Wiggles & Giggles | Arkansas Baby Portrait Photographer

Capturing Weston's 1-year-old pictures was so much fun! He was actually still sleeping when I arrived, but literally 2 minutes after waking up you would have never known. He giggled and laughed and "told" me all kinds of stories. He is Mr. Personality!

Love this series...

For those photographers - I got to shoot this cute baby with my new baby, 50mm 1.4 prime lens. Check out that light and those eyes at shot wide open.

Again, those eyes....

For moms wondering what kind of clothing to wear for sessions, Weston's mom picked out great stuff. Solid, bright colors work marvelous. And I got lucky when I spotted this great little bench she had that complemented Weston's sweater perfectly!

A White House Christmas | Jerry Malzahn Art

After coming home from Thanksgiving, I headed to Dallas for a couple of days to babysit 9 (yes, I said 9) puppies for my friends. Why, might you ask?

Well, they had somewhere pretty special to be...the White House!

Jerry Malzahn was asked to paint an ornament for the White House Christmas tree. The theme for this year's decorations was "A Red, White and Blue Christmas".

Jerry is a phenomenal landscape painter which could be a bit tricky painting a small round ornament, but I think he did a magnificent job! If you look closely, you can see a tiny white chapel in the background.

While they were attending the artist reception in D.C., I was babysitting the 9 little bundles of joy and their 6 adult counterparts. I didn't take my camera so I don't have any pics of the sweet furballs. Sorry!

Here's a picture of a piece I purchased from Jerry for my dad a few years ago. It is still my absolute favorite one he has done. It is an elk standing in Odessa Lake in Colorado. To see more of Jerry's work visit http://www.malzahnart.com/gallery.html

A Little Cowboy | Family Portrait Photographer, Tennessee

So I've been just slightly MIA from the blog lately. But I have good reasons! I spent Thanksgiving in Tennessee with my family and favorite nephew. We took the 3rd annual Christmas Card picture. Hayden thought he was the coolest cowboy wearing one of my dad's hats. And, in case you're wondering, he is every bit the little ham he appears to be.

Stay tuned for some more cool posts this week. One involves, oh, let's say, um, .....the White House.

Santa's New Helper | Little Rock Baby Photographer

Santa has a new little helper this year... :)

Since Lily's 3-month portrait session fell close to the holidays, Mommy wanted something she could use on the Christmas cards. So with a sweet hat from Grandma I think we have a winner.





Love this one with Mommy.

For those of you with little ones or those on the way, take advantage of the First Year Baby Plan and receive a discount when all the sessions for the first year are paid for upfront.

Lily's 3 Month Portrait | Little Rock Baby Portraits

I can't believe it's already been 3 months since I captured Miss Lily's newborn images. She has grown sooo much and smiled almost the entire time. What was funny is that we had the hardest time getting her to sleep during her newborn shoot and this time we could barely keep her awake! So of course I had to make up for lost time and get some sweet sleepy shots. And the little tulle skirt her aunt made just for her was perfect.
This is just one little sneak peek with more images coming later.

The Price of Freedom | Veterans Day

Honor. Duty. Courage. Sacrifice.

All may give some. But some have given all. Today we honor the sacrifices of our veterans and our service men and women currently laying down their lives so we may live ours freely. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for what you have done and continue to do.

I remember and will never forget....my grandfather recounting the hours floating at sea after his ship had been torpedoed....Jon as he logged his 1,000th combat hour flying one of many missions over Iraq....Clint as he and his unit dodged sniper bullets searching for Saddam's foxhole....Matt as he spent six months away from his new bride to serve in Iraq....the flag-draped coffin coming home for the final time. Your service and sacrifices are known and will not be forgotten.

Prodigal Arts Festival Results | Fellowship Bible Church - Little Rock, Arkansas

You may remember a previous post about a very special arts event at my church, Fellowship Bible Church of Little Rock. This year's festival was based on the story of The Prodigal (Luke 15). I was able to enter two canvas images this year.

"Daddy" - In this first piece, I first wanted to draw on the prodigal story from the female perspective hence the "prodigal daughter". But even more important I wanted to highlight the relationship between a daughter and her daddy. Why? Because I have the most amazing daddy of my own. I know that no matter where I go or what choices I make, my Daddy will always be there to welcome me home with open arms and a joyful heart. Even though the persons in this image are very dear family friends my Daddy was the inspiration.


"Returned" - Verse 2 of Luke 15 was the inspiration for this piece. I was struck by the depth of emotion of the father as his son returned home. The father had accepted the fact that his son was dead. Then to see his son returned to him fully alive called for nothing less than celebration.


Results - I didn't win my division but I was able to sell "Daddy" to the precious family that this daddy and daughter belong as well as a second commission. "Returned" did not sell but is available for purchase. Please contact me if you are interested in either of these pieces. They are both 16x20 gallery-wrapped canvases from the incomprobable vendor Pixel2Canvas.

One Vote, Much Power

"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." - John Quincy Adams

Birthday Surprise

Back in September I traveled to a beautiful farm out in the middle of nowhere. I met up with four precious grandchildren all dressed in camoflauge. Why might you ask? Well, Grandpa was turning 60 and a special surprise birthday was in the works. The biggest surprise, though, would be a 16x20 canvas of his grand-kids dressed in his favorite clothing - camo!

The entire family conspired to get Grandpa off the farm long enough to get the session in. And we pulled it off. He had no idea and was completely surprised.

Happy 59-and-12-months birthday, Grandpa!

It's Fall-ing

Changing seasons. Falling temperatures. Vibrant colors. Fall in Arkansas is beautiful. A few images from my yard this weekend.

Baby Karlee

Sore throat. Fever. Yuckiness. That's been my week. Today is the first day I've felt close to normal. So, in other words, I ain't got nothin' done this week. :)

I have to share these images, though. My cousin's daughter, Karlee, came to my nephew's birthday party this past weekend in Tennessee. I haven't seen her since Christmas and my how she's grown. But the first thing I noticed were her beautiful and huge blue eyes.

She smiled, laughed, grinned...until I lifted the camera and then all I got were stares. But still so precious...

Hayden's Big Bash - John Deere Style

Just got home from a whirlwind weekend. It was my nephew's 3rd birthday party with a "John Deere" theme. He loves his John Deere "twactors".

My sister and I decorated his cake. We were pretty proud of it but I wouldn't confuse us with Martha Stewart or anything. :)


Hayden was pretty proud, too...

He realllly enjoyed the icing!

Now this is the way to eat your birthday cake...
Happy Birthday little man!

Happy Birthday Hayden!

My sweet nephew, Hayden, turns 3 today. I can't believe he's growing up so fast.

Happy Birthday Hayden! I'll see you Saturday...

MIA

So I've been a little scarce this last week. I've been under the weather and busy with work as well. The blog unfortunately had to suffer. Should have some more posts up this week. I've got lots of images and orders I'm working on so stay tuned.

Have an awesome Monday!

Take a Guess....

**Update - So what is this? - The top of a Galileo thermometer.

So what do ya think this is?
C'mon...take a guess.
Can't wait to see some of your answers!

Check back in a few days to find out what this really is....

Noah Turns 1 - Part 2

I promised some more cute images of adorable Noah and I don't think these will disappoint.
Look at that face. You just want to pinch those little chipmunk cheeks...

The next two I played around with some different textures. What do you think?
This one is absolutely priceless. He just got his dinosaur for his birthday.

I couldn't decide which I liked better of this image....Color or BW.
There are many images and I wish I could post them all, but those are for Mommy and Daddy to see. And in case you haven't seen Noah's baby pictures, click here

If you haven't scheduled your portrait session yet, now is a great time. The weather is wonderful and the light is gorgeous.

The Prodigal Arts Festival (Little Rock, AR)

The story of the prodigal.

Centuries old and yet timeless.

I have the privilege of joining many artists in the Arkansas community in sharing my interpretation of this powerful parable.


All different types of art will be on display and available for sale including photography, paintings, metal sculptures, etc.

The festival runs from this Saturday, September 27th - October 10th. Click Mustard Tree Arts or the image above for times and location. I'm sure I'll be there at different times, so I hope to see you there!

Noah Turns 1 - (Old State House in Little Rock)

A Sunday afternoon on the green grass and red brick walkways of the Old State House in downtown Little Rock was the perfect backdrop to capture sweet Noah at the tender age of 1.

There may just be a few more added later this week. Hint. Hint.

Sneak Peek - Noah Turns 1

Just a sneak peek at Noah's 1-year session...

Tune in tomorrow for more.