Fancy New Blog

We have a fancy new website and blog!!

Please follow this link and update your bookmarks! Those that subscribe it should convert over to the new blog! Please check out our new website too!

www.TheSmileHouse.com

www.TheSmileHouseBlog.com

Thanks! - Laura

Gianina & Chris Bailey

I was photographing Gianina's sister Kara's wedding when I first met her. Instanly, I knew I liked her. Gianina was a super fun bridesmaid that let me take photos of her with strawberries in her teeth among some other funny things. She wasn't shy around the camera! It's always a joy to photograph someone that doesn't mind their portraits taken! I was so honored when she asked me to photograph her wedding! When I photographed Chris and Gianina's engagement session I had a chance to spend some time with Chris. He was the perfect groom. Did all the silly things I asked them to do. He didn't complain and he even smiled. Actually he smiled a lot and I knew by the way that Chris watched his bride that he was a man that was completely in love. Chris and Gianina share the kind of love you can see. It's the way they hold each other, the way they smile at each other, the way they look at each other. It's all so endearing.

Gianina and Chris choose the Marquardt Ranch in Boerne to exchange their vows. It was the first time I photographed a wedding there but let me just say I loved this venue. When you have a venue this beautiful it makes a photographers job easy! There were great places to photograph everywhere. Gianina loved the bell towers! I was a little timid I'll admit to get up there but once I was there I was stoked! It couldn't have been more perfect! The other thing I loved about the venue was how beautiful it looked in the fall/winter. Some outdoor venues look best in Spring but at The Marquardt Ranch any time of the year makes for beautiful portraits. I love the richness of the ceremony images!

The way awesome Shelby Lane joined me to photograph this wedding! And to all my photographer blog stalkers that know both of us....let me just say that no she is not planning on coming out of wedding photographer retirement! However, I am working on her because she's so talented and lots of fun to shoot with! Course it was easy to convince her with a totally awesome beautiful couple and an amazing venue! She had a great time hanging out with the boys!

I had the hardest time picking out which images to put on the blog. There were so many that I loved! So of course to get the FULL WEDDING experience CLICK HERE!
If you're bandwidth challenged I've put a vimeo link at the end as well!

All the beautiful details!

Bridesmaid's make for great entertainment! Watch the video!!

Poor Mr. Bailey broke his ankle. I can't remember the whole story but it had something to do with Chris's bachelor party in New Orleans, and something about ninjas and spies. ;)

My classic silhouette shot that I love to take

I LOVE Chris's expression when he finally see's his bride!

Check out this amazing background! How awesome is this??

The kiss!

You HAVE to love families who will make faces at the Camera!

It wouldn't be a wedding if I didn't make people jump!

It was a packed wedding! They're very much loved!

I love this portrait of Chris's parents dancing. You can see their love too!

The send off!

Gianina & Chris Bailey from Laura Wootan on Vimeo.

A sneak peek for Gianina & Chris

I can't wait to blog this wedding! I'm almost done with it! It was SO beautiful!! :) Just wanted to share this quick one because I LOVE it! Full showcase to come!!

New Blogs Coming

I know I've been a BAD blogger. I have lots of session to blog and I will get to them soon! I had a hard drive die. It sucked. I had everything backed up so I didn't loose files but I did loose work that I had already done that wasn't backed up yet! About 15 hours worth of work. Yep. Did I mention it really sucked?? Sooo Just when I was finally catching up on orders etc this set me back. *sigh*

Tis okay... it's always faster the second time right??

So stay tuned more blogs to come soon!

A Teaser for Kyle

Just a quick teaser for Kyle! I had a great time shooting his session! As you can tell we did some Motocross photos! It was a BLAST shooting these!

More to come!

Max our Puppy

If you read my blog you know a few months ago we lost our dog Lulu. Guy had been asking for a new puppy. He even asked Santa for a new dog. So we decided it was a good time because our other dogs are in pretty good health and having remembered what puppies were like we knew we waited it would be harder on them. OMG puppies have SO much energy!

So one afternoon I started googling and found a breeder name Little's Kennels right here in San Marcos. We were instantly in love. And yes... having a new puppy really is like having a newborn except that we can leave him in his crate during the day and no one will call the police on us! Well that and newborns don't have crazy sharp shark teeth like a certain little puppy we love! (thank goodness for nursing mom's everywhere!)

So I'm in love with this little dog. I can't help it. :) Even though it's suppose to be Guy's dog. I'm pretty attached. I decided that I would photograph Max in all the poses that I normally shoot newborns in! Haha! Yeah my husband thought I was a wee bit of a dork but I didn't care so I needed to find some manly arms so I called a client/friend who has the beefcake thing going on and asked him to model! Daniel was a great sport! So here is Max's newborn session. Enjoy!

Realtor - Barrie Breed

Meet beautiful Barrie Breed. She's a Realtor with Hart Properties here in San Marcos. She wanted a new head shot for her business cards. She really wanted a portrait that showed more of her personality! She was up for trying all kinds of things which I love when people are open to trying new looks! If you haven't had a new head shot in a while it's a perfect time to update your portrait!

More Of Addie Grace

A few more of sweet baby Addie Grace. Isn't she adorable! New babies are so pretty with their soft skin and their little fingers and toes. We had a great session with lots of funny moments! At least Mom and Dad still have their sense of humor! Newborn's sessions often involve a wee bit of surprise pee and/or poop! Dad was a trooper. It's all about getting the perfect portrait! :) LOL Miss Grace even lost her umbilical cord while she was here! Congratulations Susan and David! I can't wait to photograph her next session. It's such an honor for me to get to document a babies first year!

Braxsten is TWO

I have no idea when this happened! The time really does go SO fast. Click here to see his blog from last year! Braxsten was SO good at our session. He was lots of fun and my goodness he talks and sounds so cute! Braxsten loves Thomas The Train and he played with his trains for me and we photographed him in our natural light area too... but the portrait of him in his UPS outfit are my FAVORITE!! Course his Daddy had been my UPS driver for four years! So those photos are just so stinking cute!! Thanks for coming in guys!

Troy & Sarah Beautiful Grapevine Wedding

It was a beautiful day for a wedding! Troy and Sarah tied the knot on Oct. 24th in Grapevine Texas at Paradise Cove. The venue was so pretty and overlooked a lake! Oh how I love being in the Dallas area. I so miss living up there! Anthony joined me as my second shooter at this wedding and did a great job! Neither he or I had ever "truly" experienced an Aggie wedding! Let me just say these families are some hard core Aggie fans! I've never seen so many Aggie rings! I love family traditions and these two families were definitely dedicated fans.... even down to the maroon bridesmaid dresses and the grooms ring shaped cake! Sarah and Troy were surround by friends and family and you could they're loved very much by the people in their lives. Congratulations guys! I'm so happy for you!

Of course he's the link to the nice BIG slide show. Or at the end of the blog is the smaller Vimeo version!

Love that Sarah wore her boots to the reception!

These were her borrowed pearl bracelet and earrings. They were lovely!

Love this shot of the boys jumping!

Portrait of the beautiful bride! I love the light in this one!

The handsome groom!

I love the ring bearer too! He totally stole the show as most kids do at weddings!

Sarah looks so excited!

See what I mean! He was talking to his Mommy the matron of honor!

We had the BEST sunset! I love these portraits!

The grooms cake was just like an Aggie Ring! Believe it or not there were MORE Aggie rings there that we couldn't fit in this shot!

Sarah & Troy Vidrine from Laura Wootan on Vimeo.

Valentine "Love You" Sessions!

This Valentines give your man a gift he’ll treasure forever. We are proud to once again offer our “Love You” sessions. These are beautiful custom portraits of you taken in your home, our studio, or in a private location with a touch of sensuality added! How sensual is up to you!

Remember that retouching is ALWAYS included in our pricing. As a woman photographer don’t worry I absolutely “get it” I will always photograph you to look your best using beautiful light and poses that work best for your body! As an added bonus Hair & Makeup is included in these sessions by the fabulous Shawn Matesic of Cuttin’ Up Salon.

Need some encouragement? Get a group of your BFF’s together and we’ll have a portrait party! I will rent a fabulous hotel suite in either San Antonio or Austin (your choice). We’ll need at least three friends to participate but no more than six. Portrait fees are due in advance. Session must be booked by Jan. 31^st for a Valentine’s delivery. Call The Studio TODAY for more information. Sessions are very limited! 512-396-2001

The individual Love You session includes:
Hair & Make up
1-2 hour session
4 (5x7)s
Beautiful 12 image leather album (4x5)
Expert Retouching
$750

The BFF on location deluxe Love You sessions include:
Hair & Make up for each friend
4-6 hours of shooting time at swanky hotel
6 (5x7)s for each friend
An 8x10 group portrait for each friend
Beautiful 12 image leather album (5x7) For each friend
Expert Retouching
Champagne and refreshments
Viewing Party at studio
$850 each friend

Sneak Peek For Susan & David

Here's a quick peek of new baby Addie Grace! She is SO pretty! Oh how I love new babies! I think she looks like Daddy! More of this sweet baby to come!

The beautiful April

Another sneak peek! This one is for the beautiful April! I had such a fun time on this session! She's absolutely stunning! More to come!

Sneak Peek for The Williams

I can NOT believe that Braxsten is TWO! Here's a quick sneak peek from our super fun session! He did SO good! More to come!

Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! We are back from our trip and I'm getting back to work. It's been almost nice to be away from the computer!! Nice but also frustrating because to tell the truth - I am an internet addict. I went a whole FIVE DAYS without internet. Okay so I SORTA had cell phone internet but not really. We were in the boonies - There were no Verizon wireless network people hanging out by our cabin. Raccoons? Yes, they were there! Verizon not so much.

We had decided to go to Broken Bow Oklahoma for Christmas. Why there? Well all the cabins we googled in Colorado where already booked so we looked for somewhere close and they had photos of cabins with snow on them and that sold us. We really hoped we'd get a white Christmas. LOLOL Normally I would say that I hate snow and cold and I do but to give my son a white Christmas I was totally all for it! He's never seen snow.

Well, we had NO snow. Not a flake which was disappointing. The cabin was very quaint. I loved it. Except for the wasps. I don't know why but my God!! There were SO MANY WASPS. It was terrifying. Bryan thinks it's because they must have not screened the air vents or something but yeah um NOT cool. Then there was also a mouse which yeah also NOT cool. Turns out our cabin had been empty for a few months which apparently when there aren't people staying there animals and bugs move it. Um whatever. We were not happy. This place wasn't cheap and I don't expect bugs and rodents for what we were paying.

Then the other problem... LOL we didn't realize is that there was NOTHING to do in Broken Bow when it's off season. Much of the town was closed. There were very few gift shops. The worst part was we had NO internet and Cable with NO movie channels but... SANTA saved us. Santa (who came a day early because we were so miserable) brought Guy a Wii. Let me just say the Wii is pretty awesome! We have had so much fun playing with it!! The Wii really made things better!

So my desperately needed vacation didn't turnout exactly as I had hoped. We actually left a day early because we just couldn't deal with the wasps anymore. I also didn't do all the things I normally do on Christmas and I didn't realize how much I would miss the traditions. I LOVE to bake cookies. I didn't bake ANY. I love to decorate but didn't do that either. My family didn't get together because my Dad is still recovering (and doing GREAT!) so it was best not to see him... because aside from Oklahoma kinda sucking... we were all also SICK!! He didn't need to be around sick people so yeah that was just the cherry on the big ol' pie of crap. LOL

I'm actually not that upset about it anymore. I didn't have a horrible time. It just wasn't what we hoped it would be. I did very much enjoyed doing nothing and just hanging out with my boys. I read a lot. I finished all four Twilight books! So it wasn't a total bust but now I know that I would rather spend Christmas with family and stay home. I don't think we'll go away again during the holidays. I thought that by getting away it would help alleviate all the stress but yeah no it didn't. It was just a stressful end of year! I'm glad 2008 is done and I'm looking forward to a new year of possibilities!

So here are some photos from the trip and some more family news!

The beautiful cabin with the wasps and the rodents! Haha! They have GOT to do something about those wasps. It really was terrifying

I made Guy PROMISE that he'd call for us before coming down stairs because I always want to document the whole Christmas experience! He was so good and called at 7:30am!

Guy looking at the Wii controller. Santa had set it all up so we could start playing instantly!

This is Guy doing is "Hulk Smash" impression! LOL

Guy playing in the leaves (no coat, no snow.)

This one makes me laugh! I love my boys!

This shot was for Melissa! She has a thing for flannel! ;)

They had a national park that we drove through. The gift shop was closed. *sigh*

Now On To OTHER big news!!

So my BFF Shelby and I decided to take our kids to see BOLT in 3D. It was awesome and I loved it... and it made me REALLY want another puppy. Why? because I'm pretty much insane I think. Actually, I remembered how much of a pain puppies could be but because our other dogs are old now but still in good health so I thought it was a good time. Guy really wanted a dog that would be "his dog" too. Our other dogs remember him from the toddler years and so yeah they hate him and run when they see him coming.

So I started googling and I found a breeder Littles Kennels here in San Marcos. They had some super cute dachshund puppies (which are what our other two dogs are). We drove out to their home and instantly I was in love! So was Guy!

So now we have a new family member and his name is Max. Max is so much fun and we think he's smart too! Our other dogs are pretty much pissed at us because well... this puppy is part piranha. He's got sharp little puppy teeth! He's almost eight weeks old and he is super full of energy and then the crashes and burns. He sleeps good long stretches though so that's good! It's very much like having a newborn!! I'm pretty sleepy and so is Bryan! He keeps us up at night... did I mention he's really stinking cute though?? More photos of him to come!

So I hope everyone had a wonderful blessed holiday and that you too are looking forward to the new year! More blogs to come!

The Weisberg Family

I'm so happy to finally share my family session in Florida for the Weisberg Family! This year they have a new addition to the family! A stunning new baby girl! I'm totally in love with her too!! She's has amazing eyes and the cute little curls. She's yummy and has the sweetest temperment. She's very laid back. She put my baby fever in FULL overdrive. All the Weisberg children are simply gorgeous and well behaved. It would make anyone want to have babies! I had a wonderful time with the family. I did some lifestyle photography which means I hang out with them and photograph them in their own environment. It was neat to see some of the homeschooling things they do too. They had a exotic pet show come to their home and we saw all kinds of neat animals. Here are just a few of my favorites! I'm including the link to the BIG slide show and I'll include a small on at the end too for those of you on slow internet! :)

There are really so many fun images!! I'm going to lead with one of my favorite new images.... which is "pumpkin with her BFF"

Click Here for THE NICE BIG SLIDE SHOW

The Weisberg Family from Laura Wootan on Vimeo.

The Robinson & Garner Family

Meet the beautiful Robinson & Garner family! They did an awesome job on their outfits I love the colors they choose! I love when people know how to mix up colors but have them all still compliment each other! :D It's not easy to do! I had a wonderful time with this family. They were a lot of fun and up for anything! I think the "kissing cousins" portrait is my favorite from the session! I have to say I was working on this session while at the Hospital waiting for my Dad to get out of surgery and It made me happy for them that they all have a family portrait together and also made me realize that I don't have this of my own family. The SHAME! I have no excuse. It's not like I dont know enough photographers to make it happen! I think though sometimes life gets too busy and getting everyone together sometimes isn't easy but it's SO worth it. I've decided that I'm going to arrange to have a family portrait done of my siblings and parents too! Family History is so important! You never know what could happen so there is no time better than the present. Thanks again for coming in guys! Have a very Merry Christmas!

The Vazquez Family

It's baby Angelina's FIRST Christmas! How exciting! I have baby fever bigtime! I've been photographing big sister Catarina for a few years now. She's so pretty and such a little lady. I love the one of them together!! It's so neat to see how simular their smiles are... They look a lot a like. :) We had a really fun session! I'm glad we did a family portrait too. I think it's great to do one every year!! We started inside the studio and then headed outside! We were lucky to have some beautiful golden afternoon light that day! :D Merry Christmas guys!! Thanks for coming in!!

Updates and Studio News

I'm so happy to report my Dad is doing great! He's out of ICU walking, talking and in good spirits. They are suppose to let him go home today!! Thanks again for all the emails and prayers!

Of course as luck would have it now I'm sick. I think I picked up something from the hospital! Yesterday I had a 103.4 fever! I still came to work though!! Because I still have holiday orders I'm trying to get out! I hope you guys love me. ;) LOL Course now Husband and son also have it and we're suppose to go on vacation so yeah... never a dull moment here!

Just wanted to let everyone know that the studio is CLOSED DEC 20th - JAN 3rd. We're going to Broken Bow Oklahoma! We've rented a cabin in the woods and we're leaving Santa a note!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Chrsitmas and a Happy New Year!

I've got a few more blogs I need to blog and I will do those very soon!

Handsome Baby Zaiden

Wow! Zaiden is growing up SO fast! I remember the first time I photographed baby Zaiden! He still has all his amazing hair! Each time we photograph him his Mom brings in his Lion so we can document his chance in comparison to the lion! It's so cool to see the difference! He's so cute! I loved his little halloween costume too! I bet he'll be walking by the time we do his 12 month session! They don't stay little long! Thanks for coming in Guys!

Zaiden New Born
Zaiden 4 months

Zaiden 8 months

Sweet Baby Adelaida

Meet the newest member of our Baby Club! Sweet Adelaida! She has such cute expressions! Adelaida came in for her four month portraits and we photographed her in her very special baptismal gown. Of course we did some naked baby too! I love the one of her on her belly! She was not amused! I'm looking forward to documenting her changes! See you guys in a few months!

I'm home and another update

My dad is awake and doing well! They took the breathing tube out yesterday. Boy it was a weird day yesterday. My dad had what they call ICU psychosis. Which is TOTALLY BIZARRE! He was very paranoid and aggitated. Everytime we'd speak he'd tell us... you all ready said that (when we hadn't) As the day went on it got better though. My mom said by the end of the night he was much better and more like himself. My sister stayed with my Mom so she's not alone and my brother and I left late yesterday. I'm so relieved that the worst part is over and he's sitting up. I know recovery can be a long road but at least he's on the path now. I hope he'll start to feel much better over the next few months. He had always been so tired and now I think we know why! So thanks again for all the prayers! We really appreciate it!

I have a few clients that haven't picked up their orders yet... Bryan (my husband) was here while I was gone (he works out of my office but not for me haha) He was available for people to pick their orders up! I'm sorry that I didn't make that clear because only a few people showed and I'm just getting through my 11 voicemails!

A quick update though:

Michelle, Angela, Susan, Julie, Annette, Michelle M, Kathy, Teresa (your orders are ready)

Stacy, Melissa and Beatrice (still waiting for a shipping notice)

Thanks again everyone! I truly appreciate it!
Laura

Another update

Just another update on my father. He has still not woken up. He's still on the ventilator as well. When they try to bring him out he is combative and starts breathing too fast and hyperventilating. They've told us that everyone wakes up when they're ready. I hope they let my mom be in there the next time they try. I do believe that she will be able to help calm down. The thing most concerning to me is that they said there is some fluid in his lungs. They've given him a diuretic to help. They've also said this happens too. I think we will all just feel better when he is awake. He is moving around quite a bit which is also a good sign. Thank you for the prayers and emails. We truly appreciate them.

Laura

Thank you for the prayers and an update on my Father!

Thanks so much for the prayers and well wishes! We really appreciate it. It's been a very long day. It started at 4:00am. We made it to the hospital at 5:00am and finally to his room by 5:15. Dad was in good spirits and he was glad that we were all there. They took him into surgery at 6:30am. Then the waiting began. Waiting is hard, very hard. About 12:00ish we finally heard that he was out of surgery and had done well. He was in recovery. Eventually the surgeon came out and told us that he did a triple bypass. (initially we thought it was just going to be a single but the artery "branches" were also blocked). We eventually got to see him in the ICU and honestly it was terrifying to see him all hooked up to the machines. He didn't look like himself at all. The machine was breathing for him. He had a central line and wires and drains everywhere. They tried a few times to wake him up but he wasn't ready they said because he was trying to pull his ventilator tubes out. We did get to see him open eyes and he seemed to be in terrible pain. It was an awful thing to see. We spent most of the day at the hospital and then they kicked us out of the ICU telling us they may try tonight to take out the vent...but when I called a few minutes ago they said that he did wake up on his own and was less out of it...but failed one of the test. They said he's stable and doing well just not ready yet to have the tube out. The good news is they said he responded and understood what they were saying she said they put him back to sleep...so for now he's resting.

I am finding it hard to sleep even though I'm exhausted.... I managed to get some more blogging done. Course I have several more to go but I did make some progress.

I just wanted to thank everyone again for the prayers... please keep praying. He's going to have a long recovery and I think tomorrow will be a pretty rough day... We're so lucky that they caught this blockage when they did. It was 90% blocked and a heart attack waiting to happen.

Much Thanks,
Laura

Charity Sessions For Roxanne's House

Just wanted to share some of our holiday sessions! I LOVED this set so much. I really wish I had had a chance to promote it better because it was SO cute. Nonetheless though we did have several clients help us support Roxanne's House! Thanks so much for helping this worthy organization! I love these first images that we took at twilight! I love how the different times of day totally can change the feel of the portrait. Thanks again for your participation! The gift cards will helps many children to have a great Christmas!

Michelle & Daniel

Meet Michelle and Daniel. You might recognize beautiful Michelle from a super fun session we did with her and her boy last January. Daniel is a professional body builder! He is also a manager over at World's Gym in San Marcos. If you're like me i.e. "a little too much junk in the trunk" you might consider joining me in my new years resolution! Haha! Daniel was kind enough to give me a tour of the gym and it's really very nice! It's not nearly as intimidating as I imagined it would be. I am going to join in January and make an attempt to finally loose some of the baby weight. (don't remind me that my baby is now six years old.) So if this is the year that you finally want to get in shape JOIN ME!! Tell Daniel I sent you!!

So anyway this Smokin Hawt couple wanted some couple portraits done. We had a great session and created some really beautiful intimate portraits! Here are just a few of my favorites!

The Urrutia Family

Meet the Urrutia Family. It's been a few years since I had seen the boys and WOW Josh is as tall as his mom Julie now! It's always so amazing to me how quickly kids grow! It's definitely been the year for BLUE! seems we've had lots of families come in blue this year! It works for me! I love blue. We did some super cute cards again I am not sharing anyone's card designs because I hate to ruin the surprise of people getting it in the mail! Thanks so much for coming in guys! It was great to see you all again!

Meet the beautiful Laue family. I've photographed this beautiful many times now! The boys are getting so big! We had a fun session and did some studio and outdoor portraits. Grandma also joined us for the session this year! I'm also excited that Dr. Laue's practice San Marcos Family Medicine is moving across the street from the studio! They have a beautiful new building we've watched being built. It's going to be wonderful! Thank you guys! :D

Prayers For My Father

I am at my parents house tonight. Last night my Mom called to say that my Dad had not been feeling well and he failed his stress test. They did a catherization and found a serious blockage (90%) and admitted him to the hospital. They're doing a bypass tomorrow of his LAD artery. So I wanted to be here. My sister and brother have come down too. My parents live in the Valley so it's a few hours drive. I got to see Dad this afternoon for a while. He seems in good spirits. So to keep myself occupied and to stay busy I'm blogging. I'm still working on orders and have a ton of blogs to do... so here is the first round. If the hospital has wireless internet I'll try to get a few more up. I should be returning on Sunday. I'm hoping he has a smooth surgery with no complications.

My father's name is Joseph if you have any prayers to spare my family would certainly appreciate them. We'll be there at 5:00 am tomorrow. His surgery is at 6:30am.

Thank you,
Laura

Christmas Angels

I can't believe how much Cecilia and Gabriella have grown! I also can't believe how quickly time has passed this year. Elaine called and asked what I thought of shooting the girls as Christmas Angels and I LOVED the idea. The girls did SO good! We had such a great session. Thanks so much for coming in guys! I hope you'll enjoy these portraits as much as I enjoyed making them! :)