I forgot the pictures!!

I'm not exactly sure what just happened.  My last post was supposed to be about this great family I had in this week, and I got a little sidetracked.  (I know, I know, ME, get SIDETRACKED?!  Never!)

ANYway.  they were so cool.  I just got a new piece of equipment in, and they had the misfortune of being the ones I decided to start using it with  (note to other photographers:  

Always practice with new equipment on clients - it's so professional looking  - especially when you can't figure out how to use it!  :)   But they were really cool with it.  And still cool w

hen I gave up and switched to something else.  And did it AGAIN.  Seriously.  It was that kind of day.  :)  But they were great!  The mom and I had been playing phone tag for so long when we were planning this session that at one point, we almost didn't connect.  (I believe the word "stalker" was used in a conversation, and it a really funny way,  which doesn't happen that often.)  I'm so glad we did connect, because she was so nice to work with (the whole family was great).  And is this not the most adorable little guy you've ever seen?  Barely a week old, and just as cute as can be!

Spring already??

The cherry blossoms are blooming, and March is almost over.  And it's freaking me out ever so slightly.  Because I'm not quite done with Christmas.  I realized this when, during our annual Easter Egg Hunt and Chocolate Gorge, that my son had found an egg next to the Jingle Bell tree that was still stuck in the ground in the front yard.  I would have been embarrassed except that nobody else seemed even remotely surprised.  (I know, that should have made it worse, and yet, it didn't!)  I'm always the last house to take down the decorations.  I once left my tree up until February.  And it was alive at one point, so by the time we took it down, it only had about half its needles left.  I have this great Halloween door sign that says, "Keep Out".  It's on the outside of the front door.  I never go in the front door.   I use the back door.  So I didn't remember it was even there until I went to hang my jingle bell wreath for Christmas.  I can only assume that everyone thought I was just a very bad hostess.  (And I kind of am, but mostly out of sheer laziness, and not any desire to chase people away.)  But the holiday thing - there really are two types of people in the world - the ones who take their tree down on Christmas day (or if they're feeling festive, Dec 26th), and those who take it down under protest, and usually weeks later.  I'm the second kind.  I want the good stuff to last.  I want to have that fuzzy holiday feeling.  I want to get the belated birthday card a week after my birthday, because it makes me feel like it's still my birthday, if only for a few more minutes.  And I want babyhood to last. (and last and last.)  And my baby, my newborn, my tiniest wee beasty, is turning 2 on Thursday.  How the heck did that happen?   I don't want her to be a kid yet.  I'm okay with the toddler stage, because she's just barely not a baby anymore.  And I love that her words only sometimes sound vaguely like what they are supposed to.  I love that she says, "peash" instead of "please", and "Dat Too" is her name for her pacifier (day 3 of it being for bedtime only!).  And my son, my little boy who is only 6 1/2, said his first swear word this week (in his defense, he had no idea it was on the banned list).  We went from peash to that, practically overnight.   And I'm not ready for it.  I'm not done with him being my little guy.  I'm not done with  her being my baby.   I know there are so many more wonderful things to come with both of them, but I'm not done with this part yet.  I need it to slow down, just for a little while.  

 

A lot of Y in my studio

Y chromosome, that is.  4 boys.  Fantastically fun, hysterically crazy.  ALL boy.  I had the best time in the session, I don't think I ever stopped laughing.  But trying to get 4 boys to face the camera at the same time?  hahahahahaha

    

stories in my head

So of course everyone sees things differently (natch!), but one of the things that I love about photography is that when I see an  image, I create this whole story in my mind about what's going on.  I can't look at a picture and not hear conversations and feel their emotions.  (Although I don't think the people staring back at me can really see me, because that would make me CRAZY).  And I love this picture, because of that.  The woman on the left is grandma, and the one on the right is HER mom.  And in my mind, the great-grandma is looking at her great-granddaughter and remembering how small that woman to her right use to be, how she nursed and held and loved that baby more than anything.  And she can't believe it was so long ago, because she just had her *yesterday*, it went by so fast.

So, yeah, I tend to project a little bit.  :)

I am not a morning person

I go to bed at 2.  Please don't call before 9 am.  Or after 9 pm, since everyone else is sleeping (my work number is a cell phone, and I've always got it with me).  I want to talk to you, I really do.  But if you call before 9, I won't remember the conversation, because I'll be having it in my sleep.  :)

shiny happy people holding hands....

And one not-so-happy baby.  :)  The funny thing is, a minute before, and a minute after, she was happy as a clam.  

I am so glad this family came out - we had spoken on the phone a few times, and I couldn't wait to meet them.  They were so much fun!  (and now know so much about me they could probably blackmail me if they wanted to!  I've GOT to slow down on the caffeine during sessions!)  :)

it's good to be the king

This little guy (yep, the same one from earlier this week) came back for a few more, and was in a much happier mood this time.  Yay!

In other news, SEPPA is VERY SLOW about posting the print scores.  Don't they realize we're biting our nails??   (well, not literally, but darn close!)

Best hair ever!

I think this might even top Josie's lightsocket hair.  I don't know  - it's kinda hard to top your own wee beastie with anything.  :)  But seriously, I loved this little guy's hair!  

And in case you haven't noticed, I've been working on a new warm-tone B&W.  I'm loving this.

(And no, didn't pack a single thing.  Although I did manage to put a puzzle together, did about 20 baby flips (i.e., flipping the baby over, not ME), and saw The Other Boleyn Girl.  :)

Oh!  And the SEPPA print scores are coming in - so far, I know I have at least one merit print (yay!).  I'll post the rest of the results later.

And for those of you who haven't ordered  your prints, or even worse, haven't proofed (!!)   - YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE - I'm about to start harassing you with annoying phone calls and emails.   Just thought I'd warn you.  :)

-e

I'll never get the house packed at this rate

Because what am I supposed to be doing today? Packing. Editing, too, but mostly packing. I planned for it. I scheduled for it. I have music for it (anyone who's ever been in my studio knows I do NOTHING without music... and apparently lipstick, as I discovered this week, but that's an entirely different story). But back to the packing thing. We've got about a month to get it all moved and I really wanted to be living as if we HAD to have it done by mid-march or so. And instead, what am I doing? Playing with your pictures. :) I had two shoots this week that I really want to share.

The first, this little guy just wasn't a happy camper for a lot of the session, and we'll probably end up shooting a few more, until I'm happy that I captured everything I wanted (because, of course, it's all about me! haha). But there were plenty showing his adorableness, so I'm not displeased. :) He's got the most beautiful eyes, and when he did smile, they just lit up. I loved it!



And the second shoot, this morning, was of a client who I never want to leave. She comes over and we just talk and talk and talk... and take some pictures too, but mostly talk. (And I swear, it's not all me talking!) She's so much fun! And baby G is soooo cute! I remember when she was just a belly bump (okay, it wasn't THAT long ago). I love those curls. This child passed out halfway through the shoot, and since her mom and I are always in sync with which images we like, I got to play around more with what I was shooting, and how I processed them after. I loved how these turned out.



So I suppose I should go pack some books or something now.

And today!

   So I had two faaaaaabulous sessions today (failing miserably in my plan to have one per weekend).  But this was cool - they work for the same organization and know each other, but didn't know the other knew me.  I'm constantly amazed at what a small town this is.  I had a great time with both families.  I could have hung out all day and talked with both of them. (And not just because I'm chatty, I swear!)  They were really fun.

So here's one of each...  

 

I'm back!

Did you miss me?  :)

So - quick highlights (and a lowlight) of Portsmouth VPPA Convention:

1.  New friends: Tracy, Barbi,  Skinny James, and a Eurasian ex-model named G (and many more, I just can't think of everyone off the top of my head.  Y'all know I'm bad with names.)

2.  Toga Party: apparently a larger sheet doesn't mean a safer toga, it just means a bigger toga.  They are just as difficult to keep in place. (and no, there are no pictures.  Thank goodness.)

3.  Shark:  I won $700 (pretend) at blackjack

4.  Blech:   Enough bad things from the hotel that I really don't want to stay there again

5.  3 BLUE RIBBONS:  Whoo hoo!  And one court of honor for my entry in the journalism category.  (And 3 red ribbons, but the blues are the ones that really matter.)  I'm thrilled.  Of course.

6.  Steff falling asleep during print comp:  (3 hours of sleep+4 hours of driving+sitting in a quiet dark room all day)

And now I'm back.  :)

Toga! Toga! Toga!

hehehe. Okay, enough of that silliness. I'm not here. I'm in Portsmouth, at the Virginia Professional Photographers Association and Toga Party. (Yes, there is a theme party, and being something of a geek in college, nee, all my life, I'm perfectly happy to be a big dork now, too.)

I know several of you have left messages and emails this week and I promise to get back to you as soon as I get back. Have a great week!

-e

So many things going on...

I wish I had time to write about all of them right now! Quick summary - I am booked, completely booked, through the end of April. After that, I'm not taking any appointments until I know what is going to be happening to my house. We're going to be doing an addition on the house, and there will be a giant dumpster parked right in front of the studio door for awhile. Until the timing of that is figured out, I just can't schedule after April yet. I am happy to send out the studio info brochure, and take names to call back when something changes, but for now, I just can't do it.

My big plan, to take fewer clients, isn't going quite as I'd hoped. Apparently, I've become the girl from Oklahoma, the one who caint say no. :) I'm doing better - but I do have a backlog of work and I'm trying to get it finished as quickly as I can before the walls come tumblin' down. If you've called in the last few days and haven't heard back from me, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be a ditz. But I am trying to keep some balance in my life with the kids, and sometimes that means that it might take me a day or two to call you back. I want to get to know you when you call, and that takes time. I have very rarely had someone call that after speaking with them, I wasn't excited to work with them. (Wow, were there enough negatives in that sentence? I practically needed to diagram it to make sure I said what I meant!) Seriously - I don't know if I'm just really lucky, or my clients are self-selecting out for fabulousness, but everyone I've worked with in the last several months has been fantastic.

Here's a sample bit of fabulousness. This wee thing was running around the entire time we were shooting. I am pretty sure this was the only moment she stood in one place for more than 3 seconds. It was wild!

Coming up very soon (next week) is the Virginia Professional Photographers Association annual convention and toga party. (I only wish I were joking about that last part. Thank god we have a king-sized bed. Those twin sheets from college would be pretty skimpy on me now!)

All sorts of greatness happens at the convention. My favorite part? Print Competition. It's the first step in the process of getting merits toward degrees (which I'm working toward) and it's a wonderful way to thicken up a thin skin. These judges can be hard on your ego. They are looking for the best, and if you're not up to par, they let you know. I've got a few ribbons to my name, and have never had a print bomb before, but there's always a first time. Even Babe Ruth didn't hit it out of the park every time. I can enter six prints, and I'm still not sure which six of the several I've printed are going to make it in. I'm thinking of entering the sweetie in this post. I love this picture. I'll let y'all know how it goes. If it goes well, you won't be able to shut me up about it. If it doesn't go so well? Well, then I'm going to pretend this conversation never took place. If the government can do it, so can I! :)

Anyway, I'm off to edit. After all, it's only just after midnight. :)

Later, gators!

Today's session

So the last time I saw this little guy, he was brand new. Not just to me, but to the world. And it was almost exactly a year ago. And now look at him! It was great seeing him and his family again. I love watching my babies grow up (yes, I'm very possessive of my clients!)

Jayanne!

This message is just for Jayanne. I got your message - I know you're reading the blog. But the last email I sent you bounced back to me. Send me an email! I miss you!

Okay, now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

That sure went by fast

It wasn't that long ago that I was photographing this little guy, when he was REALLY little. And now I'm photographing his baby sister. Seriously, that was REALLY fast!

I love Tampa

Okay, technically, I didn't really get to see much of the city. But I had a great time there, and almost everyone I met was lovely. Including the TSA people at the airport. Actually, especially the TSA people at the airport. Who knew they could have a sense of humor? I guess being in Florida just brings it out in you.

Why was I in Tampa, you may be asking? (Assuming you haven't read my blog before....) Because I went to Imaging USA, the hugely gigantic seminar and tradeshow jamboree put on by PPA, the Professional Photographers of America (of which I am proudly a member, and certified by them to boot!) I saw some great speakers, came home with some new ideas (my new motto: What Would MacGuiver Do?) I don't even want to think about how much money I spent on samples. But y'all are going to loooove what I ordered. Jewelry. Bags. Frames. Oooh la la. Some veddy veddy nice new things. Oh! And I got my floors! My contractor installed them while I was gone. So I left a mess and came home to lovely, lovely floors (with a mess on top).

And also, to sick children. Apparently, there's a GI bug going around. Sick toddler. Sick 6 year old. 4 days I couldn't go into the studio. My policy is that if one of my kids is sick beyond a sniffle, I don't go into the studio for 24 hours after they've recovered. I've come to terms with the fact that I'm a bit of a germ phobe, and I cant' stand the the possibility that I might carry something yucky into the studio. I don't want anyone to get sick. I appreciate the understanding of my clients this week when I had to reschedule them not once, but twice (kid 1 was sick on Wednesday, kid 2 was sick on Friday). And now everyone is better. Yay!

Oh! One more thing - the 2008 price list is finally done. Drop me a line and I'm happy to send you one. Cheers!

the best laid plans...

So the plan was to finish editing the first week of December and have a sane holiday with the kids. Hahahahaha.

Yeah. Didn't actually go that way, it turns out. Instead, I was racing to finish editing right up until the day before the lab closed (technically, a day ahead of 2006's schedule!) and delivered the last batch of prints on Christmas eve. And then I had to stop. Just for a few days, but I had to not think about photography, other than taking snapshots of my wee beasties. I spent a few days after the holidays working on the 2008 price list and have got it about halfway finished. The basic prices are there; now I am working on the packages, trying to fit what people seem to want the most with what I want people to have. The basic gist of it is that session fees are going up a bit. I really enjoy spending time with each client, and I want to make this as fulfilling an experience as possible. And that means that I have to take on fewer clients at any given time.

Are you nodding off yet? I know this isn't the most exciting stuff. :) So I'll let you know when it's all done. If you're interested in an updated price list, go ahead and send me an email. I'm happy to send you one.

But speaking of emails, if you send me anything in the next several days, you will only get an automated response. Why? Because at a ridiculously early hour tomorrow, I'm getting on a plane and headin' to Tampa. And it's not for football. Sorry, btw, to all you football fans heading to Tampa and having to stay 20 miles out of town due to the lack of available hotel rooms. But I booked my room in April. I'm going to Imaging USA - the annual convention and tradeshow for the Professional Photographers of America. It's huge. It's amazing. And I always come back excited, inspired, and full of fantastic ideas of what to do for the next year. I'm going to be incommunicado for the next few days, as I'm not bringing my laptop with me. I'll have my phone, but it will be set on stun for most of the time. I will be in sessions all day and don't want to be that annoying person in the back who can't turn their phone off for even a minute, and are chatting away with their best friend, mindless of the rest of us who keep giving them dirty looks. (No, I'm going to be the one texting everyone instead. :) )

I'll be back very late Tuesday night, and will start returing calls mid-day on Wednesday. (Wednesday morning, my wee-est (weeest?) beastie is having her first swimming class, so I'll be otherwise occupied.)

I hope everyone is having a fabulous 2008 so far. I know we're only 4 days in, but so far, I've been pleased.

Oh! I almost forgot!! My printer used my holiday card picture to send to their clients, which just tickled me to death. Here's what it looked like:

Well, I guess I can't put off packing any longer. My flight is in about 10 hours, and at some point, I need to sleep. :) Cheers!

And it was pretty perfect

We had a few technical hitches, but it actually went pretty smoothly! We raised $5200, which just tickles me to death. Lots of people purchased two files, which was great. We're definitely going to try it again next year, although this time, maybe not over Thanksgiving. (The pressure of Christmas deliveries is almost too much for me!) Huge thanks go out to Vickie, Stephanie, Julia, Andrew, and Kris. I couldn't have pulled this off without all of your help. Next time we do this, I promise to bring a wider variety of CDs. I appreciate that nobody complained about having to listen to my 5 CDs over and over (and over). :)

In other news - the studio will be closed for most of December, in order to allow us time to get out everyone's orders and still spend a sane holiday with our own kids. If you haven't placed your order by now, shame on you. You've got three more days. Which is about 2 weeks longer than I had hoped, but it is what it is. :) All slideshows will be coming offline as we redo the website (yes, new pictures! Finally!)

We are currently scheduling sessions in late January and early February. Part of the studio break is to redo the price and product lists. I'm no longer sending out 2007 Price lists, since we're not scheduling anything else in 2007. The new information packages should be out in a couple weeks. (Gotta get these orders in first!)

Speaking of which, I better get back to it. Thanks to all of you who participated in One Perfect Portrait. I... well, I'm still pretty speechless about the whole thing. And for me to be speechless, that takes a lot! :)

Cheers!

One Perfect Portrait and Holiday Schedule

Wow. I posted a few messages about the One Perfect Portrait benefit (www.oneperfectportrait.com), and within 24 hours, all the sessions were booked. Amazing! I'm so excited about doing this. I can't wait to meet everyone who signed up.

So as it is with most people, the end of the year is so busy, and everyone wants to have their pictures for the holidays. I want them to have them for the holidays. And I want to spend the holidays with my children. So - here's the deal. The last studio session is the weekend before Thanksgiving (and yes, we are very happy about being fully booked!) The weekend after Thanksgiving is One Perfect Portrait. Monday, November 26th (midnight that night) is the deadline for ordering anything for this year. Images from OPP will be put online Saturday and Sunday evening, and you will have the opportunity to order other images, but they must be ordered by midnight on the 26th. (Okay, in all reality, I'm not going to be watching the clock. Orders have to be in my mailbox by the time I get home from taking my son to school on Tuesday morning. :) )The week following, I will be spending every waking moment working on everyone's order, and running back and forth to the bathroom because of the copious amounts of coffee I will be drinking. :) They go to the printer. I take a huge breath and hope everything comes back perfect. Things happen, prints get redone. It's all good. They come back, get packaged and invoiced, I call you, and by mid-December, everyone should have their orders in time to mail them off. Anything ordered after November 26th will not be printed until January.

So in December, when we're closed, we're (hopefully) getting new floors in the studio (yay!), new curtains, and I may even finally finish painting the walls, since there will be plenty of time for it to air out. (okay, that's just a dream, really. But the curtains and floors are for real.) And yes, we're redoing the price list. It had to happen sooner or later. :)

In other news - Marirosa Anderson, Julia MacInnis, and I went to a seminar last week at Loudon Hospital for the bereavement training, and gave a presentation on Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. It was very well received, and I was overwhelmed with how encouraging and nice everyone was. This organization is only a few years old, and we're still trying to get the word out, both to the hospitals and to other photographers who may be interested in volunteering. If you're a photographer and you think this might be something you're able to do, please, call me or email me and let's chat a bit about it. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. The more photographers are involved, the better it will be for everyone.

It's up!

I'm very excited to announce that the website for the One Perfect Portrait benefit is up and running! Please go have a look - and check out the other photographers who are participating, too. It's going to be a fantastic weekend.

www.OnePerfectPortrait.com

Thank you!

I'd just like to say thank you to all of you for the interest in my work. The past few days, I suspect someone has been going around saying nice things about me, because I am now officially booked for the rest of the year. I am happy to keep your name and number in case there's a cancellation, and when you're working with children, that's always a possibility. But in the meanwhile, I'm happy to schedule sessions starting again in January. And if you're looking for holiday pictures, there is the special session in November. Thanks again!

Here's one of my favorites from last night's session:

Lost, found, and busy!

Wow - it's going to be a busy fall! I am completely booked for September and most of October and November. If you are interested in scheduling a session, there are a few days left at the end of October and mid-November. The last scheduled session date will be November 18th. The studio will be closed for the month of December, in order for us to complete the orders for Christmas. If you are interested in having pictures done for the holidays and aren't able to schedule a session, remember there will be the charity event on the 24th and 25th of November, with 20 minute mini sessions.

Are you the mother of a baby girl, and have misplaced your diaper bag? Are you missing shirts, bracelets, or onesies? If so, I think I know a good place to start looking: my studio! :) My 'lost & found' bag is starting to overflow, and I don't know who these things belong to. Some have been here for a while, some are fairly new. If you have misplaced something, let me know. I might have it!

School started last week. Josie is feeling it worst of all. She's so used to playing with her big brother all day long, that she just doesn't know what to do with herself. I've already started calling friends asking them for playdates - for me! And the latest with Josie - the happiest baby on the block has turned into a full-fledged drama queen. We've had several instances of her throwing herself on the floor, prostrate with anger, banging her hands and feet, and wailing as if she just found out that all the pacifiers in the world had been recalled. It's really hard not to laugh when it happens, because it's pretty darn cute. :)

babies, babies

This has been a fabulous weekend for babies. 3 month old twin boys (we did a lot of laundry after that shoot!), and a five day old baby girl. I thought she was the youngest to be in the studio, but I was corrected - I photographed her big sister when she was only 4 days old (the 'stacked' family on the website). Any earlier than that, and they've been done on location. :)

This fall is looking to be fairly exciting! I'm going on a photo safari in New Hampshire in October. It was invitation-only, and I was so surprised when I was called. Some of the best portrait photographers in the country have been invited, and I was honored to be included. (New England in the fall - does it get any nicer? Well... maybe October in Virginia... but it's a close call!)

Also in October, the Fall Seminar for the VPPA will be in Fredericksburg. My favorite is the print critique. I've been entering prints into competition for a few years now, and the critiques are one of the best ways to prepare for comps. A table of judges telling you what's good - and bad - about your images. It can be hard to listen to, but you always learn something. It's just one of the ways that I, and all the other PPA and state affiliate photographers, work to improve the quality of our images.

In November, we're going to be hosting our fundraiser, benefiting Doorways for Women & Children, Arlington Pediatric Clinic, and Arlingtonians Meeting Emergency Needs. It will be held the weekend after Thanksgiving, and the press release will be coming out in mid-September. Keep checking back for information. I'm really looking forward to it!

So here's one from this weekend. (More to follow after the mom has seen them.) Enjoy!

-e

A few from this weekend

Because the light can change how a location looks, I try to check out a few local parks whenever I've got a session coming up. I want to make sure that it looks like I remember. And my kids are my favorite test bunnies. :) Here are a few at the rose garden in Arlington. It's a gorgeous place. And afterwards, the kids got to play in the sandbox and playground, so everyone was happy!

And this little guy LOVED climbing all over his dad's hockey equipment. I have only seen hockey games from the stands (and tv, of course). I had no idea the pads and gloves were that big! I'm even more impressed that those guys can move as gracefully as they do.