Stephanie Lopez | Photography - The Blog

Next Steps – Savannah {Central Texas Senior Photographer}

Steph (admin) — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 03:15:05 +0000

This is my cousin and one of my senior spokesmodels for 2013, Savannah. There are many things I love about her, but the things that stand out to me the most are her sense of humor, creativity, and loving nature (if not mixed occasionally with sarcastic wit). She’s an amazing girl with a great smile and infectious laugh and I always have the best time with her. While her college plans may not be set in stone as of the date of this post, one thing is certain, any school will be blessed to have her! Here are some of our favorite images from her session:

Protected: Savannah Pics

Steph (admin) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 05:04:28 +0000

Breaking Rules – Central Texas Portrait Photographer

Steph (admin) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 00:50:47 +0000

I’ve never really been a rule breaker. That’s just not my thing. I usually play it safe. Recently, I decided that I really wanted to do a session where I felt free to break a few rules here and there. I wanted to be able to shoot exactly how I wanted and edit how I wanted. I am thankful that Gabrielle, my lovely model for this session, was up for whatever I had in mind. Now, I know I’m not reinventing the wheel with this session or anything, but stylistically this is much more ME and you’re going to see a lot more of this kind of thing from me moving forward. I’m having fun! I’m falling in love with photography all over again. I’m still learning to step outside of what I’m comfortable with and this is a step in the right direction. I have a TON of work left to do, ideas that I want to see come to life, and the passion to make it happen. These are a few favorites:

You Are Beautiful!!

Steph (admin) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 02:43:12 +0000

When I was in high school I struggled with self esteem issues. Big time. I felt weird in my own skin and not very pretty. I was tired a lot and even a little depressed. I know, I know, this is sounding like the saddest blog post ever, but all that brings me to this: There was a girl named Rachael who I befriended through theater at Temple High. She was genuinely beautiful and so encouraging. I had confided in her about how I felt and she, being a cross-country runner, showed me some exercises that I could do to help give me energy and help me get fit. I was never incredibly thin, but I was able to lose some of the weight with her help. Why is this important? Because another girl took the time to listen to me, to not judge me, and to help me as best she knew how. I have NEVER forgotten the love and support she showed me or all of the encouraging words she gave me along the way. I’m sure I never will.

Earlier this year I really felt the need to go a little deeper with my photography work and through prayer I knew it needed to be something along the lines of girls encouraging other girls, but I didn’t know how to get started with it until recently. I am sure this will evolve into something bigger over time and I believe with all of my heart that God will put the right people across my path that have a similar vision to empower girls in our local area. For now, I will ask of any girls I photograph (tweens and teens), that they create a sign with words of love and encouragement for their peers. It’s a small step, but one in the right direction.

Tonight, my sweet friend Denise allowed me to photograph her daughter Skylar as a first step in what I’m hoping will be uplifting to others. We did not have ideal lighting tonight. Seriously, we pulled up to the shoot with HUGE gray clouds in the sky. Still, here is Skylar with her sign that she made just for this session. Thank you, Skylar and Denise!!

Shooting for Fun | Personal

Steph (admin) — Tue, 22 May 2012 03:05:08 +0000

My house has always been full of notebooks, magazines, and journals that I use as idea books. I’ve been collecting images that I love out of magazines for a long time so I’m sure you can imagine how happy I am that something as wonderful as Pinterest has come along. Now that I can pin everything on Pinterest it saves space on our bookshelves. Each time I pin an image or see something that inspires me I immediately start thinking of how I can translate what I’ve seen into my photography. This was a session that I’ve talked about for a couple of weeks with the lovely model, Gabrielle. The goal of the shoot was to take more editorial/magazine worthy images. I am working on all of the photos now, but this is the first shot from our session. I think she looks amazing and I’m excited to share more with you guys soon!

Sophie | Whole Lotta Cuteness Goin’ On!!

Steph (admin) — Thu, 03 May 2012 00:27:09 +0000

Seriously?! The cuteness factor of Sophie is off the charts! She is soooo precious and has the sweetest disposition. I LOVED working with her and her gorgeous mom, Jennifer. I was honored to photograph Jennifer and her hubby Brad at their wedding a couple of years ago and now am blessed to have been able to work with them a second time. They are proud parents of this adorable little one. Let me just tell you – one of the best parts about being a photograher is the people you meet along the way. I love my job! Special thanks to my aunt Jen for allowing us to use her fantastic chaise lounge for this session and extra thanks to Jen’s hubby, Brad. Thank you for your service to our country! May God bless you and your precious family!

Oh my goodness that smile!!

Jennifer came to this shoot fully prepared with props and all. Everything she chose looked amazing!!

I love this shot!!! She looks like she’s doing the robot. (and much better than I do, I might add).

Eli | Westphalia, TX Senior Photographer

Steph (admin) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:10:04 +0000

This year I’ve had a chance to photograph some fantastic guys! Seniors guys are so much fun! They never really know what to expect and always start off a little quiet, but by the time our shoot is over I’m always stunned at how natural they are in front of a camera. Eli was no exception. He was polite, fun and full of amazing smiles. Here are some of my favorite images from our session. Here’s proof that senior girls are not the only ones that can absolutely rock a senior photo shoot!

Adam | Belton, TX Senior Photographer

Steph (admin) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 23:03:43 +0000

Simply put, Adam is a great guy. He is talented, handsome, and very funny. I met him and his mother a few years ago through friends of mine. This is a wonderful family and I’m so blessed to know them. Let me just tell you – Adam is an amazing pianist! Seriously, the amount of talent he has on that instrument and the passion that he plays with are inspiring. I am so glad to have had the opportunity to be a part of his senior year. To Adam and Yvonne: Thank you so much! You guys are so special to me!!

Identity Crisis {Designing a Logo}

Steph (admin) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:35:25 +0000

Jesse and I are always checking out logos, fonts, card stock, etc when we are out and about. It’s something we’ve done since we first got together. We are both obsessed with design. Specifically graphic design. My logo has changed a lot over the years. I would like to say that it changed out of necessity, but the honest answer was that I never truly sat down to think about what I wanted my logo to say about me as an artist. I’ve spent several years developing a photography style that I’m really pleased with, but only recently have I started focusing on the importance of my logo.

I’m sharing a few photos here to show you how my logo has evolved over the years and how I ended up with the one that I’m unveiling today. After trying out several different looks for the new logo I kept feeling like they were lacking and I couldn’t really put my finger on it. As a photographer, I gravitate towards bold colors and gritty textures, but I also love a gorgeous sunflare and a soft tone to an image. My own personality is a little quirky. I don’t take myself too seriously, but I am very serious about my work. I needed my logo to represent that and I really think it does. I hope you like it, too!

Here are a few logos I’ve used over the years:

Cooper & Company logo. Jesse designed this logo for them. I thought it was very fitting for wedding photography.

Jesse and I were shooting together a lot at this point in time. He assists me now, but he has moved on to do his freelance graphic design work.

This was getting closer to what I wanted. I liked the clean lines of the font. It's very much my design aesthetic, but it still wasn't what I needed it to be. There was nothing about this logo to show the softer side of my work.

HERE IT IS!!! The new logo...I am really happy with this! I hope you like it, too! The font with my name is very soft and similar to my own handwriting. The font I used for "photography" is one of my favorite bold fonts. I was designing a graduation invitation using the script font and realized how much I liked it. After discussing my style and what I really wanted in a logo with Jesse, he helped me come up with this. I'm really pleased with it and I'm glad to finally have a logo that suits my work AND my personality.

Inspiration: Lens Flare

Steph (admin) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 03:24:10 +0000

Jesse and I are currently in the moving process. Yuck! I have a love/hate relationship with moving. It’s mainly the packing things up and lifting heavy boxes part that falls under the “hate” category. Once we are moved, that’s when it gets really fun for me and I head into the “love” zone of the process. I’m excited about painting our new living room and FINALLY putting our artwork on the walls. I’ve had an idea for a large art/photo wall for a long time so I’m looking forward to making that happen.

I’ve been looking online, in magazines, and on Pinterest for decorating ideas. This is something I have always done with photography as well. I find inspiration from fashion, graphic design, and definitely through magazines. This is how I discovered lens flare. Before I knew what a lens flare was I had already ripped several images out of my magazines that looked dreamy and soft because of the gorgeous light. One of the first things I learned about photography was how to keep from getting a glare from the sun so I find it ironic that now I’m trying to learn how to break that rule. I can’t help it. I love the way it looks in the right photo. Here are some favorites.

(Clockwise: Goldfrapp album cover – love the warmth of this image, Robert Pattison and Kristen Stewart – it’s very natural and beautiful, Pride and Predjudice still shot – one of my favorite movies of all time, and Zooey Deschanel – love her quirky sense of style)

Some of my personal favorite images from the past year (and then I couldn’t help it – one from even further back) include a lens flare. I just wanted to share these with you guys to see how I incorporate things that inspire me into my own work. Here are a few favorites. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed putting them (and a few thoughts) together for this post.