Goin' to the Chapel

First of all, please accept my sincere apology for the lack of bloggage as of lately. It's been hectic and I've been working tons lately. Today I am taking a much needed day off (yet, here I sit.. kinda working-ha!). But, I really had to share some highlights from a few recent sessions.

Yesterday the daughter of a former co-worker got married. It was so neat to see this day come. I remember when she was in high school and about to enter college. Now she's a grown woman, and had the sweetest wedding ever. Congratulations MacKenzie and Kyle!!

Halloween Mini's

Okay, so everyone thinks they have the cutest kid ever. And, I'm quite sure most of us do, indeed, have the cutest kids EVER. So, Halloween is not a time to be missed or taken lightly. We get our munchkins all dressed up and take them trolling the neighborhood for one night. A few snapshots along the way clearly do NOT do this event justice. So, here's what I've done...

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I do have a few spots left. So, Email me NOW before they fill up! These are going to be so super fun- not just for the kids, but for mom and dad too. And imagine the scrapbook pages to be made from these pictures! Message me at mulberrylanestudio@gmail.com. I hope to hear from you!!

Utter Adorability.

I have to admit, the events of happenings since midnight on Saturday are a bit of a blur. See, as it happens, this nasty thing called a migrane moved into my head and parked. It did nasty nasty things to me for a few days, and wouldn't leave until I hit it with a massive amount of what must have been really great drugs, because really and truly, I don't remember squat. In fact, to anyone I may have come in contact with between Saturday night and Tuesday morning.... there must be SOMETHING for me to apologize for (even if it was insolent whining). Thankfully, though, I did spend most of that time in bed. Now, however, I do still feel a bit like I've been run over by a Mack truck. The truck was nice enough to spare my life, but not so nice as to not leave track marks across my forehead. In the midst of all of this- I did the unthinkable- a baby session.

The Lord does work in mysterious ways. Knowing I had the session coming up, I took no medication from Tuesday morning on. Surprisingly enough, I felt pretty much fine. The time for the session came, and I drove down to the location. A bit tired, but not groggy. No jackhammer waiting to barrel into my temple at any given moment. Downing a full bottle of water on the way, I psyched myself up for a good session. Props in hand, I was excited to meet little 8 month old Colby. I love babies, so no worries there. Truth be told, though, babies don't always like to be photographed. So, sometimes you get happy, smiley babies. And, sometimes not. And we all know what the "not" is like. Not that they're not adorable when they're "not". But they can be a little more difficult to work with. Just sayin... Usually the attitude of the little one is not determined until he or she meets you and decides if they are in the mood to be photographed that day.

Well, boy did I ever get lucky. From the moment this little guy got lifted out of his carseat, he was all smiles. He truly made my night. Smiling, laughing, just being genuinely adorable in general.... he was a doll. Fast forward to 30 minutes later. I'm sitting in my car after what was the easiest, quickest and most fabulous baby shoot in the history of Mulberry Lane Studio. Seriously? Nevermind that, now that the adrenaline rush of the shoot is over, my head is about to explode, and I just might keel over of general exhaustion (I mean really- I didn't work that hard, did I?) The ol' migrane is sneaking back in and letting me know that it's still there, and that I am most certainly not in charge- even though I may think I am. Thank God I have another bottle of water and a full stock of Excedrine Migrane in the car. Popping a couple and nearly downing the entire water battle, I head home. Really? Did I just have a shoot that good and easy?

So next I'm in front of the computer, waiting on images to download. The little man with the jackhammer has gone back to work full blast, and my head is set to explode at just any moment. Truly. I'm fully prepared to call my client and tell them it was all too good to be true. Either my camera had a flip out moment and erased all the images from the card, or the exposure fairy came in and totally screwed them all up... or the deadly image ghosts took over. Surely the images are going to be rotten. I mean, this is ME we're talking about. I really couldn't have gotten that lucky. Not me. Not EVER.

If ever my faith in Divine power has wavered (and believe me, it has), it was all restored by what I saw when the images downloaded. Don't get me wrong. They weren't perfect. Let's face it- I'm just not a perfect photographer (I don't know anyone who is). But golly gee willakers if they weren't close. 3 over exposed. 2 under exposed. No ghosts. No out of focus nightmares. Nothing. They were all genuinely good.  I must make a trip to church as soon as this jackhammering stops to give a big round of applause to the Powers that Be. Because clearly, He was there with me at that shoot. (Thanks Big Guy- you know who you are.)

So, without any further rambling about the migrane (that I still friggin' have), or the utterly adorable creature I had the pleasure of photographing... you can see for yourself. I am humbled and proud to present.... Colby.

A Little Beauty

Last week was one of the hottest of the Texas summer. I am so very ready for school to begin, if for no other reason than for that to signal the first hint that fall is indeed upon us. It has been a particularly painfully hot summer here in the Lone Star state. This little gal, though, did not let it get to her. The heat was just a minor offense as she posed and smiled shyly for me. I absolutely love photographing children, and this little beauty is simply one of the reasons why.

I should also add that she is the adorable big sister to the sweet little cowgirl in the next post.

Cowgirl in the Making

It's no secret- I love babies. Love them. Love everything about them. That new baby smell, the squishy little yawns and wrinkly sweetness that exudes everything new and pure in the world. Even the tiny little wails of a newborn make me smile and giggle (although they sure didn't do that at 3am when they were coming from my boys). So, when I learned that my son's 4th grade math teacher was expecting, it was a no brainer as to what she would receive for her end of the year parting gift. Baby Kali was born in early July, and was about 10 days old when I had the pleasure of photographing her. This little gal was such an amazing sport, and must have just been exhausted because she slept through the majority of the shoot. Her mom and dad were on hand to help pose and wrangle in props and fun things from other areas of the house. Now, when I say "wrangle", I do actually mean- wrangle. Never before had I seen such a true assortment of western goodies. This little lady is truly going to be a real Texan. Oh, and bonus props go to dad for the swimming pool idea. Brilliant, I tellya.

Maxey to the Rescue

So, one of my absolute favorite things is to be stranded. I just love it. It's incredibly awesome to put the key in the ignition, turn it, and have NOTHING happen. Especially at a session. Clients LOVE that. (Note to self, buy a new friggin' car.) I suppose I should at least be grateful that it wasn't one of the hottest summer nights of the year though, right... oh wait- IT WAS!

For their patience and just all around awesomeness, I have to thank these guys for hanging with me while the ol' hubster came to fix the vehicle. I am now proud to be the owner of a new Everlast- or some brand I'm certain will last longer than the life span of the van- battery. So if my car ever breaks down at a shoot again, you will see me lugging my props, equipment and my own happy a$$ down the side of the interstate toward a new car lot. Seriously.

The Maxey family made it a not so bad experience though. They were funny, upbeat and just too darn cute for words. So thanks Maxey family (insert the Ty Pennington voice affliction here). You guys are, as they say, da bomb.