Pine Acre Photography

Cammie

2010-05-16T15:35:00.000-06:00

Jessica's Wedding

2010-05-16T09:43:00.001-06:00

Jordan

2010-05-16T09:40:00.001-06:00

Carley

2010-04-18T20:36:00.001-06:00

Macey & Shelby

2010-04-18T20:31:00.001-06:00

New and Improved Website Launched

2009-10-30T10:00:00.001-06:00

Our new website has been up and running for a few days now. We've gotten most of the kinks ironed out so that it is looking and working good. If you have a fast internet connection you are going to like it a lot; if you are still on dial-up--not so much! Check it out. Let us know what you think. We'd love suggestions for improvement. We know we need more pictures in some of the galleries and we are working on that. Go to: http://www.pineacrephoto.com/

Bodak

2007-02-04T15:30:00.000-06:00

This 72 pound hunk of love lives with our daughter Miranda and our son-in-law Shane. "Bobo" is our grand-dog!

This bulldog loves to play chase, fetch, and tug of war. He can wear you out just before he collapses. There is NO ignoring him. He'll bring the toy to you (full of slobber) and lay it in your lap. He is practically human with his body language and the way he looks at you. And he goes crazy with a plastic bottle of any kind. The racket he creates tearing up a plastic bottle can be downright annoying, but he enjoys it so much. It makes his day. He is partial to water bottles but will chew up most anything.

Just try to sleep when this baby goes to sleep in your room. He snores and snorts like some hog. When Bobo gives you sugar, you know you've been loved because you will have drool all over you. His new hobby is skateboarding. What a grand-dog!

JP, Dena, JR & Callie

2007-02-01T19:02:00.000-06:00

Most of you know that we are Aggies right down to bleeding maroon, right? But doesn't this young family look good in "tu burnt orange"? We are truly equal opportunity photographers!

Dena and her family have been customers for years so she knew she was going to catch flack from the Aggie photographer. They took it well. Dena now lives in Hillsboro but came "home" for her family portraits. It was good to catch up with what's been going on and to meet the "J-men" in her life: JP and JR. Oh, and Callie, too!

Lance, Connie, Alison & Parker

2007-02-01T18:45:00.000-06:00

We photographed Lance and Connie's wedding years ago. Look at them now! Alison and Parker are both beautiful and very respectful--probably because they have such great parents.

Wade, Staci & Timothy

2007-02-01T17:57:00.000-06:00

The family portraits we create today will eventually become the family treasures. The children may not care now but as they mature and their priorities change, these portraits will become priceless in their eyes.

This was shot in our outdoor studio in the late evening and the air conditioning was still not working on this day. But don't they look cool! Staci did a great job picking out the colors--they really POP! Wade just showed up, like he was told. Timothy is a natural charmer and not a bit "camera shy." The whole family was a pleasure to photograph.

Ruth & Mateo

2007-01-20T17:08:00.000-06:00

Ruth and Mateo are a newly wed military couple stationed at Ft. Hood. Our prayers are with them. We have been there and done that. The mention of Ft. Hood rekindled a lot of fond memories for us, since that is where we spent most of our first three years together.

The sharp young sergeant has been in the Army for six years and has been deployed twice. We owe him and all our military a huge debt of gratitude. We are so glad we had the privilege of meeting Mateo and his beautiful bride. We thank you both for your service to our country.

We wish him and Ruth all the best.

Weddings

2007-01-20T16:03:00.000-06:00

We have been shooting weddings since 1977—yes, we were just kids back then. Tom was still teaching school and Sue was pregnant with our son. We have learned a lot since then, having shot well over 800 weddings. We are not old and worn out by any means—we are just very experienced. We also happen to like shooting weddings a lot.

We set a goal several years ago to shoot at least 1,000 weddings, knowing that at some point we might want (or need) to slow down our hectic lives. After the 1,000^th wedding we will reassess our lives and determine if we want to continue shooting them. It may look easy but it is actually very hard work and quite time consuming, especially the post production work that must be done after the wedding. Now we are much closer to that original goal than when we first defined it.

We have always promised “our couples” that we would photograph their weddings like we would for our own daughter. Occasionally, “our couples” would include a nephew, a niece, or a very special friend. Last year it was OUR daughter getting married. We worked very hard to make her wedding as special as all those weddings she had seen us shoot through the years. We worked equally as hard to give her special photographic memories as we had done for all those previous brides. It was a special privilege to photograph our daughter’s wedding, and we gave her the same special attention that we have given to all those previous brides.

Vengeance

2007-01-20T09:03:00.000-06:00

The new year came in with a vengeance. Sue and I spent New Year’s Day with her brother and his family. We partook of traditional black-eyed peas and corn bread and some of Kaye's famous fudge. Martha Washington was also there--she is really a great lady! I sat next to my nephew who had a case of the coughing crud. He tossed it over to me and I made an easy catch. Thanks, Kevin—I needed that!

Two days later the little critters were making their presence known in my body. I mostly just laid around for a week feeling lousy, then coughed and snorted up gunk for another week, and now--in what I hope is the final stage—all that remains is this aggravating dry, hacking cough.

Otherwise, today, I feel good. I feel like blogging again. It is good to be back.

Kevin

2006-12-30T22:49:00.000-06:00

This handsome young cowboy was a December graduate of Texas Tech University. Congratulations Kevin!

He came by for for some "cap & gown" portraits for his mother but he felt more comfortable in his jeans and hat.

Before attending Texas Tech, Kevin gave four years of his life to his country serving in the Marine Corps. Thanks for your service Kevin!

Now Kevin is ready for a new beginning. Look out world!

Mady

2006-12-30T22:31:00.000-06:00

We just had to post one more picture from Hilda and Mady's sitting--Mady was such a darling! See the previous post for additional background.

Holidays

2006-12-27T21:49:00.000-06:00

We had a very good Christmas with our kids. It was wonderful having them all home.

We are thankful for the many blessings of 2006, especially our customers. Getting to meet so many nice people and form new friendships, while also renewing old friendships is a reward that far exceeds the monetary rewards of this business. We get to keep up with everyone as they grow, graduate high school, get married, have children, and even grandchildren.

Hilda and Mady (along with Chris) were here from San Antonio visiting Grandmother Sharon for the holidays. Hilda is expecting again and came in for some portraits before the baby arrives--won't be much longer now. Mady also had some pictures made with her mom, and then we took some shots of Mady alone. Mady just recently observed her 4th birthday. She is a photographer's dream--calm, patient, follows directions very well, and bubbles with excitement. Both mom and daughter are beautiful ladies.

We look forward to creating their family portrait when the new baby arrives.

65th

2006-12-22T12:00:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to J.D. & Daisy on 65 (yes, you read that right) years of marriage! What an accomplishment!

They were married in Henderson County on December 22, 1941. The house where they were married has been relocated near their current home.

One of America's greatest generation, J.D. served our country in the U.S. Army during World War II. Thank you, J.D., for your service.

This dapper gentleman (88) and the chipper Daisy (82) have one daughter, three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

We were honored that they spent some time with us for a portrait on this very special day.

Polaroid

2006-12-20T11:05:00.000-06:00

My second camera is actually the tale of two cameras. I was selected yearbook editor during my senior year in high school (1965-66). That same year my former agriculture teacher bought a Polaroid camera—I can’t recall the model—and basically turned it over to me for yearbook use and to photograph FFA events for him. With him buying film and flashbulbs I was in photographic heaven that year. It just couldn’t get any better than that.

Unfortunately, that year came to a speedy conclusion, and I had to turn that camera back over to its owner. Immediately, however, I began to suffer from Polaroid addiction withdrawl. I set about to fill this void by taking on summer jobs and as many part time jobs as possible while attending college. One of my first major purchases with my own earned money was the very best (at that time) Polaroid camera available. It served me well through college when I could afford to buy the film packs and flashbulbs.

Several years after graduation someone would break into my home and steal that camera, making it impossible to display with my other treasured cameras. It wasn’t worth much then—didn’t even work, as I recall—except to me as a reminder of all the fun it provided. I still have the pictures. And I remember it was a beautiful camera—such powerful fun!

Starflash

2006-12-18T07:27:00.000-06:00

I can’t tell you exactly when I fell in love with photography. But I do remember my first camera. And my second. And my third. I’ve had many cameras since then and with each one my love for photography has deepened and widened.

My first camera was a Brownie Starflash. I was in the sixth grade (circa 1960). It cost my mother three books of S&H Green Stamps. If you are younger than 50 years, you probably don’t know what S&H Green stamps are, but that is another story. We were very poor. My parents could not afford to buy one outright.

I had been hounding them for a camera for well over a year and that is probably how long it took to accumulate that many stamps. As I recall three books equated to about $9.00, which in those days could buy a week’s supply of groceries for our family. Mom and dad were always of the opinion that eating was more important than luxury items.

The Starflash transformed me from rags to riches. Actually, I didn’t realize at the time how poor we were, but with that camera I was the richest kid in the sixth grade. As it turned out, I never got to use Brownie very much because film, flash bulbs (again, if you are under 50 you probably don’t remember flash bulbs), and processing required money we didn’t have and you could not get those items with S&H Green Stamps.

That lowly little camera now occupies a place of esteemed prominence in my office. It hasn’t worked in years, but the flame it ignited still burns. It will never be extinguished.

Booger

2006-12-17T06:58:00.000-06:00

I love this picture of Booger. It illustrates that children don't have to say "cheese" to get a good expression. Sometimes children just don't want to smile and that's okay. Natural expressions are so honest. (Posted by Sue, the better part of Pine Acre Photography.)

Tomfoolery

2006-12-16T05:17:00.000-06:00

“Tomfoolery: foolish behavior; silliness; nonsense.”

Thus begins my entry into the world of blogging. Will this be a meaningful pursuit or will it be playful nonsense?

Though much of my life has been an exercise in foolish behavior, the idea that anyone would be interested in my thoughts and musings on these pages may be the epitome of tomfoolery. In this country we have the right to pursue happiness. I have learned that happiness is not necessarily a destination. One must learn to savor the journey. A little “tomfoolery” along life’s path will soften most of the bumps you encounter.

So be forewarned and read further at your own risk. If you are looking for profound thoughts on major world problems, you’ll not find them here. What you will find are little snippets or episodes from my adventure in photography, past and present. From time to time I will share some of my favorite images with you. Hopefully, those who visit here will take away a tiny jewel of wisdom or perhaps just a heart warming smile, and not go away saying that was total “tomfoolery.”