One of my favorite parts of being a photographer is getting to see children grow and change over the years. At 2, Dane is such a joyful and expressive little boy, I’m starting to get glimpses of the kind of young man he’s on his way to becoming and it’s so much fun. As always, I’m grateful to Lacey who is so good at knowing when to help and when to step back and let me play silly games. I look forward to watching her kiddos grow into the incredible people she is raising them to be.
Courtney the kids and I just got back from a fantastic road trip for The Photographic Life. Safari’s Wildlife preserve in Broken Arrow, OK was a rare and wonderful treat for all of us in spite of the 100+ degree heat. I have so many more to post, but here are just a few to share.
For those of you who have followed us over the years, I’m certain you have noticed that we’ve been doing far fewer shoots this year than normal. The reason for that has been a project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half , it’s become more than I ever imagined and I’m so proud of it I wanted to share with all of you.
It’s entitled The Photographic Life and the premise is that for about the cost of a cup of coffee every month, you get helpful articles, videos and a great forum on how to take great pictures of your kids in real life situations, using everything from a camera phone to a DSLR.
Go check it out and let me know what you think!
-Mary
I’m really quite convinced that a good puddle of mud is the best way to photograph little boys of a certain age. The weather could not have been more cooperative, giving us just one hour of lovely sunlight in the middle of a rainy day.
The Land family is always up for an adventure and today was no exception, I had so much fun playing with them and watching them enjoy every dirty minute of our shoot.
Had the absolute pleasure of a long delayed session with these two beautiful kids today. We were blessed with a shady backyard to shoot in, but it being a lovely July in Texas sort of morning, we were all sweating after just 20 or 30 minutes. Thank you Lana for sharing your sweet family with me and a big thank you to the Bunger family for sharing their gorgeous backyard!
I had the absolute honor of photographing the ever talented Tania Cordobes last night. She has a new cd coming out in a few weeks and I will absolutely be looking for it. The heat held off pretty well for us, but I still came home soaked completely through my clothes with sweat, somehow Tania managed to stay gorgeous for the entire shoot. Here are a few of my first round favs…
To hear Tania live, check out the calendar on her site at the link below…
http://taniacordobes.com/calendar.html
Okay, I knew that with almost 200 kindergarten kids graduating today that it would be a crazy scene, but I seriously would have needed to bring one of those great big lenses on it’s own tripod to shoot from the back of the auditorium. Glad I took a few this morning when I dropped her off!
Also really glad she made such a good friend in class this year. She had to call sweet Avery last night to get her opinion on hair and accessories.
I’m always a little amazed at the variety of great locations we have here in McKinney. Whether for baby portraits, senior portraits or Christmas cards, there are endless possibilities. We took this sweet boy on a whirlwind tour of some of my favorites the other night. It was pretty muggy out, so the frequent air conditioning breaks in the car helped keep everyone in a good mood.
I was so honored to be part of mom’s “wish list” for her trip to Texas. Thankfully the weather and the baby coordinated and we were able to get a great variety of shots for them!
I set out today thinking I had time to spare due to the cloud cover. Of course when photographing my own girls things never go according to plan, so by the time we got dressed and out to the field it was muggy, itchy and the sun had decided to make a blinding appearance. We waited a few minutes for a big cloud and then tromped our way into this beautiful flower field. Wouldn’t you know it, I only got off a few shots before the girls realized there were a few bees out pollinating the flowers. That put a quick end to things, but the girls promised we could go back tonight ( after the bees are asleep ), so hopefully I’ll come back with a few more to choose from…
I think it’s kind of funny, that after all the effort I spent coordinating bright colors, I still lean toward the black and white…
I did play with a few in color as well…
I found this great article by a fabulous photographer named Zoe Berkovic and just had to share. Just click on her name to check out some of her gorgeous images!
What is Custom Photography?
I am a professional child and family custom photographer.
If you are raising your eyebrows, or hear the word “huh?” bouncing around in your mind you are not alone.
Even if you are a custom photographer yourself, I challenge you to define Custom Photography so that any English speaking individual can understand it.
I laughed to myself when someone challenged me to do just that. Sure I can define what I do. (Self-assured giggle.) But when I defined it, my words were a whole sack of fancy terms that meant nothing to someone that has never come in contact with Custom Portraiture. My smile froze on my face.
So what IS Custom Photography?
Custom Photography is about a luxurious and fun experience that culminates with you getting artistic images that captured your children and family’s unique relationships, personalities, and moments.
It is all about the experience. From start to finish; it is all customized for you.
It is about creating something wonderful together with a professional that you will be able to display in your home and will have the ability to make you happy over and over again.
(See the process. section of the info tab on my site here to read a bit about how the experience goes.)
Um. I am still not sure I know what that means. (blush.)
Let me explain.
When I tell people what I do, I am often asked- “Oh, so you do professional pictures like JcPenny?”
No.
Custom Photography is very different than having your pictures taken at JcPenny.
How so?
Let’s compare it to eating out in a pizza shop vs. a high end Italian restaurant. (Yeah, I love Italian food. 
p)
When you go to a local pizza shop you get just that; pizza. Or whatever else you fancy. You wait on line, make your order, pay the cashier, and sit down to eat. Done.
When you go to a high end restaurant it is much more than that.
It is an experience. It is all about the ambiance, the tone and mood the decor sets. It is about feeling pampered and served, and it is about the tantalizing meal delivered to perfection.
So what does pizza have to do with photography?
JcPenny and other such photography businesses are about the pictures. You have a couple of minutes to set up your kids or family, hope the person behind the camera will be patient enough to wait until you get some smiles , you get to order your photo sheets and it is over. It is a simple process, like eating in a pizza shop.
Custom Photography is like the restaurant; it is about the whole experience. It is a luxurious experience that is enjoyable throughout the process.
Only with the restaurant you go out with a happy heart and a full belly, having immensely enjoyed the experience. But then it is over, and all you have is the memory to hold on to, and maybe a pound or two. With Custom Photography you come out of the experience not only full and happy; but with priceless images of your family to hold on to forever.
Wow! It does sound like Custom Photography is a wonderful thing, but I can’t afford luxuries.
I understand.
Often we have only certain things that we will spend on.
For some it is vacations, for some it is cars, for some it is clothes, and for some it is our homes. For each of us it may be something else.
All wonderful things. Most of them fleeting.
Custom Photography results in artistic and timeless images that have the ability to make us happy again and again. Images that professionally capture way more than what your’ loved ones look like, but capture what they are like. Every time I look at Custom images created of my family my heart smiles. I never get tired of it. And neither will you.
It is also about capturing your family and loved ones as they are now. Now never comes back. What you have captured lasts forever.
Ok, I am convinced. I am just curious, are all Custom Photographers the same?
Are all restaurants the same?
Not at all.
There are all different kinds of food genres to satisfy all different kinds of tastes. There are so many Master Custom Photographers out there all with their own unique flavor.
Some are masters at creating the right experience; some are masters at creating the final product. Some are both. (wink,wink)
I venture to say some are not masters at all. (running to hide now.)
Finding a Custom Photographer that will give you the high quality experience and images you deserve can be hard. Tips and ways to go about it is for a whole other discussion.
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