Chillin' At The Park

I met this family a few weeks ago at a little pocket park in their neighborhood. It was surrounded by lots of green, foresty paths and I think poison ivy. I ended up with itchy, itchy legs after this shoot. What was I thinking sporting my shorts and flip flops to a shoot and then kneeling down with my bare legs in a forest filled with ferocious foliage? After all these years...you'd think I'd learn.
I had a great time with this family and I love all the happy shots we got of them playing and laughing together. There was some fun with the cheerios where they were acting like pirates and the cheerio was their eye patch...can I get an Aaaaargh?!!! It was about to be little bit's birthday in a few days so we took a 1st birthday shot of her with the hat on. :)

Maria's & Margaritas!

I met the Villareals last week at one of my favorite spots to shoot...Maria's Taco Express and was happy to find that Kelli (the mom) was already inside getting herself a margarita for the shoot. I'm all for the parents relaxin' a bit before the shoot starts plus it was happy hour...the price was right! :) We had a good time working our way around the restaurant and checking out all the latest and greatest additions to the place. Families are always asking what they should wear to their shoot and to me this family is a great example of coordinating outfits but not too "matchy matchy". Take note people!

A Saturday with the Stutzmans

I photographed the Stutzman family a few weeks ago and they've just welcomed a new baby boy into their family. We had a nice, calm photo shoot (for the most part) at their house. Dad and their older son did have a grape throwing game for a bit but nothing too crazy. :) The new baby is just as cute as ever and was safe with mama during the grape battle! I loved photographing his little wrinkle rolls...so cute! They have a lot of black and white photos through out their house so I'm posting all bw photos for this post.

My Next Senior Super Model

Meet Kara. She's on her way to the University of Miami with a DIVING scholarship! Wow! I'm impressed. It's always so fun to find out how people get into hobbies or sports especially when it's something different. For Kara, she said she just started out with some gymnastics classes and then found a diving program with a great coach one summer and she just loved it. We had to incorporate water into her senior photos since that is huge part of her life. We also added a bit of color, fun, smoothies and the awesome weeping willow tree. Good luck to a great senior year Kara and thanks for being a senior supermodel for Brandi Nellis Photography!

Down Syndrome of Central Texas "Share the Passion" Gala

Once again, I volunteered for this great event this year and had so much fun. Every year the local Down Syndrome Association here (DSACT) puts together a yearly calendar to raise revenue for their cause. They always combine a local Down Syndrome child with a celebrity for each month on the calendar and then they have a huge kick off party which is this gala. The children that star in the calendar for the year get the ultimate treatment at the gala. They arrive in limos, the crowd is screaming for them, the paparazzi is there (that's me!)photographing them as well as KVUE News and then they have a loooooong, red carpet for them to walk into the party. It is just the cutest thing you have ever seen! Some of the kids are very receptive to the whooping and hollering while others are quite shy by all the attention. This year they even had Elvis there performing some of his dance moves. It really is a great cause and if anyone would be interested in purchasing a calendar please click on over to DSACT and get yourself one!

I want to be...

This year has really thrown me a lot of curve balls and it seems that they haven't stopped yet. It would be so easy to crawl under a rock and hide from the world but I just can't do it. I keep on pluggin' along and looking for joy and hope in all the small things from a ray of sunshine coming through the clouds to watching my son jam on his guitar (or "sweet axe" as he calls it). I received an email from my best friend today with this link and I wanted to share it with you all. It was exactly what I needed to hear and see. And, life will go on.

My First Senior Model Shoot-CHELSEA

So, I have recruited a few high school 2011 Seniors to be models for Brandi Nellis Photography but I would like a few more. If you know any really cute AND outgoing senior guys or girls please send them my way. Chelsea knew she wanted a "country" shoot so she found Old Settlers Park up in Round Rock and it was just a fabulous location to do her shoot. We worked our way around the old red barn, tractors and little cabins dodging wasps the entire way. Yikes. She was an awesome model and we had a great time during her shoot. Check out some of my favs of her and how about those eyes...