The Good Mother

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Every day I struggle to be a better parent. Lately I am losing the battle. I am stressed, sick, tired, overworked. I have a million excuses. At the end of the day I tell myself I will do better the next day. Sometimes I do, often I do not. I want their holidays to be special and filled with wonderful things. And then I find myself two days before Christmas, exhausted from working nonstop for months, wondering how I will manage even getting wrapped presents under the tree, much less a Martha Stewart table with turkey. But we will be together and that is enough--it has to be. The above were shot with a Hasselblad on Porta 400NC. Bookmark and Share

Holiday Thunderdome 2009: Three People Enter . . .

It is that time of year again. The time when the boys have NO SCHOOL FOR TWO WHOLE WEEKS!!! Luckily this year Josh has some vacation time he needs to use up, so I only have the boys entirely to myself today and tomorrow. This is a HUGE improvement from last year when I had very little hair left on my head after the vacation was over.Even though there will be two of us I will still be unable to do much work. The survivial of my marriage depends on my not disappearing too often into the confines of my office. After about three months of solid working on weekends the old man has earned some childcare support from yours truly. And since our house has been hit by a hurricane and there are NO CLEAN CLOTHES ANYWHERE IN THIS HOUSE I expect we will be uber busy nonetheless. My blogging will be spotty at best over the next two weeks (although I expect the Facebook updates will be plentiful). If you are a client in need of assistance during this time I will be able to help you, but probably not as speedily as usual. Not to worry though--I will back in my usual seat in front of my computer on Monday, January fourth. Happy Holidays!

The Dancers | Austin Wedding Photographer

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I was so happy and honored to photograph Alyson and Jason's wedding reception. They actually got married a week before in St. Lucia, but they redid their vows and had a reception in Wimberley at the amazing Red Corral Ranch. They are both wonderful dancers and even perform a choreographed dance that was out of this world. My friend Katherine helped me shoot the event and many of the shots below are hers.Edited to add: I could not remember the name of the band when I posted this (my memory=sieve), but I saw it in one of the photos and wanted to post it because they were SO great. They're called the Kopy Kats so if you are getting married they warrant checking out. Bookmark and Share

The Movers | Austin Family Photographer

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Last year I photographed Carla and her family at their beautiful home. This year they asked me back and they have a brand new (new to them at least) beautiful home. They had moved in just two weeks before our shoot. Carla apologized for the state of the house. I didn't want to tell her that she was more settled in her house after two weeks than I am after two years. They even had their Xmas tree up and decorated (we are going to get ours this weekend--I swear). I always have such a good time with these four and I always love watching the kids grow and change (not to mention jump). Bookmark and Share

Halloween in December

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This was Sam's first time trick or treating and he had a blast. He was not too excited about having to put a costume on at first (hence the crying pic). But once he realized that people put candy in his bucket he thought this was a good deal. Ben gave up early, but Sam wanted to keep going. He would have gone all night, but I had to hold him back. Bookmark and Share

The Fabulous Frances England | Austin Commercial Photographer

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A couple of months before we left California for Texas I had the privilege of meeting and photographing Frances and her family. I fell in love with her, her husband and her two boys and was disappointed that geography would make it hard for us to keep in touch. But we have prevailed and I have had the pleasure of photographing them twice (here and here) since then. This trip we went to Golden Gate Park to shoot some promotional stills for Frances and then headed back to her flat to take some more. I always have such a great time with them. Stay tuned for Frances' new children's cd release. As soon as it is out I will be sure to let you know all about it. Bookmark and Share

Haircuts

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On Halloween day we took the boys for long overdue haircuts. Afterwards we took them for pizza and Ben had a rare tolerant moment and let me take his picture while he sat on the car. It was one of those moments that I realized he is growing so fast. Bookmark and Share

California Sessions | Saturday in the Sunset | Austin Family Photographer

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I was lucky enough to photograph the Chowanecs' anniversary party last summer at their home in San Francisco (and the family the next day in Golden Gate Park). And then I was thrilled when they asked me back when I was in California last month. They are SO much fun to be with and they are incredibly tolerant of all the things I ask them to do. I had trouble editing them down because I like so many. They are such a handsome family and Kara is gorgeous. She is uber talented as well--check out her design work here and here. Bookmark and Share