by Shelly | Feb 22, 2016 | senior gals, senior portraits |
If there ever was an All American Girl, it would be Caroline!
How lucky am I that I got to create her senior portraits? 
Caroline will graduate this spring from Cinco Ranch High School where she’s been involved in so many activities I can hardly keep track.
She plays clarinet in the band. She’s a member of the Good Sportsmanship Club, the Cinco Sweethearts, Senior Women, and she’s been a Cougar Challenge Officer for three years, reaching out to other schools about ways to help ensure that all students feel accepted and included.
I love to see how the most involved and well-rounded students are the ones who reach beyond their own communities!
Not too long ago, Caroline and her mother took small group of swimming instructors to Brazil because they had learned that the incidence of child drownings there was very high. These women worked to teach young moms in the villages how to swim and more importantly to teach them how to train their children how to respond if they fell into the water or got into a dangerous water situation.
She may never know how many young lives are saved because of this trip, but I’ll bet it makes a huge difference in the lives of several families.
After graduation, Caroline is Baylor Bound where she plans to study marketing.
While she could go to work in her family business, she is keeping her options open.
After all, there’s a big bold world out there with opportunities we have never thought of yet.
Congratulations on your upcoming graduation, Caroline. I can’t wait to see what you do with your brains and your sweet spirit.
Thank you for allowing me to create your senior portraits for you. I hope you and your family enjoy them for many many years!
by Shelly | Dec 10, 2015 | senior gals, senior portraits |
As soon as football and marching season ended, Elizabeth blazed her trail over here for her senior portrait session. She didn’t have any time to lose, because Color Guard never rests. Even before the playoffs end for some schools, Guard members are back at it, practicing throughout our chilliest months for their most intense specialized competition.
In addition to her super-busy Color Guard schedule, Elizabeth works part time as a cashier at her neighborhood Kroger. While she enjoys her job up front, she REALLY loves busy holidays when she gets pulled into the floral department. That’s a fabulous outlet for her artistic and crafty talents. She spends as much time as she can perusing Pinterest for party themes and craft projects, and that’s probably why she’s such a wiz at decorating for holidays like Christmas and at baking goodies for friends and families.
After graduation, Elizabeth plans to attend Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, where she will study to become a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher. I think I want to be a kid again and go to her classes. I think I’d learn bunches!
There’s a saying that goes something like, “she who leaves a trail of glitter will long be rememberered.” That’s so very true. I’m still finding shiny bits of blue, green, purple and silver, and it always makes me smile because I think about our fun time together.
by Shelly | Dec 7, 2015 | relationship, senior gals, senior portraits, special project, women |
Hair and Makeup by Rachael Elise Walker — Elise Artistry
Some people are simply so full of life and adventure that you never know what’s going to happen when they get creative, but you know that it’s going to be fun. Originally we had planned to only photograph Mary, the mom in this series. BUT — as we worked through our consultation, we realized that we would all be missing out if we didn’t bring her daughter into the session as well — and I am so glad we did.
This is something I believe EVERY mother and daughter should do tpgether. Not only did they get to spend an afternoon laughing and playing “dress-up” together, they both looked AMAZING when they left the studio for dinner..
I secretly wished I could have tagged along just to watch people’s reaction as they walked by. Stay with me, and you’ll see why!
AND _ to top it off, they’ll have fabulous heirloom images of each other to treasure for ever.
R is a gorgeous young teen. She is sweet, quiet and soft-spoken … UNTIL she unleashes her inner goth. It may seem like an oxymoron, but when she turns on her dark side, THAT is when she really lights up.
We started out our session with a nice casual feel, and with the help of our in-studio makeup artist and stylist, Rachael Walker, we worked our way up from there.
Mary took a more formal route . . .
Isn’t she lovely?
But she was a great sport about letting R play out her inner rock goddess complete with blue hair extensions and super-dramatic makeup.
Very moody, huh? 
Because Mike Chetty and I raised five sons, we have a collection of old band instruments in our closets.
Most are in better shape than this old French Horn that had been previously destined to the trash heap, but I love how well it played into our theme. We didn’t have to worry about damaging it, and I am super glad it found its way into my prop closet!
This was by FAR one of my favorite sessions in a long time. I can’t wait to do another concept escalation based on creativity and dreams. There’s one in the planning stages now, and I would love to create one for YOU as well.
by Shelly | Oct 29, 2015 | senior gals, senior portraits |
THIS . . . THIS is the face of The Class of 2016.
This is S’vani, a Senior at Langham Creek High School in the Cy-Fair ISD.
HAIR AND MAKEUP IN STUDIO by Cintya Velderrain
I loved working with her because she is always smiling. Seriously. ALWAYS smiling. She smiles so much that we had to WORK HARD to capture a few serious images of her.
We liked the smiling photographs best through because they are so … HER.
If the rest of her classmates are anything like S’vani, their school must run a close second to Disney as the Happiest Place on Earth!
What is it that makes her smile?
For one thing, her participation and leadership in Color Guard runs through her very core. For those of you who are uninitiated, the Langham Creek Color Guard is absolutely legendary and has been for years.
You know what else is cool? S’vani’s MOTHER, Rachel, performed with the very same group when she was in high school.
They were great then too! Just ask her.
Maybe flag, rifle, and marching skills are hereditary. Just sayin’
Oh, and did you see that big red NHS on the sleeve of her letter jacket above? Being a part of the National Honor Society can only mean that S’vani is also ONE SMART COOKIE! NHS gathers the students with the highest grades and helps prepare them to be successful leaders as they provide much-needed services to people and other organizations within their community.
After graduation, S’vani plans become a psychologist, and she will study at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska where she has already been accepted.
As for her fashion-style, S’vani says she likes to mostly be comfortable, but she LOVES to dress up for special occasions — and sometimes just because.
In her down time, when she has any, she may be found enjoying bubble tea and all things associated with Asian culture along with her closest friends.
What nobody knows about her, though, is that she loves video games and she’s pretty darn good at League of Legends, Pokemon, Team Fortress 2, Assassin’s Creed, and Border Bands 2.
I thoroughly enjoyed working with you, S’vani. Your future is bright because you SHINE! Enjoy your senior year and always follow your heart.
by Shelly | Jul 28, 2015 | senior gals, senior portraits, sports |
I don’t know where to begin when I talk about Chloe. Maybe this is one of those times where a picture really is worth a thousand words.
For a little background, I’ve known Chloe’s family for quite some time, and was honored beyond belief when I got to accompany them to the airport with my camera several years ago to pick up her dad after he finished his final overseas military deployment. Those old images still bring tears to my eyes when I go back through them!
And then a year ago, I got to create Chloe’s sister’s senior portraits.
So, you probably can imagine how much I was looking forward to this photoshoot.
Chloe’s a natural beauty in that fresh-scrubbed girl next door sort of style, so even when she arrived bare-faced after school, she looked gorgeous.
Then, but after a little time in the chair here at the studio with hair and makeup artist, Cintya, she absolutely GLOWED!
We built a lovely portrait album from her session, and Chloe chose some scriptures that are special to her for several of the pages. 
Won’t she have fun looking at these and sharing them with her children and her nieces and nephews one day?
Oh, the leaf-drop! We threw leaves in the air over and over again until we could get a frame where the leaves were in the air but not blocking her face, and her eyes were open.
Of course it took us even longer because we were both laughing so hard!
In addition to being a very bright student, Chloe also runs cross country.
Chloe is a young woman who sees God’s love everywhere she looks — and she reflects that love and joy back to others thousand-fold. She’s spent her summer serving as a youth-group intern for her church, working with kids here in town and on mission trips.
Before long she will be on her way to East Texas Baptist University in Marshall where she will continue to grow in grace as she continues her education.
by Shelly | Jul 24, 2015 | senior guys, senior portraits |
Here’s another in our series of whatever happened to the blog posts for the class of 2015.
We still haven’t answered the mystery, but at least it’s giving me an opportunity to revisit some of my favorite senior portraits from the past year.
This is Will.
I had a great time photographing Will over a period of time. He came into the studio several times. First, to help me with an advertising project, but then later for both studio and separate location sessions. He also returned for a quick multi-generational shoot with his dad and grandfather. How cool is THAT?
Get a load of this Letter Jacket! I don’t believe there’s anything Will doesn’t do well. Football, Baseball, NHS … It took a lot of talent and hard work combined to earn a jacket like this.
For now, he’s cramming in as many good home-cooked meals and fun activities with his friends before he hits the road to Waco in a matter of weeks.
That’s right — Will is now a Baylor Bear. 
Think he’ll miss the City of Katy at all? 
I commend this entire family for carving some time out of their schedule to stop by so that I could create a few multi-generational images of Will with his dad and grandfather. What a treasure these will be in the years to come.
