Birth of Baby Summer | The Woodlands Birth Photographer
Austin City Local In-Home Session | Texas Lifestyle Photographer
This is Rachel,
We met our freshman year of college and happened to be living in the same apartment complex. Long story short we three (including my other roommate) became best friends and lived together the next year, now nicknamed 'Tres Margaritas' for reasons I can't recall.
Rachel has done some pretty amazing things in her life, most of which include far away locations and learning new things. She has studied abroad, and planned fun trips with a friend or two across the globe. She has been to Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Canada, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Ireland, Poland, Spain and England. Basically all the best places to see in my opinion.
She moved to Seattle under the same type of circumstances knowing minimal people or anything about the area and made it her home for 2 years. Now after a strong sense of moving back to Texas she is living in Austin (close to me so I am a happy friend) and she is working as a barista at a coffeeshop/bakery called Nate's. She has the cutest apartment with mid century minimalist decor, and loves to dog sit all the dogs. Currently watching Lari, as seen below.
Those things may not seem like that huge of a deal, yeah people move all the time, people travel all the time, so what? This girl is a dreamer and a doer. She has a goal and she does it without hesitation and succeeds. Rachel is full of LIFE - she is an extremely hard worker, she loves others well and does it all while dealing with ongoing health issues. This gal is STRONG and she can't be brought down.
Her friendship and her way of living inspires and reminds me that you can do whatever you want if you want it bad enough. I have never met a more driven and caring person and I am so very blessed to call her my best friend. She deserves all the joy in the world.
Downtown Rooftop Proposal | Houston Lifestyle Photographer
Oh the excitement of asking the love of your life to marry you.
I have shot a handful of proposals and the butterflies don’t seem to go away, I just can’t help but put myself in their shoes with all the emotions and excitement.
A little backstory - Michael’s now fiancé, Isabela, had been following me on instagram and he knew that she liked my work. He decided to reach out to see if I would be available to capture the moment he proposed to her on a rooftop somewhere in Houston. Of course I wanted to; just the thought of someone choosing me based off my work filled my heart. <3
Knowing nothing about these two love birds, I went and checked out their Instagram pages to see what they were all about. I could tell within seconds how madly in love they were with each other and it made me all the more excited to document this special moment for them. Even through a screen it was easy to see just how sweet these two individuals were, and it was true!
Michael told me what his plans were, in which he thoughtfully put together based on Isabela’s likes. The rooftop was something she’d been asking to do for a while and he thought it would be the perfect spot to propose.
On the day of the proposal we had it all planned out. His mom would help set up the balloons and I'd show up and be ready for their arrival as they came out of an elevator that brought them to the very top. Turns out that rooftop was all locked up - whoops!
Its summertime in Houston; I am standing outside already sweating as I realize that this was no longer an option. I can see his mom driving around with a car full of balloons probably wondering the same thing. As I looked around trying to decide what would be our solution, right across the street was another parking garage that was empty and open. I took off running and climbed too many flights of stairs because I did not have time to look around for an elevator. I guess his mom saw me wandering the streets, because she ended up driving to the top and meeting me there. It took us a bit of time to figure out how to set up the balloons because they wanted to fly away with the wind, but just in time we got it all set up and ready for the big surprise.
Next thing we knew he was there opening up her car door as she sat there too shocked to get out. He finally coaxed her out as he walked her over to his romantic rose petal filled heart and got down on one knee. The rooftop was even better than the original and the skyline view was epic. One thing that Michael told me about Bela was that she loves pink/orange sunsets - turns out there was the most perfect sunset after he proposed. *crying*
Their love is evident in these photos, and you can see the amazement on her face as she had no idea what was coming. I just loved being a part of this sweet time!
Lakehouse In-Home Session | Texas Lifestyle Photographer
What You Need To Know About An In-Home Session
Is an in-home session right for you?
"What's so great about taking photos in my house?"
Let me start off by saying just how much I personally ADORE not only taking in-home photos, but having our own in-home sessions done. I will never regret it, and I will continue getting them done as our family grows.
Now I may be a little biased simply because A) Quality photos are high on my list of important things B) We have had an in-home session done and now I am obsessed C) I prefer candid photos being tied to an emotion over a good photo of myself
in-home session vs. Traditional portrait session
It's something you never knew you always needed.
You know how they say time goes by fast and that you can blink and your kid is all grown up? Well its true! When we had our in-home session done Remi was only a couple months old. Things looked a little different in our house, we had her bassinet in our room, we were decorating for Christmas and we had just moved into our home that year. I wouldn't necessarily easily recognize that if we had traditional pictures taken at a local park or somewhere similar. Our in-home photos bring me back to that time and I FEEL all those things I felt then - being a new mom and having a new home.
You already know, there's no place like home. If you think about it, it's where you are on a day-to-day basis, where you eat, sleep, and live with the people you love most. What else tells a better story than that? Your personality is all wrapped up in a big or small structure that you call home, your memories are made there. Which brings me to my next point.
What if my home isn't cute?
First of all, cute is relative. And if you are going to compare your home to the perfect Pinterest worthy homes you follow on Instagram, then maybe it's not so cute (or maybe it is and you have a beautiful home). But lets be real here, we ALL have things we want to do to fix up our home. The list will never end no matter what you do, there will always be something. I am here to tell you that if your home is a functional, livable space with some windows, your house is WORTHY. Yes, you may need to clean up a room or two to get it looking its best, but you do that anyway when guests comes over. At least thats when I do my cleaning....
“We were all comfortable and relaxed in our own element. The pictures are memories we cherish and the kids will look back and remember the fun we had in our home.””
You don't need the hippest decor trends, or the most expensive furniture to have an in-home session. Like I said, Logan and I had just moved in our home a few months before Remi was born. Our walls weren't painted the color they are now, we had and still have dinky IKEA furniture (no hate), and there have been many home projects done since then. The point was to document our lives no matter the state of our unideal home, and I am so grateful I didn't wait until things were 'perfect', because who knows when that will be.
For those of you who absoultely would not want their home documented, I have seen so many cute sessions done in an AirBnB. Think of a reason so book one, anniversary, birthday, just a fun getaway. Now you really don't have an excuse, hehe.
Ok but what would we even do?
I would go so far to say - anything you normally do, but with FLARE.
For starters, you won't just sit there the entire time and smile at the camera. Unless you wanted to, but thats...creepy. Things that I like to suggest would be common habits or things you enjoy doing;
- Making coffee/cocktails together
- Bake cookies with the kiddos
- Decorate for Christmas
- Cozy up together on the bed or couch
- Sip on those beverages out on the porch
- Have your maternity/newborn photos done with a more lifestyle approach
- Play with your puppies/kitties/snakes/whatever little creatures you own
- Tickle fights/wrestle with the kids
- Tickle fights/wrestle with your spouse
- Tickle fights/wrestle with your dog
- Playing a game together
- Need I say more?
Your home, your rules. All I ask is that you just be you, no reason to fake it or think too hard. My goal is to document life as it happens, not direct a group of people to follow instructions. No this is not just for families either, and you don't need to have kids or even pets.
It doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to be you, your partner, your kids, your life. That's where my heart is and I want to share it with you. Your story matters, and these moments matter. Let's create forever memories together!
Want to see more photos from this fun in-home session? Check it out here!
*If you made it this far you are my hero. Mention this blog post and you will get $50 off your in-home session now through August!*
