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

Family, Friend, and Colleague...

This is my amazing and lovely cousin-in-law Jessica. I met Jessica back in about 2007. We went down to Texas for a funeral and even though I had seen Jessica before, she was just a kid at the time. This trip in 2007 was the first time that we got to talk and really connect. And we did connect almost instantly! 

We seem to have very similar likes and hobbies. And she was just joyous and fun to talk to. 

A few years passed and Jessica and her family came to Oklahoma to visit for Thanksgiving, we both had our DSLR's. Her's a Canon, mine a Nikon. I was just learning my DSLR, because my background in photography was completely in film and darkroom. She had been using a DSLR for quite awhile, and I just remember enjoying asking her many things and learning from her experience already. This was also the glorious day that she told me about the amazing Jasmine Star. My life would never be the same. :)

A few more years went by, and because of wonderful Facebook, me and Jess were able to keep in touch. We were both growing our photography businesses. We talked about meeting up and just talking business, and doing some head shots of one another. And two weeks ago we finally did it.

She ventured north from Texas on her first road trip by herself to visit me and the fam. It was a beautiful two days here in OKC, some that actually felt like Spring unlike today :/ and we talked endlessly about our business plans, dreams, and such. The second day of her visit we went to one of my favorite shoot spots, the Myriad Garden's grounds in downtown OKC. It was so fun and enlightening to watch as she shot mine, and then I had a chance to shoot hers. It was fun to be relaxed and just discovering new lovely spots in one of my favorite locals. 

She called this my "Cousin It" shot of her shooting. :) 

We followed our lovely day in downtown by finding out there was a bomb threat at the court house(which later turned into Anthrax, and later turned out to be nothing). And then we headed to my favorite place to eat on the planet: none other than BIG TRUCK TACOS. I felt I had accomplished my mission, as she declared that it was the best taco she had ever had. Amen to that! And of course, you can't bring a guest THAT close to Cuppies and Joe and not let them experience that wonderfulness. Here are a few of Jessica's shots of our lovely treats...

Back at home that night we rounded off the great day with my homemade pizza and lots of episodes from season 1 of Once Upon a Time, complete perfection. 

I am so grateful to have Jessica in my life for many reasons. I look forward to our next visit, and the many more to come after that...

... Heather

How I became a Spring/Summer Person...

Happy Friday beautiful people! I am sitting here on my couch, drinking my coffee, and staring out at this gloomy last Friday of Spring break. I can see how cold it is out there. This is the 3rd day of spring! I should be watching my kid's hula hoop and blow bubbles out there! But alas, they are watching Netflix. :/
I used to say that Winter was my favorite season. I loved sweaters, scarves, beanies, the idea of living in Colorado, snow, boots, warm drinks, ect. But somewhere in the last 4 or 5 years that has shifted. I am pretty sure it started when my kid's became old enough to play outside by themselves. Being stuck inside all winter with kids in desperate need of physical activity will make you wish for warmer weather real fast. :)
But then, along came this opportunity to start my own photography business, and then my tune REALLY changed from winter love to spring infatuation. I have spent the last 3 months or so shooting mainly at my in-home studio. I am grateful for the chance to still shoot, but goodness gracious how I want to be back outside. That is where my true passion for photography is. I will prefer a natural backdrop, amazing buildings, and the glow of a warm sun over studio work any day. I can't wait to get some new photos in my portfolio of some of the new places I get to discover by getting out there and shooting this spring. CAN'T WAIT!!! Yea, I am that excited. :)
This Saturday morning I get to get out of the house, I am going to be shooting INSIDE, but I am still REALLY excited about it. I will be at our new Library in NW OKC. It is beautiful, and the lighting is amazing, because all the walls are giant windows! So excited about that. SO, needless to say, let the warm air come and STAY. I am SO ready. If you can't tell from my reasoning, them maybe my over excessive use of CAPITOLS in this blog post will convince you. I will leave you with a shot that I take every year in my backyard. We have a baby Magnolia tree, and my kid's get so excited when the first flower blooms, this is the first bloom...

... Heather

                                                            

My Shirola Friends...

I love this family. Just love them. I have known them for about 6 years now, which is just insane, time flies. I remember the first thing that me and Amy connected on was our love of food and wanting to go to culinary school. :) We were pretty much instant friends after that. 

We did a babysitting co-op with them and another family for awhile where we fell in love with their 3 kiddos as well. Look at them! How could you not?!? :) I love to torture their boy with my camera, it is pretty much my purpose for being a photographer ;) JK

I have so much respect for this beautiful couple, in so many ways! Look how handsome and beautiful they are! So amazing you two. 

So grateful for the chance to take these family Easter photos for you guys. You guys are just plain fun to know, and I am grateful I do. Enjoy the photos! And I have not given up on that culinary school dream Amy! Maybe when we are 50 :)

...Heather

The Lovely Labus Kiddos...

While I waited for my 4th Easter mini session to begin, it got really dark. So dark, that I was seriously concerned about my lighting situation for the Labus kiddos. A storm came, a tiny bit of thunder (which is just awesome), and a small hard rain. And then it was all over! Cue Sheryl Crow: "Here comes the sun!"

The light was perfect for the Labus kiddos. The trick was getting this sweet little girl to stay within my 4x4 foot area. She is a mover. So I feel pretty accomplished that she paused long enough in front of my background AND looked at my camera. :)

This little duo is just perfect in their little Easter outfits. His hat is fully awesome. 

This shot, in the black and white I love. I am feeling a little Rat Pack vibe going on here. His parents are so musical, maybe that is what they were going for. Either way, I love it!

Thank you Labus Family for letting me capture your little sweeties in their Easter best. Enjoy the photos! 

...Heather

My New Orange Nose Buddy...

I met this sweet boy for the first time at my Easter Mini Sessions. When he first saw me behind the camera, his looks told me he was not too sure what the heck I was doing. But, he warmed up quickly with some help from daddy. 

As a photographer, never underestimate the power of a funny parent over your shoulder making the young one laugh. 

I had a special connection with this kid from the start. See that nose? The orange hue? Yep, my little boy at this age had an identical one. He loved carrots and sweet potatoes! And this nose was the consequence. :)

By the end of our session, I did feel like I had won this little guy over. He was smiling for me so easily!(unless daddy was over my shoulder and I didn't know it. :) 

Thank you so much Crank family for letting me meet you and photograph this sweet boy. It was such a pleasure, and I look forward to doing it again...

...Heather

Brynn Bunny...

As my Easter Mini Sessions continued, my second client was the beautiful Miss Brynn. She is the sweet girl of two friends of mine, and I would take photos of her all day long if I could. 

The beanie bunny was just amazing. She actually had an entire bunny suit that she wore in her first photos, along side her momma's bunny stuffed animal from her childhood. (you will see a partial photo of this below) So cute. Brynn didn't last long in the bunny outfit, she gets warm easily, OR she just fully enjoys lounging without clothing. Some of you can relate to that ;)

When she donned her beautiful Easter dress I couldn't help but think about my first born in her Easter dress, it was so uber girly and frilly, because grandma had picked it out. Brynn's was picked out my grandma too :)

If this is not the best ever. This is her bunny outfit. Yea, I know. You can hardly handle the cuteness. And the fact that she looks like she is trying to hold the stuffed bunny's hand! Oh my gosh. 

Thank you wonderful friends for letting me have the privilege of photographing this sweet thing for Easter. Such a joy. :)

...Heather

Fun Lehman Siblings...

Saturday was a full day of shooting Easter Mini Sessions at my in home studio. These two siblings kicked off my day in a fun way with their smiles and just over all fun spirit. 

I love it when both kids are having fun and in an uber great mood, and these two were! You know it is going to be an easy shoot when you don't even have to ask the kids to smile. :)

All I did was hold my camera up to my face and they knew what to do. I am so in love with their red hair and freckles too!

Such beautiful children, and such a joy to photograph as well. 

Thank you Lehman kiddos, and mom and dad for bringing them over and letting me help you capture their joy. They were amazing. :)

...Heather

A Restart...

I am gonna start this blog with an awards speech (because I kinda feel like I have won something, something awesome.) : "I would like to thank my cousin Jessica Rambo for introducing me to Jasmine Star. Without Jessica sharing her love of this photographer with me, I would not be where I am today." Walk off stage music begins. :)

It was around the first of the year in 2012 when my cousin (OK, technically she is my hub's cousin, but I am claiming her) Jessica came to visit Oklahoma from Texas. We talked pretty briefly about photography, her business was taking off, and mine was barely beginning. She mentioned that one of her mentor's, or photographers she looked up to was Mrs. Jasmine Star. Yea, never heard of her. :)

But, if Jessica liked her, then I knew I would, because me and Jessica were pretty much separated at birth. ;) So, I began at Jasmine's website. Loved her realness first. Then from there I began watching Jasmine's "Shooting Start" videos on YouTube. I could not believe that this successful LA photographer was so free and sharing with all her experiences and knowledge. I was hooked. (And let the truth be known: I used to always do arm workouts while watching the "Shooting Star" videos, and if you have seen Jasmine Star, you know why.) 2012 was spent growing my photography business and learning and gleaning everything I could from Jasmine. 

Fast forward one year later to January 2013. Jasmine is  teaching a 3 part online course called "ReStart, A Photography Business Makeover," and I will not miss it for the world! Well, I missed the first episode, got on that train a little too late. BUT, I watched the full 7 hours of episode 2 (and managed to keep my 3 kid's fed and alive). And I knew I was not be home for episode 3, so I bought the full course so that I can watch the episodes on my own time. 

I learned SO much from just the 2nd episode, I cannot wait to soak up all that is in the other episodes. I was able to watch just a bit of episode 3 this morning, I have particular interest in this episode because Jasmine was going to be sharing the MY STORY of my NEW LOGO (I have a recent post about my NEW LOGO story you can check out). She always shares a few successes at the beginning of each episode about some of the photogs that are involved in Restart. 

Here is a screen shot of Jasmine sharing my NEW LOGO story on the ReStart broadcast:

I have such hopefulness for the future of my photography business thanks to Jasmine (and Jessica ;)) and her passion for sharing all things with the photography community. I am beyond grateful for all that I have learned, and cannot wait to absorb every word from the other episodes of ReStart. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Jasmine Star!!!

PS... Now that you have seen this screen shot of Jasmine, do you totally get why I do arm workouts while watching her? Yea, you get it. :)

...Heather

A Handsome Little Buchanan...

I love sitting down and blogging about my sessions. For any first time House on a Hill blog readers: this is where I share my own personal reflections on my shoots. I also get to share my personal favorite photos from the shoot, which is fun to share those, and sometimes explain why. Sometimes I don't have a reason, I just like it! :)

So, the above handsome dude I met this last Saturday at my in home studio. I love how he just jetted through my door and made himself right at home. I could tell from his boldness early that his shoot would be a clear success. It is easier to get a bold kid to sit still for a minute than it is to get the shy ones to come out of their shell for a minute. But, I would like to think I have had success at both, and both are equally rewarding. :)

This little guy was amazing. I marked the "X" where he was supposed to sit and he just sat there and gave me so many different looks and personality shows. It was great. 

I will be honest, a kid's smile is amazing. But, for some reason this above look I love even more. I can see his little brain just working and processing. This look on a child's face is so contented and peaceful, it makes me feel that way when I look at it, maybe that is why I love it so much. 

We had gotten to the "funny face" portion of shoot at this point. He was skilled in this area. :)

When a child smiles, their eyes just SPARKLE like CRAZY! I love it. He is smiling with his mouth and his eyes, and that is just pure joy right there. Pure joy. 

Thank you Buchanan family for letting me meet you and your precious son. I look forward to many more meetings and the chance to capture this sweet boy with my camera as time flies by. 

PS... Bonus! I got two leg hugs out of this kid before he left for the day. = Success. :)

...Heather