I think I may have discovered the next Carol Burnett. Last week I did school photos for a local preschool, and Gina was my very last subject. I told her where to stand and was about to ask how she wanted to pose when she eagerly leapt into action:


I should have known something like that was coming. After all, just a minute earlier Gina had opened our session with this series of shots:

With the rest of her class getting restless and her teacher running out of ideas for keeping them contained, I tried one last round. "Just look at me and smile an everyday smile. Umm... just look at me and don't smile. Come on now, everyone's waiting. Ready? Here we go!" And Gina just kept doing her thing, very much enjoying her time to shine in front of the camera.

To get four mom-pleasing poses, I shot a total of nearly 100 images. At the time my back was aching, I was sweaty and out of breath, and I was looking forward to collapsing onto my couch with a cold bottle of water. I had no idea how many fun and wonderful photos I'd managed to capture of this little character, including this one that calls out, "Put me on stage and give me an audience!"

I'll be on the front row, Gina. Thanks for the biggest post-shoot belly laugh I've had in quite a while!

I praise You because of

the wonderful way You created me...

Even before I was born,

You had written in Your book

everything I would do.

Psalm 139:14-15 CEV

"Sugar and spice and everything nice" doesn't even begin to describe this little miss. Maryn is so beautiful and alert and patient that I ended up with three favorite favorites from our session:

Really there are even more favorites, including this one with Maryn's mommy and daddy:

Oh, and these two showing how kissable she is:

Along with this one that told us, "I have had it! Please stop pointing that clickety thing at me!"

But perhaps my very most favoritest favorite portrait is this one of Maryn's perfect swirl. Her mommy asked if I would get a shot of it, and I'm so glad we did.

Leah and Demitri, thank you for giving me the opportunity to create these lovely images with you and your sweet girl during her first visit "home" to Texas. I hope we get to do this many times throughout her growing up years!

Every good and perfect gift

comes down from the Father

who created all the lights in the heavens.

James 1:17 CEV

My latest set of repeat customers were Keely and Jack, adorable siblings first featured here. Their mom finds the sweetest outfits for them, doesn't she?



I was trying for a very classic, simple look for their Christmas card portraits. We got several really nice shots, and this one is my current favorite:

When my own kids were little, I liked to put together booklets for their Granny and Grandma showing "the REAL story" behind the single perfect image selected for our Christmas cards. Sometime soon I'll pull out a couple of those collections and share them with you here, but in the meantime here are some outtakes from Keely and Jack's session:

Keely did a terrific job of sitting still and looking at the camera while we waited for Jack to accidentally toddle into the desired position. He got very excited and started telling us something unintelligible yet clearly fascinating. This little guy just makes me laugh, and I love his two tiny bottom teeth!

Every photo I take of these two makes me all the more grateful that their mom "discovered" me and appreciates the work we do together.

Thanks for being such a good helper during this session, Keely. You look beautiful and you are teaching Jack how to have fun getting his picture taken!

I pray that God will be kind to you

and will let you live in perfect peace!

May you keep learning more and more

about God and our Lord Jesus.

2 Peter 1:2 CEV

Here's Sydney, another little friend I first met and photographed a couple of years ago. Look how much she's grown up, Mom and Dad!


This time we were able to include Sydney's parents Amy and Dale in our session. I'm so glad to have been able to capture the tenderness this family shows toward one another:

Sydney makes my red chair look good, don't you think?

And she has no shortage of people to snuggle with, which is a good thing because this girl is a born snuggler.

It was so fun to catch up with you and hear that you're loving school, Sydney. You've already been given two wonderful presents named Mom and Dad, but I hope Santa also brings you two front teeth for Christmas!

Live in harmony by showing love for each other.

Be united in what you think,

as if you were only one person.

Be humble and consider others more important than yourselves.

Care about them as much as you care about yourselves.

Philippians 2:2-4 CEV

How fun is my job? I get to watch kids grow up before my very eyes and take photographs of them to serve as milestones. This time last year I was corraling cousins Reese and Piper at Sunny Hearts, and this year Reese's baby brother Jake joined us:



These are three very sweet kiddos, as you can see by all of the hugging they did for me with only a little bit of prompting.

Reese is proving to be not only a thoughtful big sister to Jake but also a generous cousin and stand-in big sister to Piper. Piper returned the love by sharing one of her itty bitty pumpkins with her for a minute or two.

Just too cute!

And finally, the many faces of our three little friends, from oldest to youngest:

I can't wait to see how much the gang has grown up by next year!

Treat me with kindness, Lord,

so that I may live and do what You say.

Open my mind

and let me discover the wonders of Your law.

Psalm 119:17-18 CEV

Can you imagine anything more fun than being asked to come to work at 7:15 a.m. for a staff photo shoot for Christmas cards? Wouldn't you be eager to stand in whatever position the photographer demanded, hopefully getting to hold something ridiculous or "just do something funny?"

Well, the folks at PCCare found themselves in this exact predicament a few days ago. Some of the folks assumed their roles in order to get this over with as quickly as possible, while others ... well ... let's simply commend them for not getting in their cars and driving back home. As you look through this series of shots, pick a person and decide which group he or she falls into:

Somehow I have a feeling that a shot more like this one will make the cut for the Christmas card:

Thanks for humoring me, guys, and for giving me a good laugh when I look through these images. Now get back to work!!

I may not be all that eager to move into wedding photography, but I just LOVE doing bridal portraits!

Lovely Jill and I started with a few "formal" poses ...



... in a couple of different beautiful locations.

Then when Jill asked me to get a shot of her fabulous shoes, I discovered something even more spectacular:

Since Jill is a runner, she of course needed this tattoo representing the Greek god of running. I think it's pretty amazing, and it said a lot about the multi-faceted woman I was working with. Time to step it up a notch and try out a few new, less "formal" ideas:

By this point we were rapidly losing our last bits of sunlight. The streets were quiet, so we of course ventured out into the middle of Business 288. Since Jill's younger sister Amber had come along for the shoot, we insisted that she follow us out into oncoming traffic. Evidently word spread quickly that three crazy women were standing in the road because cars suddenly started coming from both directions. I'm happy to report that people seemed glad to swerve to avoid hitting our beautiful bride!

Lots of drivers enjoyed honking and waving at Jill as they cruised past. Fortunately she took it all in stride and smiled all the wider for my camera.

Lucky seventh grade math students in the Dallas area get to look at this face every school day. I wonder whether that helps or hinders their learning process...

I really like the images we were able to create together, Jill. Thanks for your patience and adventurous spirit. I hope you weren't too worn out to run the next morning's race with grace and perseverance. Blessings to you and Matt on your upcoming marriage, and may you learn and live with great love!

I run in the path of Your commands

for You have set my heart free.

Psalm 119:32