Alyse French Photography | Houston-Based Wedding and Lifestyle Photographer

I first met Alicia shortly after moving to Houston. We met over Starbucks coffee and cocoa for her mentor session, and became quick friends. The year and a half since then have been spent shooting her new headshots, having Alicia and her awesome hubby Blair over for dinner (remember our griddle thief?), and cutting all of my fingers open with crawfish exoskeleton at one of the Pyne’s annual crawfish broils. It’s always a fun new experience with those Pyne’s. :)

Over lunch a few months back, Alicia asked if I’d be interested in photographing her twin babies immediately after their birth, as well as the hours leading up to and after it. She and Blair were scheduled for a C-section on February 27th, but on one early Thursday, February 9th, I found myself cruising down 45 with a new type of nervousness and excitement. Alicia’s contractions had started early. And it was time for some babies to be born!!

The following images are something very new to me. I’m not a birth photographer. Nor am I a baby photographer. But I am SO humbled and honored to have played a role in such an amazing day for Alicia and Blair. And of course, little Raylee and baby Blair too. I hope you enjoy their story…

Daddy Blair and his father-in-law, touching base before going into surgery. It was a long wait. But so exciting. Alicia’s grandparents, and one of the sweetest and most kind women I’ve ever met, Alicia’s momma. :) After an hour or so, Blair came back to show us new pics of his twins!
And then made some obligatory calls concerning their weight, height, amount of hair… You know the drill. ;) I was unable to photograph Alicia due to recovery, but was the very first to be brought back inside the NICU. Baby feet!! Oh, I LOVE THEM. Meet baby Blair. He’s now almost two weeks old and doing GREAT. And baby Raylee. She has the most theatrical faces and yawns!

Yay for checking another goal off of my 101 in 1001 list! Happy Wednesday. :)

Oh lists… I just love them. ESPECIALLY lists of goals. Something about writing them down makes me feel like they’ll actually happen. You know? I do believe there is some sort of science behind it. :) And with that? I must tell you!! I fiiinally got “a freaking iPhone already.” Consider number three on my 101 in 1001 checked OFFFFF, yo. Gone are the days of my horrendous Blackberry and $14 Tracfone. HERE are the days of Instagram (see below) and Temple Run!

So, iPhone experts… Would you please share with me your favorite apps of all time? Besides those mentioned above, along with YouVersion and Pinterest.. Which have taken over my life in the very best way. Ready, set, TELL ME WHACHYOO GOT in the comment section… :)

Oh! And follow me on Instagram @alysefrench! :)

Hi friends! As I’ve been over-excitedly hinting at these past few weeks with the newness of 2012 upon us, I’ve just now drafted a brand new 101 in 1001. AKA, 101 goals I hope to accomplish in the next 1001 days! My first and most recent list was created back in March 2010, and although I fulfilled about a quarter of those goals, about 75% of them became tasks I either wasn’t at all passionate about any longer or things that just didn’t seem achievable within the given timeframe. So! I’ve decided to create a list of goals that are much more specific, measurable, and reasonable! Because let’s face it.. I was never going to “go on a hike” or “join a book club.” I mean, f’real… And just a fun little note about this list. You just might call it my “To Do Before Having Babies” list. Because so long as things go according to our plan, that is exactly how the timing would work out! BAYUM. Let’s do this thang!!

OH! And before you read on and see that I’ve only written 75 goals… Be aware that I’ve given myself the permission to re-evaluate this list on a regular basis. Adding to and taking away from it as I feel necessary! Otherwise, I’d probably try filling the gap with “capture and befriend a pet squirrel.” Just to push it to 101. And that’s just silly! So, here we go, Internet! Here are the goals I hope to achieve by October 16, 2014!! Let me know what you think!!

1. Change my name (I’m slow when it comes to these things!)
2. Start keeping a journal
3. Get a freaking iPhone already (Completed 2/5/12)
4. Buy our first home
5. Get a sectional sofa that’s more conducive to cuddling
6. Find fun ways to display personal photos in our home and then DO it
7. Purge our home of unnecessary clutter on a regular basis (AKA, live SIMPLY!)
8. Create a legit cleaning schedule and try to stick to it
9. Make a habit of doing my laundry on a regular basis (I work from home, okay?)
10. Complete five DIY projects for our home
11. Give only handmade gifts for either Christmas 2012 or Christmas 2013
12. Learn to knit
13. Send out our raw wedding day images for editing by Colorati
14. Design and order our wedding album
15. Give wedding albums to both sets of parents
16. Do something nice for someone anonymously
17. Randomly send someone some small item they mention wanting
18. Mail someone a card and small gift to encourage them in some random way
19. Read through the whole Bible
20. Learn to keep Sundays as a day of rest
21. Literally count my blessings
22. Read five new books (AKA, try to love reading)
23. Cook through one full Barefoot Contessa cookbook
24. Make a habit of cooking more homemade meals for my husband
25. Make a legit wedding-worthy cake of fanciness
26. Hold a Martha Stewart-like dinner party for a small group of close friends
27. Enroll Sully in obedience school
28. Get Sully to let me cut his nails (it’s a nightmare!)
29. Get a second bulldog and name it Windsor
30. Take a stay-cation
31. Visit Europe (namely, Ireland and Denmark)
32. Visit Seattle (I’ve always, always wanted to!)
33. Go back to NYC for a weekend
34. See Newsies on Broadway
35. Be in a wedding (!!)
36. Throw one kick-butt bridal shower
37. Photograph one of my dear friends’ delivery of twins (Completed 2/9/12)
38. Take a martial arts or self-defense course
39. Become CPR certified
40. Try out a yoga/zumba class
41. Reach and maintain goal weight of 1_5 pounds (Like I’d really let that cat out of the bag!) :)
42. Make a habit of drinking more water every day
43. Make a habit of taking my vitamins every day
44. Make a habit of exercising three days a week
45. Grow out my hair as long as it once was and DO NOT CUT IT (only trim)
46. Schedule a massage to enjoy after a particularly hard-on-my-back wedding
47. Be better at keeping a schedule like someone who DOESN’T work from home (AKA, showering in the morning, getting dressed in real clothes, etc.)
48. Force myself to work outside of our home semi-regularly
49. Get updated head shots now that I’m 20 pounds lighter and my hair is longer
50. Shoot an updated promo video
51. Give away one free session on the blog (through a specific selection process)
52. Conceptualize three shoots, have them styled by local vendors, and shoot them
53. Improve (AKA, finish) killer product packaging
54. Develop after-booking gifts/client kits
55. Purchase canvas gallery wraps for our office space
56. Double AFP’s profitability by at least 50%
57. Increase Twitter followers to 1000
58. Increase Facebook followers to 3000
59. Increase Google Reader subscribers to 300
60. Institute three new blog categories
61. Purchase 27” iMac for in-office work
62. Upgrade one of our Nikon D700’s to a Nikon D4
63. Begin using ShootQ
64. Implement the Git Kit
65. Take a seminar on time-management (Completed 2/12)
66. Institute an internship program
67. Start Alyse French Photography/Windsor Collective workshops
68. Revamp my album ordering process (possible outsourcing)
69. Order new sample wedding albums
70. Create a “for photographers” page for our website
71. Create a “press” page for our website
72. Learn to shoot landscape orientation with more intentionality and creativity
73. Experiment with film photography
74. Blog about the majority of these goals as they are accomplished
75. Routinely evaluate the goals on this list and write down new ones (AKA, goals 76 through 101) ;)

SOME UPDATED ADDITIONAL GOALS (in no particular order)…

76. Be selected as a Little Black Book vendor for Style Me Pretty
77. Create a new pricing PDF to send to potential clients
78. Snazzy-up the blog a bit
79. Complete the CLEAN Program

To be continued…

Now feel free to share some of YOUR goals below!! Happy 101′ing!!