Walker Family Portraits : Clear Lake Photographer
When I got a call from this gal about taking her family portraits she made one thing clear, her kids and husband were not going to be real thrilled about having to get off their boat and get dressed up to take a new family portrait. I know all about that feeling. My husband equates getting our family portraits taken to going to the dentist or visiting the doctor for his annual physical. Something he knows he needs to do, but not something he will pretend to enjoy. LOL! Even if it is a lot less painless than he makes it out to be.
I reassured her, I had this covered. We had discussed what I thought would be a good location to get a nice uncluttered (the hard part) view of Clear Lake on a late summer afternoon. I made sure to be there ahead of time to make sure the location was going to work as I had planned. I was thanking my lucky stars that it worked out because if I remember right it was a Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend so everyone and their brother seemed to be out on the water or enjoying the public parks.
I am thinking it was really only a 20 minute session, tops, because when you have full grown children, it’s much easier to get everyone posed and looking at the camera. (Although I’ll admit sometimes it is the older children that surprise me with how much attention I need to spend making sure they’re listening.)
I made sure not to drag things out and they were happy to be on their way back to the boat so quickly. I think I even heard one of her boys say it was actually kind of fun. (Who would’ve thought?! *wink*)
The best part is that the mom was thrilled with the results of our photoshoot and now has a lovely updated family portrait to hang in her home. Gotta love those happy customers!
Are you thinking it’s time to move out that family portrait you had taken for the church directory and your youngest who is now almost in highschool was only a toddler? Better give me a call and I’ll tell you all about the amazing experience you could have with your family here at my studio.
Cheers!
Rebecca
5 Reasons To Buy Holiday Cards from your Photographer
So you did it! You hired a professional to take your family portraits! And you knew you wanted to use the images on your Christmas cards, but you’re thinking maybe you could save a little extra money if you order them yourself through one of the many online printing sites out there??? I’d encourage you to think again and read on.
Here are 5 good great reasons to let your pro photog take care of your holiday cards for you.
1) Saving time – This is a huge one! Chances are, you’re a parent (usually the mom gets charged with this duty) and you can literally spend hours online looking at different sites and designs. The options are endless… and as much as you might feel a bit limited when you look at your own photographer’s spread of a dozen or so samples, it’s really much easier to choose from 12 amazing designs than it is from 2,000 sort-of-good ones. Because heaven knows, once you find one you like… you’re going to want to customize it.
2) One-of-a-kind – Another key benefit! Who wants their card to be pretty much EXACTLY the same as hundreds, maybe even thousands of other peoples??? Not me. I love the idea that I have created the card designs I sell at Rebecca Lynne Photography from scratch or used bits and pieces of different templates I’ve purchased to make designs tailored specifically to showcase the images chose by my client for their card.
3) The Price is Right – When you first look at your photographer’s price list and compare it to an online site, it is probably going to be significantly more… but once you start spending all that time perfecting the limited options for customization you realize this isn’t such a cheap option after all! The sites are notorious for having the base-line price to grab your attention, but then as you finalize your order with a design on the back, your own quantity, paper options, envelopes and finishing touches they add-on and add-on to the price until it rivals that of the professional’s.
4) Showing off your portraits – Why on earth did you spend all that time and money coordinating outfits, dragging your reluctant family members and narrowing down the beautiful proofs to your top 10 favorites, only to pay a little extra to use ONE for your holiday card? If you get your card through your photographer, they often have designs that showcase 3-4 images at no additional cost. They want you to share the more standard image AND the fun ones because they want all your friends to know how much you loved your experience at their studio.
5) One less thing to worry about – Who doesn’t enjoy letting someone take a weight off their shoulders? Honestly, it’s fun browsing the card options for about the first 15-20 minutes, but after that it seriously turns into a chore. Having someone who will say, “Don’t worry, I’ll create a design you will love, proof read it all, send you a preview, AND if you see anything that needs changing I will take care of that for you, too! Plus, I will order them and have them ready in time for you to mail to all your family and friends.” Now that, is worth every penny!
Designs from a professional photographer – Rebecca Lynne Photography
Thanks for reading! Best of luck with the task of sending holiday cards.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Rebecca Houg
Jill + Brent : Anniversary Session
Do you recognize the cute couple in these images? You should. Their engagement and wedding images were featured on the blog a year or two ago. Jill is one of my favorite clients for the reason that she is a great “cheerleader” of my business. If you ask her who to use for professional photography, I know she would always say my name. Gotta love that!
Also, it’s just so much fun for me to maintain a life-long relationship with my customers and I look forward to photographing their future together.
This session was mainly in place to add a few new images in their home and give as holiday gifts, but also to create Christmas Cards to mail to all their family and friends.
Here’s what the front of their card looked like. Isn’t it pretty?
It’s really a good idea to plan ahead when you want to do holiday cards/gifts.
We photographed this session in early October (and booked it about 6-8 weeks before to get her ideal time with the leaves changing color), which is just right for the end goal of holiday gifts and cards. It gives me plenty of time for proofing the session, scheduling the ordering appointment, designing the cards, and picking up the order in time to mail out the cards and frame & wrap the gifts.
Aren’t these two just so adorable and sweet together? I love that Brent is the kind of guy that is totally okay with all the pictures Jill likes to take of them, because having those images is such a treasure.
Enjoy,
Becca
Brooklyn : One Year Old : Child Portrait Session
If you’re a follower of my blog, I’m sure you’ll recognize this sweet face! It’s little baby Brooklyn, looking all grown up at her first birthday portrait session!
I adore my customers who come for newborn portraits and sign up for “Baby’s First Year” because I get to develop such a close relationship with them and hear all about the trials and triumphs of their child’s first twelve months. (And often times the years following.)
This session we captured some in a little black corduroy dress with Brooklyn by her first pumpkin since her birthday is close to Halloween.
Then we changed her into a cute Iowa State cheerleader outfit and did some with daddy and played in the leaves. Don’t you just love how the red and yellow work with the fall colors?
Next, we went inside and did a couple more outfits and ended with the insanely fun birthday cake images. A friend of theirs made this huge cupcake for Brooklyn’s portrait session and I love how the colors go so well with the little onesie her mom picked out and then I added the cute little leg warmers with the polka dots to tie it all together.
Enjoy!
Becca
Baby Gabriel : Maternity and Newborn Sessions
I love new mommies! They are just the best people on Earth. The poor girls are going through a million changes, so many of them overwhelming, and yet they hold it all together for their new little ones.
I had the blessing of photographing this couple’s wedding and they are returning soon after… (within a year!)… to have me photograph the arrival of their first baby!
Adding another dimension of cuteness to the whole story, is the fact that their due date was their first anniversary! Did I hear you go, “Awwwww!”? … if not, you should have! 😉
This sweet new mommy had total faith in me, after being thrilled with their engagement and wedding portraits she knew I wasn’t about to disappoint her.
I have taken enough maternity portraits now to know the most popular images are a few of the expecting mom and dad together, and the interesting “belly shots”. And don’t worry ladies… stretch marks are all taken care of, unless of course you like that kind of thing.
It wasn’t long after the maternity session I was blessed once again with the news that their son, Gabriel had arrived. Healthy at 10+ lbs!
We were in the studio with him before he was even two weeks old. Which is the best time frame to be in by, so you can get them to curl up all cute and sleepy.
Isn’t he just precious! A little chunka-love!
Enjoy!
Becca
P.S. I want to mention Ryan is an insurance agent for Farm Bureau in Northwood, IA and has always taken excellent care of us as customers. Look him up if you are in need of insurance! 🙂
Ryan’s Contact Info:
http://www.fbfs.com/Pages/AgentOfficeLocator/AgentInformation.aspx?AgentId=14801
Happy Valentines Day!
I’ve got a cute little photo to share with you for Valentine’s Day! Look at this little stud-muffin bare-chested with just a bowtie on! 😉 LOL! Love how he gave me this smile!
I had the brainstorm to make the bowtie when I was looking at some hairclips for little girls, and I thought, wouldn’t that be cute on a baby boy! And of course, I had some burgundy fleece and it took me like a minute to make this cute little bowtie. I just set it under his chin and all of a sudden he gave me this HUGE grin! It must have felt nice and soft, maybe it tickled his chin a little. Who knows, but he liked it! 🙂
And of course, I had to create some cute, one-of-a-kind Valentines for my little guy to hand out at Pre-school and daycare. Collin had fun adding glue dots to the side and sticking a roll of smarties along the edge.
Hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!
Love,
Becca
A new year and a brand new blog!
Happy New Year! I am so excited to ring in 2011 and share my new Rebecca Lynne Photography, real.life.blog with you. I thought it would be nice to have a fresh, new look for the new year. Plus, this blog format allows me to create multiple posts and “schedule” them to post. That’s the main reason for the change.
I am a firm believer in using the new year as an opportunity to reflect on the past and create goals for the future. I feel like I’ve done a really great job blogging and staying current with my posts, but I would like to become more efficient with my workflow and to be honest, blogging was eating up quite a bit of my time.
I would try to create a blog post immediately after I finished proofing someone’s session images, which was fine, but just about everyone knows that the more you can do one thing without having to switch gears the more efficient you will be. Hence, the concept of creating multiple posts one time each week from the previous week’s sessions and then scheduling them all to post on various days throughout the week. I’m thinking 3 times/week. Monday, Wed, and Friday. That’s the plan, anyway!
…
So, enough of this boring, business stuff. You’re not interested in that stuff anyway. You’re here to see images, right?! Well, have I got some cute ones for you!
These were taken a couple weeks before Christmas, but I never got a chance to feature them on the blog and I really wanted to because their mama is such a peach and I just love her to death. We have known each other a looong time and I just feel honored every time I get to photograph her two adorable girls, Morgan and Marlee.
Enjoy!
Becca
Rebecca Lynne Photography : Northern Iowa and Southern Minnesota's Best Photographer! 