Cindy and Saylor

Lydia + PJ | Engaged!

Cindy — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:07:08 +0000

I’m so excited to FINALLY get to share these engagement photos. We had to reschedule due to weather and it seemed like we were never going to get to hang out with Lydia and PJ, but the day finally arrived and we had a blast hanging out with these two on Saturday at Grapevine Lake. There was not a cloud in the sky and boy that lake can reflect the sun. I even had a lovely sunburn on Sunday morning. Totally worth it! These two like to spend time on the lake so the marina was a perfect location to start their session.

Next we headed to a great spot next to the lake and most importantly IN THE SHADE! I LOVED Lydia’s choice of outfit.

We took a break and had dinner at Little Pete’s at the marina while we waited for sunset. Then we headed back out to the edge of the lake for the last few minutes before the sun disappeared. These two are so fun! I can’t wait until their wedding in June at our favorite venue The Milestone!!! Yay!!

The Jordans | Downtown McKinney Family Portraits

Cindy — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:27:39 +0000

I can’t say enough about just how FUN this family is! We are so honored that out of all the photographers available to them in the Dallas/Fort Worth area they picked us to capture senior photos for two of their children AND the first family photo they have had taken since their kids were babies!! We started off the session with a mini senior shoot for Amanda. She was a natural in front of the camera and check out those gorgeous eyes!! Then we added in each member of the family as they arrived. Side Note: Can you imagine what scheduling is like for a family with THREE teenagers? Me either. Anyway, we had a blast capturing a few family photos and another mini senior shoot for Amanda’s twin brother, Casey. Then we finished up our downtown McKinney photo session with some more fun family photos. The result? One of my favorite family photo sessions…..EVER! That’s right, I said it. Ever.

Tehmina + Omar :: Married!!

Cindy — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 18:36:01 +0000

Tehmina and Omar’s beautiful wedding was held at the Intercontinental Hotel last weekend in Dallas. It was a relaxing, laid back event and the family of both the bride and the groom were so kind and welcoming to us we almost felt like part of the family by the end of the evening. I love when that happens! Tehmina is one of the most organized brides we have worked with and she amazed me with her thoughtfulness of her guests and even Saylor and I. Her last words as she was whisked away in the limo where ‘make sure you take home some cake’. What a honor it is to have to have the important job of documenting a couple’s love story and to even make new friends in the process.

Check out Tehmina and Omar’s wedding! To order prints or see more of Tehmina and Omar’s wedding photos and to be notified when the full gallery is released please click here.

Sisters | Downtown McKinney

Cindy — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 22:07:44 +0000

Watching these two together made me wish I had a sister! They swear that they fight constantly, but I can tell that they really and truly feel lucky to have a sister. We had a blast getting some updated photos of Kathryn and Brooke at the historic downtown square in McKinney.

Margot + Cliff :: Married!!

Cindy — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 23:28:39 +0000

Saturday was rainy and overcast, but it served as the perfect backdrop for Margot and Cliff’s wedding ceremony at The Chapel at Chestnut Square in McKinney. As it so happened the rain actually made for a lovely part of the wedding day. My favorite images of the day of the ones of Margot crossing the street on her way to the chapel. It was a sweet ceremony and a blast of a reception at Rick’s Chophouse Ballroom at The Grand Hotel! I couldn’t get over Cliff’s infectious smile throughout the whole day. I’ve never seen a groom so excited and happy even with the rain outside. It was a special day with a special couple and we were honored to be a part of it!

To order prints or see more of Margot and Cliff’s wedding photos and/or to be notified when the full gallery is released please click here.

Project Life 2012 | Weeks 1-4

Cindy — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:43:35 +0000

As much as I hate to admit it I have finally come to terms with the fact that I am a TERRIBLE blogger. Maybe, terrible is a bit too harsh. I think sporadic is a more appropriate word to describe my blogging. I truly, truly want to blog more, but it is just overwhelming at times so I finally had to just be okay with it. I have finally made peace with my blogging insufficiency and I’m okay with it and I hope you are okay with it too. Thanks.

I thought it would be fun to show you a little project I HAVE been keeping up with. Project Life!! I introduced it a few weeks ago by sharing my title page and telling you a little bit about just what Project Life is exactly. I’m caught up through week 4 of 2012 and I want to share a little glimpse into our everyday life. This is scary, some of this is real, real life. Like the photo of me with no makeup, but it’s us documented forever and I love it! Flip through my pages below.
By the way, on week 3 I have 1-6×9 insert and 1-8×8 insert so that is why those pages look a bit different.

I am really loving this project! Honestly, I have struggled a bit and might make it to Wednesday without taking any photos for the week and then once I remember I take too many. I am beginning to find a rhythm that works for me.

One thing that is REALLY working for me is the Day One app that reminds me twice a day to write down something about what is going on. I am not really using it to journal. I’m actually just listing some things that happened that day to jog my memory later. If there is a specific thing that I want to remember like something Mia said I can jot it down as quickly as sending a text. It has been very helpful! I highly recommend looking into Project Life for yourself!

I want to remember.

Cindy — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Sometimes I really struggle with remembering that….

And especially that….

Some days it is hard to remember that…….

And I really take this……

and this advice to heart…….

I want to always remember to……

Don’t you? I know you are shaking your head yes. So…….

Get out there and…….

2011 Top Ten Photo Contest Winner Announced

Cindy — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:46:00 +0000

Happy Friday the 13th! I think today is actually a pretty lucky day for a few of our clients! I know you can’t wait so I’ll get right to announcing the winner of our Top Ten Images of 2011 contest. First, we would like to thank all the friends and family that commented and rooted your favorite image on to victory. It was quite the exciting competition! We had over 700 votes!! That is unbelievable! The competition was fierce and 3 images actually battled it out neck and neck until the very end. So, without further wasting of your time The winner is…………..

Congratulations to Lesli and Brett! You have won a 16×24 gallery wrapped canvas!! It is on it’s way to you as we speak and you should receive it within a few weeks. Thanks again, to all of Lesli and Brett’s friends and family that voted for them. Way to go guys!

Since the competition was so exciting we couldn’t let our 2nd and 3rd place images go unrecognized so each one will receive a 12×18 mounted metallic print. Woo Hoo! I told you Friday the 13th was lucky!! Congratulations to……….

Courtney and her beautiful bridal image taken at The Milestone in Denton. And…….

Sean and Trisha and their romantic engagement photo taken at the reflecting pool at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas.

Thanks again everyone!!! Have a great weekend.

Matt | Senior 2012

Cindy — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Saturday was cloudy and overcast as January days in Texas tend to be. If you ask me it was the perfect weather for Matt’s senior photos in downtown McKinney. Matt is a Senior at Legacy Christian Academy and not a big fan of having his photo taken, but you could never tell from these images of him. Matt is so photogenic and a natural in front of the camera. Also, he was quite the trooper as we took photos for close to 2 hours! Thanks Matt for being so awesome. You are a very cool young man and we are glad we got to hang out and get to know you!

Monday Musings: Project Life

Cindy — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:00:00 +0000

One thing that photographers struggle with (or at least I do) is documenting for their own family. We spend a ton of time and energy documenting, recording, and creating memories for other families and sometimes when it comes to our own family……it feels like too much work. Didn’t I just spend 60+ hours editing photos and designing albums and now you want to create something for myself? Sorry, I’m just too tired.

This is something I have really struggled with over the past few years. See, I used to scrapbook. I don’t mean I had a cute rolling case that I took to crops on the weekend. I mean I was a hardcore, know every product by manufacture name, have a dedicated room in my house, every spare moment was living and breathing scrapbooking-scrapbooker. I recently just donated my collection of 5 years of Creating Keepsakes magazine. Yes, I had EVERY issue and every single one of them had post-it notes and dog-eared pages. WOAH, that sounds a little cr-a-Z-y. I’m a little embarrassed to admit just how obsessed I actually was. As my photography business began to take off I just didn’t have time for it any more and to be honest it felt a little too much like work. So, sadly my family’s photos have been left undocumented. So, so sad.

Last year I vowed to change this. I tried, and failed. Well, I didn’t actually fail, because I did take WAY more photos for myself than I had the previous year so that was an accomplishment in itself. I still plan to have a simple album of all the photos printed very soon. Few words, mainly just photos. This year I would like to go a bit further and document some words with those photos. Enter Project Life…..

I’ve been reading about it and following a few of my favorites scrapbook designers over the last year and this year I’m going to give it a try myself. As much as I LOVE paper and all the fun details I decided that going the digital route would be the simplest for me this year. And in order to actually succeed I’m ALL ABOUT simple. I downloaded the Digital Project Life Kit: Clementine Edition from jessicasprague.com and I’m well on my way to documenting the bits and pieces of our life in 2012!

I can’t tell you how excited I am about this project and plan to keep you updated as I work through it this year. If you are interested in documenting your family I highly recommend heading over to the Project Life website and check it out. It’s super easy and there is a ton of information. Don’t think it’s important?!? Read this blog post about the importance of documenting. IT IS IMPORTANT. PERIOD. Life is fleeting…

The title page for my Project Life 2012 album.