I love these black and white maternity portraits. They’re so classic, and I like how they’re a little different from my usual style (since we used a backdrop) and yet they still very much have my style, especially the moments between the two of them.

It’s refreshing when people embrace the beauty of pregnancy rather than hiding from cameras because they feel big. And can it really get any more beautiful than this? I have several favorites, and they’re constantly changing every time I go through the session, but I think the very bottom left one on this post is at the top of the list.

After we took these, we went outside for some more fun and colorful shots. Some of those will be coming up in Part II!

During her pregnancy, S has had a lot of cravings for Sweettarts so I thought it would be fun to incorporate them into our session.

As I was saying in their preview, this session started out with down-pouring rain, lighting striking all around, and not much clear sky in sight. We were pretty worried since they were moving at 4:30 in the morning. I was determined to figure something out, but thank goodness we didn’t have to resort to Plan B for long since the rain cleared 20 minutes into the session.

I could not be more relieved, especially with some of these amazing shots we got! We all got wet and muddy in the process, but you do what you have to do! When we were out in a field it started raining again, and after getting some protective gear for my equipment we kept shooting in the rain! I wish everyone were so laid back and willing to relax and just have fun in their sessions. I think most people would have been worried about how their hair and make-up looked — and not that that stuff isn’t important — but Stephanie was all for going back out in the rain which made for some awesome photos in my mind. I love that in some of them you can see the rain falling if you look closely. So cool! There’s a shot in their gallery of all four of them running out of the field in the rain also which I didn’t end up having room for in this sneak peek. Love it!

This session was so much fun even if we did walk away with some seriously dirty clothes (and cars)! Luckily we walked away with some great images as well. Here are a few of them:

What started out as a very worrisome stormy evening ended up giving us THIS gorgeous sky! And I couldn’t be more grateful (for the change of weather and for the fact that this couple was so amazing that they willingly got rained on and covered in mud along with me this session). I’ll give you more details when I post more from their session, but let’s just say there must be a higher power because my pleadings were answered when the down-pouring rain started to lift 20 minutes into their session. Whew! With them moving at 4:30 the next morning we didn’t have many back-up options.

Here’s a preview of what’s to come.

This last weekend, I held my first day of mini-sessions in San Antonio. It was a humid, humid day and my legs are covered in bug bites (I’ve counted over 20 on my right leg from the knee down alone!), but I had so much fun meeting a lot of really cool people and some of the happiest babies ever. Seriously, one baby thought my camera was hilarious — wish they all did (but you’ll see her preview another day).

This preview is actually from one 45 minute session if you can believe it! We had a LOT of people and broke up a mini-session into five 10-minute micro-sessions. Here are a few photos from their gallery!

Before moving to Texas, my husband and I went to Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, and while we were there we had a very close group of friends that we try to reunite with every year now that we’ve all gone our separate ways.

Well, this summer they scheduled two reunions two months apart…with weddings. Reagan (the groom below) got married over Memorial Day weekend (and I’ll be headed out of town with the other one later this summer), so while I was up in Ohio we squeezed in a pre-wedding session for them since they never got professional engagement photos. Here’s some of what we got for them!

Congratulations, Andrea! You and your husband win sexiest, steamiest couple so far. I had to dedicate a whole post to some of your couples photos from your family shoot because they’re just stunning! I have to admit I even got a little teary-eyed when I was proofing them, which I almost never do.

Andrea and her husband were both amazing! I told them to get romantic and lovey, and wow, they didn’t disappoint! These photos are just bursting with romance and passion.

I just had to post this first one a little larger for you because it’s so gorgeous and dramatic:

I love this image above, BUT…

…this is the one that made me tear up. They look more in love than I would imagine they did even on their wedding day. I love that they look like they’re in their own little world, and I adore seeing this sense of renewed and continuing love as they build their family and bring children into the world to love and care for as well. Such a beautiful thing to witness, and that’s what this image says to me.

Check back in tomorrow to see a peek into the family portion of their session! I can’t wait to show it to you!

Here’s a couple shots from this morning’s session with Eva Mendes. Okay, fine, it wasn’t really Eva Mendes, but admit it, you would’ve believed me if I hadn’t confessed.

These are actually from a family shoot and I tend to show you cute little kids, but aren’t these two parents stunning? I just had to highlight these two shots before they got lost in the array of cute kid photos from their whole session. Unbelievable if you ask me.

Oh. My. Goodness. Can I just say, I am incredibly jealous of this family’s photos. You hear that, Ginger? It’s not fair! I absolutely adore all of them for different reasons, including all the ones from Part One that we did indoors. And even better news for them? These aren’t even all of them! They have even more to choose from in their gallery.

Let me take a few minutes to talk about my sessions, something I’m sure I’ll probably say again on this site because they’re just things I feel strongly about. I want to say it here though because they’re all visible in this one shoot.

1 Creativity. Before each of my sessions, I set aside time to brainstorm just for that session. I think and think and think, and I come up with new things for each family. One thing that really sets me apart from a lot of family photographers — even a lot of on-location photographers trying to do what I do — is that I hate using the same location twice. So far, I have yet to do that. I also don’t have a lot of go-to poses I run all of my clients through. I think about your family individually and come up with new ideas just for you. I don’t want any of my clients’ photos to look just like another clients’ photos.

2 Spontaneity. While I spend a lot of time planning for my sessions and show up with ideas in mind, I don’t let that stop me from catching other moments or improvising when external forces aren’t going perfectly, like the weather for the first half of this session. Whether it’s a ladybug crawling on someone’s clothes, a father comforting his daughter after she fell in the creek, a wrestling match between a mother and her son, or kids stopping to check out a dragonfly (below), I don’t want to miss it. It’s all a part of your family’s story, and my goal is to capture a story during our sessions. This is exactly why albums and books are such ideal products for my clients, so they can flip through and see their story — all the details, all the memories, all the laughs we had together during our session.

3 Perfectionism. I am a perfectionist with a capital P. I notice every tiny detail of every one of your photos. I will never forget a conversation I had with one of my clients a few weeks ago after her session. As we were chatting, I asked, “What does your husband do for a living? I was editing out a small tanline on your husband’s face from sunglasses, and while I was doing that I was wondering what his job must be.” The look of surprise on her face was priceless. There have been times I’ve had a family all set up during a session, looked through my camera, noticed something wasn’t right, and said, “Okay, let’s move over here. This isn’t going to work.” Sure, it would be easier to leave everyone there and pretend nothing’s wrong, but I wouldn’t be able to stand it.

While I never think to myself, “I’ll just fix this in Photoshop,” (with the exception of zits and scrapes and things I can’t fix with my camera) I am a perfectionist when I edit my clients’ photos as well. You have no idea how I agonize over every photo. Although it would save me a lot of time, I don’t just run everyone’s photos through standard or purchased Photoshop actions. Each one is scrutinized and dealt with individually.

And it’s pretty much guaranteed that after I post photos here or in your gallery, I’ll go back through, fix something minuscule no one will ever notice but myself or another photographer with an acutely sharp eye, and re-upload it without anyone being the wiser. If it winds up in your final photos, it was meant to be there. I am insanely critical of my own work, which I hope I never lose because it means I get better with every single shoot. The day I find a photographer who’s as much of a perfectionist as I am and remotely in my price range is the day I can actually have family photos taken of us. It’s a blessing and a curse, I suppose.

4 Fun. People always tell me that my clients look like they’re having fun in their photos. That’s because they are. I don’t think most people realize how many technical and creative thoughts are constantly cycling through my brain throughout their entire session for all the laughing and joking and running after children I do. But I also know when to step back and shut up — sometimes I don’t want to interrupt a child playing or a romantic moment. One of my favorite moments from this session was hearing Ginger and Paul say as they were sitting underneath the tree, “This is really relaxing.” How many people describe getting family photos as relaxing?? I considered that mission accomplished.

5 Professionalism. I handle my business very professionally. I provide my clients with luxuries that they won’t get with part-time, on-the-side, cheap photographers. Everything offered and delivered to my clients are of the highest quality, no expenses spared — from my welcome packets to boutique packaging on orders to unparalleled quality of prints and products from professional imaging labs that don’t work with the general public. At the same time, I do not nickel-and-dime my clients with hidden fees that they’ll be surprised by when they receive their invoices. I want my clients to feel spoiled, not only with beautiful final images but with their whole experience working with me as their photographer.

Having said all that, you do not want to miss out on my current giveaway of a photography session, one 8×10 print, and two 5×7 prints. You only have a few days left, and it’s a $250 value! This opportunity really won’t come along too often, so don’t pass this up!

Want some more good news? I’m offering you more opportunities to get your name added into the drawing even if you’re already entered. Write a blog post about me and my photography before noon on Tuesday linking to this post AND the giveaway post and get your name added TWO more times into the drawing. Make sure you leave a comment on this post with a link to your blog post.

This is big one, people. This means that you could potentially have your name entered FOUR times – once for a comment, once for a Facebook link, and two for a blog post linking to this post and the giveaway post. Umm…yeah, that will increase your odds by quite a bit! Good luck! I can’t wait to see who wins!

Well, I had intended to post only a couple photos from this wedding last weekend, but as you can see I got carried away! What can I say? I couldn’t narrow it down any further!

I don’t typically photograph weddings but this was a special circumstance, and I hope they were as happy to have me as I was to be there. I have to admit that during the ceremony I got all choked up and had to fight back some tears. I didn’t expect that, but it was all the groom’s fault! He just looked so in love, I couldn’t help it!

My favorite part was spending time with this newly official family after the ceremony away from everything else. It was so obvious they were already such a close family before the paperwork proved it, and I loved watching the interactions between them. Sometimes when I think about it, I find it funny that I get to spend a couple of hours hidden behind a camera, peering through a tiny square hole watching people I’ve only recently had the pleasure of meeting interact as they would without me. It’s my favorite part of this job because it gives me such faith in humanity to see all the joy and love people have for each other.

Congratulations, R and J! I’m so happy for you and your family. Enjoy a peek at your photos! Thanks for allowing me to be a part of your special day!

Yay, my self-appointed maternity leave is officially over, starting this week, and I couldn’t be more excited to get back to work. I thought I’d go back through some old sessions though and pick out some of my absolute favorite photos from them. I can’t wait to start showing you more new sessions! Enjoy!