Rachel Austin Photography: Drumroll please....

So my guest panel and I couldn't just choose one winner for the Senior Portrait giveaway! I finally have spoken with both girls and can now introduce you to them! They both just sound like absolute dolls and I can't wait for their sessions!!

First Prize Winner, nominated by HollyAnn Petree - Julie B.

Julie is a senior at MCA..and sounds like a busy little bee with a servant heart! She helps teach a class of 7th graders, sings on various praise teams, is an AWANA leader, involved in her youth group at Midland Bible Church and has been on mission trips to Uganda. She loves spending time with her family, friends and taking road trips!

2nd place (nominated by Kaylea Killam) - Alyssa H.

Alyssa is a senior at Midland Christian who is fascinated with photography and enjoys being on the yearbook staff because she said it's taught her that she's a lot more creative than she thought she was! She is adopted and tries to make at least one person smile or laugh every day. Alyssa loves her family and loves helping others!

Hurry up February! I can't wait to spend time with these inspiring girls!

Here's some favorites from recent shoots since I blogged last :) (I really wish I could share with you pics from a sweet session I was honored to do with a Senior living at High Sky Children's Ranch.. since I can't b/c of protective reasons, here's one of my precious friend Sarah, who is one of the honorable people who work there, who sweetly chased Sawyer around that day so we could ensure that the girl got some Senior pics before she had to move the next day!)

Need a real estate agent? Then go see one of these lovely ladies! Deborah Pierce (check out those shoes! FUN! Just like her!) at Real Estate One... And special thanks to Michael Buble for providing background music for our shoot :)

Or Amanda Siruta at Legacy! Aren't her eyes captivating?! I'm looking forward to shooting more of her and her family in December!

So who knew trying out a shoot with a fan blowing could be so fun!?! These gorgeous ladies provided an entertaining and laughter inducing day! Here's Jenna, Kayley & Bailey... all three ridiculously beautiful young ladies who are listed in my "cool chicks" list and can work the "modely-mojo" quite well! Bailey was kind enough to open her house as a test site for "Project Fan". She amazingly puts up with my requests to barge into her home ...and invite people to come barge along with me. :)

A little bit of rain didn't stop the wonderful Vines family from a fun shoot! Doesn't she just have the best smile?! And their boys were precious! Now let me just tell you.. Jimmy (the dad) should charge to give tours of his shop in the back. He could make quite a lucrative income I believe with this Man Haven of his. Men needing to feel more manly could come from miles around to be in the presence of all those tools and.. manly stuff. He built his own boat for Pete's Sake! Did you read that? HE BUILT A BOAT. Like with metal and stuff and a welder thing. And he builds cars. Or something like that. (I'm not sure what it is exaclty, but I didn't realize people could do that?? Isn't that supposed to happen in factories with robots? ) And then of course dirt bikes and every other testosterone related trinket/ tool/ i'm not sure what they were were... all in this building. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it all. :)

This was from a few weeks back, but am throwing it in here anyhow! You've heard me talk about my friends the Blackketters.. well Hilary wanted to have a shoot with her brother, Jonathan, before he left for the Air Force... such a caring relationship they all have have!

This was most definitely a fun night! The snail in the last pic was a childhood favorite of Hilary's. Jonathan, not so much.

Look at this little cherub!... Golly, it's girls like her that make me want another baby! And the mom was equally as angelic! I ended up staying and eating dinner with them after the shoot! (Don't worry Bailey, I didn't barge in and invite myself to dinner, and I didn't ask strangers to join in on the fun!) Man, I love my job!

And you'll be hearing much more about these next pics in the future, as there's some pretty exciting things on the horizon in store concerning this shoot. God has been so good and I am bursting at the seams with anticipation/ joy! But for now, I'll just let the images speak for themselves : )

Okay.. that's it for now.. I think we're all caught up. Oh! But while I still have you here.. here's two of my favorites from an old shoot of the Blackketters earlier in the year.. And I promise this will be it! The first one is one of my favoritey faves of all time.. given that Ben and Hilary's dating relationship revolved a lot around having to communicate via computer for a few years, I thought this was quite fitting for them! Get it.. U and I? :)