I'm back!!!

After an AWESOME week off in sunny California I'm back rejuvenated and ready to get back to work. I'm slowly but surely catching up on e-mails and phone calls and I have TONS of personal images to edit and show off. In the meantime, here are a few from my trip:

Family Portrait on the Beach


My brother doing his best Abercrombie and Fitch pose :-P


My mom's toy poodle, Sam:


My sister's dog, Cooper:


When we arrived, hubby and I rented a Ford Mustang and cruised around Solvang county - wine country! :-)



Firestone Winery - isn't it beautiful?


I have LOTS more so stay tuned! :-)

Out of the Office

May 24 - 30, 2007 - I will be out of the office. All phone calls and e-mails will be returned upon my return. Hopefully, I'll have LOTS of new and exciting images to share. Until then, I've scheduled random articles and pictures to post during my absence. Have a great week! :-)
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from msnbc.com:
Commentary by Miki Turner

Joy gets the party started
On Wednesday, it all started with Joy Behar’s Bush-bashing laundry list. You could see the pre-natal veins in Hasselbeck’s head starting to protrude, especially after Behar accused Bush of stealing the election in 2000. The further down the list Behar got, the more agitated Hasselbeck became.

After a short series of soft punches from Hasselbeck — remember her using TiVo as a defense on why she chose to watch “Dancing With the Stars” as opposed to Al Gore on CNN? — it became painfully apparent that Behar was going to win that round. Not one of Hasselback’s jabs landed.

Meanwhile, we have O’Donnell in the opposite corner stewing. Her lips are probably still sore because her pearly whites were obviously clamping down on them. But when Hasselbeck began defending the war, Mt. St. O’Donnell blew.

“The enemy is in Iraq? Did Iraq attack us?”

Honey, get the popcorn! It’s about to go down!

You could kind of see it coming because O’Donnell, who referred to herself as a “big fat loud lesbian” on Wednesday’s show, had been abnormally quiet throughout the entire Behar vs. Hasselbeck undercard. O’Donnell had been on the show long enough to know that it’s lose-lose any time she shares her opinions in that public forum.

Especially when Barbara Walters isn’t there to be the voice of calm and reason.

The problem with O’Donnell is that her self-avowed description of herself alienates a lot of the nice people who prefer more sanitized programming before lunch. They want to hear mindless banter about clothes, nutrition, weight loss, hot guys. But O’Donnell, who wears her gayness proudly and loudly and moderates the discussions on the show’s “Hot Topics” segments, like to discuss issues so flaming that even Walters’ reactions have become increasingly more subjective.

That’s why O’Donnell consistently finds herself vilified in the press when she attacks “innocent pure Christian Elisabeth.” If the two of them were selling soap, it’s probably safe to assume that many Americans would prefer buying it from a pretty blonde whose values are more morally sound.

Grow up, Elizabeth

Yet, at the risk of sounding overtly judgmental, I don’t really care for Hasselbeck. It’s nothing personal because I’ve never met her. I just don’t think she adds anything to the show and she’s a little too whiny for that time of day. She has that kind of voice that brings back memories of fingernails screeching on the chalkboard. I kind of wish she would have triplets and move to that rural area in Ohio that Dave Chappelle calls home.

Like Dave, she’s got some growing to do.

What truly amazes me, however, is that it apparently hasn’t occurred to Hasselbeck that she’s one of the only people in the country — blind, crippled, crazy or Republican — that still defends Bush and the war in Iraq.

You don’t have to ride the current wave, jump on the Al Sharpton bandwagon or be a hater — that certainly won’t get you that coveted invite to the state dinner for Queen Elizabeth — but, dang get a clue already!

Conversely, I’m fairly indifferent when it comes to O’Donnell. I think she must like the taste of her own toes because she puts her foot in her mouth a lot. I think she was wrong for mocking the Chinese language and perhaps should have suffered harsher consequences when she claimed it was all in the name of comedy. And I was over that whole Donald Trump feud the day before it actually started.

The difference between O’Donnell and Hasselbeck is that even though you may not always agree with either of them, at the end of the day you still have some respect for O’Donnell’s convictions. It takes a lot of courage to out yourself on national TV — and I’m not talking about her sexuality.

And, when it comes to politics and friendship, I’m often on the same page with Ms. Ro.

May 24 - 30, 2007

May 24 - 30, 2007 - I will be out of the office. All phone calls and e-mails will be returned upon my return. Hopefully, I'll have LOTS of new and exciting images to share. Until then, I've scheduled random articles and pictures to post during my absence. Have a great week! :-)

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FROM THE AP

Carter came down hard on the Iraq war.

“We now have endorsed the concept of pre-emptive war where we go to war with another nation militarily, even though our own security is not directly threatened, if we want to change the regime there or if we fear that some time in the future our security might be endangered,” he said. “But that’s been a radical departure from all previous administration policies.” Carter, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, criticized Bush for having “zero peace talks” in Israel. Carter also said the administration “abandoned or directly refuted” every negotiated nuclear arms agreement, as well as environmental efforts by other presidents. Carter also offered a harsh assessment for the White House’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which helped religious charities receive $2.15 billion in federal grants in fiscal year 2005 alone. “The policy from the White House has been to allocate funds to religious institutions, even those that channel those funds exclusively to their own particular group of believers in a particular religion,” Carter said. “As a traditional Baptist, I’ve always believed in separation of church and state and honored that premise when I was president, and so have all other presidents, I might say, except this one.” Douglas Brinkley, a Tulane University presidential historian and Carter biographer, described Carter’s comments as unprecedented. “This is the most forceful denunciation President Carter has ever made about an American president,” Brinkley said. “When you call somebody the worst president, that’s volatile. Those are fighting words.” Carter also lashed out Saturday at British prime minister Tony Blair. Asked how he would judge Blair’s support of Bush, the former president said: “Abominable. Loyal. Blind. Apparently subservient.” “And I think the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world,” Carter told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

May 24 - 30, 2007

May 24 - 30, 2007 - I will be out of the office. All phone calls and e-mails will be returned upon my return. Hopefully, I'll have LOTS of new and exciting images to share. Until next week. . . .

we're living in the dark ages!!!

or it at least seems like it. :-P

Hubby and I are the worst housekeepers. You would think that a married couple, with NO kids and only dogs to take care of would be able to keep up with laundry, dishes and general housekeeping. But NOOOOOOOO, not us! Our lame excuse is we work hard, long hours that when we get home we're too TIRED to do anything but call for take out and veg. (I know the parents out there are rolling their eyes.) :-P So, when modern appliances such as the dishwasher, washing machine or dryer break down we feel as if we're living in the dark ages!

Wash and dry the dishes by hand??!! Who ever heard of that? :-P

Well, last night our dryer decided to stop drying. At first I thought it was a bad circuit but no amount of circuit tripping would get the thing to turn back on. Normally, this wouldn't be such a big deal except we're leaving for a trip tomorrow! AND our garage has become a storage room for dirty laundry! I am NOT exaggerating. I thought about taking a picture of our garage but that would be TOO embarrassing. We must have at least 10 loads of laundry in there!

Last night, I had the task of hanging up our wet clothes wherever I could so they would dry. After running out of space, I couldn't believe that I was actually wishing for a clothesline. A clothesline!!!

Hubby was asleep on the sofa during the dryer malfunction so this morning he woke up wondering why his boxers were hanging from the shower curtain rod. :-P LOL

We're still trying to figure out what we're going to do. We don't have time to purchase a new dryer and even if we did it probably wouldn't be delivered until next week.

I guess we'll have to live in the "dark ages." (and be grateful for modern conveniences.)

Dream Dinners Sneak Peek!

Gary and Antonette Family Session

A few weeks ago, I FINALLY got the chance to photograph my cousin's beautiful family. Some of you may recognize my baby twin! ;-)

Enjoy the slideshow!

John and Jen Family Session

I had a so much fun photographing John and Jen's small family. Just by hanging out with them, you can tell how much in love they are with their baby boy. It's families like these that make me want to have a baby right now. :-P

I absolutely love the way their pictures turned out! I especially like how they look converted to black/white or split-tone - I think it makes them more "classic." What I mean by classic is - 10, 20, 30 years down the road they look to have stood the test of time and not look dated or trendy.

I had such a hard time narrowing down the images for the slideshow - I loved them all! (this is why the pictures transition so fast :-P )

J^2 - enjoy your slideshow and the proof gallery will be up later this evening: (click below)

Target's Bridal Collection

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE Target. From the dollar bins, to the cool clothes, to even the super-trendy garden furniture (my latest obsession - gotta furnish my new patio! :-P ) - everything you could ever WANT is at Target! AND you can grocery shop at the same time!

So, you can imagine my excitement when I received an e-mail about their new bridal collection:



Why, oh why, did they not have this when I was planning my wedding last year?! :-P

Check it out by clicking HERE.

Have a great day!

*N*'s Portrait Session Slideshow

Editing *N*'s portrait session was a breeze! (I also included a few of *C* for fun!)

Click HERE for your proof gallery. (password is in your e-mail)

Enjoy the slideshow!

Click the square in the middle below:

*J* Family Sneak Peek!

Earlier today, Hubby and I met up with the *J* family for a family session in Hermann Park. We had a GREAT session and *V* is soooooooo adorable.

*J* family, here's your sneak peek:

Before I start shooting, I always tell parents not to stress too much if their child(ren) aren't in the mood or ready for pictures. If they (and me!) remain patient children will warm up to the camera in no time. :-)

For example, at the beginning of the session *V* was not interested: (still cute though!)
By the end of the session, look at him working the camera!


This shot is COMPLETELY unposed and NO ONE is standing behind me trying to get him to laugh. It's just me, him and the camera! Cool, huh?

Miss *N* (and *C*): Portrait Session SNEAK PEEK!

Earlier today I had an AWESOME portrait session with *N* - complete with wardrobe changes. :-) For this session, I really wanted to push my photographs, both creatively and technically, to new heights. Lately, I feel as if I'm a little too attached to my wide angle zoom lens. Don't get me wrong, it's a GREAT lens, but I think the zoom has made me a little lazy. :-P With a zoom, I can go wide or close without moving a step. This is great for events (and engagement sessions) to catch those "moments." On the flip side, by not changing my position I feel I'm losing a bit of my creativity by not playing with angles, depth of field, etc.

For this session, I purposely left my wide angle zoom lens at home and ONLY brought along two primes - the 85mm and 50mm. In other words, no zooms! I also purposely left my flash at home so I had no choice but to utilize the natural light and change my settings as the light change. (which it did - ALOT!)

The verdict? I absolutely LOVE using my primes and Miss *N* was the PERFECT subject.

Check out her sneak peek:



I LOVE how I caught natural catchlights in this image:


This is our "city-girl" picture:


No janelle lynn photography session would be complete WITHOUT jumping pics! ;-)

This is *C*, *N's* little sister.

These images are pretty much straight out of the camera with just a small bump in curves to give them a bit of "pop." How cool is that?! This session is going to be soooooo easy to process! :-)

Hieu and Nhi: Maternity Session

One more to go! :-)

Then it starts again - with two sessions this weekend. But I'm not complaining!

Hieu and Nhi ~ Click image below for your slideshow:

Click HERE for your proof gallery.

Ben and Rachel: Engagement Session

Whew! Two down and two to go! I had 1 event and 3 sessions last weekend, I'm at the half-way point and it's only Wednesday! :-) Lately, I've been really studying my workflow and trying to streamline processes so I'm not spending two weeks editing images. This is really important because I want to deliver the finished images to my clients ASAP. The past few sessions my turnaround time has been a few days - sometimes even the day after the session. :-)

Ben and Rachel~

Click the image below for your slideshow:

Click HERE for your proof gallery.

University of Houston PRSSA Spring Banquet

On Friday, I had the opportunity to photograph the University of Houston's PRSSA Spring Banquet. The banquet was held in honor of the sponsors and students who supported the association this past year. The students who make up this organization are great people and I know they'll go far. I wish them all the best! :-)

Click image below to view the slideshow:

Click HERE to purchase prints.

Nature Art Shots and a Casting Call. . . sort of

Recently, I was asked if I would take flower/nature shots to go on the walls of a local law office. I don't want to show the traditional, boring, macro, flower in the center of the frame shot you see all the time. I want my shots to be interesting enough to make people stop and think, "hmmmm...that's cool!" :-P

So, yesterday, literally minutes before the thunderstorm arrived, I took pictures of the remaining flowers left on my deck. (In Texas, we get one, maybe two, months of Spring. Once May hits the flowers start to wilt and die. :-( ) The lighting was PERFECT and I was so pleased with the exposure that all I did in photoshop was adjust the contrast a bit and voila!

I was also asked to provide images of groups of children and families of all different ethnicities playing, goofing off, etc. I have several families in my gallery that will probably be included in the portfolio but I need more! So, in the next week or so I will be posting a casting call of sorts. If you have any friends or family that would like AWESOME pictures of themselves let them know that I have a great opportunity for them! (free session!)