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a sun soaked afternoon

Man, I love light. I just love it.
I love that when we wake up every morning, Austin exclaims: "Momma! Momma! Sunlight!!" That's how I feel when I see beautiful light...all colors, all angles of it..


I guess I would have to say the biggest sign to me that I've made progress as a photographer is my relationship with light. I used to absolutely avoid it: shooting only in the shade or only at "magic hour." Armed with my trusty reflector and a pretty decent understanding of all the things that come together to create a great exposure (ISO, shutter, aperture, I can have a great shoot in the wide open, at, GASP!, noon!. This would be unthinkable for me only a couple of years ago.

But, proper exposure wasn't really what I was going for when I took my boys into this field filled with wonderful Louisiana wildflowers. I wanted to catch just how sun soaked and beautiful this field is in the evening...all that light filtering in through the golden grass. And catch it on the golden hair of my beautiful boys. These pictures are by no means, technically great pictures. We've got lens flare and blown out spots galore. But I love them! It was exactly what I was going for--caught the mood perfectly!

Before you get to thinking how idyllic all of this sounds, let me tell you what happened after we got done running around picking Black Eyed Susans: I went and buckled Anderson into his carseat, leaving Austin in the field. It took me awhile to retrieve Austin since he was having such a blast and didn't want to leave. By the time we got back to the car, Anderson had managed to lock himself in my car with my keys and cell phone inside. I immediately started thinking, "WHAT IN THE *&^% am I going to do!!!??" We were in the boonies..no houses around. I had just about decided I would have to break the window when I was finally able to coax Anderson into opening the door. Situation solved. My blood pressure was through the roof! I was so flustered that I ended up leaving my galvanized tub there in the field. Good thing I went back a couple of days later to shoot little Ryleigh. (see above post)

Pretty typical, really.


The last image is so becoming a 30 x 40 gallery wrap canvas for my bedroom. Yes, that's obscenely large. And I love it!

Meet Boston!

Little Boston is about to turn one and I was able to photograph him while visiting his aunt, my best friend, in Dallas, Texas. He was such a hoot because he stayed so solemn almost the entire time--not because this is his normal demeanor (he's usually all smiles) but because he was so deep in thought and observation. He just wanted to take it all in--absorb everything. I love capturing those emotions in children. We often forget how amazing life must be for them--everything is new and uncolored by past experiences. I know we all want the smiles and huge grins, but remember, it is important to capture all of depth and emotions of your little one. Don't make me give my "fantasy child" lecture again--lol.

Boston is very lucky to have such a wonderful family! Happy Birthday darling! I hope you like your "sneak peek" Karlee!

Happy Birthday Turner!

Turner is turning two and I just had to share his birthday invitation--it is so adorable!

Happy Birthday Taylor!

Baby Tay-Tay as my kids call him is about to be one! We got the ball rolling a little early with his birthday shoot so we could make super fabulous invitations for him. Taylor is the son of my childhood best friend. We just love that we used to sit around and fantasize about our kids growing up together--and they actually are!!! Taylor's nursery is decorated with and under the sea/ocean theme, so they are kind of carrying this over to his party, which has a luau theme. A, Taylor's mom, also went with the press-printed invitations. It is so unbelievably special to me to photograph this child--I just love him so much! P.S. We did the naked boy in the galvanized tub to match a picture of his mom taken on her first birthday---they turned out so great!

These are some cute little boys..

My clients ask me all the time why I never put images of my boys on my website. Well, firstly, because I have a really hard time taking great pictures of my own children. Secondly, I feel weird about showing them off. I want to show my client's kids off, not mine. But, occasionally I do break down and brag just like everyone else! So, for Mothers' Day I set out to take some really cute pictures of my kids to give to my mom and mother-in-law. I had purchased a couple of goldfish to use in some other sessions and my boys had become pretty attached. So, I hid the fish all day to build the excitement, scraped the first layer of dirt off them and threw them in the studio. Acy was a big help, which is impressive, because he normally stays as far away as possible from anything to do with my photography--thanks baby! So, here was the final composite that I gave as gifts to all the special moms in our life--pretty cute if I say so myself! Just look how excited Austin is in the top left picture--clasping his little hands!

The many faces of Ana Kate

I just had to share this composite with you of little Ana Kate. It is no secret how much I love designing these storyboard panels for myself and others, but this is going to be a favorite! Many of the pictures that are on here would have usually made it onto the cutting room floor--most parents are not going to want all these goofy faces. But when I got to seriously editing her session, I was just so amazed and all the hilarious faces she made in one session! What a personality! I knew something had to be done. I know she will enjoy this panel and she gets older and always get a good laugh out of it.