A Day Made for Portraits

Sunday I made a return visit to a client's home -- this time to create portraits for her friend Melissa's daughter. You never know what the weather will be like in late October, but the weather was about perfect that day. I have many outdoor sessions scheduled in November - let's hope the weather stays nice!

Melissa, thank you for choosing me to take portraits of your little princess.

I had a lot of fun! Your proofs will be ready soon.

(click on the portrait to see it more clearly)

Crazy for purses

I'm crazy for purses. Or is it more fashionable to say, "Crazy for bags"? Either way, these are for you! I have always had a bit of a purse obsession, and when I found my new portrait bag vendor, it was love at first site. I couldn't wait to place my order, and they arrived today - only two weeks after I ordered. I bought three... and am already plotting my next purchase. Of course, I went with the upgrades - leather trim and a different portrait on each side. I really love the look of these bags, and would be happy to show you mine personally. I know I will be seeing many of you at the Academy of the Arts dance studio Monday-Wednesday evenings. I can even work up a picture of a "virtual bag" for you so that you could see what your portrait would look like on your chosen bag design before you order. We can also do a collage on the bag for you for a small added charge. So if you have four children and want an individual portrait of all four on your bag, a collage would be a great way to go.

I bought:

• The Classic Handbag
• The "Photographer's Tote" - but you can have one, too! It's big - big enough for a 17-inch laptop, and then some.
• A coin purse

If you love bags like I do, you really should put one of these on your Christmas list. I need all orders placed by Nov. 14. They've told me that to ensure delivery in good time for the holidays, that's the date. Sure, we can place later orders, but I can't promise your bag would be here by Christmas. Your bag will definitely be one of a kind!

See more about these great bags on my Web site: http://centerstage.smugmug.com/gallery/3699788#212939524

"The Photographer's Tote"

In the first picture at the very top of this blog entry, you can see one side of my new "classic handbag" with a colorful portrait of my two cute kids on it. Below is the other side of the bag - my kids in black and white this time.

Ballerina Portrait Contest - Semifinal #3

It's time for the next round of our ballerina portrait contest. Vote for your favorite! This poll will close in one week and the winner will move on to our final round and have a chance to win a set of Moo cards made of portraits from their order.

And yes, those of you who do not win may buy your own set from me -- if your portrait order was at least $150, you may purchase a set of Moo cards -- featuring the portraits that you have purchased -- for $60 plus sales tax. Watch this blog for some more fun products you can buy (these all would make wonderful Christmas gifts) - including

• Beautiful portrait bags (no minimum order required)
• And portrait tile jewelry (no minimum order required).

Have fun voting! (if the image does not look clear, please click on it to see it better).

EDITED FRIDAY, NOV. 2 - congratulations to #2 for moving on to the finals! Thanks for everyone for voting.

1.

2.

3.
4.

5.

6.

Holiday Cards

Many of you have asked about holiday cards.

We offer almost 30 designs, from modern to Victorian. Each is a 5x7 press-printed card - that means they are printed on a printing press on quality paper - not on photo paper. All are flat, and printed on only one side, so you can write your own personal message on the other side. White envelopes are provided.

To use a Center Stage Photography portrait on your holiday cards, you must order your cards from me, and the portrait used must be one you have purchased a print of, unless you are part of our Holiday Card Mini-Session event Nov. 4-5. You may view the card designs here:

http://www.centerstage.smugmug.com/gallery/3704038/1/212543173#212204208

Prices are: $50 for 25 cards; $95 for 50 cards; $140 for 75 cards; $185 for 100 cards.

Exclusively for my clients who have placed portrait orders over $500 - you may purchase one full-resolution digital file from me for $95 (it must be a portrait that was included in your original order), and then you may get your cards printed where you choose.

The above also applies to Baby Announcements. As of Oct. 25, all baby announcements using Center Stage Photography portraits must be ordered through Center Stage Photography. We can create a custom design for you until we build up our design offerings. Prices are the same as for holiday cards.

This is going to be one seriously cute baby

Mary and Ryan came to my studio this evening for maternity portraits.
Cute mom + cute dad = cute baby!
They will be back in December so I can photograph their new baby boy. Mary is one of several doctors and/or residents who have come to me for maternity and newborn portraits. Since Mary is a pediatrician, I'm very curious to see if she will handle her baby boy with "new mommy jitters," or will she move him around like a pro? I can't wait to find out!

Thanks to Mary and Ryan for trusting me with these special portraits. I'm really looking forward to our next session.

Ballerina Portrait Contest - Semifinal #2

Here is the second round of our fun little contest. Vote on your favorite portrait - the winner will move on to our final contest and have a chance to win a set of Moo cards from Center Stage Photography! I get to choose the portraits to be included on the Moo cards. Have fun voting! (See the Oct. 12 blog entry for more information. Also, if a portrait does not look clear, please click on it to see it better.)

All ballerina sessions are now edited and online!
Remember that you have until Oct. 31 to place your order
at the Early Bird Special prices.
All portraits from this event will stay online through Dec. 31.

By the way - some of you have asked about holiday cards. We have 30 designs for choose from, from Victorian to modern. You can stop by the studio to see copies of each one; or soon we will have a gallery on our web site where you can see each design. Prices are the same as for our holiday card mini-session portrait event -- you can see pricing in our Sept. 14 blog entry.

EDITED ON OCT. 26 - Portrait #6 won this round, and will move on to the final. Congratulations!

#1

#2

#3
#4

#5
#6

Ballerina Goes High Fashion

Today was this girl's 10th birthday and I had the honor of spending part of her special day taking her portraits. She spends lots of time each week in a leotard and ballet slippers, but tonight I wanted to do something different with her - we went high fashion - blowing hair and all! I even talked her into keeping her very chic little coat on for part of her session.

Happy birthday little Miss J!
(click on the photo to see it bigger and more clear)

Oh Baby!

This baby girl had her three-month portraits taken today. She wore a beautiful baptismal gown that one of her doting grandmothers made for her. I've taken her mom's maternity portraits, and her newborn portraits, but I haven't seen her since she was a week old, and my goodness how she's grown. I can't wait to see what she looks like for her 6-month portraits in January.

Thanks, Dana, for bringing her today. Here's a sneak peak - including one with what you called the
"over the top" hat -- I couldn't resist!

Ballerina Portrait Contest - Semifinal #1

Our ballerina portrait mini-session event was a huge success this year - so much so that I'm still editing portraits for some of my last sessions. I photographed almost 60 kids - nearly all girls, over three days in late September and early October.

We thought it would be fun to have a bit of a contest. We will have several preliminary contests, and the winner of each will then move to the final contest. Once we have a final winner, the subject of the portrait will win a free set of Moo cards printed with portraits from their session (I get to choose the portraits to include). If you haven't seen these darling little cards, check out www.moo.com. Everyone who sees them goes crazy over them -- I carry some in my purse of my own kids to show off. A modern little brag book, I guess!

Posted below are the first six portraits in the contest (I'm going in order of when the session happened). Vote for your favorite portrait. This is not a cute kid contest - I happen to think that every child I photographed for this event is equally beautiful :) . Get your friends and family to vote! This poll will close in one week. I will annouce the winner at that point and post the next preliminary poll.

EDITED ON FRIDAY, OCT. 19 -- Portrait #2 won with 37 votes. #3 had 36 votes. Since it was so close, both will move on to the final contest.

Have fun!

Portrait #1

Portrait #2

Portrait #3

Portrait #4

Portrait #5

Portrait #6(click the photo to see it full size)
You can vote by clicking below, or go to:
http://www.polldaddy.com/p.asp?p=119525

Beautiful new family

Katie came to me a few weeks ago for her maternity portraits, and this evening, she and Michael brought their new baby boy for portraits. Newborn sessions are always fun, and challenging, and memorable, and this one was no different. Katie and Michael are both very fun to work with.

The couple let me try out something new. Many of my clients come to me for my "low key" photography - that is, low light and shadows on dark -- or black -- backdrops. Tonight I wanted to try something a bit different -- a more high-key look. They were game - so we did both - low key and high key. I hope they enjoy the results!


Congratulations to Katie and Michael - wishing you many fun times with your new baby boy.

Fun with plexiglass

I had a fun session this evening -- this little guy, who is a frequent guest in my studio, spent most of his time staring into the reflection in the plexiglass I had him sitting on. This baby's mom loves portraits of her four gorgeous kids, so she couldn't resist getting his 9-month portraits done. Luckily for her, we were able to distract him from the plexiglass long enough to get some nice portraits. Of course, is there little wonder why one of the best portraits happened before I got the plexiglass out?

Enjoy! Your proofs will be ready shortly. See you for baby's 1-year portraits in a few months!

(click the image to see it larger)