Week Four:  Black & White

I’ve been staring out my window at these little cuties for several weeks!  My neighbor’s two female Old English Sheepdogs each had a litter of puppies one week apart, so there have been 17 of them running around!  The mommas are so sweet and the puppies are ADORABLE.  I’ve always loved Old English Sheepdogs but didn’t know much about them.  I promise, if we didn’t already have two big dogs, I’d be tempted to buy one!    ~Cheryl

If you’d like more information about the puppies that are still available, contact: Greg by phone at: (501) 368-0961 OR email:  larson-greg@hotmail.com

Go check out Taylor Howard Photography’s interpretation of this week’s theme HERE! 

Over the last several months, we have spent a lot of time in prayer and discussion about implementing new practices and strategies to ensure that we are offering our clients the very best!  When we first decided to join forces almost two years ago, we really thought we would be focusing more on the wedding side of our business.   As time has gone on and our business has grown, we have come to realize that our hearts lean most heavily toward portraits.  Though we LOVE weddings and all they involve, it’s very difficult to focus on both portraits and weddings.  Our greatest desire for Zoë Portrait Art is to develop relationships with our clients that continue throughout their life’s milestones, starting with their wedding and continuing on as a their family grows.   Therefore, we have come up with a FABULOUS solution that meets all of our client’s needs:  Kim Boyd!!!!  For the last two years, Kim has been the talented photographer behind KB Candids.  We are so excited to announce that she is joining us at Zoë Portrait Art, as our new WEDDING specialist!

We approached Kim about this position for so many reasons.  Her work is stellar and her style is very cohesive with ours.  When considering someone to join our team, we knew that their work had to be spot on both technically and artistically.  To find a photographer whose work meets our standards and matches our style is so exciting, but to find a person whose values, character, personality and vision match our own is truly a blessing from God!  We could not be happier about our future in the wedding industry with Kim leading the way.  Kim will be providing the Zoë custom, lifestyle experience to all of our brides and grooms, giving them the detailed attention and high level image quality that we strive to bring to all of our clients!  Kim, we are so blessed to have you join our team and can’t wait to see all that is in store!   Go check out some of Kim’s work HERE and stay tuned for blog posts featuring Kim and all things wedding in the very near future!

And because Cheryl committed to the “52 on Fridays” project with a group of photographers who are posting an image interpretation and blog post each Friday relating to a weekly theme, we’re excited this posts keeps with this week’s theme:

Week Three:  Beginning

We are so excited about the beginning of this new venture!  It was fun to meet at the studio for our first official Zoë team portrait!  Thanks to our fabulous intern Macy for taking it for us!  Head over to Patti Crump’s blog to see her interpretation and follow the links to see the others. 

Our Team!  Left to Right:  Kim Boyd – Weddings, Cheryl Weaver – Portrait Artist,

Kristen Prince – Sales Consultant, Maggie Hendrix – Portrait Artist

It’s that time people!!!  Everyone has been asking when our next mini event will be, so your wish is our command!  This time, we have TWO days for you to choose from.  A convenient Saturday for busy families and a Tuesday for those of you who want to keep your Saturday open for family time.   Please read the flier for details and scroll down for samples of our studio work.  Also, this event will have a setup with a Valentine/Love them for those who want to capture the “Loves” of their life in time for Valentines Day!  We can’t wait to see you!  Contact Kristen for booking, 501.281.8789.

Over the Christmas break, I had the pleasure of meeting up with this beautiful family at their cabin on the Little Red River.  Since they all live far apart from one another, it was the perfect time to plan a family portrait session, complete with the GRANDDOGS!  Thank you all for spending some time with me on such a beautiful day!

Just look at these little DIVAS!  : )  I’m pretty sure that they are all quite spoiled!

Several photographers in my area are joining together in a year long creative project and despite the fact that I have a less than stellar track record on things of this nature, I am going to join them and give it my best try.  Each Friday, I will post a photo that is my interpretation of a pre-chosen theme.  There are 14 other photographers who are participating, so you can follow the links at the bottom of each post and continue through each photographer’s interpretation.  I was a little late to the party and missed the entire first week, so here are weeks one and two:

Week One:  Self-Portrait

YAY.  Can you hear the sarcasm?  I’m not a big fan of self-portraits, so in order to keep myself from becoming stressed out about what to wear or where to set it up, I will literally pick up my camera that is in the bag next to me, lean over (still sitting in my desk chair and with NO make-up on) and snap my reflection in the window next to my desk.  Here ya go:

To go with the self-portrait, we were asked to answer a few questions:

What is the first thing you see in the mornings?

I really don’t see anything but light and shapes!  I’m pretty blind until I can locate my glasses!

What are three words that describe your personality?

optimistic,  passionate,  merciful

What is one thing you wish you could do, but can’t?

Talk to my parents.

First song that pops in your head…NOW!

Lover be Strong by Gavin DeGraw is playing on Pandora.

What got you in to photography?

I’ve ALWAYS been a people watcher.  People fascinate me.  Relationships fascinate me.  Photographs of personalities and relationships fascinate me.

What do you love about photography?

Truly, I love blessing people with beautiful images of themselves and the ones they love!

What do you hope to learn/accomplish from this project?

More than anything, I hope to finish this project!!!!  I do look forward to an extra creative push and am excited to get to know the others who are participating better!

Week TWO:  12

That’s right…the number “12″.  I’m wondering if the original intent of this theme was to get us thinking about 2012,  because ALL I could think of each time I looked at the theme was “a dozen”.  Since a dozen beautiful long-stemmed, red roses aren’t readily available to me right now, I chose to photograph another one of my favorite dozens, EGGS!

I eat a lot of eggs, and to make this post 2012-ish, I’ll share how this image of eggs relates to one of my 2012 resolutions.  About six months ago I started making some changes that have resulted in a much more active lifestyle.   I have been making exercise a priority and have been setting goals for myself that have me on my way to being in the best shape of my life.  Recently I’ve really been feeling the connection between the foods I eat and my performance/energy levels during my workouts and various activities throughout the day.   So, in 2012, I plan to make better choices and be more intentional about fueling my body with foods that will give me more energy to be a better mom, wife, photographer and steward of this almost 42 year old body.  I’m looking forward to a great year!    ~Cheryl

Oh, and here’s a link to one of the other 52 on Fridays Blog Posts:  Annessa’s

2012 is off to a beautiful start! After a wonderful Christmas break with my family and a few lazy and very unproductive days at home, I was so happy to get back to work on Tuesday! I couldn’t have asked for a better session to bring in the New Year with. Jill is the epitome of the “radiant mom-to-be”. Can you believe that she is due in just two weeks?! I can’t wait to get my hands on her sweet baby boy, Luke. Keep an eye on the blog for some newborn sweetness in the next few weeks!

Jill, thank you for choosing me to document this incredible time for you. I loved our time together! And Brittany, thank you so much for coming along to laugh with us, and offer a helping hand when we needed it!

When I think back on 2011, I am so thankful for the blessings that came as a result of building relationships with other local photographers.  I spent time talking about photography over coffee and lunches, exchanged emails and facebook messages and worked together with several of them on a FREE portrait event in December.  I ended the year with many more friends than when I started.  Anna, of Betsy Anna Photography is one of those friends!   I’ve been waiting for her new little one to show up so I could get my hands (and my camera) on her!   I know this sweet baby girl’s ENTIRE life will be a photo session with such an amazing photographer as a mom, but I wanted to make sure she got some pics with her beautiful mommy in them! 

I am just now exhaling from the busy fall portrait season that transitioned right into a magnificent trip to Haiti (I hope to blog about later) and a wonderful Christmas and New Year with family!  I photographed this little mini session right before Christmas for Kristen, our sales consultant/office manager, who wanted to capture her little guys big Christmas present.   So, here is what happens when you put a little boy in the middle of a big room and tell him to wait just a minute for a BIG SURPRISE:

Meet “Holly”… isn’t she ADORABLE?

My session with these cute kiddos was fun and active!  Have  you ever seen such beautiful eyes as they have?  I swear, they are a photographer’s dream!  Thank you all for spending some time with me yesterday.  You were all such a delight to be around!  Have a Happy Thanksgiving and I will be in touch as soon as I get the rest of your images ready!