Underwater Maternity Portraits....

This afternoon I had the pleasure of photographing an amazing family who is expecting their first boy in only weeks now!
I was introduced to this couple through a friend here in Fort Hood. I was looking for a client who would participate in an Underwater Maternity Portrait Session, and boy did this mommy to be ever deliver!

What was to be a 1 hour shoot turned into a 3 hour shoot, and a whole lot of playing under the water. Everyone was involved, from daddy (Former Naval Aviator) to both big sisters. This was surely a family affair!

Their love story is a glorious one, filled with hope, love, honor, miracles. You see this brave women survived brain surgery just the day after her wedding. And now, this miracle child soon to be born. With her scars still visible on her neck, they asked me to include a shot or two of their rings on her scar, and a kiss or two on it. How could I not capture these as well? I will write their entire story in another post, for now I share with you what true love looks like.....

Even under that water it shines bright!!!!

Congratulations on your soon to be new arrival "S" Family!!!!!! It was an amazing day that I won't soon forget!

Enjoy!

Finally here in Texas!!!!!

It's been weeks, if not a month or so since my last blog posting. Not because I haven't had anything to say, but because I have been SO busy moving and getting my family settled that I haven't even had time to get my hair done!!!!
Now you know THAT'S BUSY! 

So we have arrived here in Texas. Finally! And our home in South Carolina has an amazing family renting it now. Our home here in HH is fantastic! Our neighbors are friendly, and helpful. The dogs seem right at home. And.... We have a pool! :)

In only weeks I have unpacked every box and either stored it, put it up, or gave it away. After a weight of 16K lbs we knew that it was time to purge. It always amazes me, just how much crap we seem to collect after every move?

I have begun to put the word out in the photography community that we are open and ready to take on new clients. I have booked a few former clients from San Antonio already, along with taking on my newest quest.... The underwater shot!

Since we have a pool, I have the gear, and I am begging to shake things up a little, I decided to take the "plunge" so to speak and started to offer "Underwater Conceptual Shoots"!

On my first day I booked 3 sessions. I can't wait to start! Our first shoot is the night of July 5th so be on the look out!

I am in the middle of our blog being re-built now that we have arrived. The website is also a work in progress. With price sheets, what to expect, and basic info pages still to add. I finally broke down and had another designer do our blog. I just don't have the energy to mess with it anymore.

So HOWDY TEXAS!!!!!

It sure is great to be back home!!!!!!

Merry Christmas to my husband...

After planning since the 13th of November, I got my husband SO GOOD tonight!!! All this time he has been led to believe that we are taking a trip somewhere for Christmas. As we were prepping the house to leave, at just before 9pm, his son Matthew showed up at the door with a big grin "Merry Christmas Dad!!!" 

Eric didn't know what to say...

I loved it! :)

I tried to sneak my camera under my coat and snap a few pictures, but I was shaking so bad that they look like a 4 year old took them!!! There is a reason why you hire someone to capture moments like these for you folks! Hardy har har!

 
Oh well, I got 4 at least. I especially like the last one. :)
What a great surprise! This is going to be such a fun Christmas...

Totally surprised!



Looks down. Just didn't know what to say! This NEVER happens!



Big hug! Great moment!




I LOVE this picture!!!

Are YOU ready????

 Well, it's "OFFICIAL" so I can finally announce it...

We have Orders to FORT HOOD, Texas June 2013!!!!

Congratulations to my hubby for being named the new CIO of Darnall Hospital!!!!

I am SO PROUD of you baby! This is what you have been waiting for.

                      Now let's go kick some serious tail!!!

*TEAM BERARD*

____________________________________________________________

This means that Deborah Berard Photography is coming BACK to Texas as well!

    Are you ready?

Cadogan Cowper, La Belle Dame Sans Merci

I have been battling this flu since we arrived home from our cruise. Just can't seem to shake it? But I had a photo shoot that just could not be re-scheduled so it was time to put my big girl panties on and dose up on an abundance of cold medicine and head on out for our La Belle Dame Sans Merci inspired session.

Tyson Keanum and Amy Schaming worked their little tails off all night and on into the wee hours of the morning. Pinning over 500 safety pins to the 6 panels of the dress to hold each panel together and to hold the yellow florals on as well.
It was my responsibility to do the sewing, but with this cold being its stubborn self, that task was just NOT going to be completed in time.

HUGE props to both Amy and Tyson for their amazing rendition of the dress. Ya'll ROCK!!!!! And thank you to our fierce model Lydia Catherine for braving extremely chilly winds and an overcast sky to get that shot. You're such the trooper!

Here they are...
Enjoy!

Berard Halloween Cruise Vacation 2012...

A few months back my husband and I took our annual summer cruise. While aboard this ship, my husband played in a satellite poker tournament and WON!!!

Besides some cash, he was awarded a seat in the Carnival Cruise Line Poker Challenge. Grand prize, $50K! Over $100K to be split between the top 25 finalists. We were super excited!!! Pluses: Brand new ship Carnival Magic. Minuses: We left out of Galveston, Texas so we would have to fly there.

But we sucked it up and booked two tickets to Texas to relax for 8 days. Hoping to sail a calm sea after riding the tail of Hurricane Sandy. We watched the news nightly and think of how lucky we are that it missed Columbia like it did. We would have been here, our dogs and home there. How scary!

Well, when we arrived it was such a disappointment to find that this "Championship Tourney" was a computerized poker challenge and NOT a live game. My baby was ticked!!! What a waste! If we had known this prior (which I am sure it stated somewhere on the paperwork that only Eric read) we wouldn't have come.

But the new rooms were nice and spacious. The balcony was wonderful and big. I still hate that Carnival still has doors and not sliding windows like Royal Caribbean. Its just SO much nicer. The worst thing though was the cigarette smokers. Each and every balcony seemed to be occupied by one. And although it clearly states in all our boarding paperwork and during the safety briefing NO SMOKING on the balcony, everyone did it. Such a shame to not be able to enjoy the fresh sea air without that nasty smoke in your face! 

The ports visited were Montego Bay Jamaica (which was a little gross actually???) Not sure if it was left overs from the hurricane or what? But it just wasn't worth getting off the boat for. Next stop Grand Cayman which was nice. We walked around a lot and ate some food. Nothing else. We are so boring! Lol!!! Last port was Cozumel. We own a time share there so we just went to that resort and Eric enjoyed the beach while I enjoyed an 80 minute massage! It was a glorious day!

The on board activities were a riot. The majority of these images are a good bit of that hot mess. Funny what people do on vacation with a little alcohol in their system! Lol!!!
I will be downloading my cell phone images from Halloween night. It was amazing!!! The costumes were out of this world!
Eric and I rocked it too!!!

Enjoy...

Portfolio Updates... YES, we can do that!

I've been working with a few local models as of late, trying to build up a new portion of my portfolio to reflect more of the array of photography options that we offer to our clients.

From product placement, to stylized portfolio updates and designers ad campaigns, we want Texas to know that we are coming back and we are ready to take the Fort Hood area by storm!!!

Texas was SO good to us back at our start in 2006 that we can't wait to get back there and start rocking and rolling. Former clients have already started making calls and sending emails, asking just when we are to arrive and how soon can they hire us? We just love our clients!!!

Yes folks, it's "OFFICIAL"!!! Deborah Berard Photography is coming back to Texas.... JUNE 2013! We are currently re-vamping our website to reflect our move and our new Texas Grand Opening!!!!

Until then, here are a few images from our most recent shoot. The fall light was amazing, and so was our model!