The other day Denise received a beautiful plaque from the wonderful people at Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep honoring her as the volunteer of the month.  I am ridiculously proud of her and I know there are countless others around the world that agree she is a top notch volunteer.   

Denise has worked tirelessly for NILMDTS and deserves every bit of recognition.  She is passionate about this organization, what it provides to families and changing the way health care deals with bereavement.  Without Denise NILMDTS in Houston would not be where it is today.  To make such a change on so many lives with photography is pretty darn cool.  Oh and I think she is hot too. 

Posted by danny at 08:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now that the LolliPop Days are over we are gearing up for the Holiday Season and Ballerina Days.  Much like the LolliPop Days, we are having a special three day event for those little girls that love to dance. 

These sessions are a real blast and produce some beautiful memories every mommy and daddy will want.  This is another special discount pricing event that you don't want to miss.  Since the dates are during the school year we are even adding an extended day to catch those little girls that want to come by later in the evening. 

Feel free to take a gander at the price sheet for available prices and packages.  Be sure and call soon to get your spot reserved before the big event. 

Posted by danny at 08:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This week my brothers came to hang out with us for a few days.  My baby brother Stephen turns 15 on the 29th so we had a little Par-T for him.  As a little treat I tried to get some "normal" images of them for the house.  These two knuckleheads were most UN-cooperative.  After a feeble attempt to take a portrait, I let them go nuts for the camera.  This is what you get with loud music and two teenage boys that think they are sooooo cool.  They think the camera loves them but I think it is more like an online cyber girlfriend kind of love...

Posted by danny at 08:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well our LolliPop Days are over for 2008.  We had a super fun time playing with all the great kids that came by.  We visited with some old friends and met a bunch of new ones.  Below is a little sample of my favorites.   We will have another LolliPop Day over at Hip Hop LolliPop some time next year.  Keep an eye out for the big fun!

Posted by danny at 08:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We had a great time hosting Gerri's Curly Girl Party this past weekend at the studio.  We had a full house as you can see.  In fact it, was comforting to see so many others with curly hair.  Gerri brought lots of goodies for the attendees and we had some lucky ones that picked up gift certificates for portrait sessions and complimentary Deva products.

As I mentioned previously, Gerri is great at teaching her clients how to care for their own hair.  She says her biggest accomplishment is seeing her clients with beautiful hair outside of the salon.  She demonstrated how to use her favorite curly hair products by Deva and quick and easy ways to put your hair in an updo when you don't have time to do the full regimen or for a special night out.  It was amazing how simple she made it.

This is one of my favorite before and afters of the day because this is Rebecca one of our neighbors that I have been trying to get to go to Gerri for at least a year.  Doesn't she have gorgeaous curly red locks?

We want to thank everyone that attended.  We hope you had an enjoyable time and look forward to hosting more events like this one. 

Posted by danny at 08:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Earlier this week I had to roll into Dallas for a little Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep training class.  While there I embarked on the Greenways to grab a few images and squeeze on the newest Greenway boy. 

Zachary was the happiest little chunky monkey.  He was so happy, even vomited on me.  Nothing is sweeter than the smell of warm regurgitated milk on your shoulder in the hot humid outdoors of Texas.  YUMMY!   

 Apparently this is the outfit that Zack likes to wear on the golf course.  I think the course was somewhere in Tennessee, Arkansas or Mississippi. 

Dixie is pregnant with puppies so we threw down a little maternity session.  I may be one of the first photographers to ever do a maternity dog portrait.  This may be the beginning of an entirely new specialty.

Micheal cracks me up.  This little guy has tons of great expressions.  The one on the left reminds me of his grandfather Chuck.

Jacob is a sweet little man too.  He is a huge Batman fan so we were in good company.  He even knows every word to the Batman theme song!  

Kari keeps pretty busy with these three boys.  I was keeping close attention to how she handled them.  Lots of notes were taken...

Cousin Beth chilled with the boys too.  Here we have a little game of hide and sneak behind Beth.  Very fun but VERY scary for Zack.

James tagged along with me to Dallas to chill with the Greenways.  He hung out with them and had a great time while Daddy worked. 

 A little Beastie Boys Watch'cha Want camera action. 

Micheal and James were daring little guys.  Getting injured rarely crosses our minds during a shoot. 

Thanks for the good times Kari and Beth!  We miss you all!

Posted by danny at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So the last time I posted was when I had taken photos of my kids in a rather traditional fashion.  The only real thing missing was a big green furn in the background.  This got me to thinking more about cool portraits so I decided to dust off the old 4X5 large format camera and take a bunch of Polaroids. 

My neighbor Chris came by and so I took his portrait first.  He is always a sport about things like this.  After that I told him to bring his son by and we would do the same thing.  It is fun to see the comparisons.

 As always my kids are trusted to get in front of the camera too.

Our assistant Michelle enjoyed the big funny camera.

The Carter family arrived yesterday evening for a big family portrait.  After we were done I grabbed a couple of a grandmother and her first grandson.   They were from LIttleton CO!

This afternoon Chris and I ran over to the Camera Co-Op to grab some film.  I took a stab at running a few print negatives but we won't have those results for a few days.  As always we ran a few Polaroids first so I can show those. 

The one of me is not as blown out.  My scanner just auto adjusted for some reason.  Here is Denise and Punky.

So there we are.  Lots of fun with film.  I am sure we will be doing more.  Have a great weekend everybody.

Posted by danny at 05:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Each day at the studio I am generally busy taking or working on portraits of people.  Most of the time they are smiles and laughs.  When families look at their photos I hear comments like, "I love that one but its not his real smile." or "Oh I love that one, everyone looks so happy!" 

In reality we don't normally walk around constantly posed or have that perfect smile.  Commonly we want to see images of our kids happy and smiling or playing and enjoying life.  These are all great and meaningful images but there are also times when a child's portrait can be more about their true personality.  A portrait that looks at them as individuals that will do something great in the future. 

This weekend I wanted to take portraits of my kids in the same style as photographers that influence me and my work.  People like Platon and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.  These are artists that create the portraits of people that change our world. 

For this type of portrait I didn't want the kids to influence each other so I took them by the studio individually. 

Whitney is like a second mom to James.  She looks after him and controls her space at home.  James on the other hand is always ready to move to the next big thing.  He can barely stop talking long enough to breath. 

I know we don't want our kids to grow up too fast because it means we get old. Looking at these two images, I am pretty sure they won't look much different when they get older.  Two very different personalities.  Two totally different people with completely different futures and lives.  And soon we will have another shining star in the mix.  Our world here at the studio will be changing right around January 29th. 

Mommy is doing great and the kids are ultra excited to have a new baby.  I don't think they realize that babies grow up and turn into little brothers or sisters that get into your stuff.

So get ready for the ride!

Posted by danny at 05:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Recently I grabbed this cool little effect to make your images look like they came out of a view master camera.  I remember when Astroworld was around you could get this little plastic key chain with a photo inside.  Good times...

Top left is the Marfa Courthouse, Top right is a storefront in Marfa, bottom left is a house in Valentine and the bottom right is a house in the middle of Marathon. 

Posted by danny at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Maren and Gary came by last week to show off bay Kyle for the first time.  He was a happy chunky little guy.  Mom and dad are awesome and were very calm during their session.   I love newborn shoots because the lighting is so much more dramatic and the attention to the relationship is being captured. 

Welcome Mr. Kyle, we are so happy you are here to make this world a great place!

Posted by danny at 02:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday was my dads birthday so we headed over to his house to party the day away.  I stopped by the store and grabbed a couple of underwater disposable cameras for a little fun.  I have always wanted to play with these so we took the time to try it out. 

My dad's dog Buddy is a big chocolate lab that loves to swim and chase balls, sticks, birds, etc.  He also loves to dive.  We have tennis balls with a hole so they sink to the bottom for Buddy.  He patiently waits for the ball to settle to the deep end and then dives right in.  The deep end of my dads pool is about 11 feet so watching this giant dog go to the bottom is crazy funny.

Buddy blows the air out of his nose as he rises to the top.

My little brother Stephen and I were trying to figure out the best way to take a photo deep underwater.  These cameras work better with the subject about 8 feet away. 

If your too close they fall a little out of focus but the fun isn't lost.

Whitney has become a real water bug this summer.  She swims twice a day every day at camp. 

I love the way the bubbles and water are moving all around her. 

The hardest part was staying underwater.  Typically your arms help keep you underwater.  When there is a camera in your hand you basically float back to the top.

We had a lot of fun with dad for his birthday.  He cooked while we goofed off all day.  I have decided that I have a new hobby.  Unfortunately it will require a new pool for the back yard.  About 30 grand in new underwater equipment, scuba lessons and scuba gear.  Denise is not real thrilled with the idea so I guess I better start working harder in the studio...

Posted by danny at 09:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you have ever been in our studio you couldn't miss the 40X40 prints of giant baby faces.  I think the face of a one year old is priceless and should always be enlarged.  They are so full of life and excitement.  Could you imaigine what the world would be like if everyone ran around with the expressions of a one year old?

This week my man Jack came by for his one year photo.  He was super energetic and loved the camera. 

Jack had so many great expressions for us.  It was a lot of fun and I hope mommy and daddy like the little preview.  And if the next four images don't just make you smile you got some real issues.

Posted by danny at 08:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Warning -  This is post by Denise NOT DANNY!

For all you girls that checked out the article on my hair stylist Gerri Curtis and her amazing techniques with curly hair, I have great news!  Gerri is going to have a Curly Girl Party at our studio on July 20th!  Below is the information from Gerri.  Please be sure and RSVP with her.  This is her annual event so don't miss out!

Posted by danny at 06:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)