The "D" Family {Cypress, TX Family Photographer}

It's already been over 6 months since I met this adorable family and posted a fun behind-the-scenes look at beautiful Olivia's newborn session HERE.

I LOVE it when clients come back and I get to see how much their kids have grown and changed! Miss Olivia is still as stunningly gorgeous as ever, and we had a great evening catching up.

And the winner is ...

... Brandi Schattle!!

Thank you to my lovely assistant, Ella, who helped me with this VERY official drawing!

Thank you also to those who entered!

Brandi, shoot me an email at faithfulstepsphoto@yahoo.com and let me know whether you'd like your gift certificate for Little Hatchlings, Suzybeez Cakez N Sweetz, or Vickie Lynn's.

It's Time for a Giveaway! {Cypress, TX Family Photographer}

I'm celebrating for two reasons today, and I want to share the joy with you!

First of all, FSP has reached 500 fans! Yay! I'm so happy to have such amazing followers! Thank you so much!

Secondly, I've updated my website and I'd love for y'all to go check it out. My FAVORITE thing about it is that you can visit it from your iPhone/iPad or any other non-flash supported device. Yippee!

So, wanna have a chance to win something? Here's what you do:

(1) Go check out my website, then leave a comment on my Facebook page that you did so.

Really, really wanna win something??

(2) Click the FB "share" button under this post and share the contest on your own personal wall. Encourage your friends to fan my page and then leave me another comment that you shared the info. Now you're entered TWICE!

Now do you wanna know what you can win? (I think you'll like it!)




You have until 11:59 pm on Sunday to spread the word and enter to win. On Monday I'll draw a name from those who commented and shared, and someone will get to choose their prize!!

Before / After {Cypress, TX Child Photographer}

I thought it would be fun to share what my photos look like before they're edited.

Since I shoot in RAW, the images start out really dull looking because the camera doesn't compress, sharpen and boost the picture like it does in jpeg. I really like clean processing, where the images look like real life (but slightly better!) Some images take just a little bit of tweaking in Photoshop.

But sometimes it's fun to really push the processing, and I thought this image was the perfect candidate!

The "B" Family {Cypress, TX Family Photographer}

I had a really fun evening with this super sweet family. The sunlight was peeking through the clouds, the weather was nice, and the girls are as gorgeous as it gets! I got so many great pictures, it's going to be hard to narrow them down! Here's just a few for now ...

Our Personal Holiday Card {Cypress, TX Children's Photographer}

I saw a template for a Christmas card on Etsy that I immediately knew I wanted to use. I was inspired by the message talking about twinkling stars, and instantly had a vision of my girls in front of white twinkle lights.

Outfits were assembled, the backdrop was set up, and after lots and lots of outtakes we finally had our shot! Whew!


Here's what it looked like originally. I draped white icicle lights on a white background. My hubby is standing to the side hanging the stars over the girls. I shot super wide open (f/1.4) so that the lights would be blurry in the background.





After cropping to the size I needed for our card:




Our final product!




Merry Christmas, everyone!! I truly hope you all have a very blessed holiday!!

Photographing Kids in in Front of a Christmas Tree {Cypress, TX Children's Photographer}

Hey there! Check out my updated post with way more details on how to achieve this look! It's right HERE!

If you have a camera that allows you to manually control your settings, you can get a shot like this, too!

There are a variety of setting combinations that will produce similar results, but here's what I did:

Turned off all of the lights in the house except for the tree.

Set my aperture at f/1.4. (I looove to shoot wide open when I can.)

Set my ISO low, at 160. I wanted the shutter speed to have to compensate for the low light. (More on that in a minute.)

Metered for the tree, not the girls.

Because there was such little light in the room, and I wasn't allowing much more in with my low ISO, my shutter speed had to be slow. The slower it is, the more light the camera lets in. (That's when you get that long click when you press the button to take the picture instead of a quick, sharp click.) This is also what makes the lights on the tree look so pretty. Mine SS ended up being 1/15! Yes, that is crazy slow!

I also bribed my girls to stand very still for a minute. When you use a shutter speed (SS) that is that slow, movement will be blurry.

Finally, I took this image into Photoshop's Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) because I shoot RAW, and bumped up the exposure just a bit to make it brighter. Voila!!

So, here's the cheat sheet:

Dark room.
f-stop 1.4
ISO 160
SS 1/15


Try it. Play around with your settings a bit. Use a doll or large stuffed animal in front of the tree if

your kids won't be still. Have fun!!!

Visions of Sugar Plums {Cypress, TX Children's Photographer}

After watching enraptured as the Sugar Plum fairy twirled across the stage tonight, it's possible she's dreaming of the queen of all dancing queens.

But it's more likely she's sweetly imagining her fifth visit from the Tooth Fairy, the surprise she'll bring, and the magic of believing.

The "K" Family {Tomball, TX Family Photographer}

It's always so much fun working with friends, especially when they have two absolutely gorgeous little girls who were all smiles for the camera. We got so many great photos, but as is usual for this time of year, I can't show the best ones because it's Christmas card season!

This is her baptism gown, which was made from her grandmother's wedding dress. How cool!

If you've been on my website, this cutie-pie posed by a fence may look familiar. :)

The "K" Family {Cypress, TX Family and Children's Photographer}

I'm so happy to have gotten the chance to meet and play around with this family! Little L is such a cutie.

I LOVE this laughing image of her!

We got some great family shots, too, but I don't want to ruin any Christmas card opportunities! :)

The "C" Family Returns {Cypress TX Family Photographer}

It's been almost a full year since I last worked with this family, and back then precious little A was just a newborn. Now she's a happy, gorgeous 1-year-old! I love, love, love it when clients return to visit and I get to see how their families grow and change. Thanks for a fabulous evening, C Fam!

Think ESPN will call me? (Cypress, TX Photographer)

I'm not sure I should quite my day job as full-time mommy, or even my part-time job as portrait photographer, but I sure did have fun pretending to be a sports photographer this morning!

I am now officially a "soccer mom" and I love it! My big girl had her very first game this morning (in the 100 degree heat ... whew!) and I had fun capturing the action.

It's been a wonderful, relaxing month as I've tried to give myself a little time off before the crazy holiday picture rush begins. I hope you've all had a wonderful summer, and a fabulous start to a new school year!

Thank Heaven for Little Girls {Tomball, TX Children's Photographer}

I was really exited when I got the message that a local grandma was going to have all six of her granddaughters in town and wanted to do a session with them. I knew it would be a challenge, but I also knew it would be so much fun ... and it was!!

I mentioned in my Facebook preview that this was the only single image where all six girls were looking at the camera at the same time. I'm so glad to have gotten this one!





This one is my new all-time favorite! Love it!!





This last shot was Gammy's idea. Isn't it so sweet? Unfortunately, the book didn't hold everyone's interest at the same time, so I did a little creative Photoshop cut and pasting. ;)





Thanks for sharing your sweet girls with me for an evening, Gammy! I hope you've been having a wonderful week with them!

Friends {Cypress, TX Family Photographer}

I'm so thankful for patient friends who don't mind that it takes me over a week to get their Sneak Peek up ... for friends who don't mind doing a reshoot because the original evening was so overcast that the lighting was horrendous ... for friends who laugh hysterically at the app on my phone I discovered the night before (just for them) that toots and burps in a way only those silly boys could appreciate.

I'm especially thankful for these friends for encouraging me, supporting me, OK pushing me into starting this business. I'm not sure that I'd be where I am if not for friends. :)

Milestones {Tomball, TX Children's Photographer}

Happy, happy birthday to both of these cute kiddos!!

Mr. B is celebrating his half-year birthday. I just love this age .... the sitting up happily but not going anywhere yet. We obviously had some fun with him! ;)

Beautiful big sis is about to turn 4. She is so precious and totally girly. I can't tell you how many times she ran screaming from bugs and all things yukky. What a cutie-pie!

Thanks for a great evening, Heather!!

The "W" Family {Cypress, TX Family Photographer}

It was such a joy to spend the evening with this wonderful family a few days ago! They are so full of love, kindness and inner (and outer!) beauty. I really just can't say enough good things about them, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.































Thank you so much for choosing me to capture your family memories! It was an honor! :)