The L Family Phoenix Photographer

     So it has been a little quite here since moving to Arizona.  With starting working at a studio and have non compete issues, to just getting busy with life, Milestone Memories has taken the back burner.  The family you are about to see are long time customers of mine.  I took pictures every month of Mrs. L second pregnancy.  They had scheduled a family session at the beginning of the new year and patiently waited due to me having to be on bed rest for 3 months (and the new baby after).  I was lucky enough to get to take their pictures today.  It was a nice albeit humid Phoenix summer day with some light cloud cover.  I think she walked away feeling like we got nothing.  Parents with two year olds often feel this way.  I felt she needed to be reassured. Well, let's face it my first session (other than my own kids) in over a year and I could not wait to get started editing. Without further ado he is a sneak peak for the L family.

The Smith Family Phoenix Family Photographer

It has been my old theme to find a quote to begin the post with.  As it is a New Year and has also been a while since I have posted anything, we are to start a new trend. I am still here and still in business.  I am please to share the beautiful Smith Family a long time friend and co-worker.  Only a fellow photographer knows how challenging it can be to take your own children's pictures.  We captured some great moments and even got the teenager to smile.  Can we say Success!!!

The K-M Family {Phoenix Family Photographer}

     I am proud to introduce that the K-M family has grown by 2 more cute little feet.  We photographed baby M, about 3 months old, and the family for this past weekend.  They spoiled me, and helped me, and we made this portrait experience together.She was a smiley, happy baby.  I rocked her to sleep to her mother's amazement two times, and we had a blast getting reacquainted, as we were friends in High School.  Please meet the new addition, and the family...

 

Here it goes (Phoenix Professional Photographer)

To my friends and family, fans and followers...I am home!  I am where my family and I belong, back near the ones that are dear to me.  The ones that have supported all my choices and helped me through life as an Army wife and growing up in general.  I would love to continue taking pictures for myself, but I need your help!  Spread the word, share my website, and help me get to a place where I can be a part time independent photographer.  To do this, I need about 3 sessions per week.  Please email me if you are interested in Holiday sessions, I am excited to my own work, learn new places in Phoenix to go on location and get great shots and help create your memories.  I can make customer design greeting cards and announcements.  I have experience capturing maternity, newborn, children, and families.  I love the opportunity to get big groups together.and spend time getting to know the personalities.  I can come to your home a familiar location, where the family is more comfortable.  I can offer more of my time with 2 to 3 hour sessions depending on the type and custom edited images.  Spread the word, Milestone Memories Photography is back in business here in the Phoenix Metro Area!

Genuine Beginnings {Puyallup Children's Photographer}

"Genuine beginnings begin within us, even when they are brought to our attention by external opportunities."

                                                           William Throsby Bridges

 So it has bee an little while since I have blogged and I apologize.  Not much and a lot have gone on all at the same time.  Elise turned one, and I have yet to take her pictures because she has been sick off and on.  I have not been very motivated and I am not sure why.  As far as packing and getting the house ready to sell, I think I am procrastinating because a huge part of me is wishing James gets a job here and we don't have to sell the house at all.  I have been looking at houses in some of the cities that James has been applying to, and honestly...everywhere else has a better housing market than here.  But it is easier to land a position here and not have to move my family and leave our friends.  On the other hand, moving to where my family is near and having them around to help with the kids would be nice.  You know, actually getting a kid free date. 

So as to the above quote, I am going to start with a new beginning within myself.  I am going to keep working on some projects for Milestone Memories...I started selling my crochet hats and props through the zenfolio link, and plan to start selling templates after things settle down.  I am excited to figure out what is in store for my business after things settle down with James and he gets a position somewhere.  I am very excited to implement some of my fabulous marketing ideas in the future and get more steady sessions. 

I have a few sessions coming up, including Elise's one year pictures, newborn baby twins, and a 9 months old whom I have been taking pics of since birth.  I have some great ideas for those sessions and have already made some great props and have gotten a few new backdrops.  I will be making a really cute jester hat for Baby A.J. to go with my new green batik background. 

I also restructured my polices, procedures, and Packages.  Please visit the your investment tab to get an idea of session fees and what they include.  I will have a post later this week with some of the New Fine Art Collections (Wall Art) and Newborn and Family collections. 

For the crochet portion of the business, I have decided that for every 3 hats sold, I will donate 1 to Hats Off For Cancer.  I will also be participating in the hat drive during 1 week in April.  The hat drive is not just handmade items but new hats from newborn to adult as well and begins April 10th.

That's all I've got right now, baby is waking up.  Posting the new packages soon.

Win, Lose, Draw....(Phoenix Children's Photographer)

"Win, lose or draw, you're all my cousins and I love you."

                                                                           Chill Wills- Singer/Actor

As you may have read, I had the pleasure of going home to AZ for the holidays.  While we have been able to visit, it was the first time in four years that we had been able to take leave over that time and visit our family.  To get a little more for for my profile, I decided to do mini-sessions.  I was hoping for a better turn out, but since our visit was a surprise to a few people, I could not advertise as strongly as I would have liked.  One of the sessions was for my Aunt, of her grandchildren and a few with my son thrown in.  We took them to Papa Graves backyard garage and the kids had a blast tinkering with the old cars and pretending to drive them.  I mostly just let them be boys!  It was a great day with the kids, and we got some great shots.  Here is a preview!

It takes half your life... (DIY Project for Photographers)

"It takes half your life before you discover life is a do-it-yourself project."

                                                     Napoleon Hill- Author

  Life is full of surprises and projects.  I am a mother of two small children that quit her job to stay home and decided to venture into my own business.  I have loved photography for ever, but always laughed when people suggested I make it a business of my own.  When I made that leap three months ago, there was not a lot of extra money for anything and photography props can be expensive.  For those that don't have a room dedicated to a studio, or like to travel on location to clients houses, I made a DIY Backdrop Stand.  Here is the lowest priced backdrop stand from Cowboy Studio at $47.99 plus $8.99 S & H and taxes:  

http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-Photography-Backdrop-Support-Crossbar/dp/B003M5OXSK/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1295162477&sr=8-6

I have a solution for you that will take 20 minutes at home depot and with be easy to travel and costs less than $20.

Go to the PVC pipe section and ask them to cut 3/4 inch PVC pipe into two 4 foot sections, four 3 foot sections, and keep the left over 2 foot sections.  Should be about 2-3 lengths total that you are purchasing.  Get 2 corner joints, 2 t-joints, and 5 straight connection joints.  I also plan to buy black electrical tape to wrap around them for added grip, but the baby got fussy on that outing and I forgot.  Here are some shots of how it looks!  Hope it works for you.

 The 4 foot sections are on the side in this configuration.

You may be wondering what the extra lengths are for.  The 2 foot sections are the feet.  When I use my wood floors and a floor board, I take out the ones pointed toward me and clip it to the back ground.  You can also use a four foot and 2 foot across the top and two 3 foot sections on each side when you need more background (I also use seamless paper occasionally).  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  Hope this helps others save money!