Homecoming! {Leander | Cedar Park Senior Photographer}

I love photographing teenagers.  They are always so much fun and the sessions just fly! The photos always turn out better than expected and it's a wonderful experience all the way around. These three girls are friends, and they went to the homecoming dance together.  I got so many great shots, that it's hard to choose!  Here are a few…

Adventures in Gluten Free Pizza {The Life of a Photographer}

So tonight I decided to let y'all into my personal life and another passion of mine, cooking.  I love to cook. I enjoy it almost if not as much as taking pictures.  The only problem is, when you're me.. it's difficult to find 'good' things to eat.  When I say good.. I mean delectable.  I'm gluten intolerant, and I'm also a pescatarian, which means I'm a vegetarian that eats seafood, but no other type of meat.   I also happen to be on a low carb kick because I want to drop some weight.. which means I pretty much eat like a rabbit, and that gets boring.

Insert new recipe.

Tonight I ran across a recipe for a low carb, gluten free pizza crust that I had saved on my pinterest and decided I would try it. So off we run to HEB to pick up some cauliflower.  Cauliflower, you ask?  Absolutely.  Cauliflower is a go-to for low carb junkies and it just so happens to be delightfully gluten free and good for you.

I rarely share recipes so, this might not happen again anytime soon!  But here goes.

Cook 16oz of frozen cauliflower in the microwave for 8 minutes, covered with no water added.
Drain and allow to cool.  Then 'rice' the cauliflower in a food processor, or run it over a cheese grater. You want it fine like rice.

Measure loosely (do not pack)
1 cup of riced cauliflower
1 cup of mozzarella cheese
1 egg
Italian seasoning to taste

This will make a personal size pizza, so double for a 12 inch.

Mix well and spread thinly and evenly on a greased cookie sheet.
Bake in a 450º oven for 15 minutes for a personal size, 20 minutes for a 12 inch.
Immediately top with your desired toppings (meats must be cooked completely) and put it under the broiler until the cheese is melted and browned as much as you like. Roughly 5 minutes at 500º. Watch it closely.
Cut and serve!

*Note: if you try to rebake the pizza instead of broiling it, your crust will be much softer and not crisp. Broiling is best.
* Note: Make sure to spread the crust thinly and evenly. Otherwise it will be soft. The darker the pan you use, the crisper the crust.

And here is the result!

Riced Cauliflower - Leftovers keep nicely in the fridge for next time!

Crust spread thinly, and sprinkled with italian seasoning. Ready for baking!

20 minutes later! I never expected it to look this great. It almost doesn't need toppings!

Fresh out of the oven. Wow!

Final product. I used veggies on mine, but you can top with whatever you like. It's delicious and you cannot tell it's cauliflower at all!

"Wait Until You See What I Can Do With This Photo!!" {Leander | Cedar Park Photographer}

"Wait until you see what I can do with this photo!"

A phrase that is a photographer's worst nightmare.

Unfortunately, this is a reality for almost every photographer at some point in their career. The day you wake up, look on Facebook, and see your photo made into something you barely recognize by a well-meaning friend or family member. Photographers work very hard to capture your moments to the best of our ability. We study countless hours, practice thousands and thousands of shots, and spend several hours editing your photos to deliver a finished product that we feel best represents you, in our own style. So obviously we don't want anyone else editing our work.  We can do that just fine by ourselves. Also, when our work is edited by someone else, it doesn't represent us. It doesn't represent our business; it makes us look bad. 

This is known as copyright infringement.  It's illegal. It's stealing. It's punishable by fines of up to $150,000 per image. You also most likely signed a contract or release that stated that you are not permitted to alter the photos in any way, but for some reason, people still do it.  They remove watermarks, they turn the photo black and white, they do selective coloring, and they crop.  None of this is acceptable. The photos must stay exactly the way your photographer gives them to you.. and you know what else that most people do not realize? Whether or not you even signed a contract, you are still bound by those laws. If you grab a photo off of google images, that is stealing. It doesn't have to have a name attached to it. It doesn't have to have the © beside of it. If you take it from anywhere without permission, it's copyright infringement.  If you save your friend's wedding photo to your computer without permission from the photographer, that is stealing. Just because they are on the internet, doesn't mean they are there for the taking.  The copyright belongs to the photographer alone, unless they give limited permission to the client to make prints via a 'print release'.  Even so, the photographer still holds the full copyright from the moment he/she clicks the shutter on the camera and is the only one authorized to make any changes to the photo or give away any permissions in regards to the photo. Just because you are in the photo, does not give you any right to alter the photo unless you have written permission to do so.

US Copyright Laws

These photos below are not just an example.  These photos belong to me. This actually shows the before and after of what was done to the photo.  After seeing so many photos like this I have to say please, save your artistic editing techniques for the photos that you take with your own camera. If you have an idea that you'd like to try to replicate during your photo session, talk to your photographer. If it's something we can do, we will usually give it a try. We want to make you happy. If you see a photo you'd like to share.. just ask the original photographer! The majority of the time we want people to share our work, as long as the watermark remains intact and the image is not altered in any way. We love word of mouth referrals, so just ask! It only takes a few minutes and could save a lot of trouble.

So please remember, you can do anything you wish with photos that you take, but the ones you have taken by a professional, you cannot.  Please respect your photographer by not editing their work.  It's illegal, it's damaging to our reputation, and it is stealing!

Meet the "S" Family {Austin | San Antonio Family Photographer}

I so enjoy family photographs! This beautiful location in San Antonio Tx was perfect for this beautiful family.  I couldn't have asked for a better session and a nicer family. Enjoy!!