Monday, March 31, 2008

I'm a weiner...Uhm, I mean winner!




Our city has been having a photo contest for the last 20 years and I started entering back in 2000. It's open to amateurs and pros alike. I think I may not have entered a couple of years but try not to miss it. It's a lot of fun and you can watch the judging on the local cable station. The judging is always interesting to see why they liked certain photos and the technical stuff they point out.

Anyway, I just got the call that I won 1st Place in three categories: People and Their Activities, On the Road and Pets. Cool! So here they are (drumroll please)...the big winners! And the photo subjects for everything but On the Road will receive an 8x10 print of their photo. I figured the steers could care less and where would they hang their print...in the pasture???

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Mr. Happy


Okay, this is just one of the happiest babies ever! He has such a sweet, good natured personality which makes my job so easy! Smiles about 75% of the time, and when he's not smiling he's just got a serious expression, checking out the world. He's yummy! Making me want a grandson now.....hint, hint! I love 9 month old babies because at this stage they are able to stand up and that delights them, sitting up really well by now and crawling but not too fast...and not walking yet usually so they are easy to keep in one place. Mom, you sure make cute babies!

Friday, March 28, 2008

Little Miss Sassy


This little girl just melts my heart...she's the baby of one of my earliest families, I've been capturing them since 2001! This is their last baby (I think!) and her strawberry blonde curls are so sweet and she's at the really cute age where their little personalities start to show through. She cracked me up today by doing all the hand gestures to the song "Wheels on the bus go round and round" - I sang it a lot today...well we all did, Mom and sister too! Now I can't get that song out of my head! Her session today was an absolute dream...a little cold but after a few minutes she just explored the Botanic Gardens and gave me so many good captures it was really hard to edit them out! Definitely adding many of her images to my website - which is overdue for some newer work anyway!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Meet Baby A


Not too terribly long ago I met this family and did their maternity images. They have a gorgeous little 3 year old girl and now a new baby brother for her, "A." She held him during the session and kissed him and while Mom and Dad were doing their images with him, she took care of my studio baby doll. It was very sweet to see what good care she took and how tender she was with both babies! Here's one that I thought was very sweet...he let me know pretty quick that he did NOT appreciate me firing those lights at him! And Mom got a little wet that day, though Dad lucked out and never got it once!

Laughing Kids


This is an image I shot of 2 brothers and their baby sister along with Mom and Dad this past weekend. I was forewarned by Mom that the boys were in to the "silly" faces stage...very typical of their ages. So I came prepared...brought out the old standby, the toot machine. It never fails me! They were laughing it up big in this shot, which I just love! These are the type images that in 20 years you look back on and smile and feel your heart melt just a little bit.

A Trio of Beauties



I got to photograph this family on Saturday morning at the park. I was nervous the park would be overrun with people but we got lucky...beautiful weather and not too crowded as it had been earlier in the week. This is a trio of Mom and her two daughters. You can tell they inherited their mom's good looks! I love this shot of them, and of course had to show it in black and white, my favorite! We did a lot during the session, the family, daughter and her fiance, and some with the family pets. This little boxer puppy here was to die for cute! I could have taken her home, it gave me puppy fever bad! If I were ever going to have a big dog it would definitely be a Boxer. And did you notice her beautiful pearl necklace, you're never too young or too canine to accessorize!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Busy Little Toddler


I forgot how fast toddlers can go! Mr. E here was walking and walking fast....he gave me a nice workout on Friday. We did his photography session at one of my favorites places in Fort Worth, lots of old brick and textured wood...he found lots of things to check out and see how they worked. He's one of my redheads and in this shot I love his baby curls (Mom said she can't bring herself to cut them off yet) and his long eyelashes! He's a heartbreaker for sure!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Be a Fashion Photographer

Have some fun and do a photoshoot with Daniella via Taco Bell's promo...its addictive! See if you've got what it takes! http://www.directdaniella.com

A really fun headshot session


I know, I know...I always "see" resemblances to celebrities when I photograph headshots but I can't help it! This girl, who recently won a big acting award in her school's UIL contest, came in to get acting headshots done as well as some modeling images for her zed cards. I aged myself when I told her she really reminded me of the 80's supermodel Claudia Schiffer...and she had no clue who that was! I'm dating myself with these 80's references. Or too much VH1 where are they now shows ha ha!

Anyway, this girl has legs that go on forever and I'm so jealous of her height and model body! I predict she will do well and wish her all the best as she selects her college to further her journey as an actor.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

A Little Tulip Trivia


1636, the Netherlands. The tulip craze struck the Dutch and the price of tulips soared to astronomical prices. Before long, just about everyone was trying to "get in on the action" by buying tulips in the expectation of profiting from the quickly rising prices. Although this market was short lived, it remains a great example of how the market can sometimes behave in irrational ways.

In 1636, the Netherlands was experiencing a period of relative prosperity after having just overcome a depression. This prosperity encouraged spending and one of the things that people started spending money on was tulip bulbs. After years of doing without, people wanted to beautify their homes and property with flowers that grew well in their area. As more and more people had more and more money to spend, the demand for tulip bulbs outgrew the supply. Before long, the price for an average tulip bulb was growing by as much as 100% per week.

At this point, the craze began feeding on itself. The quickly rising prices encouraged many people from all walks of life to try their hand at speculation. Since these people had a good expectation that the price of tulips would be significantly higher a week or two after they bought some bulbs, they stood to make a significant profit. Many did make enormous profits off of this craze which encouraged others to try their hand it at. Before long, people were quitting their jobs to become tulip "day traders." They made money not by buying tulips at wholesale prices from a supplier and reselling them to customers at retail prices, but by buying a supply of tulips and waiting for the price to rise before reselling. By January of 1637, some rare tulip bulbs were fetching prices equivalent to over $100,000 in today's dollars.

Sounds like real estate prices in some parts of the country today! And to think I only paid a couple of bucks for the beautiful tulips posted here...

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Baby E


I met this lovely Keller family last summer and today got to meet their new little girl, "E." She is a beautiful baby and had enough hair already to be sporting bows! She only got Mom wet today, its usually Dad that gets it but she got it out of her system early on, lucky Dad! I also got to photograph her with her grandparents (love when the grandparents jump in for pictures too!). Her older sister "K" did awesome with the kissing shot, that's much harder than you can imagine for 2 year olds to get. I'm almost finished editing the gallery (I had my Wheaties today ha ha) so Mom and Dad can start looking at this sneak peek while I finish up.

Friday, March 14, 2008

A Grandma Moment


I can't help myself here...have a cute photo of Gigi to share. We had the best day yesterday with her and she was in the mood for photos so I grabbed the opportunity! And I'm proud to say...she took her first steps with us yesterday! And then showed Mom and Dad later by doing it a few more times. She's a late walker and getting quite heavy so this is awesome as Grandma and Pops are getting too old for all that carrying around!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Casey

Walk With An Old Dog

Because you will not be forever,

Hope against time though I may,
I paint your picture in my memory,
Eyes blue with age, muzzle gone gray.

Because you walked with me in Springtime,
Puppy-clumsy, running free.
As you grew, we grew together-
You became a part of me.

Because you shared with me my sorrows,
Not understanding- simply there.
Often spurring me to laughter--
My friend, you know how much I care.
Because the years have slowed your fleetness,
Though your spirit still is strong.

I promise I will take more time now,
So that you can go along.
Because you do not fear the future,
Living only in the now,

I draw strength from your example-
Yet time keeps slipping by somehow.
Because the day will soon be coming
When I will no longer see

You rise to greet me-but in memory
You will always walk with me.

~by Gayl Jokiel~

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

My hair had a party last night


I had never heard that expression before till my sister commented on Gigi's hair one day. We are definitely at the wispy stage! I don't do bows (and neither do Mom and Dad) but I love to slap a hat on her...she just loves that...not!

This is just a quick grab shot one day when I was babysitting...Grandma is worn out when she leaves! I love having her, and she gets more fun every day but I remember now why we have our kids when we're younger! We will be taking her for a mini vacation in May or June so we'll see how that goes! She is 15 months old now and starting to feel her oats and let's you know when you have not gone along with her plan...like let me throw the food at the restaurant or hide Pop's keys...aah, the joys of toddlers!