We are so excited to announce the newest addition to the Tracy Autem & Lightly Photography Family. Gideon Matthew was born October 13 at 8:02 am . He weighed 9lbs and 3 oz and is 20.5 inches. I was so blessed to be there when Tracy and her husband got to hold their precious baby boy for the very first time and I wanted to share some of those images. Of course I couldn’t help but cry as I experienced their joy with them. We all truly are a family.

Sarah Rizy

I am just a handful of weeks away now from my first baby being born and last week my associate Sarah Bunyard headed out to play with me. I love being behind the camera but being in front of it is always a great experience as it helps me to understand my clients insecurities, quirks and sometimes strange conversations with their loved ones. Very few people are naturally comfortable with a lens pointed their direction but my husband, J.W., and I had a great time laughing, being silly and of course intimate and close to one another.

We brought props like balloons, a few outfits and checked out a location I have been dying to shoot in….a laundry mat! It was awesome and I am excited to share some of my belly shots with my amazing clients. I will be on maternity leave from shooting from Nov 14 until the new year but of course will still be available for meetings, emails and phone calls. Little Alexander Wayne Autem is due the beggining of December and the bith is being captured by a good friend of mine so Sarah Rizy will make sure and post some newborn photos as soon as he arrives. Enjoy!

Trevor and Amanda decided to do something a little different and had what we photographers call a “first look”. They were able to see each other before the ceremony which made the day a lot less stressful and allowed for tons of pictures of the two of them. We escaped for a while to an abandoned house that we found down the beaten path. It was definitely a great opportunity to get to know them.
Here are a few of my favorites.

Wow. What a great day today was. I am blessed to do what I love for a living but today I picked up the camera for myself and hit the road. My family lives out in West Texas near San Angelo and over the last 10 years I have been driving past things that were begging to be photographed. This morning I headed out on my own and made a 4 hour drive a 6 hour drive as I stopped and photographed some dilapidated old buildings. Here are some of my favorite shots from my road trip from old barns, an abandoned church and a few homes.

In addition these photos are featuring my new logo for Tracy Autem Photography. My new line will focus on my wedding and personal work. Lightly Photography will continue as my portrait line and weddings by my fabulous associate team. Please see more about the new line at tracyautem.com.

I will be on my way home in the morning and plan to shoot some more and can’t wait!

I can not believe that November is next week and before you know it we will be celebrating the holidays. With everything going on in the news, the election and whatever else is going on in your life it is easy to forget about the little things.

I have always loved giving, it warms my heart to see someone else’s needs met. This is something easy to do that my church put out this week and me and my husband will be doing.  This is a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse an organization who touches lives all over the world. For more information go HERE.

We plan on doing at least 2 boxes (one girl and one boy!) and I wanted to put the challenge out to you! If you do it let me know, take a photo and send it my way. You never know how your good deed may be rewarded.

If you have called the studio or emailed this week chances are it took awhile for Tracy to get back with you. Why? Tracy was hanging out at the studio all week with 7 other fabulous women photographers for a business boot camp. We all asked ourselves questions about our goals for ourselves and our business as well and making some choices to make us successful no matter what the economy does in the coming year.

Friday they all went out and shot some head shots of each other and this group photo. It was a blessing to have all these women at my place for 3 days and I can’t wait to start making changes in my business and personal life. Personally I hope to paint some walls at my house! If I can actually get it going I’ll post some updates in the coming months.

If you did call you may have spoken to Tiffeny the new studio assistant, more about her later as well as her wedding since it is only 1 week away!

I am so excited to be home and even more to be married! JW and I had a wonderful trip to the US Virgin Islands and a even better wedding! My fabulous photographers, Cristina & Vanessa, are going to be sending some pictures my way to share later this week but I thought I would go ahead and share at least a few snapshots.

We stayed at a private villa on St John and the privacy was so perfect. We spent most nights in and cooked on the grill and sat on the balcony taking in the amazing views. The best way to see the island is by 4 wheel drive…trust me you need the 4wd! We spent every day exploring a new beach and just reading and relaxing. We did take a day trip to Virgin Gorda, a British Virgin Island, to see the world famous Baths.

All these photos were taken with my new point and shoot camera, the Olympus Stylus 1030SW. There in lies my tip for the week because this camera went everywhere and stood up to it all. It is completely waterproof up to 30 ft (just don’t open the battery door) and does great in the water, being dropped down a hill side and has great pre-set options for landscapes and sunsets. Every passer by that we handed it to to snap a quick picture did great and it even has a easy to use timer feature so you can set it on a rock or table and pose away. Best of all it has 10.1 megapixels so image quality won’t be a problem.

Us at Annaberg Ruins where we got married….don’t worry this was a different day. We didn’t sport this fabulous outfits for our wedding vows!

See under water! Look at the turtle I saw!

Professional pictures coming soon and a few from myself! I shot a fun trash the dress session on the beach in St John and I can’t wait to share it!