So, I have been wanting to introduce a new kind of session to the mix, ever since I experienced it for myself.  Last spring I commissioned the lovely and talented Erin Sage to photograph our family (who totally rocks by the way!!), and I also wanted to take time out and have her photograph Adam and I together. It occurred to me that in the last several years, there was hardly a picture of just the two of us together. The ones we did have were just a posed snapshot, certainly nothing that represented our marriage and our relationship in a meaningful way. I realized that I have albums and computer folders full of images of the kids that I love (seriously, you don’t even want to know what % of my hard drive is images of my OWN kids so clearly it’s a priority of mine to capture beautiful and meaningful images of them.  But isn’t my marriage just as important or as the bible teaches us, even MORE so?  So why in the world does it not even cross my mind to make it a priority to capture images of this relationship as well?  Well, I finally fixed that!!!!! Images from that session are now sprinkled through out our bedroom and bathroom and I love looking at them every single day. I also love that my children see them every day.  I’m not going to lie and tell you I’m not critical of myself in them and that I don’t see my flaws, and those irritating and unavoidable tiny lines that have started to form, because I do, but that is not what I choose to focus on.  Instead I choose to focus on the love and the laughter and the memories in the images. Here are a few favorites from our session with Erin:

If you have never been photographed with the love in your life before I HIGHLY recommend that you take the time and make it a priority to DO IT!!!!  I can honestly say that I had so much fun with these from the process of shooting them to the finished product, hung in our room.    Adam may tell you that he was just being a good sport, but I think he enjoyed it more than he thought he would   I know I will continue to enjoy these images as the years go by (and I think to myself, goodness, I just THOUGHT I had wrinkles back then :-)  I also like to think about what fun pieces from the past these will be for our children one day too. 

So……all of this leads me to my new session offering which I’m calling "Just Because Sessions".  Just because you have kids doesn’t mean that your marriage is any less important!!!!!! :-)   Just because you think you need to loose 10 pounds is no reason to keep putting portraits off, year after year!!!!  Just because you are beautiful and so is your marriage is a good enough reason to have beautiful images captured.  And the list goes on……..

These sessions are great for couples at so many stages of life, whether you are getting ready to or just celebrated a 5 or 10, 25th or 50th+ anniversary, or JUST BECAUSE you love each other at what ever age or stage you are in!!!  These sessions are designed specifically for couples (a.k.a get a sitter and leave the kids at home!!).

Here are a few images of Mr. and Mrs. "H" who recently celebrated their 10 year anniversary and allowed me to capture their love:

INTRO SPECIAL!!!!!

As an intro special for these new sessions I am going to offer them at HALF PRICE through April.  You don’t necessarily have to schedule in April, but the session must be purchased in April to receive the discount.  GENTS, just letting you know that you would get HUGE, major bonus points for surprising your wife or girlfriend with this.  I know the thought of pictures is probably less than thrilling, but I promise it will be a lot more fun than you think!  Call or email today to take advantage of these sessions at half price and JUST BECAUSE I’m feeling super nice I’ll even throw in an 8×10!!!  INTRO Price for 1 hour session and 8×10 is $75.  Can you say EXCELLENT Mother’s Day present???!!!!!!!!  

WHEW!!!! What a CRAZY past couple of months this has been. Right after my fall rush, in mid-December, we got a contract on our house and just four weeks ago moved to a brand new home that is perfect for our family. The time in between was literally a whirlwind (I’m tired just thinking about it) but we are finally feeling somewhat settled and are happy to be in a home we feel we can stay in for many years. I am also excited to get back to a normal work schedule and start on all of my spring sessions. I promise to fill you in very soon in more detail, complete with pictures, but I wanted to get information out as soon as possible about spring mini-sessions since they are fast approaching.I know you have adorable spring outfits for your children that you are dying to have them photographed in, and HERE IS YOUR CHANCE!!!! Mini-sessions are a great, affordable way to get some fabulous images of your little ones and families. My mini-session for the spring is only $75, yes you read that right, and includes an 11×14 WALL PORTRAIT!!   Read more below and call or email ASAP to reserve your time.

Half price sessions, ONE DAY ONLY!!!!  These make GREAT Christmas gifts!  Sessions purchased as a gift come beautifully packaged!!    Cyber Monday sessions must take place between January 1st and March 31st.   Email connie@sugarplumphotography.com to purchase. 

Hope you all had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving! 

ahhhh, don’t you just love this time of year?   I love the way the air changes, and the way the late afternoon light is so golden and yummy.  I love  pumpkin patch outings, apple cider and the beautiful color of the trees.  I LOVE the pumpkin spice latte at STARBUCKS.  I also LOVE shooting fall sessions.  I have been working my fanny off lately, but have enjoyed working with some truly lovely families.   I wanted to share some favorite images taken over the past couple of weeks.  For some families this may be a sneak peek.  I am editing fast and furious when I’m not shooting and will have the rest of these sessions posted next week.  In the mean time here is a little taste of fall….

Every year around this time of year I ask for your help in nominating families who would benefit from a custom portrait session, FREE of charge. I always end my regular shooting for the year in November and use December to finish up Christmas orders and also to select a few of the families you send me to do a free session for. It’s that time of year again and I would love to hear from you about a family you think could use a happy surprise in their lives and would benefit from a photography session to capture their family memories. It could be a family who has experienced a financial or medical hardship or even a family you know of that is especially giving. I am always touched both by my wonderful clients and friends who take time to send me recommendations as well as by the actual stories. I wish I could pick all of them, but I do appreciate your taking the time to think of a deserving family. Please contact me at connie@sugarplumphotography if you know of such a family. I need all recommendations by November 7th. The families chosen will receive a free session, 8×10 and CD of all of their images.

Thanks again for your help with this project. My clients have such BIG HEARTS!
Warmly,
Connie

I’m offering some amazing fall specials good though the end of November, just in time for Holiday shopping!!!

Half price For Keeps CD! Regular price $1,000, NOW $500 through the end of November!
FREE gallery wrap collage with a $600 print purchase!!!

I had the privilige of photographing the youngest, tiniest newborn I’ve ever photographed this morning and he is just precious.  This family just got home from the hospital last night.  Doesn’t mom look AMAZING?   I think maybe I’ll just call her Wonder Woman from now on. 

Arriving 3 weeks early, Jackson Lanier  is 3 DAYS old in these images :-)   He is really one of the most beautiful newborns I have ever photogrpahed.  Here is a sneak peek for Mom and Dad. 

This is a new favorite of mine!

Here it is - the scoop on fall mini-sessions!  These are booked on a first come first served basis and will fill up very quickly.  Please email or call to reserve your time!

I will be hosting a Matilda Jane party tomorrow, Thursday Sept. 2nd at 7pm.  The new fall line came out yesterday and it is ADORABLE!!!  They have some great pieces for women this time around too    I would love to invite any of my clients to stop by, have some coffee and dessert and check out the new line.  I will be giving away one mini-session and CD of images to one lady as the door prize so feel free to bring a friend, or two! 

If you would like to order, but can’t make it tomorrow please email me connie@sugarplumphotography.com with the items you would like, your address and best contact # and I will make sure we place your order tomorrow. 

People ask me all the time what clothing I recommend for portraits and if you have a little girl I really can’t recommend anything more adorable than MJC!   I love that their clothes have so much personality and the people that run the company really have great hearts. 

Here are a few of my favorite pieces from the new line:

I already own this skirt and it is hands down the favorite in my closet.  I seriously wear it all the time!

Hello friends, clients and loyal blog followers.  Actually are there any loyal blog followers left out there?  I know my blog has been neglected over the summer, but never fear I am about to catch you right up!!!!!   The Hill Family has had a VERY BUSY summer.  Where do I start?  Well, let’s start with the thing that has consumed most of my energy and time this summer.  The Hill Family is preparing for a move!  No, we’re not moving far and we’re not moving right away, but it is in our future.  We spent a good chunk of the summer getting our house on the market and as many of you know who have sold a home, it was QUITE a process.  We have been in our house now for 10 years and can I just say that it is amazing how much JUNK you can collect in a house in 10 years.  I’m not even a pack rat and love to throw stuff away, and still I discovered as I gutted and organized each and every room in the house how much random stuff we had that WE DO NOT USE.  There is definitely something to be said about living simply and now that our house is half as full I plan to live that way forever.  I literally donated or threw away a garage full of STUFF and I am happy to report that our family has not missed a single thing.  I love living clutter free.  We also had a few renovations done to the house and it has been on the market now for about a month.  I’m actually really enjoying the house right now and will definitely have mixed feelings about moving from our first home, though we have definitely outgrown it.  I’m getting a little teary typing this actually.  I remember when Adam and I bought our home.  We saved every penny we made when we first got married and when we moved in we thought we’d moved in to a mansion!!!!    A few years later we filled up all of the empty rooms and it didn’t feel nearly as big :-)  We brought three babies home from the hospital to this house and Adam built the kids play set outside from scratch.  There are a LOT of beautiful memories in our home and I hope the next family that moves in will make many more.  I wish I could hand pick a sweet, young couple who will move in and build a family like we did, but honestly right now I’m just praying for a contract!!!! :-)  I know our move will be in God’s perfect timing and to be honest I’m not stressing about it.  After a lot of hard work we are just enjoying the house and looking forward to our move whether it’s a week or a year from now.  We plan to stay in Alpharetta, just a different area and to a house with a little more room.

It wasn’t all work this summer.  We had plenty of celebration this summer too.  Let’s start with this little man:

My little Graham turned 6 in July.   He is another year older and funnier and still lovin’ life to the fullest.  Graham is everybody’s friend and wants everyone to be his friend, a quality that will serve him well in life.  Those of you who know him know that you can’t be around Graham for long with out laughing.    Here are a few more images from his 6 year photoshoot with me.

Adam and I did some celebrating this summer.  We celebrated 10 years together in July with a trip to the BIG APPLE!  It was really special to get away and take a few days to celebrate our marriage and just spend time together.  We had an amazing time in NYC and I was so thankful to be there with such a FUN guy.  We really packed a lot in to just a few days.  Here are a few highlights:

 Adam and I decided to create our own piece of art from New York and photographed these letters as a momento of our trip.  This was really a fun project and I now have the letters hanging in our house.

Dinner at Lombardi’s in Little Italy after a full day of walking.  YUM…..

Here we are together!

We met the sweetest couple from Sweden while in line for stand by Jimmy Fallon tickets.  We ended up dancing on the "band bench" for that episode of Jimmy Fallon and stood next to our new friends.  Did you see us?

One of my favorite moments of the trip…a carriage ride though Central Park.  It’s a must on a visit to New York!!!  Adam surprised me with some new bling on this carriage ride as well which was a complete surprise.   You can’t see it well here, but he did an amazing job picking out the ring and also keeping it a secret!  I love it!

Finally, my sweet baby girl turned 4 in August.   We celebrated with a tea party at the house and Adam made each little girl their own cake.  It was really adorable and Scarlett loved it.   I have to post a few pictures of the cakes because Adam did such amazing job!

Here is a close up of one, but they were all different.  Here is an image of all of them:

They were gorgeous!

Here is one of Scarlett right before the party and below are a few images from her 4 year photoshoot with me.  We had a lot of fun doing these and I think they really reflect her personality.

See now you are all caught up!!! :-)  Everybody is back in school now which means I finally have a more normal work schedule.  I will be posting more information this week about fall and Christmas sessions.  Many of you have asked about mini-sessions and I will be posting the dates for that this week as well.  Stay tuned!!!!