Sabrina's Graduation Pictures | San Antonio Photographer

Miss Sabrina is graduating in May!  Here are a few samples of her graduation pictures for her announcement.

For more of my natural light photography located in San Antonio, please see Photos by Amy Nelson or my FB Page Amy Nelson Photography.

The W Family | San Antonio Photographer

My dear friend has hired me to take family pictures for her since the birth of her first child ...  Miss B.  Then shortly after that, Miss T came along for the ride, and I was able to take pictures of her as a newborn as well!  I've been shooting pictures every few months for the family, and I have to say this session, as hard as it was to capture a smile from Miss B ... was my favorite of the all the ones I've done in the past with this family! 

Combine the background of beautiful purple flowers, an orange chair, and a beautiful family.. it was a recipe for beauty!

I have so many more pictures of the family ... but these are the ones that really caught my eye!

For more of my photography, check out my Photography Facebook Page.... go ahead and like my page while you're at it if you like my photography!   If you are in the San Antonio area, then contact me if you're interested in a session! 

Bluebonnets in the spring

Since we have moved to Texas 3 1/2 years ago, we have yet to take pictures in the bluebonnets.  I learned right away the first spring we were in Texas that everyone sits their kids, babies, families in the bluebonnets and snaps pictures.  I saw a family parked on the side of the road one day, and they placed their little tiny baby in the flowers... the patch was super tiny and it was RIGHT next to the road, but everyone wants pictures in these flowers!


Last spring we didn't have ANY bluebonnets appear.  It was so sad... and the reasoning for that is because if the winter before that spring is very dry, then there will be zero bluebonnets showing.  So, this past winter we were blessed with a lot of rain, so that means there are tons of bluebonnets all over the place!

I have done four photo shoots not counting my girls in the bluebonnets so far this spring... and many more have requested photos next year in the bluebonnets.  They're that gorgeous.  (the flowers.. I mean!)

So, right before I did my first photo shoot in these flowers, I wanted to try my girls out for practice.  What I got was some of the most beautiful pictures of my girls, and some of the typical sisterly affection my girls share with each other.


Enjoy!

and.... some bloopers that didn't quite make it to the editing page.  :)  But still precious to this mama!

Photoshoot time!

Since Katie got bangs for her birthday.... she wanted a photoshoot done. It had been almost a year since her last shoot (I take my girls out to practice on them, and they are more than happy to pose for me!), so I figured it was time!

Here is a collage of her pictures, and then some bigger pictures that we (she) loves!

talk like a pirate night

Monday was a National "Talk Like A Pirate" day .... did anyone talk like a pirate?  I have to say "aye Matey" and "blow me down!" came out of my mouth a few times, much to my kids embarrassment!  "Shiver me timbers" I also uttered... but I have no clue what it means.

Let's back up a day... Sunday I get an email that I have placed an award in a photography contest.  The award night was on Monday night at an English restaurant -- which was featuring bag pipers, Scottish Dancers and all kinds of fun.  My girls are Highland Dancers ..... so I emailed their teacher to see if she needed them to dance, and she did.

Monday night after volleyball practice and shoving down homemade pizza in our bellies in 5 minutes, we were out the door to this English pub.  The girls did their dances .... and we saw "Nessie". 

Maddie dances the Lilt

Katie is dancing around the swords

Nessie ... the Loch Ness Monster!

Katie dances the Seann Trius

Katie's leap at the end ...

The girls together dance the Highland Fling... I love the second picture of their hair flipping!  Reminds me of that song "I Whip My hair back and forth ....." dumbest song ever.

and the results of the Photography Contest that was held from the Highland Games this year!

My picture of Katie captured second prize... the first prize was the picture to the left of my picture.  It was a great picture! 

Just in case you can't see it.... there it is. :)

My first photography contest win!

Cheesecloth! How to dye cheesecloth

I'm getting ready to do a newborn baby shoot in a few weeks, and I want to be ready!  I've been researching all the cute newborn shoots of photographers.  Everyone has the same idea:  beanbags, up close, capture those tiny fingers & toes, use fluffy blankets, scarfs, egg baskets, baskets of all shapes & sizes.... and the list goes on and on and on. 

I've been dying to try out the cheesecloth look for newborns.  Since I don't have a picture of my own yet to share, I can't share other people's images. 

I searched high and low for tutorials for cheesecloth -- but couldn't find anything.  Just some stuff on forums, so if there is anyone else out there like me who is searching for things about cheesecloth... here you go!  This is what I learned!

I bought several packages of cheesecloth at Bed Bath & Beyond for $3.99.  I had a $5 coupon off if I spent $15, so I bought 4 packages.  I knew I wanted to dye at least two packages.  One in hot pink, and another in denim blue.  (you can also use four 20% off BB&B coupons for each package if you don't have a $5 off coupon!)

So, this morning I set out to dye with the hot pink.  I've never dyed before, so this is ALL new to me!  I only had one piece of cheesecloth to dye, which is approximately 36" x 36".  I washed all four cheesecloths in the washer on my delicate cycle on cold water.  This is where I made my first mistake.  If you can, wash them individually.  Or, put each piece in a lingerie/nylon bag.  Three of my cheesecloths were intertwined with each other!!!  What a headache!

Like I said ... A HEADACHE!!!

After I got them all separated (had to cut some of them on the edges b/c I couldn't unravel them), I added 2 cups of boiling hot water to a sand bucket along with the dye, 1 cup of salt, and 1 tbsp of laundry detergent.  Stir.  Make SURE you are wearing gloves!!  I wore the disposable gloves...  Then, I did mistake #2.  I added my wet cheesecloth (you want to make sure it's wet first before you add it).  Now, this wasn't the mistake... I just didn't read my directions further on down the box (thought the entire box was written in a different language) -- but I was supposed to add a gallon of hot water for each pound of fabric.  Oops.  By the time I caught my mistake, my cheesecloth had been sitting in the dye for 20 minutes or so.  So I added more hot water, and let it sit for about 5 - 10 more minutes. 

After I let it sit a little longer, I took it out and ran warm water through it until it the dye came out, and gradually added cold water. 

Next, the directions instructed me to wash the fabric with mild detergent. Wash it in the washing machine? Wash it by hand? I had no clue. I'm one of those people who need step by step directions telling me EXACTLY where to go and what to do. I did remember seeing some ebay listings of people selling dyed cheesecloths telling people to wash by hand and line dry. So, I decided to wash by hand in my kitchen sink.  Added some warm water, some dish detergent and washed it by hand for about 5 minutes. Then rinse with warm water -- then with cold.

Wring it out ... and I was amazed at the color! LOVE IT!  I am letting it air dry -- but I already love the hot pink color, and can't wait to use it on the baby girls I'm shooting this year!

Hope this helps SOMEBODY! :)

introducing ....Photos by Amy Nelson

I'm so ecstatic...

I have a photography website!!

EEKS!!  I'm officially stepping out?!  Maybe?  So nervous!!

My dear friend Becky (who I grew up with as a teenager ... and have to admit that I thought for sure was going to marry my brother one day) designs websites.  Well, she designed mine!  She said "tell me what you want!"  I had no clue.  So, I passed a few photography websites to her, and said "just give me anything!  I'll be happy with anything!"  I gave her the colors I wanted (let me tell you, I probably drove her batty b/c I said "I like yellow.... maybe  yellow and red?  No..yellow and blue? Yellow and grey?  Nah.... let me get back to you, but I want yellow." 

Then I realized I have a book and I ADORE the colors used on the book cover.  It just meshed so wonderfully!

 (taken from Amazon)

So, I forwarded the picture of the book to Becky, and away she went.  

Then came the hard part of finding a domain name that wasn't taken.  I thought of something like cutesy like "Chocolate Daisy" -- but I really wanted to stamp my name on the photos I took.  All my first picks were taken ... Prudential owned my own NAME -- WHY?!!  What do they need it for?!  But, I decided to keep it simple -- it's not "portraits" b/c frankly, I'm still learning and to me, portraits is a word that describes the really really expensive photography that I just am not into yet.  I prefer casual ... and fun. 

So ...after buying the domain, and after a few minor tweaks .... she showed me my website, and I was in LOVE!!

Becky is heading out on the road to web designing ... she's been doing this since 2004, but has recently decided to start offering her services!!  If you're interested in having a website created, or anything else, check out her website  Little Sis Web Design -- it's FULL of options -- want to create just a family website for your family?  She can do it!  Need something from scratch but don't know what to do?  Becky can do it!  (Heck, I didn't really know what I wanted -- but since she knew me and remembered how I am, she totally designed it in a way that truly resembles ME!!!).

Check out our websites!!  What do you think?!

 

Families are full of love & nuts

So while at Kasey's wedding, I snapped some pictures of my family members. Gave us something to do....

this is my brother Mike & his wife Rachel

Here they are with their oldest son Joshua...

I think I was telling him there was a dinosaur in my camera, and can he see it?

My mom took my camera away from me and snapped a few shots of my sister in law Rachel & me... 

we got a little crazy for a second. 

This is my momma...

We had a small modeling session...

My parents.....

Me & my parents.....

(I didn't realize my boobs were so big)

This is my uncle & his wife Karen... and my parents.  My camera settings blew out the light big time, and so I had to change it to black and white.  See how normal and peaceful they are? 

They said something to each other and they all went crazy.

The photographer (me) had nothing to do with this....

but nonetheless, I love the picture!

My uncle & his wife Karen

my beautiful grandma

my dad and grandma

and one more final crazy picture for the road!