I don’t like winter at all. I don’t like to be cold. I don’t like the wet sloppy mess, I don’t like the dirty car. I don’t like driving on the slippery roads. I don’t like wearing coats and boots and mittens. I don’t like to shovel the driveway (well actually I don’t, my husband does that). But, every once in a while I can’t help but marvel at God’s artwork in nature through the winter. I was taking my son to preschool Monday morning, and I couldn’t help but gasp at the beauty of the snow. Every where I looked, it was just beautiful! So, I quick went home and grabbed my camera. All these images were taken on the road that I take to school. My camera doesn’t do justice to the beauty that my eyes say and my heart felt. I had to work quickly, because the snow was melting. It was 34 degrees, and I could see the snow falling off the trees as I was photographing them. So, here is my humble attempt to show some of the beauty that God created.

I had a wonderful time today with Isaiah and his family. The session was mostly a newborn session for Isaiah, but we added some with the entire family. This was truely a dream session for a photographer. Usually when there is a family with 4 children, it is a little difficult to get all the kids to smile at the same time. These children were so well behaved, and were wonderful! Even Isaiah was perfect. He hardly fussed at all, which is unusual for a newborn session! Thank you for letting me have fun with a beautiful baby and family! Here is Isaiah’s slideshow!

Well, I have new prices listed on my website as of tonight. It seams like somewhat of an increase, but let me explain. I wanted to explain this so you all wouldn’t think I’m crazy. Here is some background information.

It is hard to keep everyone’s files on my computer for any long length of time. I have multiple hard drives, and I am always running out of room. I do also save my images on DVD, so they are available if I have to remove them from my computer. But, this causes extra work on my part.

So, I wanted to give you an incentive for placing your order on time. For that incentive, I decided to raise my prices, but give you a 25% discount if you place your order within 2 weeks. Here is an example. My 8X10’s used to be $20. They are now $28. But, if you place your order with the two week time period, your 8X10 is only $21. So, this is not really much of a price increase. This will encourage my customers to order on time. I have had some customers wait up to a year or more to place their order, making it very difficult in my workflow.

Let’s face it. We live in a world with computers and scanners. A lot of photographers do not paper proof their images any more for this reason. There are always dishonest people who take the proofs and scan them. This is illegal and unethical. I would like to think that all my customers are honest…. but I also need to be smart with my business…. I still love the proof books (now called image catalogs). I still want my customers to get them. To make this possible, I have decided to still offer them, with a deposit. A $100 deposit will be required to order an image catalog. The FULL AMOUNT of $100 will be credited to your order. This will assure me a sale from your session, justifying the free image catalog. If you do not place an order, the $100 will pay for the image catalog.

So, do not fear! If you still place an order within two weeks of your proofing, and your order totals $100 or more, you will still get a free image catalog (proof book) and my prices will not be much more than they were last year.

I do have to say, I hate doing all this BUSINESS stuff…. I just like taking pictures! But, this is a business after all.

Yesterday I did Megan and Kyle’s engagement session. They were supposed to come when we had the blizzard a couple weeks ago, but they didn’t want to drive out in the blizzard! (I don’t blame them! ) So, we had a fun time yesterday. I have said this over and over, but I’ll say it again. The reason I love to do engagement sessions so much, is because I get to know the couple a little better. We have a chance to work together, and then things usually flow better on the wedding day. Megan and Kyle were really fun. We even went out in the back field again for a few outdoor in the snow images! The snow was SO DEEP! It was hard to walk in it, especially for Megan and Kyle because they didn’t have any boots! Anyway, here are a few from their session. I love kissing pictures (if you can’t tell already…)!

My 80-200 2.8 ED lens (for all you technical dorks out there who really care what kind of lens it was) broke. So I had to go out and buy the 70-200 2.8 VR!

Seriously, I have been looking to upgrade to the 70-200 anyway. I was planning on buying it before my Wedding season starts again in May. So, I got it out last night and started playing with it. Amazing! I was shooting at Shutter Speeds that I would have never been able to hand hold before! Here are some dorkey pictures of my kids while I was testing it. They do get tired of me taking their pictures when I get new equipment!

This weekend Cathy brought her baby Garrett over for a newborn session. He was a wonderful baby. He didn’t like his clothes off, just like most babies, but we worked through it and got some beautiful images. Babies grow so fast, it is easy to forget how little they are! You can view his slide show Here!

This past week I took portraits of Holly. I made a storyboard collage of her playing with her dress up clothes. This is who she is at this time in her life. She loves to play dress up! I love to capture some personality, and I love to capture what each child is about! So, here is her collage!