Children's Portrait Session :: The Gerbers

Anyone who knows this family knows just how much fun it was for me to spend a few hours with them. Jenny is one of the sweetest, most lovable people God created and it is evident that this character quality runs in the family! She teaches 2nd grade in the Elizabethtown area school district and pours everything she has into helping 'her kids' acheive their best~ students from her past classes always come back to visit her and get their hugs. Jenny and her hubby, Dan, have two very active, handsome boys who love their sports. Their younger boy reminds me so much of our middle guy, they played soccer together and are two peas in a pod, always smiling and silly (what we call 'squirrelly') but very serious in competition!

With all of the snow lying on the ground right now (and more coming!) it's fun to look back on this beautiful fall day when the leaves were just changing color around their property. Below are some of the images Jenny chose for her home~ including a framed print of the last image (my favorite) to put on their mantle. It really captures the fun they have together and how much love they have for each other! Enjoy!

Giving Back :: Thirst Relief International Fundraiser

Thirst Relief International is having a fundraiser https://secure.thirstrelief.org/momentum/fundraising_page/19
that supports Thirst Relief and ends on Sunday, January 30th~ if they reach the goal, they will pick one person to go on a cruise with Photog Retreat 2011!

It is a fantastic cause and certainly can't hurt to donate even if the goal isn't reached. We live in culture where $5 for an extra large latte appeases us for a few minutes~ but imagine if that same $5 could be used to give a child clean drinking water for the rest of their life? Even if you aren't interested in this fundraiser, please check out the site and donate to help build a well in India, or build a water filter system in Haiti.

https://secure.thirstrelief.org/

Info on the fundraiser (also on the blog links above):
Donate $25 or more to Thirst Relief through this Fundraising Page to be entered to win a trip to The Photog Retreat 2011: 7 Day Cruise out of Los Angeles, California!*

Join Mike Larson, The Bui Brothers, The Youngrens, Gray Photography, Shaun Austin and Kevin Swan along with other amazing photographers for the second annual Photog Retreat- a one of a kind cruise that you will not want to miss!

With an emphasis on networking, building relationships, informative workshops, exotic photo shoots and so much more! Enjoy a much needed vacation, build your portfolio, network with top industry professionals and receive some awesome deals, discounts and prizes from our sponsors!

*All donors of $25 or more will be entered to win a trip to The Photog Retreat 2011 once we reach $1,250.

Participants may enter multiple times with multiple $25 donations from January 18th-30th, 2011.

Prize has no cash value, is non transferable and may not be sold. Not applicable on previous registrations. Winner is responsible for taxes.

For more information visit https://www.photogretreat.com

Children's Portrait Session :: One Happy Family

I have been so excited to post this family's images and also want to share a little background into what goes into a portrait session~ first, a little about this sweet family who also happen to be wonderful friends of ours (make sure to go the scroll down to see the slideshow at the end!)

Cindy and Scott celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary in 2010 with a trip to Italy to commemorate this special time and when they returned, Cindy also wished to capture their family in images at this stage of their lives. (Too bad I wasn't invited to photograph in Italy! haha just kidding... kind of :-) Last fall, their daughter started middle school and their son had just begun his elementary school career, so between school, work and activities this family keeps a busy pace! Throughout the craziness, I love their sense of peace and truly caring for one another and it was my goal to capture a bit of who they are personality-wise and to overall capture a little vision of God sees them. We photographed in Hershey on a gorgeous fall day~ what amazing light! It's my favorite time of year to photograph. Here are some of my favorite images from their session:

For the planning of a custom portrait session, many details are decided before I ever pick up a camera~ a pre-session consultation helps us to determine a location, what clothes and accessories to bring, and what products you are looking for in finished images. A large framed print or a canvas gallery wrap would highlight the ones you love ~ or if you have a hard time deciding on just a few, a keepsake album featuring all of your images is a new option starting this year. It is an investment in the history of your family, and one to share with generations to come! Photographing kids and their parents is also one of my favorite things in the world to do~ to capture the love you and your family have for each other, well, there's really nothing better! The video below gives a sense of the types of images captured in a single custom portrait session. Of course, each session is different, depending on the children's ages, as well as what location and clothes are chosen~ but you get the idea! I had so much fun with them~ Enjoy!

Children's Portrait Session :: Fun Day @ Messiah College

Happy 2011! I am taking a couple of weeks off in the new year, but will start blogging some of the fall sessions now that the holiday cards have been sent and special gifts given :-)

Oh my, this little guy was my very first newborn portrait session and I can't believe how quickly he has grown up! It is sad that we no longer refer to him as "Baby O" because, well, it's clear he's no longer a baby! He has quite the expressive (and impressive!) vocabulary and he still is as cute as can be. He was VERY excited to show me around his mommy & daddy's alma mater, Messiah College, and make sure I knew where the soccer and lacrosse fields were located. We played in leaves, found a fun playground and ate yummy snacks on a perfect fall day. My favorite images are of him playing in the leaves~ so much fun! Enjoy!