Brayden - Holiday Goodness

Good things come in small packages. But, we think Brayden's mom, Stacy, would question the word "small". Brayden entered the world at a bit over 9 lbs and 20 inches long! This little guy at 5 days old is so precious. Barely a peep out of him during the whole session. Mark and I are loving these in home newborn sessions. We get to meet some beautiful babies, take cool photographs and meet wonderful new parents. Dad, Chris is an engineer that travels to Bahrain for work. Kind of a long commute at about 27 hours door to door. He works for a firm that constructs man-made islands off the coast of Bahrain in the waters of the Persian Gulf. New mom, is respiratory therapist and graduate of Texas State. Stacy and Chris followed all of our pre-session tips! Baby in diaper and blanket only (undressing a baby wakes them up), lotion to help with dry skin and well fed before we arrived! We hope to see Brayden in our studio for his 6 month photo session!


 
 
 
 
 

Santa's Little Helper

Isn't she just the cutest thing? We had such a good time with the Blanton Family. This was 10 month old Avery's first professional portrait session. Within the first two weeks of life and then again between 6-10 months is the absolute best time for professional portraits. Avery is at the perfect age. Grandma, who was visiting from Colorado, played an important role keeping Avery happy and focused on her favorite doll, Violet. We did give the parents one pouty picture because even it is so darn cute. Parents Kyle and Brandy joined in for a few family pictures. Sweet baby and cute family. We were so glad they selected us for Avery's first session and look forward to many more!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Crystal and Derek

After battling some crazy Austin traffic, we met Crystal and Derek along the hike and bike trail at Lady Bird Lake and then walked around the downtown area for their engagement portrait session. Great color, wonderful smiles and super cute couple made our job easy. Derek proposed to Crystal at the top of Mount Bonnell and they will be married next February holding their reception at the Oasis. This session was built on the perfect "Austin" themed engagement and wedding. This young couple are the owners of Aquafuzion of Leader which is a company that specializes in water purification systems. They are amazing!

 

  

Hawaii

It has been a really busy year for J. Mark Photography and we were able to take a very much needed Hawaiian vacation with our good friends, Steve and Sandy Hancock. Photography is not only our business, it is a passion. We wanted to share a few of the really great images that Mark captured. We started out on Oahu and visited Pearl Harbor. Regardless of your age, or interest in World War II, visiting the memorial is a somber and emotional experience. Then we explored the Missouri – nicknamed the Big Mo and big it is! Many people do not know the ship was retired after WWII and then brought back for Desert Storm updated with modern weapons. 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Then we moved over to Maui – seriously heaven on earth.   

We visited the volcano, Haleakala, to watch the sunrise and then took bicycles down. Technically, there is no work involved – you simply coast for miles and miles. Really fun!
 
 

We spent some lazy and relaxing days by the pool and playing in the ocean. 

 

 

 

One adventurous day, we took the road to Hana. Along the way, we stopped to watch some crazy big waves, buy some fabulous banana bread and walk on a black sand beach. Another day, we drove south to see the a’a lave flow. 

 
 
 
 

We went to the Feast of Lele luau – great entertainment wtih traditional Hawaiian food. We did try poi and can confidently say we don’t ever have to try it again. We had one of the most incredible meals ever at Mama’s Fish House.

 
 
 
 
 
 
We capped off the trip with an awesome helicopter tour and saw some spectacular waterfalls and scenery. It was a wonderful vacation with memories and …pictures to last a lifetime.