...worth a thousand words

holiday card

A few of you have asked me what we wound up doing for our family holiday card this year.  Some of you may remember my rants about taking my children's pictures for cards every year.  I wound up using a full bleed image of the three of them so the front of the card was this:

and the inside included these three images:

I hope you all had a very memorable holiday season and I wish you a healthy & happy New Year!

a little holiday cheer

Isn't she such a beautiful baby?  

And the winner is...

Sorry for the delayed posting of the winners.  We had a record number of votes and it took three of us counting, double counting and triple counting to FINALLY all come up with the same numbers (math, so NOT my thing) it was that close in two categories.  Second & third place winners will be notified by email and all winners will receive info on their packages after the first of the year.  

Without further ado, the winner in the favorite family image is...

The winner in the favorite child or children image is...

The winner in the favorite mommy & me image is... (ironic eh?) 

The winner of the favorite image to name is...

And the image that received the most votes overall and winner of the gist certificate to share is...

I know you're waiting for the winners...

but we have counted one category three times and have come up with three different winners, we're all that tired here.  We're going to call it a night and try to count more clearly in the morning : )

Eclips Kids Salon & Spa

In November, I was invited to have mini holiday portrait sessions at Eclips Kids in McLean.  Eclips Kids is the place to have your hair cut and styled, mani/pedis and even birthday parties for the 10 & younger crowd in the greater Northern Virginia area.     Eclips Kids

Here are just a few of the well styled, beautiful faces I met there:

Last two days to vote

Wow!  What a contest!  We have had a record number of votes this year!  I have been so overwhelmed with how many of you have sent in kind words and nice notes along with your votes.  Thank you very much for your kindness.  Here's a little gift for anyone thinking about scheduling a session in the New Year.  If you schedule a session before the end of December for the months of January, February or March and mention that you voted during the fall favorites contest you will receive a print credit package of an 8x10 print and 2 5x7 prints.  That's $150 worth of prints free, but remember you have to schedule by the end of the month.  Be sure to check back on December 22nd when the winners will be announced.  

a favorite family

Those of you that have been voting regularly during our fall favorites contest may recognize this little guy- he's pretty cute:

The day of our session was bitter cold, but he was such a trooper and didn't seem to mind at all.

I loved this sweet, family moment.

model children & model behavior

On model children...

I had the opportunity to photograph four darling little girls recently.  My friend Julie owns her own boutique or maybe more appropriately spelled bow-tique:  

www.simplybows.com

She sells the most beautiful bows, including monogrammed bows and bow related accessories. Having had two boys first I was determined that my little girl would be all girl and from day one she has had a bow in her hair.  I bought a lot of mediocre bows before I found simplybows  and I will never buy any other bows ever again. Simplybows are simply THE BEST.  So when Julie asked me to help her with her holiday cards I was thrilled.  I won't ruin the surprise in case you are on her mailing list, but I will show a few shots I enjoyed.

aren't they just adorable and of course, I LOVE Julie's signature colors: pink & green : )  All of the bows seen here and many, many more are available at www.simplybows.com

Now on to model behavior...

You know how you hear about models being divas and that famous quote by a "supermodel" who said she wouldn't get out of bed for less than 10K a day?  Well these little girls were nothing like that, perfectly well behaved, sweet angels... except one.  My little model... 

You keep voting and I'll keep posting

I still have a lot of sessions that didn't make the cutoff for the fall favorites contest that I want to share a sneak peek of.  I have posted before that this has been the year of the twin (10 or 11 sets of twins) and this session had me seeing double again

LOVE the way she is looking at him.

fall favorites contest

It's that time of year again- to vote for your favorite images of the fall.  The categories are:  favorite family image, favorite child or children image, favorite mommy & me image and this year we have added a new category: favorite image to name.  

Here's how to play: to vote send an email message from the "email me" link on the blog and in the subject line write fall favorites contest, the category & # you are voting for. ONLY EMAILS SENT FROM THE BLOG WILL BE COUNTED.  You can email once a day from each email address you have and have all your family & friends vote too.  The winner in each category will receive a free portrait session and a $250 print credit.  The image that wins the most votes overall will also receive a gift certificate for an additional portrait session, so tell your friends and family to vote because they could win a free session too.  

Here are the rules:  each category has ten images, except for favorite child or children image which has 15 because that is what we photograph most and it was hardest to narrow down.  These images were chosen by what we, the staff, enjoyed and not for any technical merit.  Only one image per session per category was allowed.  Voting is open from December 2nd through December 16th.  Winners will be notified by December 22nd.   Second & third place images will receive $100 print credits toward future sessions.  

Without further ado, I give you this year's fall favorite contestants...

FAVORITE FAMILY IMAGE 

     

 

FAVORITE CHILD OR CHILDREN IMAGE

FAVORITE MOMMY & ME IMAGE 

This category came about because as the mom & the photographer I have NO images with my children.  So when I see an image with a mom & a child it just melts me. And to make this category fair to the men, a few daddy & me images made there way in too.

FAVORITE IMAGE TO NAME  

These were a collection of images that just named themselves.

favorite peekaboo

favorite bad attitude

favorite face made at mom & dad 

favorite "lion king" moment 

favorite pout

favorite boys will be boys moment

favorite silly faces made by really cute kids

favorite "look ma, no hands" moment 

favorite face that makes us smile when we see it

favorite yoga pose