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The Smile House – Photography by Laura Kay Wootan bio picture

Welcome To My Blog

Thank you for visiting my blog. Here you'll find my most recent client sessions as well as stories about my life and my family. Here is some information about me!

My name: Laura Kay Wootan

Age:  35 (although I am going to stop counting after this year)

Birthday:  August 5th, 1973

My Family:  I have a wonderful husband named Bryan and a six-year-old son that I love very much. My son only makes funny faces at my camera. He might just be slightly over photographed.

Education: Bachelors of Fine Art in Photography from The University of Texas Arlington.  I graduated in 1997.

My style:  I’m a journalist at heart. My portraits are story telling mixed in with classic portraiture. I strive to create timeless portraits. I believe that portraits are an investment in your family history. I believe children should see what their great grandparents looked like. I believe that every family should have a yearly family portrait.  I believe a portrait really can say 1000 words.

The technical aspects of photography are every bit as important to me as the emotions and relationships I capture. You'll never find me shooting on anything but "full manual." I make all the decisions when I'm photographing. I don't photograph on automatic and hope the camera will do a good job. 

I pose people. Photographers who claim not to pose because it looks "fake" just don't know how to pose their clients.  Not posing people can make a beautiful Mom look ten or twenty pounds heavier than she really is!!  I’m so not kidding.  Posing people is an art. You can absolutely pose people and still have them look natural and animated.   I pose my subjects because I want you and your family to look the best they can. If posing was a bad thing Tyra Banks on Next Top Model wouldn’t spend so much time talking about “the pose!!”  Posing… it’s not just for supermodels!  Posing is the difference between “snapshot” photography and real portraiture.  I believe if you’re hiring a custom photographer they should be providing you a top-notch beautiful product that isn’t something you could do yourself. 

I love beautiful light. I am comfortable shooting on location, in the studio and with natural light. I’m always prepared for whatever lighting situation I will encounter. I am obsessed with finding beautiful light and if it’s not there I can create it.

I believe without a doubt Mothers are the ultimate family historians.  Mom’s that love photography are my favorite people. I fall in love with every baby and child I photograph.  I love nothing more than to see how much they change over the years. I consider it an honor to be your family photographer.

Thanks for visiting! Please leave comments! I LOVE them!

Yearly Archives: 2008

The Weisberg Family

I’m so happy to finally share my family session in Florida for the Weisberg Family! This year they have a new addition to the family! A stunning new baby girl! I’m totally in love with her too!! She’s has amazing eyes and the cute little curls. She’s yummy and has the sweetest temperment. She’s very...

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The Robinson & Garner Family

Meet the beautiful Robinson & Garner family! They did an awesome job on their outfits I love the colors they choose! I love when people know how to mix up colors but have them all still compliment each other! It’s not easy to do! I had a wonderful time with this family. They were a...

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The Vazquez Family

It’s baby Angelina’s FIRST Christmas! How exciting! I have baby fever bigtime! I’ve been photographing big sister Catarina for a few years now. She’s so pretty and such a little lady. I love the one of them together!! It’s so neat to see how simular their smiles are… They look a lot a like. We...

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Updates and Studio News

I’m so happy to report my Dad is doing great! He’s out of ICU walking, talking and in good spirits. They are suppose to let him go home today!! Thanks again for all the emails and prayers! Of course as luck would have it now I’m sick. I think I picked up something from the...

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Handsome Baby Zaiden

Wow! Zaiden is growing up SO fast! I remember the first time I photographed baby Zaiden! He still has all his amazing hair! Each time we photograph him his Mom brings in his Lion so we can document his chance in comparison to the lion! It’s so cool to see the difference! He’s so cute!...

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Sweet Baby Adelaida

Meet the newest member of our Baby Club! Sweet Adelaida! She has such cute expressions! Adelaida came in for her four month portraits and we photographed her in her very special baptismal gown. Of course we did some naked baby too! I love the one of her on her belly! She was not amused! I’m...

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I’m home and another update

My dad is awake and doing well! They took the breathing tube out yesterday. Boy it was a weird day yesterday. My dad had what they call ICU psychosis. Which is TOTALLY BIZARRE! He was very paranoid and aggitated. Everytime we’d speak he’d tell us… you all ready said that (when we hadn’t) As the...

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Another update

Just another update on my father. He has still not woken up. He’s still on the ventilator as well. When they try to bring him out he is combative and starts breathing too fast and hyperventilating. They’ve told us that everyone wakes up when they’re ready. I hope they let my mom be in there...

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Thank you for the prayers and an update on my Father!

Thanks so much for the prayers and well wishes! We really appreciate it. It’s been a very long day. It started at 4:00am. We made it to the hospital at 5:00am and finally to his room by 5:15. Dad was in good spirits and he was glad that we were all there. They took him...

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Charity Sessions For Roxanne’s House

Just wanted to share some of our holiday sessions! I LOVED this set so much. I really wish I had had a chance to promote it better because it was SO cute. Nonetheless though we did have several clients help us support Roxanne’s House! Thanks so much for helping this worthy organization! I love these...

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Michelle & Daniel

Meet Michelle and Daniel. You might recognize beautiful Michelle from a super fun session we did with her and her boy last January. Daniel is a professional body builder! He is also a manager over at World’s Gym in San Marcos. If you’re like me i.e. “a little too much junk in the trunk” you...

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The Urrutia Family

Meet the Urrutia Family. It’s been a few years since I had seen the boys and WOW Josh is as tall as his mom Julie now! It’s always so amazing to me how quickly kids grow! It’s definitely been the year for BLUE! seems we’ve had lots of families come in blue this year! It...

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Meet the beautiful Laue family. I’ve photographed this beautiful many times now! The boys are getting so big! We had a fun session and did some studio and outdoor portraits. Grandma also joined us for the session this year! I’m also excited that Dr. Laue’s practice San Marcos Family Medicine is moving across the street...

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Prayers For My Father

I am at my parents house tonight. Last night my Mom called to say that my Dad had not been feeling well and he failed his stress test. They did a catherization and found a serious blockage (90%) and admitted him to the hospital. They’re doing a bypass tomorrow of his LAD artery. So I...

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Christmas Angels

I can’t believe how much Cecilia and Gabriella have grown! I also can’t believe how quickly time has passed this year. Elaine called and asked what I thought of shooting the girls as Christmas Angels and I LOVED the idea. The girls did SO good! We had such a great session. Thanks so much for...

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