I have been taking time to be creative lately and put my learning hat on. I love to learn. Honestly- true nerd alert here. Nerd-ola. There are so many resources out there for photographers, it is great to constantly be able to try new things, or learn a new technique.

I think if you ever stop learninig, you stop growing. As a person, as a mom, as a wife, a photographer, an artist, there is always something for me to learn, or try and improve on.

So, a lot of times when things go crazy or hectic or maybe I am in a creative rut- I will dive in to a personal project or competition/contest.  What I am really doing is getting my learn on. When I push myself out of my comfort zone, or try things I normally wouldn't try, I am constantly learning and finding my style. And to me, that is a breath of fresh air.

And even in the start of the Christmas rush, I'll take on a personal project. It really helps me during my sessions to look at things differently.

My dear friend let me borrow her beautiful girl to use as a subject- and I had the best time working with her. So nice to be albe to instruct her and have her pose, and then pulling some real emotion out of her. Just love her smile. Her mom and I had so much fun getting her to laugh. 

I love the black and white of this one.

Such a beauty.

Love that laugh.

Fall is here- and so are the Fall Mini Sessions! 

If you just need a little updated photos, or images for your Christmas Cards, 

Don't miss out on the Fall Mini Sessions.

November 14th (Fort Worth) and 15th (Southlake)

Limited Space available.

$50 non refundable deposit is required to hold your spot.

So, I have tried to write this post 4 times. No kidding. It has been on my heart, and I am having the hardest time getting it down.

When I started in photography, a number of years ago, I loved it. I mean, LOVED it. I took pictures all the time. Of anything. But mostly of my kids. We photograph what we love the most, and for any momma, that would mean lots and lots of pictures of your kids.  

And I still love it.  I mean LOVE it.

And I love taking picture of my kids. Like most photographer mommas, our kids are our favorite subjects. I know what to say to them, they are very well trained (ha!) and I usually can see the image before I take it with them. Being photographer's kids, with years of mom behind the lens, has made my little lovies almost instruction-less when I take their pictures. They pretty much pose themselves, know little cues, and know that them more fun they have, the faster we will be. Sometimes a session lasts 15 minutes. 

So, I can't imagine if I couldn't. If I couldn't take pictures of my kids.

Or it physically hurt to take pictures.

How much would that just stink? Your right- it would really flat out suck

Well, that is exactly what happened to my beautiful friend, a fellow photographer. We are friends that swap stories, and props, and have little girls that are sweet little buddies.

One day, for my friend, taking pictures hurt. It hurt. And it hurt bad.

It hurt so much, that she asked me if it was OK if she gave some of her clients my number for her Christmas season last year. Knowing all too well that Christmas season is a photographer's busiest season, I knew that her back pain was bad. At that time, her back was just hurting  tremendously and the doctors were still trying to figure out what was wrong. Rounds of steroid injections, medications, therapy, all were not seeming to work.  So, more doctors, more tests, and more waiting. 

And waiting.

And then news.

That news.

Yes, that news.

My heart broke. Along with an army of friends and family.

But, she is strong. She is amazing. And she is beating it.

It is one of those things you are in awe of- her courage. And her grace. She is one of the most kind hearted people I have met. And her family is a pillar of strength. And it is an army of prayer. I am just honored to call this beautiful lady my friend.

Knowing that this Christmas season was upon us, (and I told you about photographing your kids when you are a photographer), I didn't want her to not get pictures of her little clan.

So, I got to work with her beautiful and sweet Family.  And photographing other photographer's kids- I LOVED it. Like I said, almost instruction-less.

And so fun! I literally had the best time with her 4. Yes, that is not a typo, 4 beautiful kids. My window of light almost closed. Almost.

First up, is her little beauty. She just shines. And that dimple. 

Goodness.

And the little boy. How adorable is this little guy?

The hat was perfect.

And little bit. What a little ham. Full, I mean, full of personality. 

She had us laughing and being silly. 

Her mom said she winks.

Winks fast. She said to try and catch it.

Not to mention she is a champ at peek-a boo.

And her oldest. 

Middle school.

So polite and handsome.

Literally, I could have photographed them all day.

Such a beautiful family. And so much love.

Did I mention someone was hamming it up for me?

No names though.

These kids look like they belong on a magazine.

Just beautiful.

As we walked from spot to spot, mom and dad were always holding hands. 

Love the love.

Love you dear Jenna. 

You got this momma.

A little sick kiddo means a lot of time home to get stuff done. Well, time I have to stay here, and not drive, so I can get some posting done and some orders filled.  I am so behind on blogging and posting, but I still wanted to get these up so you can see how fun this family was.

If you have had a session recently, you might have met this next lady, my assistant and friend. I love this woman. She is such a fun and funny person to be around, she makes working and photographing so much fun. Our families are great friends too, and we get to spend fun times together. I have learned that it is the support of great people and friends that really get us to where we are, the small or big rolls they play in our lives, make the whole picture seem, well, whole. I couldn't make it without the support of these great people I have as friends.

With all the bad weather we had been having, we finally got to take her families pictures. And I just loved how they turned out. Great outfits for this location, a little dressy with an urban edge to them. We had a lot of great light bouncing off the buildings and that area has some really good textures.  

Such a great family to photograph, and I adore these images.

Love this girl and her sweet smile.  

One way to get him to smile is to talk about girls... Watch out ladies.

G-man. I loved working with this kid. So handsome and had some really great looks for me.

And I can still make the middle school kids laugh.

Which gives me this- my favorite of him.

Love the outfits for this funky urban location. They look so great with the red brick.

We moved to the back of the building when the sun went down and got a few more of the kids. 

She is beautiful!

More of handsome boy.

I love this image- 

You guys were awesome!

Beautiful light at this session and beautiful people. I just had the best time capturing images of this sweet family.  

Loved the dresses, they were perfect and the guys were in great complimenting colors. Images always turn out great when the clothes were well planned out- the mom did a fantastic job on the clothing, and it really shows. 

These kids are amazing, the best manners, and full of personality. Ryder knows the little boy, he was one of her better friends in Kindergarten, so she had a million questions for me when I got home from the session. Although they don't go to school together anymore, she was interested in how her friend was.

OK, here are a few, very few of the sweet images from their session. 

This little girl is just one of the most photogenic girls, she is just a beauty inside and out.

And I was just loving these boots- they were perfect.

I usually always do a standing image, just to show how tall everyone is at the time.  I know the kids will grow and this will be a great memory to have. I love this image for that reason.

And one of her mom and her pretty girls.