wee bittles
kiddoes
teens
… and this year I’m trying not to Scrooge it up again. It’s true, I am a Scrooge… of sorts. I do love the Feast Day of the Birth of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. I love the mass. I love the contemplative time we have during Advent to prepare our hearts and minds. But here’s the Scroogey side of me… I hate feeling like I am obligated to buy everyone, and the world, gifts. I’m kind of a “I-like-to-get-you-something-because-I-see-something-that-think-you-would-like-and-get-it-anytime-of-the-year” not a “I-am-buying-a-bunch-of-cheap-crap-from-China-just-to-say-I-got-you-something” kind of gal.
Plus… there is all the stress that we, or just speaking for myself, I put on myself to DO PERFECT HOLIDAY. EVERYTHING MUST BE PERFECT… HOUSE PERFECT… DECORATION PERFECT… PRESENTS PERFECT… FOOD PERFECT… and I just end up being so stressed out from all the PERFECTIONISM that I find myself a PERFECT MESS. And really, there has never ever been any kind of good close to being PERFECT Christmas in my house in as long as I can remember.
BUT not this year… this year, I’m a having a change of attitude. I am going to try to ENJOY myself. Crazy concept isn’t it? I’m going to try to ENJOY my children. I am going to try to ENJOY my husband. I am going to try to ENJOY my friends. Which means… I am going to vow that the word PERFECT is not going to be allowed in my mind. It means that if somethings does not get done, it DO NOT get done… and that’s ALRIGHT. There has never ever been a tragedy cause by not having the right ratio of sprinkles to gumdrops on a gingerbread house.
… so I will not have the most lights on my house. Okay.
… so I will not have a Christmas tree that will be featured in Home and Garden Magazine. Just as well, my subscription ran out.
… so there may be more dust balls that snow balls around. Well, I live in Houston, Texas and snow is just a weird phenomenon around here anyway.
We, and when I say “we“, I mean “I“, are just going to try to do our best around here. We are going to try to remember how joyful the Christmas season can really be. I think I’m going to have to ask my kids for help, ’cause truly I have become very rusty hearted about the Christmas thing.
Okay… now comes the time for show and tell… and if you are on my Christmas card list pretend you did not see this… it’s my Christmas card for the year… it’s not perfect… technically I could point out a few things that I would have liked differently… it’s not exactly as I envisioned it, as getting my son to pose for a picture is about as easy as something that is NOT easy… (apparently my metaphors are not easy tonight as well)… BUT my children look happy, and they were pretty happy when I photographed this… 10 minutes later when my son was getting burned by the bulbs and possible standing in broken ornament glass shards… not so much… but for a moment in time, my children were enjoying each other and that’s what I want to take from this Christmas Season… JOY.
I wish you a very peaceful and unstressed Christmas season as well as a JOYFUL HOLY DAY… I mean really people how can you not find joy that a GOD was born in a lowly form such as MAN, because HE SO LOVED THE YOU? Yes, that IS something to be joyful about!
(FYI… if you were wondering what types of cards I am offering this year… I un-perfectly posted samples from my designer in my gallery: HERE.)
Today is Thanksgivings and I have much to be grateful for… God has blessed me much with a wonderful family, fantastic friend new and old, the first year of my business under my belt… and today, on the day that we look at our lives and give thanks… I cannot help but to remember someone who I am very grateful to have had in my life, my big sister, Debby Greer-Costello (1967-2009.)
(Shown above: April 4th, 2003 My sister, Deb, and her daughter at our parent’s 40th wedding anniversary. In the background, my husband and brother-in-law, Bill. Bill and my oldest sister, Stephanie, adopted my niece after her mother passed.)
I think I would like to say something to immense and super profound about my sister… but these words somehow are escaping me right now. So I am going to keep it simple.
I loved my sister, and I thought she was the best. While I am sad she is no longer here with us, I was blessed to have her in my life and am STILL blessed to have her in my heart.
She still moves me…
I’d like to publicly dedicate 10% of all profits from for the months of November and December… while I don’t really love going “look at me, I’m donating money“… a friend pointed out that maybe my clients would like to know that by using my services they are in a small part contributing to a greater good… so there you go my client peeples… I donate money from my little photography business and I couldn’t do it without you. Thank you. It’s something that I don’t have to do, but I do because God has blessed me so much that is only right to use my time, treasures and talent for His service.
(Deb a month before she passed…. such beautiful eyes… she didn’t want her picture taken at first, but I’m glad she let me. I told her I wouldn’t let her look bad, and all thing considered, I don’t think I did.)
There is so much that I would like to say, but I can’t right now… AND THAT is okay… maybe another day.
But WHAT I CAN SAY IS… Life is too short to live it too quick that we forget to enjoy the one’s we love… tell someone that you love them and ACT loving and compassionate towards them too… find the beauty in the people you love today.
AND I hope you Thanksgiving in a Happy and Joyous One!
Sometimes when you’ve been a very very good person all year round, you get an early Christmas present. For my friend, she was treated to a family portrait session.
Happy Early Christmas Mom!
Make sure your child is well rested and fed… and please do not yell at them a million times before you get to the session. (Admittedly, I am guilty of neglecting my own advice, so please know I speak from the experience of an ever-so-real un-perfect parent.)
Just call or text me to tell me you’re going to be a little late. (Communication is the key to every good relationship.) Of course, don’t be too late, especially when we are shooting outdoors because lighting is everything, and we can’t shoot in the dark. In the winter, you’d be really surprised how fast the sun sets.
So what I really am saying is… plan ahead. Don’t depend on your slow poke 5 year old to get ready in 5 minutes even if all her clothes are laid neatly on her bed. Expect it to take 3 times as long to get a young child ready. Bring a hairbrush, tissues, and lip balm. We can always muss with hair and clothes on-site.
Really weigh in your mind how important it is to get your son to wear THAT sweater that he has never worn verse just not having that battle and allowing him to wear something he is more comfortable with. Remember you will never hear the end of it of how mommy made us all wear the dorky sweater with Christmas tree lights on them. You you want that. Really?! Really?!
(BTW… if your 3 year old shows up in his Superman pajamas, cowboy boots, ski cap and cape… LET’S CAPTURE THAT! I cannot tell you how much I LOVE the crazy outfits kids come up with. It’s part of developing creative intelligent thinkers… and the world can use a lot of those. We can always talk him into changing into something mommy or daddy picked out later in the session. I have a van with tinted windows that it’s easy to change clothes in.)
I may not get the best rest result from a hurried, hungry, and cranky child. And I don’t think you invested your good money in a professional photographer just to have it ruined because things didn’t work out well. But then again… sometimes I can work wonders if I’m given half a chance. I’ve worked with children for twenty years now, I have a few tricks up my sleeve. This leads me to my next point…
Allow me to be the art director… you hired me because you like my pictures, right? If you are fussing at your child to “Smile, Jimmy. Smile, Jimmy. I SAID SMILE, JAMES ANDERSON LEE!!!!!” You are not allowing me as an artist/photographer to make a connection with your child… plus your stress is going to make your child stress and then you will find yourself yelling at your kid to stop crying… you get the point. Your child will be confused who to listen to if we are both talking to your child giving him/her conflicting directions.
SO… what I really trying to say is… work with me, allow me to do my thing.
We have time. It was long ago that I learned that children have their own immeasurable view of time. (This is why it takes one of my children FOREVER to put on her clothes. Because first she needs stop to tell us an interesting story about the dream she had last night that coincidentally has to do with whatever we have been talking about that morning. Then when I send her to the bathroom, 5 minutes later I catch her making funny faces in the mirror. Then when picking shoes, she needs to hold up time to find her new ones that don’t match her outfit verse the old ones that do… just because that’s what’s important to her.)
Some children warm up slow. Some children warm up fast. Both are okay. I play around with the camera taking random shots until we get into the groove.
I love children. It’s part of the reason I have chosen to spend my whole entire adult life with them. I like all types of children too. If, you as a parent, allow me to get to know your child, I can bring out his or her unique personality and capture it in an image. WHICH is why you hired me in the first place, I hope.
It’s seems like forever that your child is going to be the age that they are FOREVER, but you know they are not. It my hope to make a beautiful pictures of your little person, that when you look at them when you are 75 years old it brings tears to your eyes because you realize how precious and special AND bless you were to have that little person in your life.
(True true… I am the photographer who wants to make her customers cry. Hopefully not during the session, of course. But that sometimes happens too. AND that’s okay. I am not opposed to feeling our feelings.)
The best sessions are the ones where you hang back, just watch and allow me to work my magic. It is true that most children love Ms. Jenna… there is a reason for that… ‘cause they can sense that I love and respect them. We (you and I) can talk before the session, and you can tell me the “must have” shots, and maybe if I’m forgetting or overlooking something (like a smudge on her face or his untied shoe) you can quietly mention it to me. But other than that… be a fly on the wall, maybe hold my reflector, and enjoy the moment when you realize that someone else is enjoying your special little person almost as much as you. (I love my job.)
I want to make you happy with my work that will someday make you cry… then hopefully smile again.
Coming Soon: Look for a check list to prepare for your photo session.
How would this precious 20×20 canvas not totally cutie-fy any nursery?
So here is me playing around with designing… the go with THIS SPECIAL.
5 new 5″ x 7″ flat card design… I can customize the saying on any of these.
Session Fees
Usually I have one price for 1-2 peeple… due to the fact, well… it’s just a little easier to photograph 1-2 peeps, and I have one price for families… due to the fact, it’s more a challenge to photograph a larger group. However I’ve been thinking about this… a lot. If I am a person who loves peeples, and want to support families, then maybe I should support that in my pricing by not penalizing families for being so big. I really didn’t mean to make is penalizing, I was just thinking about me, and well as embarrassing as this is to admit, but I am trying my best to think of others and not myself all the time.
Gawl I hate admitting, but it’s the truth and the truth is suppose to set you free. Right?
Other things I am admitting… since last year, I’ve raised my prices… and I’ve lowered my prices because it didn’t feel right. My prices didn’t feel right for me. Self discover and business accumine are not usual bedroom partners… and revealing this to the world, is definitely not… however, if you are here on my site, you are here because you like me, or my photography, not because I am the greatest business woman in the world.
Okay there I go again… me, me, me, me, me, me, me. Let me turn this around…
This is what I am doing for you…
All new customers whether you are 1-2 or 3-6 your session fee is… $150
For all of my oldie, but goodie customers, your session fee is… $100
But that’s not all…
I’m promoting a new special to pay homage to the feast day of the birth of Christ our King that we also mention Saint Nicholas (aka Santa Claus) whose feast day is December 6, but we in modern time have co-mingled those two feast making is nice a confusing if you really think about it, but when you don’t and just go with it you end up buying a bunch of presents to people who we love.
(Hello run-on babbling sentence… get on with it!)
Good St. Nick Special
This jolly good package includes:
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(1) 11″x 14″ Wall Print
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(2) 5″x7″ Gift Print
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(4) 4″x6″ Gift Print
Purchased individually you’d pay $190, but for you… it’s $100!
And why would I be giving away $90 worth of products? Well… because everyone should play Santa Claus every once in awhile, and at this price, it will be easier for you to spread the love with your love onces.
“All in my pajamas” was inspired by the fact that my son made one of these videos in his 8th grade class AND I had the need to explain how my photography process worked AND I had the need to entertain myself this morning…
Yay!
Click HERE for a direct link.
“When we are seen by the heart we are seen for who we are. We are valued in our uniqueness by those who are able to see us in this way and we become able to know and value ourselves.” - Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D. Kitchen Table Wisdom
Don’t forget to check out my November card package.