Thank You Pinterest!

About 2 and a half months ago I was sitting in a hospital bed about to have my new baby boy. I was spending some time checking email as we waited for him to come and I had gotten an email requesting a maternity shoot, IRONY!! :) 

The potential client went on to tell me that she had found my photos on Pinterest and loved my work! I was so thrilled! I told her that I would LOVE to do her photos, and 2 and a half months later, the day came!

It is always fun, exciting, and maybe a but nerve racking to meet new clients. Especially your first session back into the swing after maternity leave. But, these two made it SO amazingly easy to ease right back into the photography groove. 

It was fun to walk the garden's grounds and learn a bit more about this precious couple, and our common ground of loving the Kansas City Royals. :) The Myriad garden's grounds is my most common place to shoot. But, when we showed up I was SO pleasantly surprised to find a new installation... this AMAZING arbor as seen above, and a beautiful fountain. 

Via Instagram, I ended up finding out that I know the guy that built that beautiful arbor, it is my friend  Bethany's Dad!

Well, I want to say thank you to My Pinterest Board and of course my new wonderful clients for the chance to capture this wonderful time in your lives. You guys were amazing and I pray for blessings galore on your sweet new baby!

... Heather

Miss Abby...

    I cannot believe a year passed already. I have been taking photos of Miss Abby every year of her life, and it seems like no time since we did our last session. "Oh how the years go by." Some Amy Grant for ya there. :)

As always, I have included some of my favorite photos from her session. I let her blow some bubbles, and those dollar tree bubbles were not awesome, but it was fun watching her try and capturing her efforts. 

This little smirk just makes my day. And those eyes are just amazing. 

She was being a little shy with me at first. She kept rubbing her eye, like a nervous habit, but the smirk and the eye rub resulted in a pretty cute pose. 

I love her smile, but I love the serious looks in kids as well. I knew in her eyes she is telling me: I would SO rather be playing in that water fountain over there. :)

Thank you Miss Abby for getting to capture another year. You are so beautiful and I look forward to the many more to come!

... Heather

A New Adventure...

A few short weeks ago, I got a text from my good friend Amy telling me about how her and her friend were planning on starting up their own catering business. She knew that I had launched my photography business on my own, and we asking for some tips and help as far as logo design and websites go. I met with her and her business partner, and we all soon realized that the best way for me to help them was to take on some of this stuff for them.

The first thing that I tried, was to come up with a cute logo for them. I came up with the above image, and I just love how simple and classy it looks. Next, was helping them build a website. I have spent the last few years building my own, so I knew a little bit of what to expect as far as the "web building" language goes. I was using a different company, but still it was fairly easy to navigate. 

Within a few days I had a website up and running for them! They were so efficient and wonderful at getting me all the info that I needed to fill in on their site. Next was PHOTOS! What I KNOW I can do. They were invited to cater a ladies brunch one Saturday, and I showed up early to get some beauty shots of the beautiful food. Great shots of food is what a catering company needs. People want to see what they are buying! 

We also did some head shots that day for the two wonderful women. Beauties huh? Hard working, amazing, and brave beauties. Taking on this challenge of starting their own business in order to leave the corporate world some day. Gotta love those ambitions! I am your #3 cheerleader ladies (cause I would assume your husbands would like to claim #1 and #2 ;)) and I cannot wait to see how this business of your blooms and grows! So excited to be a small part of it! Check out their website here:

Two Women and a Whisk

... Heather

3 makes Family...

Things have been crazy around my house. I am a week away from 9 months preg, we have had our house on the market, and our son started playing baseball. A lot of crazy busy times. SO, I have slacked on getting some blogs posted, but that is changing today! 

First up is this wonderful little family that allowed me to capture some of their beautiful moments in downtown OKC. 

This sweet couple were so amazing and beautiful. The photo above on the left almost looks like they are on a beach somewhere wonderful, just bright light and pure bliss on their faces. 

I love this sweet shot of this baby girl getting her lovin's from her mommy and daddy. I just love seeing the joy in her eyes and in her smile. So beautiful. 

There were a ton of sweet moments exchanged during this session, I love capturing the interaction between parents and their kids. Some pure and connected moments of wonderfulness. 

Thank you Stratton family for the chance to photograph your family. I hope you treasure and enjoy your images for years to come!

... Heather

A Very Winning Family...

My mini sessions continued with this amazing family. I donated a session to a local new business for their open house, and this family won! 

I loved the colors that they chose, it really played well with the colors of the Myriad Garden's grounds. 

It was the day before Mother's Day, so we made sure and got plenty of shots of Momma and kids. And one amazingly beautiful Momma this was!

One the words that I always shoot for in my photographs is "connected." And this photo expresses that perfectly in my mind. A precious moment between momma and son. 

Only girl in the family, this was a sweet momma and daughter moment. 

I told these kiddos to line up against the wall, and they lined up like this. In height order, it was perfect. 

Thank you SO much Howell family for the privilege of photographing you guys. I know you won this session, but I can promise you that I feel like I am the one who won after meeting you guys and getting to capture some beautiful moments. 

... Heather

Mom and Daughter Love...

I got to spend the day before Mother's Day on a beautiful Saturday in downtown OKC. It was a morning of mini sessions. My first clients were this beautiful Mother and Daughter...

Sometimes when you meet clients for the first time, you can tell in the first 30 seconds of meeting that it is going to be a fun and relaxing shoot, and that is exactly the way I felt about meeting these two. 

Some people just wear joy, and these two did for sure. Just happy, and amazing smiles filled our session in the beautiful garden grounds.

I loved the moment that I asked the daughter to give momma a kiss. You could just tell that she LOVES her momma, and this was a very sweet relationship. 

Nothing was more clear about their sweet relationship, than this amazing moment of when I had them posed, and the daughter just reached up and hugged her momma. She just couldn't help herself, it was time for some love! Love it :)

Thank you so much Simone for the privilege of capturing some beautiful moments between you and your daughter. You two are amazing, and I hope I get the opportunity to do it again sometime. :)

... Heather

Soccer Time in the City...

Spring means soccer! And I started out my season of soccer shoots with two of my favorites, BFC Indoor Soccer, and my friends the Stayton's YMCA Soccer team. The way this Spring's weather is going, I think the indoor soccer teams chose the right way to go! These kiddos are all about 4-5 years old I believe, little ones. And they make for some of the funnest and funniest moments on camera. They are so sweet and just bring so much joy for me to photograph.

It was a chaotic, crazy morning, but somehow we got them all through with only a few minor meltdowns. And for 60 plus kiddos, that is a really awesome percentage :) Thank you BFC Mighty Mites for having me out, I hope you enjoy those sweet faces on the photos. 

Later that week it was time to visit my local Y and do photos for some friends, of their son's soccer team. That little diva above is one of my own. My little light/settings tester. Yea, never a dull moment with this girl, can't you tell?

My little diva and this handsome guy were born only a few weeks apart. So, it is so fun for me to see how he grows and changes along with my own girl. I love his smile. So fierce. :)

Sometimes the only way to get kids to pose for a serious photo is to promise a silly one at the end. So that is exactly what we did. Well worth it I would say. :) Thank you Stayton family for having me out to do your photos as well. :)

... Heather

One Big Happy Family...

We have been planning this session for months. I got contacted about doing it a few months ago and have been looking forward to it ever since. 

The Sossamon family is a family that I have known as long as I can remember. At the church I grew up in, they have been a constant. Their "kids" who are only a few years younger than me, I remember since they and I were so little. 

Doing this family's session was such fun, we laughed so much. SO much. It is good to do family photos together when your kids are younger, but this day made me realize how important doing them when they are older is as well. You get a whole new interaction, a whole new story to tell when the kids are older, and that story is worth documenting in photos. 

After we finished up the Sossamon family's session, Karla's sister and her husband, and their brother met up with us at the wonderful Martin Nature Park. The laughter continued as you can see above, as this beautiful couple got in front of the camera. I love it when people just get real and fun. It makes for the best moments in photo. One of the main 3 things I try to capture in my photography is the human connection, and I think that is documented well with this session. I am happy about that. :)

We almost needed a diagram to chart out all the groupings and pairings we wanted to accomplish during this shoot, but I think we managed pretty well without one. :) 

I leave you with one of my favorite shots above and on the left. A brief history is needed to explain: I used to work at my church as a secretary one summer back in high school. Keith, the Dad above, worked at the church as well. You would always know when Keith was coming because you could hear his keys chiming on on his hip as he walked (almost always at a pretty fast pace I might add). Well, it turns out that his two kids have caught the same habit of hanging their keys from their right side . I think this is so fun, and there is something about kids unapologetically being like their Daddy that makes my heart smile. 

Thank you Sossamon and Ercanbrack family for the privilege of doing your photos. It was SO fun, and such a joy. Enjoy the photos! 

... Heather

My First Family...

Oh the wonderful Gerding family! They were my first family shoot besides my own! They are so wonderful because even though I was barely starting out when I did their first shoot, they still return to me every year to do their family photos. :)

It is the funnest thing to see other people's kids grow and change after a year's time. Last year we took photos at a cupcakery for this blue eyed girl's first birthday, and now she is turning the big 2! Brother is turning into such a handsome young man as well, the glasses are a new addition this year, just when I thought he could not get any cuter! :)

Our session was at the wonderful Martin Nature Park. A great OKC park where you can have a little hike, or play on the new nature inspired playground! I love it there. I have a thing for trees, and nature, so this is one of my favorite spots to shoot for sure. 

I am so grateful to this family for their constant support of my small photography business. Nothing makes me feel better than getting that email from a RETURNING customer. :) Especially these returning customers. Thank you Gerding family, SO much. It was such a pleasure as always! Enjoy your photos!

... Heather

Mariah, Senior 2013

I first met Mariah when she was about 1/3 her current height. :) My hubs coached her and her sister in softball back in 2004. 9 years ago? Seriously? I had seen Mariah occasionally at the ball fields since then cheering on her sister, but Mariah's passion had turned to basketball. Rightly so, this girl seemed at least 2 feet taller than me with those heels on! ;) So, I decided I would have to use perspective and her sitting quite a bit in our shoot, since I had not brought my stool. :) 

We had our shoot scheduled at 6:30 on a Friday evening in the Paseo. The weather changed our plans, as weather is the ultimate dictator of an on site photographer, but it turned out to be absolutely for the better. I got to the Paseo early to scope out where the good light and color would be. It was a beautiful warm day, but the sun was quite harsh, so I was going to have to find some good shadow. I scoped out my spots, and figured out our little photog adventure through the Paseo, and had enough time to just sit and finish my iced Americano from the wonderful Cuppies and Joe. As I sat and waited for Mariah to arrive, the most amazing thing happened: COMPLETE CLOUD COVER! If you are a photographer reading this, I do not need to explain my joy. Cloud cover means that I can now shoot anywhere, because all harsh shadows are gone and only beautiful light is covering the whole Paseo. 

When Mariah got there, I made sure and told her that the Lord had blessed her shoot with amazing clouds. :) After giving her a hard time about wearing those heels, which I am glad she did, she looked stunning, I just felt mighty short in her presence. :)

As we worked our way through the artsy little community, we found this wall pictured above. It totally looks like tile, but it was a flat wall only painted to look like tile! SO cool! Love this smile/laugh that I got of her as well. 

I am not a superfan of the "serious look," maybe cause I am not too serious. And it pretty much just makes me laugh when my clients try the serious face, unless it comes natural to them. But, this one above I think is a clear success. :)

Found this lovely patch of mega green grass, it was great color. 

When I look though these photos, I can kinda tell that this is my first outdoor session of the season. I was enjoying every moment and soaking in all the great light and color and my beautiful client. And I think I am more obsessed with architecture than I had ever really given myself credit for. But, it is good know! :)

I was really wanting a "middle of the street" pose. I love the way this one turned out with the curve of the street lines, all the amazing color in the buildings, and the fact that all the vehicles in the shot match her outfit is pretty awesome as well. ;)

OK, these are a couple of my favorite shots. This location I just love. The white wall, and windows, and the tree branches, I love tree branches. It is an obsession. In the photo above on the left, the wind was blowing her hair just perfectly. It was a great moment. :) And the wall, with the reflection of the tree on the right is just perfection for me. And her outfit is just rocking with that glass and white wall. 

Thank You SO much Mariah for the chance to do your Senior photos. You are a stunning girl, and just have such an ease about you, and I love how you beam when you talk about your family. :) I know that the Lord has GREAT plans for you and look forward to hearing about all that comes to pass in your life. The future is bright Miss Mariah, very bright. :) 

... Heather

Ellison Family's Library Shoot...

I got to meet this cute family back at Christmas time for their Christmas family photos. I was asked to capture some more beautiful moments for them to help commemorate their son's first birthday. This is my first shoot in our new beautiful Northwest OKC library. Such a perfect place for a gloomy and very cold Saturday morning shoot. It was warm, plenty of beautiful natural light, and not a soul in the kid's area before 10 am. :)

I scouted out a few spots before the family got there to make sure I had my settings right on my camera, and a few books pulled from the shelves to use as props. 

When they got there, it was fun to watch little dude explore the books, and just be in awe at each page turn. I love seeing kids so enthralled with books like this at such an early age. 

This baby boy was on the move, so the fact that he sat on my book stack even for a few shots is amazing, and I was happy to get this shot. :)

We pushed the books to the side a bit to get a bit of peek a boo action with dad being behind me. :)

This is one of my favorite shots of the day. His little smirk, seeing his little baby hands on the shelf, the reflection in the metal shelves, and his sweet profile. I love it all. 

Ellison family, THANK YOU. You are such a sweet and beautiful little family. I am enjoying watching your little buddy grow and change. I look forward to seeing how he changes in the next year. Happy 1st Birthday sweet Gordon!

... Heather