holiday madness!!

This is always the busiest time of year for photographers. My holiday season starts in August and doesn't end until the week or so before Christmas. Whew! I'm tired! To make life more complicated, we decided to buy a new house this fall... a house that required lots of work (and time to coordinate the people doing that work.) Add into that the regular mom stuff, and I'm pretty much exhausted and ready to be in my PJ's watching my kids open their presents on Christmas morning! Until then, I'll be at my messy desk surrounded by a collection of empty Diet Coke cans.

Here are a few dates to keep in mind:

Dec. 1 (this Saturday): HOLIDAY ORDERING DEADLINE. If there is anything you need by the holidays, please place your order by this date. I will also need payment for all of these orders ASAP, as I do not order anything with my lab until payment is made

Dec. 17th: This is my target date for having all prints and cards out to clients. Please consider picking up your order in person at my Durham studio to avoid any potential lost/damaged package issues with shipping. I do ship all of the time and will still gladly do it at the holidays, but it is always fun to get to chat with my clients one more time and give them their orders is a nice shopping bag instead of a boring ol' shipping box!

If you need your envelopes early, you are welcome to come by my studio to pick them up in advance. Also, if you have multiple family members ordering, please consider putting everything into one larger family order... I will love you for it!

I'm currently booking sessions for January and February. If you missed out on a pre-holiday session, please call or email to set up your session for the beginning of 2008. Can't wait to see you then!

brrr!!

Last week I had the pleasure of photographing Finn on an especially chilly morning. It was one of those days where lots of things weren't going right... I couldn't find a place to park, my cell phone died, and then once into the session, my fully charged batteries kept dying. But I left just knowing we'd gotten lots of fun pictures of Finn and his almost-3 personality. He was full of spunk and cuteness... the perfect combination for a great session!

This time of year, I field a lot of questions from clients about what to dress their kids in for outdoor sessions. LAYERS are the key if you'd like to avoid having them bundled up in a coat for every picture. Fall and winter can be so much fun with sweaters, hats and scarves (and perfect for that holiday card!) Usually a long-sleeved t-shirt under a thick sweater keeps them warm enough... especially combined with the considerable amount of time we all spend running around during a session! Another warm change of clothes is always a good thing to have on hand, and clothes that are easily washed are the best choice. A key element to a good session is lots of playing, and playing is dirty work!

I'll be back later this week with an update on holiday ordering deadlines, so stay tuned:-)