Andrea Bacle Photography

This darling family and I go all the way back to when our boys were 3. Their biggest and our son went to pre-k together. Mine went for one semester, because he wanted to be with his sister; when she was done, he was done. I’m hoping her future husband and kids are going to be ok with the tiny house he’ll–probably permanently–set up in their backyard. I’ve been telling him he has to move out at 18 since he was a baby (I knew he would need that much time to mentally prepare), but she hasn’t told him he can’t be figuratively attached to her hip, so I fully expect that to happen.

So the best thing to come out of pre-k? Meeting this family. Since we’ve met and I started shooting them, they have moved away and had another baby, yet we are (thankfully!) able to keep seeing each other (I don’t think I ever blogged our Austin session; here’s one from a holiday session with “snow”). This year, the gorgeous momma of (now three!) boys asked if I would come to Florida to get the family pictures on the beach she has always dreamed of. She didn’t have to ask twice.

This is technically part #1 of 2, because we did two full sessions. It was really windy and pretty chilly on the beach, so we set aside time to document the newest and littlest bro’s 3-month-ness.

Sweet family, I feel so honored to get the chance to watch your babies (and your family) grow over the years. Can’t wait for the next one! xoxo

Love, Andrea

Dear Mommas taking your families on vacay, consider calling me to shoot your vacation for you. I find that when on vacation, everyone is less stressed and the sessions are always more fun. For summer/fall 2019, I have San Antonio, Austin, Boston, and New York on the books. If I’m coming to your city, give me a shout!

Do you remember when you first found out you were gonna have a little one? Remember how fun it was to dream about what he or she would look like? I always loved to dream weave about my babies and what their personalities would be and which one of us they would act like. I’m fascinated by all those traits and genetics and personalities and nature vs. nurture–all of that.

We waited to find out the gender of both kids, so we had those conversations about “Do you think the baby will have a cleft? Do you think the baby will have blue eyes or hazel eyes?” lasted the length of my pregnancies. Once we decided we would stop at two kids, (after the feeling of carrying the baby), that whole mystery and surprise was what I would miss most.

What’s cool is that now that they are here, it still never gets old to me. I am constantly surprised how much our son is like me and our daughter is just like my husband. They aren’t mixed. I swear their DNA is not 50/50–it is 99/1.

The point of all this is that once that baby is out and your little one starts to show you his or her personality, make sure you take some pics to mark your new next step in your life: your sweet little family.

Who is this little guy? Is he a perfect mix of both parents? Is he a mini-me? If you’re trying to think of when you should schedule family pics, I suggest waiting until after 4 months. When the little person is younger than 4-ish months, we often don’t get to see as much personality as you’d want to show. That sweet little face often gets lost in mom or dad’s arms. So, if he (or she) is 4 months or older, he is often awake enough and strong enough to hold his head up high and tell us who he is! :)

Are you a new family? Do you have a little one on the way? Call me for your own session. I am mostly taking travel sessions, but I have pockets of availability for The Woodlands/Spring families.

Thank you for a fun and easy session with your sweet man. He is a doll!

xoxo, Andrea

508.768.5808 or andrea.bacle@gmail.com

I’m sure I’ve talked about it several times before, but the 6-month-sitting-up milestone really is my favorite. Before that, I always felt like they were little defenseless bugs on their backs just reaching up to the sky. Once my kids could sit up on their own, they started to feel like kids and not just little helpless babies. 

Do you recognize this sweet pose? You might spy big brother’s six-month session here. 

Is your baby on the cusp of sitting up? Call me so we can schedule at least a little mini-session to capture that moment. She will be celebrating that milestone for about, oh, 12 minutes, and then she’ll be on to the next one: total mobility. Then comes independence. Then she’s packing her bags to move out. It’s about that fast. 

Ugh. This is my favorite. I wish I had this same pic of my two babies at six months old. Such baby perfection! 

I need to make a little note for my photographers reading. How is your business going? Are you struggling with feeling overwhelmed and balancing the business parts? Are you fully booked but charging very little? Is your calendar empty and your pricing changes by the day? Girl, call me. I can help. I coach women with photography businesses. I challenged one of my recent coaching clients to earn DOUBLE what she expected to make in a quarter, and–through our phone calls, strategic marketing plan, in-person-sales lessons, and her hard work–she TRIPLED it!

Do you find yourself wanting to scream: UGH! I just want to take pictures!!

I’d love to see how I can help you stop being stressed and fall in love with your business all over again. Call me, and we’ll set up a time to have a consultation to see if we are a good fit. If you don’t call me, call someone for help. Life is too short to be stressed, lady.

xoxo, Andrea

508.768.5808 or andrea.bacle@gmail.com

Oh, my goodness. Don’t you love the little serendipitous parts of life? This gorgeous momma, Jaime, and I go all the way (way, waaaaay) back to my freshman year of college at Louisiana Tech when she was my first RA. Well, now maybe I’m thinking she was my second and Darla was my first?? What is 2019-1996? Oh, yeah. 23 years ago. It’s a little fuzzy. Anyway, I loved her then when she gave me good advice about this rando, third roomie my bestie and I had. This coo-coo crazy chick would get up early, get dressed and ready, and then sit on her bed with her hands folded and watch me get ready. Every—-single—-day. Anyway, Jaime told me to just start pulling pranks on her: shaving cream and sharpie on her face at night, put food coloring in her shampoo…totally kidding. Jaime is basically the nicest person in the history of people and would never, ever suggest any such nonsense. That’s what I told my girls to do when I was an RA, of course.

And I love her now that she and her precious family live the next neighborhood over. It’s just like old times when we were hall directors in the Adams and Aswell dorms next to each other. :)

In honor of our Louisiana backgrounds, I thought it would be perfect to find a spot with some beautiful Spanish moss (this is Burroughs Park for anyone looking for this location). 

We printed these on beautiful deep matte paper–so perfect for images with fall colors. They are gorgeous.

Thank you, thank you for the honor of shooting your family. What a treat!

Jaime, I don’t know how you’ve managed to look exactly the same 23 years later while I’ve aged two lifetimes, but you are just as beautiful on the inside and out as ever.

xoxo,

Andrea

I just checked the archives, and it’s been two years since I’ve done a blog post about headshots. What’s funny is that last post talked all about going back to school, and guess who’s in a full-time program? Isn’t it interesting how you can put things out into the universe and then they happen?? And, yes, I did just manifest a work trip to Palm Springs next month. Try it.

What’s also interesting is how many headshots I’ve been doing lately. I’ve had at least one a month for the past six months or so. When people schedule them, I like to send examples of what I like to shoot, so that’s another reason to update with a new blog post. I always love an interesting background–I think it shows more personality and seems more modern–but I will be happy to set up a solid background for you.

Of course, it really depends on your audience. I also encourage bringing a few options for wardrobe. For women, start with wearing something that 1. makes you feel beautiful 2. shows a little of your personality. If you’re super fun and colorful, choose a top that’s fun and colorful. For men, wear something that 1. makes you feel confident 2. you feel like yourself in–if you are absolutely uncomfortable in and hate wearing a suit (but need pics in one), wear a more comfortable pair of pants, so you don’t feel so unlike yourself. It will just be head and shoulders, so go ahead and wear those basketball shorts on the bottom. It will loosen you up and make you feel more relaxed. Really. Because, honestly, who really LIKES to take headshots? I haven’t found that person yet.

I also come to Galveston once a month if you’re down there:

I am busy with school and travel shoots on weekends, but I have lots of flexibility in the middle of the work days to procrastinate from writing papers to take headshots.

xoxo,

Andrea      508.768.5808 or andrea.bacle@gmail.com

PS, Go Baylor Bears! :)

I love it when clients ask me, “What do you think about doing something different for our session this year…?” I usually say yes before they finish asking. I LOVE new and fun ideas for family pics. When clients don’t have ideas, I usually start with these questions:

1. What do y’all like to do as a family?
2. What are your hobbies?
3. How do you most enjoy spending time together?
4. What are the kids into right now (that they may not in the future)?

Frollicking around a field is fun, but sometimes it’s most fun to capture the memories of what you guys like to do together. One of these days they’ll be up and out, so if you love Monopoly Mondays like we do, for example, that would be a perfect photo shoot!

So, can you tell what this family is into? We are a baseball family, too, so I love this idea.

I know how fun it is to get everyone dressed up, but how excited would all your peeps be if you told them, “Hey! Let’s wear jeans and jerseys for pics this year!”?

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know how much I love Houston and Texas, in general. Are there any cool locations I’m missing? Does your family have a favorite hangout spot? I’m pretty much always available for travel sessions if you want me to do a shoot in your favorite vacation location. My families who have had me travel to take pics for them have all loved it and especially loved not having to find a new photographer in a new location. You know me, your kids know me, everyone loves me…:) Seriously, think about it.

Sweet baseball family, I hope your Christmas cards were the winners this year!

xoxo,

Andrea     508.768.5808 or andrea.bacle@gmail.com

Speaking of love, I thought I’d dust off the cobwebs of the blog and noticed that I’ve had lots of traffic lately. So, thanks for the love and visits, despite my absence.

Let’s keep the Valentine’s Day love going with these two cuties. What would a hipster, cool chick say? Oh, yeah. Hashtag goals.

Who says valentines are just for second graders with decorated shoe boxes? Not even. When is the last time you took smoochie pics with your favorite person? Unless you’ve done a photoshoot with me, it’s probably been too long. 

This December when you realize you’ve waited too long to schedule Christmas card pictures, give me a call and we’ll do a sweet little Valentine’s Day shoot. It buys you an extra two months to get cards out! It’s fabulous…and I say this after not sending out valentines for the first time in years. St. Patrick’s Day? One of these years I’m going to be so far behind that I finally get back to sending Christmas cards in December–with pictures from the year before, of course. 

If you’re still reading and wanting new pics, here’s the sitch: I’m back in school, because you know I’m a #supernerdforlife. This is the first time I’ve been a student + mom + business owner + coach, and it’s great, but I’ve had to pull back on taking pictures. If you want a shoot, I’m happy to do it–I just need to get it on the books as soon as possible, or I’ll be writing a paper with one hand and camera in the other at your shoot.

As of right now, March and August are fully booked. I am still available for travel pics in June and July, because you know I am not EVER gonna turn down taking pics of your family on a fabulous vacay.

xoxo,

Andrea   508.768.5808 or andrea.bacle@gmail.com

It’s post-Halloween/fall/November, so you know what that means: my friends are LOSING THEIR MINDS. They love all holiday things. Me? Well, you know I’m three-quarters Grinch. So, my favorite Thanksgiving tradition? Family pics, of course!

Here’s my thought on the sitch. All these people who go bananas over the holidays have invited all of their holiday-loving friends and family into town, so I think it’s the perfect time to work. Are all your out-of-town kids in town? Call me.

Even on Thanksgiving Day. Really.

Super bonus if we do a sunset session on the beach.

This is my favorite of the whole session. Beach, cousins, pier, sun, and lots and lots of love and fun memories.  

Sweet cousins twirling on the beach at sunset? The best!

Galveston, TX, is so pretty–even after sunset. That pink sky will never get old to me. 

The funnest part about shooting a big family on the beach is when we set the littles free. Need them to perk up and smile and laugh? Have them race toward the photographer.

One of my favorite spots to shoot in Galveston is under Murdoch’s, because I love having Pleasure Pier in the background…

…and I love the look of the pier pylons. 

This last one has a cool purple sky because the sun was already down. If you like this look, we can start the session right at sunset, and we’ll have a colorful sky by the time we leave. 

And for those of you worried about me missing out on turkey and pie or my own family time? Not to worry. 1. I’m a vegetarian. 2. I treat every day like a Saturday. Really, we treat every weekend like a mini-vacation, so celebrating the holidays would just be gluttonous.

Want a shoot? Call me.

Love, Andrea

508.768.5808 or andrea.bacle@gmail.com

So, I had a lovely lady call me about doing Christmas-card pictures for her family and she said she wanted to hire me, because

“I love your humor in your blog posts, and I thought, ‘I think this girl is kind of funny.'”

Um, excuse me?! Did we just become BEST FRIENDS?!

Yup. You really get me. I’m thinking let’s just go ahead and include me in the Christmas card shot. I’ll bring a tripod.

What’s so funny is that as of November 2018, my daughter wants to be a stand-up comedienne when she grows up. Talk about trying to win over my heart (or desperately trying to win your parent’s affection). My darling, I love you already. You don’t have to get your own Netflix special to try and make me happy.

But if you get to grow up and one day host Saturday Night Live, I FULLY EXPECT to be a guest in your monologue. I don’t know, we’ll make a joke about how I’m the oldest living lady who still quotes old Will Ferrell movies, or something. Not to worry. We’ll figure it out.

Getting back on track–my point is that my 4-8ish fairly consistently loyal blog readers must get super bummed when I don’t post in a while, and I apologize.

The problem is that I’m totally out of jokes; my brain is empty. This is a sign that I have too much on my plate. I teach pre-algebra part time at our local community college, and I try to bring them back from flatlining on fractions with some silly jokes. The ones they really loved the other day were

What do you call a bunch of friends who do math together? Algebros.

What do you call a bunch of little kids who do math together? Pre-algebros.

It brought the house down.

Just kidding. Obviously. They’ve really created a little class community and have come together to give me a collective groan/eye roll combination. I’ve sort of forgotten what real laughter sounds like.

So, here’s the point and the big, big news:

I’ve been sitting on a little secret for a month. I’ve been accepted to Baylor’s Ed.D. program!! I’m over-the-moon excited.

I went to campus today to pick up my books, get my student ID, and of course……get the sweatshirt. It’s not officially official until you go to the campus bookstore and get the sweatshirt. 

So, since I have

1. momma (including maid, chef, and chauffeur services)
2. wifey (yes, he still tolerates me)
3. teacher (LSC and teaching photography/Photoshop classes)
4. photographer (still traveling and shooting regularly)
5. coach (Shoot with Passion®)
6. volunteer (Harvard interviewer and Houston fair organizer)
7. student (Baylor Bears!!)

on my plate, I have to give up something. I’m thinking that I am going to have to really scale back on taking pics in the new year. That being said, if you want pics, I am going to be a crazy person taking as many jobs as I can between now and January 1. I say it all the time, but if you want a shoot, don’t wait! Call now! Come January, I’m gonna say no, unless you have a really, really, really good story + lots of coffee to give me.

And, I know you’re wondering. Of course I went by the silos.

Love you, guys! xo

andrea.bacle@gmail.com or 508.768.5808

Sigh.

People. I’m down to one tooth.

I can hear it falling already. I can already see it. In my mind’s eye, I can visualize it falling, and I can hear the slow-motion sound of that last little tooth falling out of his head and *dink* onto the kitchen floor. That last big center tooth is the final little piece of baby-ness he has.

And it’s loose.

Sigh.

He was not happy about it, but I made him pose for me for a two-minute shoot to document this moment in time. Ok, I may have had to pull out a crude-ish, 2nd-grade-style joke or two to get a smile, but we made it happen. 

What’s your little dude’s final thing that’s baby-ish? Goodness gracious, people, get a good picture of it!

And, I know this one doesn’t even show the grin gap, but, c’mon, how could I not share this face with the world? I am guessing there is a finite time that I’m allowed to refer to him as the “most beautiful creature,” so today I will.

MOST BEAUTIFUL CREATURE:

Maybe I can talk him into wearing footie pajamas for me.

Lovely friends, starting in January 2019, I will be taking fewer and fewer sessions per month. I know everyone is about to begin the holiday frenzy, but it’s not too early to start looking at next year’s calendar if you are wanting some pics.

Of course, if there is a tooth emergency, just appeal to the heartbroken Momma in me, and I’ll be there.

Love, Andrea

andrea.bacle@gmail.com or 508.768.5808

P.S. One of the reasons I’m taking fewer photo clients is because I’m taking more coaching clients. If you are a photographer or know a photographer who needs some helping getting profitable and de-stressed, call me. I’d love to help! xoxo

https://andreabaclephotography.com/shoot-with-passion-tm/