Smiles & Weeping Willows - Austin Family Photographer

This session was done at one of my new favorite locations!! 

I just LOVE weeping willow trees.  They are beautiful and make for excellent backgrounds. 

We were blessed with some "cooler" weather Sunday evening, meaning it wasn't still 100 degrees at 7:00.  This little guy was much more interested in NOT smiling for me than smiling.  Which is fine with me, I love the serious face shots too.  I think they give you a glimpse of the child's personality.  However, me and my bag of tricks DID prevail and I managed to catch his beautiful smile as well. 

Enjoy!!

Custest Kid Contest - Austin Child Photographer

Voting has started in our cutest kid contest.  I am so excited to have 42 kids entered into the contest!!  If you haven't already, please check out the Dorean Pope Photography Facebook Fan page to see all their cute pictures and to vote.

For contest rules click here.

Back To School - Austin Child Photographer

A quick sneak peek from a recent back to school mini-session. 

Four - Austin Family Photographer

Four things about me...

1. I ordered FOUR pairs of shoes for my brother's upcoming wedding before I finally picked up THE ONES tonight.  They are the correct size and I will not kill myself trying to walk down the aisle in them (I can't wear real heels to save my life.) Some might say I have a little bit of denial about my shoe size, I just say not all shoes are made the same so, sometimes the smaller ones fit me. :)

2. I made mystery chicken for dinner tonight.  No recipe, I just made it up as I went.  It actually turned out half way decent.  BUT, the thing that was really good was the salsa salad kit from Costco.  I am not a huge fan of salad, but THAT salad is really good.

3.  I'm a big advocate of two things.  Costco and USAA (the bank). 

- I LOVE Costco. Love that you can return pretty much anything there up to two years after you bought it and they will just give you your $$, no questions asked.  Tim (my husband) exchanged sunglasses today. He's had them for several months and the finish was peeling.  ZERO hassle.  Love it! 

- I love USAA because I can deposit a check by taking a picture of it with my iPhone.  So cool and easy.  (Oh yeah, I also love my iPhone.)  USAA also has really good customer service which I am a stickler about since I worked in customer service for so long. 

4.  I miss my sister who lives in Florida.  She had a baby in April and I haven't met him yet.  He (I mean THEY - haha) will be here in less than a month and I'm really excited!


And there you have it, four random things about me.  Now that I have shared, I am off to bed.  Goodnight!
Dorean

Calendar Cover - Austin Child Photographer

This is Mr. J.  He is the cover boy for the APRC calendar. 

He has a very special story that we are excited to share with everyone that purchases a calendar to support the APRC.

I need some help though.  I can already tell that I'm going to have trouble deciding which shot to use.  Soo... Will you help me out by leaving me a comment to let me know which one is your favorite?

THANK YOU!  - dorean 

Giggles are Priceless - Austin Child & Family Photographer

A little sneak peek from a mini-session I did last week. 

I absolutely LOVE this first shot. It is somewhat of an outtake. They were sitting on my blanket on the grass and ended up all falling backward. The giggles that resulted were priceless and this picture ended up being one of my favorites.

Cutest Kid Contest - Austin Child Photographer

 contest is coming.... get your cutest kid photos ready.  I will start accepting them on the 20th.  All voting will take place on facebook, so if you aren't a fan yet or if you don't have a facebook account, then you have homework to do! :) 

You can click here to visit our page on facebook.

(click the image below to increase the size)

Mini-Giveaway Winner - Austin Child Photographer

Congratulations to Jamie Pickrell who won our facebook fan mini-session giveaway!!  RANDOM.ORG chose #81 which was her number. 

Stay tuned to our facebook page for a new contest coming soon!!

Dorean

And Then There Were Three - Austin Infant and Family Photographer

This family just added little girl #3 to the mix.  We got together Sunday morning to document her as a little newborn and to capture their family at this phase.  Everyone got in on the photos - even their family dog.  It was a great morning and everyone was very cooperative - even baby S. 

It was great meeting you guys and I hope you enjoy your sneak peek!!

APRC Babies #3 - Austin Child Photographer

This is the third installment of portraits for the calendar project I'm working on for the Austin Pregnancy Resource Center.  I've got one more session scheduled for this weekend and then I should be done with all of the portrait sessions and on to the design phase of the calendar. 

Mark your calendars for September 28, 2010 when the Life Calendar will make it's debut at the APRC's fall extravaganza. :) You can find more details on their website - http://www.austinprc.org/.

Z Man Turns 3 - Austin Child Photographer

I posted a couple of these on my facebook fan page a little while back.  Now I am coming back to blog all of my favorites from the session because I know their mama is dying to see them! :) 

You see a lot of this family around here and I LOVE it!!  At the start of this year, they bought a package from me that includes a birthday session for each of their kids as well as a family session at the end of the year, right before Christmas.  It is a great way for them to document their children's growth and their family life throughout the year.  Of course, even though each session is dedicated to one specific child, I still make sure that I get some great shots of the family and siblings to include as well. 

If you are interested in a custom package like this for your family, contact me and I would be happy to come up with something that works for you.

Check out the last two shots of their newest addition.

She made her grand debut HERE and has already grown SOOO very much!

I think the very last one might be one of my new favorites. LOVE those blue eyes!

APRC Babies #2 - Austin Baby Photographer

This is the second sneak peek from my first session with families from the Austin Pregnancy Resource Center. 

Sweet little babies.  To read more about my special project and to learn what these pictures are for, click here.

What Should I Wear? - Austin Portrait Photographer

One of the most common questions I'm asked when it comes to a portrait session has to do with clothing.  I completely understand that choosing your outfit for pictures can be really difficult.  So I thought I would share a couple of things I want everyone to know when choosing their outfits as well as a couple of sample wardrobes to give you some ideas. 

FIRST - Color is OKAY.  It is not the enemy.  Color, texture, and patterns can add so much depth to a portrait.  Don't be afraid of them.

SECOND -  DO avoid very bright/neon colored clothing.  These clothes can affect the tone of your skin in the pictures and should be avoided.  I'm not talking about avoiding blue, plum purple, or light pink etc.  I am talking about avoiding bright orange, bright red, neon green.... you get the picture.

THIRD - Everyone doesn't have to match.  As you can see in the examples below, the colors are coordinated; but none of the outfits match completely.  This can add a lot of depth to you portrait as well. 

FOURTH - The MOST IMPORTANT THING is that you be comfortable and LIKE the clothes that you wear.  You are the one who is going to be looking at this picture for years to come.  This is your memory, so pick something that you will enjoy.

And remember, I am happy to talk outfits with you at any point before our session.  Just give me a call or shoot me an e-mail!