Future Wildcats | Abilene Children's Photographer

Several weeks ago, I had to travel to Abilene to attend the funeral of the father of one of my oldest friends. It was a very sad occasion, but I was still happy to go because I so seldom get to see my West Texas friends.

While I was in town, I was able to do a quick session for another friend on the campus of Abilene Christian University. Mr. K and Miss B are the spitting images of their parents and I couldn't help but chuckle to myself as I edited these photos. Looking at their faces takes me back to a time and place, man, I gotta' tell ya'. I loved growing up where I did... and as I say... I love me some West Texans.

Proud to Be Their Mom | Dallas Family Photographer

This is a session that was in the works for a very long time. My friend Patty had wanted to get some photos of her with her two awesome, grown kids, only it proved pretty hard to schedule!

Firstly, I should mention that Patty's husband is the master of dental implants at Oliver Dental Implants in Colleyville. He practices next door to my husband and is also our office's landlord! Hahaha. Anyway, they are good people and we love them.

Anyway, our session was difficult to schedule namely because of the crazy touring life of Patty's son, Jason. Jason is the drummer of a band called Neon Indian and they are making a name for themselves as one of the foremost chillwave bands of the decade! Rolling Stone even named them "one of the hottest new bands of 2010" and they have been written about in SPIN as well as Pitchfork, too. If you haven't checked them out yet, you should, because chances are that you will be hearing more about Neon Indian in the near future. Congratulations on all of your success, Jason!

I'd just like to say here that Patty is an inspiration as a mother. She is so obviously proud and supportive of her children and their accomplishments, but she makes it so evident that it is their character and goodness that are most important to her. Born the daughter of a minister, it is her faith that shines -- faith in the Lord and faith in her family. God bless, Patty.

(Addendum: Neon Indian played a live set at NPR WNYC today hosted by none other than Moby, so click on this link to check them out!)

Not-Quite-An-Announcement Announcement!

I'm getting ready for a busy fall season, so I thought that I'd go ahead and put the bug in everybody's ear that I will be doing FALL and HOLIDAY MINI-SESSIONS this year. No details as to theme, location or time have been decided yet, but I do have dates! The fall mini-sessions will be held the weekend of October 2nd and the holiday mini-sessions will be the weekend of November 6th! If you are interested in either or both, please send an email to: ylkhsk@ymail.com so that you will be filed away with the other "interesteds" and be notified FIRST when everything is ironed-out.

(P.S. The above photo of my kids is from last year... I don't think I ever posted it, so I thought "Why not? It's got fall colors!")

My Girl in Sunflowers | Valley Ranch Children's Photographer

I have been meaning to do a post on some pics of my sweet girl in the sunflower field for a while now. In fact, I have folders full of pics of her that I've been meaning to do blog posts on, but there just never seems to be enough time. I'll eventually get around to them (I hope). Anyway... I just love her. LOVE her. LOVELOVELOVE her.

2010 Sunflower Mini-Sessions | Valley Ranch Photographer

Sunflowers! Aaaaaahhhhh! By now, everybody knows how much I love flowers (who doesn't?). Anyway, a few weeks ago I had a couple of evenings set aside for some mini-sessions in a field of sunflowers. We had no rain and it wasn't even ridiculously hot! To be completely honest, I was kind of surprised that more people hadn't signed up for it. I guess it was wishful thinking on my part, but I kind of knew that these were going to turn out great. Maybe more people will be on-board for next year's! (Because, again, to be honest with you, I really like doing the sunflowers over the bluebonnets.)

Anyway, I am so happy to say that save for one new client, everyone who participated were repeats! If you've been following me since I started this biz last year, you'll probably recognize them in this post. I love seeing families grow and grow up through my lens! It just warms my heart and puts a smile on my face...