More of the Bump!

I had a lot of fun with this adorable couple expecting their first baby. They were just so cute together, and Jen has such a natural, happy smile. She is also TEENY for being just a month out from her due date. I kept on telling her, "Stick it out! You don't even look pregnant!" And we all know that when you are 36 weeks along, you certainly don't feel that way. I think she will look back on these and realize how great she really did look while pregnant!

So glad we got these in last weekend because as it turns out, Miss Grace will be arriving this week - on Good Friday!

Baby Bump

Not much time to post right now, but wanted to share this from a recent maternity session I did in studio. More coming soon! I gotta go get my stuff ready for my first big wedding tomorrow in Dallas! Whoo hoo!

Emma Kate & fam, 3 months

OOOOOoooooo, check out this muffin!!!! I luvvvv her squishiness! I just wanna squeeze her!

Little Miss EK, well maybe little isn't the word... well anyway, Miss EK is now 3 months old and just a doll baby. Beautiful blue eyes, red hair in the works, and just creamy skin. Lucky girl!







Big Sister isn't hurting in the cuteness department, either. Oh, to be 4!

















Love the bright spring colors.



Gettin' squishy with it!

Scarlett

Meet Miss Scarlett.

Love her name, just love it. If I had a girl, she could very well be named this! I have been a huge "Gone with the Wind" fan my entire life. I have collected everything from Madame Alexander dolls featuring the characters, to calendars, to actual photo prints from the making of the movie, and more. My grandma Mama actually sewed me a pretty elaborate green taffeta and silk 'Scarlett dress' so I could be her for Halloween when I was about 8. A few years ago my mom and I went to a GWTW presentation where I got to meet Cammie King, the actress who played Bonnie in the movie. I have a signed lithograph from her from that day. I also have a Radko Christmas ornament signed by Olivia de Havilland. Ok, I could go on.

And my husband wonders where I got my "missy-ness" from. He hasn't EVER seen the movie. So missing out, but the only thing he'll watch for 4 consecutive hours is college football. Fiddle-de-dee!





All of these photos were taken on round 2. She is about 2 1/2 weeks here. We tried the first time at 8 days, but she was NOT having it. And I'm serious. We tried for 3.5 hours. Yes, really. I have never, ever seen a newborn baby stay awake that long! Her poor mommy, who is our babysitter, was so frustrated. And for good reason! I guess you can't have a name like Scarlett and be a wallflower!


This time she finally conked out and we were able to do quite a bit with her in my new studio.






I think she looks like a little Easter egg here!

A couple sweet Mommy n Me shots and we called it a day!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!

Just a short post to share some good and not-so-good news. First, the good news - I now have internet at our new house and have some fun sneak peeks to share in the next few days from my new studio!

Bad news - I just found out my website is offline! Aghghgh! I wouldn't have even known this if I hadn't tried to visit my site today to check some updates. Apparently there is a small hang up with the renewal of my domain that I am trying to work out as quickly as possible! I know this creates a problem if you are trying to view my portfolio or pricing and are like, "Ummm, ok, she said see the website!" and nothing is there! Hopefully it will be up today or tomorrow! My apologies!

Hope everyone enjoyed the 2nd round of crazy snow here in Dallas over the weekend. Supposed to be back to 75 degrees tomorrow! Yay! Gotta love Texas!

And we have a winner!

The winner of the 2010 Cutest Baby on the Block photo contest is...



Miss Leighton!

Leighton will have her very own complimentary studio session coming up soon & I'm sure I'll share the results here!


Thanks again to everyone who entered. It was sooooo difficult to pick from all of the little sweet faces! So glad I had some help! I plan to do this contest or something very similar each February, so please keep it in mind for this time next year.


Thanks again, everyone, for participating!


Oh, and PS: Please excuse my very late-in-the-day post to reveal the winner. If you've talked to me recently you know we FINALLY moved into our new house over this past weekend. It has been going on for a couple months now, with remodeling and all kind of good stuff going on! The good news is that the worst is over. The bad news is that I still have no internet over there, so I'm back at my old house "visiting" in order to post this, answer emails, etc. I'm trying to answer emails on my Blackberry, but we all know how fun it is to type on that keyboard meant for toothpicks!

7 Hours Left!

Only 7 hours are left for you to enter your child in my Cutest Baby on the Block contest for 2010! The contest closes at 9pm tonight. The winner will be announced tomorrow, March 16th, here on the blog!

Here are a few of the cuties that have recently been submitted. Full for contest entry info, click HERE.

Something old, something blue, SOMETHING NEW!

Last Saturday I did something totally new. I 2nd shot a wedding under another photographer in Dallas. It was both interesting and fun to experience a wedding in a totally new way. I've been in many weddings, attended many more, and of course had my very own, but never had I been partially responsible for documenting the day. My job was basically to help the lead photographer with anything she needed, but I also was able to photograph elements and moments throughout the afternoon.

The entire event was held at the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas - a beautiful venue. The couple really lucked out with the weather, which was just perfect for their 3:00 outdoor ceremony. It was mostly family with a few friends in attendance, which kept the atmosphere low key, relaxed, and friendly. It was a great experience!

I hope the images below help to tell the story of their day:




She had the neatest ring for her engagement ring (see photo below). They had bought it at an estate sale and made a couple changes. Neat story and so unique.



















Although wedding photography isn't something I've worked with much to date, I will be covering another wedding coming up in just 2 short weeks. It's been on my calendar for quite some time now, and I can't wait to see it all come to life!

Hmmm, what might this be?

Just a little something new I did this past weekend. More coming soon... :)

LAST CHANCE!

They keep on rollin' in! Here are a few of the Q2pa2T's (cutie-patooties) that are recent submissions...




Who will the winner be?

This is the last week to enter, so please send your entries to me at photojewels@gmail.com. For full contest rules, click here. All entries must be submitted by 9pm on Monday, March 15th.

Also, I should've mentioned this before, but since a few of you have asked me - I will not be the only judge for this contest. I've enlisted the help of 2 other baby/child photographers in the Dallas area to offer their unbiased opinion when it comes to deciding the winner. The winner will be announced March 16 here, on the blog, and will receive a free studio session here in Rockwall. Share your cutie pie with me today... someone's gonna win!

What to Wear?

So many clients ask me for suggestions on what their baby or child should wear for a photo session. With spring time, warmer weather, and photo opps lurking around every corner, I summoned my inner Stacy and Clinton and thought I'd do a post on clothing.

I follow lots of fellow photographers blogs, from all over the nation. It seems like no matter the location, there are a few universal trends popular in today's modern portraiture.

When you look at a photo you just fall in love with, there is a good chance the subject's clothing has plenty of THIS...

COLOR

LAYERS

TEXTURE


This is not Art 101, right? Ok, so what is this supposed to look like? Click on any of these links to see their goods.


mini boden

matilda jane (contact me to order from the Dallas rep)

boutique mia on etsy

gap kids/ baby gap

crew cuts

old navy

kelly's kids (contact me to order from a rep!)

gymboree

hanna andersson (the best pj's ever!)



You certainly don't have to buy anything from any of these places to wear the "right" thing in a photograph. These just are a few sites where you might have some luck finding the perfect outfit! Some of your hubbies may be unhappy about me sharing some of these great sites! Oh well! Happy shopping!

Announcements & Sneaky Peaky

Last week I posted that I couple announcements to share. Here we go...

1) Photo Jewels is on facebook.
Yep, I finally created a page. It's still in beginning stages, but I will start posting sneak peeks on there, as well as specials, contests, etc. Many things will overlap both here and there, but some things won't. So, go on over to your FB account and search for "Photo Jewels Photography" and become a fan. I might even offer FB-exclusive specials over there, but you won't know unless you're a fan.

2) TWO WEEKS left to submit your entry for my Cutest Baby photo contest.
Thanks to all of you who have submitted entries. It's been fun to see the cutie-pies roll in. You can find contest details a few posts back... scroll to the bottom of the blog and look under the "February" tab for the link.

3) Referral credits increase to $25.
It's pretty simple. Refer a new client to me who books a session for anytime in 2010, and receive $25 off your next session with me. There is no limit to the number of credits you can receive. I don't even care if you send me so many new faces that you get a session for free. In fact, that would be great! The SPRING photo season will be here soon, and I only have a limited number of weekend places available, so please contact me soon to book.

Now that we have that out of the way, on to some photos...

Here's a returning client of mine - a baby planner - at 6 (almost 7) months - and he is the little man of many faces. I don't know if I've ever seen a baby his age show so many different facial expressions! It was cracking me up. He is going to have a lot of personality.











We wanted to grab a few shots for Mom and Dad to submit for the Cranial Tech calendar. Hopefully one of these will make it in! Too funny that they had his "helmet" covered in a CAUTION tape theme!

Oh, and for any of you out there who see these so-called "helmets" on babies and kids these days, just know that they are used to shape a child's head into a perfectly round, symmetrical shape. The kids are NORMAL - just have developed a flat side here or there. I have several friends who endured some weird stares and comments while their babies sported the helmet, but each one of them would say it was completely worth it in the end. I know this is something new to our generation, so I thought I'd explain briefly.






It's fun working with families up for anything... and it's always great to see them playing follow the leader. We had a good laugh & he sure liked it!



So how do we know when a session is wrapping up? Pretty easy. We called it a day.


My apologies for not getting these sneaks up sooner. I know how agonizing it can be, waiting around to just see a little tiny smidgen from the photo session you worked so hard to get to on time, with everyone happy, clean, fed, and smiley! Thanks for your patience.