Jameson is FOUR today!

Please allow me to digress from my client work to proudly show off the FOUR year old now residing at my house!!!

Four years ago today our big boy joined our family. I can still remember the shock everyone expressed (and feeling quite alarmed myself) at seeing his double chin and 9 lbs 1 oz on the scale! After all, he was supposed to be a 7-8 pounder. Hah!!!

We'll be celebrating him today, but he'll probably enjoy his Lightning McQueen ("white-ning nahqueen") party on Saturday the best. He has been looking forward to this day for quite a while now, and letting me know about all of the toys he sees on TV that he wants for his "birffday".

I coerced him into some "4 year old pictures for Mommy" even though since these were taken before his birthday, he refused to agree they were 4-year-old ones because he was still 3. You just can't argue with that.

me: "Jameson, what do you want to be when you grow up?
J: "Umm, I'm gonna be an artist."
me: "Really? That's great. You're already such a good artist already."
J: "Yeah, I am. But I'm gonna need artist clothes."
me: "Oh. Ok. Well like what? Why?"
J: "I need the artist clothes so I don't get it on my peach."

Translation: No paint on the skin.



J: "Mommy, when are you gonna be a boy?"
me: "Ummmm, well, never."
J: "Yes you are. When are you gonna be it?"
me: "I'm really not. You don't get to change. You're either one or the other."
J: "Yeah. So you're not going to be a boy like Daddy?"
me: "Nope, never. God picks what you'll be - a boy or a girl - right from the start."
J: "Yeah, but I will be sad when I turn into a girl."

(Sigh) Ok, end of conversation.










After recently taking Luke to the doctor, Jameson brought this up:

J: "Mommy, I am going to be a doctor someday."
me: "Ok, sounds good to me. You have to make really good grades in school and try really hard then."
J: "Yeah. I am really smart."
me: "Yes, you sure are. You can be a doctor if you want to."
J: "Yeah, I just gotta wait till I'm growed up. Wait a second, how old was that guy!??!"

And I had to include some bloopers. Poor child, he sees my big fat camera in his face so often that I've probably scarred him for life. Most of the time he is surprisingly cooperative when I want to get some new shots of him, but then again, THIS is also par for the course:




As these last few make me laugh, I also wonder which ones will be my favorites in 20 years? Sweet smile? Yes. Goofy grin? Yes. Slightly serious? Yep. Funny faces? Definitely.

Happy birthday to our big boy!

Don't say I didn't warn you!

Some beautifully blue, baby eyes straight ahead...

Hard to choose between all of the images showing off these:







I'm not sure what this face means, but his mom and dad said he does it all the time. Hilarious!




His monkey lovey...
I love how you can see his sweet little reflection in the glass...


And this is just funny...

Seeing so many close ups while proofing this album remind me of why I love photographing babies and children so much. I think what I love most is the wide variety of facial expressions you so easily see, whether they are excited, frustrated, a little hyper, or maybe even tired. They haven't learned yet to control what they show people, and that makes for some of the most true and real images.

The "B's"

Four out of five members of this family have names beginning with "B". This session was mainly to showcase the youngest "B". She turned 7 months the day of our shoot. Sweet little dress and pretty blue eyes!



She is already able to stand and hold on to things... seven months is pretty early to be doing that. Must be because she has two big brothers to keep up with!









Thanks, B's! :) Oh, forgot to say their last name starts with a B too. Whoa! Anyway, the rest of the album is in the works, but I hope you enjoyed the sneaks!

Robbie, 7 years

I had so much fun at this session for Robbie. Wish I could post more, but time is not permitting! I don't think I've been this behind since last fall.

Anyway, this is probably my fave image from her album. Many more where this came from. Watch for another post coming soon.

I have also almost finished picking and choosing from the 2500 images taken at the March wedding I photographed. Sneak peek of that in the works as well!

I am beginning to book for June and July. Saturdays are limited & always go first, so please contact me soon if you're interested.

Contest Winner::: Miss Leighton, 2 years!

This a size XXL post!! Lots of images to show off the winner of my Cutest Baby on the Block Contest for 2010. There were several dozen submissions, but Leighton came out the winner as decided by me and 2 other judges/fellow photographers.

Her mommy brought her over last week for her prize: a free studio session in my new Rockwall space. Chances are that Mommy was probably more excited than Leighton. But, I hope this shows that when you hear "studio" - it doesn't have to mean stuffy, faux-painted swaggy backdrops, shaggy carpet covered boxes to sit on, or an overly excited, but somewhat creepy guy behind the lens! Not that that has EVER happened to me or anything...

I don't even have to say this, but Leighton is just an absolute doll. I swear I get to photograph the most beautiful children! She came with plenty of outfits and accessories, and we had fun with the stuff she wanted to wear. You know, when you're two, you sometimes think you're the boss.

Starting out pretty calm. Pretty much the perfect little portrait here...


But we needed a little more spice!




She wasn't into wearing this tutu for long, but it sure was cute when she did!
These are only a couple of the neat fabric backgrounds I have in my prop and goodie closet. I have plenty of stuff fitting for a boy as well. She actually went in there and picked this one out herself.





And now on to the good stuff. There are so many I love from the session, but these just make me laugh. This is what being TWO is REALLY all about. Only a child can go from this....

to this...
to this....


in about 5 seconds flat!

Oh, and she picked out this chair, too, by the way.



We did a nice mix of studio strobes as well as natural light.



And finished up the session with some classic studio black and white. She is just adorable.



Leighton's session was so much fun. I think I have another couple studio sessions coming up on the blog. I'd love to continue using the space as much as I am now, so please keep me & the studio in mind for those blistering hot summer days when you are in need of some new family artwork but would like to avoid sweat beads, wet shirts, and super squinty eyes! Promise I'll run the AC for ya!

Oh, and you can also see this sneak peek plus a couple extras on my facebook page: Click HERE and become a fan. Or, wait, they changed it like yesterday. You don't become a fan anymore, you "like" a page. That sounds goofy, but whatever!

Well, lookie here!

Look who was in last week - my "Cutest" photo contest winner. Missed the post? HERE it is. Loved this one, but more coming soon from the studio.

Kept me on my toes!

These two little ones definitely kept our session interesting! At 16 months and 2 1/2, mom and dad are getting no breaks! Actually, they did pretty well considering this all took place not too long before lunchtime. Love all of the color and foliage in these shots. But, hey, I'm a sucker for the light-comin-thru-tha-trees images. Guess I'm going back to my East Texas roots.

Anyway, thanks to this family for so patiently waiting for the album. This is the first of seven sessions I've shot over the last week, so I am just a tad behind! But I'm loving meeting new clients and their families. It fascinates me to see how unique each family is and how they interact with each other.


I love close up shots and their sweet little faces didn't disappoint!