CATEGORY holiday

The W family got together in Austin for the holidays with their mother for a quick visit and photo shoot we were able to quickly cram in the day after Christmas! They were so happy and smiling the entire shoot, easily giving genuine reactions and smiles.

Our friend is president of the software development firm Enthought headquartered here in Austin, and my husband does some occasional IT support at their downtown location. It only makes sense to have his photographer wife cover their annual holiday party, right? We did a simple family portrait with the Austin skyline behind us at the Zilker Clubhouse. Of course my family didn’t get a photo because mom was working the camera while dad messed with wires and other electrical things: he just can’t help himself!

Legalzoom.com has an office here in Austin and held a fantastic holiday party for their local employees at the Oasis in Lakeway. The Oasis burned several years back and rebuilt with a vision, adding amazing event rooms to their spectacular Lake Travis views we’ve come to expect when dining there. Legalzoom founders came in from Los Angeles, California for the party, gave a speech I’ve heard is funny every time, and sat in my photo booth just to show some solidarity! Great food, fantastic band, a dj with some creative karaoke, a great photographer (me!) with portraits printed on site, and a gorgeous setting made a very fun night!

Fourth year running I have the opportunity to design the promotional posters and program jackets for the Austin Oak Hill LDS Church’s annual holiday choir concert. Second year in a row I’m unable to attend due to a working a photo booth print on site company holiday party, so I’ll be photographing the dress rehearsal again for the public access video presentation. This year I wanted a sleeker more modern design but keep the lighting effects from previous years for a solemn Christmas feel.

Halloween Express in Cedar Park, Texas just north of Austin hosts body artist Michelle Puslifer of On the Spot Body Art every year to decorate their patrons for Halloween parties and haunting. This year they wanted to showcase their costume selection by allowing their staff to creatively “shop” the store and put together unique ideas for their customers. This is a small sampling as they really got into it, each choosing multiple costumes ranging from the Mad Hatter and crazy Queen of Hearts complete with severed head, to a broken antique china doll. Here we just see how Beetlejuice and Sally of The Nightmare Before Christmas make friends with a wraith and Indian maiden. I sense the plot of a new B movie coming on.

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!

You would never know from the huge smiles this child gave that she spent half the shoot crying! We shot indoors before the neighborhood Santa party, and instead of getting excited that Santa was on his way, she was completely distressed no matter he wasn’t even there! I had to tell her he called to say his reindeer were sick and he couldn’t make it. She did her best to give a few genunine smiles, and how that effort paid off! I might just eat her up, but then my daughter would lose her play buddy. You would think that living across the street for 2 years the girls would play all the time, but sadly, they’ve never even met. We’ll fix that very soon! She keeps asking me who the girl on my screen is, and I keep telling her it’s her friend up the street just because seeing her perplexed look is so fun.

It’s December 12, which means there is about 1 more week to get your family photo taken and get your printed holiday cards in the mail! Procrastination has paid off in your case.

Mini sessions are about 30 minutes, 1 location, 1 outfit, and 1-2 group poses (but don’t worry, everyone in your family gets their own outfits!): perfect to get that family photo you’ve been dreading because your husband can’t sit still any longer than your toddler. No need to fall back to a pocket camera snapshot. Short, sweet, fun, and will net you a fantastic artistic family portrait, mini sessions this December have no sitting fee! Proofs are ready in a day or two, purchase only what you love, and your cards or photo gifts will be ready to go just in time.

Rush cards w/envelopes prices are
25 4×6 flat $50
25 4×6 folded $75
25 5×7 flat $100
25 5×7 folded $125

Lesley Bowles of Texas Jumping Beans inflatable playground does in-house face painting and body art. Halloween is a great time for adults and children alike to get their faces on! Lesley does outstanding work, and the crowds gathering to watch as she created was fun for the guests and human canvases alike! The full devil face was the final piece of the day, and with head shaved to really carry it off, they had the largest crowd to ooh-and-ah over them. I provided an on-site printing event where the customers walked away with a lab-quality instant print as a keepsake of their costumes. On the last photo, you can see my blue beast printer cart working away in the background! Finally, some appreciation for all “his” hard work with some face time in my portfolio.

This might be my first double photo shoot in one day, and they couldn’t have been any different!
Michelle and I have a gig booked through Halloween at the Mansion of Terror haunted house in Round Rock to “victimize” and photograph the patrons after they survive the attack inflicted by the house staff. Those teenagers with plastic grim reaper sickles become quite cranky and dangerous on that minimum wage. Should be fun!

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!

Last year was the first year I was approached to create the promotional posters and program jacket for the LDS Church’s annual Christmas choir concert, but I took over from a previous designer and had a photo provided, so this year I was able to start from scratch and come up with the complete concept from sketches to final draft. I love using lighting effects in my digital art, and the holidays provide such a wonderful opportunity to go over the top with them!

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

I received an email about redoing the promotional poster for our church holiday music program. The videographer took this photo, and we put together this simple buy lovely image. I don’t sing well, and haven’t been in the choir in years, so it was fun to contribute in an area where I’m able.