I know you’ve probably been dying to see these on the blog!  We need to get together soon. 

A few more that never made it to the blog…

Here are a few shots from our trip to Goliad last month.  Did you know they have a fantastic Market Days event on the second Saturday of every month?  There are vendors selling food (“festival food” AND a farmer’s market), plants, jewelry, clothing, and all sorts of really cool stuff.   We had a great time browsing through the booths and talking to some of the vendors we’ve gotten to know over the past few months.  Then we headed over to the Goliad State Park & Historic Site and the Presidio La Bahia.  The park staff was so friendly and ready to answer all our questions, and they even let my kids examine some real cannon balls (which, if you know my kids, was the highlight of the trip for them) and some animal skeletons that they’d recently found on site.  SA and Austin folks: it’s well worth the day trip, especially if you schedule it on a market weekend.

I’ve had a bunch of people ask me lately “what would it take to get the negatives from our sessions?”  Some people want them just to have them to keep as a part of their own photography archives.  Some people want them to print for projects or because they regret not ordering more at their first ordering session.  I can’t tell you how many times people have seen shots of their own child on the site or in the studio, even years after they were photographed, and said “I can’t believe I didn’t buy that one! What was I thinking!” Well now’s your chance to own them all. 

So… since I have no time to offer a session special this fall, I’m going to offer one on negatives from past sessions. For those of you who have been wanting to purchase your digital negatives, I’m offering a once-a-year chance to own them at a reduced price.  The special only applies to past sessions where prints were ordered, and the negatives are offered in full session sets only.  I have sooooo many people who have taken advantage of our Little Blessings Club over the years, and I’m offering y’all an amazing deal if you purchase sets from three or more sessions.  Email or call and let me know what sessions you’re interested in, and I will see if I still have your negatives and give you a quote — prices are based on the number of prints that were ordered from the session and on how many sessions you’re interested in purchasing.

But hurry — this offer ends on September 1!  Our negatives are regularly $300 per file, so take advantage of this fantastic once-a-year offer while it lasts!

As promised, a few shots of Charlotte’s painting project from a few weeks ago.  I let each of the kids paint their own bulletin board, so they can show off their drawings and keepsakes in their own rooms.  Bugs chose to draw her design first and then fill in with color.  Mac chose to just paint and see what happened.  It’s so interesting to see how differently they approach the same project!  Both ended up looking really cool and they’re already covered with their latest work.

Now that I am doing more in-your-home work, I’m considering offering this type of “lifestyle photography” project as an add-on to regular portrait sessions for the older kids… capturing them in action, doing something they love, in addition to the more “traditional” portraits I normally create for you.  What do y’all think?

I’ve known Javier’s older brothers since they were born, and it’s so cool to not only see how much they’ve grown, but to see how well they’ve transitioned to being the big boys in the family.  As for Javier, he’s a delightful little guy with a smile that will melt your heart.  He’s such a sweet boy, and he was perfectly wonderful at his session.

We did this session in Javier’s home and it was great — the boys could take a little break when needed and they were very comfortable because they were in familiar surroundings.  So for those of you who feel like “there’s nowhere to shoot in my house!” I promise you: we can find a place and it will be beautiful.

I subscribe to a lot of blogs. One of my favorites gets updated every Thursday: the aptly named Inspire Me Thursday.

As many of you know, I have been going through some serious photography burnout. I absolutely love the families and kids that I get to meet, but after a stretch of being too busy I start feeling really uncreative… which usually means that I need to slow down, take a break, stretch, and try some new things. Even when I don’t take the time to interpret the weekly topic, Melanie’s posts and links always help me start thinking down new creative paths.

So far this summer I’ve managed to come up with fun projects to keep the kids busy while I’m doing things, but yesterday I was out of ideas. So, I let McCurdy use one of my older cameras. As I heard him clicking away around the house, sometimes in odd places or from odd angles, I thought he’d have one or two “keepers” on his memory card… but I had no idea he would come up with so many cool shots. When he was done, I realized that he had shot in RAW and so we had a lesson on digital darkroom processing.  I think I might need to offer him a job. Here is a sample of what he shot and processed yesterday:

Charlotte painted her a bulletin board for her room, and I’ll share some images from that process later on.

Working on: King, Carter, Reese.

Today’s editing music: “Summer Breeze,” Seals & Crofts (and the sound of this much-needed rain on my windows).

From last night. She is in a remarkably good mood for a little girl who just got 5 shots.

People always ask me — how do you make those babies look so old-fashioned?  I really can’t take credit for it — yes, I can provide the right sets and props and lighting and treatments to get an old-fashioned look, but really, it’s just that the babies that come in for portraits are classic beauties. And in this case, her mom provided a really great floral headband.

On a more personal note, someone needs to keep me off of Etsy.  It’s a dangerous place to browse if you like handmade stuff.  Here’s the story of our day: the kids got shots this afternoon so we spent some time just hanging around the house. Mac only needed one shot, but Charlotte got FIVE. So, she was feeling just a little under the weather this evening and we sat and looked at some “beautiful things.” We’ve already ordered her a new headband, but she’s making a wish list on the other computer as I type this.