I’ve photographed the most adorable baby girls recently. I had to share some favorite images. So adorable!!!
one of my all time mother/daughter favs. Look at her sweet hand on her Mommy’s face - sweetness!
When I look at these images, it reminds me how much I not only love my job, but how much I believe in my industry. I think that when it’s all said and done and we look back on our life it will be our memories and all of the things that remind us of our memories that will be some of our greatest treasures. It won’t be our house or our cars or our shoes (well ok, I will probably still treasure my shoes… just a little, and I hope I’m still rockin’ some high heels when I’m 80 :-). I’m happy that I get to be a part of preserving memories for families and it’s an honor and a privilege to do something that I believe in. There is a saying that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. Well, that’s crap :-) It’s still hard work, especially the behind the scenes stuff. However, the part when I’m out shooting with clients, getting to know them, building trust with their little ones, laughing and running and jumping with them and in the process, making memories……that part is always magical for me and never seems like work.
I promise I’m not trying to talk you in to booking a session with me - ha!!!! BUT, find somebody that you trust to share your vision for your images and capture those memories. I promise you won’t be sorry.
This first one I just adore beyond words. I love everything about it. I had originally pictured the truck in the middle of the orchard, but Erin and I both agreed it would be gorgeous parked under this cherry tree….and it was don’t you think? I love the light and the feeling of love it represents and I also love that my kids are being totally random behind us!!!!…..because let’s face it, kids are totally random a lot of the time, especially mine it seems ;-)
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I was behind Erin for this next one. Pretty sure I was talking about buggers here. What ever it takes to get the shot people!!! 
Adam and I are getting ready to celebrate our 10 year anniversary this summer and so I asked Erin if she would do a few images of just Adam and I. She probably spent a good half our with just us. It was really fun to do these and I would encourage every couple to do the same! I like to think about how much our kids will enjoy looking at these one day. I mean you get married and have all these wedding pictures of the two of you and then it’s like you go M.I.A in pictures for several years and it’s all about pictures of the kids. I’m all about having lots of pictures of your kids (obviously), but I think it’s important to celebrate the love that was there before the kids were. In fact, I’m working on a special session for just this very thing, so stay tuned. Guys, this will be an opportunity to score some MAJOR points with your wife!!!!!!
Like every other female I know, I always complain about pictures of myself, but I do really love how these turned out. Just ignore my wrinkles Thanks to Adam for being totally on board with these and making me laugh in the process. It is his sense of humor that I first fell in love with.
Oh and I just have to say that my husband looks totally HOT in these!
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this next one is my favorite so far
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Did your kids enjoy the snow this week? Mine sure did. It doesn’t take a lot of snow to make these kids happy. I missed the last snow (long, sad story of me and a friend spending 7 hours at the airpot, only to come home again) so I was glad I got to capture a few images of the kids enjoying the snow this time. They came in soaking wet from head to toe and frozen, but they had a blast!
Had to post a few images of this little beauty I photographed a few weeks ago. Isn’t she just stunning? Look at those beautiful blue eyes!
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p.s. - Photo credit for this one goes to my son, Colby
I have felt very conflicted about what is happening in
It is heartwarming to see how many people unite towards a common good when something like this happens. Wouldn’t it be something if we all used our "powers" for good instead of evil? If they did, the conditions pre-earthquake would have been different. I have been inspired by stories of people who have gone to help, by those that have given their time and talent to help the people in Haiti and I knew I wanted to help, I just had not sorted it all out in my head exactly how that would be. I even went to the Red Cross website to see if they were still sending people there (they are not in case you were wondering). Then this past Sunday, I received the message I needed to kick it in to high gear and formulate a plan to help. My church just happens to be doing a series right now on compassion and the message I heard Sunday, begged the question, "What are you spending your time and resources on? Are you working towards goals that are of and for yourself or are you leaving eternal footprints in this world?" We sang this song by Brandon Heath, one of my favorites…you may have heard it on the radio:
GIVE ME YOUR EYES:
Look down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Touch down on the cold black top
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breath in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos
All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me you heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see
Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide what’s underneath
There’s a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He’s out of work, He’s buying time
I’ve been here a million times
A couple of million eyes
Just move and pass me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong
I need a second glance
Give me a second chance
To see the way you’ve seen the people all along
I happened to see a friend on Facebook join the group Compassion on Facebook. I went to check it out and from there my plan took shape. This organization has been working in
SO, HERE"S THE DEAL:
I will be donating ALL SESSION FEES during the month of March to the organization Compassion. I will also be offering a special "Compassion Session" for $50 and all of these sessions fees will be donated to Compassion as well. The compassion session will be 30 minutes long with 10 finished proofs and you will receive an 8×10. Additional prints may be purchased, but are not required
So, I know my blog entries have been few and far between lately. Don’t worry, I’m still here and hope to become a regular on here again. As some you already know, my husband’s job has for the past several months required him to travel about 50% of the time and will for the foreseeable future. Whoah! Needless to say, this has rocked our world a bit. I definitely have a new found respect for single moms….how do they do it? This started during my busiest time of year, so for a couple of months I felt like I was just in "survival" mode. It has definitely been a test of endurance (and patience) but I feel that I am finally regaining my footing with my new "normal" and am, with God’s grace, gaining stride each week.. It has made me realize and appreciate even more than I did how helpful and amazing my husband is. I think the turning point for me was several weeks back while I was working one morning at Starbucks. One of the many things I love about my job is that I can take my "office" with me, and I usually find myself at a Starbucks near my house. Besides the obvious reason for working there (to die for, yummy coffee drinks with lots of sugar and caffene!!!) I love the busy chatter of working in a public place. I usually have headphones with me and really do not try to listen in on other people’s conversations, but let’s face it, sometimes you just can’t help it. On this particular day, I sat next to a man who was confiding to a friend that he had lost his job and feared that soon he would not be able to provide for his family. GUILT immediately sunk in to a pit in my stomach. I really did not think of myself as one to complain about Adam’s travel schedule, but I’ll be honest with you, occasionally I had myself a nice little pity party. I sat there though that morning realizing that not only did I not have one single thing to complain about, but moreover I should be thanking God every day for Adam’s job. My job has been a huge blessing to our family and to my soul in many ways, and has provided us with some “nice to haves” but it is Adam’s job that provides our “must haves” and I realized then that while I am very thankful for that, I really had not been showing gratitude in the way I should have. Yes, I was put in my place on that morning in the coffee shop and God had put the exact person in my path that I needed. Sometimes you need a good kick in the pants and that was definitely mine. I said a prayer right then for that Man, that he would find a job. I do hope that since then he has found one.
So yes life is busy right now to say the least, but very, very blessed.
And because no blog post is the same with out a picture, here are a few recent favorites of my own:
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It’s that time of year again - Valentine’s mini-sessions! These sessions always so much F-U-N and if my session fee has held you back in the past, this is definitely your chance!! Mini-sessions are simply a shorter version of a session with me, with only one outfit selection and fewer finished images. They are fast and fun for the kids. They are a great way to get some gorgeous images of your children, prints AND custom designed valentine’s for a fraction of what these would normally cost. These sessions are not ideal for clients who are envisioning multiple outfit selections or who feel their child may need more time to warm up and feel comfortable with me. If this is the case, I would recommend a regular session and investing in one of my new print packages.
As usual, mini-sessions are booked on a first come, first served basis and because of the time crunch involved in getting finished products to clients before Valentine’s Day, mini-sessions are ONLY available on the two dates offered.
Here is what is included in the mini-session:
25 minute session (one outfit selection)
private, password protected, online viewing gallery with 10 finished images
10 5×7 or smaller images
1 8×10
25 custom Valentine’s cards
COST: $300 ($175 savings!)
Dates: Friday, January 15th and Tuesday, January 19th (am sessions only)
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Ok, I’m making up for lost time by posting twice in one day :-) Here are just a few images from the past couple of months. Too many to include, but here are a few:
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WOW, this is the longest I’ve ever gone with out blogging! I am still here, just finally catching my breath from a very busy fall. After we returned from Disney I was in full swing with fall and family sessions and getting cards and prints out to everyone before Christmas. As usual, I had a blast this fall photographing children and families during my favorite season. I will post a few favorites very soon. Here is our Christmas Card for this year. The front, I had envisioned since last Christmas and it took a couple of shoots to get it right, but I loved the way it turned out.
As we head in to this new year I am excited about so many things. I plan to give the website a revamp, complete with new music and will be posting info this week about my Valentine’s mini-sessions.
Happy New Year!
Connie
