Photo Sneak Peek | Mike, Meredith & Connor

Wow ... where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday I took Meredith's maternity pics with Connor, and guess what? Little dude is now three months old!  Here is a sneak peek at family pics of my brother Mike, sis-in-law Meredith and my nephew Connor.  


M, M, & C -- thanks so much for letting me capture these photos of you guys! 


With much love always,
-- S

Dance Like No One Is Watching

When I was little, I used to dance. Ballet, tap, jazz, and for a time, I also learned how to twirl a baton and did some gymnastics. Tap was totally my favorite. I started when I was four, and participated in several recitals. I was pretty good, possibly a bit better than most girls my age. My lessons started out with girls in my class grade, but I quickly moved in with the older girls because of my skills. At five or six, I used to ask my mom if we could go early, so I could watch and learn all the dances of just about EVERY class, even those of the teenagers. I loved watching them all! But after about six years, I decided to stop. That kind of dancing just wasn't as much fun for me anymore. But dancing for pure enjoyment, being moved by music, is still something I enjoy.


Last week, I attended a class on flash photography around downtown. Afterwards, some photog friends of mine and I decided to do an impromptu photo shoot. We were walking around, and came across a group of people by a water fountain, who were ... dancing! Like in the classic ballroom kind of way. They looked like they were having a good time, so free and uninhibited. It was pretty cool, and different, to see that in that location at that time of day. It reminded me of the quote: "Work like you don't need money, Love like you've never been hurt, And dance like no one is watching." Only I was ... with my camera, no less. haha. They didn't seem to mind.


Have a great Wednesday! -- S




"You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star." ~Friedrich Nietzsche

The G Family: A Birthday and Baby B

Isn't she just the cutest thing?  Little Miss M ... she's one of my favorite subjects to photograph.   She's just so expressive, and getting her to sing and dance the Itsy Bitsy Spider is oh so cute!!  She turned two earlier this month, and guess what?  She's got a little brother on the way very soon!   Check out a sneak peek from Tara, Scott and M's photo session last weekend!


Have a great Monday!  -- S

Nick: Senior Pics Sneak Peek

You may remember last week I posted pics from a recent family photo session.  Meet Nick, the graduating senior in their family!   Nick is a musician and plays the cello and violin, the latter of which is an instrument he chose to honor his grandfather, who played as well.  We chose the Kemah area to take his senior pics.  During spring break, it was super crowded and we had to wait a bit for people to walk by, but Nick was such a good sport about it all.  I totally love these photos of him ... it was worth the wait!


Here's a sneak peek at Nick's pictures!  Have a great Thursday!  -- S

Ticket to Ride to SXSW

This past Saturday, after being out in Houston most of the week, we found ourselves in the rare situation that we didn't have a gig, music practice, or a game to go to.  We were like "Whaaaatt? This is so weird." But we took full advantage of the day and decided to head downtown to get a glimpse of Austin during SXSW time.  What was kind of cool, though, was that we got there by train.  We drove to Cedar Park, left our beastmobile (my Excursion), jumped on a train (literally -- we were almost late!), and got dropped off right on 2nd St.  It was pretty sweet!


We walked around a bit, had lunch, and caught a little music here and there.  Oh, yeah ... and I took pictures.  Surprise, surprise, right?


Austin is known for its music and its eclectic, keep it weird style.  Not to disappoint, there was certainly some of that going on during SXSW.  But it makes for great pics!  Check them out below...


Have a great Wednesday!  -- S

Annie, Chris, Kate and Jon on the train ride.  Okay, yes, it was crowded, but we didn't care.  Sure beats driving and finding a parking space downtown!  

I think this A was meant for Austin, but of course, Annie had to stand by it too.  Kind of "it's all about me" thing!  I liked this wall in a local coffeehouse.  So reflective of the Austin music scene.

I've said before, every time I go downtown, I MUST take a picture of the Frost building.  I don't know what it is about it, especially because I'm not an architecture photographer, but I just like it.


These next two pictures were chalk images someone drew along 6th St.  Slightly edited for some color pop, but otherwise unaltered.

Annie and Kate, standing outside a new favorite store of theirs, Wild About Music.  It was so crowded on this sidewalk, so I had to work fast to snap this picture.

The kids wanted to stop for a little bit of frozen yogurt, and we found a little shop on 2nd St.  This collage wall was designed by the owner.  It may be hard to see it from here, but it was really pretty awesome.

Kate had a small casualty on the way back to the train and stubbed her toe pretty badly. She was a trooper and kept on going with a smile on her face, but when we got back on the train, she rested on her dad pretty quickly. Fun day, but yes, they were a bit tired once we got home.

Speed Limit 180 at the Austin Rodeo

Yes, I know two of them are mine, so I'm a proud mom.  But seriously ... these guys are pretty amazing!  Annie, Kate, Marley, Mason and Taylor ROCKED the Austin Rodeo this past Friday.  When you hear them play, it's sometimes hard to remember that they're still only ages 11 - 16.  They certainly got the attention of many people in the audience.


Here are some of my pics from their day at the rodeo.  Have a great Tuesday!  -- S

(Left) Annie on rhythm guitar and vocals.  She was excited to get a chance to play a little solo time too.  (Right) Kate on drums and vocals.  She was so funny.   She likes to drum barefoot.  Just before she went onstage, she came to me and asked "do you think people will think it's weird if I come upstage for my solo barefoot?"  I just smiled and said "Sweetie, this is Austin."  No shoes?  No problem! 

Taylor on lead guitar, Marley on bass.  Taylor's green and black guitar is a special one ... Marley designed and created it for her.  These girls are such incredible musicians!  I love watching both of them and how fast their fingers hit those strings! 

Mason ... the dude!! Yeah, I think he kinda enjoys being the only guy in the band.  What guy wouldn't like that?  

(Left) Taylor, during the count off from Kansas City into Wooly Bully.  (Right) Kate upstage to sing her solo Hit Me With Your Best Shot.  

SL180 in Austin!  Come see them at their next gig!  Check out the details below ...

Moonlight Sonata

I'd been out all day (with camera, of course), and totally forgot about Saturday evening's super moon appearance.  It was late, and I was lost in photo editing, as usual.  I happened to look at my phone, and I saw that I had received a text hours earlier.  It was from my daughters' former piano teacher, Lisa.  She sent just four words:  "Please photograph the moon!"  


Grateful for the reminder, I immediately stopped what I was doing and picked up my camera again.  There were a lot of clouds in the sky, which I like for moon shots because I think it adds a certain degree of mystique and depth to that kind of picture.  I was pretty happy with the end result.  I immediately thought of Moonlight Sonata, the one and only song I can play on piano.  


But what was more special to me, was that the text was a special request.  Lisa had thought of me as a photographer to capture the special moon moment.  Later, I saw a photography blog I follow was accepting moon pics to be considered for an upcoming post.  I sent mine in.  We'll see if my photo makes it, but regardless, I was happy to have received the request just the same.   Thanks so much Lisa!   


Here's my moon shot.  Have a wonderful Monday!  -- S


"When the moon, after covering herself with darkness as in sorrow, at last throws off the garments of her widowhood, she does not at once expose herself impudently to the public gaze; but for a time remains veiled in a transparent cloud, till she gradually acquires courage to endure the looks and admiration of beholders."  ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827

Moon over my driveway, last Saturday night.

 

Therese, John, Nick, Danny, Mary-Cate & Tony

We've known each other a long time.  Therese and my husband Jon have been friends since high school, and she was a part of our wedding.  This past weekend, Therese, her husband John, and their four kids -- Nick, Danny, Mary-Cate and Tony -- met me at a Houston park for some family pics.  Each of the kids have their own separate interests.  Besides the family pics, Therese and John also wanted to have each of them photographed with their respective activities.  Nick is also graduating this year, and I took his senior pics as well (more about that soon in another post).  It was so good to see them again and catch up!


Here's a sneak peek at our session.  TGIF & have a wonderful weekend!  -- S

(Left) John & Therese  (Right) Nick, Danny, Mary-Cate & Tony

(Left) Nick is a musician, and plays the cello and violin.  (Right) Danny plays football at school.

(Left) Tony is into mythology, while (right) Mary-Cate is a dancer.

A Double Celebration: Kendall & Sydney

This was the weekend for twins.  Besides always having my own twins (+ 1) around, I had the privilege of photographing two more sets of twin seniors.  On Saturday, my photography assistant Marisa and I went out to the Galveston Strand and the beach to photograph Kendall and Sydney.   I'm still going through all the pics, but here's a sneak peek at our photo session.  I'll think you'll agree ... these twins are 2 hot 2 handle!  


Have a great Thursday!  -- S

Kendall

Sydney

The H Family: Nick, Stephanie, Dustin & Rachel

I always have a good time on my photo shoots, but these four really had me laughing.  Nick, Stephanie, Dustin and Rachel were soooo great to work with and photograph.  The girls had their own photo session on Friday at the Armand Bayou Nature Center, and a couple of days later joined their brothers in Kemah to continue the shoot.  Twins Dustin and Rachel are graduating this year, Stephanie is graduating from college, and it had just been a while since they all took family pics together.  So happy I got the chance to photograph them all.  Here's a sneak peek of our photo sessions.  


Have a great evening!  -- S

(Left) Dustin, Rachel, Nick and Stephanie -- easy to photograph, but not easy to get them to stop laughing long enough to look at the camera.  haha  (Right)  Twins Rachel & Dustin

(Left)  Truly a personality shot of Nick, who really loves being around the water.  And this shot was taken with me trying to get him to be serious.  He kept cracking up!  (Right)  Dustin, the culprit in making his brother laugh (and me too)!

(Left) Rachel and (right) Stephanie, both so beautiful in these settings at Armand Bayou.  Earlier this week, I posted that I was excited about taking pictures in the weeds, no less.  Taking a look at Rachel's pic and Stephanie's below, I'm sure you can see why. 

Ain't Misbehavin'

Well, contrary to the blog post title, he IS misbehaving.  Within one week at school, Chris got his first conduct mark (for passing notes in class).  He told us "well, it's only my first one."  We agreed ... it was a first offense, told him that wasn't cool and not to do it again.  No big, right?  No, he decides to make up for lost time and got another conduct mark, like THE NEXT DAY.  This time for flicking food across the lunch table and hitting some other kid.  I said "Dude!  Really? What is up with that?"  More serious conversations on the expectations of lunch room behavior follow.  That must have gone through one ear and out the next.  Guess what little man did next?  Mmm hmm ... ANOTHER conduct mark a few days later, for taking a jump off the cafeteria stage.   Grrrr!  The next day when I took him to school, I said "have a good day, and please no more stage dives, okay??" 


I know he's being a typical kid, and just testing his limits at school.  It's frustrating when it happens, but I know it could be a whole lot worse.  If this is as bad as it gets (crossing my fingers here!), we'll be in good shape.  But still, for right now, he's being a little stinker.  


Me:  (after making cookies one day) "Chris, did you just eat another cookie?"
Chris:  "Uhhh ... no."
Me:  "Are you sure?"
Chris:  "Yeah .... uhhh, why?"
Me:  (looking at the scene below) "Hmmmm, no particular reason."  Yeah, right.  


Have a great Tuesday!  -- S

Weeds in the Spring Time

It's spring break, and I had a busy weekend shooting LOTS of pics!  This past Friday,  I headed out to Armand Bayou Center with my photography pal/assistant Marisa, who helped me photograph two gorgeous sisters (more about that in another post soon).  I'd not been there before, and generally speaking I like to scope out a photo shoot site ahead of time to check out lighting and get ideas on posing and good spots.  We found this cool lake, a house, some beautiful scenery.  But one of the best things we found?  Weeds.  Yeah, I said weeds.  The dead kind.  They were awesome!  Later this week, you'll see what I mean when I post a sneak peek of Rachel and Stephanie's photo session.  We were all pretty excited about those shots!

I usually throw out all those 'test' shots taken before a session, but these I liked these and decided they were keepers.  Here are a few pics of me and Marisa checking out the photo site.

Happy Monday!  -- S

Weeds ... not just a television show anymore.  :)