First Look: Terrible Twos Turned out OK - Bucksport Studio

I had to log on for a quick first look of our first family of the weekend!

This picture below has a special significance to me.

And why is it special you ask?

This is a post melt-down picture.

Pretty good huh?

Brandi and I are not afraid of the terrible twos.  We have seen it before.

We'll take pictures of the melt downs, or we'll figure out how to work around it.

We got out EVERY Potato Head that we had in order to distract Miss Lily here.

It eventually worked - that, and me giving the camera over to Brandi.

Apparently she wasn't a big fan of me.

But - again - another great reason there are two of us!

There is so much more to this great family - you'll have to check back to see them though!

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Some Cuties for Your Hump Day: Bucksport & Studio

Brandi and I have waited a long time to get these cuties on the Blog.

We think of the blog as our own little walk of fame, and we are happy to brighten up your Wednesday with these little faces!!

Abby & Jackson - comin' at ya!

It was such a great day out, we couldn't help but hit the waterfront in Bucksport to run around, and pose for some pics.  Also I think running around helped wear them out for the studio later!!

That little Jackson - he was a ball of fun! I defiantly got my exercise for the day chasing him around!

And we are giving the serious look now!

And enter the studio!

I love sessions like this.  We start outside, enjoy the beautiful weather then once they are worn out a little - head inside, have a donut hole and take some pictures!

Yes, even dolly is welcome in the studio!

A little love on the blog is never a bad thing.

And a little random-ness

I have to say - this may be one of my favorites.

She is going to be a handful of SASS when she grows up!

Watch out Mom and Dad!

Again, it was so great to work with this family - we hope to see them for years to come.

I wanted to take some time with this post to talk about our family sessions.

We love photographing the kiddos - even though we do not have any of our own.

We are very easy going and understand that it's not easy to get them both together and have a perfect smile.

Patience is our style.

Perfect smiles are not always the goal.

I think that family pictures are always better when you look like a family.

We hope that when you come to us, you want your pictures to look like your family.

We can tell you that we will take those perfect pictures of your family, but your family may not have that perfect smile, or be sitting up straight.  We will tell you that we will capture that picture of your son sticking out his tongue in only the way that YOUR son can!

That's what we are about!

E-mail us to reserve your session!

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First Look - Abby & Jackson: Bucksport & Studio

What's the best cure for a wedding workout?

Get up early in the morning and photograph a couple of cuties!!

Check them out - Abby and Jackson - how cute?

I love Abby's face in this. She had been practicing her smile

More to come in a very short time!!

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First Annual Wine and "Say Cheese" Event

What a better way to kick off the Grand Opening of our Studio then with a little PARTY!

So that's what we did, and we are thinking of making it an annual event.

Your ticket in - a bottle of wine and an empty glass.

What you had to do once you got there - fill the glass and SAY CHEESE!!

The wine was flowing, the lights were flashing, the music was on and the food was great!

It was a great night overall, and we can't wait for many more events in the Studio!

We want to thank all of our great friends and clients who helped us by filling the studio and keeping us busy. Without you, we would be no where!!

As part of the event we wanted to get our friends and clients into the studio and take a few pics - they are PERFECT for facebook profile pics.

To see them all - check out the fan page!

But since you know we can't have a blog without a picture, I had to post a pic of a couple who will be helping us to plan and prepare for our wedding - our Matron of Honor and Best Man!

Thanks again to all our great clients and friends - keep on the lookout for more from the Studio!

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Studio - Before and After!!

We finally did it!! It's here.

We now have a great, consistent place to offer some studio photography - right in our own home. And I am happy to share with you the transformation!

Please be warned - the before pictures are not pretty, and no, we do not live like this. The spare room was used as a dumping ground for all things that did not have a home before.

We repainted the walls and organized the room --- i.e removed all the things that don't belong in that room!! And Ta-DAH - the after:

We changed the paint color - while we liked the blue, it always caused the pictures we took in there to have a blueish cast to them. We also changed the curtains - I didn't leave the ones we had up before because I really didn't like them, and they just added to the blueish cast that everything had - not pretty.

I have moved some of the newer canvas prints up to the studio as well - to add inspiration to the place. I plan on adding some more pictures as well - I am also thinking of either adding some quotations to the walls, as well as painting our logo on one of the walls too.

Maybe even a Giant R too! The possibilities are endless.

In the next couple of days --- maybe even today, I have got to get the studio pricing up. Basically its going to consist of a sitting fee and then some other options. I am thinking sort of a point system so you can customize your own packages so you either get the prints you want or the digital negative to create your own prints.

Also, I am still offering the portable studio package - this is where I pack everything up and bring it to you - background and all. I plan on expanding my background colors too in the future.

Finally, there are a few limitations to the new studio - I am limited with space - so this studio setting isn't going to work for large family pictures. I can probably get a decent sized family to all fit, but it would only be for head and shoulder shots. This setting is perfect for children, newborns, maternity sessions, senior portraits (indoor headshots - perfect for the yearbook), pets, and smaller family sessions (2-3 people)

More to come on pricing!!

Contact us soon to set up your session.

Also - I am starting to look for more studio props - right now I am on the hunt for a wooden rocking horse, and a small wooden rocking chair - any ideas where I can get those?

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Christmas Cards!

It's never too late for a Christmas Blog.

I wanted to share with everyone our Christmas Cards this year. We had the wonderful and talented Kari Cross take our photos this year and we couldn't have been happier!!

We paired them with a snappy card template and we were in business.

Take a look - hopefully they inspire you to visit us in the studio next fall!

Absolutely in love with the tri-fold design - Love Love Love it.

It was so versatile to work with, we could use a lot of great picture, and with the tri-fold there was the potential to add more pictures. I love the spread on the inside. It reminds me of designing a wedding album!

Pretty cool huh? (this also gave me the opportunity to practice my product photography)

Finally a shameless plug for the studio!

Hope you enjoyed out Christmas Cards this year. We are finally wrapping up everything - literally and figuratively. We finished all our holiday shopping today and we are wrapping presents and getting ready to wrap up the year and welcome in 2010. Looking forward to all the weddings we have booked already for 2010 and all the new clients we will meet!!

Hope everyone has a happy and healthy holiday season - be safe and come see us soon!!

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Cutie Shootie: Studio

This is a two fold blog post.

First - I wanted to share with everyone the fantastic opportunity I had to photograph such a cutie! This little munchkin has a photographer mom - you have heard me mention her before - Kari J Cross Photography.

I am not blessed with any willing posers....except the dog - so I recruited this little one to do some poses for me.

Love that little smile - again, what a cutie!

And now we are being sassy in the Christmas dress. LOVE IT!

Be still my heart.

And we have more sass! How can you resist it?

We haven't seen the pink umbrella for a while, so I dug it back out. I know pink and red, more Valentine's day and less Christmas....but it's what I had to work with!

Even Minnie came!

Ok, so I told you this was a two fold blog - my second part is to let everyone know that the studio is open. I can offer you studio photography. I have a space in my own office/home/space. Its large enough to accommodate 1-2 children, and have full body shots. We can do family shots as well, but it will be mostly head and shoulder. Another option that I have is we can bring the studio to you. All of our backgrounds and lighting are 100% portable. That's why I bought them. Which means I can bring everything to you!

Help me fill up my Studio!

I am working on special pricing and promotions for the Studio. Check back often.

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A very Doggie Christmas: Studio

Wow, remember how i said that i was behind on my posting - I can't believe I haven't posted this one yet.

My cousin came down with her two dogs - my dog cousins. We did a Christmas Card photo shoot. How cute are they?

Apparently they practiced the whole night before to sit in the sled.
This is Mabel and Diesel. Mabel is the French Bulldog and Diesel is the Pug.

Mabel was a little excited to be in the studio. Diesel is an old pro at the Christmas Card photos so he just sat there like this was an every day occurrence.

Look at that handsome guy!

She was getting the hang of it.

Cute Cute Cute

What a great session, it was different to photograph something other then people.... LOVE IT!

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I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!

First off - HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL!!

Now onto the topic of the blog - I graduated from Husson University on Saturday with my MBA. I am so glad to be done. The ceremony was great - it was an excellent end to a chapter in my life. No longer am I going to have to rush from Belfast to Bangor one or two nights a week for class, that will be a nice break for a while.

I also know I haven't blogged or posted a studio photo shoot for a while. So what a better occasion to get into the studio - try on the cap and gown again and take some photos of myself.

I was trying a different technique today, which was inspired by one of my guilty pleasure television shows: Make Me a Supermodel

Now, I am NOT a supermodel - but whenever I watch the show I would like to be the photographers that get to photograph the supermodels - I could care less about the runway part...who cares about walking...pfft...

Anyway - on the last episode of Make Me a Supermodel the models were photographed against dark backgrounds with a rim light - basically a light shined behind them so they stood out from the background. I think I was pretty successful in my attempt.


The next thing I need to figure out is how to make my black background look black, not purple. Either way I think it works.

I have to share - I was expecting Saturday to be a little on the chilly side - and when I got to campus at 8:45 in the morning, it was chilly so I put on the sweater I brought just in case. That was a BAD decision, by the time we took the field it was probably close to 60, and then by high noon, I think we were into the 70's and I, in a black polyester robe, was sweltering. Next time I need to NOT listen to myself and suck it up!

I couldn't help but compare this graduation against my UMaine graduation. UMaine was all about efficiency, and when you are graduating probably close to 1000 students efficiency counts, there isn't a lot of time for Pomp and Circumstance. At Husson though, there was a lot of Pomp and Circumstance. The ceremony was complete with the marching baton and a Bagpipe band. Very nice.

A funny thing about the ceremony, the three photographers, myself, Brandi and my mom, all forgot our cameras, which is why I was inspired to dress up today and take some photos. Oh well, I will have the gown forever and the memories too.

I hope you enjoyed me sharing these photos with you, and also you enjoyed my new technique I am trying out. If you are a supermodel give me a call - my readers may enjoy looking at the pictures of you, rather then me!!

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