Good Times

A friend of mine recently asked me for a photo. This was not an average photo. It was an image of him, looking silly. It was a rainy day at the lake where I spent my summers growing up. We were bored. For those who don't know, I went to Cosmetology classes when I was in high school. One thing lead to another, and we get my poor friend with hair teased out as high as I could get it.

It's funny how a certain photo will take you back. Back to when you were little, or even just a few years ago. When I look at old photos, I can almost replay that whole event in my head. I can remember what we were doing, who was there, why we were doing it.

Throughout my life I've had a camera. As I look back over these photos, Im glad I did. Im glad I took the photos, even though Im sure there were many protests. "My hair's not done! I have no makeup on! I look a mess!" Some of the shots are blurry, or over exposed, but that's ok. The memories are what it's really all about.

In the age of digital, how many people really print their images? Do they sit on a hard drive, where no one can see them? I encourage you to go through them. Print them. Share them. Scan the prints. Back them up! While you're going through them on your hard drive, tag them. A day will come, probably sooner than you think, where you won't remember the names of the people in the photos. Grab your albums and go visit your friends. People who were such a huge part of your life at one time. Reconnect with them.

I've always loved looking at old photos. I really love the candid shots. Shots that show the fun that the people in the image were having. I guess that's how my style evolved to what it is. Candids, but kind of posed. I love the natural smile, the great expressions that we can get from the kids who come here. We love for the experience to be a fun one for our clients. More times than not, our clients become our friends. Who can't use more friends? To all of them who gave me such great memories, Thank you!

Of course, I have to share the photo that inspired this post. Sorry, Joe!

Class of 2011!

We are now accepting applications for our Senior Rep Program!

If you are accepted as a senior representative, you will receive a free mini senior portrait session in the spring of your high school junior year to be used for images on your Senior Rep card to hand out to your referrals. You will receive a $10 Visa gift card with every referral you send us. ½ off high school senior portrait session fee with 4 referrals. Receive a 5x5 Brag Book of your high school senior pictures at 6 referrals, or upgrade to a 10x10 brag book of your high school senior pictures at 10 referrals. You will also be one of the high school seniors showcased on our website, in a video on our senior picture video page, on our Facebook page and in our marketing for your area.

A $200 Visa gift card will be given to the high school student that sends us the most referrals. Referrals will be totaled on June 1st of your senior

Please let us know if you would like an application to become a Senior Rep. We only choose a few from each school, so apply early!

Visit our website to fill out your application!

Babies and toddlers

Feb 14th ended our annual babies and toddlers contest. This year, the winner received a year's worth of free sessions! They could come back as many times as they want and we will waive the session fee. This is our winner. I just love his eyes!

Soccer Soccer Soccer

As usual, we found ourselves at Riverfront on Sunday afternoon. FC played Pocono Mt West, and had a good game. Even with only 1 sub. When these kids get to their school season, they won't know what to do with all the subs.

North Pocono was down a few girls as well this week. Must have been something in the air (Valentine's Day). NP did not fare as well. They gave it a strong fight, but did not win.

As if one afternoon wasn't enough, we went back to Riverfront for more on Monday. This was just a pick up game. The kids allowed us to stick a camera in the goal while they played. This is something we have been wanting to try for a long time now. We didn't do too bad for a first try. We'll make a couple more modifications and try it again.

Here are some of our favorite shots from the weekend.

O-HI-O!

Last month we took a trip to Ohio for the weekend. This was a meetup with some friends we've met through our lab. We have meetups in different cities and states every once in a while. This gives us an opportunity to brainstorm, learn new techniques, improve our skills, and meet a lot of great photographers!

This meetup's schedule was packed full. Most of us arrived on Friday. We went out to dinner for a meet and greet, then went back to our friend Marti's studio to share samples of books, collages and other examples of our work. This was great. We were able to see vendor's products without having to purchase them.

Saturday we got off to an early start. We had the opportunity to eat breakfast at an amish home. There were also some photo ops at the property. We then met at Marti's studio for some classes on babies and toddlers. This is Marti's specialty, and she does it well! What a cute bunch of models she had there!

Next was a class on pet photography, by Ashley and Matt. They showed us how they wrangle the pets in their studio.

We broke for a little bit of lunch, then it was off to one of the local churches for some wedding photography. We had 2 models, Joy who was local, and Siri, who was a fellow photographer who graciously volunteered to model for us.

Back to Kara's studio for some studio/senior setups. We broke for dinner, took our group photo and left for home. Whew! Tired yet? We sure were. We had to drive all night since we were vendors at a prom show here at home, the next day.

It was nice to see old friends, and make some new ones! I always have a blast and learn so much at these meetups. I can't wait for my next one!

Of course, I have to leave you with some of my favorite images of the weekend.

Babies and Toddlers Contest

Yesterday kicked off our babies and toddlers contest. Every child who had a paid session in 2009, was entered into a contest. One photo of each child was placed in the gallery on both our website and facebook

Check out the gallery and vote for a child!