by Shelly | Jun 17, 2014 | senior gals, senior portraits |
Pretty Fun, that’s how I’d describe Cayla’s senior portrait session.
There’s no doubt that Cayla is drop-dead gorgeous, but she was also so much fun to work with as we laughed and played our way through a recent afternoon.
How I wish I could be all chit-chatty about this lovely girl, but I’m so far behind on my blogging right now that I’m just proud to be sharing her photographs.
A picture really is worth a thousand words, so I’ll just let them speak for themselves.
Scroll right down …
slowly because you won’t want to miss a thing.
In only a few short weeks Cayla will head out of town to start her college experience at Texas State…
but in the meantime, I know that she will be creating smiles and memories for her family at home and on vacation … wherever she goes!
CONGRATULATIONS on your graduation from Taylor High School, Cayla. I know that college will bring you a great experience.
Enjoy — and soak up every joyful moment and every new opportunity. You’ve got this!
by Shelly | Apr 16, 2014 | musician, senior guys, senior portraits |
Ahhhh Travis, even though he was the very first senior from the class of 2014 to walk through my doors, for some reason I am just now getting around to blogging his portrait session.
Mea Culpa! What can I say?
This is one of the most fantastic guys I know. Not only is he smart, talented, creative, and very handsome, he gets extra points in my book for hanging out in the kitchen and visiting with us one day when his mom had me and a few other women over for coffee. That’s one of the bravest things a guy can do, and I’ve gotta hand it to him.
APPLAUSE APPLAUSE APPLAUSE
Musical talent?
He’s got it. Not only did I get a nice guitar serenade during our session, Travis also plays violin in the top orchestra at Katy High School — a group that performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City earlier this year. Take all that musical talent and tie it in with his love of steampunk and a little time to play around in the studio, and we came up with some mighty fun images for him, don’t you think?
I also LOVE LOVE LOVE his sense of style. With his suspenders and bow tie, Travis joins a long list of notable leaders, celebrities, and commentators who could probably run the world if they chose to.
He’s in good company!
He also volunteers with an EMS team and in a clinical setting at one of our local hospitals.
I’m beyond impressed with Travis and so excited to see what life after graduation has in store for him. THRILLED that I got to be the one who created his senior portraits.
Congratulations, Travis!
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?
by Shelly | Jan 28, 2014 | event, senior portraits |
What a night of fashion fun and entertainment!
Last night I covered the Be Dazzled Fashion Extravaganza at Taylor High School, where the Bold and the Beautiful Mustangs Strutted their Style.
This Eighth Annual Fashion Extravaganza is one of several fund raisers benefiting Project Grad. Check out our evening here, and then pop on over to the Fashion Extravaganza page on SPCcreative.com to check out all the pictures of the evening and select your favorites.
AND DON’T FORGET TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FASHION EXTRAVAGANZA SENIOR PORTRAIT SPECIAL.
CALL before the end of January to set up your Senior Portraits, and receive a $50 credit toward your final order. We can shoot later, after it warms up a bit if you like, we just need to know you’re going to need a spot on the calendar.
We started our evening with a delightful selection of formal and prom wear.
Elegance is always fashionable, but it’s much more fun to throw in a little mischief and shenanigans. These kids were not at a loss for some silliness and snickers.
Most run of the mill style shows might follow their formal wear with a casual or cruisewear segment, but not in Katy-Gosh-Dern-Houston-Texas.
Nothing but Rodeo Wear will do. And FINE Rodeo Wear at that!
‘ Texas National Outfitters provided most of the clothes in this segment. Is it okay to call boots cute? Theirs are the BOMB! I’ll have to go try me on a pair or two very very soon!
A gal can’t have too many boots …. can she?
In all reality, Texas has two seasons — Not Football Season and Football Season.
Since each of these kids are about to graduate from high school, they’re eagerly looking forward to the excitement of GAME DAY on their respective new campuses.
Again, don’t miss out on our Fashion Extravaganza Senior Portrait Special — It won’t happen again and the calendar days are FLYING BY!
Here’s another link to check out and order all the pictures from the Extravaganza. Enjoy!
by Shelly | Jan 21, 2014 | family, kids, special project, women |
“How many slams in an old screen door? Depends how loud you shut it.
How many slices in a bread? Depends how thin you cut it.
How much good inside a day? Depends how good you live ’em.
How much love inside a friend? Depends how much you give ’em.” — Shel Silverstein
Kathe and Shelly have been best friends just about forever. And talk about coincidence, they grew up in my old hometown of Midland, Texas but I never knew either of them until Kathe moved to Houston. We met in Bible Study and bonded over our Midland roots and Kathe’s wonderfully wise and witty take on life in general.
These two amazing ladies take the time to get together several times a year, despite the eight hours of Texas Highway stretching between their homes — AND they’ve created a tradition of celebrating their daughters’ tenth birthdays BIG TIME. So, when Shelly’s youngest girls who happen to be twins were turning 10, Kathe decided that a spa day followed by a special portrait session would be a great way to cap off their week in Houston.
What a special time in life. K & K are definitely not little girls anymore, but they’re not quite teens yet either. The lingering sweet innocence of childhood still fills their souls, but if you look deep into those eyes you’ll see the gentle unfolding of strong and wise young women.
We focused most of our session on the birthday girls, but would have been amiss if we didn’t capture this precious sweet relationship that weaves its way through two generations
— mothers, daughters, sisters, friends.
Oh what a treasure! I’m so glad that I got to be a part of their celebration.
