One of the best parts of my job as a photographer is meeting people from all around the world! Serena Welch's family came all the way from Puerto Rico to visit and enjoy Mason Texas with her fabulous family. They were so fun to photograph! It is obvious how much they enjoy each other! So many authentic and silly moments to capture and I always love the ambiance of the Sandstone Cellars Wine Bar both inside and out. This venue is pet friendly too!

I did notice Sandstone Cellars Wine Bar has some new artwork up currently. It looks super fun, it is called "Life is a Circus" by the award winning textile artist, Janis Hooker who is based in Mason Texas!

I have loved black and white photography for quite some time now. My black and white photography journey began with film and the notorious Ansel Adams Zone System back in college. At that time we had to make the choice of the film we would use before ever picking up our camera. The choice of film was huge. Would it be color or black and white and what ISO would we need? I remember getting that wrong and not being able to get the shot, as a student of course, because I did not have the light needed for the film I chose. A film I really loved was Kodak Tri-X because it had the capability to be pushed by 3 stops or more with wonderful results. The "hero shot" here is a portrait of a neighbor child and a family best friend to my kids, Jessica. This image is still one of my favorites even after all of this time. I photographed this image using Ilford FP4 film and the best camera of all time for beautiful black and white capture, a Pentax 6x7. I used the Pentax 6x7 camera for most of my portrait work, including a personal project creating images of animals in the shelter with The SPCA of North Texas. I still have the camera along with a 4x5 sheet film camera and my very first 35 mm film cameras too! Now I create black and white images digitally with good results but would be happy for the opportunity to pull out my Pentax and give that a go. Would I remember how to load the film? I got pretty fast, even using it in low light shelters. No auto-focus either! The detail using the Pentax 6x7 camera is unmatched, in my opinion.

This is a collection of portraits I have taken over the year to help homeless dogs find humans! I work with http://www.secondchancemason.com to give a face to the many animals on their way to a better life through work and dedication by this organization. I have been involved in rescue work for many years and will continue to play a role in bringing animals and people together by creating heartfelt portraits for wonderful dogs like the ones shown here. I have two rescue kids and am so happy we found each other!

Portraits of people and their pets is what most folks think about when my name comes up. Another joy of mine is wildlife and when you are a photographer, well you photograph what brings you joy! With our Wildlife Management Valuation comes the honor of taking care of our precious wild things, even the bugs, right here in Mason Texas!

I was out one beautiful morning recently hoping to capture a bird or two but they were not cooperating. I decided to take a look around and what did I see but a grasshopper in the most beautiful light. That image is included here. Grasshoppers are not my favorite of creatures. In central Texas it is hard to grow anything without the grasshoppers eating it up!

I did try to figure out the proper names for the birds here, oh my that is not an easy task. Book in hand trying to find the bird I have photographed. That would be one of the hardest things about being a biologist, knowing all of the names of birds. I am afraid I would not pass that test! We have a biologist, Lee Kothmann with Restore Texas LLC, who does our bird counts and also helps us keep the invasive red fire ants down. Lee can tell what kind of bird is around by their songs, pretty amazing! I think I have the dove down and also those cute little Hummingbirds.

I was lucky to have been able to get a firsthand look at White Ranch, located in Mason County Texas, and the conservation work being done there. On this day I was most interested in the Horned Lizards and excited for the opportunity to see them in the wild. This is a story about our journey on August 28th 2024.

I had heard about the Mason Mountain Wildlife Management Area working on reintroducing Texas Horned Lizards back into the Texas Landscape a few months ago and I became very interested. Learning about White Ranch happened when I saw a post on Facebook from Brian Wright and I contacted him. We discussed my interest in photographing the “Horny Toads” along with the people who are working to save them. Brian affectionately calls them, “sweethearts of the rodeo”. He was very accommodating and happy for me to come photograph the native Texas Horned Lizards at White Ranch. Brian put me in touch with Kira Gangbin, a Ph.D. student with Texas Christian University. Kira is currently overseeing the Texas Horned Lizard Project at White Ranch. Kira and her team are studying the lizards in their natural environment to help in the larger project of breeding and reintroducing these fun creatures back into nature with numbers as they once were. Texas Parks and Wildlife, Fort Worth Zoo, Caldwell Zoo, Dallas Zoo and Pearland Nature Center are all working together on the breeding and then releasing of the Texas Horned Lizard here in central Texas.

The Mason County Courthouse in Mason Texas is rebuilt and looking great! This is not the first Mason Courthouse to burn down, the first one burnt down January 21, 1877. There was an extended conflict, sometimes called the Mason County War, which was really a series of feuds and lynchings related to cattle rustling that sometimes pitted German Americans against Anglo Americans.

During this fire people rushed in to grab the land records, got most of them but brand records, marriage records and probate records were lost. Another temporary courthouse was built from 1879 to 1909, later torn down and then the "current" courthouse was build in 1910. What fabulous woodwork was done! The "current" courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

With the recent fire and rebuilding the craftsmanship is not as spectacular but it is very well done and the Mason Texas Square has it's courthouse open and working once again! The entire community including, Gene and Patsy Zesch, pulled together and raised a lot of the money. Along with outside funding from the Texas Legislature, and then another man donated $1 million, insurance from the Texas Association of Counties and the Texas Historical Commission helped too. It took $20 million to rebuild and the original courthouse cost $39,000!

I am preparing to offer head shots for tots this summer and I was lucky to be able to photograph Charles, Itty, to get this party started! We had a great session in the comfort of my Mason Texas studio. It was so fun capturing this guy's silly personality! Itty is 8 years old and a fellow dog lover! He was super happy to meet my dog, and studio coordinator, Redd and let her get in on the action! Redd loves Itty and I think he kinda likes her too! Photographing kids is super fun to me and when I can include pets, perfection!

These limited edition head shot sessions for kids will be later in July, more details coming soon. Basically, I will have a limited number of sessions for each age grouping I create. The groups will be ages 2-8, 9-14, 15-19. I have picked several color backgrounds that you can choose before your session so the clothes and accessories can be put together to create a super fun photography event. What a great way to beat the heat and have some fun!

I have a wonderful artwork offering that fits perfectly for this event. I can show you that and other artwork to display in your home. It is all here at my studio!

What a wonderful place to stay just outside of Mason Texas! Sloan Landre and her husband, Derek, have done a magnificent job with these super cute cabins. They have two guest cabins available to rent and 82 acres to roam around on. I was photographing the fun experience of a new calf, Babybell, together with all of the beautiful blue bonnets we had this year. This venue is nestled away at the foot of a granite outcropping which creates a fabulous lookout to watch sunrises and sunsets. I don't know about you, but this is one of my favorite things to do. I am very thankful to have been able to learn about this one of a kind airbnb. Sloan and Derek were fabulous tour guides and are super hosts too!

Supporting US War Dogs, that's what! Here are a few photos taken at this fun event to help gain awareness for a very special book. Janet Deltuva is an award winning photographer who has set out to create this book benefiting The United States War Dogs Organization, Collectors Edition Tails of the Hill Country A Dogs' Adventure Guide.

Janet Deltuva came upon this journey with her own retired MWDs, Emzy & Ares. There were some medical issues that were going to be quite expensive and Janet was concerned about being able to manage this challenge. Janet learned about The United States War Dogs Association. The vision of this organization is to provide support throughout the life cycle of a military working dog and promote the distinguished history of their invaluable service. This wonderful organization came to the rescue for Janet's beloved dogs, as they do for all service dogs.

Tails of the Hill Country is a Dogs' Adventure Guide. The travel guidebook showcases local dogs of the Texas Hill Country and their stories. This book is dedicated to one extraordinary retired multipurpose K9 named Bass, the United Kingdom's 75th Peoples' Dispensary for Sick Animals(PDSA) Awardee.

I am! What contest you say, The Mason Chamber of Commerce Photo Contest! With this image I won the Overall Best of show. Thank you to the Chamber for running the contest and also to The Commercial Bank of Mason for supplying the award cash for this photo contest. Honestly, there were many great awards given out at the Awards Ceremony on this fun night in Mason Texas BECAUSE there are wonderful folks who call Mason home! Celebrating these people is what the night is all about, the photo contest was a little perk. A few of my favorite winners are The Hall of Fame, Dr. Dave Rosberg, Business Woman of the Year, Natalie Hudson and Businessman of the year Kyle Martin. A very rewarding night indeed!

It took some wildlife photographer skill to catch this wonderful buck. Mostly patience, patience, patience! He and his family seem to live on our property and they periodically walk up on the road for us to see! This is the beautiful view out our back door. Funny thing, my husband calls this our front door. It is most definitely the view watched daily. The light changes so much depending on the time of day. This time of year the best morning light happens around 7:15 am and the best evening light can be found around 5:30pm. I have created some family sessions in this location and look forward to photographing more. I will continue to perfect my skills as a wildlife photographer as I have a great deal of respect and admiration for these photographers who dedicate their lives to photographing our most precious resource, wildlife. Who knows, maybe one day I will join forces with them?! For now I will concentrate on the tamer? variety, dogs and their families with other pets sprinkled in too.

I am looking forward to a year full of sessions. Maybe you are thinking a family portrait session is something that just did not get done last year but you meant to do that. I have many of those things too and it seems the beginning of the year is the time to make them happen. Let's schedule your session today! It will be fun, I promise!

Just love my kids but it makes me laugh! What you say? They have always gotten frustrated with me that I take so many pictures when I am photographing them. I always have. We had a fun family gathering over Thanksgiving this year. And "Yes!" I got out my camera to get some portraits of everyone, but especially my kids. We have not had all three of them in the same place for quite some time and I wanted to capture that! Well look at these faces I was getting. As I was editing these images I laughed and just thought, "they are such silly kids, thank goodness"! I know, they are not really kids anymore. Meet Hannah, 33, Christopher, 31, and my baby Morgan, 27. I am so happy that I have irritated them over the years because I cherish each and every one of the portraits I have of them! By the way, the first portrait here is the last one taken! With my kids, that is what it takes but that is OK. I have lots of patience!!!!

Duke is a senior American Akita Dog and what a magnificent boy he is! I met his mom at the Old Yeller Days Event in Mason Texas. I was there showing my work and meeting people. It was a fun day!

Corina came to my booth and saw a photograph of Jax, a German Shepherd Dog, and fell in love with his bright eyes. She wanted a portrait of her beloved dog Duke and wanted to highlight his very kind eyes. At this time it was not known how long he would be with us. The loss of our beloved pets, that is a whole new topic and a very difficult experience.

I was able to photograph Duke and I am so happy this family who loves Duke so much will have portraits of him to cherish forever. An honor indeed.

This was my first, "end of life session" as it is called. I think I would prefer to call these "senior sessions". As of today Duke is still with us.

I really loved photographing this family studio session in Mason Texas! Jo, the baby, was very busy. When I brought out the ball, yes it was a puppy dog ball, Jo lit up and had so much fun! The whole family did a super job don't you think?! Serena wanted black and white images and that is right up my alley and an awesome choice for this family session. Black and White photography is one of my long time favorite mediums. Kodak Tri-X and Ilford FP4 were my go to films using my Pentax 6x7 camera. Digital is my main medium now but I do still have my Pentax camera. Maybe I will get that out and give it a shot sometime?!

As a professional photographer continuing education is very important to me. I am a member of marketing groups and various professional groups to help perfect my skills as a business owner, creator and image maker. The courses I am referencing here are called #emergeunleashedchallenges and #embarkunleashedchallenges taught by two amazing photographers, @Charlotte Reeves and @Craig Turner-Bullock. During these courses we are given briefs that we must then go out and creatively execute. These are the first and second of the series of 3 challenge courses.

I did some model calls and worked with some super dog models and parents! I filled in with my dog Redd and she did a great job. She is my studio assistant, always happy to get in the proper spot so that I can perfect my lighting for my clients before coming in for their photography session.

Learning from Charlotte Reeves and Craig Turner-Bullock is a wonderful privilege. They are so kind and really look at the work submitted for any possible improvements that can be made. The other students are super helpful and kind as well. The experience took me back to my college days working toward my BS degree in Photography, having critiques and learning from/with my piers while having great instructors to boot.

A great way to get through this hot Mason Texas summer is a Studio Portrait Session! My fun daughter Morgan came to visit us from Tuscon and we created some fabulous portraits during her visit. We had so much fun being creative and thoroughly enjoying our time together! Our dog Redd loves her Morgan, I think Morgan is the only person in the world Redd loves more than me!, and she got to pop in too! It has been way too long since I have had the pleasure of photographing my young daughter who is now 27! I use to photograph all of my kids all of the time when they were living at home, fun pictures along with studio portraits. I cherish them all so much now. Even the one's that at the time the kids did not "cooperate" and I did not love so much, now they are some of my favorites. Taking the time to have special professional family portraits done is one thing that will always give the feeling, "I am so glad I took the time and now have these portraits of my precious family". Many of these portraits are hanging in our home so I can look at them every day. I am excited to be able to help other families have special portraits of their families, and absolutely to include their beloved pets. So special.

Next week is the beginning of lots of fun events in Mason Texas, Round Up Rodeo! The rodeo begins on July 6th with team roping, then all through out the weekend there will be lots of fun things to do.

The rodeo will run for two nights, Friday the 7th and Saturday the 8th. Some events are aimed toward kids and then there will be lots of adult activities too.

One of my favorite musicians, Justin McFarland, will be playing at Peters Creek Vineyard from 5:30 to 8:00 on Thursday. The Square Plate will be serving Italian food to go along with the wine, or vise versa! To make reservations for dinner call The Square Plate at 325-347-1911. Folks can either go to the tasting room or eat in the restaurant. The two venues are located right next door to each other on the lovely Mason City Square.

I had the pleasure of photographing this super fun Beagle mix pup in the bluebonnets recently. Bluebonnets do not last long here but I found this wonderful field at a nearby park on a Texas Spring Day. I had my gorgeous model Dolly and the help of her Mom Havana too. I love so many of these images, and Dolly's Mom does too! We were out in the evening light which is one of the two times I have my outdoor sessions. The other is early morning, only a select few of my clients choose that time! The light is much softer and gives the recipe for creating beautiful outdoor portraits of pets and their families during these times of day.

Pepper has to be the most expressive little girl! I really do love photographing children around the age of 3. They are so full of wonder. As with pet portraits, capturing the expression is "the thing". It is not about posing, although that does play a part, it is about capturing.

A few tips with photographing young people.

1. Keep it fun

2. Be prepared and have your settings ready

3. Make sure they are comfortable in both their clothing and their environment

4. Patience and laughter

Please enjoy these special portraits of my little friend, Pepper!

Family gatherings here in Mason Texas and the Texas Hill Country are the perfect time to create some awesome portraits that will be in your family for a lifetime. What an extra special way to remember family adventures! Sessions at my studio, both inside and out, are super easy and where all of these portraits were taken!

I do travel to different venues too. One of my favorites out here is Red Sands Ranch on the Llano River!

This is my very first blog post so I am not sure how, or where, to begin! February 1st seems like a good day to start something new. Some might think January 1st but January 2023 has come and gone!

I want to tell you about an awesome visitor we had a few days ago, a Barred Owl! He was sitting on a fence post as we arrived home and he has been around for a few days. As I have read about this owl I have learned that they are uncommon here in Mason County. Barred Owls normally like wooded areas. We do have some Oak and lots of Mesquite but no extremely large trees as in other parts of Texas. I will be reporting this Owl to ebirds.org as suggested by Lee Kothmann with Explore Texas!

Our property has a wildlife exemption so bringing in different species of birds is very exciting. I love keeping the environment natural for the wonderful animals that stay here and for my photography clients too!