I’m so excited about a new service and product we are now offering. Custom Gallery design and framing!! While working with our portrait clients over the past few years one specific frustration began to reveal itself and that was what to do with their photos. We had many clients that were in love with their images and ordered 15 5×7’s and a year later they were still in the envelope we delivered them in. They just were not sure what to do with their photos! So for the last year I have been working on putting together multiple wall gallery layouts and finding a frame supplier and learning about how to finish the frames once I receive them. The best part of this whole service??? We help you plan where to hang the photos, what sizes and what frames will best match your decor and then we INSTALL them for you. That’s right! There will be no smashed thumbs, cussing or unevenly hung frames. We do it for you!
We have recently worked with a handful of our family portrait clients and helped them to create a display in their home. I’ll show you what the process is like and share some photos from a gallery we installed this past weekend.
First, we meet about a week prior to your session, in your home, and discuss the session, clothing choices, locations, and how your family interacts. We also daydream about how we will display these fabulous memories in your home! I will walk with you around your home and suggest areas that would be perfect for a gallery display or a framed wall portrait. You will also get to see some frame samples and wall gallery layouts. This gives us a good foundation for knowing what to shoot at your session. If I know you want a 30×40 horizontal family photo over the mantel then I can make sure I shoot one of those at your session!
Next, we shoot the session. This is the fun part!!!
The third step is also pretty fun. This is when I come to your home again and present your images to you. I will have recommendations and mock ups based on our planning session for you to view. All that is left for you to do is choose the photos you prefer and the color of frames. Easy peasy! No overwhelming choices and I guide you through the whole process. Here is a sample of a mock up that I created.P I N this to pinterest
Once, the frames and images come in Saylor and I come over again and install them for you. It is a quick and easy process and the best part is there won’t be a million holes in your wall. We use a template and Saylor is just really, really handy. I’m glad I have him around. 😉
We installed the above gallery for our client this past Saturday and here are some photos of the finished product:P I N this to pinterest
I’m working on helping a friend decide on a name for her new business. It’s very difficult! What’s in a name? Well, actually, EVERYTHING.
I’m working on being more positive. This time of year is slow for me and when things get slow it gives me time to think. Which is not always good. It gives me time to worry (which I am very prone to do) and to ‘what if’. Definitely working on not being down on myself.
I’m working on a personal project. A book of photos and stories of my family. I’ve been using my memory logbook to record day to day activities and tidbits of our everyday life. I’m also taking more photos of everyday stuff. I’ve discovered Instagram and take a ton of photos of stuff I want to remember from my shoes in step class to Mia’s leaf collection. This is my life right now and messy as it is I want to remember it just the way it is RIGHT now. Saylor takes Instagram photos too and between his photos, my photos and the few photos I get with the “real” camera I am able to put together a little snapshot of our life right now. I am loving this project! I’m basing it on a few of Ali Edwards’s projects. Mainly her ‘Today You’ and ‘A Week in the Life‘ projects. I’m using a ton of her digital products from Designer Digitals and a few items from Paislee Press.
So, we are already at the beginning of the 2nd half of the school year. It is flying by! You would think by now I would have the morning routine down pat. Alarm, get dressed, wake the kiddo, make breakfast, pack lunch, brush hair, sign folder, tie shoes, leisurely drive to school, meaningful conversation with daughter in car, drop off, home.
Well, that is not exactly how it goes around here.
It’s more like this: Alarm, GROAN, snooze, Alarm again, GROOOOOAN, get up, dig through closet for the sweat pants I wore yesterday, remind self that I MUST do laundry TODAY, wake up kiddo, she groans, make cinnamon toast for the 25th day in a row, dig through laundry room for outfit for kid, wake up kid AGAIN, pack lunch while trying to convince kid that she should buy lunch, Yell at kid to get out of bed already!!, serve slightly burnt cinnamon toast on a paper plate, turn off Spongebob because we have to leave in 5 mins and kid is STILL not dressed, try to find kid’s shoes, try to find MY shoes, put on mis-matched socks and flip-flops (yes, socks AND flip-flops), yell at kid “we’re late, we’re late, hurry up, hastily brush kid’s hair, Yell at kid to find folder so I can sign it, tie kid’s shoes and run to the car, hurried drive through two school zones while lecturing my 6 year old on what the word HURRY actually means, finally arrive at school and drop off, home, COFFEE, breathe.
I wish I could be the mom that has it all together. You know the one. They arrive to drop their kids off at school with hair and makeup done and dressed like they just stepped out of the pages of a magazine. Something like this:
Unfortunately, the reality is that I’m lucky to make it out of the house in one piece. I’m THAT mom. The one that wears sweats, mis-matched socks and flip flops, no makeup and probably a messy ponytail. Some days I may or may not even have time to put on ALL the proper undergarments, but I’m not getting out of the car so who is going to see me? This is a better representation of what I look like in the carpool lane:
Well, with the exception of the baby. My baby is the one getting dropped off at school. She is probably relived to get out of the car with the crazy woman.
Sigh. One day, I will take the time to get up and be one of those put together moms, but for the time beginning those 9 extra minutes of sleep from hitting the snooze alarm is TOTALLY worth it. 😉
1.to come to a definite or earnest decision about; determine (to do something): I have resolved that I shall live to the full.
-from dictionary.com
So, I don’t make new year resolutions. I don’t like the stress or pressure of having to come up with something and then try to stick to it for a whole year. I ESPECIALLY don’t like the thought of people thinking “I knew she couldn’t do it” when I’ve given up the resolution by mid February. I really, really hate to disappoint myself most of all so I just DON’T make resolutions. I also don’t eat black eyed peas for luck, but that’s another story.
So, knowing that I don’t make resolutions I was surprised when around mid-December I started feeling that feeling to start anew. To make some goals, intentions, objectives…some well, RESOLUTIONS. I resisted for a few days, but in the end I began to really feel that for this year, for 2011, it was right. I’m okay with that.
As a MTH 2010 alumni I have followed the blogs of fellow alumni and the MTH tumblr account off and on, but in the last weeks of 2010 I found myself checking them almost daily. I’m still working through my goal setting for 2011 and haven’t quite gotten ALL my action steps written down yet, but I’m working on it. And because I tend to stick to goals best when I tell other people what those goals are (I hate to let people down) then I want to share with you some of my goals for 2011.
#1 Remember my family–This is the BIG one.
First a little backstory: The last year was very busy. Very busy. I always felt like I had it together, but just barely. My family definitely didn’t get the best version of me. I was angry a lot and stressed a lot and guess who got the brunt of that……my family. I also just didn’t feel like taking photos for myself or my family. Oh sure, I took photos on the obligatory birthdays, 4th of July, etc. etc. but the desire to really DOCUMENT my life just wasn’t there. Fast forward to December. I made a book of things Mia did over the past year for Saylor’s grandmother as a Christmas gift. I struggled, REALLY struggled to put together a simple 20 pg. book. Most pages were only one photo. I think 6 of the pages were about her summer swim lessons. Almost 1/2 of the book was from one day. That’s all I had. Suddenly, I realized that a whole year of my life. A whole year of my daughter’s life, HER 5th year (a big one) was missing. I couldn’t get those moments back. There was no way I could rewind time and capture Mia as she was during her 5th year. That made me sad. Distraught actually. I mourned for the time that was lost forever. So I RESOLVED to remember my family. To take the time to remember them. To create memories for them.
My main goal, intention, resolution (whatever you want to call it) for 2011 is to take photos for myself, and to make a book of those photos for myself. I used to create intricate and very time consuming scrapbooks using the photos I had taken of those everyday moments, but since my business has become capturing memories for other people this passion has been forgotten. Now, I want to remember it. So using some of the concepts I’ve learned from the MTH community I vowed to DO IT and to make it simple. This way I have no excuses. I’ll go into more detail on how I’m doing this in a later post, but for now I can share with you a few of the resources I’m using.
www.lulu.com–this is where I will have my book printed…I think. Still considering other sources, but they print an 8.25×10.75 book up to 800 pages!!!
#2 Remember myself
Somehow, as mothers and businesswomen, we always forget to remember ourselves. I had coffee with a friend yesterday and she mentioned how she has noticed when a friend has a baby it’s like they “lose themselves” and they become only a stay at home mom whose life revolves around their children. We as moms tend to let ourselves go and even forget to shower unless it’s in the best interest of our child. I am just realizing that this does not help. It makes things worse. If you haven’t taken care of yourself how on earth can you take care of someone else? I began to work on this a couple of years ago when I finally started a gym regiment and have mostly stuck to it. This was for myself. Now, I find myself wanting more. I’ve begun taking time to just breathe and reflect. In 2011 I want to be calm, relaxed, organized and put together. I also want to remember what this time in my life is like. When I’m 70 years old I will want to remember what I was like at 30…okay, okay…..35. This is my 35th year of life and it’s going to be an important one. I NEED to remember it! There are a few different action steps that go with this goal and I’m still working those out, but for now the main one I’m working on is feeling good in my own skin. Loving me. Just like I am. So, I started a self-portrait project. I am taking a photo of myself without too many rules or restrictions. Just as long as I am in the photo. I’m trying to get over myself and am taking photos of myself that I may or may not really like, but someone loves me just the way I am so why shouldn’t I be okay with me just the way I am? It’s a process. 🙂
So, that’s where I am on this 5th day of January 2011. I have more goals and plenty of action steps to get those accomplished, but these are just the two that are forefront in my mind today. Now, for the part that makes me feel a little queasy. A few of the self-portraits I’ve taken so far……….
ahhhhh! feel the fear, feel the fear...............and do it anyway.
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The last time I was in Maria and Christian’s home it was the day of their wedding. She was in the master bath getting her makeup done and he played host while getting ready in the guest bath and trying to avoid being seen by the bride. It was one of my favorite weddings of 2008 for so many reasons. I can’t say enough about this couple. They are warm, welcoming and thoughtful. We have truly begun to think of them as family. We are so happy to be trusted to document their lives!
A few weeks before Christmas Maria contacted me with the news I had been waiting for. Little Olivia had been born and they were ready to do some newborn portraits. Fate had other plans as we had to reschedule TWICE due to sickness. I was so happy that we were finally able to do the shoot on the Monday before Christmas. It worked out for the best since Christian would also be on vacation and home from work. I’m so glad it worked out this way, because it just wouldn’t have been the same without him there!
Maria and Christian you are wonderful parents! I’m so glad to know you both.
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P I N this to pinterest.jpg "custom framing by Dallas Photographers Cindy and Saylor")
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That Looks Beautiful!!!! What an excellent way to present those precious photos!!!!