It starts with the yellow of the mustard weed (terrible for allergies but so vibrant and pretty to look at) and moves quickly into the blooming of the blue bonnets (followed by the indian paintbrushes, coneflower, coreopsis, vervain, etc.  I could go on. And on. It truly is incredible).  Now if you live in Texas and are a parent, you pretty much are required to take at least one shot with the kiddos in the bluebonnets.  And if you grew up in Texas, I am sure you must remember with much fondness being drug into a thick mess of flowers at the side of the interstate.

It is a right of passage here.

We found a pretty spot away from the hustle of the freeway and I think the kids had a good time exploring and running through the wildflowers.

Why yes, now that you ask, I do think my husband had purchased tickets to the gun show. That’s my man. He was the least excited and cooperative of my subjects. Take one for the team Dustin. Dustin also grabbed some pictures of me but since this is my blog I get to decide who is featured.  Since I can’t seem to look non-weird I think I will treasure those images in private.

Hope you are enjoying your spring. Wherever you may be!

This casting call is open to anyone ages 12 and up who is comfortable in front of the camera, willing to work hard and able to happily follow directions.

I am also looking for families who are open to having a session in their home and documenting their daily life.  This session must take place in the next three weeks.

The images will be used in print and web material for my business and model/parent must be willing to sign a model release.

Models will receive complimentary digital files from the session.

For details or questions don’t hesitate to email me at leah@thesaltedimage.com.

She was so comfortable in front of the camera, that it made taking her photos a snap!

Accessories are always a great idea for a session.  Dorothy had picked out great outfits but her jackets and scarfs really gave the images some additional pop.  I love when clients think beyond the traditional “white shirt and jeans” outfit and wear something that shows off their unique personality.

By this point in the shoot, the temperature had really dropped. And by “really” I mean REALLY.  Now I admit to being a major weather wuss, anything below 70 degrees is too cold for me. The frigid temps didn’t seem to bother Dorothy and we finished the session after squeezing out every last bit of light from the day.  When I got in my car, the temperature read 42.  So see it really was cold!  I dreamed about hot tea while my fingers itched the whole way home but I thought the pictures were worth it.

The next week we met up again at the UTSA’s recital hall and continued our session by adding in a grand piano.  Dorothy is an accomplished pianist and I enjoyed listening to her play while I photographed her!  I love trying new locations and situations and loved the chance to pull out my off-camera lights to try some different looks.

Dorothy, you’re a gem!  Thank you so much for being so willing to split your session into two parts and for never complaining about the cold.   I am sure your recital will be extraordinary and I hope to be in the crowd watching you!

I’ll give you a dollar (not really) if you can tell which images are his!

I love to give a couple different looks for a portrait session, so after we finished downtown, we drove to what is quickly becoming my new favorite Conroe location; A nice grassy field under a train track. Ah yes, how romantic.

Michaela and Sean, you guys were incredible and you made my job so fun and easy.  Thanks so much for being so amiable and willing to try whatever locations we recommended.  I hope you love your images as much as I loved taking them, and I hope we get the chance to work together again!

For this session, I was joined by the uber-talented Sarah Bunch, of Sarah Bunch Photography. Be sure to visit  her blog, I saw her images of this session and they are fabulous!

Caitlyn was perfectly sweet and beautiful.

Thanks to a recommendation from May (thanks May, you rock!), we found a cluster of bamboo that was the perfect ending to Caitlyn’s session. These are now some of my favorite bridal images ever. I mean look at her!

Caitlyn and Zacj! Thank you so much for being available last minute and for giving us SO much of your time.  Zacj, you were a perfect reflector and light-holder.  All your work and help was so appreciated.  Caitlyn, thanks for being so excited and enthusiastic.  You made it way too easy.  You were both so much fun to work with and  I hope you love the images.

So until I have made up my mind, here is one of my favorites from Caitlyn’s After-the-Wedding-Bridal-Session.

I allays begin the session with more traditional poses. This is usually when everyone is at their best and the kids are OK with sitting for a bit and the adults may still be feeling awkward in front of the camera and appreciating a bit more guidance then I give toward the end of the session.

I am a big time sucker for a grassy field (although I could have done without the deer carcass but what can you do?).

Ben and Melissa, thank you so much for asking me to take you’re families portraits. I don’t think you know just how much it meant to me! I had such a great time with your family and I love the way your session turned out despite the last-minute change of locations. I hope you give me the honor of working with you all again!

I first photographed Luke when he was around three weeks old  and again when he was close to a year. It is amazing to see how much he has changed and watch his personality develop from mellow baby to an exuberant and friendly young boy. I feel so privileged to photograph his whole family once again.

I have not posted a new blog post in three months. My reason: in that space of time we have moved from our home into temporary (a hotel room for 10 days and now a furnished apartment for a bit longer) homes while we wait for our biggest and final move in October to San Antonio. We will move soon after our new baby’s arrival in the next couple days (or hours). Things have been slightly stressful to say the least and blogging has fallen off my to do list. Completely.

Now that I am in a week or two of hurry-up-and-wait downtime, I thought I would try to catch up on sessions and posts that I have wanted to share.

Several months ago, I was finally able to attend Zach Arias’s One Light workshop. I wanted to attend this workshop for a couple years and had read tons of reviews about it. I had very high expectations for it and it did not disappoint.

There are definitely some workshops I have attended that I seriously wish I had saved my money on but I was 100% satisfied with the One Light Workshop.

The workshop is an intensive “One-day” event that focuses on getting you comfortable with using one off camera light.  Zach has a wealth of info to deliver in and is adept at making it easy to understand.  His main focus was on getting us unafraid of our lights and he also delved into post-production, working with clients, equipment, exposure, modifiers, location scouting, and work flow. I think the format of his workshop was the best I have been to yet. He kept the class small enough to break us down into groups that were not “paparazzi like” when it came to shooting the provided models. There was plenty of time to cover material in lecture and then he would take us out and show us how to do it. He would then follow-up by making each and every one of us do it. He used that same format through out the day and by 10pm we were exhausted but educated and confident to go out in small groups and try our newly learned techniqueson our own.

Other things I loved about this workshop, First off he referenced “Star Wars” and “Star Trek”, so he had me at “May the Force be with you”. He is a very humble and down to earth guy. There was not one-ounce of pretension or smugness to him. That was such a breath of fresh air in this somewhat “Look at me! Look at me!” industry. It was also nice to hear his philosophy and thoughts about buying what you can afford with the money you earn, buying only what you need, and not relying on credit cards. Amen to that.

Another plus was that he provided all the lighting equipment and gear needed for the class, which saved me the hassle of getting light stands and umbrellas on a flight.

Unlike other workshops where the food is extravagant and the meals are long, Zach feed us pizza and sandwiches and gave us xeroxed copies of his power point presentation. I appreciated this because it made the workshop affordable. Although the expensive food is nice, I would rather eat food for mere mortals and save some cash. He also maximized our time by keeping the breaks short and teaching until close to 2am the following morning. He calls this a one-day workshop but technically it was closer to 17 hours of instruction. This was more instruction than I have received in two-day workshops I have attended (but half the price). He answered each and every question I asked (and yes, I had a long list), and didn’t stop until all questions were exhausted.

Every attendee had a chance to work with three different light modifiers. Umbrellas…

Soft boxes (ok, honestly I don’t remember what if this was an umbrella or a soft box)…

And my new favorite, Gridspots…

Here is Zach getting down and dirty while using a grid spot. I have to admit the gridspot is now one of my favorite lighting 

If you have any interest in off-camera lighting or want to broaden your skills as a photographer then save up your pennies and go to this workshop. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Several weeks after the course, I was able to watch Zach once again through Creative Live, an on-line learning site for photographers and creative types. His course is focused on  ”what you need to know to be a professional working photographer”. He covers business, natural light, strobe + ambient, client interaction and posing guidelines. You can check out and purchase the course here.

I’m just hoping that he’ll come out with a “Two Light workshop”.

I met the family last October for big sister Ellie’s first birthday portraits. She is such a funny little girl and was quite gentle with her new little brother.

Christine and Rob, we are so happy for you and your new family of four! Now that the baby is here, let’s set up another “Just Dance” dance-off so I can laugh at the guy’s “Beyonce” moves. We are so happy to count you as friends and look forward to watching your sweet children grow.