Ziem has been honored to shoot a number of events for the family, from the maternity, shower & newborn shoots of Olivia, sister to Jessica, and Olivia’s event design company Liv By Design Events:
The rainy weather didn’t put a damper on the perfect party details – in fact, it perfectly suited the mother & father-to-be, since it rained on their wedding day, as well as baby on board Kennedy Rayne (get it?):
The beautiful florals were provided by STEMS, delicious food – as always! – by Word of Mouth, and yummy desserts by Simon Lee.
Kennedy Rayne couldn’t have had a better or more enthusiastic sendoff. As the first grandchild for her paternal grandmother – one of Ziem’s favorites, incidentally – baby girl on board was truly showered with love. She’s soon to be in good company, too, with two girls and another due soon to family & close friends. What luck & good timing!
Ziem can’t wait to do Kennedy Rayne’s newborn photos and is just anxiously awaiting her arrival along with the Stephen-Sharratt clan. As we all know, the sleeplessness party *truly* begins when the newborn arrives! At least, given the family involved, this particular newborn party is bound to be a pretty & pretty fun one too.
Lucky Ziem got to sub in for Cindy & Scott’s original photographer, who had since gone out of business. Not only did Ziem appreciate working with Cindy, the kindest, hardest working woman she’s had the pleasure of working with for almost half a decade, but she also loved seeing the incredibly creative, luxurious little details Cindy dreamed up – and it’s all about the details, isn’t it? Take the guest entertainment at the reception, for example, which included a stunning ice sculpture, casino tables, flash tattoos, an interactive photo/video booth with festive props, and – Ziem’s personal favorite – a “typewriter rodeo“, complete with poets who churned out personalized poems on the spot using oh-so-Austin vintage typewriters:
Cindy & Scott put the same attention to detail into the food, and the results were equally spectacular – again! Guests enjoyed food stations featuring Peking duck bun, fancy mac & cheese, Texas-inspired soba noodles & a taco bar. It all culminated in a cupcake bar, much like I imagine Heaven does:
Dysfunksun Junkshun kept guests shake shake shaking off all that cupcake bar goodness.
Notable guests for the night were the bridal party and Ziem’s past client and friend, the de Waals, who made a quick appearance to congratulate the amazing couple after her husband pulled a 24-hr ER shift. Obviously, it was a party no one wanted to miss!
Just to put the icing on the (cup-)cake, guests encountered a delicious surprise when the valets returned their respective cars – two macarons in a darling gift box.
Congratulations to Cindy & Scott on scoring a perfect 10 anniversary party – here’s to many more happy years *and* another killer party in 10!
** Special promotion to new and old clients, mention #EatDrinkStillMarried when booking and receive 10% off. Sessions must happen before June 1, 2015 **
Thanks to all the wonderful families, couples, and clients who allow me to continue doing what I love.
I hope your tummies and hearts are full.
Between the meal prep and the in-coming in-laws and the school breaks, it’s easy to feel the true meaning of Thanksgiving is getting lost somewhere, maybe wherever the top-secret family stuffing recipe is hiding (WHERE did I leave that???). Those of us with kids may – ok, do - struggle with how to teach our children the true reason for the Thanksgiving season #heyitrhymes.
Thankfully our trusty photographer-in-chief Ziem is coming to our Thanksgiving rescue this year with a craft trifecta. It’s easy, it’s FREE, and it will keep your littles entertained creating a family heirloom while you’re arguing with Aunt Myrtle over who correctly remembers the stuffing recipe. Again.
How beautiful and beautifully simple is that?
Ziem, being the overachiever she is – and a mom who knows that little attention spans may need more than one craft to last ’til turkey time – also whipped up these gorgeous Thanksgiving cards, where each family member can note their gratitude (particularly if said family member can remember where the stuffing recipe is, ahem.) These have so many fun possibilities – set them out in lieu of placecards at your Thanksgiving table & go around the table sharing what you’ve written, or simply steal a quiet moment amidst the chaos to individually record your memories. Either way it’s such a simple way to create a keepsake:
With not one but two free craft templates – again, you can download them here and here – you’ll have plenty of turkey time. OK, “plenty of time” is a foreign concept to most of us with families – how about a distraction long enough to start the stuffing search party?
Photo sessions without a child under the age of five are few and far in between so it was a welcome break from shooting while getting a full on cardio workout 
Together these two were so much fun and their energy matched my experience as a mom of two.
Loved meeting this great looking family (dog included) and I can’t wait to work with them again in the future!
I absolutely love everything about this family session, the warm colors, gorgeous Austin weather, fun day, and wonderful family.
You can’t wish for a better holiday portrait than one where fun-having is pretty evident. It wasn’t so difficult to achieve here; these two prima ballerinas who are used to being in from of my camera by now were delighted show off their dance moves! Not only was my queue to have them dance a great distraction from the real task at hand while I caught their true personalities – it also gave mom and dad (who happen to be over the top awesome with a slight aversion to being in front of the camera) all the more reason to smile and relax as I captured their individual nuances.
This is my third year to photograph this fun bunch, our California turned Texan friends who we’ve known since our older girls were infants. As always, it was such a joy and I look forward to the opportunity next year!
Hello friends! I hope you all are staying warm on this chilly Austin morning. I thought it might be fitting to share another holiday session this morning given the drop in weather temps.
When you think of photographing an infant – let’s be honest – relaxed, calm, and natural are not the first things that come to mind. But every once in a while, the perfect little baby comes along and she’ll blow you away with her full cooperation, leaving you and your assistant gushing about her for days after.
Three years ago, I met Natalie and Brian, then social worker and medical student, while shooting their engagement photos. In addition to being a great-looking pair, they were unmistakably kind and modest. I really enjoyed getting to know them in the little time we got to spend together. We did a holiday maternity session / gender announcement the following year and Liz was ever the stunning, glowing mama-t0-be. I knew she’d make an exceptionally lovely one. I had the pleasure of photographing them again recently and they came back with the same pair of red shoes used last year for the reveal except this time the shoes fit two dainty little feet!
Stay warm. Be sure to check back for more! xo
*”B2B” sounds like a boy band, but think less hair product & more excellent photography
“Belly to Birthday” includes:
* one maternity session
* one newborn session
* one half-birthday session (when kids are sitting up but usually not yet crawling)
* one first birthday “cake smash” session (before kids are old enough to run away from the camera!)
* 20% off print orders
* $100 off event add ons (for example, hospital, birthday or baptism session)
* priority scheduling for holiday mini-sessions
* complimentary registry service for friends & family to purchase Ziem Photography gift cards, including a boutique-wrapped gift card for a baby shower or baptism gift
* complimentary wardrobe & location consults with Ziem throughout
* all digital negatives on a custom USB flash drive
Ziem generously offers this package at a big – we’re talking BIG – discount to her usual rate, which leaves more money in your wallet for pesky real-life things like all of those baby diapers you might (you will) be needing. Just to show you an example of the B2B goodness, Ziem was thrilled to work with Miss Aria, a B2B “graduate”, and her family the Renterias, who were referred by a fellow graduate:
Our photographer-in-chief Ziem has loved watching Aria grow over the last twelve months & can’t wait to deliver her final assignment to the Robert and Carina, a photo book jam-packed with those precious first moments that make a mom’s heart go pitter-patter. By working with the family over the course of one year (and hopefully more), Ziem gets to know those sentimental details that help her make a photo project not just beautiful, but meaningful to the family too.
To get pricing on our Belly to Birthday plan, contact Ziem at z@ziemphotography.com. She can’t wait to document the very first steps of your future boy bander baby’s journey!
Ziem has had the privilege of shooting this family over a number of years, starting when Braylon was only two – and a towhead! He is pretty much a professional at this point. Violet took a little bit of time to warm up, but as soon as she did it was easy to get a lot of genuine giggles out of her. This adorable brother-sister duo couldn’t have been better behaved. Ice cream promises aside, they were as sweet & giggly as could be #dreamclients:
Perhaps Ziem’s favorite moment of the shoot was when Mom & Dad requested a shot of just the two of them. Z has found that giving children a break from the camera mid-shoot and briefly focusing on the parents increases the little one’s willingness to cooperate thru the end. Besides, most couples like these high school sweethearts haven’t had professional photos taken since their wedding, so it brings her great joy to be able to capture images like this and add to their amazing photos from Greece:
So grateful to the Compton family for their continued business & friendship!!
Despite some typical child challenges, including one photo-shy toddler and one napping sister, Ziem captured some beauties of the Deans & their preternaturally perfect curls.
As usual, patience was the shutterbug’s secret weapon in dealing with some wiggly wee ones. The Deans took it all in stride – is that thanks to their relaxed, fun family vibe or Mom’s training as a Pure Barre instructor?
I hear our photographer-in-chief Ziem and Mom Carrie have been strategizing for nearly a year to meet for dinner sans children. Despite the high demands of one “mompreneur” balancing work/mom life and another governing a beautiful new home with three children and a traveling husband, these two ladies are relentless in their efforts to make this happen before next year’s mini session.
Be sure to check back for more of last weekend’s mini session goodness!