Rudner {family}

A beautiful family, whom I enjoy photographing year after year!

best of 2011

2011 was a blessed year! i spent the year learning how to be a mom, and learning how to scale back and balance my photography business…editing will never be the same again with a cute little gal who loves to bang on the keyboard while i attempt to be productive .  below are a few of my favorite images from the year. i’m so thankful to my sweet clients who allowed me to share in their life and love.

don’t miss the slide show at the bottom of the post (there are some crazy awesome photos in that set!) and it took forever to make.

{seriously the cutest baby i’ve ever seen.}

SLIDE SHOW! <——click it

harper part 2 {9.5 months}

i had so much fun editing miss harper’s photos.  i know how much personality she has, but these photos really captured her!

harper is:

super happy

ticklish

lover of animals (especially dogs)

baby kisser

an explorer (hates sitting still. ever.)

strong

really funny

mama’s girl (the way she wraps her arms around my neck so tight melts my heart.)

a definite extrovert (loves-loves people. large crowds are her fave.)

a fan of the word “duck.” (she says it all day long and it applies to everything (obviously). and she has her own duck-word language.)

most playful with her daddy. (she can’t get enough of him tickling her.)

not a very good shopper (i’m convinced one day this will change. i about have to put on a circus show to get her all the way through grocery shopping. however, to her credit i am quite thorough in my grocery shopping.)

as her proud mama, i can’t wait to see her grow. i learn more and more about her everyday. i pray for her heart, and i pray that God would show me what He’s gifted her in so that I can point her there, and facilitate what He’s trusted her with.  i already know He’s gifted her with a sweet love of people.  i’m so thankful He’s entrusted her to me!

as it turns out, harps is much better at the self timer portraits then her ol’ mom and pops…she looked and smiled on every one. we however, were a hot mess…:)

neihoff {family}

emma {baby}

it’s always a pleasure getting to photograph the sweet roebuck family! meet baby emma…

a new year!

hope you all had a lovely holiday! we had a grand time with our little harper on her first christmas.

2011 holds many new adventures for us, and we couldn’t be more excited to see what God has in store.  we are launching our church The Paradox Church that jim (my sweet husband) is the lead pastor of…that’s right, i’m a pastors wife and harper is a preacher’s kid, Lord have mercy on us.   and with his transition from my business partner to pastor, his presence with heather essian portrait arts is no longer. which means i’m on my own! so with all of our new changes i will be taking much less portrait sessions this year than the years before.  i’ll take a limited number of sessions each month in order to keep up the quality of work we’ve always strived for, as well as me being able to care for our little harper full time. so if you or someone you know wants to book a session with us please do so as soon as possible so that we can be sure to get you in when you desire.

another new-ish thing is my design business art-is design. for the past 4 years i’ve offered holiday card templates i’ve designed to other professional photographers. i’m pursuing this business even more this year and plan on adding many new product templates, book templates and of course card templates. so if you haven’t already checked out the website please do! we’ll be launching a blog for art-is very soon where i will give marketing tips and will be featuring other photographers. it’s sure to be big fun! “like” our fan page on facebook to keep up with the goings on over at art-is.

check out these two marketing calendars we’ll be adding to art-is website this week:

grayson {kids}

i’ve had the opportunity to photograph grayson for the last 2.5 years and i’ve loved seeing her grow from a newborn into a little girl! she’s so full of life and just the sweetest.

i love that adrienne always takes photos with grayson…i know one day they will both cherish these photos so much.

edwards girls {studio}

i have a soft place in my heart for this sweet family…i’m sure i say this every year but they were literally one of my very first clients. i’m so honored to get to share in their family portraits each year! love you e. family!

let me just tell you…sometimes you have to improvise with an iphone while taking photos of little ones .

abby wisner {child}

this was a dreamy session…one goal of mine for my business as i move forward is to start incorporating more themed shoots. this type of shoot will undoubtedly take more time to accomplish and more money for props (for lack of a better word.)  but i believe the outcome can be more artistic, and will really take a portrait session to a whole new level!  what’s better than an antique bed surrounded by big trees for a session?

abby is the daughter of a wedding photographer friend of mine cristina, of  cristina wisner photo.  this was my second time to shoot sweet abby. those of who have been to the studio you might remember the HUGE canvas photo i have of a little girl walking in a field.  that’s abby!  one of my favorite portraits.

lindie {kids}

how cute is she?! i don’t believe i’ve ever seen such a pretty green dumpster, i’m glad i did because it made a great backdrop!