by Shelly | Nov 3, 2015 | family, kids |
Here’s something a little different for my blog. I don’t photograph many kids. Mostly I concentrate on teens and adults, and I nearly always leave the whole chase-a-toddler-through-the-park scenario to my colleagues who are more well suited for those antics. But once the kids are school-aged, I have a hard time resisting them. Especially when they’re as fun to hang out with as the kids in the N Family.
I don’t know how I got so luck y to have Little Miss L and her mom knock on my door selling Girl Scout Cookies a couple of years ago. I’m a sucker for Caramel Delights and Peanut Butter Sandwiches. They had the goods. We stood on the porch talking for a LONG time and became friends immediately.
You might recognize some of these faces — or at least one because she has popped in and out of previous sessions with older siblings like she did HERE and HERE
These kids have amazing parents who are committed to capturing great images of them individually on their birthdays and around their half birthdays too. They come from a very large family, so it’s nice to focus attention on just two or three kids at one time. AND — I’m the lucky duck that gets to create those photographs for them. We print all the best images, mount them, and deliver them in a custom keepsake image box.
Are these guys not adorable — running through the tall grass together — in slow motion . . .
You never know who’s going to show up during N Family shoots. It’s Big Brother C and Bubba Kitty! 
PHOTOBOMB! YEAH! 
Our session took place on a steamy morning, so ending the session by cooling off in the pool was a great idea! At least, that’s what L thought.
I agree!
by Shelly | Jul 13, 2015 | business, men, senior guys, senior portraits |
A lovely big family moved in to our neighborhood a couple of years ago, and I was just lucky enough to be at home when mom, Susan, and their adorable young daughter came by selling Girl Scout Cookies.
The sweet child waited so politely while mom and I visited — and visited — and visited — and before long, we became friends.
Now, what does THAT have to do with the photos of this handsome young man?
Well, he is a big brother to my favorite Brownie Scout.
Ryan was back in town after his first year of college to spend a little time with friends and family before heading off to Brazil for a year long mission trip with his church, and Mom needed some great photographs to keep him close at heart. As a Mormon Missionary, Ryan’s right at home with a suit and tie — and he does look quite dashing. Don’t you agree?
A couple of his younger siblings, including the Cookie Princess dropped by during our portrait session, and they are BEYOND ADORABLE —
so naturally, they ended up in front of my lens out in the studio barn too.
Ryan’s looking ahead to an exciting year of meeting people and learning a new language. . . .
Portugese. Yep! That’s what they speak in Brazil. Look it up ! How cool is THAT?
No doubt, he’ll miss these little guys, but they’re going to miss him too. Have a great experience, Ryan.
by Shelly | Oct 14, 2014 | baby, family, maternity |
What’s on my mind tonight?
It’s this super sweet family. Tomorrow they will increase their family size by FIFTY PERCENT! 
That’s right! Fifty percent! Sometime tomorrow Baby M and Baby H will join their two big brothers in one of the sweetest young families I’ve met in a very long time.
“OH Daddy, what have we gotten ourselves into? I don’t know, but it’s going to be SWEET! “
Tomorrow is going to be a great day for being born! Friends, please join me in praying for a safe and healthy delivery for two new little Aggie Girls!
by Shelly | Jul 8, 2014 | kids, special project |
When Little Miss S (and no, S doesn’t stand for SASS) lost her first tooth, her mom rushed her right over to my studio for an impromptu photo shoot to commemorate the occasion.
Teeth or none, this gal is such a HAM! Check out all of these goof-ball expression.
Back when I was a kid, the Tooth Fairy would deliver exactly 41 cents for a tooth. Yep.. ONE EACH… a penny, nickel, dime, and quarter.
I never managed to convince my mother that we were getting short changed at our house on Shell Street in Midland Texas. Even back in THE DAY…. Even in the OLDEN DAYS… other kids in the old hometown earned at least a dollar for each pearly white. Some even bragged of $5 bills.
Since this was Miss S’ s first lost tooth, she hadn’t t had time to establish a market value yet, but I’ll bet it was more than 41 cents….
Goodness … with a smile like this, she will probably be able to fund her college education by the time she gets down to her wisdom teeth.
Anything that happens TODAY makes TODAY a SPECIAL DAY — and it’s the little stuff that you’ll remember years from now, especially if you’ve got great photographs to jog your memory.
Don’t forget to commemorate those special occasions!
Do it yourself, or let me help.
You’ll be glad you did.
by Shelly | Feb 4, 2014 | family, special project |
Meet The DunGums. They’re a fascinating family. Cobbled Together, Empty Nested, and Widely Scattered. I adore them!
I can hear you now. “What kind of name is DunGum, anyway?” you’re asking.
Well — it’s like this. A few years back, Mr. Dunn, the father of three teen-aged sons met and married the gorgeous, sassy and over-achieving Ms. Mangum who came as a package deal with two sons of her own, and they all piled into one big testosterone-laden house. Before long, the older kids started heading off to college, and soon even the younger ones followed. Somewhere in those family formative years, in an attempt to make everyone feel equally a part of their combined family, they light-heartedly took on the name DunGum.
There, you have it. Better than the Brady Bunch, huh?
Of course as time passed, some of the sons started adding special young women to the fold, and for several years we have tried to get everyone together for that iconic family portrait. We came pretty dang close once, too. Pulled their living room sofa out into the front yard and piled it full of people, but still someone was missing and it never seemed right to produce the canvas.
With kids off at colleges all over the country, and holidays split with among other parents and new in-laws and out-laws, ski trips, and knee replacements, anyone else would have given up, but not Lynet. Kudos to her for being open to a new approach.
We realized that we’d just have to catch everyone when we could and build from there.
Our portrait session spread out over several months, but eventually we captured each individual as well as the married and/or engaged couples. together. We shot with two backgrounds every time. A simple black backdrop and a brick wall. Just a little variety but enough consistency to tie everything together.
Once all of our images were created, we selected a wall sized image of each individual or couple as well as smaller secondary prints of everyone. Lynet wanted a variety of shapes and sizes to hang together on one wall, and my print lab did a beautiful job of formatting the selections into thin-wraps — lightweight, ready-to-hang frameless photographic prints with a mounting block centered on the back.
I’ll have to share a picture of the finished wall at a later date. It’s very nice. While it is not a single traditional family portrait on one canvas, the DunGum’s portrait wall does capture the essence of the entire family at this one stage in their life. Isn’t that what a family portrait is all about anyway?
