Have a wonderful weekend everyone! :) 

I know it's crazy for most people to even THINK about holiday card photos in JANUARY, but the reality is that I already have 2 regular session bookings in October and 2 in November (meaning I will ONLY be taking MINI session bookings now for those months), so if I don't post the mini session info NOW, i'll end up like the past 2 years where I didn't even have a chance to organize mini sessions in those months because I was already booked up.  Plus I already have a small waiting list for these mini sessions....so obviously some folks ARE thinking way ahead :) 

Why mini sessions in Oct/Nov? Easy! Those are my craziest months because everyone wants holiday card photos done. Why mini sessions though? Well because most clients are just looking for a photo or two to use on their cards. For me? Since i'm cutting down on the amount of shoots I do each month this year, I would have only booked about 6-8 shoots TOPS for each month. With mini sessions, i'll be able to book 2 regular sessions (which are already booked, sorry) and EIGHT mini sessions in each month. So basically i'll be able to photograph 20 clients in those 2 months vs. the normal 12-16 (which in my past, i've done before, but nearly killed myself ;) haha). I know some of you (mainly other photographers) are thinking "that's all? I can do 10+ mini sessions in a day", etc. Sure, i'm capable of it, but here's my reality. On top of Halloween, Thanksgiving, PJ just starting Kindergarten (in the fall), etc. In October and November alone, the amount of birthdays in our family are insane those two months. Don't believe me? Here's a little rundown of the birthdays: Isaac (nephew), Marcus (nephew), Mary (sister), Maylie (niece), Katie (sister), Elaine (sister in law), Ernie (father in law), Gene (my dad)....not to mention my mother in law and my brother in law just 2 weeks after that....and Christmas right after that! So yeah....on top of shoots, many hours of editing, holidays, parties, etc....there are MANY birthdays to celebrate during that time as well. In the past, i've unfortunately had to miss out on quite a few events because (and my friends/family know this line all too well) - "Sorry, I have a shoot". Part of my New Year resolutions is MORE family time....so yes, this is a must for me :)  Ok, so now that i've spoken my case (sorry, I tend to get diarrhea of the mouth sometimes and can go on and on....and on. Hmm....I blame that on my oldest sister and my brother in law, Jay. Both can talk your ear off ;) haha), let's get to the info! :) 

 

I will try and update the list as spots are booked. 

 

MINI session DETAILS:

PRICING: $400 (session *AND* disc of all edited images)

*30 minute session for up to 2 people ($30 per additional person(s))

*Approximately 15-20 images

*Access to online password protected gallery for proofing, sharing with friends & family and ordering.

*DVD with all professionally edited images in high resolution & print release (where you are free to take wherever you like for prints, cards, etc).

 

 

DATES and LOCATIONS to choose from (times will be confirmed later on, closer to the shoot dates):

*PARK or OUTDOOR (possibly field)* - Saturday - October 9th, 2010 - FOUR THREE TWO ONE  ZERO spots available.

*URBAN/STREET* - Sunday - October 17th, 2010. FOUR THREE TWO ONE ZERO spots available.

*BEACH (w/ bleachers, lifeguard towers, etc)* - Saturday - November 13th, 2010 - FOUR THREE TWO ONE ZERO spots available.

*URBAN/STREET* Sunday - November 14th, 2010 - FOUR THREE TWO ONE  ZERO spots available. 

 

Here are some photos of each "type" (meaning these might not be the EXACT confirmed locations I will choose, but possibly) of location:

PARK/OUTDOOR......

 

URBAN/STREET.....

 

BEACH (but w/ bleachers, lifeguard towers, etc)....

 

I of course will still be booking regular/full sessions in September (which is when my holiday card shoots usually start up), so if you feel like you would need more than 30 minutes, or would like a different location than the mini sessions offer, you can definitely still book in June, July, August and September :)  Thanks! :) 

Each year around this time, I photograph my sister and her family for their annual Chinese New Year cards (they send them instead of holiday cards since my sister is always too busy working on everyone elses cards during the holiday season ;) - www.eitak.com). I love photographing them because my sister and I are always on the same page when it comes to ideas (plus I can tell them to do whatever I want.....like stand in a tiny alley that smells like pee! ;) HA!....it looked awesome though!!...they agree!) and they are always up for anything. We talked about this shoot for quite some time, had it all envisioned.....and when they walked into my house to pick me up that day...I almost peed my pants a little. They looked AWESOME! I'm really hoping this pushes people to step outside the box a bit...especially when it comes to clothing. Skip the regular clothes, put on your Sunday best...or even something you would normally never wear (maybe even a dress that you've had your eye on at Anthropologie, Target, Urban Outfitters, etc?) and try something different :)  Clothing can add SO much personality to a shoot. Anyway, since their cards are still in the works (and some of you reading this might be one of the lucky recipients ;) hehe), i'm only going to post 2 little sneak peeks for now. I'll share more about a week after her cards go out :) 

 

Don't worry, we had FUN too! ;) 

How frickin' cute are they!?? :) 

7 cousins + a shoot booked 7 months ago = a fun, yet cold morning :) 

The parents of these awesome kids wanted some photos taken for their mom's upcoming 65th birthday. With 7 kids from 3 different families, schedules were a little tight, so they decided that the best time was 8:30am. Even though they were dragged out of bed to take photos on a weekend morning, there were no complaints, plenty of laughs and a good amount of horsing around ;) 

 

P.S - Don't worry, the non smilers here also showed plenty of smiles. I just wanted to show them working their modeling skills ;) 

 

Bagel break! :) 

Lee's daddy booked this shoot with me back in June and although it was about 7 months out, we blinked and all of the sudden it was January!...and time for our shoot! :) For the first 5-10 minutes, little Lee just looked at me like "who the heck are you?" with a very serious and worried face. It's ok, pretty much all kids do that. After all, I am a stranger to them (well the first shoot anyway). I think his mom and dad were starting to get a little worried since he was so serious, but I assured them that soon enough he would be smiling. Sure enough....we got PLENTY of smiles. His serious/bored face cracked me up though because it reminded me SO much of a few of my own baby pictures. One in particular was a shot of me at a park in Washington DC. I was close to the same age (if not exact) as Lee and I was wearing yellow Winnie The Pooh footed pajamas and sitting there with a serious/bored face. It almost looked like I was going to fall asleep :) Anyway, not sure if it's becasuse Lee is asian/caucasian like me, the face he was making....or a mixture of both...but I was cracking up :) 

 

"What? You want me to smile??" .............................................................................................  "OK!" :)                  

The photo on the right is the serious/bored face I was talking about ;)