Baby K. and her grandma!

Aren't these photos precious! Grandma has a great connection with little K. This is one (above) of my all-time favorite photos of 2006.
Thank you Misty and Barbara for such a wonderful session.
Look at that outfit! Isn't that cute! I had boys, so I get tickled when a Mom of a little girl comes in and has her 'tinkerbell' all dolled up.
This is another one of my all-time favorites!

I'll be posting more over the next week as I have time (favorites that is).

A little better

I spent some time working this over. I'm just OK with it, still not overly thrilled. I want to replace the banner at top with the photo banner you see off to the right. But I don't think the new way will let me! Meanwhile, if you want to get a better look at the new "banner" scroll to the bottom of this page!

New blogger style I hate it!

If anyone reads this and can help me please post a comment, I'll get it at my yahoo. I finally decided to make a google account to switch my blog over. Well, it wants me to create a new blog and I have no way to post to my current (this one) blog! On the new blogger style, the dashboard isn't even mine! I hate this!

My boys and my GIFT!

I love this photo - as long as I don't look at the background! It was one of those HGTV inspired moments that never got finished. Now we are thinking of sheetrock over the paneling. who knows?!

My husband did the honors of photographer. This was the only image worthy of posting. Not because he didn't take good pictures, but because I didn't like any of the others that I was in! Well, there were a few that were OK.

The other photo is the very beautiful necklace my husband had created for me. Story behind it is that I've always had the same initials, even after getting married. I've spent a few years trying to come up with a logo I liked. One night, just playing around, I used a neat font and was moving the initials around (working with it in RED) and came up with this! I wasn't going to say a word about it, because they had all been flops. But my dh saw it and immediately knew what he was going to do. He told me he'd have a necklace made, but I didn't believe him. Then my youngest son saw it and without prompting he was like, "Mom, that's bad a@@" So it must have been great!
My husband had it crafted at Eaton's Jewelry in Duncan. The photos don't do it justice. It's absolutely gorgeous. It's White gold, necklace chain also. The little H line in the middle has four diamond chips. I love it!
So, how cool is that, to have your LOGO/initials made into a one-of-a-kind creation!

Be careful on the road!

The day started rough, when a Velma-Alma school bus crashed and I headed off to cover it being the only available reporter/photographer. I thought there was a "signal 30" code for death. Boy was I relieved to arrive and find out that was not the case. All the kids went to the hospital and there were no fatalities. So I needed to go photograph something a little merrier. After getting home to Marlow, my son played chaffeur and around the south end of town we drove. Here's a few of those photos. My camera battery started going dead (the Happy Holidays snowman is a little blurry because of shutter lag). I hope to go out to the north end of town tomorrow night. And if you want to read about the accident, go to the title of this post and click for the link. OOPS- It's not posted yet! Maybe tomorrow.

The C. family Christmas session!

Here's a photo that is just awesome! Merry Christmas Laura and to all your family! Thanks for the photo shoot! It was fun! Can't wait until spring when we can head outdoors!

Oh Honey!

Somedays my photoshop program works without hesitation, then there's days like today where I just get frustrated at its slow progress. But, I managed to process 2 photos!
Here's one of my favorites! This pup, Honey, was so cute and this shot was it! I made it black and white since someone I ran into yesterday asked if I did b/w! Do I do b/w? LOL Of course! Though most everyone knows me for the poppin' color my photos exhibit!

As for the next two weeks, I'm pretty much through with holiday photos and need to spend time with my family and am committed to another job for the time being. I still haven't begun my Christmas shopping!

But start thinking ahead to January! I'll be offering my black/white special and will post prices after the holidays. There will only be a limited number of sessions available for this, so call early to book your appointment.
For those still needing to order prints from weddings or sessions, please call me right away. We can discuss it over the phone. For some reason, I posted wedding prices and while I can see them here (at my site/on my computer), they are not showing up out THERE! Not sure what's going on.
Also, seniors start booking the studio portion of your sessions NOW. We can do it during the winter months and when spring arrives, get the outdoor location session done then.

My Superhero Personality!

I love it! I'm my husband's favorite superhero!! should be spiderwoman though!

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 80% Green Lantern 70% Iron Man 70% The Flash 60% Wonder Woman 55% Hulk 55% Catwoman 55% Robin 48% Superman 45% Supergirl 45% Batman 35%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility. Your results: and my husband is the Green Lantern.. You are Green Lantern Green Lantern 85% Iron Man 85% Superman 65% Spider-Man 65% Supergirl 65% Batman 60% Hulk 60% The Flash 60% Wonder Woman 55% Robin 50% Catwoman 50% Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.

And she said ....

"I'm not a fan of chocolate!" She really did! She liked the strawberries, just didn't want the chocolate! Of course, little do six-year-olds know that is just something not to say around a group of grown women! We just all looked at each other in total disbelief! Then we laughed!

I had the photos up and for some reason when I went back, half were missing! Ah, the joys of blogging!

Blue boas, sour green apple walls and lots of fun!

Six-year-old girls know how to have fun! Of course it helps when you have your birthday party at a too cool, colorful tea room at Junk Divas!
From the moment I saw this room, I knew it would be perfect to have a mini photo session of little girls playing dress up and just being silly. Then when Laura told me she would be offering it for tea parties, no not the formal, stuffy, oops don't break the china tea party kind -- instead the let's all have fun, laugh, giggle and talk about dipping french fries in your milkshake kind, I was tickled when she invited me to crash on her first party. Catie's mom knew I was coming, so I want to say thank you for letting me photograph your daughter's party. I'm kind of partial to December birthdays since both my boys lay claim to that! Back to THE party = These little girls were very polite, knew about manners and all in all, just FUN!
Here they are at the end of the party just being silly beneath the big lighted arch in front of the "wow, pink bubble gum" wall. The next photo I 'glamoured' up for this little girl and her mom who were sitting in front of the, yup, you guessed it, "sour green apple wall." Too fun!
Hats, feather boas and lots of jewelry are elements of any fun party!
The center photos are of the birthday girl and her grandmother who stopped in to share in the fun.
And look at Catie's friends as she blows out the candles - total anticipation! Sorry that photo looks a bit dark here. It's really not. I've noticed some photos load up darker then they are. I'll get more of these up this week in my regular site at www.tonihopperphotography.com (really it's just a proofing gallery!). If you plan to have a party, seriously consider one of Laura's tea parties!
Also, I'm available to photograph birthday parties. I charge a session fee and the birthday kid gets the digital negatives (edited) and a permission to print release form.

A Christmas card and Nativity beauty

Every year, I head into the local antique malls and junk shops with my camera to capture some of the Christmas displays that shop owners have created. The images on this post are from The Painted Ladies aka Shabby Shack on Duncan's Main Street (Duncan is a Main Street community). I took the images several weeks ago, but am just now getting around to doing something with them. I hope you enjoy them. I had a heck of a time finding the right quote for the card I created, but since the images evoked a spirit of the past for me, what better than a Charles Dickens quote?

The nativity scene is probably one of my favorites. In fact, I may have to head back there this week to buy this set if it is still available.

If you ever get to Duncan, be sure to check this shop out. Linda and Donna are two incredibly talented women and the transformation process of old furniture into stylish pieces is amazing done by these two. And they always have lots of fun items to complement any home decor. They are usually just open Thursday through Saturday though they may be open on Wednesday's during the Christmas season.

While you're there, be sure to stop in next door at Junk Divas to catch more great finds and look for my Photography booth at the back of the store. You can also sneak a peek at the Tea Party room! Great fun for little girls! More on that later today!

Holiday special

This is for all of you who have waited until the last minute to have your Christmas portraits made. On Dec. 14 through 16, by appointment, I will offer this special.
I still have a few openings, and will also do evening sessions.
I also have openings from now until then, but they are limited. Call me to book your session!

You can post comments!

I've added a fun little thing to my blog - the Globe tracker. It doesn't tell me who you are, just tells me the city/state of who has visited my blog! Kinda fun to see it change. Tonight I see I've had visitors today from Dallas, Texas; Apache, OK; and even Key West, Florida! Whoohoo! What I wouldn't give to be in the warm Keys...
And I've fixed my blog now where you can post comments underneath a favorite photo or thread. They must be "nice" or I'll delete them! Also, if you are new to my blog, you can visit my archives, see the column at right for the individual months.

Laughter. Attitude. Expressions.

A big thank you to the R. family there is no doubt what team they are cheering for!
Talk about cute girls and what a beautiful family! I love this photo - just look how happy everyone is! I hope to get a chance again in the spring to photograph them outdoors where they can really have fun.
When you book a session with me, forget about stiff, posed portraits..You're not in W-mt anymore Toto! I will take some of those, but I want you to remember to have fun! Photos should reflect your personality, your love for one another!
Think - Laughter. Attitude. Expressions! You'll find those 3 little words on my new business cards. Look at M. and A. in this next photo. Talk about cute! M. doesn't look like he's being forced to hug his sister. I love that. In fact, he was ready for more photos on Sunday.

And here we have C's grandkids. I'm seeing this photo looking a little darker on my monitor then it did when I processed it. But I love the richness of the colors!

I'll post more from Saturday later as I have some extremely fun, darling photos of these kids!

And this photo reflects Miss D's beautiful personality. She is such a doll and I was happy to start my day photographing her. I've got more to share later!

Junk Diva day!

Just a quick update! I know many of you are waiting to see some of your photos online from Saturday. I'm working fast and furious to get them done..wait, I'm not furious, well, frustrated maybe!
I came home Saturday evening extremely exhausted, have no idea why! But I went to bed instead of doing anything. At 8 p.m.!
Then today I got up and started working on downloading photos to my computer. As soon as I got done with that task, I was out the door to Duncan for a family photo session. As luck has it, everyone has now realized if they don't get their portraits done in the next few days, they may be out of luck. But, I'm having so much fun so I don't mind staying busy-busy.
But as I headed home today, my husband calls to tell me transformers blew in our block. I get home and I know there were at least four that went. Kept city crews tied up for a couple hours and boy did our house get cold in that time!
By now you've figured, no electricity, no computer, therefore, I am so BEHIND!Here's a few photos from Saturday. I'll post again this evening as an update. I'm so lucky to get to photograph such beautiful families and children. Thank you to everyone who came in to Junk Divas for your Christmas photos!
If there is enough demand I may return next Saturday!