Fall in The Woodlands

We found a some fall color for this little guy. What a sweetie.  More to add later but I've got to get out the door to more sessions.. Tis the season!

Waterway

A couple shots from the Woodlands Waterway the other day. 

Home again

Home after the storm. We are very grateful to not have any damage and our power is back on. Phone lines are down.. but thank goodness I have a dsl line working. I am busy rescheduling our appointments and looking for new areas to shoot. My oldest is not back in school until next week at the earliest.  I hope everyone came through the storm with minimal damage. I heard today there is another storm brewing... surely not going to hit here again!

Here are a couple more shots from our little trip away. Last one is SB's big treasure - a rock with crystal's in it. 

On a Hurrication ...

Hurricane Ike has come and gone. We are in Austin - waiting for power to return in Houston. I can't even imagine that it could be 4 weeks without power! I've tried to get in touch with those that I was supposed to meet with this week without luck. I know everyone is concentrating on getting back to normal and cleaning up debris. Just so there is no confusion - if you do have power - I don't and won't be back for a while. I don't think that family portraits are at the top of anyones list right now.. 

Our house was fine - almost hit by a giant tree limb . My brother T.J. (Fry) wasn't so lucky. He has 2 huge trees on his house and his chimney was ripped off. He's got a huge mess and a ton of drywall to replace. 

So, I'll be catching up on some work up here and shooting some of these pretty skies. Might even get my Christmas card photos done!  Here are a couple shots from yesterday.

1st day of 3rd grade!

Summer flew by and today is the first day of school. I can't believe SB is in 3rd grade already.  I take this photo every year on the first day of school - she gets more impatient with me every year... Thank goodness we didn't have to take it at school like we usually do - "how embarassing!"  And the little K-bug is ready to deliver her sister to school. She is so sad because she'll miss her all day. I'm a little sad that summer is over, but also ready to get back into the school and swimming schedule.  Enjoy the quiet everyone!

A few of my own beach photos

We've returned from our favorite vacation spot - Sanibel Island, Florida. We spent two weeks doing a whole lot of nothin... beach,pool, beach , pool. We read, ran 5 mi on the beach every morning (me) and ate a lot of watermelon. We love the shelling in Sanibel. Every evening when the tide is going out we'd go find amazing shells. I never get tired of doing that! And no, SB's shell is not really that big. That was a little photoshop- but we did find one that big and threw it back because it was alive.

Here are a couple amazing seniors from last week.  So natural and pretty.  Also, loved adding the volleyball for something a little different.  Lots of seniors lately. I know it's nice to  have the senior photos done before school starts. It's such a busy year.  

For those thinking about Christmas (in August??? yes, I know it's early) I'm booking October now with a couple days left in Sept. Weekends are almost gone through Christmas. So, there's a heads up on getting on the calendar in time for Christmas.

Beautiful location - Great family

I've always wondered how to get to this location... finally someone led the way. I didn't have to jump from a Woodlands bridge or canoe there. I thought the light was gorgeous and it has a great creek to let kids play in. These boys were very laid back and easy to work with.

We are finally back from our 3 week vacation and I'll have to post some beach photos of my girls. I don't have as many this year because my camera bonked on me. I took my canon 1Ds backup camera and it didn't want to work. It's getting shipped to Canon as we speak. I had another back up shipped after much deliberation and I'm so glad that I did. Those photos will be posted shortly. Off to my 5pm Saturday session..

little sweetie

This is my little niece. Already 7 months old.. can't believe it!

Texas Bluebonnets

We are coming to the end of the bluebonnets. They are so gorgeous and smell wonderful! Most of the flowers seem to be melting now and going to seed.  Here is a family that I just love to work with. Hopefully will post a few more of the flowers sessions from the last few weeks of clients and some of my own kids. 

2 Year Old Mischief

Its great when your kids are playing quietly.. but as all moms know, if it's too quiet for too long, something is up.  I caught this shot of my little mischievous one with window light and it is now one of my favorites. That little look is truly hers.

The most beautiful light is sometimes the easiest.. window light. What makes light pretty is dimension. When comparing  a snap shot and a professionally lit image the difference is how it is lit. I always laugh when someone hands me their point and shoot to take the group photo at some event because they think that I'd naturally do it better.  Sure, I can frame the shot pretty well, but my photo with the point and shoot is going to look just like yours. What's my point?  Is it the big fancy equipment that makes a pro? Not entirely, anyone can buy a professional camera. Part of what makes a professional image is knowing how to control the light.  Or maybe seeing what the light is and knowing how to shoot to get the result you want. One of the best tips I can give for everyday shooting is to turn off your flash. When you are trusting your camera's automatic mode and using your flash the result is going to be a big flat blast of light. Take your kids out on an overcast day, turn off your flash and I bet you'll be very pleased with the results! 

I get lots of questions on gear and technique.. I'm happy to answer all questions that  come my way

Grant's Tomb

Here is my shot of Grant's Tomb from our trip to New York in December. My kids were fascinated  with the small piles of snow on either side of the steps more than the giant structure. This is shot using HDR (high dynamic range). This  HDR technique is my new fascination. 

Babies

Here are a couple sweet babies from recent sessions.  These are examples of our painted versions of each portrait. This baby stage is so sweet - makes you  want to freeze them. My youngest is 2 and I can't believe this baby time is over for us. It truly is just a blink and it's over. Glad I have tons of photos and memories.

New Year updates

Lots of commercial shoots for clients this month and last. The Review it Magazinegroup photo shown here with. Monette was going for the edgy grunge look. I love to play with an image like this.

I am booking May right now. So if you'd like to get on the calendar for spring portraits now is the time to call or email. The Arboretum looks fabulous in April and May. The temperature is still nice (usually) and the flower beds have filled in by this time of year.

NYC pano

I can't believe it how time flies by.. Finally posting a shot from our pre_Christmas trip to NYC. This is 9 shots combined. Check out the link I posted. You can zoom in and check out the detail. Just click on the NYC pano title.

Christmas Eve

Like most children, my kids are bubbling with excitement - today is Christmas Eve. Every year we do a Christmas portrait with the tree in the background. This year I changed it up a bit . I'm sure I'll still have to do the shot with the tree in the background on our way to church tonight. The first shot is was from yesterday, then when my oldest was 3 and then 5.
We just returned from NYC..it was wonderful at Christmas time. I'll post some of those shots when I get a chance to go through them. Off to start the gift wrapping marathon. Merry Christmas everyone!

Another Woodlands Waterway Shot

Here is a shot from the Woodlands Waterway last night. I love all of the Christmas lights.

The Woodlands at night

Some recent shots around The Woodlands at night - The Waterway and The Warf. Is it still called The Warf? That was it's name back in the day.. back when there was a skating rink and Jamails grocery store. I want to shoot more Christmas lights over at Town Park. We'll be leaving soon to see New York at Christmas time. I'm sure it will be magical and I'll post some photos from the trip.

Can you tell I'm missing the beach?

It's sinking in that summer is over....It is by far my favorite time of year. Walking into the grocery store today it really hit home. My oldest daughter declared it officially winter when we got out of the car and it was only in the 80's instead of 100 degrees. Summer flew just flew by.

Masters National Swim Meet in The Woodlands

The Woodlands hosted Masters Long Course Nationals on August 10th-13th. I grew up swimming on TWST - it was acutally the reason we moved to The Woodlands in 1981. After a long break from competition, about 20 years, I competed at Nationals. I've only been back in the water with The Woodlands Masters Swim Team
for a couple months and I've already got the swimming bug back. The photo of my 100 free start is by Ted Washington. The group photo is our team (minus 50 that didn't make the photo) that represented The Woodlands.