Holly was a super sport and came by the other day after she saw the premier of Sex In The City for a little fashion shoot.  Toni changed our awesome maternity dress up a little for this shoot.  We have some really cool things in mind so keep an eye out.

We are actually looking for maternity models so if you or someone you know would like to join the fun and games at the studio give us a call and we can discuss it. 

Thanks for coming to play with our dress Holly.  I hope you like the pictures!

Posted by danny at 09:15 PM | Permalink

Today was James' last day of school at Bethany United Methodist School.  For his last day we brought cup cakes for the class and they had a little party. 

When we arrived James was leading the story time with a giant book of "The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear" which just happens to be one of our favorite books!

Everyone brought their favorite hat to wear in celebration.

The cupcakes were a big hit and everyone in the room quietly ate. 

I don't think I have ever heard that room so quiet with children in it.  It was like the eye of a storm...

Then there was the facial aftermath of the cupcakes.

When everyone was done we watched the kids dance around to James' favorite line dancing song The Cupid Shuffle.  They all got a little wild and it became a wrestling match.  Unfortunately we had to leave and get back to work shortly after.  Bethany has always been a loving place for the kids and our family.  They will all be missed.

Posted by danny at 06:51 AM | Permalink

Today was Whitney's last day of school.  I took a quick photo of her in front of the school for comparison and found it amazing how fast the year went by.  We had a great time with the new teachers, new friends, carnivals and activities. 

Whitney told me that her favorite thing about kindergarten was learning to read.  She also told me the hardest thing about kindergarten was listening to Ms. Wilson.  Summer is here so let the games begin.

Posted by danny at 06:08 AM | Permalink

We photograph a good number of maternity sessions in the studio but we rarely show images on our blog respecting the wishes of our clients to keep these images private.   Today was a little different. 

This morning I was having coffee with my good buddy Toni Whitaker discussing fabric for maternity wraps.  She set down a wicked little design for a maternity portrait dress and about half an hour later she walked into my studio with it on a hanger.

Maren and her husband are expecting a little one in about two weeks and came by for their maternity portrait.  I told them about the maternity dress and they were excited to try it out.  This is a first run, but we think the images were pretty cool.  We found that this little dress gave the mommy an alternative to the nude or semi nude portrait, while still getting that full image of their figure. 

I hope you enjoy the images.  Toni is going to make a few adjustments and then we will bust out with some variations.  Thanks Maren for being such a trooper, you look beautiful!

Posted by danny at 08:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This past Saturday we had another Pet Portrait event here in Houston at the Hollywood Frame Gallery.  Over 40 dogs came by to hang with me and get a few images.  Below are some of our favorites for your flea biting enjoyment. 

Like children some dogs need their special lovey or stuffed animal with them all the time.

This little one bites...

These two were just real easy going.  Good thing because they collectively weigh about 200 pounds.

We brought out the old red chair too. 

This little one reminded me of something in of Star Wars. 

If you ever wanted a good ranch dog, this would be the one.  He was all about a good time and loved to get all up in my grill.

Some of the puppies were not too sure about the whole "picture" thing.  They felt better being held by their owners.

And then there are others that if they could speak would probably be yelling all the time!

Some liked to pose with sweet smiles.

And others liked to just quietly watch me work and pretend to be a toy on the floor.

Some would rather be hunting.

While others were in love with the camera.

And then there were some that looked sad only because they wanted more treats.

Or just wanted to be loved more...

So this concludes our dog day in review.  We would like to thank all the great people that came to see us and all the dogs that enjoyed our treats, smelled our lenses and licked our faces.

Posted by danny at 07:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When I was a kid I don't recall any ceremony of graduation or promotion but I do remember the school awards ceremony.  These were really exciting because there was usually some pretty good entertainment and a few prizes handed out. 

Today, Denise and I were giddy to be in the audience of Whitney's Kindergarten promotion.  I think I was just as excited as her.  The night before, Whitney told me she had to make sure and wash her hair and her face and her nails for the big day.  She also told me that Ms. Wilson said they could wear anything they wanted except a costume.  I couldn't wait to see what some of the kids were going to wear.

We got to the school and the parents were scrambling for good seats.  I don't think there were any bad seats but they probably didn't need them at all.  Once the kids entered the area almost every parent jumped up and held their cameras approximately arm lengths away to photograph their child.

When the kids first arrived they sang a couple of songs for the crowd.  One was called I Love Mommy.  Whitney told me about this song the other day.  I asked if she was going to sing one about Daddy and she said no, but she would make one up for me if I liked.  After the singing and dancing the kids lined up for the awards.  Luckily the kids lined up right next to where I was sitting so I was able to get a quick shot off of Whitney in line for her award.

Each child went to the podium for their award.  Whitney was given the honor of "Most Outgoing" which is quite fitting. 

Two other classmates, Brandon and Lauren were ready for their awards.  Whitney, Lauren and Brandon have been together since their Pre-K days at Bethany.  It was exciting to see all these kids growing up.

After the awards were passed out they had a little slide show of the kids.  The kids yelled out every one's name as the image was shown (232 pictures to be exact...so 232 names).  It was funny, but mommy thought it was hysterical.

Whitney was crazy proud of herself and you could see it just beaming on her face.  This was a big day and she was soaking it up.

My little baby girl has just grown up soooooo fast it is scary. 

After the ceremony, we were escorted to Whitney's class to view more of her work.  She showed us all her awards and some fantastic art.

We had a great time this year at Roberts and we owe a lot of it to Ms. Wilson being an awesome teacher, Stephanie Walton for always watching out for Whitney and the rest of the Roberts family for just being a caring school that loves its kids.

Posted by danny at 09:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today one of James' little classmates came by with her mommy for a maternity portrait.  Taylor is about to be a big sister and she is super excited about it.  She is going to have a little brother soon so she had to bring on the girlie girl big time in the studio.

Posted by danny at 01:03 PM | Permalink

June 20th and 21st and then again on July 25th and 26th we are having a super fun special featuring giant lollipops. Our sessions are filling fast and we have not even had time to send out our mailer to everyone. 

To get a copy of the price list click here.  These prices are about 60% less than what we normally charge so get them while their hot!  We are also going to be featuring a bunch of really cool frames that these images will look great with.  Some Shabby Chic some retro cool and some like you have never seen before!

Posted by danny at 11:11 AM | Permalink

Recently Denise has been doing a lot of traveling so I am pretty sure she misses the kids.  Fortunately we have been pretty busy so I have not had a lot of time to get updates on the blog.  We just hired a new assistant so things should start smoothing out again. 

These smiles are for you mommy.  Get home soon.

A little Clark lip biting to start your day.

Yes we are seeing just how long she can go without washing her hair.

Napkins?  Why?

Her dirty blond hair never hides her pretty face.

Posted by danny at 10:53 AM | Permalink

Friday afternoon Whitney's school, Robert's Elementary, had this great carnival.  The school asked if I would take some pictures for the local newspaper so I brought along a camera for the occasion.

The afternoon was blazing hot but Coach T wasn't too bothered by it.  He needs to work on his heckling though.

There was a big rock crawling wall that looked like a lot of fun.  I wasn't too interested in getting that close to the sun though.   And I'm sure those harnesses would make me look fat....

This kids button cracked me up.  Pretty much the way I and everyone else in my family feels.

Whitney and James were sporting new tats.  They saw the tattoo booth and just couldn't resist.

They had all these fun blow up, jumping, crawling, sliding party rigs all over the place.  There was this rocket that would lift a kids all the way up like a reverse parachute. 

Whitney wanted nothing to do with it so I crawled in with one of the Lynch family to take some pictures of her on the ride. 

On the basket ball court there is pizza, chicken sandwiches, ice cream, cotton candy and best of all Snow Cones!  The parents of Ms. Wilson's class ran the snow cone booth.  Some of the parents (I won't name any names) looked marvelous in their rubber gloves and hair nets.  For privacy I added a creepy black bar across the eyes of this parent to conceal her identity. 

When I saw this I wanted to either sing Snow Cone man by Adam Carroll or Lunch Lady Land by Adam Sandler.  Either way Whitney loved the snow cones.  She had an yummylishous green apple bubble gum flavor.

The Charnquist boys met up with us and joined in on the fun.  Sayer was working an ice cream freeze headache right out of the gate.

After the sweet treats the boys headed over for a little silly string battle.  James handed over his last two tickets for the throw down.

He wasn't sure how to use the cans so I showed him the proper way to be silly with the string.

At this point Sayer was at the ready with his can of string and these boys were bringing the fight.

Now pound for pound Charnquist was all over Clark, but Clark has these cat-like reflexes and sudden moves that would even make Neo of the Matrix proud.

But every now and then he got hit hard with the silliest of strings.

Even the camera man took a shot every now and then. 

So when the string dust settled the cans were thrown down and the world of "Too Much" was setting in- we decided to head home.  Sayer and James had a rough time leaving but they survived another day.  Oh, to fight silly with string is such a wonderful thing. 

We had a lot of fun at the carnival and look forward to the party next year!

Posted by danny at 09:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Without mothers around boys tend to do silly things.  Once Denise left the studio my little brother Stephen and I decided to goof off before we left.  We thought this was funny.  Happy mothers day!

Posted by danny at 01:51 PM | Permalink

You know I think if I was ever going to have a band I would name it "Big Mac and the first Communion."  Sounds like a great 80's cover band.  And if I was going to have a band like that I would definitely want my album cover to look like this.

Mackenzie came by today to get her first communion portrait done.  These were a lot of fun because you can tell the kid was just dying to cut loose while she is all dressed up.   I had a lot of fun hanging out with the Johnson family.  They Rock The Casbah! (one of the covers for my new band). Have a great weekend everyone! 

Posted by danny at 09:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)