The longest, shortest year.

Over a year ago I had my first booking that was not for the same year.  It felt like it would take forever to get here, as I'm sure it did for the birthday girl, but sure enough the year passed quickly.
Before we knew it we were taking her Quinceneara Portrait, and then a few weeks later
the BIG day came!

Maternity Photography - Houston

  

   Aren't they just too cute?  

A Wedding at Sea

September 10th I had the pleasure of photographing an intimate wedding of about 50 guests including the wedding party and Bride & Groom aboard the "Enchantment."  This wedding set sail near Kemah, TX, and we enjoyed cooler than normal temperatures, for a record setting year of heat, and a gorgeous sunset.  

There were so many special moments filled with love and happiness, I just had to make a slideshow for this post!

Congratulations Krystle and Elliott!  

May your life together be even more beautiful than your wedding day!

A Cookbook for Our Troops

One of the blessings I have received is marrying into a family that loves to eat just as much as mine.  Combine those great, time tested recipes with those of our friends who are also great cooks, and what do you have?  A cookbook supporting a great cause!


My mother-in-law (or "mother-in-love" as coined by my friend Sally who was also blessed with a loving M-I-L) is the area manager for a wonderful, 100% volunteer non-profit organization called Operation Interdependence.  O.I. is a nationwide 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides a means for community members to support troops serving on the frontlines, military families and veterans.  To learn more please visit this link:  http://www.oidelivers.org/about-operation-interdependence/


This cookbook is being used as a fundraiser to support the shipping costs for the Civilian Rations and hand written letters shipped each month.  Houston alone ships on average 150 boxes reminding 7,500 service men and women per month that they are remembered and appreciated by everyone back home. 


This cookbook is filled with wonderful recipes from Sally's (mentioned above) top secret meat loaf recipe, a cheesy potato casserole that is good enough to eat cold and for breakfast (not owning to rather or not I have done this or not :) and a chocolate torte that is even over the top chocolate for me!  


Each cookbook is $17.00 and well worth it!  All of the profits will go directly to the much needed shipping fund for the O.I. Houston chapter.  Please contact me if you would like one, and I'll make the arrangements to get one to you.  


Also, if you are not interested in a cookbook but would still like to donate, please visit this O.I. page to find out more about donating or volunteering with a chapter near you:  
http://www.oidelivers.org/how-you-can-help/


Now onto the photos!  Did I mention I did the food photography and interior graphic design?

Mocha Velvet Torte

Chopper Barbeque Sandwich

Strawberry Refresher

Savory Cheese Ball (as tasted at our wedding shower)

Seniors 2011 cont'd

I don't know if I had more fun photographing this shoot or editing it!  Such a fun day with another fantastic senior.  Another sweet girl I've known for some time and can't believe her senior year is almost over!  She has so much beauty and grace inside and out!  Enjoy!

Senior Session Sneak Peak

I spent part of this week in my hometown photographing my (supermodel) cousin.  She's somehow a senior in high school.  I guess this makes me old since I can very vividly remember hogging holding her all afternoon at her Baptism party as an infant, and my vivid memories don't go back that far.  Unlike my husband, I can't remember things all the way back from when I was two.  This was meant to be a sneak peak, but almost turned into a full post.  Oops!  There were so many favorites I had to stop myself from tweaking before I finish editing.  There will be a second post once she's had a chance to see all of them.

Newborn Photography - Houston Family Photography

This newborn session started out with one sleepy, 12 day old...

Some ninja style stretching....

and a few well practiced cries.

But after some soothing from mom,

A few moments of thoughtful reflection...

Baby G turned on the charm!

His Baby GQ spread :)

Why Hire a Professional?

One of the reasons I think hiring a professional photographer is so important is because I know that in my personal life I am so neglectful when it comes to photographing, printing and album making.  I have friends and family who are really good about printing photos the same month (gasp!) that they take them and scrap-booking or putting them in albums within the same year.  I know that many of you out there aren't that diligent either.  We are at work and sleeping for the vast majority of our hours and the time that is left is so precious.  I think it's really important to take the time to invest in a good, professional photographer to remember stages in life or important events.  A photographer can not only capture images of your family your tripod can't, but turn those images into art for your wall or an elegant album to cherish for years to come.   In the end you'll gain more time with those you love and less time in front of the computer on the weekends. 

Below is a shoot I did for a 12 going on 13 year old.   I'm so thankful that his mom commissioned me for this shoot, because it made me realize what an important age this is to capture.  So much focus in youth photography is devoted to babies, toddlers and high school seniors.  I found twelve was such a intriguing age.  While editing his shoot I kept finding images that you could see both the little boy that he once was and the man that he will become.

Arranging Frames

I have immense esteem for interior decorators when it comes to arranging frames on walls.  After purchasing these photo shelves from Ikea my arrangement seems lackluster when compared to the Ikea catalog.

But of course, Ikea is awesome in so many different ways including this "idea catalog" of how to arrange and hang frames here.

Does that idea of putting extra holes in your wall trying to come  up with the right pattern make you cringe? 
Check out this tutorial over at Isabella & Max Rooms for a hanging game plan that should help reduce nail holes.

What type of decorator are you when it comes to your walls?  The more the better or one big piece is best?

-TRH

The Kurths 2010

St. Luke's United Methodist Pumpkin Patch was the location of this year's Kurth family portrait, but with a twist.  G-ma, G-Pa & Aunt L were in attendance.  The kids had fun exploring (the youngest with his mouth :) the pumpkins and obliged me with a few "look at the camera" smiles.

For those of you who don't know, Derek was my first friend at Texas A&M.  Never would I had imagine that when I answered my dorm door to this stranger (wondering how he got in a locked dorm) he'd one day be father of three and I'd annually photograph his sweet family.  

Of course that was about two years before he met his beautiful wife

which always seems to change a guy into to words like responsible

and less mischievous ... well, responsible at least.

We came to the pumpkin patch for a photo that looked something like this:

But of course this one is my favorite:

Baby D has won the Kurth Family Funniest Baby Photo (that I've taken) Award:

His inquisitive smile cracks me up every time I go through the photos.

And then the "Klassic Kute Kurth Kids" photos which are a staple of every shoot with them:

I think the best thing with age is gaining life experiences and being old enough to say to kids, "I remember when your parents went on their first date."  What a privilege to be witness to a family from it's beginning and see the children you've prayed for grow and become their own persons.

-TRH

Naptime in the Harmon Household: No Humans Allowed

Before I moved into our home, this cat took up "temporary" residence (that was August 2009).  We are cat sitting for a friend who moved to the UK on a short term assignment, married a delightful Polish woman while there and has since stayed until she can get a visa to move back with him. 

Fat Cat, who I renamed Leona convinced that he was a she and no woman wants to be called "fat" (she's actually a he; I have come to terms with the fact), and I have had a love/hate relationship.  He loves to rub on my legs, I hate the allergy attack that ensues.  This cat is the most loving "as close as a dog cat" one could have and I'm not quite sure what we'll do with ourselves once she/he's gone. 

Nevertheless, there are times that the love/hate relationship surfaces.  I've actually built up a bit of immunity to the allergies and he understands I don't like my legs rubbed on, but then....

He loves to nap and snore right next to me. (aka rubbing it in ; )

I hate that I can't nap. 

I have been blessed with all the work I can handle.  School portrait orders are coming in and I'm busy processing them.  I also have pumpkin patch photos from this past weekend.  Those are coming soon! 

-TRH

p.s. Yes, the cat is laying on papers that missed the recycle bin, two hard, grey disks (one completely under the cat) and a power cord.  What?  Doesn't your cat sleep on similar objects?  Actually, his favorite bed is a cardboard box lined with a plastic cover off of the last bed pillow I purchased. 

And so it re-begins...

Some of you have known me long enough to remember my old photo blog ( http://professionalbridesmaid-photos.blogspot.com/ ) and may or may not have wondered if I'd ever blog again requested that I continue my photo posting.  I will admit it's been quite the hiatus even from my Facebook business page, and now that the wedding is over (mine) and life has sped up instead of slowing down, what else makes more sense than starting a new blog?

So what have I been up to lately?

Un-packing and decorating (unfortunately the un-packing and the organizing gets in the way a lot of the decorating) and, this past month, hanging out with the students of Trinity Lutheran School & Children's Center (downtown) trying my hand at school and sport portrait photography. 

This weekend I get a special treat: a second Kurth family photo shoot for the year (normally only a once a year event since we live half of Texas away from each other) with a new twist:  fun g-parents Kurth included!   We'll be pumpkin patching it up and pretending it's actually fall and not Texas Summer round two - allergies included.

Looking ahead:

About a year ago I stopped looking at other photographer's sites unless I knew them personally.  I think at the begining of my career it was good to see what was out there, but after awhile I felt polluted by other peoples ideas making it harder to find my own vision for what I wanted my images to convey.  During this professional time off from photography I've decided I feel very strongly abut three things:

1)  Weddings aren't for me.  My back problems that have plagued me since 3rd grade will most likely never go away.  I just am not able at this time to hold up to the physical demands of an 8 hour day of shooting.  I'll still consider requests to shoot small, short weddings but that will not be the focus of my business.

2)  Portraiture is for me.  I dislike being photographed.  A lot.  I think I have two good angles:  lens held above my head pointed down, lens pointed away from me and at something more willing to have it's photo taken.  Like a tree.  Oddly, people like me are the ones I like to photograph.  I know how I feel when I finally see a photo of myself I like and I want to give others that same feeling.  I want someone to see the beauty I see in them.

3)  96% of my friends got married during or right after our college years.  I'm now going through the friend baby boom and I find myself in awe of the process of growing a person.  I believe that having a diverse portfolio is important to keep one's work fresh and to grow creatively, but at the same time I feel led to focus on maternity portraits for awhile.  There's a lot of the same-o same-o out there, and I think it could be so much more.  There's a good possibility I'll just come up with more "same-o same-o" but I think it's worth a shot. 

Finally, what's a blog without a give-a-way?

I'm looking for 4 mom-to-bes over the next few months who are willing to be my guinea pigs for a few ideas I have.  In return you will receive 5 printable, edited images on a CD, be featured on this very blog & my website, and have my gratitude, of course.

-TRH