Introducing Pin-Up Parties

I am so happy to introduce a new service I am offering alongside Melanie Sivitilli, Airbrush Make-Up Artist: Pin-Up Parties.

It is perfect for all the ladies who are tired of the same old girls night out. If you are looking for something that is unique, then you have come to the right place. Whether it is in celebration of a friends birthday, bachelorette party or just for a fun night with your girlfriends, a pin-up party will provide a fun, memorable and maybe even crazy night.

Call now to book your party in time for Christmas!!

Ongoing Fall/Winter 2009 Family Sessions at Pingle's Farm Market

I have been in contact with the owner of Pingle's Farm Market in Hampton, Ontario and we are putting together a photography package that will only be offered in the fall and winter of 2009 (ending December 23). Please see the information below for details:

General Admission for upto 4 family members;
A choice of either apple picking (upto 1 basket or bundle) or pumpkin patch (upto 2 pumpkins) or Christmas Tree hunt (depending on date);
Upto 1.5 hours shooting time; and
20-25 images from session on CD sent via ExpressPost 1-2 weeks after session

$200 plus PST

Admission to corn-maze, horse drawn carriage rides are extra. Package is based on four participants, extra fees apply for more participants and second photographer may be necessary depending on the size of your group.

Please check out Pingle's wbsite:

http://www.pinglesfarmmarket.com/

Contact me to book your session!!

The week of Trash the Dress

A couple weeks ago I had two trash the dress sessions. The first one was with Kelly who you may recognize from an earlier Family session post with her son Zach. The second which took place the following day was with Jennifer. She is a fellow photographer who just wanted to have fun and do something different. I had a great time with both former brides and I love the photos that resulted from the sessions.

My new assistant, Bre, accompanied me on her first session which happened to be Kelly's. Stay tuned for some of Bre's images.

Almost Hitched Event Planning Services

I have had the pleasure of meeting Bobbi-Jo Verschuuren, the owner and wedding/event planner of Almost Hitched Event Planning Services.

She plans all sorts of events and parties as well as weddings.

For more details please visit:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8159838170&ref=ts

http://www.almosthitchedweddings.com/

We are in the process of putting together some boudoir party packages with a variety of options and features. Please stay tuned for more details. You can also expect some guest blogging entries on all sorts of fun ideas, so stay tuned for that as well.

My New Favorite Songs

Do you remember the pop music singer Michelle Branch? She became popular about 10 years ago with her first single "Everywhere" and her popularity increased with several successful singles and a few albums.

She then joined forces with Jessica Harp to start the group The Wreckers.

Since then, they have started solo projects and they each have their own new songs which I am currently addicted to and play over and over again in the car, they are:

Boy Like Me - Jessica Harp

and

Sooner or Later - Michelle Branch

Check them out!

Miss L's Boudoir Shoot

I recently had a boudoir session with Miss L. It was for a gift for her husband for their wedding anniversary.

Announcing...

My beautiful and wonderful assistant, Breanne Silverthorn (Bre). She will be helping me out in several different ways from assisting me on shoots to second shooting. Not only this, but we are discussing entering into a partnership together. There is lots to discuss and a lot of details to work out, but we are making progress.

Family Photography Day

Please join me as I host my first family photography marathon.As a new mom, I can now appreciate the importance of having family photographs taken on a regular basis. The time goes by so quickly.

Your package includes:

Photographer’s time and talent
1-1.5 hours shoot time
Selection of 30-40 edited images for printing
3 5x7 prints and 1 11x14 print of your choice
For upto 6 participants

$150.00 plus PST - $75.00 non-refundable deposit due at booking. Weather permitting. If cancellation occurs due to weather, depsoit will be refunded or can be used towards rescheduling.

Time slots available
9 am
11:30 am
1:30 pm
2:30 pm

Session will take place at the Oshawa lakefront

Networking

I have had a very exciting week in regards to networking. Firstly, a friend of mine, Lindsay Giguere who owns and operates Linzi's Cakes - www.linziscakes.com - mentioned my boudoir photography to some sales clerks at La Senza while she was shopping and they expressed some interest. After finding this out, I contacted the manager of the new La Senza location (Taunton and Harmony is Oshawa) and she agreed to hand out flyers to each customer for a period of two weeks in July about my upcoming Boudoir Marathon (see below for more information).

Then this past weekend, I attended the Hooters Classic Car show in Whitby and was taking some photos of the Hooter girls posing on some of the cars and I had the opportunity to talk to some of them about my boudoir photography and they seemed pretty interested.

Be sure to check out these links:

www.lasenza.com

www.hooters.com

Kelly and Zach at the farm

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of not only catching up with an old friend but to photograph her with her son at a 27 acre farm in Pontypool. The farm belongs to her parents. They have a few horses, some cows, chickens and goats. The highlight of the day was going on my first ATV ride...and surviving.

Website Update

After a lot of thought and consideration, I have made some major changes to my packages and fees. The new information will be on my website within the next week or so. If you need to find information on my packages and fees, it is posted on my Facebook group page:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7379374413

If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to ask me.

Have a great day.

Just for Fun

Hey Everyone,

Here is a list of 25 things you may or may not know about me:

1- I can eat popcorn with BBQ seasoning anytime of the day
2- I am currently addicted to the colour turqouise
3- My favorite Walt Disney movie is The Little Mermaid
4- It doesn't matter how bad my day has been or how miserable I am feeling, when I pick up my camera, all that stuff goes away and I feel better
5- I used to write short stories when I was a teenager
6- I am very organized and I like planning stuff
7- If I start feeling competitive with a friend, it is usually a sign that the friendship is over (it has only happened with three friends)
8- Most of my money is spent on shoes, purses and DVDs
9- My son Braeden and my husband Adam are the best things in my life and I love them dearly
10- I have a fear of snakes
11- When I know what I want, nothing can stop me from getting it - with that being said, figuring out what I want is the difficult part because I am the most indecisive person you will ever meet
12- I avoid confrontation
13- Even though I very seldomly wear lipstick or lipgloss, I have about 25 different shades
14- My best thinking happens right before I go to sleep, on a typical night it usually takes me anywhere from half an hour to an hour to fall asleep
15- I am currently on maternity leave and I decided to take this opportunity to change careers. I have just completed the Travel and Tourism program at Humber.
16- The last three vacations/trips I have taken, my best friend has taken them with me (Ireland, Dominican Republic and Mexico).
17- One of my goals is to have an inground pool with a swim up bar in it and I will get it one day.
18- Even though my dad has a Corvette that I love and I used to make fun of my husband's mustang and claim to be a "Chevy Girl", there is one mustang that I would kill to own...1967 GT 500 Shelby Mustang.
19- I absolutely hate washing dishes
20- I hated working at AMC, but had a blast working there with the other people that worked there and I miss the perks.
21- I swore to my parents when I was a kid that I would never like country music and now that I am an adult, I like a lot of country music.
22- The best concert I have ever been to was U2.
23- I had the opportunity to go to Australia for free with my mom and chose to go with her to Aruba instead and I don't regret that choice.
24- Taking a ride on a Seadoo was one of the funnest experiences in my life.
25- I have four pairs of sunglasses and I never wear them.

VIP Program

I am working on a new VIP program for for my clients that are Big Spenders and loyal. Details will follow shortly

New Information

Gift certificates are available. Available in any denomination and can be used for any package including weddings or print fees and album design fees. They are the perfect gift for newly engaged couples, highschool and college students and grads, new parents, families etc. They can also be used for prizes for fundraising events, community and personal such as Stag and Does or Jack n' Jills. Please contact me for more details.

Promotional Shoot

I had the opportunity this past weekend to complete a promotional session for a local real estate agent. She is updating her business cards and wanted some professional but casual headshots to put on them. I received the following comment from her:

"Hey!! I saw some of the pics!! They look so fabulous!! I love them! You are super talented.... don't ever doubt yourself! I am uber excited to see them all!!"

Preferred Vendor

I have recently been in contact with a cake designer, Jennifer Stewart, and I am so impressed with her cake designs that I decided I must share her website with all of you.

Her website is:

http://www.everaftercakedesign.com/


"When planning an elaborate event for 400
or an intimate affair for two, let Ever After Cake Design create a stunning show piece
your guests will remember!

With private in your home consultations and stellar customer service,
Our cake designers will bring your dream cake to reality.
Contact us today to book your personalized tasting or to attend one of our group tasting events!"

Boudoir Marathon

I have decided to focus my attention on boudoir sessions for the time being. For a limited time only, I am offering an incentive for booking a session during my upcoming boudoir marathon. For $150 plus PST, you will receive:

~1-1.5 hour long session
~minimum 50 photos on CD
~20 of clients "favorites" made into a mini album designed by me
~shoot location of a contemporary hotel
~make up services from a professional make-up artist

The details:

Saturday May 16
Ajax Hilton - 500 Becks Cres.
3:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Please note that bookings are made on a first come, first served basis.

Marketing Overload

Who would have thought that owning a photography business would mean spending more time and energy on business aspects than on photography itself. Now that my website is up and going which I am convinced is the most important item when marketing one's business, I am starting to think of marketing more seriously. I have a new logo now but it needs to be added to business cards (which have been ordered), CD/DVD labels, mailing labels, contracts, price lists etc. etc. I have to figure out what album design company (most of them are in the states) that I will order from. There are so many options out there. Do I go with Finao or KISS? What other marketing materials and photo packaging products do I go with? Where should I advertise my services?

However, I do have some tricks up my sleeve but those shall remain a secret.

I am open to any suggestions that you may have.

New Website is Live

I am happy to announce that my new website is now live. Please check it out! I would love to hear any comments you have.

http://www.amh-photo.com/

Back from Mexico

My husband and I had a great time in Mexico. I can't believe how quickly the week went by and only a week later, I don't even feel like I had a vacation. We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe Tulum in the Mayan Riviera.

The wedding went very well and the couple is very happy. They are returning early Sunday morning and I have all the wedding photos that I was able to take, edited and ready to go.

Long Gone Baby

After being booked for just under a year, my friend's destination wedding is just around the corner. My husband are leaving for Mexico this coming Saturday and are going to be soaking up the sun, drinking Margarita's and of course making photos for an entire week.

It will be interesting to see how I can possibly be a maid of honour and part-time photographer for the wedding, but I am sure I can do it. Now I just have to figure out how to pack all my gear, clothes and shoes without going over the luggage limitations.

Stay tuned for photos...

This coming weekend

The next couple weeks are going to be hectic for me, especially with preparing for my upcoming trip to Mexico for my friend's wedding. I still have to wash the new wardrobe I have purchased specifically for the trip and pack everything along with my husband's stuff as well. But what I am most excited for (besides the trip itself) is taking a travel photography seminar this Sunday and then applying the skilss I have learned when I am in Mexico.

I also look forward to not only being my friend's maid of honour but her part-time wedding photographer. Unfortunately, I won't be able to photography the ceremony but I plan on photographing the bride's preparations, some formals of the couple between the ceremony and reception, the reception itself and possibly a trash the dress session with a twist.

Stay tuned for those photos in a few weeks.