Capturing Cynthia and her girls

A quick peek at a few of the images I captured last weekend in Santa Fe during my holiday sessions with Cynthia and her two very special daughters.

Summer family portraits

Summer time is an excellent opportunity to spend extra time with your loved ones. It certainly feels like summer here in Austin with so many 100 degree days in a row!  Fortunately, when I photographed this adorable family in Santa Fe it was an incredibly gorgeous day... a perfect day for family portraits. I received a call from Anna, a professional portrait photographer located in Flagstaff, Arizona, who would be visiting Santa Fe with her family and she was inquiring about my capturing her family's portrait while they were in town. Of course I was very excited and extremely flattered by this request as Anna is an amazing photographer in her own right. But we photographers need portraits too! (That tripod thing gets a little old after a while!)

Anna and I talked about her family—her husband and their two children. Anna explained to me that her family was very casual and that she would love for the portraits to convey that energy. During our brain storming about the session we thought that bubbles would be visually interesting to incorporate into the images and would also provide a fun activity for the children. Since Anna's family was visiting from out of town it was not possible for me to photograph them at their home. This worked just fine, but it took a little more planning in terms of finding the best locations. I wanted the locations to have beautiful light, aesthetically pleasing surroundings and to offer a comfortable place for the family to interact with one another. We spent the first part of the session on the grounds of their hotel which I had scouted days earlier. I found a big tree that seemed welcoming and I felt like the grassy area around it would make for a perfect place to let the children play comfortably.

We spent the afternoon playing, photographing and blowing bubbles in the pristine Santa Fe sunshine. The bubbles ended up working out well. The only issue is that they're a little (okay, a lot) messy! It was worth it though. I wanted to capture Anna's family as if they were not even aware of my camera. I loved the way this family interacted with one another and how they really just went with the "flow" of things. Not every moment was perfect and that was part of the beauty of these images for me. With such a free-flowing style session I had to photograph quite a bit and there was a little more of the unexpected, which I enjoyed.

We moved to a second location— a park area and a nearby colorful mural which made for a fun background. In the park we found a sweet grassy area to hang out as the sun set behind the horizon.

Yet another truly genuine and amazing family that I am grateful to have met and photographed.

Happy start of Summer! May you truly enjoy many moments with your loved-ones.

Austin based Haute Dog Magazine: portraits of an artist and her beloved dog

The spring issue of Austin's own Haute Dog Magazine features a portrait I created of artist, Marnie Hart, and her incredibly sweet and loyal dog, Bonham, a handsome German Shepherd she resuced from a shelter the day before he was to be euthanized. Marnie is a high school art teacher who wrote and beautifully illustrated a book entitled "I Promise to.." All of the proceeds currently go to local non-profit organizations to help save the lives of animals. Please visit her website www.djstds.com for more information on purchasing the book or cards to support her important cause. Part of why I love my job as a photographer is that I get to meet people and animals with whom I may otherwise never get a chance to connect. Marnie and her family certainly added to that list of connections I cherish and I was thrilled about the assignment. She is truly passionate, talented and committed to her project and I'm so glad I have had the chance to photograph her and Bonham.  We spent the afternoon getting to know one another, photographing, talking, and playing with the dogs... it was fantastic.

I'm excited to share the article from Haute Dog Magazine here in Austin... This is an incredibly high caliber magazine filled with amazing images, stories and resources. Please visit their website above to subscribe!

We had a blast. As you can see in the image on the right everything always goes to plan! Haha.

Continued success with your project, Marnie and I thank you for sharing your talents to benefit the animals who need all the help they can get!