Monday, April 25, 2016

Be sure to not regret this by years end

Is it time for your family photos?  But you're not sure when you should book the photographer and what time frame will work for the whole family.  What ends up happening? You put off scheduling the shoot and miss getting the kids frozen in time.  Thats time you can't get back, ever and those children will be gone in a short amount of time.

I don't mean to try to alarm you.  I just know what happens when years down the road someone asks to see what your daughter looked like when she was in elementary school.  You go for the class pictures.  Those are a great answer but....

Wouldn't you love to share and remember what the whole family looked like in that same time period?

I am a huge advocate of my family having photos done about every 2 years.  Sure I'm a photographer so we don't have to fit into an "outsiders" schedule.  But we all still have busy lives and those lives get busier as the family expands.

How do you find the time?

The first trick is to pick a member of your family, typically your mother works great.  Gift her a family photo shoot.  Why wait for her to set it all up.  Once its a gift she will be more motivated to at least keep it on her mind.  Plus what mother doesn't love gifts that always remind them of their kids.

Your second trick is to get mom to decide on the season they would like the pictures taken in (some times it works great to set it up around when the gift is received, especially if it was a Mother's Day gift).  Try asking her what her favorite season is, if she isn't sure.

And the 3rd and final trick is to book the session and make everyone commit to it.  Because really talking about what is the perfect time for everyone didn't get you to a photo shoot 4 years ago.  Just rip the band aid off and book now (we can talk exacts in a week).  Now is the time to freeze time.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Lake Retreat: Ocean Replacement


I am a lover of water, though I can’t swim and freak out when I can’t touch the bottom.  Since I love being around water so much I like to plan our vacations to large bodies of water (And I’ll at least get my feet in the water).

One of our recent trips was to Lake Tahoe.  Which if you haven’t been in the summer time I suggest you go (and I’m not being paid to say this).

I was in aw of the whole drive into the lake.  We had been in the Reno area for a different trip so I had an idea of what the area looked like.  What I didn’t realize is what the drive into the lake would be like.

The drive was up and up, then all you could see was the water and pine trees.  The crazy thing was after going up, we had to drive back down at least half the distance before we reached our hotel and the lake.

More on the drive later (be sure to come back for that, I’ve got some good stories).

This image was taken on the day we drove around the whole lake (which did not take as many hours are I had expected).  I sat down on a rock there at the shore and listened to the waves crashing at my feet.  Wishing I had a cup of coffee, or a glass of wine. 

It felt like I was sitting on a beach with the ocean stretched out in front of me.  If you’re looking for an ocean trip but for what ever reason you can’t make it to the ocean Lake Tahoe will be a pretty good replacement.

Would you like a lake to drink your coffee or wine by? Purchase this print here

Looking for something similar? Visit my shop.