burning the midnight oil

I don't ever really use that phrase, I'm not sure why I just did... it's pretty late and I've been staring at the computer screen all day so you will have to forgive me in advance if this blog post makes no sense. :) I'm definitely working my hiney off to get all the beach galleries ready over the next couple of days. I'm sort of jumping around from gallery to gallery editing them because I feel like if I just work one straight through I may crush my creativity a little or something..... ok I have no idea what that means... basically there is no method to my madness, but either way it will get done. :)

Ok so now on to these brothers. I really adore these guys, I've photographed them 4 different times now. They are each so different and I love that about them. Tyler, the oldest is quiet and serious, I think he's one of those kids that has a lot going on in his head, he's definitely smart and it's so sweet to see how patient he is with his younger brothers. I know most of the time at the session's I'm barking orders at poor Tyler like "ok hold Reid up a little higher, now move your chin, now lean towards Gaven" and he always takes it in stride.

Gaven, the middle guy is a total clown, he loves to laugh and cut up, and he always tries his best to give me a good smile, but my favorite smiles of his are the ones that he's not trying to give, the ones that just happen. He really looks up to his big brother, you can tell... and he loves his little brother. Oh and he's pretty ticklish. :)

Reid is the youngest and he's just the perfect kind of stubborn, the kind that's endearing and cute. He's not interested in being talked into doing something he doesn't want to do (actually he's a lot like me :), but when he's truly enjoying himself his smile is about the best thing you've ever seen. He makes the cutest expressions sometimes that just make me chuckle behind my camera, you can't help but want to just scoop him up. :)

Oh and of course these three boys have pretty fantastic parents, the kind of people you meet and instantly feel like you've known them forever. So I think they deserve at least a little credit for raising 3 pretty awesome guys.

Photography by Cameron

This cutie pie Cameron (with the AMAZING blue eyes) has a future in modeling, or photography, I'm not sure which...maybe both. He was so adorable and he would say "so is this one for the magazine?" when I was photographing him. He's so cute he should be in magazines, he looks like a little gap model for sure. And not only was he rocking it out with the modeling but he LOVED to take pictures, he was just begging for my camera, so I handed it over and let him take a few pictures and he's good! He took one of me, I'll post it below. That camera is HEAVY and he managed to hold it up and center me and get the shot just perfectly :)

And I just have to say I am LOVING that dress Ashleigh is wearing, girl's lookin hawt!!

I'm working on more beach sneak peeks! I'm just randomly putting memory cards into the computer and then sneak peeking which ever session it is, it's kind of like a nice surprise every time :) But I'll be sneak peeking more today!

more coming

I know some of you are anxiously waiting on your beach sessions and they will be up over the next couple of days! I actually was in Austin today for a session and JUST got back to my house (it's midnight, I got stuck in traffic) :) But tomorrow I'm going to work on posting as many sneak peeks and I can and getting all the beach galleries up by Friday. I'll be in touch with you all soon!!

Avery

Bow down to Rae

Rae is this beautiful little honey's mom, and to say I love Rae is an understatement, I like adore Rae. She is funny and cool (and of course stunning) and she is also a photographer's dream because she is like the prop MASTER. Flying to Daytona I didn't exactly have space to bring any props with me, which was totally fine because if the location is cool enough (which the beach obviously is) then you don't' really need any, but then Rae showed up to the beach with all sorts of things I didn't even KNOW I needed but then suddenly I really really NEEDED them for the shoot! Can you believe that tutu?? Seriously, I am dying... and here's the best part...after the session she GAVE me 3 adorable paper umbrella's (like the pink one below) and some to die for headbands with flowers on them. I love her, like for real, and it doesn't hurt that her sweet Lillie is about the cutest thing ever to walk the beach. :)

twins

These two girls are as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside. They are 12 years old which sometimes can mean that most adults seem annoying and boring, when I was 12 I had a pretty foul attitude and I don't know that the word "sweet" was used to describe me very often, but not these two beauties. I not only enjoyed photographing them because they are stunning and the camera went crazy for them, but also because they are such sweethearts, they were kind and polite and smart, their parents are just doing an amazing job raising two truly lovely young women. I flew into Daytona Beach, checked into the hotel and within an hour or two I was meeting up with these girls and their mom to shoot, they definitely made my first Daytona session easy as pie. :)\

Daytona

I made it back from Daytona and then had a house full of great friends for the weekend of the 4th so I've been entertaining and haven't had any time for blogging. I had an absolutely amazing time in Daytona, I feel so blessed that I was able to travel there and photograph so many BEAUTIFUL kiddo's and families in such a fabulous location. I've started digging into the photo's this morning and I'm so excited about them, I'll share some over the next several days. I hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th! The lake was really choppy so I managed to get a little nauceous but I recovered and had a great time, it was so nice having so many great friends here, they all left this morning and I'm kinda sad, but now I get get my hiney in gear and get some work done. Keep an eye on the blog, I'll have some up by this evening!

Sea of Love

"Come with me
My love
To the sea
The sea of love

I want to tell you
how much
I love you"

Those are some of the lyrics to the song that this lovely bride walked down the aisle to. I use the word "aisle" loosely because it was actually a wooden dock lined with shells...which in my opinion is about as perfect of an aisle as any bride could walk down. :) I loved everything about this wedding, how laid back and in love the bride and groom were, how sweet and welcoming the family was, and of course the fact that it was on a beautiful beach. Torie and John chose to get married in Pensacola on Gulf Breeze island and I have to say I absolutely fell in love with this place. It's so laid back and stunning and the people are some of the best you will find anywhere. I don't think these two could have chosen a more perfect location to celebrate their love together.


I'm heading to Daytona Beach tomorrow and will be return late on the 3rd, I'm shooting a ton of adorable kiddo's and beautiful families on the beach so this blog will not be lacking on fun beach photo's for a while. I'll update when I return, have a happy and safe 4th everyone!

I'm packing the sunblock...

So I'm back, Arizona was beautiful, the wedding was wonderful and I even had a night in Lubbock with friends as well. Now I'm working my hiney off getting ready to fly out to Pensacola, FL on Thursday to shoot a wedding. I'm so excited about it, I just love beach weddings. :) Also when I get back I'll have about 2 days and then I'm heading to Daytona Beach to shoot a bunch of my Georgia clients on the beach. I've photographed all the Daytona kiddo's before so I'm so excited about seeing them all and shooting them in such a different and fun (and not to mention stunning) location! I'll share lots of lovely pics when I return but here are a few in the meantime, aren't these two just tooooo cute!!

Sweet Cheeks

Oh this honey has the most kissable little cheeks, and he smelled like heaven! Just that sweet baby smell, I just wanted to cuddle him and kiss his sweet little head. :) I photographed his adorable big brother in the fall and I was so excited to finally meet the new addition to this wonderful family! They are all beautiful inside and out and I know little Hudson has a life filled with lots of love ahead of him.

I'm headed to the Phoenix, AZ area tomorrow so I'll be MIA until Sunday evening but I will of course have my iphone with me so I will have some access to e-mail but if you need to reach me before Sunday calling may be best. I'll share some pics when I get back!

Stunning Girls! -Austin and Georgia Trips Announced

These two are just too beautiful, like crazy, out of this world, amazingly stunningly beautiful. They are both going to be featured in my new video for my senior/editorial website that's set to launch later this summer so you'll get to see some of the "behind the scenes" from their shoots! They were actually really great sports because not only did they have me photographing them but they also had two (amazingly fantastic) videographers shooting us as well. They were both so comfortable in front of the camera though and handled the extra "pressure" wonderfully!

Now it's trip time, I'm heading back to Austin on Tuesday July 7th and Wednesday July 8th so if you are in Austin and would like a session just shoot me an e-mail! Also the Atlanta, Georgia summer trip will be July 13-17. I also added a trip to Daytona Beach July 1-3. Whew! I'm heading to the Phoenix, Arizona area for a wedding this week and I can't wait. A good girlfriend is going with me so we're going to road trip it :) I'm so used to travelling alone that I'm so excited she'll be with me! I'll share some pics from that trip as well.

Oh and on a totally random note I met Jessica Simpson last night! I was out with some friends in Dallas and she and Tony Romo came in and so my friends and I talked to her. There aren't many "celebrity" sightings in Dallas so I was excited, I'm actually not a fan at all but she was really sweet so maybe I'll go buy a pair of her shoes or something. :)

Last minute Texarkana trip

This week has basically been me living in my pajamas and chained to the computer, I'm editing like a mad woman so I can get all these galleries out! I will be blogging some pics tomorrow, I have lots to share! Also I have a last minute trip to Texarkana scheduled. I will be there Monday, June 15th and Tuesday June 16th (yes, in 2 days!!) I only have 1 slot left so if anyone would like to book a session e-mail me fast! I think I am going to shower and put on makeup and actually get dressed tonight and go do something...I'm pretty much afraid to look in a mirror at this point. :) I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

A boy's gotta do what a boy's gotta do...

This little CUTIE pie gave me a good work out, he's fast! I was chasing him all over the place and I could tell mom chases him around all the time because she was a pro at it, helping corral him so he would run in my direction instead of away from me. :) I love that about boys... sure it can make my job hard but they are just so full of energy and so fun. Towards the end of the session we shot some pics of him in nothing but some cowboy boots and he was walking down a dirt road and stopped and just started peeing, it was so adorable and you could tell he was quite pleased with himself. I REALLY wanted to share some of his cute little bum on here but he may hate me when he grows up. :) I'm headed to Texarkana tomorrow and when I get back Monday I'll share some pics from the two GORGEOUS seniors I shot this past weekend as well as an adorable brother and sister. Also my niece Ella's birthday is this weekend, my little monkey is turning 4 so I'll try to share some pics from her luau party as well. I've had my sweet niece Brooklyn all week and I'm taking her back home tomorrow, we've been ice skating, shopping, out on the lake, and just had a great time... I'm going to miss her like crazy! I hope everyone has a fab weekend!

Smile...

I couldn't get enough of this honey, she was so tiny and sweet and new, just 5 days old when I took these pics (5 days is the BEST time to take pictures, it seems like it's just the magic day or something). This is the little one of the beautiful mom to be below. I just can't get over how sweet and adorable she is...and that smile!! Oh I am just dying here...

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today was my mothers birthday and I was so lucky that I was able to spend the day with her. She came to stay with me and brought my beautiful niece Brooklyn with her. We spent the day eating some yummy asian food and gelato, and going shopping all over Dallas. I really can't say enough good things about my mother. I meet a lot of amazing fantastic moms but I have to say my mom is the best of all (I know I may be a little biased.) :) She is the most self sacrificing person I know, she is kind, strong willed, loving, fiercely loyal, funny (usually when she isn't trying to be) and generally just a beautiful person inside and out. Here is a photo of her I took not long ago, and then a pic from today right before we all headed out for our girls day. Brooklyn said make a "confused" face so that is why we all look a mess, but it makes me smile. :) Well my mom headed back home and my niece is sitting in my lap right now telling me that it's time to go to bed, I have her for a week and we're going ice skating tomorrow. I have LOTS of pics to share from this past weekend so I'll be posting sneak peeks over the next couple of days!