Robertson

earlier in the week, i got to do a session with one of my really good friends. monica's sister and kids were in town and they wanted to do a session with all of them :) i was happy to be able to do it for them! there were a lot of kids... it was not always easy to keep them all happy at the same time! but we did our best!
it was a rainy day, but ended up drying out just in time for the session!

the whole group :)all of the kids (love the bird in the background!)brothers ;)

thanks monica! love ya!

crossover- painting

i wanted to add a new "feature" to this blog. i also maintain a personal blog for family and friends. so every so often i will share a "crossover" post from that blog so you can get to know me a little better... and how i spend my time!
so here is what we did today... they painted!

"the girls and i have had a lot of sun lately, which was part of my reasoning for staying home today. a friend and her son came over this morning to play. then after nap we decided to paint. the girls LOVE to paint... they had a great time! unfortunately it doesn't use up a lot of energy. i am sure we will be going somewhere tomorrow!!"an almost finished product

i hope you enjoyed this first installment of "crossover"!

Last summer mini-sessions... babies galore... what else is going on???

Here come the end of summer specials!!
I hope everyone is having a great, all be it super HOT, summer! We have been doing some fun family stuff :) I can not believe there is only a month left of summer! Where did the time go??
So I thought I would do some end of summer specials to wrap up the summer on a good note!! A lot of people have asked me when I was doing another beach mini-session day... so here you go!!

Summer mini sessions!
Saturday, August 7th- 30 minute sessions. (6:00pm-7:30pm) the last session would be so great at sunset!!
At the beach (Wrightsville- South end at the gazebo)
$35 for the session... then you have the option of ordering prints or a cd with the edited photos of your session.
Make this session your own! Bring kites or lollipops... let you kids play in the water... it is all up to you! Be creative!!

Newborn specials
I just ordered some super cute props for newborn pictures (check out my previous blog post for pictures!). Since it would take me way too long for me to grown my own (and freak out my husband), I need to borrow a baby to model for the pictures. You get a free session if you are the first to contact me! (i have a possible girl model, but i need a boy! the boy hat is SOO cute!)

And since I have sooo many pregnant friends (and cute new props!) I am going to offer a special deal for the next 5 people to sign up for a newborn session! You get a full session (which you need for a newborn) for the price of an any-time mini! ($45!) Just mention this email when you book!

Upcoming changes
I mentioned that I have been taking some classes lately. The last class I took was on marketing... so there will be some changes starting in the fall! SO if you want to get the same good deals that I have been offering, you need to book now. If you have already booked (and prepaid) for a session, you will be "grandfathered in" :)

Community outreach
I have been interested in doing some free sessions for people in the military. I would love to take pictures of the family here and send them to the service man/woman (free of charge of course!) So, if you know anyone who is serving and has a family here... please email me!!

Thanks for reading!! I look forward to hearing from you soon! Please pass this along to anyone you can think of who might be interested! don't forget if you refer a friend and they book a session, you get 20% your next session! You can get yourself a cheap session or two if you refer a couple of people :)

**UPDATE ON COMMENTS...
I have fixed the problems with leaving comments (several people mentioned that it was hard to leave a comment). Under the comment box, you have to choose a "profile" to use. If you have a gmail account then choose "google". If you don't have any of the accounts listed... or don't want to deal with it... just choose "anonymous". Just make sure you leave you name or contact info so I can get in touch with you :)
Since it was such an ordeal (sorry!) I am going to extend the comment contest until July 27th!! So hurry and you still have a chance to win a $20 gift certificate to the restaurant of your choice!!

Thank you!! Happy End of Summer!

baby needed!

... not for me (don't freak out honey!)
i just ordered the MOST adorable props for a newborn. i am dying to try them out!! i am sure madeline is too big for them... so i need someone who is big and pregnant, or just had a baby to let me try them out!

so if you want to try them, let me know!! if you are the first one to contact me... i will give you the session for free!!

*note*.... i did not take these pictures!! i am just showing you what the props look like!

this is the hat for a boy!
these are the adorable headbands for a girl!

hurry, i am sure the free session with go fast!

what's the story...?

how did i get started taking pictures? well, it is an interesting story!
i have always loved pictures. taking them. looking at them. being in them ;)
i kept "missing" pictures of my girls because my digital camera would not take them fast enough. so i bought a DSLR (digital SLR camera). the main reason in the beginning was to take good pictures of my kids (this was in october 2 years ago). then i read a lot about it. i took some classes and became very familiar with the camera and all of it settings. i didn't know anything in the beginning so i asked a lot of questions (still do!) from people who did know. i tried to learn everything i could. (since the beginning i have gotten a new camera and several new lenses.)
then one of my good friends wanted some pictures of her family for christmas but didn't have the money to hire someone... so she asked me if i would meet her at the beach and take some pictures. another friend wanted the same thing, so they met us the same afternoon. you can see the first family session here. the second one here.
the pictures actually turned out pretty well. not great. but good for my first effort. then i read some more books and studied some more. i also created a blog. then a girl at church said she was interested in getting some maternity pictures done. i told her i would do them for a very reasonable price. she said ok :). after that, people just kept finding me. i am always amazed where people come from and how they find me! i totally attribute all of this to the Lord. He keeps sending people my way. i am SO thankful that he does!
i love meeting new people! i love finding the beauty in the outdoors! i LOVE taking pictures! i am so glad that i get to do all of that together :)
the newest thing i am learning about is marketing... so you may be seeing some exciting new changes in the near future... be on the look out!

thought i would share a couple of pictures... i mean what is a post with out pictures??

this one is one of the first pictures i took... (i did not re-edit it... man did i want to!!)

this is a more recent one :)

thanks for reading my story!! don't forget about the comment contest! it ends in a couple of days :)

who is that behind the camera lens???

i recently realized that while i have been busy sharing information about all of my wonderful clients and sessions, i have been neglecting to share info about someone important... me :)
so in this post i will remedy that... get ready to know some more about me!
i have lived in this beautiful city for... where does time go... 13 years! i transferred here in 97 after a cold year at appalachian state. the beach was calling my name! i finished my college years, i stayed put! i love living here! wilmington is officially my home. i grew up in greensboro nc, so i have always lived in the tarheel state... and i am a tarheel fan!! (my sister graduated from UNC. go heels!). i now live in the monkey junction area with my wonderful husband and 3 (yes 3!) daughters. Hana is 5 and starting kindergarten in a month! yikes! Brooke is 3, starting preschool, and is definitely her own person!! Madeline is almost 11 months, she will be 1 at the end of august. she is also a sweetie but definitely knows what she wants and isn't afraid to let you know! i have been married to jack for 9 years and he works at ppd. my life is never dull... as you can imagine with 3 young girls!
but aren't they adorable??!!

ok that is all for now... tomorrow i will tell you more about how i got started in the photography business!

business business business ;)

i thought that adding the incentive of a free picture would encourage people to comment on their posts... alas not :) so i am upping the ante! i am having a comment contest!!
here are the rules...

• each new comment gets your name entered in "the hat"
• you can comment on an old post... but the comment has to be new.
• the deadline is july 25th!
  
• so get to commenting!!

what is the prize?? a $20 gift card to the restaurant of your choice! the winner will get to choose!
start commenting to have a chance to win!!

ALSO...
if you want to become a member of my facebook fan page click here! i will announce all contests there and be adding new pictures regularly ;)

and what is a blog post with out a picture??

here is some rainy day indoor fun! got to love candy land!

the 4th :)

happy july 4th :) our neighborhood always does a very impressive fireworks display... and we have a cookout to celebrate. so i thought i would share some pictures from the night.
we started with some sparklers... then on to the fireworks :)

happy birthday america!!!