This has been a busy week at the studio with a lot of sessions and computer work to do before tomorrow. Tomorrow is when I leave on my last great road trip of the month, and the last one for a while. It seems like the nations eyes are on Florida and the Florida Primary, but mine are on St. Pete Beach. That is where I will spend the weekend and early next week at another great conference, hopefully learning a lot from the nations best photographers about senior and children's portraits. The weekend will be filled with rubbing elbows with some of the best photographers anywhere and the nights will be filled with eating some of the best seafood on the gulf. Yes it seems to always come back to the food! Hopefully I will come back with lots of new ideas and be inspired and ready for the rest of 2012.
This week we have seen a little of everything, but what I want to show you are a couple of girls we photographed Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons.
January is usually a really depressing month. Normally we run nonstop in November and December and then when the slow month of January hits we twiddle our thumbs. Well most professional associations figured this out so they started scheduling conventions and schools in January and February. Funny thing happened this January, we have been busy with appointments and conventions. As a result of this it is almost February already!
So now I want to let you in on a little special. Valentines day is right around the corner and what better gift than a portrait for that someone special? Call Chance if you are interested in doing something and she can give you a really special price if you mention you saw this.
Moving on to the Road Trips part of this. Road trip number one is in the books now with road trip number two right around the corner. This past weekend I headed out for New Orleans with some of my photographer friends to the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) convention. We met up with a lot of our friends from across the country for classes, a huge trade show and parties up and down Bourbon Street. Oops! I forgot about the food! We had some amazing food! After all of that we each came back with a lot of fresh new ideas and some new equipment to start breaking in over the next few months. We will be looking for some models for a few special things we want to try so stay tuned to find out what we will be needing.
The following images were taken in New Orleans. The iPhone camera is all I had for this trip because I traveled light for this one. And in New Orleans you need to be able to run if you have to.
We came in from the North this year, longest bridge I have ever seen! Over 23 miles of this.
This past weekend we spent Saturday morning doing photography for Lashing Out Eyelash Extension Salon. We had some people come in and model for us and had a make-up artist in for the sessions, one of which was a "Sweet 16" session. Before you start calling for appointments for eyelash extensions they came up from St. Simons Island for these so we aren't offering them at this time. However, we can fix you up with the photography and make-up. These are a few from Julia's session, she turned 16 the day before.
Have you ever thought about how much has changed in the last 96 years? Just how much has changed in the last 20 years is almost mind-boggling. I had something very special happen 96 years ago that will always shape who I am and who I will be. What all happened in 1915? These are just a few of the things that happened, Kiwanis International founded in Detroit - I am a member and have been for the last 21 years, House of Representatives rejects proposal to give women right to vote - can you believe that one? Alexander Graham Bell in New York calls Thomas Watson in San Francisco - think about that one the next time you use your cell phone, Cornerstone laid for Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., Edward Stone, 1st U.S. combatant to die in WW I, is mortally wounded, Boston Braves start move from last place to become world series champs and on April 6 Beatrice Jenkins was born - my grandmother.
Yes, that is the big one for me. Without that one I wouldn't be here today. I wouldn't have had my wonderful family. I wouldn't love food nearly as much as I do and I would never have experienced her quiet strength and love. As I post this she is nearing the end of her wonderful life surrounded by friends and family and we are all looking back with fond memories of her life. I feel so honored to have had such an incredible grandmother for 50 years and for my girls to have had her in their lives. "Bea", "Aunt Bea", "B", "Granny", "Granny Bea", Beatrice or whatever you called her you did it with love. She has always been known as a great cook, and whatever she cooked was wonderful. Biscuits, dressing, greens, peas, homemade catchup, chocolate pies, coconut cakes or anything she put on the table was wonderful. I always thought she would be the one to live forever, and still hope and pray she does. They don't still make them like her.
This is from a session we did with her a little over a year ago, I think I posted it then too. The first ones are of her teaching my girls how to cook their favorite thing - her biscuits.
So what do you have with you everywhere you go these days? For most people it would be a cell phone. And from what my girls say, and I notice when I am looking, it is an iPhone. Did you know that my girls are the only people in America that don't have iPhones?
If you have an iPhone there are several apps you just have to have and this is my must have list. Pandora so you can listen to music on your own custom radio station. Toodledo, if you are like me, so you can keep your to do list with you. Foursquare so you can check in at all of the places you go and find great deals at the same time. Twitter and Facebook so you can stay social. GasBuddy so you can find the closest and cheapest gas. UGA Sports, what else do I need to say about that one. SoundHound so you can remember the name of the song you are hearing on the radio. CardStar so you can keep up with all of those store discount cards every store in has now. Angry Birds, gotta have a game. WeatherBug to keep up with the weather. Scanner so you can scan bar codes and find the best place to purchase what you want at the best price. ESPN ScoreCenter, sports scores. And of course you need to upgrade that camera and get Camera+. While we are on the camera you need Tweetpic, 100Cameras, TtV Basic, Effects, Halftone, Flickr and Instagram.
These are just a few I have on my Instagram from this year. (f8guy)
The camera on the iPhone 4 is really good and a lot of fun. One great thing about the camera on the iPhone is that you always have it with you. And if you have upgraded the phone and gotten Camera+ it's even better because of the different controls you have to fix or customize your images. I love using Instagram to share my images. You can share images on Facebook and Twitter from Instagram too. Instagram is a community in itself where you can choose people to follow from friends to celebrities. If you haven't already checked out some of those apps be sure and check them out, most are free too!
Did you just have your baby? We have a special new session this year for babies, 3 days up to about 5 weeks, that is a lot of fun. These are just a few of the images we captured a couple weeks ago. If you are interested in a Santa Baby session give us a call and we can get you in. Just remember this is only for very young babies, less than 2 months old.
The last couple of months have been a blur. Our days have been filled with framing and getting orders ready when we weren't photographing sessions. Probably the biggest thing that made it so hectic was not having Cammie in the office full time, it is hard to function without her after having her in the office for over 10 years. We are so blessed to have Cammie and only wish she was back full time with us.
This year we of course had some of our very popular sessions like Santa, Holiday Baking, Winter Wonderland, Athens in the Fall and our Portraits in the Park. For 2011 we also tried to add a few new sessions like our Down Home Christmas at the tree farm and some with an antique John Deere tractor. So now after all of these specials have been done we are finally able to sit down and show you some of them.
Well I guess it isn't here yet, but Santa has already been to the studio for his annual visit. I know it seem early but we still have a lot to do to be able to have everything ready for Christmas. This year we have some really exciting things that are new for 2011. Beautiful new ornaments, frames and some really nice new cards are some of the things that we have added this year.
Did you miss Santa? If you did, be sure that you don't miss out on any of the other great Christmas specials we are offering this year. We still have Winter Wonderland, Cookies for Santa, Sugar Plum Dreams and our new Santa Babies sessions coming up. Stay tuned to find out more about Santa Babies! The others are here on the blog with images and dates, so you might want to explore a little.
It seems like every year we are on the road on "Black Friday" and are not able to do any sessions, locally anyway. This year is going to be different. Not only are we going to be in town this year on "Black Friday" we will be offering a special. One day only, Friday, November 25, 2011 we are offering any studio session at a huge discount - no session fee! That is a savings of at least $40 and you will still have time to have portraits or even cards back for Christmas! Just call the studio and book your appointment right away. A $50 reservation fee is required to make your appointment, but is goes towards your order.
Can't make it on Black Friday? Still want to save some money and get some Christmas shopping done early? Email us or call us on Monday, November 28, 2011 and purchase a gift certificate. So what is the big deal with that? If you use the gift certificate in January 2012 it is worth double the face value, if you use it in February it is worth 50% over face value and if you use it in March or later it is worth face value! So if you purchase a $50 gift certificate and use it in January it will be the same as $100, in February it will be the same as $75 and after that it will still be worth $50. The only stipulations are that it be used on portraits taken and purchased in 2012 and it is limited to 3 per person and not valid with any other special offers.
Who remembers this one - "Florida in a stand-up five, they may or may not blitz, they won't. Buck back. Third down on the 8. In trouble. Got a block behind him. Going to throw on the run. Complete to the 25, to the 30. Lindsay Scott 35, 40. Lindsay Scott 45, 50, 45, 40. Run Lindsay! Twenty-five, 20, 15, 10, 5. Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott! ... Well, I can't believe it. 92 yards and Lindsay really got in a footrace, I broke my chair, I came right through a chair, a metal STEEL chair with about a five inch cushion ... Do you know what is gonna happen here tonight? And up at St. Simons and Jekyll Island and all those places where all those Dawg people have got those condominiums for four days? MAN, is there gonna be some property destroyed tonight! 26 to 21, Dawgs on top! We were gone. I gave up, you did too. We were out of it and gone. Miracle!" - Larry Munson (1980)
Wish I was going this year! At least I have lots of friends, and family, going and bringing back photos and stories. In honor of this great football weekend I thought I would post some of the images we did this week of Landon for our special "Boys of Fall". To all of you in Jacksonville this Saturday - Have Fun and bring back a victory this year!
Be sure and check back here Tuesday for some special announcements!
