Candid Veronica
A rarely updated, yet always truthful photographer's blog
The Rollins family appears on this site quite a bit. And I'm happy to announce that even though Wyatt Rollins hasn't been born yet, he's already made his camera debut! Well, sort of.
It was a Holiday/Maternity session with Mama Rollins and Company. After all, it's greeting card season.
First of, wow, class of 2013. It's been way to long since I was class of something.
Secondly, how fun is Cami? She wanted natural photos that reflected who she is every single day.* And I applaud that. Call me old school, but when it comes to senior portraitsI'm a big advocate of keeping it casual and close to how you are on an everyday basis.
Not that there's anything wrong with getting super glammed up. I applaud that, too. But I think it's really important to have at least one senior portrait where the 17/18 year old looks like a 17/18 year old. Right?
*We did get a little nutty with the T. Rex and pizza photos. I mean sometimes you just have to give into the PhotoShop urges.
Well, I can officially talk about it now. Sony (you know, SONY!) picked me to play around with two of their awesome cameras and seven of their must-have lenses. A crew flew out to Dallas and followed me around for a few days, took over my house, and dragged me out of bed at horrific hours. But it was SO MUCH FUN.
I had a great time making these videos and taking photos all around my city. And I really hope that you, yes YOU, can learn a little bit about how lenses can help you see a whole new world.
Visit the site and learn about the lenses.
Julie and Greg were married over a year ago, and it was such a sweet, private affair that I never really shared the photos.
That and they didn't know they were going to have a wedding photographer. Because I was a surprise.
They planned on a small, family-only ceremony with a Justice of the Peace, but not all of the family could be there. In particular, Julie's big brother AK who happens to be one of my best friends.
I can't remember if he asked or if I offered, but I went to their wedding and they had no idea.
When Julie walked into the room to see me there with the camera, I simply said, "Hi, I'm your present."
She looked confused. "Veronica?" Then she saw my camera. Then I held up my phone, where I was U-streaming the whole thing so absent family members could watch and said, "Say hi to AK!"
It was all so cute, like something out of a movie. And to this day, being a surprise wedding gift is still one of my favorite things I've ever done.
So here are a few photos of their perfectly lovely ceremony a year later.
A few weeks ago, Courtney, who was one of my engagement sessions once upon a time, called me asking about a pregnancy announcement session. The first thing I asked was who it was for. And when she said it was for her, I about dropped my phone! I might have even screamed in joy; can't really remember.
It's so cool that Court and Ry are going to be parents. And they had a really fun idea for their pregnancy announcement, a literal interpretation of them having a bun in the oven.
We shot it, got the colors to their liking, and laid it out surprisingly quick. And here it is.
Congrats, you two. Can't wait to meet the little doughboy or girl.
So it's no secret that I love teaching photography and cameras just as much (if not more) than I love taking photos.
And I'm sort of getting to do that on a HUGE scale very soon.
Rather, I already did.
You see, some company that I can't really name yet, chose little old me to be on a new website all about lenses and why it's important to have a few handy.
It was so much fun and so much work. But I'm over-the-moon honored and anxious. I mean, me? And then ... how did I do?
A film crew followed me around for a few days, interviewed me, took over my house, played with my dog. I took them to some of my favorite spots in Dallas and had an absolute blast.
The site launches in a month or so, and I'll be sharing the link (unless I look like a total oddball, but hopefully not) as soon as it's up.
Well, I'm in love.
I get asked about retouching quite a bit. After all, we all want to look our very best in photos (especially after paying for them). Which is why I offer retouching services. But what exactly is retouching?
Most everyone knows it involves Adobe PhotoShop or some other fancy (and expensive) program. But not many people actually know how to use it.
Well, fortunately for my clients, I do know how to use it. Professionally, even.
Below is one example of photo retouching that I performed. I like to keep photos looking realistic by preserving some wrinkles and most freckles (I love freckles). Otherwise, it's obvious that a photo has been 'shopped (that's fancy talk for PhotoShopped). I also brightened the eyes and removed the hair which was obstructing the face.
Can I be more extreme, like shrink body parts and swap out eyes? Definitely. But I promised my other subjects that I would never in a million years post their before photos.
So if you have an existing photo that you want retouched, or I've taken a photo of you and you would like something altered, ask me about my retouching services.
I was so tempted to type "Henz Kidz," but I kept the spelling proper ... except for in this sentence.
Anyway, spelling rules aside, we probably broke a few rules while taking these photos at the Lake Highlands Town Center. The Henz family was jumping off of things, clobbering one another, and acting like loving siblings do.
It was a great way to spend a few hours.
One of the reasons I love Dallas has to be the weather (at least when it's not over 100). This January has had a few spring-like days, which means that shooting Greg and Philip and Harry was almost too easy. We didn't have to carry around tons of coats, my fingers weren't freezing, and we could all focus on Harry (that's the cuddly Corgi in the photo). Not to mention we had the most gorgeous sunset which gave us fantastic light. Who needs to alter tones in PhotoShop? Not this photographer.
Hanging with these guys was too much fun. And my doggie and Harry got along famously. I see pup play dates in the future!
I'm a dog lover. There's no hiding that fact. Amanda and Nathan just so happens to be a dog lovers, too. So when it was time for a family portrait, we all met at the White Rock Lake Dog Park. After letting Jager (the big guy) and Dolly (the precious little pup that looks like a toy) get good and worn down, it was time to start snapping photos.
Ugh. They're so cute, my heart melts.
Wow, it's been far too long since I've added anything to the blog. Blame the holidays and my really cute puppy for taking up all of my time! But I'm back and slowly adding stuff to the site and blog. Like the Hopes' sisters portraits. Alyssa (the stunner in blue) always coordinates the annual Sister Photo. Andrea (the looker in purple) always styles the shoot. And Ashley (the teen) always provides entertainment.
It was so much fun. We went to a park of of the White Rock Trail and took 300-plus photos in ... drumroll please ... under an hour.
Click on any photo and then you can scroll through with your arrow keys. Enjoy!
This is our puppy, Dillinger. We've had him for nine or so weeks now. And he's a constant joy.
He's also extremely photogenic (I only admit a tiny bit of bias).
Anyway, puppies grow fast and as you can see, he's changed quite a bit.
The White Rock Trail in Dallas offers joggers, cyclists, and casual strollers a place to stretch their legs.
It also offers high school seniors tons of beautiful, park settings for portraits.
This last weekend, I took Dakota's senior portraits at one of my favorite spots on the trail, a park at Walnut Hill and Greenville Ave. It's lush and green, offers the right mix of shade and light, and has ample parking (always a plus).
I received a message from Brock Duke, and my first thought way, "Wow, that's the coolest name I've ever heard." Come to think of it, my second thought matched the first.
Eventually, we met up in downtown McKinney, which is a cool little spot. We shot some portraits for his new website (which isn't up yet at the time of this posting; I can't take credit for the photography on his page yet). And I learned quite a bit about the law.
So if you're in need of an attorney, I highly recommend the Law Offices of Brock Duke. Brock's a great guy who knows his stuff.
And his name kind of sounds like a super hero secret identity.
My fantastic web designer, Mike, was kind enough to update my blog and stick it on my proper website. Go ahead, take a look at his stuff. You'll be impressed. Anyway, despite Mike's talents, I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to add all of my latest work!
Hopefully, things will plateau a bit and life can get back to normal.
But then again, what fun is normal?
A few months back, I shot Kelli and Jame's awesome, country-inspired wedding. Kelli is one of the highly creative minds behind Lavish, an auction being held by the International Interior Design Association to raise money for Dwell with Dignity.
In a nutshell, teams of designers partner with companies to design these really cool spaces. Then they're going to auction off items and the spaces to raise money to help families escape homelessness and poverty through design.
So their kickoff was a few weeks ago, and I went just to get a feel for everything and shoot the designers as they met one another and were teamed up.
I can't wait for the actual event in November. We're going to treat it paparazzi style, with a logo wall and everything. I hope the designers aren't camera shy.
Kelli and James are awesome. And I truly enjoyed being at their wedding. Their Texas roots were on full display during their wedding at the Beaumont Ranch. Kelli's closest girlfriends all wore boots, as did Kelli herself. And James and his buddies proudly displayed their Aggie pride.
Stephanie and Joe had a cool idea to have two engagement sessions. Session number one took place at the State Fair of Texas. And session number two took place in and around Downtown Dallas. We went to Thanksgiving Square, the Dart Rail, the Dallas Museum of Art, and a few other stops.
Stephanie and Joe also had another cool idea. They brought along their sweet doggie! She might have had more fun than all of us (except when she wasn't the center of attention, that is).
