When the mood strikes...

I was in an "let's play with some pictures and editing tools in Photoshop" mood late last night, and decided this one, which originally had a completely blown out sky (i.e. stark white) due to having to expose for the couple needed some playing with. I recently acquired some sky overlays, and was excited to be able to try one out...I think it turned out quite nice! The picture looks more cohesive now and that makes me happy. :-)

My son, the cowboy {sugar land, tx children photographer}

...the cowboy who wanted to nothing to do with his cowboy hat and boots the ONE time I REALLY wanted him to wear them. Sigh. :-P At least I still got some insanely adorable pictures...I've been wanting to do this for his 2 year old pictures for two months now!

North Carolina in the Summer

I realized I never posted some of the pictures I took of Ian while we were visiting my husband's parents in NC, so I wanted to share at least a couple of my favorites. It is so beautiful and lush there during the summer...although right about this time I'd really love to be there for some snow...

At any rate, my little boy is so cute in a hat...he gets that from his daddy.

An Evening at the Beach {sugar land, tx family photographer}

My husband, son and I were in Galveston for a couple days last week. It was our son's first time to see the ocean and walk on the beach. He wasn't so sure about walking around barefoot in the sand OR about getting so close to the water. But I got some wonderful pictures of father and son that I just had to share!

Daniel & Corey {sugar land, tx couple photographer}

Sneak Peek: A Sweet Couple

The handsome dude is my "little" (but much taller than me, ha) brother Daniel, and his sweet girlfriend Corey who were visiting my parents in Austin this past weekend. We went over to visit as well and I took them out for a fun, impromptu photo shoot. I'll be posting the rest of the session in a few days. I just wanted them to get to see a couple. :-)

Rock the Shot Macro Entry - Purple Daisy

I was excited when I saw Rock The Shot's theme this month for their contest was macro photography since I've been slightly obsessed with it lately. Now I don't have a fancy, expensive macro lens...I have a little $12 lens attachment my father found on Amazon that turns my 50mm into a very nifty macro lens! After looking through some of my favorites, this was the one I picked...the vibrant colors wouldn't stop pulling me back. I don't know if it's really a daisy...I figure it's probably some variety at any rate.

I Heart Faces Contest Entry - "Happiness"

Yep, time for another contest entry. I love entering these things. Since this one has the theme of Happiness, I HAD to use this one. To my son, bliss is tearing around on the golf course we live on...while Mommy attempts to chase him around with a camera. Haha. :-)

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge - Beautiful Black and White

 I just had to enter this picture of my son sitting in his grandmother's lap while they read a book. It's far from a perfect picture, but it feels very lifestylish and I love it.

A big red barn and a cute little baby

As an aspiring photographer, I am of course inspired by what I've seen other photographers do. One thing that I have seen several do is do sessions in front of big old barns. Unfortunately there seems to be a lack of cool old barns in the Houston area. And even if there WERE some (which there must be somewhere), I have no idea how one would go about getting permission to use it.

So on a recent trip to North Carolina to visit the in-laws, I noticed the plethora of old barns...and was then insanely excited to see the giant red barn that is next door to my husband's late grandmother's house. It couldn't have been more perfect! So here are just a few of the pictures I took. The last one is actually taken by my mother-in-law after a quick crash course on how to focus and take a picture on my camera! She did pretty well. :-) It's one of the few pictures I actually have of me with my own child!

Ian continues to pursue golf...

Now that my child can walk and almost run, getting him to sit still for pictures is impossible. So the next best thing? Give him a plastic golf club and take him out on the golf course behind the house and chase him around while attempting to take in focus pictures. Happily enough, I actually succeeded!