Gift Certificates!

SOOOOOOOOOOO my friend, police-officer extraordinaire Jodi is working on a fundraiser for a sweet baby girl with a life threatening heart condition. I am going to donate a photography session and a print in their raffle (hint hint, buy a raffle ticket from Jodi). In the meantime, I had these groovey gift certificate cards printed up and although I only needed one, the minimum I could order was 25. 

Know anyone with a baby on the way? Know a family who gets boring mall studio prints of their children and could use a change of pace and a new vision?   Buy a gift certificate from me! To sweeten the pot, I will add on 25% as a freebie and thank you for helping me get rid of these and making me feel like I didn't waste the paper they were printed on!

You can order whatever denomination you want, since I had these printed with space to add that info in. Genius, I know.

Of course, this is only for new sessions and not for sessions already booked. I'm not THAT nice!

So start your Christmas shopping early!  Email me for more details!

San Antonio Road Trip, Part Uno

Part Uno of my shoots in San Antonio. These two have the big ol' brown eyes - making photographing them a breeze! And I got quite the lesson in space travels and astronomy from this wee one.

His sister didn't have quite as much to say... yet anyway.

Pop Art!

When mom told me she was considering some pop art for her little girls room, I set off to figure out how to make it happen. Seriously, how fun is this?

Now I'm going to do the same for Emily's room, I LOVE IT!

some BIG announcements and... ways to earn a FREE session!

Hey there blog readers. I've got some big announcements concerning my business that I am very excited about! This is a looonnnnggggg post, so read all the way through!

Announcement #1
I'm expanding into the high school seniors market! I tried my hand at it during a recent workshop and fell in love! Senior girls actually WANT to get their pictures taken, and I don't have to chase them around and tell them potty jokes to get their attention...it's like a whole new world for me! Not that I don't LOVE my active toddlers, but you know what I mean.

Some sample images:

Soooo, since this is a new market, I have some amazing modeling opportunities for senior girls. So senior girls, email or call me! We'll chat about some seriously discounted sessions that will be FUN, FUN, FUN!!

I promise, with hand over heart, that there will be NO big wooden numbers with your class year allowed at my photo shoots. Scout's honor. Maybe if you are lucky, I WILL show you my own senior pictures with just that.

Nope. I lied. Those will stay hidden in a box for eternity.

More sample images:

Announcement #2
Location, Location, Location- that's a mantra in real estate and should be in photography too. I wish I had oodles of free time to go location scouting and test shooting, but sadly, I don't. I'm one busy gal. So I am trying something new and am calling upon you to help me out! Anyone that suggests a new location, per the parameters I define below, that I end up falling in love with will get their session fee waived- to be redeemed between now and 6/1/2010. Yep, that's right- who said nothing in life is FREE?!?!?

See how excited this little guy is about my offer? Yipee!

Here's the deal:

• It has to be somewhere NEW that I have never shot at or scouted before, and I have to love it. You'll just have to trust me and take my word for it.
• It has to be safe and we've got to have permission to shoot there (if required).
• These things are good: old structures, peeling paint, rustic elements, open fields, orchards, old cars, junkitty junk. All of the pictures on this post (including the above senior pictures) are what I have in mind. Don't worry if YOU don't think it will be a good location, if it has these things, I will probably love it and be able to make it work.
• These things are not what I am looking for: new construction, pretty flowers, rock waterfalls, well groomed parks, a dozen mangy pit bulls protecting the property...
• Anyone that has already booked a session in 2009 with me that finds an awesome new location will get another, separate session to be redeemed anytime in 2010.

So this is an example of how it will work:

You: Ring, Ring. "Hey Tracy, my third cousin Lyle that is married to my best friend's cousin's half sister has this farm with lots of old barns and junk laying around. I think he grows green tomatoes there. It's pretty junky, but you said you liked that kind of stuff, its about 20 miles away!"

Me (with finger twirling through hair): "Omigosh! That sounds like, totally awesome and completely rad! I'll go check it out. Is he OK with me going out there?"

You: "Yes, definitely. Here is his number."

Me: (10 days later) "Wow, thanks for the suggestion, I checked out the farm. It's definitely what I had in mind! Let's schedule a time to go shoot out there!"

See people? It's THAT easy!

With neighbors like Magnolia, Conroe, and Tomball, there's got to be lots of rustic goodness around! Help be my eyes- you've probably driven past places like this a gazillion times and not thought twice about them.

And now some more yumminess:

Announcement #3

My strength is in child photography. I'm going to focus on this for a while (and HS seniors), as it is what I do best, and what I love the best. Does this mean I won't take family pictures anymore? Not neccessarily. I will definitely take a few family shots during sessions, but I'm not going to pose you. So just know that when you book me, you are primarily booking a children's photographer that will primarily be shooting your children - AND I would love to get a couple of candids of your family during the children's shoot, but that I'm not posing you. So you'll have to help me out here if you want some candid shots and interact and play with your kids at some point during the shoot. Tickle them, play airplane, give them zerberts, throw them in the air... you get my drift? You're going to have to WORK it ;)!


Announcement #4
My prices went up effective July 10, 2009. Why? Because, by golly, I'm worth it and people like me! Contact me for the latest and greatest.

Am I making any sense at all people? Do ya hear me? Can I get a fist pump?!?

That's what I'M TALKING about.

(I've had way too much caffeine this morning. WAAAYYYY tooooo mmmuuuuccccchhhhh)

Goodbye for now.

Olivia Capri

Sixth birth I have photographed and it just keeps getting better. Every time I have the privilege of photographing a birth, I walk around with a goofy grin on my face for about 13 hours because its SO COOL. I mean the female body is completly amazing. I say with all honesty that I feel sorry for men because they will never get to experience pregnancy and childbirth. We women ROCK.

This one was especially cool because not only was it my sister in law giving birth to my amazing new niece, but one of my BFFs was her labor nurse, which made it even sweeter.  She made it look REE-DICULOUS-LY easy, unlike my first, which was a sweet combination of panic, begging for an epidural, whining, with just a touch of cursing for that added punch. And believe it or not- still one of the highlights of my life.

From this...

To this...

You can expect many, many, many more pictures of this beauty featured in the very near future.

ERR 99

"Shooting not possible"

That is something no photographer wants to see on their LCD screen at the beginning of a shoot. Yet it was exactly what I saw after only shooting a total of 3 pix of this little blue eyed beauty. In terms of how cool I felt, I rank it right up there with the time I had to call my IT department and tell them I lost a key on my laptop keyboard. Yes folks, there is a reason that little can of compressed air exists to clean keyboards. Its so people like me won't feel the need to "see what will happen" when a vacuum hose is used to get the cracker crumbs out (insert Aggie joke here please).

Their response by the way was "well, at least you are honest... I know other people have done the same thing and lied about how it happened!"

Mom was SO sweet and understanding. I promise I will make it up to you guys!

Happy 4th of July!

She typically lasts all of 2 minutes letting me take her picture. Today, she lasted three.