The Senior year in high school is filled with traditions and fun. It’s also a time when friends who grew up together shriek with excitement when they open acceptance letters from colleges and universities across the country.
That means everyone is heading off in different directions VERY SOON.
How can we make the fun and games last forever? How can we keep the love and laughter flowing when we all go separate ways?
These Taylor High School Seniors found an answer when they all got together for the super crazy SPCcreative BFF Photo Session.
We laughed and laughed and laughed. What a Fun Afternoon
Yes, the ceiling still has a hot-pink paint stain. Yes, I do plan on doing it again. Who’s in?
And if we put some tunes to everything, it gets even better! Check out our video.
A Beautiful Young Dancer, Golden Sunshine, Hills, Water, Trees, and my Camera — Pure Heaven.
Hoo -Ray!
It’s SOoooo much fun to conduct a photography session for people who are enthusiastic about doing something just a bit out of the norm.
My favorite young dancer, who just happens to be my niece, was beyond excited about our scheduled portrait session at the spectacular Inn of the Lost Pines near Bastrop during a family stay not too long ago.
Dance-Studio shots are nice, but when we can put on bold colorful costumes and get out into God’s creation, something very very special happens.
Call me sappy, but Lee Ann Womack’s song always brings tears to my eyes.
“I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance I hope you dance
I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Livin’ might mean takin’ chances, but they’re worth takin’
Lovin’ might be a mistake, but it’s worth makin’
Don’t let some Hellbent heart leave you bitter
When you come close to sellin’ out, reconsider
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance”
“To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking. ” — Agnes de Mille
There’s not much in this big ole’ world that can bring a smile to people’s faces the way a sweet little baby grin can.
I can’t even begin to resist the charms of an impish little guy like Benjamin. When he came to visit for his four-month photographs, he absolutely would not wouldn’t stop smiling until he suddenly conked out for the car ride home. When it came time for his mother’s viewing and ordering session, she faced a huge but wonderful dilemma . . .
How in the world do you choose between cute, adorable, and melt my ever lovin’ heart?
Click here to revisit our session and see why the decision was so hard to make. After all, these cutie pies don’t stay tiny for long at all. It took us a while to match schedules, so he had already grown quite a bit between his camera session and the date when we selected his artwork.
The answer? Just box em all up! Benjamin’s mommy chose a few of her “very most favoritest” images for gifts and to build a composite print, and then we custom designed a fine art box for her and filled it with 5×7 prints in a shiny metallic finish. The box included a disc with electronic files of each print along with personal-use reprinting privileges. Now this little cutie-pie’s parents can enjoy all of these images for years to come, and they’ll also be able to make extra copies for all the aunts and uncles, cousins and friends who just can’t narrow down their selection either.
Smile on little Benjamin. You’re already quite the charmer. I can’t wait to see what’s next in store for you.
Aubrey and Michael. What can I say? I ABSOLUTELY adore this couple.
It’s not just the bride and groom who made this wedding such a joy to photograph, but their parents and their bridesmaids and groomsmen as well.
Talk about a kind and helpful and . . . well … just downright genuine and fun-loving group! If I could photograph an event for people this delightful every single weekend, I would do it in a heartbeat.
A dream in her ruched and pleated ivory dress, Aubrey made an absolutely stunning bride.
Then, when the groomsmen came outside with their amazing fedoras, I knew we’d be in for a delightful evening. And you know what? I was right.
Days around our house have been busy and exciting lately. You see, we’re especially looking forward to a very important wedding in January. At this wedding, I will not be allowed to have a camera because the groom is my first-born son. (Don’t tell anyone, but I’m seriously looking for a pretty evening bag that will accommodate our Canon C-9 Point and Shoot, just in case I start going into photography withdrawal tremors)
I DID, however, get to spend a little very special time earlier this fall with Ian and his lovely fiance’, Lisa, to create some memorable engagement images and a Save the Date card. Here’s what we came up with!
This is the front of our 5x7 Save the Date Card
And this is the inside spread.
And this is the back of our little card.
So as you can tell, I’m getting a beautiful new Daughter-in Love — and of course Grand-dog Jäger adds laughter, tail wags and slobber to the scene.
In posting these photos, I’m a little gushy and proud today. I can’t help but share our music video as well as some of my favorite picks from our outing.
Naturally, I’m a bit biased, but I think you’ll agree that we’ve got one heck of an adorable and so-in-love couple.
Ian and Lisa . . . I love you both BUNCHES and thank you for allowing your dopey mom to follow you around one afternoon with her camera.
For more engagement fun, here’s a video I created with all of the proofs from our session. Pour yourself a cup of coffee, sit back, and enjoy young love and One Big Dog!
Just yesterday I photographed the super scrumptious, gorgeous, and oh-so-fun wedding for Aubrey and Michael. Getting to know them over the last few months has been a wonderful treat, as I’ve come to absolutely adore their quirky dry sense of humor and the special love language that they share with each other.
After their engagement session earlier this year, they chose to make their album into a guest registry book to collect signatures and sentiments from the guests at their wedding.
Just as we rarely, if ever, share bridal portraits before the wedding, I didn’t want to spoil any surprises they might have in store by posting the album before they shared it with their guests.
So today, here is the engagement album and guest book for the brand new Mr. and Mrs. Skinner!
For their engagement photographs, Aubrey and Michael participated in a Beloved Experience Session. Beloved, developed by Canadian photographer Jesh De Rox, utilizes a collection of exercises that Jesh calls experiential invitations. These invitations lead the couple through a variety of emotions, feelings, and expressions. During a Beloved photography session, we play games, sing and dance, tell secrets and stories, share hopes and dreams. When I get to host one of these amazing events, I feel very privileged to document such precious and heartfelt moments and to create images that will serve as a love- legacy for years and years to come.
This particular album needed lots of open space for writing, so we left wide margins and open space on several of the pages.
Congratulations and best wishes to you Aubrey and Michael. I look forward to seeing you again very soon to relive your wedding .
Michi and I started sorting through the images today, and all I can say is WOW — WOW — WOW!
Although Haley’s grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, and neighbors probably already know that she has been born, it’s never “official” until the birth announcement arrives in the mail.
My good friend, the Fed-Ex driver, stopped by this morning with these announcements that I custom-designed after her photography session, and I could hardly get them opened fast enough.
She’s a yummy little bundle of love. See for yourself!
When I found out that I was going to get to photograph Tracy and Ryan’s new baby, I could hardly wait, but I had to. See, my family was leaving on vacation just a few days after she was born, and we simply couldn’t squeeze in an appointment before we left. So, Miss Haley was just over 3 weeks old when she came for her session. STILL, it was her first outing, and she and her mommy handled it like true pros.
I look forward to watching this little beauty (and her adorable big sister) grow up. Here are a few more images from our session.
Yeah, I think Miss Haley has STAR qualities, ANGEL qualities, and most definitely SQUEEZABLE qualities !
So . . . I just delivered another senior album to a recent graduate and his mom.
My job has lots of favorite parts, but one of the biggest rushes EVER is the delivery process. I get downright giddy to watch a mom beam and actually shout with joy when she puts her hands for the first time on the canvas wall portraits of her practically grown child. Seeing the kids themselves beam as they look over mom’s shoulder while she exclaims every single time she slowly turns the pages of the new shiny album . . . well,
WOW! THIS, my friends, is why I love doing what I do!
Senior portraits are a HUGE tradition in this part of the country. For most kids, this is the last opportunity they’ll have to be photographed professionally until (and if) they choose to get married. That’s why we take the time to explore the their personalities and make a fun-filled event out of their photo sessions. Even the boys who don’t usually start out too excited about “having pictures made” all admit — out loud no less — that they actually had a great time during their session.
Afterwards, we have tons of great images. Selecting just a few is oh-so-hard, but I have some great solutions. The absolute favorites become canvases and wrap prints for the wall, they go into custom graduation announcements, and of course gifts for grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings. Everyone loves tons of different wallet prints for passing out to friends. AND there’s nothing more exhilarating than taking the rest of our images, the ones that make us smile, the ones that make us laugh, the ones that make our eyes mist up, and compiling them into an heirloom book or album so that we can enjoy them all for YEARS and YEARS to come.
Here are some pages from Michael’s album that I just delivered.
Michael, who is enjoying his summer looked totally different the other day when I delivered his book. He’s fishing a lot, and sporting an oh-so-handsome Hollywood-worthy beard. That’s something you just don’t get by with in high school. He’ll soon be packing his gear and heading off to college, but his parents have some great prints on their walls an an amazing album to look at every time they get a little wistful. The holidays will come soon, and I hope he’ll come by for a visit while he’s home, because MY seniors become MY kids . . . and I get a little wistful too.
Seems like everybody is dragging a bit in this dreadfully hot and dry summer, and they tend to think that it’s just not a good time to go outside at all, much less schedule outdoor portraits.
Well, I have news for you! My favorite tips for survival are to move slowly, know a good Air Conditioning Repair Guy, keep a big pitcher of iced tea close at hand . . .
and of course, NOTHING beats a little POOL TIME!
Inspired by Macon, GA photographer Lee McDavid who says that a $12 kiddie swimming pool was one of his best investments ever, I started thinking about new ways to keep our summer senior photography sessions super cool. After a visit to the Goodwill store with one of my favorite high school seniors, we hit the pool with prom dresses and cameras in hand.
Sooo much fun! After a little pool and waterfall time, we finished our session by breaking in my brand new bamboo shower wall.
I’m loving my private portrait park just a little bit more every single day.
Our summer may be flying by, but we’ve still got two or three more months of intense heat. We’re onto something very cool over here!