moving.....

to a new blog....NOT a new house, or a new town. Thanks goodness. I plan to stay right where I am for a good long time. However, I have moved to a new blog. A better blog. A more friendly blog. I have integrated it into my website and it is so much more user friendly and easier to navigate. It's also MUCH easier to update so I hope to make more frequent posts.

This blog will stay online and my new blog also has an archive of all my blogger posts.

So change your bookmarks and come on over and check out the new place!

www.cindymillsphotography.com/blog

Worth the wait.....

I know...I've been an awful blogger recently. Hopefully what I have to share will make it worth the wait though ;)

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to second shoot a wedding for the first time. I think I LOVE IT! It was so much fun. Josh Littrell of Littrell Photography was gracious enough to give me the chance to tag along with him. He was extremely helpful and generous (letting me borrow several of his lenses) and I really appreciate the opportunity. Check out his blog and website when you get the chance!

So here are just a few that I've finally had the chance to play around with. There are SO many more, but I have tons of portrait client stuff to work on also so the wedding pictures will have to wait a little longer.

First a few getting ready pictures:



The bride had her makeup done by the talented Felisha Mims of Transitions of Beauty.

The beautiful dress:




This is one of my favorites! The brides son walked her down the aisle. He was the cutest thing! The wedding was at the beautiful First Christian Church in Plano. The stained glass windows are GORGEOUS!!!



A few fun portraits in old downtown Plano.



Then on to the reception




The first dance. The brides son was so sweet watching from the sidelines.




There are many more, but these are a few of my favorites so far. Now to get back to work ;)

Look who is getting older.....

You might recognize this cutie patootie from a previous session I did with her family back in March.
This time we stayed at the house and little Mia (that's right same beautiful name as my little one) and I had a GREAT time playing and taking a few portraits of her as a big TWO year old. She was just the perfect little model and did just about everything I asked her too.......which any of you that have a two year old know does NOT happen very often. I know her mom and dad are dying to see some so here are my favorites.......well, so far anyway. It was hard to choose.

See isn't she beautiful???

So if I had to pick between this one and the next one as a favorite we would be here ALL day....maybe all week. I LOVE them both!!

Santa Clause will be here before you know it....

I know it's hard to think about Christmas in August, but it pays to plan ahead. I have finalized a schedule for my Holiday Mini-Sessions. So here is the scoop:

The days scheduled for the mini-sessions are:

October 13th-McKinney Historic Square (for an Urban look)
Times available are:

• 8:00 am
• 9:00 am-BOOKED

October 20th-Mandalay Canals in Los Colinas (more traditional look)

• 8:00 am
• 9:00 am
• 5:oo pm
• 6:00 pm

The cost of a Holiday Mini-Session is $375 and includes:

• 30-45 minute session
  
• (50) 5x7 photo cards with envelopes (choose from a variety) *see examples below.
• (1) 11x14
• (2) 5x7's
• 5x5 mini brag book with Holiday theme (similar to card styles)
• approximately 20+ images in an online gallery to choose from(family and friends can order also)

Here are just a small sample of the many cards you will have to choose from:









And this is a sample of a 5x5 trifold that you can get if you would like to pay a little more to upgrade to some cards that will REALLY impress everyone! Also, the sample pictures just happened to have been taken at the Mandalay canals in Los Colinas.:

There are only 4 sessions available on each day so if you are interested CALL QUICK (a 50% deposit is required to reserve your spot, the remainder is due at your session).

Of course, if you would like the royal treatment you can schedule a full session also. All sessions that require delivery before Christmas MUST be scheduled for NO LATER than November 10th. I can not guarantee that you will receive your portraits back in time before Christmas if your session is scheduled after this date.

Watersliding and some exciting news.......

Fun at the beach club:

On Thursday Mia and I joined some friends at the Beach Club in McKinney.
They have just added a sprayground and Mia and her buddies had a GREAT time on the waterslide. I just can't get over how cute Mia is in these pink sunglasses. She puts them in her little purse and slings it over her shoulder and says "Let's go to the pool, Mom." How could you tell her no?

And the exciting news:
I am the proud new owner of this:

24" iMac and I am IN LOVE!!! It is taking some time to transfer all those client files etc. over and there is a bit of a learning curve as I switch from a PC, but I love it so far. It is amazing all of the stuff it does that I didn't even know existed. Like last night I synced calendar and phone numbers on my phone with my Mac and I didn't even have to plug it in. (For those who don't know what that means like my mom (love you mom) ;) that means I copied all the events on my computer's calendar to my phone and all the numbers on my phone to my computer automatically) It uses blue tooth technology to "talk" to my razor phone. Cool huh? I know someone out there is saying "Wow, Cindy, you're impressed with that?".......and I say "Yes, yes I am!" I've finally LEAPED into 21st century and boy am I excited about it!

I'd better get to work! I'm behind on editing client sessions!! Now, if I can just figure out where they are hiding on this computer. :)

FOUR!!!!......

Saturday morning I went over to this family's house for a little playtime. They have tons of windows and that made for some great photos. Four kids at once gave me a run for my money that was for sure. Even though it was a little crazy rest assured mom and dad that we got some GREAT pictures of your kids. Here are a few of my favorites so far.

Check out these eyelashes! And I loved the polka dots!

Oldest sister and let me tell you there is no way you would know she is about to be in only first grade. She is so helpful and mature. And she was a great little model too.

Such a cutie, but not my biggest fan. He was not all that happy with that big black box thing I kept sticking in his face. Little did he know that I got a good picture of him.....more than one actually. ;) I'm really sneaky like that.

And the baby.......hands down the easiest newborn session I've ever done. She just did whatever we wanted and slept through the whole thing. She cried a little, but was pretty content with whatever we wanted to do. Mom requested a bowl picture and I was beyond THRILLED that we were able to get many of them for her. LOVED the red carpet as a background too.
And in their formal dining room they had this awesome antique sofa. I have been dying for someone to have a beautiful sofa and a newborn that I could photograph together.
and one last one that I thought was kindof cute. I enjoyed playing with this one and adding a mood and texture to it.

New shoes......

We got Mia a new pair of shoes today. It has been quite the quest to find these! Mia's Nana got her some shoes for her birthday back in December and she is outgrowing them and we have looked and looked and can't find anymore like them. So today, finally, we found a pair of shoes that are worthy of replacing the "cat shoes". Meet "heart shoes." And we love them!

a little fun with a texture on this photo.

The well loved cat shoes.......her new ones are SO different aren't they?

No title needed......

I have been wanting to write a post about Mia for awhile now. Afterall, she is the ORIGINAL reason I started this blog! So here goes:

Recently Mia has been so fun! I think that even though 2 1/2 is a difficult age and she is quite the handful these days this is my FAVORITE age. Well, so far at least. Mia is at the age now that she is fun to actually hang out with. If you don't count having to watch "Cars" over and over and over and over and over.........Recently, we went to Targer to celebrate her first poop in the potty (I know, stop laughing) and we picked out her "prize" and then went to get a slushy. I couldn't think of anyone I would enjoy going to get a slushy with more. It reminded me of my good friend Rachel and our quest for the perfect slushy back in college. We went to at least 15 7-11's in one night to find one that had red, white AND blue so we could mix the perfect one. Mia would totally be up for that! See what I mean about hanging out. If I want to go to the mall and just look around and then eat at the food court then Mia is always ready to go. She is always ready and excited to do things as mundane as going to the bank, the grocery store and the post office. She is a great little sidekick.

The other thing I have been loving about her recently is how she pronounces words wrong. There are a few words that I never correct her on because I don't want her to ever stop saying them in her cute little Mia way. My absolute favorite has to be "pollypop" (lollypop). She loves them and will ask in the sweetest voice "Mommy, Mia wants a pollypop?" Now who could resist that? That reminds me, she does talk about herself in 3rd person which is at the same time endearing and also extremely irritating. Irritating because we then also use 3rd person. "Mia, mommy and daddy are tired and are ready for bed. Daddy are you ready for bed? Mommy is ready for bed. Goodnight, Mia. Goodnight, Daddy. Goodnight, Mommy." Just kidding it's not that bad, but I am ready to hear her say "I" or "me" once in awhile.

So back to cute words:
marshmelon(or sometimes watermelon)=marshmellow
tamorning=tomorrow
toast office=post office
mecinine (meeh-cin-ine)=medicine
Dora M=dora shaped vitamin
hold you=means will you hold me
soap=soda (Dr. Pepper)
and ANY grocery store is called Wal-Mart.

I won't even talk about the things I don't love about this age because the things I talked about above make it worth the other stuff!!

P.S. I'm sure you are wondering as you look at the pictures of Mia on this blog "Does this kid EVER wear clothes"? and the answer is NO. She doesn't. At least not at home. We trip over her getting undressed in the doorway as we come in the house. We're going to have to break that habit before high school. ;)

Joy......

Want to see what PURE JOY looks like?

This is a snapshot of how I want Mia to remember her childhood.......carefree and magical.

Now with bigger images.....

I took family pictures for my good friend Alisha, a fellow photographer, last Saturday. We had a blast and talked shop and even took a few pictures of her family. These are just a few that I've had a chance to play with.




And my ABSOLUTE favorite!!!

The ladies of PAWYLIE......

Yesterday I had a quick photoshoot with the ladies of Pediatric Associates of Wylie. They were a lot of fun and handled the wind and heat very well.....better than I did. I should have taken a picture of how RED my face was when we finished the shoot. Love that Texas weather!

I just wanted to post about how great these women are. If you are in the Plano/Wylie area and are in need of a pediatrician these are definitely the guys......uh...I mean girls to go too. I take my own daughter to Dr. Lanman and I just think she is wonderful. The minute you walk in the door you are greeted like you are a member of the family. They are all three very sweet, caring and attentive doctors. The nurses are awesome too!!

I highly recommend them!!


Thanks Dr. Lanman, Dr. Hayes and Dr. Ahad for a fun lunch hour photoshoot!

it's alive.........

So here it is officially........my new logo.


Designed by one of my fabulous clients Matt Poe. I just love it. Also, I'm very excited that my new website is finally up and running. I've been working on it for about a month between editing client sessions and it is finally done. Leave me some comments to let me know what you think! Same address as before www.cindymillsphotography.com

sweet baby boy.....

I had the honor of photographing the first pictures of this precious baby boy last friday. We set up in the living room and had a great time getting some really sweet pictures. It really was a very laid back session with lullabies playing in the background. I got to chat with mom, dad and nana while I snapped away. I know I keep saying this, but I LOVE my job!!!

Check out those adorable little feet!

I love this one where you can see his perfect little belly button. The little guy is only 1 week old and his umbilical cord had already fallen off! I was so excited because it's great to have a cute belly button in a few of the shots!

So far this is my favorite. I love that little sleepy yawn!

And one of the new family. Congratulations!

This could be a long post......

On Wednesday I headed north to this awesome family's beautiful home for a little fun. We started off inside, but quickly moved outside once we realized that it was going to be a great evening. We had SO much fun! I even got in the sandbox and brought a little sand home with me. Not in my camera, but there was plenty in my clothes. Scroll down and see the shot I got and you'll see that it was TOTALLY worth it!

There were SO many that I loved that I couldn't just narrow it down to 3-4 this time so here is a super long post. Can't wait to show you the rest!
Thanks for the fun evening!













and a different version......as requested ;)


and I just to make sure I don't leave out ANY family members......isn't this the cutest dog EVER?