Love :: Killeen, TX Newborn Photographer

What did you do last week? My mind tries to remember what today is, then counts back seven days and rumbles around aimlessly as I try to come up with an answer. The days pass so quickly, with so many errands, so many demands, so much of life.

Ah, yes, life.

Ask this sweet one what she was doing a week ago and she would say (if she could talk), "I was happy and content and tucked up so nicely. Then there was this 9 minute flurry of activity and the whole world changed. But I am still happy and I am still content and I still get tucked up so nicely. And there is this new sensation. I think the word I have heard is love."

Repose :: Harker Heights, TX Children's Photographer

Good day, world. I will see you with my eyes closed and my head resting, so that I might dream of your bigness, your possibilities and your impossibilities. For I have yet to learn that everything is not readily within my reach. I have heard the word no, from the edge of conscious thought, but I don't accept its application to me. I can. I will. You can watch as I go and do. It is all mine, this world that I see with my eyes closed, on this quiet afternoon.

Happiness :: Killeen, TX Family Photographer

A valuable lesson for any photographer who works with children is to let them play. Let them do. Let them be. And then be ready to click the shutter for all their doings. Today was no different. Two young boys (very well behaved young boys, I might add...but boys, nonetheless). A creek bed. Running water. And this family just went with the flow, rolled the pant legs up and enjoyed a fun morning splashing rocks and each other. The happiness is not forced. They really were happy. To be out, to be with one another, to share the day. And that made me happy.

Home :: Copperas Cove, TX Newborn Photographer

6 days. 6 days ago she was inside. 6 days ago she was curled up and cramped and hidden and unknown. Today she is home. Today she is unfurled and alert and tangibly loved. Today she did not want to sleep, for today was Day 6, not Day 5 when she slept all the time. But finally her daddy worked his magic and she was home. Home in the warmth of arms full of love and full of dreams for this little one.

Willingness :: Fort Hood, TX Family Photographer

A good session is made not of perfect smiles, perfect poses and perfect hair but of a willingness to remember that this is a moment in your life, a moment when everyone is together, no phones are ringing and you are all laughing as a family. This is an hour or two when you get to play with your children, embrace your spouse, giggle and just be. And this family came along willingly. They entertained me, themselves and my ideas. The smiles came, the laughter carried across the yard and the pictures will tell the story of this family on this day.

Under Construction

I surrender! My eyes are crossing after looking at HTML code all afternoon. I cannot figure out how to get my pictures to fit inside the border area and frustration is taking hold. So I am pausing for now and will return later. With a clear head and uncrossed eyes, ideally. In the meantime, If anyone has any suggestions, I am willing to listen!

Hopefully my daughter will not have four teeth before I figure it out...

Love(ly) :: Harker Heights, TX Couples Photographer

These two are in love. That fresh new love that doesn't mind going to the grocery store together for milk. Or waiting in line at the post office on a Saturday morning, as long as they do it together. This love is about to be tested in ways many people never know (thankfully). But I know it will endure and be stronger because of the challenges. For that is what love does: it stretches and changes and bends to the demands of life. And it does not falter.

iheartfaces week 29, Over Head :: Harker Heights, TX Portrait Photographer

As an English major, I can find meaning where there is none. I can find symbolism in the most mundane detail within a novel. (The way the lead character dresses? Oh yes, that can be worked into a 5 page essay without breaking a sweat!) So when I Heart Faces presented this week's challenge of "Over My Head," I immediately thought of the obtuse. Like being in over my head before my husband's last 15 month deployment to Iraq. Or being in over my head with topics outside my realm of comprehension, such as nuclear physics. But I didn't have obtuse pictures of obtuse interpretations. Instead, I have this more literal translation of my stepson displaying his mad soccer skills.

However you read "Over My Head" be sure to enter your image in this week's competition!

Grin and Bear It :: Killeen, TX Family Photographer

There is much the military wife must grin and bear. Deployments, long working hours with no comp time or extra pay, field exercises, single parenting. The military member also has his struggles. For this family, on this morning, his struggle, his cross to bear, was participating in a family photo session. But he grinned. And even chuckled once or twice. And when he looks at these images, I know he will be glad he came along. You both are blessed with a quietly assured love and the bond of your sweet baby boy!

Enduring Love :: Copperas Cove, TX Couples Photographer

She had heard his name around town and from other girls declaring their love for him, but she just thought it was all talk. Until she saw him for herself. In those tight jeans, she added. Lady Lucky opened the door to their romance one evening when he jumped in her car to escape another admirer. She quickly locked the doors and wouldn't let him out until he asked her out on a date. Years later, I could still see the love that was ignited back in high school. A love that encompasses friendship, respect, tenderness, shared laughter, and shared tears. A love as large and steady as their favorite oak. A love that endures all.

August Vacation

I will be on vacation the first two weeks of August from the first to the fifteenth. I will only be taking a limited number of sessions the rest of the month. (For those with newborn sessions already arranged, don't worry...it is bad for the baby! Your beautiful new one will be photographed.)

Don't panic, though! You still have three full weeks of July...but don't delay, for these summer days just seem to slide by in a blurry, hazy kind of way.

Email me to schedule a session: julie(at)julieriveraphoto.com

Eight Months :: Harker Heights, TX Baby Photographer

And at Eight Months, she can:

1. Chomp with her three teeth.

2. Crawl all over the house in pursuit of the cat and his food.

3. Sleep through the night when she feels like it. Which is only every third Wednesday when a full moon is shining and the tree pollen counts are just right.

4. Offer up smiles that are so winning, the sleepless nights are forgotten. She is a Jedi with her mind tricks.

5. Eat a cereal and formula blend as though it is going out of style, but then turn her nose up at plain formula offered in a bottle or a cup.

6. Play with her older sister. By play, I mean grab fistfuls of hair and giggle. Playtime does not last long yet.

7. Suck her thumb so vigorously the skin is permanently chapped and red.

8. Give wet, slobbery kisses that are her mama's biggest reward.