Share the Love

Tomorrow is February 1st.  I'm sure you've already noticed Valentine Day decor & cards blanketing the aisles at any retail store you walk into.  You may have already scanned the valentines for your child's valentine exchange party.  Which one is it going to be?  High School Musical, Hello Kitty, Transformers, Star Wars, etc....
My sister and I discussed the marvelous idea of photo valentines.  We did this last year.  It's a great way to put a name with a face when your kid comes home with his/her valentine mailbox of goodies.  It's also a cool little something for their friends to put in the wallets that they carry around from time to time.
I chose a picture of my child and paired it with some super cute Valentine themed background paper & elements, then I shamelessly added my website address (gotta give credit where credit's due).  I'll print these as 2.5x3.5 wallets, put in a clear baggie with candy or may punch 2 holes and stick a lollipop through it - I haven't decided yet.  Oh the possibilities!
My kids loved this.  I print enough for them to share with classmates and other special friends and even stuck them inside the Valentine cards that I send to family members.  It's a great way to share the love!

How can you share the love?  If you are a former client, I've designed a few Valentines that are available for FREE.  Once you notify me, I will email you a file to save & download so that you can then send to a local lab for printing.  Check out this PAGE for the designs.

LOVEly Lyndi

As far as 2011 is concerned, it's been nothing but a girl's world for me and my camera.  I've yet to have a little guy for 2011.  
No doubt I do love photography and I love when I can enjoy it with my family.  
So excited to share these images of Lyndi - one of my 2 beautiful nieces who visited me this weekend.  We ventured out (across the street) to get some shots for her Valentines that she will soon share with her classmates.  Isn't she adorable??

So I made these Valentine wallets for her to print and hand out to her classmates.  Sure beats the perforated spongebob Valentines from WalMart, huh?

Guess who's gonna get the vote for best Valentine in her class?
See the rest of Lyndi's session HERE

WILL KNIT FOR PROPS

I love stalking Etsy just to see what I can do too.  Here's a few more of my knitting creations...I can't wait to slip these on some sleepy little newborn heads (hint hint)

Ella Ireland - 8 wks.

I've been so excited to share a sneak peek of baby Ella with you all - the hubby & I left the day after this shoot to take the kids snow skiing so I wasn't even able to look at the images until today.  How sweet is this baby girl?  I love how she is drunk with milk here (giggle)...

Ella's room is totally adorable and tells such a sweet story of how much this little girl is surrounded by love.  The theme is pink & green with precious decals & special memories decorating the walls.  The special memories are of mom & dad's vacation to Ireland where they celebrated their 3rd wedding anniversary (fast forward 9 months later) Ella Ireland is born.  Awww!

 Yes, I've been knitting and couldn't resist letting Ella model some of my creations especially when she went into her milk coma.  

Hope you enjoy the sneak peek, her gallery will be up shortly!


Update:  Ella's gallery is up - you can click here

Cayson Logan - 8 wks.

Meet Cayson Logan Collins.

I was on my way to photograph her when she was only 1 week old - only to realize my camera wouldn't operate.  Talk about upset!  
The photogenic genes must run in the family because remember mom's maternity session?  Wow!!  So mom and dad now have two little girls to love and cherish...

A little about these two special girls:  they both have cystic fibrosis - an inherited disease that is one of the most common chronic lung diseases in children and young adults.  Cayson and her big sister, Canon, take daily medication along with special breathing treatments to hopefully avoid lung infections and serious digestive problems.  They are true fighters - just like their daddy (who is a MMA fighter).
Canon stayed very close to me during the shoot so that she could keep an eye on what was going on & ready to assist if I needed it.  It was obvious that she loves her baby sister.

I left their home whispering a little prayer for this family.  I'm not sure what their journey with this disease will entail, but they need all the love and prayers that we can send them.  So, for this blog post I would ask that you leave your own words of encouragement and inspiration for them and be sure to take a look at little Cayson's photos by clicking on this link.

Well, I'll be Yarned!

I made friends with a gal who has a special talent of knitting.  She could do and would do whatever I asked her to do.  It was always service with a smile.  Things were going well until she fell and broke her wrist last week.  She had mentioned to me several times prior to her incident that she could teach me how to knit, but I would change the subject because like I need something else on my plate which is already overflowing with things to do, right?  Well when she injured her wrist, it was either wait on the people on Etsy who are already bombarded with orders or just do it myself.  I was up for the challenge & here's some of what I have made.  Yes, I said some because there has been more, but you'll probably see some of it in another post. ;-)
Some good friends of ours is having a baby girl in the next couple of weeks...I made this hat and gifted it to them along with a gift certificate for a newborn session.

I made another hat for my session I had with a sweet baby on Sunday (I'm editing her pics now - you'll see the rest of sweet baby Cayson soon). 

Isn't she too yarn cute? (LOL, slapping my knee) 
At this point, I have mastered making beanie & toboggan hats (sizes newborn - adult) & even a scarf!
Keep checking here for more creations that will be featured in my baby sessions -  I'm officially a knitting, photographing fool!

Blakely Claire: 1st Birthday

I was so happy to see Blakely Claire again...on the morning of her first birthday party (insert noise makers here).  We spent the first part of this session in her precious girly girl bedroom 

Isn't she lovely?  Everything requires a tasting, she has the most adorable curious stare and a gorgeous open mouth smile that any mommy could ooh & awe over.  And everything must be inspected...including her hairbows ;-)

Lots of great shots from this session (it's obvious I couldn't narrow down just 1 to 2 of my favorites)  Be sure to take a look at her gallery on my website & HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLAKELY CLAIRE!

Twin Girls: 4 Months

Unfortunately because of my camera malfunction & the holidays, mom of these 2 sweet baby girls couldn't get a shoot scheduled with me until January and took my first available appointment.  Let me add that she did attempt to take them to Sears & JCPenney (SCREAM) to hopefully satisfy her hunger for some eye candy over the holidays, but never could bring herself to pay for the prints (giggle).  She said you couldn't even see their big beautiful blue eyes. Now if you like Sears or JCPenney's portrait studio, that's okay, but it's not for everyone.  Moving on...


What I've learned from doing a few twin shoots lately is that 2 babies at the same time is not as easy as it looks.  Little advice for fellow photographers, if you do not have patience, multiple kids in one session is not for you.  I envy Anne Geddes and have no doubt that she spent all day on those photos where 8-10 babies are involved.   Kudos to you Ms. Geddes!

I have remarkable patience and can handle it, BUT I cannot guarantee a perfect shot of both of them looking at the camera in a pose you are going to drool over.  I just let them do their thing and try to grab some great candid shots (if they are awake - sleeping is a different story) and hopefully they won't punch each other in the face too often.


Paris & Paisley are 4 months old.   Mom and dad came to me for their photo shoot last Friday afternoon and we spent a few hours doing what we could to get some good shots.  I was determined to get those big beautiful blue eyes...and I did!  A few diaper & wardrobe changes, feedings and power naps later, we were done.  I hope that the shots are to mom & dad's satisfactory so that I can see them again real soon.

PARIS LAKELYN...

PAISLEY LOVE...

See all the shots in their own gallery HERE

Valentine Special Sessions

In honor of Valentine's Day, I am running a special for a Ladies Mini-Session or Couples Mini-Session.

Session Fee will include a disc of your images.

$175 ($350 value)

Available Saturdays are 15th, 22nd & 29th.

Just let me know ASAP if you are interested.

The couple pictured below is my brother and his fiance.  They are now engaged and getting married this May.  THIS LINK will take you to the gallery of all their images.

Need ideas for a "Ladies" session?  Take a look at these gorgeous galleries:

JANET

ASHLEY

2011 - New Year is calling for Changes...

I'm sick & tired of the way I am!  There, I said [typed] it & although I would hate for someone else to say it to me, it's something I can say to myself.  Now that it's out of my system [fingers] - I'm taking action to change both spiritually & physically.   My inspiration/motivation?  That's simple.  God.  


A new year almost insist on a resolution (by the way, do resolutions ever get resolved?)  Here are 2 goals that will cure the "sickness" I have with myself:


1.   Read the Bible
2.   Lose Weight


Both of these goals are going to be challenging in that both will require daily self discipline & self motivation.   My tools that will help:


A.  My family attends The Rock church.  The Rock's Slogan:  Love God-Love People-Do Something About It.  The preacher has committed to help us read the entire Bible in 2011. Here's the link the church gave to get us started in the right direction.  Daily Bible Reading Plan
I followed the directions to sign up for free on YouVersion and I've been following along on my iPhone since January 1st.  Yay Me!!


B.   The second of my tools I just found this morning, but I'm already intrigued with what I've read.  It comes from K-Love,  a Christian radio station that is actually the majority of what we listen to in my car.  Seriously, I could not tell you what a popular rock or country song is b/c I NEVER listen to them.  This morning K-Love had Lysa TerKeurst on as a special guest.  She was promoting her book, Made to Crave, a guide to help you crave God and not food.  Thank God I was listening this morning b/c this is going to change my me...I just know it!  K-Love is posting daily entries on their blog directly from her book.  Today is Day 3 - if you want to join in go to this LINK and catch up - it's awesome!!


So, this IS going to work for me.  I think 2011 is going to be the absolute best year ever.

And the Winners Are...

Thank you, thank you, thank you ALL for entering the drawing.  I have read each and every inspiring resolution and I must say that you guys ROCK!  Let me just say that I'm glad I didn't have to choose winners based on the resolutions because that would have been nearly impossible.  I will be praying that each of your resolutions end up being accomplishments.


I used Random.org to originate the numbers from 1-168 (number of blog comments after a few disqualifications).  


Without further ado, here are the winners!  Congratulations to the winners below.  Please visit my website and schedule your appointments within the next 6 months.


The Grand Prize Winner, a Free Session with their Digital Files, a $350 value...
86 Chuck Harrelson

The runner up, a $150 gift certificate...
141  Ashley Roberts

For the $100 Gift Certificates...
108:  Genia Lynn Kearney
102:  Kat Palmer

And for the $50 Gift Certificates...
9  Candice Cherry
80  Lisa Miller
150 Alicia Shelley

And as an added bonus everyone who entered will receive 1 FREE digital file if you book a session in 2011!  Happy New Year!