Twas the Night Before Christmas...

These are some shots from Christmas eve. You'll see kids decorating cookies for Santa, writing letters to Santa, feeding the reindeer on the patio, and then the visions of "after" Santa left the presents and stuffed the stockings. Shhh... Santa just left... ;-) (Remember: you can click on the slideshow above to go to the gallery.)

Our Sea World Adventure

I had time this morning to sort through and select photos, so I was a good Momma and put a batch of photos from this weekend online. ENJOY! (Remember: you can click on the slideshow above to go to the gallery.)

Sea World

I needed to get away for the weekend, so after picking the kids up after work on Friday we hit the road to San Antonio and had a Sea World kind of weekend. They sure know how to suck the money out of your pockets there, but we had a great time and memories (and photos) to last a lifetime. I wish I could tell all the stories here, like when Ivan touched a dolphin for the first time and excitedly told Bianca, "It's feels like touching wet leather!" I giggled and couldn't help but mutter under my breath, "That's because they ARE leather," and Ivan looked at me quizzically so I added, "As a matter of fact, Ivan, YOU are made of leather... just a different sort." I'm sure those comments will come back in some confusing conversations at a later date. I can already hear Michael asking me, "WHAT did you tell the kids!?"

Anyway, fun times. I can't wait to post more photos. You just gotta see Bianca's face painting. Wow. Another story begging to be told.

Face Painting

Bianca has been begging since the spring Ft Worth Main St. Arts Festival to have real face painting done. She saw the kiosk at Sea World and I was silly enough to tell her we would do it before we left. Today it was time to leave and she had not forgotten! I was crazy enough to pay $16 to have my daughter's face painted... with GLITTER too... and then spent 20 minutes scrubbing the paint off her face in the bathtub with every makeup remover I could find in my bathroom cabinet, and then it stained my bathtub purple! She still has a purple tint on her face and looks freakish. GIGGLE! The things
we do for our little girls.

Feeding the Dolphins

Crazy Purple Thing

(That would be me.)

That's me about a month ago. The photo was taken at the home of some photography friends when I was showing off new lighting gadgets. I got a Pocket Wizard controller for my Canon 580EXII speedlight so I can trigger it wirelessly off camera on a light stand shooting into an umbrella. Then I did what Don Macgregor would do and I metered the background to determine the shutter speed to match the background ambient light to the flash illumination on the subject and... viola. Suh-weeet!

School Photos - Fall 2008

These are Ivan and Bianca's school photos. Ivan is really looking comfortable in front of the camera these days. Boy have we come a long way with him! Bianca is proud of having lost two teeth. You can see by her awkward smile she is showing off those grown up teeth popping through on the bottom.

Compare these to last years goofy grins... (click here)

Halloween Weekend 2008....

....or, alternatively, "It's about damn time you put up some new family photos!" I thought I was busy before I had this full-time day job gig. For those of you who haven't heard or haven't cared, I'm working a day job downtown Fort Worth in one of the Bass Buildings doing super top secret investment research for an unnamed company at an undisclosed location. (Of course I'm being over-dramatic. Is there any other way to be?) :-) It's late! I should be in bed! I'm punchy! Nevermind! Just look at the photos!!!!!

Dreamy Memories of a Wisconsin Summer Sunday

I am finally getting down to sorting through the thousand photographs of the kids from our summer visit in Wisconsin. More to come... I was particularly tickled with these images. Enjoy!

Country Girl at Heart

Visit to Wichita Falls - Sept 13 & 14

We weren't running from Hurricane Ike, but we did migrate north for the weekend to visit grandparents.

Here are some images from the visit:

September 2008 - Riding Bike, Losing Teeth, Playin' Around

Click on the photo/s below to be taken to the album. This batch of photos follows the kids on their bikes, Bianca losing her first two teeth, and Bianca teaching me how to be a ballerina... make sure to laugh at the big fluffy red slippers!

Ivan's Custom Bike Photo

We took the kids out to the school parking lot today so they could ride bike for a while. I haven't taken many photos since the Wisconsin trip (and I still need to post those online!!!), so I took my camera along to get some shots of the kids on their bikes. This evening the kids asked to do some fun stuff with their photos, so I gave them their introductory lessons in using Adobe Photoshop CS3. Ivan loved his creation so much he wanted to share it! ENJOY! (PS... if you would like to offer my 8 year old son a graphic arts job, please email me to discuss his salary requirements. *giggle*)

Happy Anniversary - 10 Years

Tonight was our 10th anniversary, so we took the kids to the drop in day care center and went out on a dinner date to our favorite sushi restaurant.

A Newer ME!

I'll be blunt. The photos from end of April in College Station were a wake-up call. Time to lose weight and get back to being mean and fit. I've been working diligently for a month and getting positive comments from those around me. *cheer* My friends at my certified professional photographer study group wrangled me into doing a portrait session after our meeting this week. Here are a couple of my favorites... but these are still classified as "before" photos in my mind. We're going to do this again in two months as motivation to keep on the right track and keep working toward my goal of being a hot momma again. ;-)

Happy Birthday Ivan! (belated)

Although his birthday was a couple weeks ago, last weekend we were finally able to schedule a party together with Ivan's grandparents from out of town. Poor kid, with the end of school always confusing the calendar around his birthday, he rarely gets a real KID birthday party. We tried this year, but the invites went out late and never got a call from any of the parents. What can ya do? (It doesn't help that the school he goes to isn't exactly the demographics we had in the suburbs. Living downtown is just... "different." Let's just say it's very "diverse" and although we try to avoid generalizations and stereotypes, some how they seem to stand up when it comes to parent and community involvement.)

We can only do what we can do, and we've done what we could.

So for now, enjoy the photos. I'll try to go back in time and post more as the week goes by. With the kids out of school I'm home more, but the time is more interrupted as well.

May-June 2008

Another ME Favorite

What can I say, it's not everyday you have an international award winning photographer photograph you! So much fun. Mahalo, again and again.

Doll Faces

We went out to play at the playground this afternoon and I captured these images of the kids to practice some of the new ideas I learned at photography school this past week. Such sweet faces on these dolls, my children.

A DJH Original

I just got home this afternoon from spending a week at an international photography school with 995 other professional photographers. I was in a class with 30 photographers studying the nuances and intricacies of creating fine art family portraiture wall decor. My instructor was a highly-lauded portrait artist from British Columbia who blew us all away with the things he taught us to see and the way he taught us to shape and mould light in our photography. WOW! I am so excited and amazed coming home from that experience.

The above portrait of myself was created by my new buddy Douglas, a photographer from Hawaii who was my fast friend and kindred spirit this week. To my friend who worked with me with great patience and tenderness to create a portrait from the heart, Mahalo , Douglas. Aloha pumehana mau loa.

Spring Portrait Poster

I'm starting my rounds on day care and spring event photos, so I needed an announcement poster to print... my kids were gracious enough to work with me (sort of) tonight and I at least got them to stand still enough to catch a few passable head shots. If they were "real" portraits of them I would have worked on getting more real expressions, but this was good for a quickie. Just wanted to share the fun.

Happy Birthday Bianca

Bianca is 5 years old now! She's been waiting for this for a year now. The day after she turned 4 last year she was telling everyone, "I'm almost 5." We're not sure what's so magic about 5, but she's tickled to have gotten here.

Here are some photos taken this week around Fort Worth. We met some of her MOMS Club friends at the Children's Museum and then she begged for me to stop at the park. I was exhausted, but she was playing ham for the camera and I couldn't resist her pleas (and her please!). *giggle*

These photos will become 2-page spreads in a glossy, hard-bound coffee table style book. Try to use your imagination. :-)

Fiesty

This was Bianca after school today. Taking pictures only lasted a few minutes until she abruptly informed me it was potty time.

World Traveler

This was Ivan after picking him up at school. (And then spending an hour adding effects and vintage papers and retouching and you get the idea...) I just loved the soft window light on his face in the hallway when we came into the building. So precious.

Album: San Antonio Trip - January 2008

San Antonio Trip - January 3-7, 2008

Click on the Alamo thumbnail photo above to see the whole album. As of the time of posting I have not put captions on the photos. I'll get around to it, someday, just like I finally got around to posting the photos. :-P Anyway, in brief, these are photos from our mini family vacation at the end of Christmas break for the kids. Also note the river, as in the Riverwalk River, was drained while we were there. You know, they don't give you a heads up about that when you book your hotel. *blah* At least it wasn't crowded then, but the kids were sure ticked off that they didn't get to do the river ride with dinner. Oops, maybe next time.

Old Pics, New Looks

 

 

 

These are vintage family photos circa fall 2003. I was digging through some old photo archive drives and some of these really tugged at my heart strings so I paused for (*ahem* an hour or two) and did some quick digital scrapbooking. It's not like the old days of craft scissors and double-sided adhesive runners, but I can still feel the TLC going into the work. Just wanted to share some memories - enjoy.

Western Day

 

The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo is in town this month. The kids got some coupons for a free visit to the stock show from school, and there was some buzz about no school this Friday. (As if we're going to take our kids there... well, I would, but Michael is anti-rodeo because he thinks it is animal cruelty.) Anyway, I wake up at 7:05 this morning to hear the kids telling their father, "We can't wear our normal school uniforms because it's WESTERN DAY today!" Oh my. I didn't get much notice on this one. Last night I was out at a photography seminar late and didn't get home until midnight. Then I wake up groggy and have to think fast... the kids each have cowboy hats and I gave Bianca a genuine Panhandle Slim cowgirl shirt for her birthday last year. But Ivan's cowboy boots are a few sizes too small now.... hmm.... well, this was the best I could muster. Ivan had to wear his normal shoes, but at least they were black and sort of blend in with his outfit. (Sorry for the sock feet in the photo. I wasn't given much time to capture this before they had to head out for school.)

A Purse By Any Other Name...

...or in this case it really is a tote bag...

I did some portrait sessions with my own kids this week to prepare Valentine's Day promotional materials. We had gotten into a conversation about how children in clothing and toy catalogs and commercials always look like they are having so much fun, that is what makes you want to buy what they are selling. So then they started asking about the advertising that I did for my portrait studio and, long story short, they decided that THEY were going to be my models. They didn't want me putting other people's children on my purses and totebags! It was a classic, memorable moment. It also prepped them to be oh so cooperative and we had great artistic collaboration. They enjoyed coming up with posing ideas and it became one grand party.

For anyone interested, I have a catalog page of handbags and prices online. Sizes range from cosmetic bags and lunch boxes up to pretty satchels and baby bags with everything in between. Email me for details!

ALBUM: "Urban Kid" Photodocumentary Series

Urban Kid

{{{ click on the photo above to see the whole album }}}

I've been promoting my idea of taking kids out on the town for cool, splashy color, urban-themed action photography. It's portraiture after a big guzzle of Dr. Pepper, bouncing off the walls, and loving every moment. (No, I don't actually give your child caffeinated soda to drink. I don't even give my kids Dr. Pepper. :-)

Ivan loves to have his hair spiked into a faux-hawk, as our barber once called it. I thought it would be a perfect fit to take him to this restaurant where all the walls are bright graffiti and let him show me his sillier side.

Enjoy!