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!

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.