s a good thing we’ve become such close friends!

Dripping Springs has some fantastic central Texas landscapes for photos, and the Highpointe community has a beautiful pond, trail, and park path system with gorgeous photo ops. The only thing that could make it better is a gorgeous family to go in it! With two incredibly happy smiling boys, we spent a lot of time trying different sets and poses because they were so cooperative. Here are some of my favorites.

Every year I vow I will hire another photographer to take amazing photos of my family, and every year I end up with a self-timer on a tripod. If you’re a photographer reading this and want to trade a family session, please email me! But I finally got around to holiday photos this fall, and even made it before December! Plus I’m really thrilled I finally got to shoot at this awesome old building on 290W on the way to Dripping Springs, and that all my kids got individual shots. Cobbler’s kids, shoes, check! Arms crossed pose, quadruple check.

A great looking family, a fall scene (and let me tell you, fall color is pretty difficult to find in central Texas!), and beautiful warm autumn colors with a warm sunset thrown in, and here’s what you get! All available light, I didn’t even have to break out my softboxes. Isn’t it great when mother nature and children cooperate? A 4 year old plus 1 year old twins, let’s just say cooperation was not a given, but a privilege they bestowed! Especially as they discovered little one had a fever after returning home. Happy Holidays!

We used some awesome vintage buildings in downtown Dripping Springs, Texas on Mercer Street for a family session tonight. Four young children always makes for a fun challenge in family photography, but as I am a family photographer I enjoy the challenge! Having five young rowdy kids myself, and my kids make these look tame, I can also fully appreciate the importance of putting in the time and effort of getting family photos done. I’ve been there: the stress of finding suitable clothing without stains, the aggravation of being in a hurry, the annoying dad who gets grumpier than the wee ones (I’m talking about my own man, er, not any other dad I’ve ever worked with!) So I definitely get the hassle, which makes each and every family session precious to me.

Despite all the hassle, it’s also my job to create FUN once the family arrives! Tickles, cuddles, playfulness not only makes for more fun at the session, but far better photos afterward! These kiddos did an outstanding job, holding still, following instructions, natural smiles almost on cue, and check out the outfits! Tell mom way to go!

My first shoot with this family was a maternity and baby’s first year package for their first, long awaited child. Now he is two years old and expecting a new sibling! I think we’ve had 8 or 9 sessions together in the past 2 years between baby portraits, family shoots, and holiday cards, and the personal friendship we’ve developed has been such a welcome blessing! I can’t wait to start all over this spring with your new addition. Happy birthday and congratulations!

Our friends added a last little baby to their family this week, a little sister for her three big brothers. A tiny but perfect little creature (a slightly early C-section tends to create those gems) she is dainty and delicate and girly, which cannot last growing up the smallest among all those brothers! Congratulations to Ruth and Shaun on their beautiful bundle of fluff.

Michelle Pulsifer of On the Spot Body Art in Austin recently scheduled a painting party to beef up her photo portfolio with a day-long marathon of face and body painting. Lots of kids and pizza and paint, along with two gorgeous pregnant women for maternity painted and henna belly art to literally round out the event!

We have new belly art and boudoir body art joint packages starting at $160 that include painting and a photo session with 8×10 either in the studio, at your home, or outdoors in a private venue, and I’m excited about our new offerings.

Happy Father’s Day to my sweet husband, and happy 4th birthday to the best little Father’s Day gift ever!

This adorable trio we shot at Bee Cave Central Park just outside of Austin and Lakeway  just may have been the best behaved, most cooperative little group I’ve worked with. When I complimented them on how well they were doing, mom whispered to me that she’d been prepping them for weeks! It certainly paid off with their great smiles, eye contact, and close poses. She wanted tight head shots in black and white canvas gallery wraps to update some she’d had done six years ago for a previous father’s day gift. It’s a surprise, so shhh! don’t tell!

The cobbler’s son has no shoes, and the photographers family never lives up to the client work. Part of the interference is of course directing the scene while running into it before the self timer fires. Perhaps it’s because there are just so many people to direct! But  I fear the real issue is the sad truth that my own children are not nearly as anxious to please the nice lady as others’ children. Maybe it also has something to do with the fact that I’m only a nice lady with other people’s children.

I guess the main point here is that I’m sure you want to capture your own family having as much fun as we are! I saw some seed pods on some of the flowers tonight, so hurry before it looks more like a pea patch than wildflowers.

Austin bluebonnet season is in full swing. The flowers are bright and juicy, and not a single one has yet gone to seed. Another week of springtime before the pods take over and the Indian Blankets move in.

These gorgeous girls were so fun and easy to work with. They posed, they modeled, they listened, even the baby stayed put, and in between asking for mama created some beautiful smiles. Their dresses lend an almost vintage feel. And as an extra bonus, I found a huge bluebonnet patch just a few minutes from my house the morning of the shoot! Lovely subjects, great location, overcast skies with soft sunset light that needed no flash all added up to a wonderful photo shoot.

The Texas state flower has good reason to be so. Every spring they pop up all over the hill country, especially along the highways making even rush hour seem almost pleasant. With small kids we found an enormous yet out of the way patch just north of Marble Falls for this session in the flowers. Two families back to back with the sun fading by the minute, we moved fast: almost as fast as the toddlers!

I took Baby’s First Year maternity, newborn, 6 months, first birthday, and holiday family photos of the little redhead, and now he’s walking around talking to me! I also did the 6 month session for the toddler in the second family: they do grow up fast!

Steve Wolf of the Wolf Stunt Ranch and Firelake Event Center put on a great show with his Science in the Movies presentation now performed at over 2,000 schools in North America. He demonstrates all the science concepts needs for the Texas TAKS in a fun educational way that really gets the kids excited and involved. Who wouldn’t appreciate all the guys putting themselves at risk by hoisting, dangling, falling, shooting, and the best of all, igniting and fire training? All for the kids, right? It looked pretty fun to me too, relaxing while all the child labor did the work!

Science Day 2010 was filled with demos for the kids to learn various scientific concepts. My kids were grateful for the invitation from Steve Wolf to come to the event, ditch a little of their own school, and enjoyed the Austin Nature and Science Center presentation allowing us to get up close to other little critters.

Michelle Pulsifer of On the Spot Body Art needed some updated portfolio portraits for holiday faces, and our models were running to and fro like firecrackers, leprechauns, covered in masks and more!

If you are interested in posing as a model for face and body art, specifically full-body or maternity belly art, please contact Michelle.

Mrs. C called me this morning right after I posted my holiday push mini shoots, and we certainly put a rush on things! We met same day, after the Belterra holiday party to capture some family moments for her holiday cards, and of course I couldn’t stick to the 1-2 poses. They looked amazing with the coordinating outfits: simple yet fun, matching but not over the top. And these kids are gorgeous, who could resist? We still did a pretty good job keeping to 30 minutes because the rain and the dark helped us out.

Five hours and Santa’s lap is worn out! It was a great party for Belterra homeowners at the Belterra Welcome Center, busy, busy, and my printer was humming away! No children or camera equipment were damaged for these shots, though my batteries are a different story.
Everyone who attended the party can waive the sitting fee with a free 8×10 on their first portrait session, over a $200 discount!

The Rise School of Austin is an early education center specializing in children with developmental disabilities or delays with an inclusive program with typically developing peers. The NISH non-profit organization is one of the major funders of the Rise program, and the board of directors met to participate in a fun art project with the children painting slipper shoes as gifts! No clothing was damaged by too much paint, though we really hope it’s water based!

The children were adorable, about the same age as my own. Crawling around on the floor with a camera trying to capture all of their abundant personalities was just like being at home! And to make it feel more like home, my neighbor was there as she’s the office manager: the NISH office in Washington DC hired me, but it’s a nice coincidence of working locally. I enjoyed meeting the administrators, the board and trustees, but mostly the kids!

These 2 buddies had about the same photo shoot in Sunday best, tugging their collars and untucking their shirtst, the same, “Why is my mom making me do this?” attitude with the same gap-toothed smile (hence the closed lips), and both turned out looking like such handsome little men. Just goes to show that they don’t exactly have to cooperate to get great shots they’ll grow to appreciate in the years to come.

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.