Fall Mini Session: Brit & Mia

Our Fall Mini Sessions are in full swing and I couldn’t be more thankful that little Miss Mia and her Mommy, Brit, made their way out for a photo shoot. Dressed in navy blue and pink, these girls showed up with some pretty amazing props. One of the props consisted of a huge frame lined with multi colored florals. Mia’s aunt had crafted it for this little lady’s upcoming birthday. The other was a letter “M” that Mia had decorated with jewels for her glam shoot! Both props were the perfect additions to this Mommy and Me Session. We started our shoot at Bear Creek Park in Keller and worked our way over to a secret sunflower field for a few shots around sunset.

This wasn’t my first rodeo with little Miss Mia. We met awhile back, around Christmas time. Mia had joined her besties, Zoee and Paizlee for a Holiday Mini Session. They all arrived in dresses with adorable fur vests. They loved posing and playing “ring around the rosie”. The three of them had me cracking up all night. Needless to say, I was really excited at the chance to get Mia in front of the lens again.

I was even more pleased to find out the other girls would be joining the shoot too! Little did I know, this would end up being a very memorable shoot. After trekking through the tall grass, I noticed a shift in the girls’ personalities. They all seemed to be walking on eggshells when just a few minutes ago they had all been giggling together. I couldn’t quite figure it out. I assumed it was because they were getting tired. Their mommas assured me that they would be fine.

After a few minutes of trying to coerce them into smiles, we could tell something else must be going on. We were shocked to learn that these brave little ladies were being attacked by fire ants and chiggers! And now, so were we. It was awful!! We ran screaming and crying from the field. We grabbed some ice and rubbed it on our legs while we all cried on the sidewalk. After more than a few tears had been shed, Mommy managed to convince Mia that ice cream was the only cure. I felt so bad after that and assured Mia that we would never venture into the sunflowers again. Brittney assured me that Mia would be ok. They headed out for chocolate chip cookie dough the minute we all started to feel a little better . 

Despite the hiccup in the sunflower field, our girls night turned out to be an adorable affair. With her polite demeanor and precious smile,  Mia lights up any room. And, she has the best giggles, especially when Mommy is around! It was a pleasure to finally meet Brittney and spend a little quality time with her pretty princess! I hope I have the chance to work with them again the future!

 

Fall Mini Session Information

We are currently booking Fall Family Mini Sessions. You choose the location (within DFW), you choose the style and I provide 1 hour of shoot time, 10-15 digital images delivered in an online gallery and a Blog Spotlight for sharing! These make for great Christmas Card photos! The cost is $150 during the months of September and October. if you’re interested in setting up a timeslot just shoot me an email. If not, no worries, just pass this info along to anyone who you think might be interested. I appreciate your time and hope we get the chance to work together soon! Consider following along on Instagram @therustienail or give us a LIKE on our Facebook Page!
Thanks a million,
Angelina Norris
The Rustie Nail Creative Studio
Creative Director & Portrait Photographer
therustienailhead@gmail.com
724. 216 8185

 

 

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Sarah’s Senior Portraits

Meet Sarah! This girl is a firecracker. She’s got an amazing sense of humor and a even greater sense for adventure. I met this young lady when she wasn’t but knee-high to a grasshopper. Her mom used to bring her into the restaurant I worked at in college. I was that waitress always giving out popsicles to the kids who came in regularly. It was my genius plan to keep business coming back to the Brick. If I gave the kids a treat at the end of the meal, they’d be sure to tell their parents how much they wanted to come back. It’s fair to say that I had Sarah on the hook at a young age.

This sweet girl and I immediately bonded over our love for, don’t judge me, The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Every week, her family would come in and every week, we’d catch up on our preteen TV show drama. It became a bit of ritual and I’m happy to say that all those visits turned into a great relationship. I’ve been lucky enough to see Sarah grow from being a little kid to a beautiful lady. She approached me shortly after starting my business to discuss having her Senior Portraits taken and I was over the moon.

I knew Sarah would show up in the style and I knew she’d be comfortable with me. We laughed and joked around as we strolled through the Park at Indian Lake. Her mother was cracking up as we took off under a bridge and up a huge hill to snag a few photos. I seriously could not have asked for a better session with a more beautiful client. Sarah, you are smart, sweet and kind. Please don’t lose your sense of adventure or that laugh, it’s perfect and so are you sweet girl! Let’s hope we have many more photo shoots in the future.

Blog Spotlight: Carolyn Anderson Photography

Hey guys! As you all may know, we here at The Rustie Nail have adopted the mantra of The Rising Tide Society when it comes to community over competition. The idea is that we embrace other creatives in an effort to build of network of like minded creativepreneurs. It’s a concept that has pushed me into building such amazing relationships with creatives both here in Dallas-Fort Worth and back home in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania. Each and every individual I have met has taught me so many little tips and tricks on how to build this brand and I am so grateful. As a thank you, I have  the opportunity to shine a light on what some of my new friends have been up to.

In our last Top 5 Blog, we highlighted some of the state parks in the area that double as recreation areas and portrait session backdrops. You may have noticed the ridiculously beautiful landscape shots that we featured in that Blog. My new friend, Carolyn Anderson, a self-taught photographer out of New Alexandria, PA, was gracious enough to provide all of those awe-inspiring photos. Today, we’re gonna shine a light on Carolyn, her journey in photography and what’s next on the horizon!

Where do I even begin? I found Carolyn through social media. Her photos kept popping up on my Newsfeed and I couldn’t help but fall in love with all her images. Every one of her photos highlights some of the favorite places to have spent my time as a child growing up in the wilderness of PA. She has this brilliant talent of capturing the color quality of her subjects. Honestly, her photos kind of give me the feels. I grew up in her neck of the woods and find myself seeing so many familiar places in her galleries.

Carolyn is a mom to 2 gorgeous young ladies and a wife to her highschool sweetheart, Dan. She was born and raised in New Alexandria, PA. She specializes in landscape photography but admits having done it all, from proms to weddings for friends and family who have asked. She’s an outdoorsy gal who began taking photos in 2006. By 2007, she had purchased her first DSLR, a Canon Rebel. After years of practice, Carolyn held her first solo Photography Exhibition on Nov. 7th, 2015 at the New Growth Gallery in her hometown. To date, she is a member of the New Alexandria Art Alliance and has had photos accepted into the West Penn Trail Juried Art Show and the Westmoreland Art Nationals. She’s been featured in the Latrobe Bulletin and in a heavily-followed Facebook page entitled “Only In Pennsylvania“. Though she considers photography more of a hobby, she is totally open to the idea of expanding into a profession. Now wouldn’t you all love to see that? I know I would.

For more information on how to purchase Carolyn’s art, head to her Etsy shop. To check out what she has going on in the everyday, head to her Facebook page or to chat with Carolyn just shoot her an email. I loved having the chance to get to know this sweet gal over the last couple of weeks and look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with her in the future. Keep the good work Carolyn! We love your work and can’t wait to see more!

To learn about the other creatives we have featured on our blog or to nominate someone to be featured, shoot us an email at therustienailhead@gmail.com or check out our last Blog Spotlight: Whitney Bowman Photography. 

Rescue Session: Raina & Pumpkin

Words will never be able to explain how thankful I am for my time in Broken Bow, OK. What started out as a Christmas gift for our expectant brother and sister in law turned into a girls getaway for me and my ride or die floral fashionista, Tiffany of Wanderlust Floral Designs. From the start, the plan was to kayak, eat some Grateful Head Pizza and head to the Girls Gone Wine. But, the truth is Tiff and I have been itching for the opportunity to set up a styled shoot with some real live models and boy did we luck out.

After putting a few feelers out at a some of the local businesses, we heard back from a young girl named Raina. She was interested in having a few photos taken of her and her rescue pup, Pumpkin. Coincidentally, my puppy dog is name Reyna. From the start, I had this feeling we were on the same page when it came to styling the shoot. I let her know we would have an elaborate 30 foot floral garland and we proceeded to coordinate the details.

Beaver’s Bend State Park in Broken Bow, OK played the backdrop for this beautifully crafted session. After a few walks around the Mountain Fork River Beach and the shores of Lakeview Lodge, we managed to stumble across an area marked Overlook Circle. After a short hike down a semi-steep hill, we managed to come across a rock beach in a cove that was surrounded with cypress trees and an amazing view of the lake. To top it all off, we ended the portrait session as the sun set over the Ouachita Mountains, providing some amazing silhouette shots.

Raina was adorable, Pumpkin was even sweeter and these two were totally made for each other. Raina had a heart for rescue and adores having her pup tag along for all of life’s adventures. I am so happy that she set up the time to let me document their bond. My favorite part about this shoot was how vocal Raina was about her vision. Raina made it clear from the beginning, she wanted dramatic poses, a few smiles and some candids with her pup. She even managed to bring Pumpkin a bandana that matched her delicate baby blue romper. This chick was kind and patient with the beauty to boot. It was an absolute joy to meet her and Pumpkin. I’m continuously surprised by the kindness of the people I get to meet during my travels and look forward to the chance to work with Raina and her sweety in the future!

 To book your Custom Photo Session, email therustienailhead@gmail.com with any and all inquiries. We would love to meet you for coffee or a beer and discuss what your vision is for your one-of-a-kind shoot!

Waters Family Portrait Session

This session has been in the works for quite some time now but I can happily say it was worth the wait. Awhile back, my coworker, Doug, approached me about getting his Mother the gift of family portraits. As you very well may know, family schedules are crazy when you have such a huge age gap between kiddos so it took us some time to get everyone together. On an early Saturday morning in April, the Waters family and I met on a ranch in Keller. Actually, ranch doesn’t quite describe it. This property once belonged to the great Terry Bradshaw. For those of you who don’t know, Mr. Bradshaw is the legendary #12 quarterback who managed to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to 4 Super Bowl titles back in the 70s. His property boasts views of more than one pond, horse stables, fields of wildflowers and an assortment of wildlife!

This group was a wild bunch but luckily, we had our fair share of characters to help out with outfit changes and prop setup. I wanted to make sure we had individual shots of all the kids and of course that proved to be the easiest task. Kids love being the center of attention so they all hammed it up for their individual portraits. When it came time to get all 4 together for a group shoot, that proved to be a little more of a challenge. Thankfully, I live for the opportunity to rise to the challenge. Eventually, they did all look at the camera at the same time, I just had to get to know each of them a little better.

Mason, the eldest of the group, towered above his younger cousins. (Not to self: Bring stepladder. 15 year old boys are much taller than you.) Mason definitely needed the most encouragement to smile but that seems to be a common trait among guys his age. Taking pictures is so not what he wanted to be doing, but the sweet kid totally smiled and helped pose the little ones for every picture. Respectful and kind, he made sure to put a smile on his Mom’s face.

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Abbie was the little lady of the group. It was cleat to see that she is smitten with her baby cousins. I can’t lie, I was her at that age. Always sneaking in the other room to wake them up, they were like my own little baby dolls. I adored playing house and doting on all their little woes. She was my easiest of the bunch. She was so perfect, hair in her eyes, took direction, dressed impeccably and played a huge role in keeping the youngsters happy, almost like she understood them. It was such a nice treat having her be my right hand throughout the shoot.

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Zach…simply amazes me. At one point, I watched this little guy pick up a stick and wave it around. Then, he began making a buzzing noise and pointing it in every direction. I asked him “What are you doing buddy?”. He looked me straight in the eye and uttered a single word, “lightsaber”. I was crying laughing at his Star Wars shenanigans. And, then he attempted to jump in the lake. He danced. Then, he decided to try his luck at fishing, which resulted in a whole lot of giggles and then an attempt at running backwards into the lake. He absolutely kept me on my toes and in this weird way, he reminds me of my coworker, Doug. This kid kept me in stitches but it was an absolute joy to see how crazy smart he is.

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Last but not least, Joss, this adorable baby girl who was clearly not having it when we started, but completely blossomed as we brought out the butterfly kite and adventured our way into the wildflower field. By the end of the shoot, I was carrying her on my shoulders! She feed the mini horses and munched on snacks while we trekked away around the expanse of this gorgeous estate.

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At the end of the day, they made me laugh and I’m happy to know these guys. It really was a fun way to start off a Saturday morning and I hope we have the chance to do it again sometime. Look out for these people, the Waters clan. They are the type to remain tight knit, the ones who love each other on the good days and the bad, through thick and thin and it’s nice to know that kind of joy still exists in the world.

Are you trying to book your Family for a Portrait Session, just shoot us an email at therustienailhead@gmail.com to set up a completely personalized session!