Looking forward to 2009

Dear Bloggers,

It was not that long ago that I was begging my friends, "Please let me borrow your family for a portrait session?" I would say, "I need to photograph other people because my kids are getting tired of me chasing them with the camera." Little did I know that my hobby would turn into a photo business.

2008 was my first full year as a professional photographer, and I couldn't be happier. As I look back on how much I have grown and what I have learned, I am so thankful for all my experiences. I am thankful for our loving God, and how he has led me to capture his little blessings in this world (both with and without the camera).

I appreciate everyone who has been in my life this year... God, my family, my friends, the MWR crew, ladies at the IBC, ladies in my belly dancing troop, my neighbors, and all my clients. I have met so many wonderful families who have amazing stories. I am so honored to have been a small part of your lives. Thank you for sharing yourself and your families with me.

I look forward to seeing you again next year. May you all find happiness and good health in the New Year.

Many Blessings,
Leslie Cervantez

One of my favorite images from last year. Painter in Paris

Day after Christmas

OK. I know that I have been slacking on updating my kid's portraits. Here are some shots that I took the day after Christmas. Enjoy, and we miss everyone back home!

Santa's Visit

Yes, that's right. Santa came to our house this Christmas. He ate all the cookies, drank the milk, and also left us a note. Even the reindeer drank the water we left outside for them. This was a great Christmas!

Cookies for Christmas

This was the first time we made cookies from scratch. And it was harder than I thought. We ended up spending hours in the kitchen, and making a huge mess. I think we threw away two batches of batter because we did not follow directions. And we threw away one batch of cookies because the batter was not mixed right. When I pulled that batch out of the oven, it did not have that sweet cookie smell. But it did smell like baked flour. Yummy!?!

After almost half a day, we found a groove and stuck with it. We ended up decorating the cookies around 11:30 at night. Which is a shame because we started the entire process around 1:00 in the afternoon. Talk about exhausting. Betty Crocker and Pillsbury, I do not take you for granted anymore. I will gladly pay for a tube of cookie mix.

One on my favorite parts was when the boys softened the butter for us. That was funny. (See above image.) We did not have to wait too long for that! Also, another cute thing in the picture is in the last photo. You can see "S" eating his cookies. He decorated about 6 cookies, but only gave 2 back.

Ice Cream

A few weeks ago, my daughter received a pottery wheel for her birthday. It is really fun to use... and messy. One of my sons, J, wanted to create a little something. So I started to shape a bowl for him. And to our surprise, he really picked up on the technique...



...for a little while. Then he got tired and did his own thing.




When he was done, we asked him what he made. He said, "Ice Cream".

It's a boy...

Hello again blogger friends. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I have been so caught up in the holidays and my family that my work fell slightly behind. I have finally finished this wonderful maternity session from two weeks ago. "S" Family, sorry it took a while to post these. I had a difficult time choosing the best images from your session. There were so many great shots here that I could not narrow them down. There is so much love and character in your images and I am so glad that I was able to be a part of that. I LOVE your maternity portraits in front of the windows, they are simply gorgeous. You go girl ;)

I can't wait for your newborn session!

Fun Family Session

Thank you, C Family for such a fun session. I felt so comfortable with you guys! I would have to say that the funniest moment was trying to get a smile without the Nintendo DS in the shot. But we made it work. Who knew that a DS could bring such a great smile on a kid's face (during portraits). I think I will have to invest in one for the shop ; ) Enjoy your portraits and I will see you around.

Feel free to leave a comment. I love hearing from you...

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Since today was only 30 degrees outside, I decided to take the kids out for some fun in the snow. They had a blast and did not want to go back inside. My daughter kept rolling in the snow and my twins were determined to pull the sled across the field. I have never seen snow covered apples before. That was neat to see. Also, my daughter took a picture of me. I thought it would be fun to throw snow up in the air. She thought it was funny when it hit me in the head.

When the sun comes out, I would love to do more sessions in the snow. We were outside for a little over an hour and it was perfect timing to get some cool shots. If you are looking for a fun and different session, bundle up and let's head outside!

Stay warm...

And yes, by the way I cut my hair. (over a foot and a half)!

The Sweetest Thing

Thank you B Family for sharing your brand new baby with me. It was such a pleasure meeting and getting to know you. You have a precious baby and he is a joy to be around. I am pretty sure that by the time you see this BLOG, he will have gained weight and looks older. In this early stage of life, they grow and change so fast. He is simply adorable.

Feel free to leave comments.

Until next time...

Sweet Baby

To the sweet family that I photographed last weekend. Thank you for sharing your beautiful baby with me.

Operation Love Reunited

I am proud to announce that I have joined this amazing organization. It is a small way for me to give back to our service members and their families. Please visit their website to see how photographers have come together to serve our military back at home and overseas. It will touch your heart.

I will be accepting sessions soon. Please call for more information.

Ready for my close-up!

Isn't he adorable? I just had to share this one. I will be posting more images from this session soon.

Till next time...

Cute & Curious

Hello again bloggers. I am uploading a session from last week. Those of you who live in Stuttgart have seen the beginning of winter. The ground is lightly covered in snow and it is very cold outside. Under these conditions, we went out on a photo shoot and it was awesome. We did not stay outside for very long because it was cold. The sun was shining and the light was wonderful. They wore cute hats and scarfs to bring color to their portraits. It was so much fun. Their son was so curious about everything and he had so much fun outside. He was exploring around the park, looking at the plants and running in the snow. He did not want to leave the park, but we had to because everyone had frozen fingers and red noses. :)

until next time...

A Winter Rose

I am dedicating this post to all the military spouses of deployed soldiers. In the middle of one of my sessions, this lovely woman spotted a rose. It was the only rose amongst many tangled bare branches. She said, "This rose is beautiful. She is all alone in the cold and she is standing strong." When she spoke those words, I immediately thought of her, my freinds, and the thousands of military spouses standing strong during hard times and deployments. Ladies, you are like this rose holding it all together while waiting for your loved one. And I bet in his eyes and heart, you are the rose he is waiting to come home to!

Signing out...

Sk8ter Boyz

A great way to personalize your portrait session is to bring something that you love doing. These handsome brothers are into skateboarding and they were really good at it. I was photographing their stunts as well as using the skateboard as a prop. They really started warming up to the camera when I showed them their "action shots" on the board. Thank you boys for showing me some stunts. OK, OK, I know it wasn't a stunt... I tried to use the skateboard as a stool while I was photographing, and I almost fell off. That was my big stunt for the day ;)

Enjoy your portraits...

All For You

Hey bloggers, it's me again. I have been so busy with work that it took me a little while to post these images from last weekend. I met such a sweet family with a beautiful baby girl. I'm telling you, she is a Gerber baby model. She was so active and curious about her surroundings. She was looking everywhere with her big blue eyes. "A" Family, thank you for sharing your family with me. It was so nice spending time with you all, especially since we had those nice breaks in between. ;) The day was all about baby H. and we wouldn't of had it any other way. I hope you enjoy this sneak peak from your session.

signing out..

Baby of Mine

Hello bloggers, I am posting a maternity session from this week. I love the interaction between this couple, so calm and soft spoken. There was so much celebration and love for their baby between the two of them, and it was nice to be around. It was cold outside that day, but they handled it nicely. And when the sun went away, it really got chilly. We shot where we needed to outside and then headed indoors for more portraits. It was such a pleasure meeting you J. And M, I wish you the best of luck. My prayers are with you and your new family.

I have some exciting sessions coming up this weekend. Stay posted.

Until next time...

Vineyards

The thing I love about Germany is that it is so green. When I moved here from Texas, I said "Wow, the plants actually look happy here." So what could be the downside to that? Rain! This wonderful family session was planned on a nice cloudy day. But for those of us who have lived in Germany know how unpredictable the weather is. It was raining off and on that day. It seemed that every time we thought it had stopped, and after we got all the kids downstairs, it would start raining again. (That happened twice.) So we all hiked back upstairs to wait the rain out. Later that day... We did eventually have a break and we visited the nearby vineyards. I LOVE it there! So many colors and the rows of grapevines are simply beautiful. Not to mention the top view of Stuttgart. I have found a new place to photograph. M family, you guys were such great sports that day. I loved spending time with you all. I am so glad that we finally got together again. I hope you enjoy your portraits. It was such a joy photographing the wonderful blessing in your life... your family.