Off-Topic

but worth blogging about. We ate at an awesome new restaurant near our home in Dallas last night and it was incredible! Chic from Barcelona just opened and we had the greatest meal along with some super wine, and even our kids ate well!

Plus, I just can't get enough of those adorable chicks! They will offer take-out and a kids' menu soon, but don't worry about taking the kids now...ours can't wait to go back to the 'chick place' for more baked apples!

September Issues!

The September covers are OUT! Do you see what I mean when I say I had the cutest boys in the world to work with?

A little variety...

First of all, Texans...how much do you love this weather? The rain over the past two days was so badly needed (I think I could hear the lawn slurping it up) and today's cooler temps made me drag out my corduroy capri's (because I am ready for it to be Fall already, darn it!). It makes me look forward to our Fall sessions in the park-we've sweated enough this Summer, it's time for some relief!

I know that little ones everywhere are enjoying their first days of school or are gearing up for that big first day. My little ones start tomorrow, and I have spent the last few days getting everyone ready to start (backpacks, lunchboxes, new shoes, the works!).

My little guy will be going 3 hours a day (which gives me three solid hours a day to work and I'll hopefully be able to stop working into the wee hours of the night! Can you tell I'm excited?)-and he needed a picture of himself for his cubby at school. I know I rarely show my kids here as this is dedicated to all things Sugar, but figured you wouldn't mind if I indulged just once!

Sweet Ben...faster than he should be, able to strip naked in a single tug...life is never dull in Bensville!

I hope moms everywhere are enjoying watching their babies grow and change, and taking time to not only feel a little weepy when watching them head off to school, so grown up....but also enjoying a Starbucks and a little alone time! Here's to the Moms!

More girls!

This morning we played with Lexi and her big sister Sydney. Lexi is one of my babyplanners and I can't say enough how much I love watching these babies grow and change from session to session! It's incredible!

She also wins the happy baby award-it doesn't get smilier (is that a word?) than Lexi!

On a side note-this was the swan song for my 85mm 1.8. After this session I dropped it into the mail and shipped it off to a new home, where it will be loved and adored and USED, as I sadly neglected to do. I do so much of my work in clients' homes and rarely have the room to use this lens, so it's been sitting on my desk or in my camera bag, feeling lonely and left out. It is a lovely lens, and I know it will enjoy it's new life immensely (Psst-I heard there would be beaches involved!).

Meet Addison...

Less than a week old...youngest of three girls...and already has some personality!

We started with a sleeping, swaddled baby and all was looking good for Addie's mom to have that one picture she wanted: Addie curled up on her tummy, sans diaper, fast asleep. Four hours later and we finally convinced her to not only fall asleep, but stay asleep!

It was worth it, we have some amazing images to show for all of Addie's mommy's hard work. And I'm saving the best to show them (as always!).

Until then-sweet baby Addison, and how we started our session (this is image 0001-it's such a great sign that I love the very first image enough to make it blog-worthy! I can't wait to sit down and edit the rest!)

Mini Sessions...almost gone!

We are amazed and flattered by how quickly the mini sessions are booking up. There only three spots left!

If you are thinking of doing this, or know someone that might be interested, don't think on it too much longer. We hate turning people away, but we are absolutely booked solid until 2007!

You can contact us by phone or email-our contact information is here.

Check back tomorrow for a break in our recent run of boys, boys boys! Tomorrow we'll feature newborn Addison, less than a week old (exactly how we like our newborns!) and her TWO older sisters! Her sweet mom has issued a challenge..."I don't expect a picture of the three of them together!".

That's all I needed to hear...now I'm motivated (and hoping I didn't just shoot myself in the foot by saying that, ha ha).

Jen

A challenge...

I can't tell you how many emails I've received just in the last week from clients who are also faithful blog readers. Wonderfully written emails that tell me how quiet last week was, because THE BLOG WASN'T UPDATED!

I know, it was hard for me to not have internet for a week (but my wrist was much happier).

I also have a personal blog that I keep that's dedicated just to my kids, and am forever pestering friends that I think are wonderful writers to start keeping their OWN blogs (you know who you are). Blogging is therapeutic, it's fun, and it's low fat! So on the lower right side of the screen you'll find a little 'blogspot' button-click on it to start your OWN blog! Trust me, grandparents LOVE blogs, even if all you do is throw a picture online now and then. The gauntlet has been thrown!

Today's little guy (yes, another boy!) was sweet 3 1/2 month old Gage. We wore him out-literally! I was shocked that he hung in there with us for as long as he did, almost a solid hour and a half! Sessions are really stimulating for little ones, and signs that they are about to have had enough are hiccups, yawns, rubbing their eyes, and oh yeah, screaming. He was such a trooper and just stayed with us, through many outfit changes, a bottle, and lots of special cuddle time with his gorgeous mommy.

I posted this entry a few hours ago, and thought I'd sit down to see if any of the ones of Gage's little 'accident' showed up (not expecting it to, since I always seem to put the camera down and grab a towel instead of continuing to shoot!).

How much do you love this image? Gage's gorgeous mommy loving on him, and Gage rewarding us with this:

Boys, boys, boys!

My last few sessions (including the three covers for Dallas Child) have been all boys, all the time. There is something so wonderful about boys, (I have to admit I used tobe sort of scared of them, until I became a mommy to the most loveable little guy of all time).

Parents-please tell me I'm not the only Mommy out here with a little guy that loves to be naked...My dear boy pulled his pants down in the Harlingen airport Sunday. And our most recent sitter arrived before he had woken up for the day...she called me at a session to ask "Um...does he always sleep naked?".

So in the spirit of boys-a few of our recent cuties:

Jacob and Lucas (Happy 1st Birthday Luke!)


Baby Planner Jacob (you might recognize his gorgeous eyes-he is on the Sugar Photography home page)

2006 Holiday Mini Sessions!

(click to read)

We are excited to announce the details of the 2006 holiday mini sessions. These are a great way to not only bring the family together for that annual card, but to also get a jump on gifts for the grandparents (and for yourselves, naturally!), as we'll not only be offering prints, but must-have purses and jewelry as well. Our 2006 card designs are absolutely gorgeous, and we guarantee they will stand out!

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us! We have limited spots available!

Vacation

Just a friendly reminder that from Aug 12-2oth Sugar Photography will be closed for our family vacations!

Ruthann is taking care of the last few print deliveries this weekend and early next week. Feel free to give us a call or drop us an email, and we'll certainly return these on August 21!

Holiday mini session info will be posted here on Monday August 21-so check back then!

Have a great week everyone!

Jen

Busy day....

unfortunately I can't share any images from today's sessions as they were the September cover shoots for Dallas Child, Fort Worth Child and North Texas Teen magazines. But I can say that I had the best time with all three of our gorgeous boys today!

Also, make sure to keep an eye out for the fall/winter issue of Babydallas as Sugar Photography was lucky enough to shoot that cover as well. We hear that it turned out so well that it is being used for promoting the big baby fair that's coming up. Can't wait to see those!

Congratulations to Audrey, Ellis and Clara-you are our September babes-look for them in the September issue of Dallas Child!!

Ramblings

Periodically throughout my day I tend to think "Hey, I should mention this on my blog" and then can't find a good way to segue into whatever that topic is. Today is segue day...

segue \SEG-way; SAYG-way\, intransitive verb:
1. To proceed without interruption; to make a smooth transition.

Barbie: If you know what a Bibble is, you'll want to look into this. Barbie Live is presenting Fairytopia at Bass Performance Hall through this weekend. Last night I had a wild hair and grabbed my almost-4-year-old and promised her dinner at the restaurant of her choice and a chance to watch Barbie Fairytopia. Two Chik-Fil-A dinners later and we were on our way to Fort Worth. I can't tell you how cute it was to watch hundreds of little girls dressed to the nines in fairy wings, descend en masse on downtown Fort Worth. The show was a hit, Barbie was gorgeous, the costumes were incredible, and I loved how they involved the audience in the show.

Babysitters: I am asked at least twice a month (usually by new mommies who have yet to tap into the babysitting vein in Dallas) who I use to watch my kidlets. I stumbled upon Moms Best Friend two years ago when in desperate need of a night nanny to help provide an extra pair of (rested and patient) arms for our reflux baby. We have a string of four or five regulars that know and love our kids and I just can't say enough great things about this agency! I called them a few hours ago to set up a sitter for 8 am tomorrow as I have a last-minute cover shoot...30 minutes later we were set to go!

Blogs: I posted a section last week of blogs I love to read. These are addicting! Besides the fun behind-the-scenes Dallas Child Blog there is one by a fellow mommy that I have never met, but am sure we would be fast friends (not said in a stalker sort of way, I promise). I love her nitty gritty entries (and someone get this girl a job!).

Beach: We are abandoning ship next week for a week at the beach (nothing fancy...S. Padre). Ruthann and I are working hard to get orders picked up or shipped out before next week...if you haven't heard from us yet regarding your print order, you probably will in the next day or so.

Baby Ellis: I finished proofing Ellis' six month session tonight and as usual have a favorite image to post. It's so typical...I return from a session and quickly scan it for a good one to pop online. Then I sit down 2 weeks later to edit and find SO many others that I love even more.

Slideshow of an amazing family to share...

I am honored to have met the Millers and work with their three gorgeous children!

(quick note for fellow photographers-this is a 'pro bono' session, which is why the music is not royalty free and I let myself use one of my favorites :P )

Amazing Audrey

The other side of the lens...

is harder to be on than I expected!

and I am *still* tired. Jinky was with our family for four hours (yes, four hours folks) and then we sent her on her way sweaty, exhausted, but beaming. I hope this is a good thing! The kids leapt through the sprinkler, we ate donuts with sprinkles at Krispy Kreme, and we stalked the Nasher for those rare spots of open shade. It was FUN!

I don't know when I'll have images to share, I forced myself to not take my camera along today so I would HAVE to behave and be Mommy instead of Photographer. Her biz partner, 2nd shooter, and travel buddy Dawn is keeping a blog, and promised to post a few behind-the-scenes images later tonight (I know I'll be checking!).

Jinky was so sweet at the end-I showed her my book of Christmas Card designs that I had just picked up ~ she said she was impressed and even (and I quote) "intimidated" by the photos in the samples...which made me do the "awwww, shucks" thing. Of course, I can't help but hope she wasn't just being nice (Jinky, Dawn, love you guys!).

(In my best Australian accent)...."Ta!"

The tables are turning...

on us! Tomorrow we are having OUR family pictures taken (look for us at the local donut place and at The West End..we have a few fun places in mind). An Australian photographer that I think is truly gifted, Jinky, is making her US tour over the next two weeks and we are her first stop!

I've been shopping for days, pulling my hair out over what to wear (teal? pink? definitely chocolate!), and I think I may have a better understanding of what goes on the night and morning before a session. She will be here at 8 so I need to get to bed so I can try to look rested, relaxed, and not at all worried about my daughter and her famous "CHEEESE!" face, or my little guy and his ability to make that same scrunchy face his dad makes whenever a camera is around. Oh, and I need to find my spanx (ok girls, if you wear these, you know exactly what I am talking about).

Sadly, I won't be able to finish sweet Audrey's session tonight as planned. Both as a peace offering, and just because her mom is being so incredibly patient, I had to show just one more...this one really speaks to me. Have I mentioned lately how much I love dads?

20 questions!

1. What digital SLR camera/lens would you recommend for an amateur?
(oops, sorry Shelley, realized you asked me this earlier)
if you don't have experience with using an SLR camera before this, you'll want to think 'user friendly'. That, to me, is a Canon Rebel. Friends that have this camera say that it's easy to learn and once you get the hang of it you can always upgrade to something a little fancier. A great site for side-by-side comparisons of digital cameras is here.
2. Which camera(s) do you use?
There are two kinds of people in this world...Chocolate(*) or Vanilla, Early birds or Night owls(*), Aggies(*) or Longhorns, and Canon or Nikon(*)
I'm a Nikon girl, all the way. I was back in the film day (with a Nikon F and an N80) and now shoot with a D200 and have a D70 as backup
3. What is your favorite photo-editing software?
photoshop
4. Do you know anyone who prints custom photo stickers?
so sad-I pulled up the company I had bookmarked 2 years ago when my son was born and we used photo stickers on his cute birth announcements-they are closed: www.confoti.com The google search I just did yielded several results though
5. Do you have any working mom tips for balancing it all?!?
forget sleep! Organization is key for me, which is laughable since I am the most unorganized person I know. Having kids forced me to take a step in the write-it-all-down-and-keep-a-calendar direction, but this business has made me hold my nose and jump into the deep end of the organization pool. My desk is still a disaster area (I won't let anyone see how bad it is for fear they'd run screaming). But client sessions, print orders, paperwork, samples, etc are organized enough to where I know where anything is at any given time (except for the points in time where my husband's OCD gets in the way and he "helps"). Other than being organized, keeping a sense of humor about life, parenting, and the smeared graham cracker on your shirt (that you noticed just before walking into a client's home) is always key!
6. Jennifer, I've been a self taught professional photographer for about 12 years now... business was booming..... we even made it through 911 unscathed. But now, NOT. Would love to hear advice on how you carved this niche; I have been trying to sell this type of session for about 3 years now with no sucess. Been talking with 3 other photographers as well, and still cant get it... can you tell me some secrets? Im the sole provider for a family of 4, and sure need this income. Thanks for any advice, help ect. I have been reading your blog for a few months now... along with Audrey Woulard, Tara Whitney, ect ect..... everyone seems to get it... but me!
Thank you!!
Well first, to be on your blog reading list with the likes of Audrey and Tara is flattering! Thank you!
Second, I don't know that I have any secrets, per se, about selling what I do. This is a type of session that I believe in, and my clients believe in it. Their friends see their prints and ask 'who did that' and I survive 99% from word of mouth. One thing I'd suggest you do is take a look at what type of work your website reflects. You want to show what it is you want to shoot...I don't want to shoot on a backdrop, I prefer lifestyle moments captured in a family's home with NO cheesy smiles. So in the beginning I shot on a backdrop and gave the clients what they wanted, but at the end I took a few 'just for me'. Those images are the ones I used to fill up my website galleries, and now clients come to me because of those moments. It's a gradual process.
At the same time, I'd consider going back to what it was that was sucessful four years ago. You don't have to provide lifestyle portraiture to make a living. There are photographers out there for every type of client...old master's style, modern and fresh, lifestyle, and even backdrops and cheese! Find what it is that YOU want to do, what fuels you, and as long as you are producing what is in your heart and what drives you, clients will know and believe in you, and they will come (channeling "Field of Dreams" here).
7. Without giving away any of your secrets, are there any plug-ins or other tools that you can't live without?
Sad me, I have no secrets ;) I edit with photoshop, and have a few actions that I created to streamline the editing process. I am not one to run funky cross processing actions or do a fuzzy/soft/glowy type of effect. I use Photospop to create what I like-clean, crisp images, colors that pop and black & whites with depth. So no, no plug-ins that I can push, sorry ;)
8. Also, PC or Mac?
Both! My current workhorse is a PC, and my laptop (for meeting with clients) is a Mac...I am working on upgrading to full-mac, probably early next year.
9. Do you see yourself doing this (photography) for the rest of your career, or would you still like to try something new?
I have always loved photography, always. Before I had kids I took pictures of my other love, horses. The only other career I'd consider would be riding horses, and I learned a long time ago that I don't possess the full-on-do-or-die mentality that it takes to really succeed in that industry (Plus, wiping out into a jump is not very comfortable).
10. Have you totally given up on the plans to move?
You'll have to talk to my sweet husband for that one.
11. Did you know when you were younger (adolescence?) that you wanted to get into photography?
I was always fascinated by photography, the idea of capturing a moment and freezing it forever, and making sure it was the PERFECT moment...ahhh, the challenge of that is so intense! I didn't take photography in high school or college though, I was too busy riding my horses. It took my daughter's birth in '02 and my intense need to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE to push me to finally enroll in a photography class ("Processing of black and white film"). Which led to my photographing friends' new babies, and then their friends, and the list goes on ;)
12. If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?
We went to Fiji this year, and realized that we should have gone further east...a dream vacation would be through Singapore.
13. When are you coming to Austin???
When are you coming to Dallas?
14. What qualities must successful photographers (with their own business) possess?
Drive. Passion. Organization. Memberships to professional organizations (PPA).
15. In %, how much more do you feel you have to learn?
100%... Things are always evolving in the digital world, and just when I think I've mastered a technique I realize there is an easier/better way just waiting around the corner. Hooray for organizations like PPA and their seminars-otherwise I'd still be trying to hammer my vertical peg into the horizontal (or landscape) hole.
16. What's a dream shoot of yours?
My dream shoot is a laid back family with a sense of adventure in a simply decorated house surrounded by tall, brightly lit windows and hardwoods (hmmm...this is also my personal dream house-just add 15 acres.)
17. What comes easier for you, the composition or camera settings?
I'm definitely a go-with-your-gut kind of girl. for me, it's composition. Forcing myself to RTFM (read the *ahem* manual) and learning the technical aspect of photography is what has brought my work to another level (and what pushes me to keep improving). Noone asked this, but I shoot exclusively in manual...a background in film photography and apertures and f-stops helps me in this regard. But the technical aspect of photography has not come easy.
18. Favorite Starbucks drink?
Grande non-fat, half-caf hazelnut latte
19. Who is your hero?
I'll have to come back to this one...
20. I want to see a dog photograph.
Here's Hannah (great dane extraordinaire)

Three!

The combination of an animated family, and a bright, airy, just-moved-in-and-we-have-a-few-empty-rooms home is always a good thing (said in my best Martha voice).

This sweet family had *the* most amazing light that I think I've seen, and with little furniture in the background we were able to shoot, shoot, shoot, jump on the bed, and shoot some more.

A total of 3 kids, older brother Bruce and two little ones, Luke and Lauren. Of course, in typical twin fashion we had to work fast to juggle the happy twin/feisty twin with the happy 4 year old/feisty 4 year old...but we always had a happy Luke!



Sweet Lauren in her gorgeous nursery



Bruce 1 and Bruce 2:

Let's play a game...

20 questions.

Email me anything you've been curious about...shooting techniques, equipment, philosophy on life, what drives me, or even my favorite color.

Feel free to post them as a comment, you can be anonymous if you'd like...and I'll post answers in a day or so.

Amazing...

Thank you Barkley family for forwarding this to me. I have goosebumps and tears.

I Can

I spy...

Sometimes there is a lot going on behind the scenes, and is not necessarily one of those things you can see with the naked eye.

Ruthann and I have had a field day today, and I can't even explain how satisfying it was to sit and enter data all day long. No, no sarcasm...it was really, truly satisfying (are we weird?). We purchased a photographer's organizational program (hmmm...should I say 'program to organize photographers'?).

Anyway, we have software and we are organized (hear us roar). And we spent all day on our little computers entering data and chuckling with glee as post-its and index cards became a thing of the past.

Can I just say how nice it is to type in a name, any name, and up pops that client's page, with the names and birthdates of the kiddos, spouse's name, email address, prior session information, zodiak sign (kidding), favorite author (kidding again) and a cute little picture from a previous session so we can 'see' who we're talking to (not kidding). We're even inputting the little details like "doesn't like profile views of herself" so we can make sure we stay on top of the super important stuff (talking about myself here).

Bliss!