Thinking about things

Someone asked me the other day why people will want to come and have their portraits taken by me instead of at a chain studio somewhere (think JC Penney or Portrait Innovations). My first response was surprise, because I'm thinking "isn't it obvious, seeing my work?" But once over the initial prideful response, I realized that he had a very valid question. Why should someone pay a trained professional a good bit more than what they could probably spend in a chain?

Well, time for one thing. I spend much more time with my clients than is typical in a chain. Back when I was working at the Picture People, we had 20 minutes and nine frames of film. Granted, I got very good at getting excellent shots within those constraints, but it's not at all conducive to actually building a relationship with anyone. Getting to know a client takes time and patience, and I believe it's vital to a successful portrait session. I typically spend at least an hour working with everyone that walks in front of my camera. As a result, I am able to overcome shyness and nervousness to get shots that show each person's personality as well as the dynamic between family groups.

Another great reason to come to me instead of a chain is value. Yes, I will not argue that you are going to spend more money with me. But you aren't locked in to certain packages or poses. I do have a package deal that I do, but trading things out is still allowed, and you can mix and match your poses as much as you want. Or you can just buy things a la carte, or take advantage of my custom package which gives you a print credit to use however you see fit. The quality of both the images and the final product is much higher than you are going to get somewhere else.

A third reason is that all the money you spend with me is going straight back into the local economy. I shop at local stores. I buy food from local farmers. My photo lab is a locally owned and operated business. My child goes to a local school, and I support her PTA there. I try to buy as exclusively as possible from locally owned and operated businesses, because I want my dollars to stay local. I believe that it is important to all of us to have a strong community economy that is as self sufficient as possible, and I back that up with my dollars.

I'll stop there. If my words and the strength of my portfolio haven't convinced you yet, nothing will. But if you don't like my work, then I urge you to check out some other local folks before you head to the mall.

More Baby Cheyenne

Cheyenne had her first "studio" session last weekend. The beginning of a lifetime of being subjected to Aunt Vada's camera and bright flashing lights. She slept through almost the entire event. That's ok, I like sleeping baby pictures.



And big brother TJ got to be in a couple of the shots as well.



Mama Liza, although tired, is absolutely radiant...



Daddy Chris's only appearance is here, and wouldn't you know it, as soon as we get the child naked she wakes up!



Stay tuned for many more shots of Cheyenne and her family, she will be one of my regulars!

Taylor's First Birthday Pics!

Taylor has been subjected to my camera many times at this point in her life! She was actually the winner of my grand opening drawing for a free custom session ($350 value). This particular day, the usually happy Miss Taylor got up a few hours earlier than normal and was not her typical cheery self by the time she made it into the studio. Thankfully, the sight of mom, dad, and Vada jumping around and acting like idiots to get her to smile did the trick. She is a beautiful little girl; just look at those eyes!


And here is the entire family, they are such cool people!


She's gotten so big since I've been photographing her!


And here is what she REALLY thought about the day's events!


Poor Taylor! But I know she got a wonderful nap as soon as she got home!

Jonna's Senior Portraits

I met Jonna at the beginning of this summer, when she was a volunteer Counselor in Training at the Center for Visual Artists. Jonna is one of the coolest teenagers I've met in my adult life. She is well mannered, intelligent, and just plain fun to be around. She is a hard worker and absolutely wonderful with kids. Jonna wants to go to college to be a child psychologist, and I believe she is going to be an excellent one. I know that my daughter thinks the sun rises and sets on Jonna.

We did Jonna's senior portraits in Bog Garden by the falls, and in Bicentennial Garden. It was a beautiful evening, not too hot, and the light was to die for. The setting brought out Jonna's natural beauty and great personality, and as a result we got some stunning portraits.

Pin Up 2: Lena, Bad Girl of GSO

My second pin up shoot was last week with Lena. This is the second time I've gotten Lena in the studio, but before it was her gorgeous little girl that was in front of the camera. Little Miss Alexis gets it from her mama, let me tell you. Lena is beautiful, sexy, and a complete blast to work with.















We went through many wardrobe changes and all sorts of poses. I ended up shooting about 125 images, with an unbelievable 72 portfolio worthy final pictures. We kept getting shots with these little hands in the bottom corner, because Lexi wanted mommy, but she was very patient with these crazy grown ups, and ended up having a few of her own shots slipped in!













These two pin up sittings have been the kind that you know every time you hit the button that you are getting something wonderful. I have been so lucky to have Jen and Lena volunteer to work with me. They are truly two very beautiful and very awesome women.

A new project

I have been working on a new project lately working with adults (I know, shocking!). My "art" photography always pulls me in the direction of exploring themes of womanhood, motherhood, and childhood. My BFA thesis at Guilford College explored the many facets of childhood emotions and expression through the posing and costuming of my daughter, and was a pretty direct reaction to some earlier criticism that child photography isn't really art. I played with re-examing fairy tales for a few months, but have had to put that on the back burner for now, because I hit a creative wall. But those LA Ink commercials on TLC stirred something up in my brain, and now I am working on a series exploring different stereotypes of beauty and sex appeal.

So far I have done the 1920s jazzbaby flapper icon and the biker babe/naughty cowgirl. My next couple of shoots I think I am going to go for 1950s pin-up, and I would like to play with the "woman in authority" theme as well (teacher, police officer, etc)

Working with regular people instead of paid models is always great. I am on a local mothers' forum, http://www.triadmommies.com/, and have gotten all my volunteers so far from there. We have a lot of fun, I get to have adult conversation-a rarity-and local mom gets to be reminded that she is beautiful and sexy. I'm posting some of the flapper pictures. Look for more to come soon!

More Pictures in BiCentennial Garden

Last weekend I met up with musician Angela Gaynor to do some pictures for her new cd. If you haven't heard of her, check her out at http://www.angelagaynor.com/ or www.myspace.com/angelagaynor. I promise, she is worth the listen.

Revisiting Last Halloween...

All of you who know me know that Halloween in my favorite holiday. I love all the costumes, all the candy, and all the wonderful energy flowing all over the place. So when we started talking about Halloween on a Mommies Forum I am on (www.triadmommies.com/forum) I happily got to drag out my pictures of my darling little vampire from last year!





I can't wait to see all the lovely little ghosties and ghoulies this year! Hopefully I'll get to share some of them with you.

Cheyenne Cox is here!

Welcome to the world, Cheyenne Isabelle! Cheyenne is the newest addition to my very good friend Liza's family. She is the cutest little thing. Stay tuned for more images of her, as soon as I can get her into the studio!