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Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category

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Old Soul – One more photograph from my session with Elizabeth

In Children, local artist, Photography, Portrait on August 12, 2013 at 4:57 PM

One of the things that really struck me in my portrait session with Elizabeth was how at moments she reflected the parts of her that are still little girl, sometimes who she was in the moment – and now and then there were glimpses of who she will become.  In this image she seems to be reflecting an old soul, even someone from the past. I found the moment very powerful. Do you see all of these things in yourself? We all carry with us part of the past, present and future. It was really cool to witness and capture it.

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Show & Tell … Portrait Session with Elizabeth

In Business, Children, local artist, Photography, Portrait on August 11, 2013 at 5:19 PM

As I worked on the images from my portrait session with Elizabeth I thought about how I needed to cull a few to create a “sneak peek” album for Facebook. The more I came across ones that really excited me the more I realized the “sneak peek” was really more of a show and tell for the photographer. We love what we do so much that when an image we made really strikes our fancy we become like little kids in grade school bringing our most prized possession to class. That’s how I feel anyways. I just want to share this thing that makes my heart sing! Here is my favorite from out time together.

Elizabeth’s family just expanded by newborn twins so her mom brought her into the studio to have an “all about her time” – and we had so much fun. She is a wonderful girl – full of energy, a great sense of humor, a very sweet heart and a vibrant sense of style. We negotiated with each other and did lots of colorful pictures the way she wanted, and then a few subdued, quieter ones for me. In fact – working with her taught me a lot. The artist in me wanted to make images that I liked – and the service oriented photographer wanted and needed to make images she would be pleased with and I had to make sure to let her needs outweigh my own. So, that being said – here is my show and tell of our collaboration. She was a pleasure to work with.

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Joshua & Jacob Twin Newborn Photo Session

In Business, Children, Photography, Portrait on July 31, 2013 at 6:32 PM

I’m in love. With Joshua & Jacob and with newborn photography. My friend Jodie’s daughter Lexi just had twins!! And they allowed me the great honor of coming to the house to take some pictures. This was my first time working with infants and I feel so lucky to have been able to do it – and can’t wait for the next opportunity. Lexi is beautiful, the babies are gorgeous and we all had fun working together. Here are a few images from the session. ♥♥♥ [ I threw in just one “fussy” one of Joshua because I still think he looks cute … and that is the only time he cried. He was perfectly cooperative for two solid hours which totally amazed me. ]

If you were having a newborn session done, how would you want your pictures processed? Since this was my first time I had a hard time deciding if I wanted to do all bright and colorful or more classic with the black and white.

 

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Social Media Portrait with Donna O…

In Business, local artist, Photography, Portrait, social media, Uncategorized on July 21, 2013 at 3:41 PM

I loved having Donna in my studio last week. We did a 30 minute social media portrait that will [hopefully] work well for her new blog “More than Hungry” – go check it out! Donna wrote and submitted a story into a contest – and she will be published soon!! When the article is published they will be linking to her newly created blog where you will be able to read all kinds of great stories about cooking – well, more than cooking – about how hospitality brings people together and helps foster love and relationships. Donna is very creative, talented, warm and friendly. She was a guest at our first game night here in the studio and brought such a beautiful display of food that I had to take pictures of it [it was quite delicious too]!  Here are just a few of the images from our time together. I hope you see the beautiful and generous spirit that I do.

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Baby B … Baby Reveal Portrait Session

In local artist, Photography, Portrait on July 5, 2013 at 5:14 PM

I had a blast on the 4th of July doing a baby reveal portrait session with Glen & Isabel! They came prepared with a bag full of props to play with and great attitudes about having fun with the shoot. Here are just a few of the images we captured … including a couple of goofy poses thrown in for Glen’s entertainment.

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Massage Special for July 2013 and new referral program for 2013

In Business, local artist, Marketing, Massage, Photography, Specials on June 27, 2013 at 4:59 PM

Hello! I haven’t been posting on the blog because my computer died and I’m waiting on a new one. This has also inhibited my ability to process or post any pictures for several weeks and that has been super painful! I didn’t realize until I couldn’t do it quite how much photography both energizes, rejuvenates and relaxes me.

This post is laboriously being pecked out letter by letter on my IPad because I want to share a few updates with you.

In order to keep things running smoothly here I need to do about 10 more massages per week. To help attain this goal I’ve implemented a new referral program. You send a friend, family member, colleague, neighbor who needs to relax to me. When they book and receive their hour massage they get $10 off and You get an $8 credit towards your next hour massage! Do this ten times and you’ve earned yourself a FREE massage!*

For July I am also implementing my own mini living social deal. From July 2-July 20, 2013 all one hour Swedish Massages are only $55.00!! That’s an $80 value at a $25 savings! Massages are scheduled Tuesday – Saturday by appointment and must be paid for in cash.* Know anyone who is stressed out? Share this post with them and they will love you!

*[neither offer can be combined with any other offer, cannot be purchased as a gift certificate and there is no cash value. July special must be booked, received and paid for between July 2-20, 2013]

Lastly, I’ve still been taking pictures even though I can’t get them off my camera. I’ve been inspired by Julia Margaret Cameron and played with some lighting after a recent head shot I did with a client. Here are two images from that session. I’ve taken a picture of the back of my camera with my IPad…so these are not high quality….but satisfy my need to make an image…

Hope to see you in July!

 

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Experimenting with Encaustic and the Balance of running a Studio

In Encaustic, local artist, Photography on June 11, 2013 at 7:21 PM

I’m quickly learning how delicate the balance of owning my own studio is. There is so much behind the scenes ‘business’ to take care of that since moving in I’ve done almost nothing creative – and this has been slowly depleting my energy. I’d read a blog post a few weeks back about a woman whose had a successful working studio for many years now. She wrote that in the beginning her experience was much like I seem to be having – the day to day tasks of keeping things in order leaving no time or energy for the reason she opened her shop in the first place. Then she made a decision to commit to her creative process as much as she was to the business part of things – and she dedicated three days a week only to her art. I love this idea and want to adopt it. Today I succeeded in getting in half a day of ‘just art’ – and it was great!

I’ve been wanting to learn about encaustic photography for a while now. I hope to be able to take a class from Corina Alvarezdelugo soon – check her out on FB here, she’s an expert in the field of encaustics. Until then – I tried to teach myself today.

I learned that it’s super easy to make a big mess with melted beeswax; that I really need to take a class; and that you can just peel out what you don’t like and start again.

Can’t wait to do a little more tomorrow. What new thing did you try today?

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IndieGoGo Campaign Gifts Going Out In The Mail Today

In Business, local artist, Marketing, Photography on June 5, 2013 at 1:20 PM

All first round contributors to my indiegogo campaign will get their thank you gifts sent in the mail today!

I love being able to fulfill these “thank yous”! Not only does your financial contribution help me get one step closer to getting the studio up and running – but your belief in me inspires me to keep trying new ways to make this a success. I also like how many people are a part of this place now – each investment – whatever shape it comes in – helps me feel your presence here.

If you know of other people who like to support local business or the arts please consider sharing my campaign with them – you can get to it by clicking on the link here.

I mail out these gifts today with much gratitude. ♥

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Raffle Winners from Saturday’s Open House … and Fresh Bread

In Business, cooking, Massage, Open House, Photography, Specials, Spring on June 3, 2013 at 3:21 PM

The Open House on Saturday was a great success!! Once the guests arrived I was so engaged with interacting with everyone that I neglected to take any pictures, but there are a few detail shots here. It was  fun to meet new people and I’m so grateful for the love and support from so many friends and family members.

There were lots of flowers everywhere and these were my favorite. I’ve spent this rainy Monday morning playing around with a few photographs, making homemade bread AND drawing the winners of the raffle prizes…

I’ll be mailing the gifts out this week and can’t wait for the winners to come in and use them.

Drum roll …. winner of the 10 minute hand massage is Karin G from Manchester; winner of the 30 minute Swedish massage is Ann A from Glastonbury; and winner of the 20% off coupon is Carey P from Vernon!! Yay!

For everyone else who came please remember that your gift for signing up for the mailing list, $20 off a 30 minute massage is valid only for June and July 2013 – so call to book your spot now. If you weren’t able to make it Saturday you can still take advantage of the $15 off 30 or 60 minute therapeutic massage special rolled over from May.  Looking forward to seeing you!!

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Field Trip to Hartford Prints!

In Business, local artist, Marketing, Open House, Photography on May 28, 2013 at 9:17 PM

I took a break in today’s busy schedule to travel into Hartford to meet the three sisters who own and operate Hartford Prints! – a Letterpress studio.

Addy, Callie and Rory run all aspects of the business and it was fun to meet them in person and watch the printing press in action. They’ve designed some vintage (with a modern twist) gift certificates for me which will be ready just in time for my Open House on Saturday (if I remember to order the envelopes tonight).  Each one was run through the press individually. How cool is that?!

I have to admit – I love paper and the craft of the old printing presses. If I weren’t already immersed in photography, massage therapy and running a studio I would definitely want to learn more about what these girls do all day. Since I couldn’t dive into all the old wood and metal letters or take them home with me, I took way too many pictures and will share a few with you here.

It’s so important to support your local artists. Handmade, one of a kind items are a treasure! Hartford Prints! offers a class at Christmas time where you can go into the studio and make your own holiday cards!! Check them out on Facebook to be reminded of the event so you can mark your calendar and plan to be there.