Lavender Love

I'm not only in love with my newest clients,

Hummingbird Farms Bath and Body Collection,

but I'm crazy in love with their products, too!

Debi and Jack Williams own Humminbird Farms,

which is just outside of Johnson City, Texas, in the

bustling metropolis of Hye, population around 100.

When they first contacted me to re-do most of

the photography on their website, I took a quick trip

to survey the premises, and I immediately fell in love

with the quintessential Hill County Charm. 

I then planned two separate photo shoots,

the first would be product photography for the shopping cart,

which involved shooting inside a light cube...a first for me! 

A week later, I headed back to Hye 

to do on-location shooting of the incredible

aromatherapy bath and body products

in and around the farm itself.

The new Julia 1933 Collection

is named after Jack's beloved mother Julia,

and we shot the "Julia" photos in what was

Julia's bungalow on the farm.

The Julia products are especially soothing.

Per the website:

"Aloe-based and loaded with anti-oxidants, 

Julia 1933 Body Butter is like no other 

cream or body butter on the market. 

A unique and natural fragrant blend of rosemary, patchouli, 

and green tea with a nice little twist of lemon grass. 

This is aromatherapy at its finest, with an essential oil blend 

known for its awakening and energizing effects. 

Shea butter infused in aloe allows 

beneficial deep moisturizing for all skin types."

The Pillow Mist, shown above, is infused

with essential oil of lavender 

and has become a fast favorite of mine.

The body wash and lotion are amazing,

and I still can't get over how moisturizing

the body wash is...not to mention the fact that it doubles

as the absolute best bubble bath I've ever tried. 

Mr. Bubbles has got nothin'  on this stuff!

As with most of my clients,

I now count Debi and Jack as good friends.

 But my best friend of all?

Why, it absolutely HAD to be sweet Lefty,

who was not only a total love-bug,

but my constant guide and helper throughout the shoot.

Thank you, sweet boy!

If you'd like to order some of these great products,

please visit my friend at Hummingbird Farms

HERE.

Happy Weekend!

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Anne Lorys Photography

Branching Out

On the agenda this late Spring-early Summer...

lots of commercial shoots for shops and magazines,

and branching out and doing more shoots for

the real estate sector.

Fun!

In addition to shooting super cute homes 

for magazine features,

I've been able to do more 

Bed & Breakfast shoots,

and there's a plethora of B&B's here in

beautiful Fredericksburg, Texas.

But I'm always on the lookout

for new homes to showcase.

From my business page:

Real Estate Agents, Bed and Breakfast Proprietors, Homeowners...

let me photograph your properties to showcase them to their maximum potential. 

I specialize in commercial / editorial photography, 

both interiors and exteriors. Get your properties sold faster 

and keep your B&B's booked with beautiful photography 

as part of your business plan!

Contact me today.

Off to do a late afternoon photo shoot now!
I'll catch up with you soon
and fill you in on a great new magazine!

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Anne Lorys Photography

Weekend at the Flea

Truth be told,

we have one of the finest little ole' flea markets

in the country, right here in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Thing is, it isn't quite so little anymore.

In fact, it's been growing by leaps and bounds,

attracting more and more dealers from near and far,

and necessitating the construction of a brand new

vendor barn, which opened just this past weekend.

{ as seen at House Wren }

 Trade Days just celebrated their 12th anniversary,

and here's to many more years of providing

the Texas Hill Country with the best darn

monthly flea market anywhere!

Here's what I caught with my

trusty Samsung Galaxy this past Saturday.

Yep, my phone. I left the big girl

camera at home this time!

From Theresa Cano of

Garden Antqs Vintage...

I just adore this beautiful manni.

I've photographed her at more of Sweet T's shows

than I can count!

God Bless Texas!

Theresa never, ever disappoints!

And a visit to this particular flea is never complete without

a pop on over to see Elaine and Betsy

at Sister's Treasures.

I adored this darlin' little

freckled cutie!

So adorable, and with one of my beloved

ellie's on the cover to boot.

The next Trade Days will be

June 20-22, and if you'd like more info,

be sure to visit Trade Days either on FB..

Fredericksburg Trade Days-Facebook Page

and the official site here..

Fredericksburg Trade Days.

Hope to see you there!

Next up, a big photo shoot at

Hummingbird Farms

this week, as we revamp their entire website.

Love the people and their great lavender products!

I'll be sure to post photos soon!

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Published in Flea Market Decor!

99.9% of the time, when I'm hired to

do a photo shoot for a magazine or business,

I'm photographing someone else's "stuff".

Their house, their shop, their magazine feature.

But every so often, I'm given the opportunity

to share MY "stuff", and it's really a blast

seeing our home in print and on the magazine stands.

Last year, our home was featured in 

Cottages and Bungalows magazine HERE,

and right now, our sweet little Fredericksburg farmhouse

is featured in the June-July 2014

issue of Flea Market Decor magazine!

I was the photographer and stylist on this feature,

and the wonderfully talented writer Kit Birmingham

wrote the accompanying story.

Which caused a bit of a freak-out on my part initially.

Every other time I've been the subject

of a magazine feature, I've either written the text myself,

or sent my answers to the interview questions along

via an email or Word doc.

This time however, the editor informed me 

that the writer assigned to my story would be

calling me for a phone interview.

Yikes!

I immediately got on the phone with my sweet friend

Carol Bolton....she's an old hand at this being interviewed stuff...

and she gave me some tips and advice which

helped calm my nerves. So much so that when Kit called,

our planned 15 minute interview turned into

a 45 minute gab-fest with what felt like one of my gal-pals.

The gist of the story is how to decorate 

your own home with flea market finds,

like I've done with that amazing barn door

from Theresa Cano of Garden Antqs Vintage,

or any of the other terrific finds I've procured

at either the fleas or garage sales.

Here are some of the original images

from the magazine feature.

LOVE that barn door!

The blue and white dining room,

which has already undergone yet ANOTHER

transformation since the magazine came out!

Petite French scale via

Tracey at French Larkspur.

I love mixing elements...

glass, ironstone, bits of nature.

I was soooooo happy when the wall-o-mirrors

was finally complete! It's the little things, people!

And that groovy chair, oh my word.

Nabbed it at Fredericksburg Trade Days for a song.

As always, a huge debt of gratitude to all the

beautiful ladies at Beckett Media. Not only do you produce

all my favorite mags, but you are always a DREAM to work with!

And to Kit Birmingham, you're the bomb! 

Love the story you crafted to accompany my photos.

And finally, thanks to my sweet husband,

who always puts up with my insatiable quest to fill our

farmhouse with the beloved "junk" I hold so dear.

I'll be back here at ye olde blog soon

sharing all my other recent adventures

in junking and photography.

Have a great week!

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 Flea Market Decor is available at most

major grocery chains, Target, as well as Barnes and Noble

and other booksellers. 

Peace, Love, Volkswagen's

Easter Weekend.

We think church, Easter egg hunts, family cookouts,

classic Volkswagen Festivals.

Say what?

Your Easter plans didn't include a trip

to only one of the most groovy 

classic VW shows anywhere?

Well, mine did.

And I've got the pics to prove it.

Forgive the phone snaps, when I'm out 

just living life, I don't always feel the need

to lug around the behemoth, aka the D800.

Life is for living, and not every moment

necessitates a high-res photo shoot.

So.....my groovy, hippie Easter

in a nutshell! Or an eggshell.  ;-)

My own personal fave, above.

Buses represent!

The window sticker above reads

"" CAUTION, I brake for gnomes, fairies, elves, leprechauns, 

unicorns, dragons & other invisible creatures that only I can see."

 Sounds legit to me.

"My Favorite Color is Rust"

Absolutely!

And my darling friend Brooke was there,

driving her sweet ( not pictured ) hot pink,

late model VW bug.

Such a beautiful young girl,

but with a wise, old soul.

Just love her.

Until next year,

Peace, Love and VW's, y'all!

Texas VW Classic 

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Blogger at a Crossroads

Here's a question to ponder.

At what point do you accept that your heart

really isn't in blogging anymore?

Do you keep trudging on, half-heartedly?

Do you pack it all in and walk away cold turkey?

Or do you post one of those blatantly manipulative

" I'm giving up blogging FOR-EVAH" posts,

secretly hoping that your readers will bombard you with

"please don't go....we WUV you sooooo much!" messages?

Please don't do that. Ain't my goal, and it won't work.

I'm sort of at that point right now.

At a crossroads.

I signed up a few months ago 

to join a Facebook group for bloggers,

and lawdy, did I ever realize how much I truly

DON'T have in common with most of these fine women, 

dedicated bloggers, one and all.

They speak with great passion about 

maximum search-engine-optimization

in order to achieve optimum online saturation.

They strategically plan their posts weeks in advance.

In short, they treat it like a business, and as such,

take it very seriously. Kudos to them, I say.

I'm not mocking or knocking them in any sense of the word.

But that ain't me.

Blogging has never been a source of income for me,

and never will be. True, I do use it to promote 

( shamelessly, my stalker-detractors just love to point out )

my photography projects and magazine features.

But I've never accepted advertising or sponsors,

and never will. My blog has evolved over the past 5 years,

and so have I. 

And so here I find myself,

at said crossroads.

I never intend to just outright walk away

from my blog. I have far too much affection

for the medium and the friends I've made here.

My heart is very much with my craft,

my photography these days. And the simple truth is,

I'm super busy with all sorts of commercial photo shoots

any given month, and as always, give 110% to the creative process.

So rather than blogging, I'm editing.

I'm collaborating with other creative folks

( new clothing designers, a vintage rental business, etc )

to spread my wings and try new things.

I'm enjoying life, and loving the life we have created

in our beautiful little town 

and in our sweet little farmhouse.

 { what? you didn't know this is my main, go-to camera these days??? }

If you miss me sometimes,

you can always find me here

Anne Lorys Photography

and here

Anne Lorys Instagram

or even here

Anne Lorys Pinterest

And who knows?

Ya might even find me right here,

on the blog.

:-)

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