I often share about encouraging moms to get in the photos with their children, families, spouses, friends, etc. When I talk at local libraries and moms clubs, I share ways to basically get over yourself and your silly insecurities and get in the photos. Your kids will love to look back at old photos of you present in their childhood, not just always behind the camera! However, this is physically easier said than done. So today I am sharing tips on how to literally be in the photos. (ie how do I set up the camera?!) 

1. TIMERS
Timers and remotes are my best friends when it comes to getting in the photo. I typically only shoot with my DSLR so I purchased THIS intervalometer which made a HUGE difference in the ease of taking photos. I want candid action shots with my kids so I want the camera to just keep on shooting without me really knowing it is taking photos. I can set the timer to take, for example, 1 photo every 3 seconds 50 times and then let my camera just start shooting. This is great for me being able to play and interact with my kiddos, like in the baking example. You may want to invest in a tripod, however I more often just set the camera on a surface like a counter, a dresser, the mailbox, etc. I didn't use a tripod in any of the photos below! If you use a cell phone, I just found an app called PicTimer+ that seems to do the same thing with your cell phone so check it out! I would look into getting a tripod for the cell phone, like this JOBY GorillaPod that you can put basically anywhere.

When I do want a more posed photo with the boys, the remote works great for that too. Plus the boys LOVE taking turns pressing the button the remote to it keeps them sitting for photos longer. (don't forget to take the photos in public too, like the 2nd photo below where we are in a waiting room or at restaurants!)

2. ASKING FOR HELP
I obviously don't always want to set up the remote for my camera (but I do it when I have no other options!) so I will have to ask for help. Usually that means asking my husband to take photos for me. I am sure my husband is like many of yours- his photo skills are questionable. Heads get chopped, too much empty space, blurry photos...I feel ya moms! However, he now knows taking one shot isn't going to cut it. He will try different angles, positions, etc when taking photos of me with the boys which really helps me pick out a favorite photo of the bunch. I also have to release some of my control (and possibly lower my expectations) and be happy with what I get. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit, right?! There are several times Brad either insists on taking the camera from me so I can be in photos or he whips out his cell phone and takes photos without me realizing it. And some of my favorite photos may not be the best technically (like the one of me walking with the boys below), but they are real life photos of me and my sweet boys so I love them!

Now, notice that Brad KNOWS this is important to me. So make sure your family KNOWS this is important to you. It make takes a while to get them into the groove of taking photos without being asked, but whether you are relying your on husband, wife, boyfriend, mother, bestie... tell your family to help allow you to be in the photos too!

3. REFLECTIONS/SELFIES
We all know how to take selfies, but take it up a notch with creativity. Use reflections, other than mirrors for photos! Plus it helps give more context to your photo rather than just a close up of your faces. 

4. HIRE A PRO!
I have literally thousands upon thousands of photos of my sons. And I am in a decent amount of photos throughout the year. However, it is always still easier to hire someone to take some nice family photos without me being the one doing the work. This year I hired photographers on two different occasions : one to document a fun afternoon with candid family photos and one to get a nice portrait for holiday cards. My favorite types of sessions to shoot for other people is real life documentary sessions. This gives about 95% candid photos which are unique to that family and what their favorite activities. I have photographed families on archery outings, gingerbread building, hikes, trips to the lake, adoption homecomings, siblings visiting new babies in the hospital for the first time, playing with play doh or board games, making holiday breakfast together...just to name a few. :) Want to book a family session- I would love to hear from you! Want a mini session for quick portrait updates and holiday cards? I have my last day of mini sessions on November 17. Shoot me a message if you want to snag one of the last spots! Lastly, if you want to be able to take your OWN photos throughout the year (like I do to capture my own family's daily memories) then I can teach YOU to be your own family's photographer! I teach private photography lesson or you can check my workshop schedule HERE.

Hope that helps give you a starting point to getting in the photo! Email me with any questions you have!

I was looking for photos from a family session I did about a year ago to send as an example to a new inquiry. As I looked back on these I realized that 1) I never posted about them and 2) I still love how these turned out! And let's add in 3) I wish I had these for MY family when we are all together. I might need to start hiring photographers myself!

When I talked to Carol last year, she told me her family typically gets together and cook breakfast together so we incorporated that into their family photos. On a gloomy day, the family filled the house with fun, laughter, and love...and maybe a couple tears too. :)

I would love to capture YOUR family's quality time together! Contact me to get you session on the books!

I learned how to use my camera properly when my youngest son was about 5 months old. This means while I have plenty of photos of the boys while they were infants and babies, they are mostly an assorted bunch of out-of-focus photos with horrible composition. No biggie but now that I am much more into photography I am wishing I had a new baby to take photos of with my improved skills. I just have to live vicariously through my friends and clients!

So today I wanted to share a Five Tips on Photographing Newborns. These are things I would have done if I knew better back then...and what I would do now if I was able to convince Brad to have a fourth baby. Whether you are shooting with a cell phone or a DSLR, these tips are applicable to everyone!

1. Capture all those sweet baby faces...including when they cry!
If you didn't know, babies cry. A lot. So I love taking photos of crying babies and kids. I think their little pouts are just precious! Each of my kids had their own distinct look when they cried. Even now, if I know my kids aren't in pain, then I snap a photo of them crying because it is such a normal characteristic of babies and kids (and thankfully happens much less often as they get older!). So, yes- be sure to capture their first smiles, yawns, and all their sweetness, but don't forget about when they cry too!

2. Photograph all the teeny tiny parts!
While your baby is still itty bitty, photograph their tiny fingers, tiny toes, belly button (with the umbilical cord attached too!), ears, wisps of hair...you get the point. They grow SO fast and I really wish I had all those details captured when my oldest two were born. 

5. Learn how to use your camera!
Hands down, the best thing I did to improve my photos was learn how to shoot in manual mode. It literally changed my photos overnight. As I continued to practice and learn, I figured out how to get my photos in focus consistently (not just by chance!), how to make the photo look prettier than a plain 'ol snapshot, and how to shoot in a candid way (which for me is imperative with three uncooperative boys who don't like to look at the camera!). These are all things I teach in my Mom & Her Camera Workshop! This class is geared toward any mom wanting to take better photos of their families and is not exclusively for newborn photography. Everyone is welcome! I would love for you to join us on the next class (taught in the DFW area). Click the link to be notified when new classes are scheduled. Since these class are small in size, they typically sell out. Don't miss out on getting first dibs on newly scheduled classes. Click HERE!

As a former math teacher, I like to crunch numbers. As a self-proclaimed cheapo, I like to save money. So, let's chat about how signing up for a Mom & Her Camera class will save you money!

First, let me assure you that taking this class will be worth the small investment. In the class I teach how to use your camera in manual mode, thus quickly improving your photos. We then discuss how to take photos of daily life, real life, big moments, small moments...all without posing your children or asking them to say 'cheese'.  We discuss quick ways to make photos more pleasing to the eye with simple composition tips that can be implemented immediately. The class is ended with a quick practice session on a 'model' so students walk away feeling confident they can take photos of a moving subject.

How can this save you money?
Let's add it up!

Option 1
Camera: $400 (based on quick observation that most participants have entry level DSLR & kit lens)
Workshop: $95
Upgraded lens: $130 (50mm entry level lens)
Personal Memories Captured: priceless
TOTAL: $625

Option 2
Camera: $400 (because you already bought it and kinda use it but aren't happy with photos)
Christmas card minis: $200
Bluebonnet minis: $150
Back to School minis: $150
Family Session: $400
Vacation Minis: $150
TOTAL: $1450*
*sessions are ballpark figures because we all know session prices vary from photographer to photographer 

Now, let's also note that when investing in several mini sessions throughout the year, you are getting pretty photos. No one is going to deny that. However, are you capturing memories? Are you preserving real life as it happens? Is your child's personalities authentically captured in a 20 minute photo session in which you get 10 photos? 

There is a place certainly for posed portraits. In the past three years I have had my photos taking by other photographer 3 times simply so I can be in the photo without the hassle of a tripod. But if I had to pick between capturing memories in my own home or a family portrait, personal memories will win out every time.

After you take a Mom & Her Camera class, you can take photos to your heart's content and keep the wallet out of sight! My goal for this class is for the students to be able to take all these kinds of photos on their own so they can document their own lives. They know their families better than any other photographer, so it makes sense to equip them to capture memories as beautifully as possible.

​Bluebonnet photos. Done.

Back to School photos. Check.

1st Birthday Cake Smash. Super easy to do in your own home!

The 'Grandma' Photo where everyone looks happy. Perfect for Christmas cards and gifts!

Plus all the many many in between moments throughout our lives.

Bringing home a new baby is always an exciting time in parent's lives. With my first baby I felt a little frazzled and basically lived in pajamas for the first month. However, Alyssa & Zeid were cool and calm as could be for their in-home newborn photo session! Not only that, their house was immaculate. They looked rested. They were like seasoned pros after only one month being parents! I have said this before, but one of the neat things about photographing documentary style sessions is learning about how other people live, how they interact with each other, and what their family dynamic is like. In just a short hour, I immediately saw everything they did for Baby S was as a team. Not much seemed to throw the new parents for a loop. Even when he cried, both parents had a smile on their face and as soon as one of them picked up the baby, he immediately calmed down in their arms. That sweet baby already knows his parents are a great source of comfort. Zeid is the fun dad who already wants to be playing with the baby- propping him in a chair by Mommy and then trying to give him a ride on the rocking horse. None of which was amusing to Baby S at the time. :) Alyssa is super sweet, soothing, and apologetic for Dad's antics. What a lucky little baby to be born into this family!

Don't you love the sweetness of newborn photos?! I really wish I had done this when my babies were born. If you are expecting a new baby soon, let's talk about a documentary Bring Home Baby session for you! Click the button to get started! 

I met Julie through our local MOMS Club in Flower Mound. She recently moved here from Canada and was expecting a baby boy to add to her sweet family. For her maternity photo session, we decided to document what a typical Saturday morning was like with the family of three before it expanded to include a precious newborn...which will of course consequently will throw a big ol' wrench in current typical plans! I arrived early in the morning to catch a quick bottle for Big Sister, getting dressed, a wagon ride to the local pond to feed ducks, and then a stop at the park before heading home. The whole family was so laid back and a pleasure to photograph! These are my favorite kind of maternity photo sessions- showing real life and special memories to look back on later and share with Baby Brother. 

Adding a new family member? Then let's take some meaningful maternity photos to document this phase of your lives! Click the button to contact me so we can start discussing the perfect maternity photos for your growing family.

This weekend I am headed to meet a new baby for an in-home documentary style newborn photo session. So I thought I might share a couple of the maternity photos of these precious couple. They live in Fort Worth but we found out that they had just moved from Flower Mound...more specifically my street in Flower Mound! We were on opposite ends and never saw each other. What a small small world that we met in Ft. Worth just a couple weeks after living down the street from each other! I wish I had met them when we lived near each other because they seem like the sweetest people. So here are some photos from their session. Anyways, this maternity sessions was very laid back and captured what it is like with just the two of them before their family became three. 

I am sharing my top three ways I get my kids to smile for the camera. These even work for the more grumpy who kids to refuse to smile, like my oldest son! So I promise the tips will work! Don't forget to also check out how I edited a photo of my son in the garage (yes, a messy garage!) and got a perfect portrait for our house without setting foot in a photography studio. Click the photo below and start getting natural smiles for your children!

A couple weeks ago we took the boys to visit Walt Disney World for the first time (and based on the cost, it might be their last time for a while!). The trip also included the first time the boys were on a flight (which is rather ironic considering Daddy works at Southwest Airlines!). Overall, we had a blast at Disney. It surpassed my expectations and even with long days spent at the parks and being part of a group of 13 family members, everything was smooth and relatively easy the entire trip. No major melt downs, no complaining, no 'Why could you possibly be crying in the happiest place on Earth?!' comments...the boys did amazing! For the first time EVER I quickly culled and edited the photos (all 400 of them) AND made a photo book. Disney really is magical even after the trip! :) If I lived in Orlando, I would be all over having Day in the Life Disney photo sessions. I LOVE how mine turned out!! I will spare you from looking through 400 photos, so here are just a couple favorites from our trip.