Seriously?

How is it fair that this 2 yo got a perfectly heart shaped pout? It's so wholly unfair to the rest of us.

We agreed to meet at 8 am to "beat the heat." Yeah, that worked out nicely... it was a blazing inferno even at that early hour.  Despite the heat, this session was so fun. You never know what to expect from kiddos this young, so you just have to go with the flow. And Mom sent me the nicest note afterwards, thanking me for the session.

6 days old

*sigh*

*sigh*

*sigh*

babies as sweet as this are not helping my urge to have another.

Another Quick Update

Boy am I swamped these days and working fast and furiously on client pictures!! This is just a quickie update... I realized I don't have many pictures of my Emily or my Presley on this blog, so I am adding some of Emily. Poor Presley has "photographer's kid" syndrome and runs, runs, runs and screams when I pull the camera out. I must have scarred her for life... seconds after giving birth, I was snapping away, the nurse left the room and told the grandmas that "Tracy's legs are still in the stirrups and she is snapping away!   I have never seen a woman grab her camera so quickly after giving birth!" Better than when I gave birth to Jude and the doctor and nurse had to tell me to put the camera away as he was coming within seconds and that I was not going to be able to take pictures of my own birth. True story!  In my defense, I wasn't trying to take my own pictures... I was trying to adjust the settings on my camera so my dear friend Krista could take the pictures!

Ok, I went off on a WAY TMI (that's "too much information" for those of you not used to texting) tangent. Oh well.

Just a Quick Update

Things have been a bit crazy around the Robinson household lately with sick kiddos, start of summer activities, and the birth of my new little niece to name a few. You can bet you'll be seeing a select few pix of the birth and some newborn shots in the near future!

What's a post without some pix?

Here was a 5 week old that just didn't want to give me many sleepy newborn shots (maybe bc 5 weeks is no longer newborn? are they considered "infants" at that point?), but we got some good "awake" shots anyway!

Something about the look on her sweet sweet face is so compelling to me...

And just a couple more of Sister and The Bubbas.

Can't you just see that last shot on canvas? I do love me some shabby chic vintagey pix!

Sister and the Bubbas

Does that not sound like a sweet 70s disco/rock band?  Well its not.. its my client!

Meet Sister.

Meet The Bubbas.

I seriously giggle a little everytime I remember that they call these boys The Bubbas. Its so perfect. I want to start calling my girls The Bubbas b/c its pretty much the coolest nickname EVER.

When I asked Mom how I could tell the twins apart so I would know what to call them, she said I probably wouldn't be able to, but that one of them had slightly darker green shoes than the other. And I wanted to ask her if she ever had trouble telling them apart but knew that was a stupid question for the mother of twins {grin}... so I kept quiet even though I really wanted to know... and STILL do want to know {wink!}.

Mom, hope the kids got their trip to the Disney store after you see their pictures and know we captured some good ones!

Nothing went right on this shoot...

... but somehow it all turned out OK. First of all, I went to the wrong location. Ummm- hello, doesn't everyone know that when you agree to meet at Fellowship of the Woodlands, that REALLY means meet at Woodlands United Methodist? DUH. Maybe scheduling a shoot with me should come with a disclaimer "photographer is NON spacial and does not know her way around. You MUST confirm location with her at least 3 times prior to the shoot."

O SNAP!

(I just couldn't bring myself to edit out the drool below)

So since I was already 30 minutes late, little Tristan had been running around in the wonderful crisp Texas weather (NOT) and was a bit on the er, sweaty side by the time I got there. I brought my 6 year old Emily along, as she is a fantastic photographer's assistant and her silly dance moves bring out smiles in even the most cranky toddlers. The huge fountain was a little too much for her take and within 5 minutes, she had gotten all the way in, totally clothed.- maybe I should rethink my strategy of using child labor.... I decided to let her play while we took some pictures of the kiddos.

However,  Tristan couldn't resist either, so within another 2 minutes, he was in the fountain as well. So off came the shorts and the rest of the photo shoot was done with him in his little blue polo shirt and new "Cars" underoos.

BUT, the session turned out GREAT! Look at these candid shots. This is what being a boy is all about. Running around splashing in your underoos. Little girls often like dressing up and getting their picture taken. Little boys like running. And getting dirty. And flying like superheros!  Love it. Left the shoot with the biggest smile on my face knowing I got some fantastic candids.

Too bad dad couldn't make it. Oh wait, here is a picture of him. 

 (Ok, that's my attempt at being funny b/c the family resemblance is SOOOO STRONG!)

Another funny part of the shoot... when we were finishing up, my husband brought my kiddos out to say hello (we all go way back ;)) and my girls, who were dressed up in their princess outfits, ALSO had their Cars underoos on.  Why do my girls wear little boy's underwear you may ask? Why the answer is simple. Because they have "pockets," of course.

Justa few pix

Just sharing a few pix I snapped of a colleague's sweet little girl. She doesn't know many words yet, but she does call her dad "Bob." In case you were wondering, his name is nothing close to Bob. Awesome.

 I do love a good reflective surface ;)

The many faces of Macie Paige

I wonder what it is about chunky, roly poly babies that makes my brain get a little fuzzy and my mouth start to salivate a little.  Is there some physiological reason embedded in the female brain that causes this to happen? I once got so frustrated that my 3 girls were fighting over anything that was pink, that I googled "little girls" and "color pink" to find out WHY they were so enamored with this particular shade. Turns out there are a myriad of theories about why little girls and women gravitate towards pink. Many of the theories centered around women being gatherers in ancient times and pink being a sign of ripe fruit. Anyhoo- I'm wondering if there are similar theories about fat chunky babies and why they cause women to get all mushy inside and say things like "I just want to eat her!" They are absolutely delicious!

Although I love these pictures that were taken at my Jude's 2nd bday party, they just don't do the rolls justice. Good thing we have another shoot scheduled for July. I can't wait to get my camera on the pure chunkiness of Macie. I've told Mom she needs to put Macie on a diet of vanilla shakes and chicken wings until the shoot to ensure the same level of roundness.

I do love how storyboards like the one above display. Sometimes pictures are more effective when displayed in groups. This one is a 20x10 and captures the many expressions of this little sweetie. 

Backward Blogging

I took these several weeks ago, so I am backward blogging these pictures! In the second pic, Jack's mouth was full of goldfish, but I absolutely LOVED the photo... so the only way I could hide the bright orange goldfish was to convert the picture to black and white :)

A Lesson in Cropping

One of the common subjects I have a difficult time articulating to my clients is how cropping affects their pictures. It is much easier to illustrate with a few pictures. The majority of pictures I will give clients in their online gallery are displayed in a 2:3 (vertical) or 3:2 (horizontal) ratio. Occasionally a picture will just lend itself to a different shape, so I crop it in a square picture (for example). So, assuming the picture I have shown you in your online gallery is in this 2:3 ratio (which 99% of them will be), you need to keep this in mind when ordering. If you like the picture EXACTLY as it is and want zero cropping to occur, you will want to order a size that is in that 2:3 ratio. Such as 6x9, 8x12, 12x18 etc.

See picture of my Kaylee below.  It does not have a lot of negative space at the top and bottom, meaning the top of her head is pretty close to the top of the picture, and there is not much of the tree stump she is sitting on taking up space at the bottom of the picture.  It would look good in any of these sizes (4x6, 6x9, 8x12 etc.) and the exact proportions of the picture would remain intact.

Now, let's examine how the picture will look if cropped into another common size, 5x7 (picture above left). It still looks OK, but I much prefer the 2:3 ratio, as it leaves a little more negative space at the top and bottom. If you wanted this picture to display on a table and wanted something close to a 5x7, the 6x9 would probably be a better option.

Now if the picture is cropped into another common size, 8x10 (picture on top right), it just doesn't work. Part of her head is cut off as well as her hands and the tree stump she is sitting on.  You lose the impression of where she is sitting, and I don't know about you, but I like the tree stump she is sitting on, I think it adds a lot to the picture. A much better option would be 8x12.

(However, sometimes artistic cropping is desirable and all rules are thrown out the window. But not in this picture.)

Which brings us to another quandry.

Where in the heck do you find 8x12 or 6x9 frames or mats?  Do you have to then pay extra for custom framing? NO! In the Houston area, one of my favorite frame stores is Aaron Brothers. They carry all the funky sizes in a lot of different colors and styles. There are also a myriad of online retailers (like this one here ) that sell frames in "off" sizes.  Of course, you could always buy the print on canvas, which comes ready to hang and won't need to be framed.

Stay tuned for more display tips!

Happy Birthday to My Little Man

That's my guy on the right with his homie Jack, who was born a day before him.

Happy Birthday little man. I can't believe you are two. Now would be a good time to stop growing. I'll even commit to changing your diapers for the next 20 years if you will slow down.  What's that you say? You WILL stop getting bigger and your cuteness and curly hair and dimples will be preserved forever? Right on.  Thank you for listening to mommy.

Baseball and Apple Pie

I wasn't even planning on taking pictures of little Ethan, but he was HAMMING it up for me during another shoot. My camera, as you can see, was LOVING him. Oh, how I love, love, love short blond hair and blue eyes and missing teeth on little boys. The combo is just so All-American and sweet and innocent and WONDERFUL to me.

Help Wanted

                

Mom's RULE!

I'm so stinkin jealous I don't have any pictures like this with me of my kids. I am resolving to give my camera to my husband today, set it to automatic and instruct him to snap away so I can get some pictures of me and my kiddos. 

HAPPY MOTHER' DAY!

Although I love this picture...

It's missing a vital element. And that is- because it was not taken vertically, you miss out on the most wonderous chunky monkey thighs this side of the Mississippi. I'm talking rolls people. Love em. They are really a sight to behold.

Sharing the Love...

I can't get enough of this organization's music. They have generously allowed me to use their music on my website, so I will be loading more of it soon.

Dare you to watch the video and NOT smile, even THOUGH the music isn't even in English. Impossible.



Chanda Mama from Playing For Change on Vimeo.

A Beautiful Morning in The Heights/{Houston Baby Photographer}

Carly's neighbor told me I had one of the toughest jobs in the world because trying to coax a 1 year old to look where you want them to look and to smile on cue is pretty much impossible.  Which I most definately agree with. But I would venture to say that children provide you with the most natural and candid moments, which make for even better photography!  Here Ms. Carly got SOOO excited when a friend and her dog unexpectedly walked past our shoot during their morning stroll. Thank YOU friend!

PS:  Everyone's got those words that they can just never remember how to spell correctly. As evidenced by the above, "definetly" is one those words for me. ARGH- must get dictionary and figure that word out.

Some Practice Shots/{Houston Children's Photographer}

{SQEAL!} Rented a new lens to see if I liked it before I had to mortgage my house to actually buy it... I'm in love!  It's a little tricky to use and is going to take a lot of practice to get used to it... since I already made up my mind to sell half my clothes and my husband's golf club to be able to afford it.

Here are some of the first few pix I took with it (which are already some of my favorite pix of Kaylee!)

ALSO. If you like the music on my site (the rendition of Stand by Me), then I encourage you to go to the Playing for Change website . This organization released their first album this week. In their own words,

"The album demonstrates that regardless of our religion, race, gender, or political views we can unite through music. The time is now to unite as a human race and this global collaboration driven by your love and encouragement is designed to lead us in that direction."


If you want some serious goosebumps, head on over to their site and sample some of their music. I can almost guarantee it will be the best 5 minutes of your day today.



And here is something you don't often see photographers do on their blogs (since they only typically show their best pix).  This is what I normally get when I try to take pictures of my own children.  Poor things are probably pretty tired of having a camera stuck in front of their nose every day. 

Enjoy the lovely outtake of my Kaylee ;)!

quite possibly.../{Houston Baby Photographer}

one of my favoritest shots ever! and i know thats probably not a word, but i dont care!

and this one was one of mom's favorites ;)

Yummy/{Houston Children's Photographer}

another mom who can't bear the thought of cutting her baby's hair. the minute you cut their hair, they stop looking like your little baby and more like a little boy... boo hoo! i feel your pain! and anyway, owen looks super cool with his longish hair, like a surfer/skater/high school musical type of cool.

have you ever seen such amazing coloring on a little boy? that dark hair and those big dark blue eyes. oh he is so yummy!!

here he is in utter delight licking a dried up leaf. this is real life folks, a 1 year old enjoying all of nature's little gifts.

I'm ready for SUMMER!

I know I still need to work on the look and feel of this blog, but *sigh* it's so hard to do THAT, when I could be doing THIS...

hello, i'm under construction/{The Woodlands Children's Photographer}

please excuse the yucky layout and header while i'm getting fixed up. thank you.
xoxox, mr. blog.

and because i don't like posting without a picture...