CATEGORY children

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.

My friend Michelle Pulsifer is a face and body painter (www.onthespotbodyart.com), and it just goes to show that you never know the people you know! How could two art forms marry better than a face painter and a portrait photographer? Not only is she a joy as a friend, but wonderful to collaborate with. She does beautiful work, and has booked me with all sorts of event photo printing gigs as her camera-toting sidekick! Here are a few of her littler clients for her portfolio.

Filming life as it happens is a particular passion of mine. Of course while photos with smiling faces mugging for the camera are an important part of any family portfolio, it’s always a joy when a child ignores you enough to let you into his world. Because photography is more than just remembering how someone looked at a particular age, it’s also about remembering why someone is the most special kid on your planet.

One of the benefits of being a picture maker is sharing with our friends. The S family have been our close buddies for years now, sharing hobbies and kids. In fact, my 3rd daughter and her 3rd son are only a few days apart in age! It’s a pleasure to take pictures of such nice-looking people, thank you!

I love action photography! The way the camera can capture motion frozen in time, especially droplets of water like ice, fascinates me. Not to mention an object blurring through the frame as if Flash Gordon ran by the lens, action is just as fun and exciting to shoot as it is to watch. Not to mention using a lens the size of most compact cars isn’t just fun for men, and not to mention getting to walk past all the psuedo Do Not Cross police tape and get right into the scene (though the giant tele lens is still cool), and not to mention the surprise of it all on the laptop because everything is moving too fast to stop and chimp at the LCD screen. That was a lot I didn’t mention, so maybe for a later post!

All packages include
sitting fee
1 hour travel
all images individually edited
select images digitally enhanced
$25 print credit

1/2-hour Mini Session $75 suitable for individual head shots or 1 location and limited poses
2-hour Standard Session $200 suitable for individuals up to 3 clothing changes and 1 location, families up to 5 with group and individual shots, group shots only, or real estate
3-hour Extended Session $300 suitable for large families up to 10 with large group and individual shots, or groups/reunions with small group shots

A la Carte Services

Printed Invitations (available with my photos or another photographer’s with release)

all cards include custom-designed graphics, white envelopes, identical design for each batch of 50
call for bulk pricing over 50, or wedding invitation extras like foil envelopes, double envelopes, full-color front and back design, etc

25 4×6 flat $50, 50 $85
25 4×6 folded with interior design $75, 50 $140
25 5×7 flat $100, 50 $180
25 5×7 folded with interior design $125, 50 $225
colored envelopes, add $25 each 50
return address printed envelopes, $25 each 50
recipient address printed envelopes, $50 each 50

Prints & Enlargements

4×6 $10
up to 300 4×6 proofs from session, $75 (included free in wedding packages)
5×7 $15
8×10 $25
11×14 $35, artboard $50
16×20 $45, artboard $80, canvas wrap $150

Montages and Scrapbook Layouts

8×10 or 11×14 custom photo montage $100
12×12 or 8.5×11 scrapbook page $50

Albums and Frames (available for my photos or another photographer’s with release)

4×6 proof sleeve album $10
4×6 frame album $30
4×6 keepsake box with all proofs from session, $100

5×7 bound album $45
framing $35 up to 8×10, $40 up to 16×20, $50 20×24 with 16×20 mat
10×10 10-page (20 layouts) bound, hardcover album $200

DVD’s and Keepsakes (available for my photos or another photographer’s with release)

DVD photo-music slide show $150
all images 4×6-quality high resolution on DVD $250 w/ personal reprint rights
up to 100 images enlargement-quality high resolution on DVD $350 w/ personal reprint rights
100+ images enlargement-quality high resolution on DVD $500 w/ personal reprint rights
all images enlargement-quality high resolution on DVD $1000 w/ commercial reprint rights

Sitting fee due at time of session, remainder due at ordering consultation.

Print prices are honored 90 days from portrait session. Digital negatives are stored for 90 days from portrait session, and 2 years for negatives selected for prints.