The Rosas' and Family

A few days before Christmas this beautiful family and I took to the park for quick mini session. This family was truly just so fun to hang out with and photograph. They have such a fun and very loving family dynamic. The images of Tina and her husband Gabriel are definitely some of my all time favorites. The immense crush that Gabriel has on his wife is 100% evident in the way he gazes at her. Then we move onto Tina and her brother Brandon and her sister Alicia. I asked them to just be themselves, even if it was putting each other in headlocks and giving each other noogies. They took full advantage of that request as their mom just smiled and looked at her kids enjoying each others company. So without further ado, here is a little peak into their session.

Tina~ thank you so much for asking me to photograph your family. I hope you love your images as much as I loved photographing them.

Angel- Samuel Clemens Senior

Angel is a Samuel Clemens High School Senior. She joined my model team this year and I was so excited to add her. She is a quite an accomplished young lady; at school she enjoys being part of the DECA (a club for young business men and women of the word), theater, she is Vice President of her Student 2 Student club, and is also a youth leader for women’s bible study. Angel has also been on the wrestling team for the past two years. Her favorite high school memory is making bonds with new people. Angel has been accepted to 5 different colleges to include St. Mary’s, Houston Baptist, Baylor, Northern Arizona and Dallas Baptist University. She is striving to study Forensic Science and Criminology. Her goal is to use these degrees in the US Air Force and become an OSI Officer.

For her senior shoot we ventured out to Gruene with her parents and younger sister. Of course I couldn’t resist snapping a few images with her Dad and little sister. Angel, thank you so much for joining my rep team this year. You are such a beautiful young lady, and I cannot wait to hear about all your upcoming success. You are gonna move some mountains my girl.

If you are interesting in a Senior Portrait Session, send me a message and I will be happy to set one up with you!

What are your favorite images? Tell me in the comments!

xoxo-Rowan

A little Late Halloween Fun Post

My daughter loves to go all out for Halloween. We are usually hunting down the perfect garments to piece together her costume for months. Goodwill is the perfect place for that. This year, while we thought we were going to be a little more simple, we were not. Well, we kinda were. We purchased a costume from the Halloween store, and went to town with her make-up. Chloe does creepy very well. Her facial expressions are always perfect. A few years ago we did the Mad Hatter and omg we loved that costume. This year she decided to be a broken doll. It was awesome. Leave me a comment and tell me which image is your favorite.

The Ferro Family

My sweet neighbor Allison messaged me asking for a fun laid back family session at one of our local coffee shops. Emily’s place is a favorite here in Cibolo, know for its whimsical decor, awesome coffee, playground, and some amazing re-purposed wooden doors that serve as a fence to their backyard area. The backyard area is a great place for event gatherings. I love photographing photo journalistic style shoots, they are really some of my favorite because you can truly see their family dynamic. Both Allison and her hubby serve in the military and have two beautiful girls. Off we went for some hot chocolate, cuddles with mom and dad and some playground fun.

Allison, thank you so much for asking me to photograph your gorgeous family. I loved every minute with you all, and I can’t wait to show you the rest.

xoxo, Rowan

The Boland Family

I’d like to introduce you to the Boland Family. I was so excited to get a message from this lovely lady. I got the opportunity to photograph her oldest son Samuel’s First Birthday Party the first year I lived here in San Antonio. It was such a fun party. She hired a musical that wrote songs just for Samuel’s Pete the Cat birthday party. This party was just super fun! We’ve tried to schedule a few sessions since then and this year we were finally able to make it work, and this time she has two adorable daughters I got to photograph as well. She had the fun idea to head down to The Pearl Brewery for a family session while her mother and father in law were in town. This family is just so fun to be around. Mary is very laid back and you can’t help but feel relaxed around them all. She dressed her girls in adorable blue dresses with her littlest donning a white bonnet. SO CUTE!

I mean nothing is better than a bunch of cute kids and some laughs, so here are some of their images from their session. Mary, I cannot wait to show you the rest!

xoxo, Rowan

Recipe Wednesdays- Chocolate Chip Sweet Potato Pancakes

Over the last few weeks, I’ve really been trying to change the way our family eats. After a trip to the doctor, myself and my husband found that we have a little bit of work to do. For myself, I really need to start watching my sugars and cholesterol. I’ve shared a few pictures of what we’ve eaten on Facebook, with some friends asking for the recipes. SO, I thought it would be cool, to blog a recipe or two every Wednesday.

My husband and I found this cute little brunch place down at the quarry in San Antonio called Snooze. Its adorable, and their recipes are so yummy. They have a different pancake special everyday, as well as breakfast cocktails. Who doesn’t love a good mimosa on a breakfast date away from the kids, right? On this particular day They had a Sweet Potato Pancake with chocolate chips, vanilla sauce, chocolate sauce and mascarpone cheese topped with almonds. It was good, but very rich, and I said to my husband that I bet I could take to Pinterest and fine a good Sweet potato pancake recipe. Well I found one, two weeks later I tried it, and reduced the amount of Chocolate chips and also did away with the almonds, vanilla sauce and excess chocolate sauce. My goal was to keep it as healthy as possible, but scrumptious enough so that my family would love them. My first attempt did not go well, and they just ended up being a mess. They were very loose, hard to flip. I ended up throwing a cup of Bisquick in them and cooking them that way. This morning I tried again, and had much better success. NOTE: they are going to be a different consistency than your normal pancake because it has sweet potatoes in it. Some of the sweet potatoes will remain smooth just as you are eating mashed sweet potatoes.

The recipe I used today was this:

Ingredients

1 and 1/4 cup of cooked and pureed sweet potatoes

1 cup of Plain Greek Yogurt (I used HEB Brand)

2/3 cup of milk

3 tablespoons of melted unsalted butter

1 egg

1 cup of All Purpose Flour

1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1.In a large mixing bowl combine your Greek Yogurt and your pureed sweet potatoes. Once mixed together add your melted butter, egg and milk. Stir together until well combined.

2.Add in all of your dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt and cinnamon. Stir together and then add your vanilla and chocolate chips. (I ended up adding a little more milk, because I wasn’t happy with the consistency. So if your mix looks dryer almost like a break mix, just add a splash more milk.

3.Before adding my batter to the griddle I added three very small slices of butter to where I was going to add each pancake. I took my 1/4 cup measuring spoon, and plopped the batter directly over each slice of butter. This allowed the edge to get that beautiful golden ring, as well as offering the non stick buffer between the pancake and the griddle.

4.This recipe stated to cook each side for 3 minutes, this is where I changed it. I cooked them, until about a centimeter around the top of the pancake looked dry, then I flipped them.

5.For the mascarpone cheese, I took about half a tub of it into a small mixing bowl, added 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla and 2 teaspoons of sugar, whisked together and then added a dollop to the top of each pancake.

This recipe made 11 pancakes.

This recipe was super good, my sugar level afterwards were fantastic; I was very please. My children were mad that I didn’t make a double batch.

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The Pankey Family

I got to go photograph this beautiful family in one of my favorite places over the weekend. Gruene, Texas is one of the prettiest places in Texas that I have ever seen. My client had never been there before, and she very happily surprised with our beautiful surroundings. I had a great time with this lovely family. Their daughter had such an infectious smile, and was an absolute joy to photograph.

Letty, Thank you so much for asking me to photograph you and your family.

xoxo, Rowan

Announcing the Our Newest Little Firecracker..

…the Trufilio 5 is turning onto a Party of 6!

Now that the cat is officially out of the bag, I can share these adorable images with the rest of you. I am over the moon excited for this amazing lady and her family. Occasionally when you think your family is complete and your kids have become mostly self sufficient, life throws you a curve ball. Amy thought she was done, she and her husband Frankie we perfectly content with their party of five. Being told she was in menopause, Amy got call that would floor them all. She has lovingly named it a “medical miracle.”

Amy and I volunteer together at our children’s school on the PTC. She is the President and I am her Vice President, our boys also play on rival youth football teams. This allows some pretty fun and silly banter between the four of us. Over this past year we were blessed to become very close friends, and she is without a doubt one of my most favorite people in the world. She radiates positivity and kindness. She is uplifting to everyone around her. This past Spring Football season, our final game was against each others teams. One of our athletes broke his arm right before we were to warm up. After making sure he was taken care of, Amy sent me a text to make sure I was alright, while I was the moment came where the Mom emotions took over. I took them moment to give myself a breather, walked up to where she was sitting, and I immediately felt calmer. This woman has an amazing presence and definitely my rock on a bad day. So when she called me to tell her about her amazing secret, and asked me to help her share the news with a photo session, I was elated.

Come December, we will get to meet this precious little addition, and I am so excited. So without further ado, I give you their session. Congratulations my sweet friend.

xoxo, Rowan

Freeman Family

I am so excite to finally be able to share these images. My internet hasn’t been working for a few days, to they are a little tardy. I had to really pay attention to what I was choosing to share in this sneak peek, because I looked up and was choosing quite a few. I had to force myself to narrow it down, because they are all so darn cute.

We ventured out to downtown Cibolo, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to photograph. This family was an absolute joy to photograph. All the love that this family shares explodes out of their pictures and is written all over their faces. Just look at the crush Imani and her husband have for one another. I loved watching Lucas and his Uncle play in the grass and wrestle with each other. Little Luca was shy at first, but once he got to play, he opened right up. I seriously could have photographed them all day long.

Imani, thank you so much for choosing me to photograph your beautiful family. I had such a wonderful morning with you that day, and hope you love all your images.

xoxo, Rowan

Zubiate Family

So excited to present you with last weeks mini family session. We headed out at 9am to beat the heat, and were treated with a very bright sunny morning. The humidity made its entrance about half way through their session. Despite the heat and at times, blinding sun the Subiate family made the most of just having the time together. I have the great pleasure of knowing this family personally, as the oldest daughter is my daughters very best friend. Whenever I am with them, there is always great conversation, and Marisol welcomes you into her home with open arms and there is always room at her table. Whenever you are there, you absolutely feel like part of the family. Marisol, thank you so much for asking me to photograph your amazing family. I always feel so honored when friends ask me to be their photographer. I loved every minute of our session together.

Introducing...!

I would love to introduce and welcome my Senior Representative Team for the Class of 2020. These 6 students applications stood out above and beyond. So without further anticipation…

I absolutely cannot wait to meet with all of you and your parents for our first parent meeting.  Watch your emails closely for dates and times. Rowan

I absolutely cannot wait to meet with all of you and your parents for our first parent meeting. Watch your emails closely for dates and times.

Rowan

Mommy and Me ~ Amanda Fuentes

How cute are these two little girls and their beautiful mom? Pre-k teacher, Amanda and her two sweet girls met us out at the Pearl Brewery in San Antonio for a morning session. I love their outfit choices, and Amanda’s dress was the perfect shade of purple. The weather was gorgeous so the walk around the Pearl and little bit of a walk on the Riverwalk, really made for the perfect morning before they headed off for some fun at one of our local theme parks. The girls had fun smelling all the flowers around the area and having little conversations about Dippin Dots with their mom. Amanda, thank you so much for asking me to photograph you and your girls. I hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend.

Happy First Birthday Gracie

Little Gracie is about to turn ONE! Gracie and her mommy happened to be in San Antonio visiting Grandma and Grandpa this week and decided it was the perfect time to go ahead and get her cake smash pictures done. Little Gracie was the perfect little model with her adorable tiara, and flowery white dress. She has two amazing aunties that were right by her side to help make her laugh and giggle and clap. I’m so excited to be able to show you a few little sneaky peeks before I put out her full gallery. Jelicia, thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to photograph your beautiful baby girl, for such an important milestone.

xoxo, Rowan

The Rojas Family

I met Lee Ann a few years ago when my husband starting working at my youngest sons school. She’s an awesome 3rd grade teacher and she is also one of my neighbors. She first came to me to help her make some decoration for her classroom and over the last two years we’ve been able to become friends. I was so excited, as I always am when a friend asks me to be their photographer and help them preserve and create these beautiful memories. Lee Ann thank you so much for choosing me to preserve these special milestones and be able capture your beautiful family before Brenden adventures into adulthood.

Rowan

Steele High School Senior - Brenden Rojas

It’s hard to believe that the Class of 2019 is getting ready to walk across the stage. Teachers, students and parents are officially counting down the days until summer break. I got the pleasure of photographing Steele High School wrestler, Brenden Rojas just a few weeks ago. Brenden has been wrestling for the last two years for his school. As a dedicated team member he would always make sure that his teammates were supported and would also step up when needed.

After high school Brenden wants to be a firefighter.

Congratulations and good luck after high school Brenden!

Rowan

Mommy and Me Sessions

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Mother’s Day 2019 is right around the corner, and Mommy and Me Sessions are now open for booking! There is not specified date, because I want to work around YOUR schedule! All sessions will be photographed at a location of your choice! Session must be photographed by May 3rd. Shoot me an email or a message on Facebook so we can get your sessions booked!

xoxo~

Rowan

Gracie ~ Senior Class of 2019

I was so excited when Gracie’s mom messaged me to book a Senior session. Gracie graduates from Byron Steele High School next month. Along with being a Senior in high school she works as a lifeguard at the nearby YMCA. Gracie is such a stunning girl, she really owned her session. If I wasn’t careful I would have just posted her entire gallery because in my opinion every one of her images are just stunning. Chrissy, thank you so much for trusting me with your daughters Senior Portraits. I can’t wait to sit down with you and show you the rest.

Do you still need your senior portraits done, or are graduating in 2020 and would like to book your senior session? I would love to help you out with that! Send me a message and we will get you on the calendar.

xoxo

Rowan

Location: Pearl Brewery, San Antonio TX;

Make-up done by the very talented Dora Vera

Glitter and Cake

Happy 1st Birthday Riley!

First birthdays are such a fun and exciting occasion. They also come around way to fast. This little lady was full of spunk and loved playing with her confetti that was floating around her. She was all smiles, which were incredibly infectious. She was just happy as can be. Her purple tutu and tiara are just adorable. I’m very happy to be able to share this sneak peek with you all. Do you have a birthday coming up? I’d love to help you celebrate with a fun birthday session! Email me for details!

xoxo-

Rowan

Sammi Fain

I am so excited to share this beautiful girl’s sneak peek from last weekend. She totally rocked her photoshoot. Sammi is a beautiful jazz and contemporary dancer and her parents are both swim coaches. We headed down to the Pearl Brewery for an early morning photoshoot. Vendors were setting up for their weekly farmers market, and the Culinary Institute was already grilling on their outdoor grill. So not only was it beautiful outside, it smelled amazing too.

Fresh and New

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I am so happy to launch the new website for Rowan Rakers Photography. I am hoping to add a few new features in the coming weeks, such as a calendar, a spot to order prints, and new client galleries. The last couple weeks have been busy with so many fun sessions, and in a few sort weeks, I will be announcing my Class of 2020 Senior Representative Team. There is still time to apply so don’t forget to contact me for your Senior Rep applications.

See you soon!

Rowan