Beauty School :: Killeen Senior Portrait Photographer

Ambition. Vivaciousness. Personality. And Beauty?! This senior is well on her way to making a name for herself, as she finishes high school a semester early and looks forward to starting college in pursuit of her teaching degree. 2nd or 3rd grade, thank you very much.

I had the pleasure of driving around town, listening to her plans for the future and the joy she expects when she begins her teaching profession. In between our driving, we did stop for a few pictures. And I cannot be the only one who finds her eyes absolutely amazing...

I ♥ Faces Contest, Week 34 :: Before and After

I Heart Faces is asking us to humiliate ourselves this week, to show our soft, photographic underbellies, if you will. In short, they want me to show you how bad my photo editing skills were when I started using Photoshop. If this embarrassment can convince one person that Photoshop can be learned by ANYONE, the humiliation is worth it!

I went back into my earliest folders from January 2008 when I first purchased Photoshop CS3. Despite my lack of digital editing knowledge, I did have the advantage of years of experience with film SLR cameras. So, I could take a decent picture. I just managed to ruin it with too much Photoshop. I have learned a light hand can be so much more appealing!

When I compare the three pictures below, which I found lurking in that old January 2008 folder, I prefer the SOOC shot to the other two over-processed images. Obviously, I thought it was such a good picture it needed to be ruined through editing twice: 

I then went back this morning and edited it as I would presently. I removed the under eye circles, adjusted the color balance, softened the skin and brightened the eyes, added brightness to the whole image, sharpened and saturated some colors. But none of it was done at 100% opacity. And it took about 2 minutes. And I am so much happier with this end product:

So what have you learned? Click the button below and show us your growth!

Views of Fredericksburg, TX

Fredericksburg, TX is a quiet town nestled in the middle of Texas' Hill Country and Wine Country. As a pregnant woman, the wineries had to be passed up this trip, but there really are some spectacular offerings for those so inclined. Nevertheless, my husband and I contentedly strolled the quaint Main Street, ambling from one shop to the next, admiring the antiques, noting the interesting kitchen gadgets, stopping for coffees and finally going on a tour of the Admiral Nimitz Museum. Of course, I found unique things to photograph at every turn. 

A Combat Rubber Duckie? Popeye Duckie? Sister Duckie? Too funny!

A note to all pregnant women: Objects photographed in convex reflective surfaces appear bigger than in real life.

I loved all the old doors throughout the town and received more than one odd glance as I positioned myself to photograph them. Dignity aside, it was worth it!

High School, Meet Rivera :: Harker Heights Photographer

9th grade. High School. Teenage boy. Any one of these can be scary. Combine the three and you have fretful parents and a sleepless teenager. School started Monday. Our mornings now start earlier. I view it as more time to perfect my craft of photography and I did not let the morning pass without grabbing a few utterly humiliating shots to commemorate this momentous occasion. I fed him cinnamon rolls, so I was somewhat forgiven for my absolutely horrible tendency to follow him out of the house as he waited for his ride to appear...

Many Army parents have not enjoyed sending their children off to school on the first day because of deployments to Iraq or Afghanistan. So, for those soldiers who are home right now, the Commander authorized them to stay home until their children left for school. I know my stepson was just over the moon with joy about this. His dad couldn't stop looking at him and exclaiming about him heading off to HIGH SCHOOL.

The Soldiers were also released early at the end of the day to welcome their students home. Our student was slow to get back to the house and those last 15 minutes were spent looking out the window, down the street, wondering if he had been hit by a car.

I was waiting at the door with my camera. I think the humiliation was complete...

...or not. I also took my camera to Five Guys, a favored eatery, as we celebrated a successful First Day of 9th Grade.

News Flash

Huh? I bought a flash? A really bright, not the sun, FLASH?! Yes I did and I have to confess, it kind of scares me. For all my many years of photography, I never learned flash photography. The box arrived several days ago, I popped four AA batteries into my new Canon 580 EXII Speedlite and stalked my daughter. And I became aggravated and felt I had just wasted a fair amount of money on a piece of equipment I was not bright enough (ha!) to figure out. So then it sat on my desk for a few days.

Until this morning when my daughter announced she had something to show me in her room. Upon entering, I saw the audience she had created out of her stuffed animals...so they could watch her dance. And I scampered off to grab my flash and see what I could figure out. It is a work in progress, but I think there is hope for me. And the stuffed animals... And my dancing diva who is no longer safe from my lens, even when night falls.

Sisters :: Austin, TX Children's Photographer

These three beauties are going to be the death of their father in fifteen years. But for right now, they are innocence and sweetness and love personified. And it was a treat to mingle in their lives for a morning.

So Cute on South Congress :: Austin, TX Family Photographer

Anyone following my blog has noted my involvement with I Heart Faces. Aside from a great way to challenge myself week to week photographically, it is a very encouraging place to meet other bloggers who share my passion for photography. Typically, these other bloggers are know only by name, they live many states away, and we share bits of our lives with one another through images.

However, I had the rare treat of actually meeting, in the flesh, one of my blog friends (you can meet her HERE). She lives in Pensacola, about 10 minutes away from one of my sisters, oddly enough. But she is from Austin. While out this way on vacation, we were able to get together downtown along South Congress Avenue for a really fun, colorful shoot with her husband and three beautiful girls. I am saving some more pictures for tomorrow, but this peek is ready for you to enjoy!

Seven Months Looks Like...

Seven months is an odd division of time. More than half a year. Not quite three quarters of a year. Just its own little amount of time. In my life, seven months has looked different at different stages.

Here I am, surrounded by sisters, husband and brother in law, seven months into my now 7+ year marriage.

Here is my daughter at seven months of age, smiling, holding her head up, being her happy little self.

And finally, here I am seven months pregnant with my second daughter, sharing this journey with a good friend, due a week after me.

Seven months from now, I can only imagine how I will look. What will March 2010 hold for me and my growing family? It is hard to say, but I am sure there will be a trail of pictures documenting every moment!

Ab Butler's Dogtrot :: Fredericksburg, TX

My husband and I were given the most wonderful gift of a weekend away from the kids by my mother. She endured a whirlwind of activity with a 3 year old and a fifteen year old with a smile on her face for two whole days. We, on the other hand, "endured" a relaxed pace at Ab Butler's Dogtrot in Fredericksburg, Texas.

The dogtrot was actually shipped to Fredericksburg from Kentucky and converted into a two suite bed and breakfast. Our two room suite, the Cumberland River, consisted of a living room and small kitchenette downstairs with the bedroom and bath up a flight of rustic, winding wooden stairs. The absence of TV and phone was delightful and the quietness alone allowed for one of the best night's of sleep I have experienced in many moons. We both awoke refreshed, rejuvenated and committed to making a return trip when we are able!