Brown-Eyed Girl Photography » Jana

Some 2011 Holiday Faves

Jana — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:18:14 +0000

Every late November I host a weekend of holiday mini-sessions for clients who are primarily needing photos for Christmas cards or gifts and since I hadn’t blogged in a while I just wanted to post a few of my favorites from 2011. Thankfully here in South Texas we were blessed with a very mild green Winter and I was able to shoot sessions right on through December, I even shot an engagement session right before Christmas! See for yourself…….

Thanks for stopping by. I promise to be a better blogger and am even contemplating throwing more “lifestyle” stuff here into my blog. I wrote a personal blog for years while I was home raising my boys and I really enjoyed it. Lately friends have told me that they miss my personal blog so I’m considering molding the two into one. What do YOU think?

Happy 2012!!

Jana — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:43:07 +0000

I know we’re already a month into the new year but since I haven’t wished you a happy new year yet then let me be the 1000th person to wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2011 was a great year for Brown-Eyed Girl with so many exciting firsts for me, THE most exciting of which was shooting photographs for the Winter issue of Where Women Create magazine. You can see some of the inside of the issue here. I was asked to travel to Houston to shoot the studio of Drew Emborsky, the Crochet Dude who turned out to be such a funny charming guy and I really enjoyed spending some of the afternoon with him and having the opportunity for shooting for one of my very favorite publications!

2011 was also full of various types of portrait photo sessions…….newborn, family, engagement, senior & my new favorite type of session, boudoir. I’ve had many of you contacting me lately asking about these types of sessions so I’ve created a new boudoir gallery on my website along w/information on them under the “New!!” section. Basically I shoot boudoir/hot mama sessions at the location of your choice which is typically your home, the home of a friend or family member or possibly even a hotel room you’ve rented for the day. We don’t need much room……just a chair, settee, sofa or bed and some pretty natural light. If we shoot the session in your home then it’s much easier for you to change outfits, freshen your makeup and feel comfortable and let me tell you that every single woman I’ve shot these types of sessions for go away from it having a GREAT time and always tell me how much they enjoyed the experience. It’s VERY empowering! In both of my boudoir packages you get all of the edited images from your online proofing gallery in high-resolution on a CD with full printing rights, this way you can make your own prints or use the images to make a book or other gifts for your significant other which is a lot of fun! Pricing for these sessions are $300 for up to 2 hours of shooting time, my travel to you, professional editing of your images, the CD of images and $50 in print credit to spend with me for pro prints of your favorite images. The price for that package with professional makeup application is $350 and I HIGHLY recommend having your makeup done because it’s amazing the difference that adding false eyelashes and playing up the eyes & lips makes. HUGE difference! Here are a few examples of these types of sessions that I’ve done but as I said, you can see more on my website…..

As you can see, they don’t need to be too risque’…….they can be sweet & demure or you can push the envelope a bit and go for hot & sexy, it’s all up to YOU!! If you would like to chat more about this type of session then please don’t hesitate to contact me via the contact form at the top of my blog or email me directly at browneyedgirlphotography@yahoo.com. I’d love to hear from you!

Yes, I’m still alive!

Jana — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 23:30:10 +0000

Ok, friends & family and anyone else who might happen to stop by and check in……..I am indeed still alive! It was a crazy busy summer for me and my family so I apologize for my lack of posts the past several weeks. I stayed consistently busy with photo sessions through the summer however my #1 priority was spending time with our oldest son who is now in College Station preparing for his Freshman year of college at Texas A&M. We were also busy with getting son #2 ready to take his driver’s exam & getting son #3 to baseball practices & tournaments as well as taking a few trips here & there when we could manage to sneak away from town. I hope to make up for lost time with my blogging and FINALLY post some of my favorite images from my trips to NYC & Chicago that I took earlier in the summer (oh my, has it really been almost 3 months since I was in New York??!).

I also wanted to post a few favorites from a recent family session I did. Mom called me and needed to sneak the session in quickly since her daughter is in the Army and was going to be heading back to Hawaii soon for duty and thankfully I was able to oblige!

Pretty Mama & her girls…..

A boy and his best friend…….

My favorite family shot……

Father & Son……

Emily brought her boyfriend along for a few shots…….

One more family shot under the trees…….

I will be posting information about weekends that I’m available for photo sessions the next few months through Thanksgiving since the weekends seem to fill up first so stay tuned! I already have several senior sessions scheduled so it’s definitely not too early to be thinking about having your son or daughter’s senior pictures taken already. That’s one thing you have control over as a parent and can get done and checked off your list so let me know if I can help you out by taking their photograph for you!

Sneak Peek of Baby Luke {San Antonio family photographer}

Jana — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:37:27 +0000

The Simmons family have been great clients of mine for a couple of years now. This was our 4th session together and for this one I went to their beautiful home and shot some photos of their 7 month old son in the comfort of familiar surroundings. This is really the way to go when shooting infants! When he needed to nurse or be changed, we were right there where everything was handy & convenient which is really the way to go. We shot for about an hour till Daddy & the siblings returned home from the bookstore and it was time for me to be on my merry way which was more than enough time to grab some cute images of Baby Luke doing what he does best at 7 months……sit up, look cute, play & practice his pretend tummy swimming skills!

Stillwater Sneak Peek {Brown-Eyed Girl Photography}

Jana — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 01:12:13 +0000

It truly is a small world and recently something happened that made me realize that even more than I already did. I have a friend, a really sweet friend, whom I feel as if I already know and have spent countless hours with but in reality, we’ve never met in real life. We found each other online and very quickly discovered all the various things we have in common and over the years we’ve track of one another via flickr, Facebook & our blogs. Our biggest similarity is that Margo lives in Stillwater, OK which is where I used to live & where I went to college at Oklahoma State. Margo is also a photographer & she goes to church with a sweet couple who recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and were going to be coming here to San Antonio to celebrate with their son, daughter & their families and they wanted a photographer to come to the resort where they were staying to take family photographs for them during their visit. They asked Margo if she knew of any photographers in San Antonio and she was sweet enough to send them my way and I truly enjoyed my time with them on that muggy July morning……I wanted to stay and spend the weekend with them at the lovely Hyatt Hill Country resort too!!

I’ve never seen so many lovely blue eyes in one place before!

Their son & his family…..

The happy couple with their son & daughter…….

Grandma & her little “Mini-Me!”

You’ve gotta love a family who breaks into a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors…..it came down to brother & sister competing!

A family who plays together, stays together!!

Meet Roxanne! {Schertz Senior Photographer}

Jana — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:37:45 +0000

First off, a BIG CONGRATS to all of the 2011 high school seniors! Graduation parties & ceremonies have come & gone and now it’s time to sort through all of the photos & memories and reminisce on a job well done. My oldest son also graduated this past weekend and it was quite the melancholy time for me……sad that he’ll be leaving the nest in a few months but grateful & happy that he was successful and has such a bright future ahead of him. Roxanne was my last senior session of the 2011 season. We had met up a month or so ago for part 1 of her session but at that time she didn’t have her letter jacket or cap & gown yet so we shot part 2 of her session on saturday morning in front of her high school which also happens to be the high school my youngest son will attend in 2 years. Congrats & best of luck to you, Roxanne……I see nothing but great things ahead for you!!!

Dixon Family Sneak Peeks!! {Schertz Family Photographer}

Jana — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 17:52:44 +0000

My husband and I spent 20 years in the military and it never gets any easier…….you make friends with another military family, you think they rock & inevitably one of you moves away shortly thereafter and this is the case w/the Dixon family. They go to my church and I recently attended a Bible study there w/Lori. We were in the same small group so we spent quite a bit of time together but I never happened to mention my photography business to her during that time. We subsequently became Facebook friends and I’m pretty sure that’s where she found out about what I do and she says, “Why didn’t you tell me??! I’m wanting family photos taken before we move to Germany this summer!” and the rest is history. Her oldest son is staying here in San Antonio to continue attending college so family photos will be especially important to her I’m guessing, I know how much mine mean to me and all of my boys are still here together under my roof (for a few more months anyway!). Dixon Family, I thank you for trusting me with these precious memories and I hope you enjoy your sneak peeks from that warm Saturday morning we spent together……

Seniors 2011 Rock!! {New Braunfels Senior Photographer}

Jana — Tue, 31 May 2011 16:01:26 +0000

I have had THE best seniors this year……they’ve all been so cool & unique in their own way plus it doesn’t hurt that they’ve all been completely beautiful inside & out as well. Almost makes a photographer’s job a bit too easy if you ask me but hey, I’ll take it! On the sunday evening I met up with Lauren everything aligned up just right & worked except for the gusty winds we were having to deal with occasionally (winds + balloons do NOT mix!) however she was a trooper & we made the best of it and thankfully you can’t even tell in most of her shots. It was a sheer coincidence & miracle that a train had stopped right on the tracks where we were shooting & just happened to totally match her cheerleading uniform, it was as if I paid the guys to be there……amazing!! Thankfully she was as happy to see the train there as I was and she wanted to take full advantage of it as well. She brought her sister along for a few shots which is always fun too!

Big THANKS & HUGS go out to all my 2011 Seniors this year from Clemens, Steele, Randolph & Canyon High Schools! I wish all of you the very best that life has to offer in this next phase of your lives, please keep in touch (I feel like you’re all my kids now!).

Sweet Baby Sneak Peeks! {San Antonio Family Photographer}

Jana — Mon, 16 May 2011 01:57:12 +0000

I spent a part of my lovely cool saturday morning taking family photos with the Wier family and I enjoyed my time with them SO much! They were a referral to me by my friend Shawna, it’s always such an honor when my friends trust their clients & friends with me. I always enjoy it when clients invite me to their homes for family photos because to me it makes the photographs even more meaningful & special when you see familar beloved backgrounds in the images. We spent the morning roaming around the home & property finding fun spots to take photos of sweet 6 month old baby Finn with his mommy & daddy. Thank GOODNESS for his grandparents & aunt who were also there to help me out in getting Finn’s attention & making him smile, they were troopers & such a blessing!! He was a happy baby all morning and such a little trooper for us…….enjoy your sneak peeks, Wier family!

Daddy’s little Mini Me who will be on the golf course with him before you know it!

I will MIA for a short while……I’m leaving on Thursday for a short trip to NYC. I’ve never been there before so I’m really excited to have my friend, Danielle, show me around so I can soak in all the sights & sounds of the Big Apple and take a bajillion photos!

Meet the White Family! {Cibolo Family Photographer}

Jana — Thu, 12 May 2011 13:34:37 +0000

I really enjoyed my time with the White Family. We met on some beautiful property in the Texas Hill Country close to Canyon Lake on a breezy friday evening for some family portraits. I was met by a cheerful nice man named Randy who proceeded to show me around his property & home and my mind immediately began racing with ideas & love for the scenery there. His land is such a fabulous place for his grandson, Randy Jr, to spend time and grow up (you can see in the first photo how dry things are around here since we’ve had no rain since February). They told me stories about how Randy Jr’s birthday is around Halloween so every year they hold his birthday party at his grandpa’s land where they have hay rides and all sorts of fun things set up and then Grandpa takes the boys to the back of the property to tell them stories. I just love stories & photo shoots like this. I love it that the land we shot on holds memories for this family, memories already gone and more wonderful memories to be made and I loved being there. Thank you for trusting me with your family portraits White Family, enjoy your sneak peeks!