We did their session at the Washington State Capitol campus area and caught just the tail end of the cherry blossom blooms there. As everyone in Western Washington already knows, this spring weather has been absolutely miserable, but somehow I lucked out and grabbed a super nice afternoon. All I did was have them play around in the grass for about an hour and just snapped away!

And here is something that is new….
Steve and I spent a good majority of the winter putting together new product lines to offer this year, not just to wedding clients, but also our portrait clients. These wall art mock ups are a perfect way to see how your pictures can be displayed on the wall of any home and how powerful groupings of photos can possibly be.

What is nice about this is we can offer these groupings in traditional print or canvas offerings, but what I’m super excited about are our metal prints (yes… printed and ready to hang right on metal!), our ready-to-mount acrylics and our very stylish (not to mention very Northwest) bamboo mounts!

While my photography doesn’t require photoshop to look good or fix mistakes, it does require photoshop to produce a final finished product that is worth blowing up to a 20×40 size or to lay into a gorgeous album. Additionally, photoshop gives our images this certain amount of flare that stylistically sets us apart from the rest.

I’ve made mention of it before, but I’ll say it again, I don’t like photoshopping myself. In fact, I don’t do it. Steve has spent his entire career learning and perfecting his skills in photoshop. I remember him asking Dad at around 12 years old for the first generation of photoshop (which was an insane request at that age!!). He has always been driven and known exactly what he wanted to do and knew the steps he needed to make to get there. But he has spent years perfecting his skills and techniques. And this is what he does. I couldn’t be more proud to have him be a driving force behind our company.

Most photographers don’t have the luxury of a full-time graphic artist. This is something unique and different that we are able to give to our clients. And because of this, we are able to create a distinct product that gives clients the utmost in service, skill and quality.

As you can see from the example below, the straight out of camera file offers a great product. It’s clean and a great image for any photographer to grab. But look at the final edits done in photoshop. There is a style and flare that distinguishes that marks this photo as a Whimsical branded image.

And here is another family photo. While the original file is great, the photoshopped version just polishes up an already clean file.

When you are out looking for a photographer to fulfill your needs, ask yourself about the product that photographer is producing. Is it clean? Are they using photoshop to cover mistakes? Or are they using it to stylistically enhance an already nice image?

Investment in custom photography is expensive. No bones about it. For every wedding client that hires us, we put in approximately 100 hours of back-end work on their account. For every family client that hires us, we put in approximately 25-30 hours of back-end work on their account. Lots of hours go into making our product the best it possibly can be! But we also know that our customers are receiving the best quality in terms of a final product out there.

The Perry Family invited me out to do some of their holiday portraits about a week ago. We had an awesome time playing in the leaves and taking pictures!

I knew this family wanted warm and inviting fall style session, so we headed out to a little piece of private property I have access to in order to capture the colored leaves and greenery. We caught each child easily and then did a few family photos. For every family session I do, I always like to make sure I get some photos of mom and dad alone; after all, it’s usually mom and dad that get left out! Lexi, in addition to being a beautiful almost-teen, was a sweet as they come. And Gabby has so much personality, she was absolutely a HOOT to spend time with. And little Nicholas has to be the most well-behaved 4 year old I’ve ever met. He was awesome at coming over and helping me snap some of the pictures (he’s a good button pusher!).

All in all, this beautiful family made beautiful family portraits. Thank you Mardee and Kirk for sharing this day with me! It was truly a pleasure!

This weeks fashion picks are selected by Kristina Young Photography out in Boston. Not only is Kristina a great friend of mine, but she is also wicked cool (I had to add the wicked part just for her), totally styling and an incredible lifestyle photographer. Her black and white portraits are some of the best you’ll ever find.

Click here for outfits selected from Boden and J. Crew. Purchase the outfits and then let me know; I’ll get your family scheduled right away!

The package includes a 1-hour session with me here in Olympia. You will have a minimum of 50 soft proofs to view after the session. The package also includes: (4) 8×10 prints, (4) 5×7 prints, (2) Digital Files of those 8×10 prints and 50 custom designed 5×7 holiday cards printed on beautiful linen paper. Individually, the items retail for $660.00, but this special package is $425.00.

If you book before September 15th, you will also get the cool and brand new Gallery Float Wrap in an 11×14 size. This is a brand new product that I’m launching for 2010 and will retail for $150! But you get it free. Your session can happen anytime between now and November 15th, you’ve just got to get a $150.00 deposit on your package to me before September 15th. Totally easy!!

So get on it already… I know it’s hard to start thinking Holidays in September, but when December 1st rolls around, and you are half way done with all your shopping… won’t you appreciate the time you put into it now?

Just remember… the BEST time for fall-leaf pictures is that first 2.5 weeks in October. I’ve still got a lot of session dates available those weeks!

The kids were so much fun, even though it was super early in the morning, and had a great time cracking each other up. Megan is big into riding horses, while Connor LOVES playing football, so I got to hear all their special stories about their activities. Barb and Eric are lucky to both work in the public school system, so they have the majority of the summer off to spend with their kids. A perfect opportunity for mega-family bonding.

I caught the family in between vacations, and they all are so relaxed, happy, and fun! Thank you Barb for inviting me to spend the morning with the family!!

When Steve showed me this family portrait, I just about died! It’s the quintessential family portrait – the one everyone wants, but no one gets!! They are just the most adorable family – I love them!

Barb wanted a photo that highlighted the beautiful water in the background. I think we did really well!

The beautiful Megan…

And the handsome Connor….

Thank you so much for such a wonderful morning on the water!

Let’s talk families and kids first…
First off… you get an hour long session with me (this includes an option to wear both regular attire and then also do a clothing change into something more ‘holiday’ like). After your session, I’ll upload all the soft proofs online and then we can start sorting through them together. Each holiday session comes with: (4) 8×10 prints, (4) 5×7 prints, (2) Digital files of those 8×10 prints and 50 custom designed 5×7 holiday cards printed on beautiful linen paper. Individually, these items retail for $660.00, but this special package is $425.00.

If you book your session before September 15th (the actual session can happen anytime in September or October)… I’m throwing in something super cool and super awesome. FOR FREE!

In 2010, I’m offering these new Gallery Float Wraps. They are beautiful displays that actually float off the wall – no framing required. Shown here is an example of a little gift I did for one of my wedding clients, sized 11×14. These will retail for $150.00 next year. And I’m throwing in a free 11×14 with the Holiday Package booking by September 15th. Pretty sweet, huh? Keep it, or give it to grandma and grandpa for Christmas – either way, these are amazing displays to treasure for a lifetime! (click on each picture to see a larger version!)

Now let’s talk something a little more naughty than nice…
Ah… the holidays are one of the most popular times to book that boudoir session in order to provide that special someone that really special gift! Since my hubby is a firefighter, I thought I’d extend a little holiday ‘cheer’ to some of the other firefighters out there in the world, so the firefighter wives better listen up!

If you are a firefighter wife, and this is something you’ve been wanting to do, find a friend, call me up to book. If your friend books the boudoir session at full price, you get yours for $100.00. Yup. That is a $175.00 savings just for those firefighter wives out there. You can even share the cost of the hotel room with your friend and we can do your sessions simultaneously! It’s an awesome value!

Each of the booked sessions receives a 5×7 silk lined and custom matted image portfolio with (2) 5×7′s to share with a loved one. Or, trade that out for a $50 credit towards an album. Your choice.

Check out The Tease: A Boudoir Studio for information about pricing and products.

Lovely huh? Lots of stuff to choose from!

So give me an e-mail or a phone call… I’ve got very limited dates left available in September and October is booking fast. All session must be completed before November 15th.