Out of office reply

I'm so sorry if you're receiving 50 million emails from me with an out of office reply! This is truly a nightmare...

I was trying to set an out of office reply on Mac Mail and obviously I don't know what I was doing. I have turned the notification off so the emails should stop shortly! If you have ever sent me an email- it is going to reply to it with my reply message. I had it on for less than a minute but apparently the damage has been done. I CANNOT APOLOGIZE ENOUGH! I am also getting the replies back so I feel your pain. If there was ever a moment in time that I could take back- I would go back to the moment that I tried that and stop myself from creating such a monster!

I Googled it and followed the instructions and it didn't work. That's all I can say!


Again- I am SOOOOO sorry!

New show

I just came across a new show which I have a feeling I will need to watch from now on. The Rachel Zoe Project on Bravo. She is a top Hollywood celebrity stylist and the show is essentially the behind the scenes footage of her job. I love her style and LOVE seeing all of the clothes!

I just can't imagine what life would be like owning thousands of dollars in designer clothing, shoes, and purses and probably only wearing each thing once.

Riley and Tinley

OMG... OMG... OMG! I don't think any parent can ask for a better session of their children! I'm usually pretty modest about my work but when I shoot a session and want to blow up the photos for myself (and they're not even my children!), I know I did a pretty good job.

Tammy did something that most parents usually don't... she waited in the car! She and her husband just waited around and let me do my thing! It was fantastic! I was able to connect with the kids and I really don't think they even knew they were getting their pictures taken- we went on a pumpkin hunt adventure and all the while I was able to capture these AMAZING shots!

Tammy, I don't know how you're going to decide... I seriously think you need to blow up all of these into canvases. I hope you have enough wall space! :) You'll be seeing a lot more of these photos gracing my website and studio... I'm so excited! Tinley- if you can read this... I adore you!






What a handsome guy!
She has the most fabulous hair I have ever seen!

I love the simplicity of this.



I'm dying of cuteness overload!

Brit

Brittney is a superstar NP senior! Her activities include volleyball, basketball, track and field, and was recently crowned this year's homecoming queen.

We had a fun session! She's gorgeous so my job was easy. I found this awesome location outside of New Prague. I asked the homeowner if we could shoot there and she said yes but I guess we overstayed our welcome and were then asked to leave! Oh well, we got the shots in anyway!

Congrats Brit on your senior year!





Gorgeous.











Right after this shot we were asked to leave... but not before being offered a kitten to take home!
Today was the NP homecoming parade and I saw Brit was crowned homecoming queen so I had to take a pic and add it to her post!

I will treasure these.

I had so much fun at the park this afternoon with my boys. Here are a few more shots that I got while on our dinosaur adventure. These are all unconventional shots but I just love them! I will always remember the fun afternoon we spent in the beautiful weather.

I encourage you all to think outside the box when it comes to taking photos with your kids. You don't need a fancy camera- these were all shot with my new point and shoot. When you're trying to capture photos of your children- it's not always about close-ups of their face as they smile. Think about your feelings and why something makes you happy and try to capture that.

Perfect example... Aidan loves to hold my hand and I melt every time that he reaches for it. I know that the day will come soon enough where he will outgrow it so I will always look back and treasure this. I look at this photo and instantly feel the warmth of his little hand in mine.
This is me and Owen. I wanted to capture how big he's getting and what a little man he looks like in this photo.
I love this picture. Aidan and I were cuddling on the top of this hill basking in the sun. Owen wanted me to take a picture of him from far away. I love that this negates the above picture and makes me realize how little he still is.
We were all laughing at our long legs!
Now go out and capture some memories with your kids! :)

Aidan's homework

Aidan is in preschool and today he got sent home with "the dinosaur backpack." He got to take home a backpack that contained a dinosaur book, a journal, and a dinosaur stuffed animal. The assignment is to journal about the dinosaur's visit to your house. Aidan named the dinosaur "Rexy" and after school, we took the dinosaur along to one of Aidan's favorite places... the park! I made this collage to put into the journal and together we wrote about all of the fun adventures we had!

Out of town announcement...

I will be out of the office beginning October 1st- 6th, returning the 7th. I will be attending my husband's cousin's wedding in Chicago! Joan and Mike are getting married on October 3rd. I've been so excited for this and can't believe it's finally here!

Please place all photo orders by September 29th in order for them to be processed before I leave.

So, Joan works for Oprah writing for the website and she was able to get us tickets for a taping while we're there. THANKS JOAN!

I'M GOING TO SEE OPRAH!!!!

OMG- just so you know- I was DYING laughing so hard when I did this.... seriously sitting here by myself laughing out loud! hahahaha

Where to print photos?

I'm often asked what lab I use or recommend for printing out photos. I use White House Custom Colour as my lab but unfortunately, you need to be a professional photographer to open an account there.

For my clients, I would highly recommend Mpix vs. Target, Wal-Mart, or Ritz. The prices are comparable and they print on professional lustre finish paper. There's nothing worse than cheap, glossy photos! Best yet, you can upload them right from your purchased CD in the comfort of your own home vs. standing at one of those kiosk machines trying to figure out what you want to order as your kids are fussing! (been there, done that!)
I also wanted to remind my clients that when you're purchasing prints from me- they will be beautifully retouched and enhanced. People often wonder why I charge $25 for an 8x10 or $350 for a CD of images. The beauty of digital photography is Photoshop! Photoshop is an art form itself... I have attached a couple of examples of color enhancements. These types of enhancements not only require skill (and hundreds of dollars invested in software), but time as well, as each photo is enhanced with the particular artistry of the image in mind.

Straight out of the camera/enhanced:


New photos coming soon!