September/October Special!

Don't miss out on this great deal. Go to the main site to see a large image & more info on the special. :)

Bailey, Kara & Tara

Here are some recent samples of sessions I've lately.

I was in the Stockyards with some friends one weeknight this summer and was so inspired by the setting & buildings that I asked Bailey if we could move our session from Downtown Ft Worth to the Stockyards. She agreed and I think we came away with some absolutely amazing images.



More of Bailey's session is available on the site under 'Enlightened'.

Kara's Senior portraits were taken at Botanical Gardens. We had a great time, and we were even lucky enough to be treated to some live music that was going on at a wedding reception at the Rose Garden. I think this is my favorite of Kara's images.



Tara's Senior session was at Chandor Gardens in Weatherford. Chandor is so dreamy & just an artists dream to be able to work in. We were having a great time until the mosquitos began to attack us. I have so many favorites from her session, but she is so beautiful that I had to share a headshot.




More of Kara & Tara's sessions will be available soon on the site under 'Enlightened'. Enjoy!

July/August Specials

So my friend Robin kicked me in the butt a bit today and said, 'When are you running those summer specials you told me about?'

Well, as much as I hate to admit it...I've just had brain freeze all summer. Part of it has been my POWERAde slush addiction, part is the fact that when school is out---I am tuned out and the rest is general laziness.

But here it is...my July/August special. It will be hot, but we will have fun. Availability really is limited because I'm going on a wicked cool trip to Boston in July and then school starts up (UGH) in August so make sure if you're interested you get on the e-mail or dail me up soon!

~Jaclyn

Hot In The City...Reba's Senior Session

Reba is special to me because she's one of my former Yearbook students who is about to not only be a senior, but Drum Major, which is very exciting!

I think neither of us ever thought I'd be taking her Senior pictures. I'm really glad that she asked me to, because we had a great time out in Sundance Square, even though it was muggy as all get-out, there was absolutely no sun (no light!), and everyone was about to have a heart attack over the impending thunderstorms.

Her photos turned out beautiful, with minimal help from me, because she is just gorgeous! I love you Reba!

Here's just a little sneak-peak...hot off the press:

Savannah, I Miss You

Blogger has decided to be nice today. Yay!

I was lucky to get to travel to Savannah last week with some girlfriends of mine and I honestly didn't think I was going to come back. I absolutely fell in love with the city, especially the downtown historical area. I'm no history buff, by any means, but the amount of preservation is just amazing. It's definitely a photographer's dream and I can't imagine ever running out of places to shoot. I would love to relocate and move my business there. If only...

Here's one shot I took on River Street. We were told that some of these streets are original cobble stone, but some of it is newer. I can't imagine cobblestone looking so good after almost 300 years. Amazing. Beautiful city & lovely people!

Madison's Senior...Sneaky-Peek

So I'm giving this another try today since Blogger hates me.

For Madison's Senior portraits she wanted something a bit different so I talked her into hitting a junkyard that I've had my eye on for a few months. Unfortunately for us our session was cut short by the apparent junkyard 'owner'. I think this was my first & last session in a junkyard, but I definitely love some of these shots. We ended up finishing our session in both mine & Madison's hometown of Springtown. It was a very sticky & humid day and I think after both sessions we never want to see another mosquito.

See more of this unique session on the website under 'Enlightened'.

And Baby Makes Three

I have to admit, I have a love/hate relationship with Blogger.

I love that it's FREE and I can use it to display work and advertise my baby business until I can afford something better, but I hate that it only wants to sporadically work with linking images from Photobucket. THAT is why I'm so terrible about posting. I will have these flashes of inspiration and decide to post newly edited images only to find that I can't get my copy/paste to work from Photobucket. I'm not sure what it is. It might be some sort of Mac issue for all I know. God forbid, I love this machine, but it's been angry at me lately. I think it knows I was gone for a week and totally neglected it. Poor iMac...

And the sizing issue is just a nightmare. So please forgive me for the cut-off images. I'm about to lose my sanity fighting with both Blogger & Photobucket, so today I just decided to let them win. I, Jaclyn Dodd, vow to one day have a BigFolioBlog and display my work properly. ;)

Back to photography...I did a fun session a while back with a very young, but very lovely couple, Chris & Kenny who actually just had their first child last week. I hope the future holds nothing but good things for them. To see more of this session go to the website & click on the Endearing gallery. Enjoy! ~Jaclyn

Fine Art Series

I'm working on a fine art series and I finally got to shoot this over Spring Break. One of my lovely former students, Ashley, modeled for this shoot and another former student, Sarah, helped with the light reflector.

I was inspired by a Red Hot Chili Peppers song (of all things), so this series is called 'Breaking the Girl'

We had a great time and I think we got some really nice stuff. Here are the first few that I've finished:

Country Fun

I work with a great librarian who also happens to be one of my friends. Jennifer has been married to her husband Chris for over 10 years and they have two incredibly cute boys. They have a God-centered, inspiring relationship. In the days of quick marriages that are over sooner than you can blink, I'm glad that I have Jennifer to look up to.








See more from this session in my 'Endearing' Gallery at www.bellereveportraitdesign.com

Senior Session Special!

Author, Author!

After incessant fighting and frustration with blogger & photobucket I finally managed to get these other photos up from Krissi's session.

We had a great time and she was fun to work with, even if it took thirty minutes to blow a decent bubble! I can't wait until your book is out, Krissi. Love ya!

...Writer's Block

"There are three difficulties in authorship: to write anything worth publishing -- to find honest men to publish it -- and to get sensible men to read it." -Charles Caleb Cotton

My good friend and author, Krissi Dallas, needed headshots for her upcoming YA novel, Phantom Island so she contacted me. I love her book and am thrilled to be a part of this journey. We headed down to the Seminary South campus for her session and a general good time with the girls. Here is a sneak peak of her shoot:

Krissi...you are so unbelievably talented. I can't believe this is actually happening for you. Well, for both of us! I think God has given you such a gift for story-telling. I can't wait for the second book. :) ~Jaclyn

A New Look And A New Edge?

Yea, a lovely new look for my blog. My uncle commented that he liked my new webpage, but that it needed pictures of his bike. That's not exactly the image I'm going for, but in honor of Uncle Jon, I decided I'd grace my blog with a cool half-tone b&w of one of his Harley's. Enjoy, Uncle Jon. If I start doing portraits of Biker Dudes, you'll be the first one I call.

And we're off!...

I'm so excited that this day is here! I know it's a small milestone, but my website is finally up & ready to go! Click on the title above to take you directly to my new website.

The picture is from a shower I went to on Saturday for my friend Joanna. She's having a beach wedding and they had a beach themed shower. It was pretty cute.

Nothing is better than cakes you don't have to share with anyone!

Growing Pains

BelleReve Portrait Design will soon have a new home! I currently bought a website from the great . They specialize in photography websites.

I'm sort of struggling right now because I have felt for a long time that I don't have the support that I need to start and maintain a business. However, I've just decided that this is something I have and want to do.

I am completely passionate about photography. All of my passion lies in the arts. I am a sucker for music, books, art, photography, cinematography, dance, etc. If it's artsy...I will probably like it and be a sap for it. There's something about self-expression that really speaks to me and I just want to be there to not only capture special moments in people's lives, but to create works of art. I know there are some people out there who feel that photography isn't art, but I feel like any form of self-expression is art.

There is feeling that goes into my work. Sometimes I sigh & moan over things I don't want to do and we do it because we have to (i.e. shooting football games) but even then I find myself getting into the games and loving the images that I capture.

I used to want to work for National Geographi or travel as a war correspondent but I really hate roughing it. I love the images, but I like the comforts of home. Plus, I really don't know if I could live without Chick-Fil A and Taco Bueno. I probably am that shallow. Maybe one day...but for now I will have to fulfil my passions with creating fairies, lonely maidens and capturing toddling baby steps. :)

With all of that said I have been hard at work the last few days on the website and creating pricing guides and thinking about business cards, etc etc...

Here is a tiny sneak peak at some info to come:

BelleReve Portrait Design

Session Fee: $225 (includes $100 print credit)