Brown-Eyed Girl Photography » Garden Ridge photographer

Summer Update {Brown-Eyed Girl Photography}

Jana — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:50:20 +0000

Hello All! I haven’t abadoned you, I promise. I would NEVER do that! I do have some pretty darn good excuses for my lack of blogging lately though, I really do. This mama has been a traveling girl lately which is so nice but rare for me, I think I’m making up for lost time or something…….all those years I stayed homebound raising 3 little boys. It’s odd to be able to travel as much as I am lately but I’m not questioning it at all, just enjoying it, thanking God I have a supportive husband & soaking it all in. After a crazy busy May & early/mid June I attended Paper Cowgirl because my good friend Jennifer Stewart was teaching there and I’d always wanted to go. Thankfully this year I was able to make it work so I made the trek up to Waxahachie which I promptly found out I’d been mispronouncing all these years! I’d been saying WAXahachie like you wax a car but found out that the WAX is said like the word rock…..wocks……Waxahachie. However you properly say it, it’s a quaint cute town with a darling downtown shopping area and I’d certainly love to go back someday! The event was awesome too and it was so nice to see so many Silver Bella friends there!

You just have to love a good ol’ Texas event where even pistols are blinged out in glass glitter!!!

Sweet Jennifer with her class sample for the Patriotic Banner class I took, I loved it!

July was full of visits from friends, concerts, weddings, family, senior & 50th Anniversary sessions & another trip to Dallas later in the month. If July 1 was any indication as to how the rest of the month was going to go then YOWZA. I spent the day in rainy San Antonio with my friend Jodi and we got to hang with her very favorite band, the All-American Rejects. Don’t believe me? I have proof and yea, it looks like I put the guy next to me asleep……..ah well……..

I usually don’t get all crazy fan-girly but even I must say that was on amazing crazy experience! I mean really, it’s not everyday a regular Joe mom like me gets to hang with a rock band. Heck, they even took us on a tour of their amazing tour bus. Don’t be hatin’. I was able to hang with Jodi again later in July at her beautiful wedding reception in Austin at the Umlauf Sculpture Gardens which were so beautiful & amazing despite it being an ultra hot & sticky July Texas day. I loved seeing her so happy and it was wonderful seeing old friends again……

Gotta get a pretty ring shot!!

I did a military family shoot on a balmy summer evening at the lovely Japanese Tea Gardens which is always a fun but interesting experience. Going there is a total crap shoot because you never know how many people will be there or how many other photo sessions will be going on at the same time. I’ve gone there when the place was vacant & have also been there when it’s packed and at least 5 other photo sessions are being held, you just never know! This particular evening was quite crowded but we managed to find secluded spots to shoot.

Next came a shoot I was excited about since it was a bit different than most others I do. I’d been asked to shoot a 50th Anniversary party for a sweet local couple. Friends & family came in from near & far to celebrate their special day with them and their daughters hired me to preserve the day in print for them. I was quite honored to be a small part of their day. The mother was especially touched since all of the family hadn’t been together in quite some time, she was brought to tears which of COURSE made me cry too. I can’t help it.

The wedding topper off their wedding cake, 50 years ago to the day. Beautiful.

July ended with another trip north up I-35 to downtown Dallas and the next Gilded Life event at the beautiful home of Shea Fragoso but I’m going to stop here because that event deserves a blog post all it’s own! I was honored to be asked to photograph the event for Debbie & Shea and thankfully I’ll be able to share some of the images here with all of you! Check back soon & I’ll share some of their lovely eye candy with YOU!!

**I still have a couple of time slots left for the Boudior mini-shoots I’m doing at my studio in downtown New Braunfels this saturday. I have a 2:00 & 3:00pm time slot left so please reply here or contact me via the contact form above if you have questions or would like to book your own session. You can find more information here. They’re going to be SO much fun so don’t miss out!!**

Meet Brandi!

Jana — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:52:43 +0000

Brandi and I hit it off right away and had such a fun evening walking around taking photos together. She was my first 2011 senior session and it made me realize how much I truly enjoy shooting seniors! I love a girl who’s confident enough to show up alone for her session in a rockin’ pick up truck, who’s also disciplined enough to put herself through school her senior year of school online and is sporting a Guns N Roses t-shirt. I knew right away we were going to have FUN. We walked around and chatted about concerts, music, the military life and just girl stuff in general all while taking lots of pretty pics. Talk about a nice way to spend an evening! Hope you enjoy your sneak peeks, Brandi……..you’ve got a great head on your shoulders and will be a major success whatever you decide to pursue and I’ll be cheering you on all the way.

Quick reminder about my Boudior sessions coming up next month on the 21st. Pro make-up, safe secure studio usage, champagne, fun times, pretty pics, all of your images in high resolution on a disc for you to have forever and $50 in print credit all for $300!! 3 spots are taken so call or reply soon if you’re interested so you don’t miss out! These make great birthday, anniversary or Christmas presents for your honey. I did this for my hubby for our anniversary last year and he was thrilled since he knows how much I don’t really like to have my picture taken (although I adore taking pics of others, go figure!) so if you’re looking for a gift that’ll knock his socks off then this is IT!

Playing Catch Up! {Brown-Eyed Girl Photography}

Jana — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:04:33 +0000

Just catching up on some spring sessions I haven’t posted yet! We met at the Japanese Tea Gardens for an evening of hiking, fun & exploring all over the park and then met at my studio for part 2 a few days later, a 2nd birthday celebration!

Thanks for stopping by! I have more to post so I hope you’ll stop in often & say hello!! Stay tuned for information on a day of Boudoir sessions I’ll be doing sometime in early August at my studio. I’ll provide a makeup artist, a private fun location & fruity drinks so all you’ll have to do is show up & have FUN!

Summer is Coming Sale & Prom Pics

Jana — Tue, 25 May 2010 12:53:44 +0000

I have some EXCITING news! For the next 48 hours I’m going to be offering my gorgeous custom canvases at 25% off their regular prices!! The sale lasts till thursday at midnight so if there’s that really special image from your session you are wishing you had printed onto canvas then NOW is the time to order. My canvases come with special dust protection and a sawtooth hanger already attached so it’s ready to be hung on your wall or perched on a special shelf as soon as it arrives. I have some of mine mixed in a wall collage going up my stairs among framed prints & scrapbook pages. I just bought a bunch of random frames, all in black so they’re cohesive, and bought those little shelves for 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby to sit my canvases on to add a bit of texture along the wall plus it makes it easy for me to grab them and taking along to show clients. I just love the way it looks:

Please email or call me if you need canvas pricing or information on how to order. Remember, I do accept credit cards via PayPal!

My oldest son attended his first high school prom this past weekend and it was quite the event around here! It was our first experience with renting a tux, ordering the perfect corsage, making sure everything matched and on top of that, he and all of his friends came back here to the house after prom to hang out which was great with me! It made for a late night but I loved knowing where they were & that they were ok. It was also my son’s first experience of driving into downtown San Antonio along with his date and another couple but evidently he did great so I’m one relieved mama. I met up with some of the kids to take some pics before they headed to dinner before prom and I appreciate the opportunity they gave me to capture precious memories for our photo album & scrapbook! It was gusty & spitting rain but they were troopers & we made it work……..

What a stunning group of people I’d say! This is my son & his date……

Just a reminder that I am accepting sessions throughout the summer. We’ll be gone for a few weekends here & there but for the most part I’ll be around this summer so don’t hesitate to call & book your session! It’s SO nice to have the option of the studio this summer so we’ll have a nice, cool place to shoot. I’m going to be scheduling a weekend of boudior shoots later this summer so keep that in the back of your mind if you’ve been contemplating something like that. The images would make great birthday or Christmas gifts for your honey, I did this for my husband for our 20th wedding anniversary last year and they knocked his socks off (in a GOOD way thankfully!).

Senior Sneak Peek for Katy!!

Jana — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:45:15 +0000

Hi All! Nope, I haven’t fallen off the edge of the Earth I promise, have just been busy with business and life in general…….baseball games, band concerts, garage sales, painting the studio and of course photo sessions! I try not to go this long without posting but something had to go on the back burner and unfortunately this was it but I promise to make up for lost time. It’s nice because as we’re in the midst of high school senior season I’ve also been doing other types of sessions as well to keep things interesting so get ready for a blogging frenzy here soon and heck, I STILL haven’t posted photos from our trip to Mexico in FEBRUARY! Oh my, I truly am behind, aren’t I?!

I wanted to post some senior sneak peeks for some sweet new friends of mine, Katy & Tracy. They hired me without knowing me and I’m so grateful they did because we’ve become fast friends because of our mutual love on antiques and all things vintage! Tracy likes to hit estate sales & that’s something I’ve been wanting to do for the longest time so hopefully she can show me the ropes sometime and I’ll find out about all the fun and vintagey goodness I’ve been missing out on. Katy is graduating from Steele this year and is heading to Seguin to attend college so thankfully she won’t be too far away from home! Best of luck to you, Katy Beth, I wish you all the luck & happiness the world has to offer!!

If you’re on Facebook and would like to keep up with the latest on what’s going on here at Brown-Eyed Girl Photography, then join my Facebook page and then you’ll begin getting my updates, recent pics and will know when I update my blog. Just go here and click “like” at the top of the page and then you’ll be set!

Sneak Peek for the Thompson Family! {Brown Eyed Girl Photography}

Jana — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 01:31:11 +0000

I met up with the Thompson Family a few days ago for an evening of senior pics & family shots and we had such a nice time! It was a bit warm & muggy that evening but they were troopers going up & down the stairs at the Sunken Gardens and we ended up with a lot of great shots. As a mom of 3 boys it was fun & interesting to watch the dynamics of a family with 3 daughters, they are all so unique not only in looks but in personalities as are my boys and I had such a great time with them. Enjoy your sneek peeks, Thompson family & congrats on graduating soon, Laura!

Meet Cory! {Schertz Senior Photographer}

Jana — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 22:57:36 +0000

Cory’s mom found out about me through a fellow soccer mom whose son is one of my senior reps (thanks Stacy & Taylor!). I love asking how people find me & my business and for you fellow clients, I do keep very good track of that sort of thing because as I’ve talked about in the past, referrals & word of mouth are EVERYTHING in this business. I know you have many choices when deciding on a photographer and that it seems like everyone & their mother is starting a photography business these days so I TRULY appreciate folks who choose me and I like to thank my clients by giving them FREE stuff, everyone loves freebies right?! For each referral up to 2 you get a free 5×7 print for each then after 3 referrals who book & shoot their session with me, you’ll earn a FREE photo session! That’s a total of nearly $300 in freebies simply for referring friends, family, co-workers, your mailman, whomever you chat with about photography to me. Easy peasy! Anyway, I digress…….onto Cory!

We met up in Cibolo on a lovely warm spring evening and had a great time shooting his senior pics. I told him several times that he seriously needs to look into modeling because he seemed so at ease and had no problem doing whatever I asked him to do as far as posing & things went. He’d stomp into the weeds when I asked him to & tilt his head when told, such a natural, and I really think it shows! Thanks Cory & Tammy for the iced tea you brought me, hope you enjoy your portraits!

Someone called him during the session & I noticed his iPhone so I wanted to incorporate it into the shoot!

Loved the clothes he brought, bright & fun, perfect for a senior shoot

Love it when kids bring their letter jackets, class rings, instuments, sports equipment, etc. to shoots!

This one reminded me of the song, “My future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades!!” Yea, I’m really showing my age with THAT song!!

An Evening in the Bluebonnets

Jana — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 22:58:17 +0000

I adore my friend Holly. We just clicked…..immediately, but then again she clicks with everyone, she’s just one of those people. She’s the kind of girl who everyone loves and I’m grateful she came into my life via Tracy and then it all just snowballed from there. I shot her maternity session and then her newborn session and recently she asked if I’d take pics of their new family of 3 in the bluebonnets. Well of course! We were supposed to meet on a friday evening but on wednesday it was such a lovely day and I was out shooting other sessions anyway so I asked if they might be able to meet me a couple of days early and thankfully they could because we simply couldn’t have asked for a more lovely evening. They brought along a good friend of theirs and he brought his sweet baby, Chloe, so I took some shots of them too. Talk about adorable! Thank you Guys for such a fun evening, I hope you had as much as I did.

Meet McKenzie! {Schertz Senior Photographer}

Jana — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 14:02:33 +0000

I had the fun pleasure of meeting McKenzie & her mom last week at my studio. McKenzie is friends with one of my senior reps (thanks Codie!) and her sister had also seen some of my work on my Facebook page (if you’re not a fan yet, you should be *hint hint* join here) so they asked me to take her senior portraits and we had such a fun afternoon. We began inside the studio for a few shots then moved outside since it was a lovely sunny afternoon. I love to chat with new clients & learn more about them and I quickly learned that McKenzie is quite the amazing athlete (she’s 6’3″!!) and is heading out to Virginia in the fall to play ball for the Cavaliers, way to go!!!! On top of being amazing talented she’s beautiful too, just check out her gorgeous eyes. I could’ve photographed her for hours!

Thank you, McKenzie, for the honor of taking your senior portraits! You rock.

I will be accepting bookings for senior portrait sessions for another few weeks (into mid-May) and have a ton of fun ideas for places to shoot your session so book now if you still need portraits taken, there’s not much time left till grad! Thanks for stopping by!

Congrats Ryan & Peggy!!!

Jana — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 18:23:17 +0000

I’ve had the pleasure of working with THE nicest couple ever. No really! I didn’t know them prior to working with them on their engagement, bridal & then wedding portraits but over the past several months of working with them, I feel that I can genuinely say that. I shot their engagement session last fall which is posted here and then Peggy’s fun bridal shoot in Gruene posted here and then a couple of weeks ago, God blessed them with the loveliest spring day and we all met out in Marion for their wedding day. My friend Chasity joined me as second shooter for the day which rocks because we always have so much fun working together and balance each other out very well. After getting to know Ryan & Peggy and learning more about their story, I’m so grateful God brought them together and was very honored to spend their special blessed day with them from beginning to end. Congrats my friends & enjoy your sneak peeks!