.portraits. fun!

What an infectious smile

every child should have a picture on Daddy’s shoulders…

another sweet moment between mom and son

my kind of family portrait. casual and real :0)

I think this image below tells such a cute story. Sarah is pregnant (you can hardly tell because she’s so tiny)
having some fun on the marry-go-round!!!

This session shows how fun portrait sessions can be. This was my second time to shoot little Noah and I just can’t get enough of those big blue eyes and his sweet sweet smile. Thank you Gammell family!

.sigh. home.

Gosh what a wonderful experience Europe was for Jim and me. I’m sure it’s been just long enough that my little blog here has slipped your minds It has been nearly three weeks since I’ve blogged- gasp! As much as I loved Europe, I can’t tell you how much more I love home! My bed, my pup Zoe, my food, my friends….ah how sweet home is!

My body is still recovering, I don’t know if I caught a bug or something over there but I have not felt like myself since we got home. However, I have had much time to reflect and I’ve returned inspired. You would think that Spain, France, and Italy would be what has inspired me, but while they certainly did, I am inspired because my brain has taken a break. For two weeks I didn’t think about work, plans, or the stresses of everyday life. By the grace of God I did not think about these things because I really made no conscious effort not to and yet somehow my worries escaped me. I spent so much enjoyable time first with Korrie, Landon and their wonderful families, but most of all with my husband. We laughed, we were silly, we relaxed, we talked, we hiked, we marveled at the beauty of the sea, we tasted great wine, and ahem— pretty good food (yikes I know that will make some of you mad.) It was so nice.

I’ve now realized the importance of taking breaks. I simply can not give my best if I’m just running myself into the ground. And I know most of you may think I’m just busy with the business which is mostly true, but really isn’t life just busy??? My business, your job, church, kids, friends, family, appointments, planning. Life is so stinkin busy! The funny thing is I really didn’t think I needed that kind of a break and sadly did not spend much time thinking before hand about our little vaca. because well…I was busy. Now that I’ve had time to process our trip and reflect on our many blessings I’ve become more focused. I’m excited to share with you all about what exactly I’ve become more focused on.

I truly hope that you will find (scratch) make some time for yourself to just be. It will help you to be a better person. And really none of us need Europe to do that.

thanks for reading this far

.barcelona!.

Wooo hooo!!!! Barcelona is finally here… I’m off tomorrow to go shoot Korrie and Landon’s wedding in Barcelona, Spain! We will be there for a whole 2 weeks. Can someone please tell me how the heck you pack for two weeks when you’ve never been to Europe and have no idea what to expect??? How do you not bring 100 pairs of shoes? Jimmy won’t let me go over the 50 lbs required, so flip flops and a pair of heels it is!

Kim will be responding to emails only (heather@heatheressian.com) so give her a shout if you have any questions. The phone line has been acting up and I can’t, for the life of me, figure it out : (

I will miss y’all!

~Heather

tipper. .tuesday. on .wednesday.

On Friday we had a Fence builder come out to our house and give us a quote. He greeted me with the warmest smile. I don’t know what it was about his niceness that struck me as so refreshing but just him being polite got my day off to a good start. It got me to thinking how easily we can all affect each others attitudes IN A POSITIVE WAY. I mean look he affected me so much I’m now blogging about his kindness! It makes me think of those of you who have called the office and I’ve had the opportunity to chat with you and we just seem to hit it off. I love that feeling! Although after we got his quote his niceness didn’t stick out in my head as much

On Monday I took the day off because I had to get some work done on Sunday and I went to Calico Corners (a fabric store) and just struck up the best conversation with the nicest lady there, she might teach me how to sew!!! And I left with a warmer heart then when I arrived, she was just so kind, It makes me want to sigh…

So I’m going to make a conscious effort to be a random nice girl

I LOVE NICE PEOPLE!!!

.officially. official.

oh my gooooodness y’all. Heather Essian Portrait Arts has a home all it’s own. Complete with hardwood floors, beautiful white paned windows, and loads of charm! Located in the Historic hospital district of Downtown Ft. Worth easy to get to for all of my Dallas clients (we love you Dallas peeps!)

We will use the space for meeting future wedding clients, proofing portrait sessions and album designs, and use it as a natural light studio as well. It’s going to be a swanky fun place to be with huge prints, and lots of albums and products to see, oh and lets not forget the fabulous furniture (really excited to decorate). I can’t wait to share it with all of you!

The building is being remodeled and it looks like we won’t be moving in until August or September 1, be ready for a big ole open house cocktail party!

I feel like doing the running man right now, care to join me?

.tips. on .tuesday. but. today. on .wednesday.

(one day late)

Let me say there is nothing wrong with any of these “musts”, but if it’s the deciding factor on who you pick for a wedding photographer you may want to reconsider.

What I’m asking you to reconsider is this:

Do you like and trust the photographer?
Do you LOVE their work?

If the answer is yes to these questions then know that all of these “musts” can be added later after the wedding, but you absolutely can not go back and change the vendors you hire for your wedding day. You’ve heard the term “you get what you pay for” That’s not to say that just because you’re spending more money than you intended that you’re going to get perfection, but it does mean that you’re probably going to hire someone with great talent, respect, and value for their work.

Lastly know that we as photographers are commissioned to create “Art” sounds cheesy I know but I think of a better way to articulate that right now. All this added of course to documenting your day.

Art through your e-session, your bridal session, on your fast moving wedding day, and Art through you the average person (not a trained model) All of this here “Art” takes loads of practice, time, and passion to do well.

Hire vendors with heart, passion, and integrity and you’re sure to have a good experience.

Now don’t get me wrong I don’t take myself too seriously. It’s not brain surgery, but it sure is my passion, and joy!

Thank you for this great oportunity to share with you, check back every Tuesday to see a new post on tips for brides and other topics as well. I promise not every “Tipper Tuesdey” will be about photography!

in light of me wanting to get to know my clients better …*THE FIRST BRIDE WHO IS AN EXISTING CLIENT (PAST AND FUTURE) TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST RECEIVES YUMMY DESSERT ON ME WITH ME I may even throw a print for ya !

if you’re out of state no worries I’ll take you out when I’m there for your wedding, or when you come to TX again!

Note: the first 3 comments are spam.

being. vulnerable.

Allow me to be a tad vulnerable for a moment…

Sometimes the blog is an after-thought, or just a thorn in my side. Not because I don’t love sharing with you all but because the image prep can be quite time consuming. Sometimes I wonder if anyone out there really pays attention to my little blog. I love that my photographer friends encourage me with their kind comments, but sometimes I wonder if clients and maybe even future clients see what goes on here. After all that’s really my purpose for having an Internet identity, if you will for my business. So this leaves me to wonder how can I get more of you involved? Not at all for my own self indulgence but to share with you my heart, my work, and most importantly you. Is the time it takes worth it? Or should I spend my energies elsewhere in the business?

I’ve had many ideas as to how to communicate with you all (my clients) through this blog, but I wonder if my efforts would go unnoticed or fearfully unanswered because you don’t know about this here little blog So this leaves me to ask would you mind sharing with me, or mind commenting about what you would like this blog to be, or what you like about it now?

or just say “no… don’t abandon the blog!!!”

just in case you don’t know you can leave a comment by clicking on “comments” under each post. You can sign in anonymously (although I don’t encourage) it or you can sign up with google/blogger by using your email address and creating your own password. It’s really easy just select the option to create an identity, post a comment, publish it and vuala (sp?)!

Hopefully some of you will share in the blog love and I can get back to preparing the images to share with you If you’re shy and want you can just shoot me an email to heather@heatheressian.com

the “comments” tab is right under here!

home. sweet .home

Just got in from the Bahamas! Beth and Brian’s wedding was amazing…stay tuned for their sneak peek along with so many more images I have to post!

Oh how I will miss the white sand, and the clear blue water…