Friday, January 22, 2010

Gallery Wrapped Canvas Sale | 24 hours only

For the first time EVER, a Gallery Wrapped Canvas SALE!!!

This sale is for 24 hours only. Ends Saturday 1/23/10 at 5pm. My company is having a sale on canvases so I want to pass that along to you.

Order now and take $100 off the canvas pricing.

Regular Price Sale Price

16x20 $250 $150
16x24 $275 $175
20x24 $325 $225
20x30 $350 $250
24x36 $425 $325

Get that Christmas gift you were really wanting!

Don't have a specific image in mind? That's OK. Order now and reserve your canvas for a future session.

What is a gallery wrapped canvas?

Truly one of the most spectacular things I have available. Your photo is printed on a canvas material and stretched over a 1.5 inch frame. The back is covered and hanging hardware is in place. These come ready to hang and place on your wall.

Let me know ASAP if you want to order one of these so I can put the order in to my company before their sale is over.

And again, if you want to order it now and use it in the future, that is an easy option.








Happy Mother's Day!

To Me!

Now, I know you are all thinking, "Wow, Tina has really lost her mind. Doesn't she realize it is January?"

Yes, I do know that it is January. The thick winter coats and the bruises on my backside from slipping on the ice are frequent reminders.

But my lovely children gave to me, the best present a mother could ask for. I had a certain shot in my head and told the kids that I wanted 1 shot. Of course the big kids moaned and groaned. Craig even told me, "Alright, you get 1 shot, that is it." I explained to him that in order to get this 1 shot I may have to click the shutter more than once but I wouldn't make them change positions, backgrounds, etc...

After promises of a movie and some goldfish snacks, my children gave me this:



A mother's dream. A photo of all of my children looking lovely.

I love everything about it. I love CJ's somber, soulful look, as this is what he usually gives me. It defines "him". I love Craig's crooked little smile that reminds me of the day when he was 3 and we had to go to the ER twice in the same day for stitches to his lip. Gabi's beautiful gaze which opens my eyes to how quickly time goes by and what a gorgeous little lady she is turning into. Then Gianna's chubby baby-ness, her deep brown eyes that are duplicates of CJ's, her crazy untamable hair, and her sweet face that looks so much like her big sister's did when she was a baby.

"Well being a photographer, I'm sure your home is filled with beautiful images of your children"

Unfortunately, not true. Ever heard of the shoemakers kids? My kids are so sick of my camera that they run and hide whenever I pull it out. Gianna is the only one who can't run yet, but she is getting really fast at crawling.

Just to show you that my babies aren't always perfect angels, here are some outtakes:

Testing lighting:





"Craig, please don't strangle your brother"


After the above picture, its no suprise that CJ was trying to get away



Well, at least 3 of the 4 are looking at me.



This was the last picture. Gianna had eaten right before we started. Gabi was bouncing her on her knee, trying to make her happy, and possibly squeezing her a little too tight.




So how many shutter clicks did it take to get that 1 special picture?

12

Monday, January 18, 2010

Smoochable Sweetness! {B} 6 days old

If I haven't said it before, I'll say it now. I love my job! I get to photograph these adorable little babies, hold them, rock them, and snuggle them. It really doesn't get any better than this.

I was excited to meet little baby B and he was just as sweet as I had imagined. He has the most perfect little lips, perfect for smoochin!



He is absolutely adorable and I am so glad he is part of my baby plan because I am looking forward to documenting his first year.

He even gave me a little smile.



He had his share of fussy moments (as most newborns do) but he really loved to be swaddled. Mom had this perfect little blanket that coordinated with his nursery. I love the blue and brown combo.

And of course, I had to throw in one of the new family :) I love the sweetness of this one. There is something about dramatic black and whites that always end up being my favorites.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Help Elmwood Elementary win $100,000

Please help Elmwood Elementary win $100,000. The school is in the top 20 of the US CELLULAR "Calling All Communities" Campaign that is NATIONWIDE!!! If the school makes it to the top 10 by Friday they win $100,000 dollars. If you will let me enter you please send me your email address, home address, and birthdate. They will not be hounding you to buy anything. It is simply a contest!! If you want to enter yourself you can go to ANY US Cellular store to get a card with a code for the contest. Make sure you put your vote toward Elmwood Elementary! PLEASE!! Think about what an elementary school could do with $100,000!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Anticipation | Peoria Maternity Photographer


Officially my first shoot of the decade :)

I was so glad I got to photography Sara's beautiful belly. We had been talking about this at work for a while but had to reschedule our first appointment due to holiday craziness. On January 1st, we finally made it happen.

I always have a difficult time picking out pics for my blog sneak peek but this shoot was exceptionally difficult. I opened the files and would say "Oh, I love this one. THIS is it." Then I'd see another and say "THIS one is perfect, its the one." And again, and again, and again. I couldn't pick a favorite. There are so many beautiful ones from this session that I just couldn't choose.

Sara looks absolutely stunning at 36 weeks. Pregnancy looks so good on her. As I'm sure you can imagine, it is just too hard to pick favorites when your clients are so gorgeous.



The nursery is all ready. Just waiting for little baby girl to arrive at the end of the month.





Thank you Sara and Steve for allowing me to capture this beautiful time in your lives.