Family Fun at the Dallas Arboretum

The Dallas Arboretum is the place to shoot couples, brides, and families. In fact, most of the time you end up snapping pics of the same people in that order! That's how it

has been with the Prices, dear friends of mine since ... a while back.

Anyway, their daughter is about to be two (WHAT), so we went to the Arboretum (again) to get some photos of their little family before she turns 22.

Sisters, Friends Forever

Here's the problem with taking photos of newborns: It makes me want another baby. Honestly, that isn't a problem. I mean, why wouldn't I want another snuggly, cuddly, cooing little baby to hold and love and protect?

I got my baby fix this weekend, though, with little Miss Taylor and her big sister, Natalie. These sweet girls just grabbed my heart and hung on tightly the entire time we spent together.

I love spending time with sisters. It makes me think of when my sis and I were kids. We were each other's best friends. And to this day, my sister knows me in a way that no one else ever will.

I'm so humbly happy I got to capture these moments between young sisters. I hope they see these photos when they're older and love them.

Happy Holidays

When you're a photographer/copywriter, you can't have a normal holiday card.

Just Another Shoot

You can't tell by looking at the smiling family in the photo, but this shoot got very scary about 60 seconds later. The park we were at ended up being the unplanned destination of a police chase. We heard horrible screeching, metal crunching, stuff slamming, and then sirens.

We watched as a car tumbled and rolled it's way next to our parked cars. Then men jumped out of it and took off running. Then officers came from every direction. Before I could figure out what was going on, cops were everywhere, shouting at us to leave. There must've been 20 police cars. I saw lights. I saw men running. I saw guns.

It was insanity.

Before that, our photo shoot lasted about two minutes. However, it was a great two minutes before we all hightailed it out of there for our lives.

Photography isn't a very safe career choice, I guess.

the Bens Family

Spring has sprung and fall has fell. Even though it's still in the 80s, it's autumn in Dallas, which means it's a beautiful time to take family portraits. I had the chance to hang out with the Bens family this last weekend at the Dallas Arboretum. We were able to dodge the pumpkin-loving crowds long enough for some sweet family portraits.

My baby is 7 months old.

He was in a good mood, so we had an impromptu photo shoot. Look at this little sugar lump! He can sit. He can crawl! Babies really do grow remarkably fast.

My selfie game is strong.

You, too, can have selfies just like this. All it takes is a great DSLR camera, a few speed lights with soft boxes, some remote flash triggers, a remote shutter trigger, a few stands, a tripod, and a happy baby.

It's easier than it sounds. I promise!

Leo

Mel and Scott welcomed Leo into the world three months ago. And since he's so expressive now, it was the perfect time to get some photos of him.

My son. Again.

It's difficult taking self portraits of me with my little boy. But we managed to get this one the other day. I just had to share. Look at my big, beautiful 11 week old!

My son, Lennox

I'll never be able to top this year's birthday present to my husband. That's because this year on his birthday, I had our son.

Lennox Ash Bradley was born around brunch time. He was a big and beautiful and absolutely perfect.

Kudos to the Birth & Women's Center, who helped us bring our sunshine into the world. And super kudos to my husband, Craig, who was the best coach a mama could ever hope for.

And triple kudos to my precious little light, Lennox. It's difficult to put him down long enough to pick up the camera.

Family Time with the New Baby

The Partlows welcomed their newest edition back in June (I believe). This is another shoot where I was in the icky part of my own pregnancy, so I haven't uploaded anything until now. But they knew my secret and were too sweet, giving me some homemade blueberry muffins (how a mom of a newborn even had time to bake is beyond me!) and keeping me hydrated.

However, it wasn't about me. It was about them.

I love these photos. They're so personal and sweet. They're a wonderful family and I'm so very happy for them.

Family Day at the Dallas Arboretum

 

One of the cool (and let's be honest, sometimes annoying) things about Dallas is the random springtime days we have when it's technically still winter.

It's not good for allergy sufferers, but it's great for family portraits.

I went out to our local botanical garden with the Busch sisters and their adorable kiddos, their mom, and one of their husbands. To say they're a precious family is an under statement.

It was a few hours of twin wrangling, learning to walk for the littlest one, and sunshine.

Mama Barrett and Her Boys

I like to shoot little bitty kids at their own homes. I always have (after all, you never know when a baby is going to destroy his/her outfit). So for the Barrett's holiday photo, we went as far as their front porch. It was quick, no one was (too) squirmy, and from what I hear the holiday cards are now in the mail.

Another Rollins on the Horizon

 

The Rollins family appears on this site quite a bit. And I'm happy to announce that even though Wyatt Rollins hasn't been born yet, he's already made his camera debut! Well, sort of.

It was a Holiday/Maternity session with Mama Rollins and Company. After all, it's greeting card season.

Henz Kids

I was so tempted to type "Henz Kidz," but I kept the spelling proper ... except for in this sentence.

Anyway, spelling rules aside, we probably broke a few rules while taking these photos at the Lake Highlands Town Center. The Henz family was jumping off of things, clobbering one another, and acting like loving siblings do.

It was a great way to spend a few hours.

Sisters with Sisters

Wow, it's been far too long since I've added anything to the blog. Blame the holidays and my really cute puppy for taking up all of my time! But I'm back and slowly adding stuff to the site and blog. Like the Hopes' sisters portraits. Alyssa (the stunner in blue) always coordinates the annual Sister Photo. Andrea (the looker in purple) always styles the shoot. And Ashley (the teen) always provides entertainment.

It was so much fun. We went to a park of of the White Rock Trail and took 300-plus photos in ... drumroll please ... under an hour.

Click on any photo and then you can scroll through with your arrow keys. Enjoy!

Home: Where The Heart Is

The Rollins family welcomed a new member into their family a few months ago. So it was about time to update the ol' family pictures. Since the youngest Rollins family members are itty bitty, we decided to keep the shoot close to home. Literally. Besides, I love taking photos of families where they spend the most time. Not to mention, it's easier on the kiddos (and usually the parents!).

Home on the Range

Little known fact about me—I grew up around horses. I'm perfectly comfortable on a saddle, around a horse trailer, and at a rodeo.

And although I live in the city now, my mom still lives out in the country surrounded by horses.

She wanted me to get some photos for her birthday (which was a few months back but we had to wait for the weather to drop below 100).

I finally got around to posting them here. And I must admit, they make me a bit nostalgic.

I'm also attempting to post these as a slideshow. I'm not really sure what that's going to do!

Family Time

My husband and I crashed the party at my aunt and uncle's house this weekend. They were playing lacrosse, my younger cousin's newest passion. My husband was quite the player back in the day. So he's excited to have a lacrosse buddy in the family.

I gave it a go myself, but no one in the family felt comfortable enough using my camera to get too many photos of my (awesome) abilities. Oh, well. Perhaps they should sign up for my photo workshop.