When I first spoke with Shelley about what type of portraits she wanted us to create she told me her primary goal was to recreate a photo. Ok, what sort of photo are we recreating I wondered?

Sarah loves the performing arts. Her passion for theater and dance lead her to open her own performing arts school, Bay Area Arts Conservatory, in League City. She grew up in the theater, dreaming of one day making her way onto the big stage. And, as it turns out, she would.

Prior to her design and styling consultation, Sarah and Jeff had brought it to my attention that Sarah had been feeling poorly about herself because of a negative body image. This is something many moms-to-be struggle to overcome. He believed that a maternity photoshoot with us might help her to begin feeling better about herself.

We believe that because our photos are so ubiquitous that we are doing a good job documenting our lives, creating little bookmarks in our lives that we can later revisit. The problem with this line of thinking is that we aren’t really interacting with these photos in the way we used to, or more importantly, the way that would most benefit us.

Too often we don’t believe ourselves to be good enough, or attractive enough, or smart enough. Being critical within reason is something I applaud, it’s how we get better after all but when these thoughts go too far they begin to wreak havoc on our lives. These overly critical thoughts prevent us from getting the most out of life and can even negatively affect our love life, our social life, and our work life.

Lauren is one of our talented makeup artists. She’s mom to a toddler, an entrepreneur and spends her days pampering other women for their important moments, whether its for a portrait session or a wedding. We were thrilled to learn that Lauren was expecting her second child and honored to be asked to photograph the special milestone. Every mom deserves the opportunity to be celebrated, no matter if it’s your first pregnancy or your fifth, each is unique and should be documented with maternity portraits.

It’s at this point that she made the decision to recreate or reimagine some of her old family photos. She wanted turn of the century characteristics with a contemporary sensibility. Now this was a photoshoot I could sink my teeth into!

We received a frenzied call at The Shelby Studio from Kelly during the peak of graduation season. Her daughter, Olivia, needed her senior portraits taken. The only issue was that Kelly wanted the senior photo session to happen before Olivia's graduation from Lamar High School…

We’ve all seen the photos of the family in a field of tall grass, bluebonnets if you’re in Texas, or those sunlit, bright beach session photos with the family walking hand in hand (ahem - our first family and maternity photos). So why is it that there is a growing demand for studio portraits?

Your child’s self esteem can be directly impacted by how often and in what manner they are exposed to their own image. A study done at Tulane University concluded that children who see photos of themselves have higher self esteem than those that are not exposed to their own photos. This should come as no surprise to anyone but it is certainly an aspect of a child’s well-being that many moms and certainly most photographers fail to consider.

Personal branding is at the forefront of small and local business marketing. It can help make or break a business struggling to compete in a competitive market. A key aspect of personal branding is making it personal with a branding photoshoot.

In an increasingly competitive job market it's not only important to show you at your best (which is what a headshot should do!) it's equally important to show that you understand what a company values. Even better, show that you share their values!

A professional photographer will help make you more engaging and add a level of authenticity to your brand as well as ensure that quality and style is something that comes to mind when people think about you or your brand.