This will be my last post on this blog because I have a brand spankin’ shiny new blog.  All of us at studio563 now have ubercool new blogs.  So go HERE from now on to check up on me.

simple web address:

www.studio563.com/eric

Thanks everyone!!

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. I’ll leave you with some sunny flowery goodness.

I was very blessed to shoot Britney and Alan’s wedding last year…just so happened to be Austin Wedding Day’s featured wedding of the year.  Pretty cool!  You can check out the article here.  Congratulations Britney and Alan!

We are excited to announce our first themed shoot of the year…Cupcakes and Cupids!  These portrait sessions are centered around getting some super cute images of your little (or big) Valentine.  The session is $30 and it includes a 4×6 of your favorite shot.  We will be doing the sessions on February 3rd and 4th from 1-6pm each day.  If you would like to participate give us a call or even stop by the studio on either of those days.  WE WILL HAVE CUPCAKES provided by Delish Bakery!!!  Woohoo.

Feel free to dress in red or pink or purple or even bring some of your favorite Valentine’s Day treats for the session.  We will have some fun props here in the studio, but the more you personalize it the better.

As I said this is the first of 10 themed shoots this year.  Each session is $30 and will take no more than 10 minutes.  The shoot includes a 4×6 print of your favorite shot.  You want to do all of them you say?! Well here are some programs just for you:

Pre-book all 10 sessions and receive:
-2 5×7’s from each session
-11×14 of your favorite photo from one of the sessions OR a free 15 minute family shoot
in studio with a high resolution digital file to use for Christmas cards

Pre-book 5 sessions and receive:
-2 4×6’s from each session
-Either 3 5×7’s OR 1 8×10 from one of the sessions

Of course you can book the sessions month to month.  We will supply you with a punch card to keep track of how many sessions you have gone to.

-If you reach 5 sessions you can get the 3 5×7’s OR 1 8×10 from one of the sessions.
-If you reach 10 sessions you can get an 11×14 from one of the sessions or the 15 minute family shoot with high resolution file.

Here is what we have in store for the rest of the year so get those brand spankin’ new calendars out and start jotting these down

January/February - Cupcakes and Cupids (Valentines/Hearts)
March - Rock Stars and Divas (from punk rockers to flapper girls)
April - Bunnies and Baskets (Easter outfits)
May/June - Mothers and Daughters / Fathers and Sons (Mother’s day and Father’s day)
July - Beach Balls and Bathing Suits (encourage wearing the goggles and flippers)
August - Big Wheels and Barbies (favorite toy)
September - When I grow up… (dress up as what you want to be when you grow up)
October - Halloween costume (self explanatory)
November - What are you thankful for?
December - Santa Baby (we will have Santa here in the studio)

Each time you come in for a session your name will be entered into a drawing for a full hour on location family session with 1 8×10 and 3 5×7’s included.

So this past weekend was Austin’s Bridal Extravaganza. January is always the biggest show (2 days) I think like close to 200 vendors. Anyways, in order not to go crazy talking myself to death I took my camera and found the coolest booth in the show (at least I thought it was the coolest booth in the show) by Petal Pushers a florist shop located near Dripping Springs (west of Austin). They did a complete snowy winter theme…amazing. check it out…and check them out too.

some of their beautiful bouquets.

some detail

and…i’ll leave you with a little bit of Andy passing the time at the show.

who doesn’t like cake?

stylin’ in front of our booth…notice the coffee cup is never too far out of reach.

Abby (my niece) turned 2 last month. She had a very nice Sesame Street themed party featuring Elmo and Abby Cadabby…Snuffaluffagus was there too, but nobody saw him but Big Bird…anyways, it was a great party and I can not believe she is already 2…and bossing everyone around. Here are a bunch from the par-tay.

Elmo is eyeing those crackers

The craft table

Here’s the birthday girl

her baby brother Jacob…just blowin’ bubbles

Cousin Emma

you all know Luke

Abby practicing blowing out the candles.

Abby and Daddy.

Her favorite Aunt Kim….i’m…the annoying uncle with the camera

love these next 3

digging in

Abby got her first bike…safety first

Grammy and her reindeer

Luke took a little spill and cut his mouth…got through it like a Champ though

check out his kicks (aka shoes)

hope you had a great birthday Abby…I love you lots.

Here are some shots I got down in San Antonio in Kim’s parents front yard. Sometimes it is just fun to go out…even in the front yard and see what you can see.

I have been playing catch up since Christmas and New Years have passed. Trying to get back in the swing of blogging and posting and…well…working in general The whole fam was in town for Christmas and I definitely wanted to show the crazy awesomeness that was Christmas day at Grammy and Pops Von Lehmden’s house. I also got a chance to photograph my new nephew Parker (Aaron and Marge’s new baby boy) for the first time. They live in Savannah so this was the first time I have even seen the big boy…he’s already linebacker size…and I think he wears size 12 shoes already. There are tons more, but in the interest of not boring you here are some of my faves.

Love this one of Abby going through the doggy door

Luke getting in the giving spirit…he was a great little helper handing out presents.

so was Abby

and guess who visited the house…that’s right…we’re in pretty tight with the big guy.

all of the little ones got a chance to sit on Santa’s lap…Jacob

Emma

and Parker

Abby showing off her new rain boots

Luke and his stlyin’ new Elmo backpack

tearing into presents

a gift from my beautiful wife…thanks babe for the peppermint bark…for all of you out there…Williams Sonoma’s Peppermint bark is sinfully delicious

Luke playing in his new backyard.  this old tree is too cool…I think it may have been struck by lighting…the entire center is hollowed out.  makes for a great hiding place for him.

and here is Parker James Von Lehmden

check out the size 12’s

he’s a happy boy

I hope everyone had a safe and very Merry Christmas. And I hope everyone will have a festive and Happy New Year. The year goes by so fast, but this time of year seems to be in hyperdrive. Kim and I are leaving today for Houston to go visit our good friends Dave and Tracy and Mary and Todd for a New Years Celebration…then we turn right back around to go back down to San Antonio for our annual Trans Siberian Orchestra Concert, which just so happens to coincide with my mom’s birthday…who will be going with us along with my dad. So it will be a fantastic birthday celebration. Have fun everyone, there will be lots to blog about when I get back to normal mode this next week…including all the chaos that was Christmas morning at my parent’s house and a few nature shots i took just to get my creative juices flowing…so stay tuned. In the meantime, here is a shot I grabbed on Christmas morning before the tornado of two year olds took over…love them to death.

Kim and I made the drive from Austin to San Antonio today to start celebrating Christmas with our families.  Traffic wasn’t all that nightmarish, although that 2 hour drive starts to drag on once you are about 10 minutes from your destination and you hit stand still traffic.  But we survived.  This will be the first time that all of my nieces and nephews (5 total) will be together at one time…much less for Christmas.  So it makes for an extra special…although crazy…Christmas.  It got me thinking about one of my favorite Christmas stories that my Mom has passed down to us kids, “Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus”.  If you have never read it before, be prepared to believe again and if you have then this is a great reaffirmation of the season we are celebrating.  Enjoy!

__________________________________________________________

Eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York’s Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history’s most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.

“DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?” VIRGINIA O’HANLON. 115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET. “VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.”