Courtney's Maternity (a different Courtney from the previous post:)

My great sister-in-law purchased a gift certificate for her friend Courtney a few months ago. (gift certificates do make great shower presents). Stoney and I got to visit with Courtney over July 4th weekend and we set up the pictures for the next week. Nicholas (Courtney's husband) and their sweet pup joined in on some of the photo action too. Baby Eisley should be coming soon ...in fact, she may already be here!

This first one is my favorite...I think. There are several that I really like.



















...a little different, but I love the simplicity of Courtney's silhouetted baby bump.



Thanks PJ for getting the gift certificate for Courtney. Courtney and Nick, I wish you all the best...hope to meet Eisley soon!

Courtney's Bridals

So, this session one might call a trash the dress session (and that's what we intended it to be), but only if you consider trashing your dress is walking through a beautiful creek with crystal clear water. Hah! If you don't know what a Trash the Dress Session is, here is a great example.
Courtney and I had a blast at this "trash the dress session." We ended up getting some great bridal shots and had some fun taking pictures in the water too. I love this location! What a great find; if only I would have discovered it two years ago (since we're leaving in less than a month for Fort Knox, Kentucky). Since I found it I've done nearly all of my sessions at this gorgeous location.





Starting off slow with the toes in the water. Baby steps.




So here we go...I was pretty nervous about her dress getting wet.


The water really was crystal clear and I'm a huge dork.




These shoes were her "something blue" at the wedding.




Thanks Courtney, for entertaining my ideas. I had a great time and I'm sure the family watching by the creek loved the show too.

Catching up...Isn't she adorable?!

This is Yumi...short for Maiyumi.  I know her mom through the networking group I was in - CTNG (Central Texas Networking Group).  I did a session for her back in the fall and will be doing another session for her whole family later this month...Katie's husband just got back from Iraq!   

Yumi is such a sweet and well behaved little girl and she's so much fun to photograph.  Seriously, look at that precious face. :) 

We took these pictures at Central Texas College just across from Fort Hood.  The always keep the campus looking so well manicured.


I love this rock wall...and again, isn't she SOOO cute!?!
Thanks Katie...I look forward to the family picture.  Hope you're having a great vacation.

Chelsea's senior portrait session

Chelsea was such a pleasure to work with.  We did this session way back in April, and I'm just now getting it up...yeah, I know, I've been a slacker.  Anyway, we shot theses photos in downtown Salado.  If you've never been to Salado, you need to check it out.    

Courtney's Bridals

I shot Courtney's bridal session in Gruene about a month or so ago...Courtney is very much the "outdoors-woman" so Gruene was a perfect setting for her pictures. We had such a fun time!



Yup...she danced on the bar!






This is my FAV! She reminds me of a ballerina...Love it.

Stoney is HOME!

YAY! He's home....
Stoney got home around 10AM on Saturday the 19th of January from being gone a total of ~15 months in Iraq. I saw him last for two (very short) weeks in May 2007. I cannot tell you how excited I was in this picture below. I was so anxious, nervous, excited, and everything in between that I could hardly stand it. I've never felt so much at once. And the welcome home ceremony...oh my...extremely emotional for me! I had some really great friends of ours take pictures and a video. I'm so thankful for them doing this for us. If it wasn't for Joe and his video zooming skills, I don't think I would have found my husband in the sea of uniformed soldiers. Thanks Joe!

So anyway...here's how that morning played out.




This is Joe and Robyn Mroszczyk...my videographer and photographer! They also helped calm me down a bit ;)



This is Karissa Dolan my other photographer. Her husband, John, came in a couple days before Stoney and I took pictures for them.





Soooooo happy!!!



So the street is blocked off, the buses are announced, and they come around the corner...


...all the soldiers get off the buses, but they are behind the buses so no one can see them yet. Then the buses (in the picture above) pull away and the soldiers march onto the field (below).


So this is when I start freaking out because I can't find Stoney...but then Joe saves the day!


Then the General says a little something...(he seriously says just a little, otherwise he might have some really unhappy, impatient family members)...and then he releases the soldiers AND the families.









YAY!!!





I cannot tell you how thankful I am for having my husband back home. I thank God for bringing him back home safely from his tour in Iraq. It was a really, really long 15 months. I know that we have both grown so much through this time away from each other. Having been married for only four months before the deployment it's like we're newly weds again (or still...I'm not sure).

After my foot surgery, prepping for Stoney's return home, and now just being able to enjoy him being home, I haven't scheduled much in the way of photo sessions. We've been having a great time catching up on lost time away from each other. We are visiting family this weekend and will be going to Paris and Rome in February! There are so many great things going on right now! I will keep everyone updated.

Keep checking http://www.alisonportisphotography.com/ because I have a new website that will be launching by the end of the week! Yay!