Rooted

How to capture new memories in the making.

2012-01-03T13:12:00.000-06:00

So we have started a new year. If you are like me, you have looked at your life and wondered where the last year went. As I look at my boys I see their little faces maturing and their favorite things changing. I see moments when I think, "Please Lord don't let me forget this!" I'm talking the simple things like the 4 of us in bed New Year's morning being silly and lazy. Those who know me know I love to scrapbook. However, with the pace of our lives, it is getting harder for me to do. Scrapbook for school, scrapbook for holidays, scrapbook for birthdays... times all that by 2 kids! (I know many of you have more!) Last year I started doing Becky Higgins Project life. You can check the link out. It is a way of taking a picture a day and placing them in cute binders with journal cards and momentos. She also has a digital version. Here is my blog about it last year when I was SUPER excited about it. I have to say it was harder than I thought. The first week I did great. As a photographer I wanted good pictures. I quickly realized that was not what this was about. It was just about documenting our family life. While I still have high hopes for project life this year, I now realize just how hard it can be.

Enter the IPHONE... Did you know THERE IS AN APP FOR THAT! Photo 365. My Step-Dad showed me this app. The app is only .99 right now and it stores the photos in a calendar for you and also allows you to export them to FB or another folder. You can even set it to remind you to take a photo daily. So this year I am going to try this as a way to ease into Project life!

Another idea is instead of trying to do a daily photo just do a weekly photo. I have a few photography blogs that do weekly themed photos to stretch creativity and skill. You could easily adapt this into a project life format for keeping memories of your year.

I will try to remind you to take photos often this year. While I love that you come to me for those perfect milestone moments for your wall, I hope that you find a way to capture the "everyday" this year. Because the everday changes and before you know it today is yesterday!

Like Rooted Images on FB and tell me how you plan on tracking your family memories this year!

Thank You!

2011-12-30T22:02:00.002-06:00

This year has flown by! We have seen so many milestones both personally in our family and professionally. I don't even know where to begin. I have to say this journey with Rooted Images is a personal dream come true. I would like to take time to thank each of you who have supported the launch of this dream. From lending me your beautiful children as models while I was stepping out of my comfort zone learning my new equipment and trying out new props to booking sessions and trusting me with your memories I can not tell you how blessed I feel to have some of the best friends and clients I could ever hope for. I want to thank Paige Person for inviting me to a photography workshop that changed my life and gave me the final push to take this leap and for being an email away in those moments when I was needing encouragement. To all my other photographer friends both hobbyist and professionals who passed on an encouraging word or skillful eye. THANK YOU! Everyone. From the bottom of my heart. I have some awesome things planned for you as my clients in 2012. Bring on the MEMORIES!

My challenge to you!

2011-12-27T19:20:00.001-06:00

The Christmas holiday has come and gone! Time is flying by so fast. With my boys ages 5 and 3, this year was full of memories. The week before Christmas we got out the video and pictures from the Christmas the year before. I am pretty sure that year I decided I would take less pictures of gift opening time and be present for the presents! As I looked at the video and lack of pictures I was dissapointed! I couldn't remember what had been only one year ago. My children had grown so much in only a year. This season I would take more photos of EVERYTHING! I may have went over board if there is such a thing when it comes to documenting your family as they grow. LOL!

This week I challenge you all to GET IN THE SHOT! Get your camera or your phone! Let you children take your picture, ask a friend to take one of you with your kids. So your hair isn't perfect, you haven't started your 2012 diet and exercise program, your child has a messy face. LIFE is MESSY! I love my perfect family photos hanging on my wall. What I love more is this picture Drew, my oldest took of me. No make-up, crazy hair, just us hanging out in the sun in our backyard as we often do. Yes I handed him MY camera. He was so excited and he captured a smile I never get to see. The one I give to him.

I challenge you this week to get IN FRONT of the camera! And when you do, Tag Rooted Images on FB and let us see those beautiful pics!

What a precious moment to be a part of.

2011-11-04T10:14:00.000-05:00

I feel so honored. Recently a precious family asked me to document one of the sweetest moments in time. They were having their 4th daughter and Mom wanted me to be there when she came out of recovery. It would be the moment their 3 older daughters were introduced to their new baby sister. It was an amazing time. I was so blessed to witness the love this family displayed. They were totally overjoyed with this little miracle. Here is their first image as a family of 6!

In addition to their images the family recieved a video fusion dvd that told the story of the day. It contained many of the images I shot along with some video I took that day. This dvd is included with all Birth Sessions. This family was such a BLESSING!!!

We are proud to support the "WAR IN MY RACK!"

2011-09-26T11:50:00.001-05:00

We are excited about supporting a great cause to raise funds to support breast cancer awareness, support, and a CURE! As a show of our support we are donating an awesome photo session and print credit package to Art For The Cure for their silent auction on October 1st. This is a fundraiser to support a wonderful cause and to kick off breast cancer awareness month this October. This is a cause that is near and dear to my heart. We are making our donation in memory of those who have lost their battle and in Honor of my dear Aunt Jeanie who is still courageously fighting her battle. For more information about how to support "The War in My Rack" Visit them at http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdallas.info-komen.org%2Fgoto%2FMyRack&h=9AQD84o8m or find them on FB at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Support-the-War-in-My-Rack/107538252618559?sk=wall

National Apple Month!

2011-09-07T08:21:00.000-05:00

September is National Apple Month. But who needs an excuse to enjoy this delicious Fruit! I’ve tried many different Apple recipes, and while I hate to pick favorites, this one is quick, easy and yummy. Visit you favorite local famer’s market or Apple orchard then take your pickings and bake a famous American Apple Pie.

Old Fashioned Apple Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

2 9-inch pie crusts (one for the top crust, one for the bottom crust)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash of salt
2 tablespoons butter
6 cups thinly sliced and cored apple

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Mix sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, and salt. Stir in the apples.

3. Place into pie crust, dot with butter. Cover with top crust, and slit evenly to let steam escape. Seal the top crust to the bottom by pinching the edges together.

3. Cover edge of the crust with a three inch strip of aluminum foil.

4. Bake 40-50 minutes, until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through top.

Ummm, let me check my calendar and get back with you...

2011-08-31T06:53:00.000-05:00

The problem: With school in full swing, sports, school events, and the everyday details that need not slip through the cracks. It seems to me even as a homeschooling mom who is “home” a lot our family was in need of an organizational overhaul. Our calendar on the refrigerator was not cutting it. I felt tossed about from activities, work, school, even trying to keep track of my husband’s schedule and balancing our work and childcare schedule. Frankly I was tired of telling everyone, "I will let you know when I get home and take a look at my calendar."

The process: My husband and I sat down and made a list of all the reoccurring responsibilities, events, and activities. We discussed what our limits were for how many activities each member should have in a week to still allow enough quality family time together. I put everything on the calendar, from weekly grocery store runs to monthly trips to Costco, karate practice to my photography bookings and my husband’s evening business meetings/dinners. Once we had this info we moved to the next step.

The solution: We both have email with calendars that sync to our phones. We set up to share calendars with each other and this became a real time calendar. I can add things that he can see and he does the same. It is color coded with the option of reminders. Our first question when something comes up is, “Is it on the calendar?” This may seem over the top for some. Honestly I wasn’t really happy about losing my hard copy calendar. I like putting my stickers on it and writing birthdays down. So I painted a door in my kitchen with a little chalk board paint, (a simple dry erase board would do) and I write the week days Monday through Sunday, because that is how we plan our weeks, then I write the activities scheduled for the week for everyone to see and as a reminder for me. The phone calendar is the end all when it comes to scheduling; the chalk board is just the reminder.

This system may not be for everyone but it certainly has helped us with scheduling conflicts and overbooking our lives. It has helped me prepare for those days when I know my husband has a busy schedule and it gives me reminders of when and where and what I need to be along. Anyone who knows me, knows I love to organize but I am not great at sticking with any one system. This system has really worked for us! It has saved me countless hours by not having to call people back after I check our calendar and check with the hubby. So convient to just look on my phone and give them an answer then mark my calendar while it is open. We have been doing this for a few months and it has just become part of our life.

I hope our system has a few things you can use to help organize and simplify your schedule. If you want to create your own system remember to ask yourself a few simple questions.

What are our family limits on time away from home?

What night do we want to mark down as family night? No one schedule on this night. Play games, read, cook dinner together, get creative!

What are our weekly and monthly reoccurring activities?

Where is all this information going to be displayed for all to see in a way that is easy to update?

Make sure the family has a say in their schedule guidelines, getting everyone on board to using the system is key to it’s success. Keep it simple, remember if your system take too much of your time you WON’T stick to it.

How do you keep your family life organized and scheduled? I Would love to hear your ideas!

Christmas Card Sessions Booking Now!

2011-08-25T16:43:00.000-05:00

Call or email to schedule your session and get the early booking rate of $99. Book this week and our gift to you is 25 custom photo Christmas cards! See ya soon!

RAIN is a good thing!

2011-08-13T16:10:00.000-05:00

We were up at 7:40am on a Saturday. The unusually dark sky was exciting! We haven't see rain in weeks. It has been so hot. They boys have taken to praying for rain unprompted by us! It may as well been a snow day. I got the boys, they grabbed umbrellas and had some old fashion rain puddle fun. Please don't ruin it for me by talking about all the chemicals we were bathing in. Trust me I know but it couldn't be helped. To quote Drew. "Jesus heard his prayers!" to quote Alex, "Jesus made it rain!" to Quote Luke Bryan, "Rain Is A Good Thing!"

So I made a short and silly video about our fun!

So excited to be here!

2011-08-12T17:26:00.000-05:00

I am so excited about my new blog! I want this blog to be a place where I can share with you about this journey I call photography. I plan on posting about current and past client sessions, practical photography advise and some fun stuff along the way. Look out for more posts soon!