Winter Garden Portraits | Houston Portrait Photographer

So on Saturday the weather was warm but overcast and I decided I wanted to take my kids out for some serious outdoor time.  After realizing it had been quite a while since I had been to Mercer Botanical Gardens, I packed a picnic lunch and headed out with the kids.

We started our adventure at the Botanical Gardens side.  My son loves to read the maps and ask where we are on it and where will go we go.  My daughter just wants to follow him around.   And there are large swings scattered throughout the gardens that the kids enjoyed pushing each other on.

I have a large canvas of my son for his 3 year portraits wearing a certain velvet blazer and kept it so that I could take some pictures of my daughter in the same coat so I brought that along and a tutu for her to wear with it to girl it up!

There have been some really major changes to the botanical gardens over the last  year or so.  Hurricane Ike took out a number of their mature trees so the area that used to be like a forest is now much more open.  And now there is a new large water feature that is like a free standing waterfall! BEAUTIFUL! 

Frequently January is a VERY quiet month for photographers and mostly we are glad about that.  We need to recover from the holiday rush and get our business in order so we can start the new year out right.  And that is certainly what I've been up to.  But I did miss getting out to take some pictures and although my kids suffer from PCS (photographer's child syndrome) I was able to take a few casual pictures of them.

Even in January the botanical gardens look beautiful.  While maybe not as colorful as they will be in April, we were really able to take a look at some different areas of the park.  The moss growing on one of the rock walls was especially vivid!

 

At the end of this big rock wall is like a seat built into it.  Abby LOVED being up on that seat - she didn't want to leave.  I let her take off her cowboy boots so she could feel the cold rocks and moss on her little feet and that made her especially happy!

This shows that even in the winter, we can enjoy the outdoors in Houston and get some great pictures!

Bright and Beautiful Girls | Houston Garden Portraits

This mom certainly has her hands full with these three beautiful girls.  All have such different personalities.  I've photographed them more times than I can count but this session we pushed off waiting for the baby to be able to sit up on her own! 

Of course, I'm no stranger to Matilda Jane Clothing and LOVED the outfits mom picked out for them to wear together.  Later in the session we headed over to what I call "the rose garden" area of the Mercer Botanical Gardens with the girls wearing their beautiful silk Easter dresses.  I could have photographed these girls all day between their beautiful spirits, dresses, and the surroundings but it was hot, humid, and they had enough towards the end.    New pictures of ALL THREE girls together!!!

Fun Little Guy | Houston Child Photographer

This little guy met me at the Mercer Botanical Gardens one afternoon for his one year old portraits.  He wasn't quite walking on his own yet but he kept trying to escape but crawling away.  LOL  Luckily I'm faster than he is, for now. 

One Year Flies By... | Houston TX Children's Photographer

She may have been "The Unwilling Model" in her first session, and not quite sitting up on her own during her Fall Portrait Session, but my have things changed.  One year portraits are so fun!  She was willing to check out the bluebonnets, can STAND(!), and even had a few words to share with me.  I had a great time spending the morning, last week, with this young lady and her mom.  It was still a little chilly when we arrived but the fog had burned off and the sun was shining!

Goodbye Gustav, Hello Cutie

This was the session that almost wasn't.  Over the weekend we debated if we needed to reschedule thanks to the threats of Gustav.  But this morning we had blue skies and a light breeze.  Great for pictures at one of my favorite spots...the Mercer Botanical Gardens.  Now, they are doing a bunch of work there right now so some of my regular spots were out but luckily it is so big there we found other spots for pictures!

How sweet is this little cutie?  She is 6 months old and is sitting up pretty well.  I added some texture to this picture but I love the soft tones of the basket, her dress, and the greenhouse in the background.

Honestly, I love baby feet.  They are so adorable as are the chunky lets the one and under set sport.  How could I resist capturing hers!

Towards the end of the session she started getting a little grumpy.  The solution....a bottle!!!  She was in a fantastic mood after her bottle and squealed at every person that walked by us as we were taking her picture.

You may remember seeing this little cutie from her newborn session.  She was also the winner of my baby contest earlier this summer (she was the baby on the lamb).

Garden Girls

This morning I got to do a portrait session for one of my best friends and her adorable little girls.  Not only was it great to catch up with my friend, but we all had a good time walking around the Mercer Botanical Gardens.  She wasn't looking for anything in particular which made it so much easier since we didn't have to go heavy on posing but instead just let the girls explore and took their pictures while they did it.  That is one of the reasons I love doing pictures at the botanical gardens...it is hard to go wrong when you are surrounded by this kind of beauty:

The girls were decked out in the Matilda Jane Clothing which was perfect for the scene!

I loved her little braid pig-tails.  Seriously, so cute!!!

The girls didn't want to go out of their way to let me take their picture together but I LOVE this one with the older sister exploring the rose garden area while baby sister takes a break on the bench!

All that walking really tired out the baby so at the end she wsa laying on the path to rest.  But she was still sweet and happy.  A lollipop went a long way to get her on her feet and walking back to the parking lot.

Little Explorers

I was pleased today to see these two fun kids again (I had a family session with them during the Christmas season).  Today though it was pretty much just about the kids and they met me at my favorite spot...the Mercer Botanical Gardens.  While the garden staff was busy preparing for its annual March Mart Flower Sale, we headed to the back of the gardens to check out some new locations.  They were up for just about anything and we had a great time exploring some different areas of the park.

Even though I was there just two weeks ago I couldn't believe how much more was in bloom this time.  While the azaleas are breathing their last breath, lots of other blooms were coming in to replace them and it was just so stimulating.

Boys this age can sometimes be hard to get to smile naturally but I threatened to tickle him so he started to laugh for me.  He didn't stay still for long though!

We were open to some exploring so we took a long walk back to the lily garden which is sadly in major disrepair.  There wasn't even any water in the lily garden and the japanese tea house looked like it was falling apart but I really wanted to caputre it because the whole scene had a dreamy quality to it.

On the way back from the Lily Garden we stumbled upon this little spot and I thought for sure we would find some fairies.  It was again so dreamy. 

One More Peek

The last sneak peek from my special sessions at the Mercer Botanical Gardens.  Another baby close to thta 6 month old age.  She couldn't quite sit up on her own but her mom could kinda prop her up and I could snap a few quick pictures before she started to fall over.  Ha!  And yes, another pettiskirt. I have this little white one for babies under a year old.

Another at the Gardens

Another sneak peek from one of my Mercer Botanical Gardens sessions this week.  I took some pictures of this sweet little girl in November and boy has she changed!!!

And her big brother wanted me to call him "robin" even though he was wearing his Batman costume.  So funny!  I did a little extra processing on this picture to give it more of a comic book feel!

This mom is enrolled in our Baby Plan so I know I'll see her again at least two more times in the next year for portraits!

Feeling Pretty

I love spending the day at the Mercer Botanical Gardens and today was no exception.  I had two sessions this morning and the azaleas were in full bloom so it was especially beautiful.

Big sister showed us how to work it while sitting on a big boulder at the gardens.  Her little sister was anxious about getting her picture taken so we spent some quality time with the fishes hoping to get her to relax.

And you know I love me a pettiskirt picture and these girls were feeling pretty in my borrowed skirts.  I tried this new spot today for the first time and I'm officially in love with it!!!  It is an island in the middle of a little water garden with a stone "bridge" leading to it!

Thanks for making the trip to Humble today from Katy.  I can't wait to get to look at the rest of the pictures from today's session.