Blue eyes in bluebonnets

"The traditional bluebonnet photo is irredeemable cheesy," the editors of Texas Monthly dared to promulgate in the April 2012 issue.

 

Say it to my face, this beautiful child retorted. Seeing as how we Kellerpeople are moving to Little Rock in about a week, it was gosh darn necessary for me to get some quintessential bluebonnet pictures of my little baby while she's still a Texan!  

 

My friend Brandi was game to join me with her kids on a little bluebonnet hunt this afternoon, and thanks to a tip on twitter we found a little patch away from any possible traffic.  The tricky (spooky) part was that it lay smack dab in the middle of an old cemetery.

I mean, I knew we were headed to "the Buffalo Gap Cemetery" but I assumed it was an open place with a couple rolling hills... Wrong!  This was a straight-up fenced-in acre of decrepit tombstones.  I believe Wyatt decided to rest his weary bones on top of a small stone perch called Unknown, while Jackie, full of ideas for poses, said, "You know what would be pretty? If I stood next to that sign!"  That sign was a 4-foot headstone.

Here's a pic where you can tell we're in a cemetery.  I think I forgot to mention to my husband that we ended up there.  Good thing it would never cross his mind to read my blog. 

Now it's time to ask the obvious question: where are the bluebonnets?  They're all over the place in the above pictures, but because the only time we could go was smack dab in the middle of direct sun, I had trouble getting shadow-free faces and getting the background, so the best pictures turned out to be the ones where the kids are in the shade of a tree while the background is in full sun.  I try encourage my clients to do sessions within a couple hours of sunrise or sundown but that's not often feasible.  My favorite, favorite lighting is an overcast sky.  It's not as versatile as a rising or setting sun in a partly-cloudy sky, but it definitely makes for a more fuss-free photo session.

By the way, the bright, blown out background and pastel features is quickly becoming my favorite style of portraiture, evidence of which can be found in my last four sessions. Does anyone have any feedback for me?  Should I make it my signature look as I grow my business?

Anyway, regardless of the whole interment setting, the kids had a lot of fun and so did Brandi and I!  Kate was pretty mellow most of the time but the fresh air was so good for her.  I'm a bad mom and sometimes the only fresh air we get is a 10-15 minute evening walk, so this was just what we needed.

And hopefully Kate will make it back to Texas each spring for more pictures just like these.

Say "cheese!" And say it to their faces, baby girl.

{Maternity} John & Julia

My good friends whose beautiful feet greet you each time you visit this blog are expecting an extra little set of tootsies!

Just one, though.

Most ladies like to wait until their bump is a little larger before taking maternity pictures, but Julia really wanted me to be the one to do it (so sweet!) so we had to get it done before I move to Little Rock.  We just did our best to accentuate the little guy (or girl, but it's totally a boy).

I'm so happy for these two!

{Engagements} Bethany & Josh

This was a really fun shoot. Bethany had a lot of great ideas and Josh was game. (As "game" as a guy can be getting his picture taken for two and a half hours straight!) Our friend Lane also came along to provide the entertainment. Thanks for letting me take these, Future Berrys! ...Berries?

 

 

Update: These two are getting married in Little Rock in August, so I'm excited to see them again after we move there!

{Seniors} Morgan, Rachel & Hadley

Let's start with Morgan, shall we?  She's a senior at Cooper High School who very smartly offered to swap babysitting services for a few senior pics in her cheer uniform.  I attempted an in-home "studio" for the first time and got only a couple usable shots out of it, but it was fun trying.  Then we headed outside where Morgan had to work for her pictures!

  

 

 

I asked Morgan to bring a friend since it would be more fun and get more relaxed and natural photos as a result.  Plus, I can make them hold my stuff. :)  So Morgan brought Rachel, and within a week I had another senior client!  We took all these within one block in downtown Abilene and finished off with Rachel holding her letter of acceptance from Texas A&M.  Congratulations!

 

 

Then comes Hadley, who served as my assistant extraordinaire for Rachel's shoot.  Turns out she goes to my church and we had about 20 Facebook friends in common.  She looked so cute I had to take some pictures of her, too!

 

Geez, of the 100+ pics to choose from I decided to post these...apparently I'm a fan of framing to the left!

Trying to acheive SNL photography

Week after week I admire the work of Mary Ellen Matthews, the photographer responsible for still bumps you see during Saturday Night Live. 

Tonight I decided to take some of the pictures I snapped over the weekend and played around in Photoshop to try and achieve a similar style.

This is the one that turned out the most SNL-ish.  I think it looks pretty cool! 

These aren't a true before and after, because I used an already-edited version that had been uploaded to Facebook, which downgrades the quality quite a bit.  The original large unedited images are in the other room and... well...

Once again, ladies and gentlemen, Before and After.

I would like to thank my models who immediately jumped in front of the camera and shamelessly posed for several minutes... even after I'd left the room.

{Engagements} Session Re-dos

I figured out some new Photoshop tricks so I decided to go back through and re-process some of the pictures I've taken...like this one!

{Families} 19 People and Counting

 

Some childhood friends of mine asked me to come over to their parents' house the day before Christmas Eve and capture their growing family... and it worked out! 

I was so excited to see Maria and Olga and the rest of the gang.  It had been about seven or eight years since we'd been together, and the family has basically doubled in size since then.  And, in addition to us doing something meaningful with the money from the session fee, they also paid me in homemade tamales.  Who can beat that?!

 

 

On the surface, I can see about 100 woulda-shoulda-couldas in these photos, but if you just look past them all you'll see is a lot of love in a family which is also loved by me!