Oh, I do love Valentine’s Day! And these little cherubs made the anticipation even better…just thinking about the photos and cards family members would be receiving made me smile during the shoots, during  post-production, and I’m still smiling now as I put this blog post together. These Valentine Mini Sessions were quick and special and fun. And the children were so CUTE. I sure do enjoy being with my little Valentines!

Sometimes little ones just don’t have the same ideas we do. Little Fionna is such a pretty and sweet girl, and her birthday photos from last spring are just beautiful. She felt a little sad this particular day, but her Mommy had such a lovely attitude about Fionna’s tears:

“You did make lemon meringue pie from those lemons! They look wonderful. She is crying, but you caught her beautifully in the moment as she really is at this age.  I have no idea how you did it, but you caught the best of Fionna in the moment. She looks so beautiful and I will treasure these images forever.”

I love that…and never fear, we will be getting more pictures of Fionna soon as her birthday approaches.  Also, of her big brother, who is graduating from high school soon! We’ll be taking his senior pics in the next little bit. I also can’t wait to get a few of big bro and lil sis together.

A big thank you to these Valentine cuties! I am planning a Spring Mini Session weekend in April…everyone can wear their Easter outfits, and we’ll have flowers and beautiful Spring colors. As I type these words, I am looking out at the snow and gray skies. Thinking about pretty colors and flowers and children in their Spring clothes is a lovely thing!

It was so much fun last winter, let’s do it again! Valentine Mini Sessions are here. I get so many requests for mini’s, I’m going to offer a few more ‘mini-options’ this year.  They will mostly be associated with fun holidays, and what better time for fresh, cute portraits than Valentine’s Day?  These short sessions are perfect for a sweet & quick updated portrait of the kiddos…or maybe a nice way to get portraits of your baby during in-between “major” months photo sessions, your children closer to their half birthdays…or just because it’s always great to have new pictures at a special price. I don’t offer print releases very often, so this would be a perfect time to give the grandparents, aunts and uncles fresh pics, too!

Here’s the scoop:

Besides the items mentioned in the flyer above, Valentine cards will also be available for those who wish to purchase them. They are little 3×3 classroom exchange-size cards, double-sided, and really sweet. They are available at a special Valentine price, too…25 little cards for $20. So sweet for classroom parties, Sunday school, MOPS, and even to tuck into the Valentine cards you’re sending to relatives. Here are some examples of the fun little cards modeled by some really cute kids!

It’s this weekend and next weekend…and only a few minutes out of your day to get those photos you’ve been wanting. And the kids don’t have to dress in red or pink unless you want…we can do a neutral session if you’d like.

I hope to see you soon! Call me at 417-773-5681, send me an email at afthphoto {@} gmail. com, or visit my Facebook business page and message me there. There are still spots open!

Here we are, on the very cusp of the new year. As Marley’s ghost called it, “the time of the rolling year”; my favorite phrase about the turn of the calendar. I actually look for excuses to use this phrase at the end of December. I like to say it in my best British accent, much to the dismay of my family members. Some of them do not share my enthusiasm for such things.

Time is a continuum. Never stopping, never wavering in its inexorable march toward the future. As people, we like to structure time into clocks and calendars as we mark the days and years. Also, as a photographer, I like to capture just a bit of time and hold it in my hand. My children are now adults, but I can look at their baby pictures and be transported back to that time when we were a young family, just getting started. I can look through photographs of my grandparents, now gone from this life, and remember how much I loved them and how much they loved me. I can look at all the pictures which have marked the passage of time through my life. While time indeed continues to fly, my little magic box can freeze a memory for me, to bring out again and again, and to marvel at all the moments that make up my family’s life.

I suppose that is why I try so very hard to make those memories for my clients as well as my own family. It has always been important to me, always. Photographs are a gift of time. In this busy world, time is a rare commodity. I treasure every instant, and I know so many of you feel the same way. You’ve told me so.

So, here I find myself, like the ancient Roman god Janus (like January), looking both forward and past as I walk through the gate of the new year. I figuratively opened the east door to let the new year in, full of hope and promise. The west door was opened to let the old year out, for nothing can be changed about 2012. Nothing left to do but bid it farewell, and consider the blank pages of 2013. While time doesn’t bind itself into new starts and new chances, is it so bad that we like to think we have a fresh start with a new year?

2012 was, as every year is bound to be, full of joys and sorrows, of easy laughter and fighting back tears, of the fun of making new friends and enjoying the comfort of old ones. Little days full of nothing in particular, big days full of change and challenge. Here in this brief holiday time, between the real life of 2012 and the real life of 2013, I feel as though I was able to pause life just a little bit. It makes me feel slightly sad to know that the Christmas decorations are coming down today. I love the lights, the trees, the Santas and snowmen, the wreaths and ornaments, the Nativity set. Today I took a few pictures to put up here on the blog, to share with you. They aren’t perfect, but I love them anyway, and they are just for us to share together for fun. I can tell you for certain that I will come back here and revisit them occasionally throughout the year and remember what Christmas feels like.

And a new 30×30 wall piece for our house! This is a collage mixing my Instagram photos and pictures from our various phones and cameras. They are mostly snapshots, telling the day-to-day story of life around our house in 2012. Yay!!!

Best wishes for peace, happiness and love in 2013. Here’s to a lovely new year!