I have a shoot coming up this Tuesday that I’m very excited about! I don’t know if I’m supposed to say anything yet, so I won’t—but you can bet you’ll be seeing the pics when I’m done!

I’ll be working with Julissa, of FlippinFaces, for makeup, and Miss V for hair.

Did I mention that I’m very much looking forward to Tuesday? : D

Some of my favorites from my mini-session this morning:

You may or may not know that I’m a member (and marketing head) of VALA (the Visual Arts League of Allen).  We are currently housed in the Blue House Gallery (102 S Allen Dr, Allen, 75013), where we showcase a different artist every month, and have a group show at least once a year.  (My show was in March.)

The Blue House Gallery is also home to the Allen Arts Alliance, who currently oversee us.  (We’re working on getting our 501c3, but it’s a long, slow process.)  The Blue House is not exactly in the most visible location, so we are beyond thrilled that the Allen Arts Alliance is sponsoring another temporary gallery for us at Watters Creek!

The gallery will be open from May 27 - September 1, unless the offer is extended, or unless the space is rented out from underneath us.  (We’re occupying an un-leased space, so this is a possibility.)

Anyway, that’s a really long-winded way of saying, “Come see us at Watters Creek, sometime between now and September 1st!”

Come see us this weekend at the Watters Creek Spring Fine Arts Festival!

Art Fest on the Green

Three-Day Event Offers One-Of-A-Kind Fine Art, Live Musical Performances and Children’s Activities

Watters Creek Fine Arts Festival, in partnership with the Allen Arts Alliance, returns this spring with a juried selection of outstanding fine arts and crafts along with children’s interactive art activities, face painting and live entertainment.

Start Time:	Friday, May 7, 2010 at 3:00pm
End Time:	Sunday, May 9, 2010 at 6:00pm
Location:	(U.S. 75 and Bethany Drive)
Street:	970 Garden Park Drive

I’ll be sharing a booth with artist Kelly Bartlett, of Morpho Studios.  We’ll be right across from the Allen Arts Alliance booth, so we’ll be easy to find.

Stop by and say, “Hi!”

I want to thank everyone who came to my show Friday night: it was so nice to see and meet all of you!  (I also want to thank you for taking care of as much of the snacks and drinks as you did; I really wasn’t looking forward to hauling everything home!)

I took a few pictures of the gallery after I hung my pictures, but before I hung the labels.  (I was too distracted Friday night to remember to get pics of the setup before people arrived!)  Here’s what it looked like, pre-labels:

When I arrived at the gallery to finish setting up, I was surprised to find most of my labels lying face-down on the floor!  (Turns out that some ladies who work there had come in earlier and turned on the ceiling fans, and my museum gel just wasn’t strong enough to stand up to the breeze.)  I got all the tags put back up, and managed to get most of the snacks and drinks out before the crowd arrived.  (BIG thank you to my mother-in-law, Colleen, for dipping all the strawberries in chocolate, and another BIG thank you to my father-in-law, Del, for setting up the speakers and running home for the wine opener!)

I wish I’d thought to get my camera out sooner, but I was too busy chatting to take pictures until at least half of you were gone!  Here are the few pictures I managed to take:

Thanks again, to everyone who made it!  : )

If anyone else is interested in seeing everything, the show will be up through April 1, at the Blue House Gallery, in Allen (102 S Allen Drive, 75013).

The gallery is open weekdays from 9 am - 2 pm, or you can call 214-227-7754 to set up an after-hours appointment.  (Boudoir photos shown by appointment only.)

Mounted prints available for purchase at the gallery.  (Other sizes available here.)

My photos will be on display throughout the month of March (March 5 - April 1), at the Blue House Gallery, in Allen. (102 S Allen Drive, Allen, 75013)  Gallery hours are weekdays, 9 am - 2 pm, or by appointment.

(After opening night, boudoir photos shown only by appointment.  Call 214-227-7754 or 214-709-6257, or email carole@hisandherscreative.com to set an appointment.)

The opening reception will take place on Friday, March 5, from 7-9 pm. Light refreshments will be served.

I’m only allowed to display my boudoir photos on opening night, so if you want to see them, you’ll need to make sure you’re there! Please feel free to RSVP on my Facebook event page, if you’re coming.

Hope to see you there!  : )

What a year!

Last January, we completely shifted gears, and we dropped all of our business offerings except for photography and videography.  That took a huge leap of faith on our part, but I can’t even begin to tell you how glad I am that we did it!  I really feel as if I’ve found my calling, and I love it more every time I shoot.

In 2009, I shot a bit of everything, just to find out where my heart lies, and it turns out that it’s in weddings (and related shoots) and boudoir.  I’ll continue to do other sorts of sessions (family, kids, pets, etc..) upon request, but our advertising will focus on my favorites, and I hope to be kept busy with them.

Also, I’ve decided to keep the boudoir separate from the rest, so if you’re interested in that side of our business, you’ll need to visit my new boudoir site: Just Hers Boudoir. : )

I was going to paste a few of my favorite shots from the year in this post but, if you know me at all, I’m sure you can imagine how my “few” quickly turned into “way too many to post.”  In lieu of creating a post that’s ten pages long, that nobody will want to finish, I’ve created a music video of my favorites. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!  (Which is quite a lot, actually: the song is stuck in my head now, and I like it so much that I’ve had it playing in the background while I do other things!) (The band is Derby, and their website is here.)

Happy New Year, everyone!

(Please, please, pretty please click the HQ button and watch this in High Def, because the low-quality version makes my pics look lousy!!  Thanks!)

Just a few tips to help you get some better pictures this holiday season:

1) Get a little closer, don’t be shy!
- fill the frame with your subject, but don’t feel that you need to show his/her entire body. Your child’s smiling face, or whatever is in that tiny palm—THAT’S what we want to see!
- and while we’re at it: your child may be the center of your universe, but they don’t always need to be at the center of your photo! Move them towards one side or the other, and you may be pleasantly surprised.

2) Step away from that background!
- people have a tendency to line up directly in front of things—don’t let them do it! Move them forward a couple of feet if possible, and your background will be much less distracting.
- speaking of backgrounds: be careful of what yours is! It’s far to easy to have things (trees, bike handles, lights, etc…) growing out of people’s heads when you forget to look at what’s behind them

3) Don’t be a straight shooter!
- change your angle of attack: shoot from way down low, or way up high—anything but straight ahead from eye level, and your pics will take on different flavor.
- don’t be afraid to tilt the camera, either! I wouldn’t advise doing it on every shot, but sometimes it’s the right thing to do.

4) There’s safety in numbers!
- Shoot, shoot, and shoot some more—and then, when you think you’ve got the perfect shot, shoot a couple more, just in case.
- Don’t worry about trying to pose all of those shots! You’d be surprised to know how often the unplanned shots wind up stealing the show.

5) Go towards the light!
- Turn off that flash! Look at your surroundings, and see where the light already is, and you won’t need it anyway!
- Shadows are NOT the enemy! They add texture and dimension to your shots, when you pay attention to where they land….

6) Getting the perfect Christmas portrait
- I would recommend either hiring a pro or, if that isn’t an option, having someone else take it. It is so much harder to take portraits of your own children, especially when it actually matters, and especially if you want to be in the picture, too! Also be aware that you should always consider the kiddos schedule… no meal times or nap times. They never work out for anyone!
Hope you find these tips helpful! If you have any questions about something I didn’t cover, feel free to ask away!

Carole : )

I don’t always have as much time for things as I’d like, but I always manage to get it all done!  : )

I’m shooting a wedding this coming Saturday.  When I do weddings, I like to provide photo cards to place at the reception, to let people know where they can go to look at the pics.  In order to do this, I need photos. . . .  Sylvia and Jason have been busy with last-minute wedding stuff, so today was the first chance they had to get together with me for a mini-shoot to get the pics we need.  Today at 1:30 pm, to be more specific.  And the order had to be placed by 5 pm—luckily, that’s 5 pm PST, but still—that’s not a lot of time to edit pics, design a card, and get the cards ordered!

Thank goodness I work better under pressure, right?  :)

Anyway, here are a few of my favorite pics that didn’t make it onto the card, and the card itself:

Again, some of these still need a bit of editing, but I didn’t want to make anyone wait any longer to see my favorites!!

Two things about this last one:

!) No, that center pic is NOT a studio backdrop!  lol

2) The pic with both of them with a foot on the rock: I did NOT pose them!  He put his foot up on his own, and little sis immediately ran over and had to do the same thing.  ”Monkey see, monkey do” and all….  It was really cute!  : )