by Shelly | Dec 21, 2018 | business, family, special project |
I simply MUST share my favorite new Christmas Tradition with you. If you do something twice during the holidays and you enjoy it, it becomes a tradition, right?
THIS is how the Wallace Family of Katy, Texas rolls!
Seriously, they’ve got to be the FUNNEST Christmas Family in Texas.
You see, It all started when Mom, Jenny, called in 2017 looking for a fun and unique family Christmas card. They had a general concept in mind, but needed a pro to help them pull it off. Oh my goodness! It was exactly the project that had been bubbling in my own brain for quite a while, and suddenly these people just called me to create it! How does that even happen? Did I ever tell you how much I LOVE my job?
As we began planning for our session, I reached out to one of my photography instructors and friends, Dan McLanahan. Dan is very well-known in professional circles for his amazing skills and talents, but my brain at this time was all-consumed by the reknown “Friday Night Food Fight” composite that he had created a year before. Click on this link to check it out! Dan gave me some pointers to help make our session go smoothly, and he also offered a gentle but extremely helpful critique during the post-production stages of Christmas Kitchen Chaos 2017.
The magic of a project like this comes in compiling several photographs until one composite image is complete. I don’t know what part of this scenario I enjoyed the most.
It could have been Scott’s flaming skillet. (Yes we used real fire).
Or Jenny’s flying flour which looked so realistic because the sons hid behind the island throwing flour and mashed potato flakes into the air until we captured our perfect messy cloud.
Maybe it was Braden’s athletic skills catching a football mid-air with his LEFT hand so that we could still see his face –HOW MANY TIMES?
Josh’s feigned boredom with the whole scenario absolutely cracked me up because it couldn’t have been further from reality. In fact, he offered keen thoughts, insight, and even served as a voice-activated lightstand throughout the session both last year and this year.
However, the story I LOVE to tell about this shoot is about the family dog, Brinkley. This dog is so well-trained that he absolutely refused to steal the lasagna off the counter. In order to make that scenario happen, we had to send dad to another part of the house while Jenny and the sons coerced and tempted him.
This was my first ever attempt at a relatively complex composite image, and it was so much fun. The Christmas card recipients started asking what this year’s card would look like, and the Wallaces quickly realized that they couldn’t ever go back to a traditional smiling family portrait card.
When they called me this year, we sat down together and brainstormed until we came up with a new concept.
Deck the Halls — Wallace Style
The family has actually experienced a couple of real-life falling Christmas tree incidents, so they knew that their friends and relatives would understand the significance.
Everyone maintained their basic persona from 2017. Jenny’s tripping over her own enthusiasm, and so surprised that she’s practically juggling the ornaments as they smash to the floor. Josh is once again absorbed in his technology and light untangling mess. Braden’s adding Santa to the top of the tree — Elf Style. And of course we’ve got Scott, once again about to burn down the house with his Griswold-inspired electrical connection.
We even included last year’s card on the television screen at the back of the room.
Best memory from this year’s photography session? The pure thrill on the guys’ faces when they got to actually throw glass ornaments up into the air, allowing them to smash on the ground. Josh said it was the one thing that you’re always told not to do.
“Don’t drop the ornaments, don’t let them break, be careful with them. Don’t make a mess.”
But on this one day we shattered ornaments on the floor and made a royal mess.
Merry Christmas from SPCcreative Photography via The Wallace Family.
I will let one little secret out of the bag.
We’ve already started planning for 2019.
What will it be? I’ll never tell.
by Shelly | Mar 23, 2018 | special project, women |
Did you catch my last post about the Inner Superheroes Revealed project? If not, Click HERE to read it.
I am not by any means finished with the project. I will continue drawing out the fire of bold and powerful women in Houston and across the country. Do you think may be you should participate? YES you should. You and your besties absolutely should, and there are several ways we can make that happen. Just call the studio and let’s do it.
But first, check out these fabulous women of Superheroes Revealed Part II. They are all gorgeously powerful and very exciting.
We’ll start with Nicky. Her fearless bravado prevailed long before I ever met her. The first thing I ever heard about this wild Canadian woman was that she was going to walk on the wings of an airplane WHILE IT WAS IN THE AIR.
Sure enough, she did it. She loved it. She wants to do it again. I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t see her start taking on stunt rolls for movies. C’mon somebody, write a movie script that calls for a gorgeous blonde to be climbing around on the wings of a plane in flight. We’ve got your gal.
We HAD to play with an aviation theme which quickly morphed into a stormy weather related series.
“There was a storm in her eyes, rocky seas from a hundred stormy nights…” — Atticus
Next came Carole. She is known for keeping a room full of young ninja wannabees under control and focused. She owns Fort Bend Tae Kwon Do.
You don’t want to mess with this gal — EVER — but you can send your kids to her so that nobody will mess with them either.
Giving kids the tools to become empowered.
Whether it’s with her creative personality or with actual electricity, Miriam, owner of Southern Voltage Electric Service will electrify you. She’ll also make sure your house doesn’t burn down for the lack of good wiring.
I stopped waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel and lit that b!7ch myself.
And Bobbe, beautiful Bobbe. As moms of boys more than a decade ago, we shared many afternoons centered around laser tag and nerf guns and carpools. Those boys are now amazing grown men. And Bobbe hasn’t slowed down, nor does she plan to.
Look for me in the wirlwind of the storm. – Marcus Garvey
How about gathering up four or five of your powerful women friends to unleash and reveal their super powers with SPCcreative Photography?
Contact me at the studio for details and to set up a celebration of power.
by Shelly | May 24, 2017 | senior gals, senior portraits |
No doubt about it, Demi has quite a presence in front of the camera. Is she not a gorgeous STUNNER?!
Well, look out world because here she comes. 
Demi and her classmates from Foster High School will cross the stage to receive their diplomas this Saturday in what is sure to be a celebration-filled evening.
I loved working with her, and had to laugh when we were designing her graduation announcement. Let me tell you, this young woman knows exactly what she wants and how to get it.
As most of you know, my graduation announcements are totally customized for each student. We choose colors, overall feel, fonts, images… EVERYTHING to reflect the student’s personal style. No cookie-cutter announcements over here!
Most of the time I get it right – straight out of the chute with maybe a minor tweak. Not this time! Well, the black background could stay… and the wording was good… and the image selections had already been decided. BUT, I totally missed the boat on everything else. That COULD have gone very wrong, but not with Demi. She sent back her change requests, right down to the exact type style that she wanted.
Really? Nobody’s ever done that before! BUT — we do offer a custom product, and that’s what we provide — satisfaction guaranteed.
We made the changes she asked for — type-style, adding glitter to the school color gold, changing the overall layout exactly as she specified, and then everything just fell into place. She loved the end result.
That’s what I like. Someone who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to ask for it.
I will admit that I had to swallow my pride a little bit, but it wasn’t too difficult at all because she was so very specific about how she wanted her announcement to appear.
After Graduation, Demi will attend Prairie View A&M where she plans to continue her studies and enter the field of nursing.
Congratulations on your graduation, Demi! Have a great time celebrating and reach for the stars. You’re already on target to achieve so very much.
by Shelly | Aug 22, 2016 | senior guys, senior portraits, sports |
Jonathan was my very last senior from the class of 2016, and I absolutely loved everything about his session.
He’s already up and left town for Texas A&M, and I’m getting reports that he is absolutely in his element training as a Freshman with the Corps of Cadets. It’s hard work, military style, but he’s been preparing for this type of activity for a long long time. He is one young man who will do just fine wherever he goes. College life can be difficult, but Jonathan is an overcomer. He’s beaten obstacles that no one would want to face, and he’s come through like a champ.
The way Jonathan came to my studio is a fun backstory. I first met him back in 2013 when he was just a sophomore in high school. The all around fantastic athlete had been seriously injured playing football and had to leave the sport behind. Still, he was able to return to baseball after extensive rehabilitation treatment with Memorial Hermann Ironman Sports Institute. His story was worth retelling for other athletes who needed to be aware of concussion issuesand who also needed to know that treatment and hope are available. He was featured in an article published in VYPE Magazine.
I went to meet him at Cinco Ranch High School to photograph him for the headline banner. The night we shot, I got to meet him, his parents, and his adorable little sister. We all had a great time visiting that evening on the baseball field and somehow I knew I would see them all again.
Here’s the article!
Time passed and sure enough, we reconnected.
Senior portraits? You bet! I’m your photographer! Let’s DO THIS!
Jonathan is one of those guys who can truly be called an All American. He’s an honor student with a great penchant for leadership.
The diving mask and flippers? Oh, yeah… those are not just for decoration. He knows how to use ’em, and he will very likely one day save lives as a Navy Seal.
Although his earlier injuries kept him off the football field throughout his high school career, there was no keeping away from baseball.
He was also active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and One of his prized possessions is a custom baseball bat, hand-crafted by one of his friends and mentors.
He has dreamed since he was a little boy about becoming an astronaut … and he probably will.
But for now, he’s going to buckle down and study — and do all the other things that Aggie Corps members do.
Best of luck to you, Jonathan. Enjoy your time at college and get ready to make your mark on this universe. You’ve definitely got “The Right Stuff.”
It hurts my feelings just a little bit to say it, but I will. — Just for you.
“Gig ‘Em.”
by Shelly | Jun 27, 2016 | senior gals, senior portraits, sports |
Where in the world do I begin today? I don’t EVEN know where to start — so I’m just uploading Ashton’s senior portraits to this blog machine, and we will see how they land…
Be sure you linger here a little while today and get to know this brilliant beauty. You’ll be amazed. 
Ashton is a 2016 graduate of Cinco Ranch High School here in Katy. She’s been active in track and field — and she’s got the ribbons and medals to show for it.
But there’s definitely a “pretty” side to her as well. We loved playing around with her track shoes and her heels to show these different facets of her style and personality.
Oh, and did we tell you she’s smart. Like . . . ummm. . . very smart. She graduated with Distinguished Honors and is heading to Howard University in Washington, D.C. where she will study Biology/Pre-Med.
