La Fleur Photography

Sarah 10

2009-05-05T13:54:00.001-07:00

Sarah 10
Originally uploaded by tina.gaspard

Brandon

2009-03-31T15:15:00.000-07:00

My cousin, Christy, owns a cute little children's boutique called "Sweet Pea." If you are local, you should really stop by and visit. If you aren't local, you can just eat a pint of Ben & Jerry's and moan about how sad life is because you can't visit Sweet Pea and meet my sweet cousin.

Ben & Jerry's makes everything better. Well, Ben & Jerry's, bubbles, and/or bunnies makes everything better.

I know you think I'm rambling and none of this is connected, but you would be wrong. See, I got to meet and take pictures for this little cutie below because his mom shops at Sweet Pea. And, while he was having fun running around the park and being adorable, a bunny came out of the bushes to say hello...and we actually got a couple of pictures of that encounter. There were also bubbles involved...but that's another story for another day. In the meantime, please enjoy my latest pics, now with extra bunny.

Uptown Saturday

2009-03-28T23:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I spent part of the afternoon with friends in the part of our City called "Uptown." We also have "Downtown", "Mid-City", "The Quarter", "The Warehouse District", "Irish Bayou", "The Marigny", "The Garden District", "The 9th Ward", "The Parish" and, well...I could go on, but I won't

Note: The setting for these pics are not necessarily representative of our City. :)

Mary

2009-03-23T13:18:00.000-07:00

My friend Lisa's sister, Mary, is a Senior in high school this year. She asked me for "one good picture to send with invitations"...of course I couldn't do just one picture. So, we did a full-fledged portrait session. She. Rocked. It!

Kai

2009-03-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

I got to spend part of an afternoon in City Park with this 14 month old cutie this weekend!

Good times!

Multi-Family Photo Shoot.

2009-03-16T06:22:00.001-07:00

A couple of months ago, my old roomie asked me to do a family portrait session for her. We were finally able to make that happen this weekend, and boy was it fun! It was also such a special shoot for me. I love this family. Whether they know it or not, I consider myself an honorary member of their family. I decided this back when I lived with the eldest daughter of this fun Puerto Rican clan. So what if I dont have an ounce of hispanic blood in me and can only ask where the bathroom is in Spanish?!?!

The whole Bennazar, Miller, Creel & Brennan Clan!

Papi y Mami con Jimmy, Aggie (Nuni) & Rosa (Sita).

The boys.

The girls.

Jacob. I love this kid. He's my nephew...whether he likes it or not!

Danielle.

Peyton.

Micah.

There were some rabbits in the park. The kids loved it!

Four generations!

Three generations!

Destiny's Senior Portraits

2009-03-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

When I was in high school, we had two options for Senior portraits...the traditional black/ostrich feather drape/cap & gown thing and the totally staged and irrelevant "casuals". These usually involved a tie-dyed back drop, a ladder and gigantic numbers for the year you graduated. None of those appealed to me, so I just did the drape thing and called it a day. My hair was permed, huge and shelaqued...so I was good. Kids these days do it a bit differently, and to my mind, better. Here's one such "new fangled" senior portrait session, with narry a drape or stitch of tie dye to be seen...

The Mayeaux's

2009-03-03T10:00:00.000-08:00

Back in the day, just after I graduated from college, I...I...used to, um...wear lots of accessories. It's true. Not many people know that about me. It's hard to put something that personal, and embarrassing, out there...but there it is. I wore hats, brooches, earrings, scarves, bracelets, and rings. Sometimes, (gulp) all at the same time.

I wasn't alone. Several other women, all of whom worked with me at a discount accessory store, over-accessorized, too. One even wore wigs. But, that is another story for another day.

One of those women is now the mother of three...and virtually accessory-free in comparison to the old days. Recently, I had the pleasure of spending part of an afternoon shooting family portraits for her. Here are a few of my faves:

Mardi Gras Day Photo Shoot

2009-02-24T19:57:00.000-08:00

Today, instead of fighting traffic and crowds for beads, I spent part of the day with this adorable family. We'd been planning to do family portraits for a while, and everything finally fell into place today. It was so much fun.

On the street where I work...

2009-02-17T17:05:00.001-08:00

At work, we get a couple of 15 minute breaks a day. Most days, when it's nice anyway, I grab my camera and head out into the neighborhood, looking for things to shoot. Now, I'm very limited in the sights and objects available to me, as there is only so far I can go and get back in 15 minutes time. But...its fun to try to see what is ordinary to me in a new way.

This one...well, I just decided this cute highlighter needed to come take a walk with me, too. :)

Babysitting

2009-02-12T12:54:00.000-08:00

I love babysitting. One reason is...it's fun. Another reason is...I get to use my maternal instincts and drives and stuff. Finally, babysitting is fun because...kids love to have their picture taken!

Curtis & Christina

2009-02-08T19:29:00.000-08:00

Impromptu Photoshoot

2009-02-02T07:03:00.000-08:00

My cousin owns a children's boutique. If you're local, you should go. It's precious!
Anyway, sometimes on Fridays I stop by to visit with her. One particular Friday, my cousin had a couple of other visitors: this precious girl and her mom. Since she was full of smiles, I had my camera, and my cousin was willing to let us play dress up with a cute outfit from her store, we decided to go out back where I snapped these.

The Lincoln's

2009-01-31T05:43:00.000-08:00

This sweet family goes to my church. They just welcomed their third little one, and boy is he a cutie! He is also a very blessed little boy, because his family absolutely adores him.

Chris & Lisa

2009-01-30T17:19:00.000-08:00

When I first decided to get serious about photography, I asked some of my friends to sit for me. After much cajoling, begging, pleading and some payoff's, they agreed.

I really had to twist their arms. ;)

My first pretend clients were two of my favorite people in the whole world and one of the cutest couples you ever did see. Here are a few of my favorites from our afternoon together:

Some of my favorite kid shots...

2009-01-29T12:28:00.000-08:00

My main "subject matter" is kids. They are so fun and animated and I generally have 1-3 around me on the weekends, so that makes shooting on the go easy. Here are a few of my favorites:

Sam & Abi

2009-01-28T18:47:00.000-08:00

An amazingly talented photographer friend of mine let me tag along with her and help shoot a mutual friend's wedding. It was such a beautiful day and they are such a sweet couple. I really wanted to capture how cute and loving they are together, and how excited the groom was about finally getting his girl. I hope I accomplished that!

Giving it a go...

2009-01-28T17:53:00.000-08:00

I've always liked taking pictures, but about 6 years ago, I was given more reason to keep a camera at the ready: my first niece was born. From the instant her eyes met mine, mere minutes after she was born, I was in love, and I knew I wanted to be a part of every moment of her life. I also knew I wanted to record every moment of her life and scrap book them and e-mail photos of them to everyone I knew.

So I did.

But, one day, I took my niece and her brother and sister to the zoo and everything changed. We were walking towards the sea lion exhibit, me snapping cute pics of them along the way, when I noticed a beautiful fountain. I'd noticed the fountain before. In fact, the fountain was one of my favorite things about the zoo. The kids continued being cute, but I stopped and trained my camera on the fountain. I moved forward and backward and turned the camera just so and squatted a bit and then I snapped the picture.

And that was the moment I went from a chronic snapshotter to a photographer. Well, perhaps from a snapshotter to a person who wanted to be more.

This was the picture...

and the beginning of what is turning out to be a pretty cool adventure.

Since then, I've taken a lot of pictures, tried to learn what I can about this thing called photography and have begun building a portfolio. And now, it seems an opportune time to move this from the realm of hobby to business. I'm not generally one to take big chances, but I do love this and clients seem to be falling into my lap, so...why not, right?

Like all things in life, I'm stepping out nervously, feeling I might fail, and praying that I won't. I'm also praying God will both bless my endeavor and somehow be blessed by what I do and how I do it.

We shall see...