Last fall I took DJ’s senior portraits and when Kathy called for a family session with her sons, I was excited at the opportunity to photograph them up at their property again.  They live atop a hill and it has beautiful 360 degree views of the rolling hills.  It was windy and chilly, but the winds let up enough for the session and we were able to capture some wonderful images.  Here is two images from their session.

bringing all the  heads in tight is a favorite of mine, especially in black and white.

This image has a lot of meaning.  Kathy lost her husband a year ago and these were his two hats that he always wore, one with a rattlesnake skin and rattlers and the other was his fancy hat ;-)  and she wanted to incorporate them into the session.  I just couldn’t see DJ and Ralph wearing the cowboy hats, since it would clash with their style *wink*, so we used them like this.  This image says so much to me and I hope you enjoy it.

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The wedding is a week away for Chelsey & Cooper. I have been wanting to share their wedding announcement that I made for them. It is something very different from the traditional invitations that usually are sent out. We went with a 5×5x5 trifold.

This is the front flap.

the flaps

the inside invitation wording

and the back when opened all the way up.

Oh what fun we had.  Rich and Tammy, you were troopers!  It was extremely hot yesterday, record setting temperatures.  It got up to 105 degrees.  h.o.t.!  It was wine festival weekend in Paso, so we headed down to Templeton for their engagement session. So fun.  I have known Richie for a long time and they drove 3 hours down to have me photograph them.

Tammy is the sweetest  and has this infectious smile.

We strolled around a couple blocks of Templeton and on our way back to change clothes, stumbled acrossed this building where the ceiling had recently collapsed in.  I was so excited to shoot in there.

and look at this cool front end of a truck we found.

after another outfit change, down by the traintracks was some great area for a more country setting

Umm, yah! Love it.

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Love this one.  Loved it as soon as I shot it.

I photographed Kristen’s brother a couple years ago and knew she will be a senior next year.  I asked if she’d be willing to model to try some new studio lighting out on location.  We had a lot of fun.  It was very windy, so there was some natural light thrown in too.  I like the studio light on location, but cannot wait for the wireless trigger to come out (still in production) because having a cord attached to my camera is not idea.  So for now, I like my off camera flash instead.

Here is two for now, the first with studio lighting in a softbox, the second with natural light.

Kristen, you are beautiful.  You were very comfortable in front of the camera.  Thank you for your time.

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A photographer on a forum I belong, Lyndsay Stradtner, of life.in.motion Photography  recently posted a thread that she titled “Terminally Ill” and it started off talking about this bad day she had.  I’d like to post what she put on here blog:

<<I’m not sure i have the words | austin family photographer>>

The images can be seen starting here on her blog.    But on the forum she posted this: “alex’s story tugged at my heart. i read on about this family and the benefit that would be held in austin to help them. i instantly thought about Monyeen Black and her inspiring relationship with Clayton McDonald and his family.” W.O.W.!  Now that is awesome!  really! awesome!  I then watched this video.  Lyndsay, did a beautiful job.  The video left me speechless.  I wanted to share the beautiful work she did.

Enjoy the video:  My Name is Alex

and keep them in your prayers, please.  You can visit her blog to leave comments for Alex and his family.

Lyndsay, thank you for sharing this.  I’m so touched that I inspired you.  God bless you.

Here is one image taken by Lyndsay of Alex and his beautiful family.

Image © life.in.motion photography, Lyndsay Stradtner

Let me introduce Miss Samantha, Monyeen Black Photography’s 2010 Senior Spokesmodel for Atascadero High School.  You’ve already seen a few sneak peeks and here is a slideshow from her mini session.  Her full session will be this summer and I cannot wait.  We are going to have so much fun with that beautiful smile you’ll be shining.

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~ S P E C I A L    O F F E R ~

The 3×3 mini accordions are printed on a heavy card stock and are perfect to give to grandparents or keep in your bag to show off to friends.  The mini easel is a full finished look and great for dad’s desk at work.

Your session must take place between June 15 and July 15, 2009, to take advantage of this offer.  Senior session fee is $450.  What do you get for $450?  That covers the sitting fee of $150 and also gives you a $300 credit to use toward your order of prints.  At senior sessions you can do as many clothing changes as you want in your 1-3 hour session and we can go to two different locations.

Start planning now.  Call to reserve your session date.

This offer has no monetary value and is not exchangeable.  Limited to 2010 seniors only.  $50 deposit must be recieved within 5 days of booking your session to hold the date.

So happy for my friends, Angela & Kevin who got married this past week in Las Vegas.

congratulations.

two of my favorite images.

Two last images of Samantha I had to share.  Thank you for making such beautiful images. I look forward to shooting your senior session later this summer with your beautiful new smile.

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