5-4-09 Sheryl's thoughts /  by Melanie Grizzel

Back in March we photographed Sheryl and Rob's wedding. Sheryl is "in the business" as they say. She works in advertising as an art buyer so she KNOWS photography and we were honored to be asked to photograph her wedding. Click < here> to view the post for that day.

She got her images by mail this weekend and she sent an email immediately. I just wanted to share with you, her thoughts.
"love love love the pics - they are so awesome!!!!!!   we are  THRILLED!!!"

There you have it folks, straight from a bride herself, she's thrilled! And you will be too.

---mel

4-3-09 Peggy Roberts /  by Melanie Grizzel



Last week, Steve's grandmother Peggy Roberts passed away, from a short but traumatic bought with cancer. She was a gracious and proud great grandmother to 4, grandmother to 8, mother to 4, and wife to 1. 
Her cancer was diagnosed after a stroke that essentially blinded her and left her dependent which was excruciating for her. Luckily from diagnosis to the end was only about 6 weeks, while it was terrible, it was short and she got to spend her sick days with friends and family around her. 
She was an avid golfer in her younger days and I was told she played a round of golf about 2 months ago. She got hole in one that day, for the second time. 
She lived a long and fruitful life and now she is free to find her beloved Don in the afterlife. 
She will be missed.
 

3-20-09 Sheryl and Rob Wedding /  by Melanie Grizzel

3-20-09 Sheryl + Rob

This was an exciting event for us. We were asked to shoot the wedding of a former advertising colleague, turned good friend. She has an eye for photography and has been "in the business" for several years. She has a sharp attention for detail and knows exactly what she wants, down to the "film" look and feel of yester year. She wanted for her black + white images to look like they were shot on Kodak T-Max 3200 for the grain, I added a little Tri-X 400 to the mix, to give it that sweet light grey half tone to make the black + white subtle and beautiful. The ceremony was held at nearly dust as were all of the formal portraits, so the ambient light is a wee bit on the bluish side so I pulled those pack around to a warmer tone, my favorite, with some yellows and contrast. Reminiscent of Kodak Portra 400VC. I think the results are outstanding. I'm really excited to show them off and most excited to unveil them to my beautiful bride. Thank you, Sheryl for trusting us with your vision.

3-23-09 Seniors /  by Melanie Grizzel




3-23-09 I know I want to shoot Senior Portraits but so far have yet to make any bookings. I'm guessing it's because we don't have any senior photos to show. So I took some portraits of BFFs and co-cheerleaders Hannah, Anna and Emily. 

Here's what we got.
Send your seniors my way!
---mel

3-22-09 This weekend /  by Melanie Grizzel

3-22-09 On Friday we shot a wedding for dear friends of ours Sheryl and Rob. The wedding was simply delicious and everyone had such a lovely time. She had to remind me again and again that I was an invited guest... don't forget. So I played the rolls of both the photographer and a bridesmaid. So I got to help with the her shoes and zipping her dress, all the while I was documenting her most momentous day. We'll post images soon probably Tuesday. We had quite a busy weekend.

Thursday night I shot my best friend's daughter and 2 best friends. I'll post those images soon too.
This Friday we had out windows replaced in our home and my office has a new gigantic casement window to the outside. It's so glorious, when it's open it feels as though I am outside instead of inside. remarkable. I will be enjoying my office space very much. I will shoot an image of the outside of the house and show them off soon too.
Saturday we shot Beauty Roadshow for Marie Claire magazine. Basically it meant walking around with a writer through Austin's street on Saturday of SXSW weekend and picking out peopole with great style and making portraits of them on the fly. It went great and we had a good time, I got a bit more sun than I bargained for but it feels good to have been out in it. I love Austin.
I will be posting shots soon to show off all of this new stuff.
talk soon.
---mel

3-18-09 FACEBOOK /  by Melanie Grizzel

3-18-09  Great news folks, She-N-He Photography and Design has made it to it's own page on FACEBOOK.

We already have 5 fans. woohoo! 
Please oh please jump on facebook and become a fan. we'll keep you updated when we have new work to see, and just generally keep you informed. Thanks so much, we hope to see you. here.
---mel

1-15-09 Bishop Alden Howe /  by Melanie Grizzel


1-15-09 I've been a little bit busy.

So I've not written in quite a while we have been so busy, the least of which is our new addition to our family. Bishop Alden Howe (Alden for his paternal great grandfather.)
In a nutshell we began having company starting on December 26th for the holidays and we have had company ever since. He had holiday guests for the first week + 1/2 then we have had baby guests ever since. My mother-in-law has ben here since baby came to help get us assimilated. Thank goodness we could not have mangaed without her, I have not done laundry or prepared a meal since she arrived. So we are well fed and taking care of our sweet little one. Starting next week we'll be all alone and I think we are ready.
Here are a couple shots of our little bundle, many more to come. 
enjoy
---mel

12-16-08 Christmas Tree Ornaments /  by Melanie Grizzel






12-16-08 My favorite things about the holidays, besides the obvious being able to spend time with friends and family, is decor and embellishments. I love the way a Christmas Tree looks when it's perfectly lit, and Steve did such an incredible job on our first tree ever, this year. It's hard not to tear up, every time I walk past. Did I mention I'm pregnant and emotional? 

Then when you decorate the tree with all of your beloved keepsakes and heirlooms, it just makes this time that much more special. This edition of my blog I thought I'd share 5 of my most cherished tree ornaments.
1. a bear my husband and I found while we were honeymooning at Lake George in upstate New York.
2. Also from the Lake George area, it's a hand crafted angel from recycled pieces.
3. Is similar to a bell in the way it's constructed. Steve and I found this one while we were in San Antonio awaiting a Spurs game while vacationing in Texas a few years ago.
4. Is a gift from my mother, for nearly a decade my mother would find an ornament she loved and give both my sister and myself one. That way, no matter where we were or who we celebrated with that year we would all have that kind of a connection.
5. Came from my mother-in-law. It was an embellishment to a gift she wrapped for me.
Which brings me to my other favorite holiday tradition. Gift Wrap. Sometimes it just doesn't matter what's inside. A great gift starts with a great wrapping job. It's just another way to show people how much you care for them. I LOVE gift wrap. Tomorrow, I'll put some images up of my favorite wrapped gifts from under our tree.
Thanks for looking.
---mel 

12-11-08 Wow's Birthday /  by Melanie Grizzel






12-11-08 This is my sister Hillarie's birthday today. I tried to ring her on 3 phone numbers and a text but she is not surfacing, good for her for taking a day away from it all.

I'm sure she couldn't possibly miss our dad's faithful Birthday good morning jingle "You Say it's your birthday." You just haven't lived, until you've heard that song, full back-up bad, live @ 7:30 in the morning, over the phone. He has been honoring us with this tradition for several years now. I usually listen then ask him to call back and leave me a message so I can keep it for a few months, it's so fun. Then he calls back with the same number for next year. It is something I look forward to every year.
In honor of Hill's Birthday I thought I'd post some pictures of her daughter, my niece, Reagan. She is growing up now, she'll be 2 in February and really starting to come into her own, in terms of personality and she is so much fun to play with. Over Thanksgiving she found herself a little Santa hat and hammed it up for the camera.
Thanks for looking.
Happy Birthday Wow (it's a pet name)
---mel

12-9-08 Abad Wedding /  by Melanie Grizzel









12-8-08 Steve and I shot this wedding a little over a month ago. Our couple was thrilled with the results. mainly they were renewing their vows after 14 years of marriage and trying to have photographs that best complimented their original photography. She email me images of their family posed together 14 years ago and I was able to best match those with their maturing daughters. They were quite the party crowd, everyone had a blast and the DJ was excellent. I hope you like the images.

---mel

12-8-08 Thanksgiving Tribute IV /  by Melanie Grizzel






12-8-08 Mom's Stuffing

Mom use to make this when we were younger, and she insists that she can't do it anymore, in fact she swears she can't cook anything anymore.... She cooked for us for years and now she'd like to sit back and let someone else do it. That's cool, I don't mind taking the reins.
2 loaves of low carb wheat bread 
1 loaf of wheaty-nutty bread
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 16 oz package of Sage pork sausage
2 medium onions (chopped)
4 stalks celery (chopped)
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
32 oz of chicken stock (store bought or I make my own, by boiling the neck and innards of the Turkey for 15 minutes or so)
1. Start by toasting all of the bread. I prefer in the toaster, it gives the bread equal brownness and you can be working on 2 things at the same time. Then chop the bread into 1/2 inch tiles, mom used to tear the bread but I prefer the uniformity of the squares for my stuffing. This part can be done right before assembly or up to a couple days in advance. 
2. Saute the sausage until nearly done and add onions, celery, and garlic. Saute until the onions are wilted. 
3. If you're preparing your own chicken stock then take this time to do that.
4. Combine bread with seasonings then add sausage mixture, stir until thoroughly combined. Start adding chicken stock until bread is damp and clumpy. If you don't need it all don't use it all. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. A little trick I learned from Rachel Ray is to make sure that all of the stuffing has crust, since it is everybody's favorite. So we put some of the stuffing in the bird but it dries out the bird some, so we try to cook the bulk of the stuffing this way. Prepare muffin tins by coating them with cooking spray. Form balls with the stuffing and drop them into the cups. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes checking often. You're looking for brownness and texture from the crust of your stuffing muffins. All of the ingredients are pre-cooked so cook to desired doneness.
Hope you like all of the fun recipes.
tomorrow we'll be back, I'm not sure what we'll be writing about but I'm sure it's going to be fun.
---mel

11-26-08 Thanksgiving Tribute III /  by Melanie Grizzel






11-26-08 Patty Howe's Carrot Souffle 

Last Christmas Patty, my mother in law, prepared this awesome souffle and it wowed the crowd. I made it a couple months ago when we had some family in town. Again it wowed the crowd. So it was a request from my mom for Thanksgiving dinner this year. It's very similar in flavor and texture as sweet potato casserole but infinitely better for you since it starts off as carrots and not starchy potatoes.
7 cups chopped (about 2 lbs)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup fat free sour cream
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted 
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
cooking spray
1 teaspoon powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cook, peeled and chopped, carrots in boiling water for 15 minutes or until very tender; drain. Place carrots in food processor; process until smooth. Add granulated sugar and next 7 ingredients (granulated sugar through eggs); pulse to combine.
Spoonmixture into a 2 quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until puffed and set. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. (optional)
Enjoy this dish! delicious.
see you tomorrow.
---mel