I hope everyone is enjoying the lovely weather for this time of year!  I’ve been busy here, getting ready for the bridal show at Nazareth Hall on February 19th and for a big display at the new 3D/4D ultrasound business opening up that same week in Maumee!  Check out My Little Me!  Along with getting the studio painted and working on a total web site overhaul, I am one busy lady!!

I’m excited to being doing something really fun and different this year!! Inspired by the photobooth props I see all the time, these mini sessions are going to be very fun and stylized! I’ve got Santa hats on a stick among other props, a snowball fight set up that won’t melt, chocolate milk in old milk bottles with striped paper straws…and more!! I suggest bright and fun outfits, hats, mittens, scarfs! The sessions will be at my new studio in Perrysburg and will be mostly outside.

If you’re interested, let me know right away! Email me at jennifer@jennifermott.com only (I can not keep track of facebook email!) Dates that are still available will be listed in the comments below.

The full fee will be collected up front, and you will get 4 images on a disk with suggestions for online card designers! I can even help you upload them to their sites and they have some adorable designs!

Hope to see you soon!

I’ve always had a focus on sessions in the comfort of your home, with natural settings, so it only feels appropriate to set up my studio in a home away from home!  I am in love with older homes with all their charm!  I’ll have super cute rooms set up throughout the house , a great little side yard, and the cutest garage doors too!

The house is at 126 West Front Street in Perrysburg, right across the street from the River and just around the corner from downtown and some favorite spots to shoot there!

I have some decorating and final set up to do yet, but it’s definitely functional for shooting in now!  And once I do get it just right, I’ll have an open house.  Watch here and my facebook page for details!  Here’s a quick peek inside…bright and airy with dark hardwood floors, I love it!!  Hope you will too!

Here are a few of the leading rooms so far…and the rest are just as cute, so go check them out!!

Make sure to like my Facebook page…I will be announcing my holiday sessions there soon!  I already have a waiting list so they may go quickly.  I’m buying some major props for a fun idea I have for these, so I want to secure those before I make promises

I hope everyone had a wonderful August!  I can’t believe how quickly it went!  We took the family and dog to Outer Banks, North Carolina and loved it!  I was good and took a real vacation, only answering a few calls and emails…and a few hours one night working on wedding proofs when I wasn’t sleepy.  So not used to getting that much sleep!  Hopefully someday I will get a chance to share the pictures I got…it was so beautiful and relaxing there!

Then I got home and spent a week working myself into the loony bin…laundry, school shopping, school paperwork, emails, calls, orders, proofs…who’s bright idea was it to take a vacation right after my busiest wedding month and right before school started?

The next week, I had the chance to go to a workshop…I actually had it planned since last year.  My favorite children’s photographer, many photographers and her clients of course consider her the best…was in Ohio all the way from Australia!  It was an amazing experience and I learned so much…and have so many things I am ready to start up and change for my business!  I can’t wait to get some time to sort it all out!

So that brings me to this week… I am still catching up from not being around last week, so please allow some extra time for me to get back to calls and emails, orders and proofs.  One of my favorite things I took from my workshop, mostly because I stress and have guilt over the time it takes me to get proofs out, get orders out…is that what we do is art, it is creative and custom and not a chain studio.  We can’t rush or we’ll lose some of that attention that makes our pictures special.  She actually has a 6-8 week delay for proofs and orders, let alone designs which made me feel better   I am such a perfectionist and want every family and every wedding to get my best work.

So…I promise I will have new pictures up soon, but for now a few announcements!

** First, I am holding a casting call for one boudoir model.  You must be willing to share with a TV news program about your boudoir session experience and allow some more tasteful images be public on my site and the news.  Must be someone who has always wanted to do a session like this for their boyfriend/fiancee/husband or themselves and can talk about why.  First choice would be someone who can have the session in their home, but we may work with another location if needed.  Please email me at jennifer@jennifermott.com with the subject line: boudoir casting call  and expect around a week or so to hear back from me.  You will get a free session and a large discount on prints and other items.

** Second, I have set up a fall mini session event for a few clients who I promised one to a while back… It is the evening of September 19th and will have a fall theme.  I currently have 3 spots left.  These will be 20 minute sessions for a $50 session fee and regular pricing will apply.  There may be special packages announced.  If I get enough interest, I may add one more day.  Email me at jennifer@jennifermott.com with the subject line: fall minis and expect to wait a week to hear back from me.

** Third, I will be setting up holiday mini sessions in November.  These will again be limited and will be announced soon.  This year I will have an ordering deadline for the holidays before December starts, so make sure to plan ahead if you want to order prints, cards or anything else.

I had to include one of my favorite boudoir images in honor of the casting call, I am so excited:

You might remember this little guy as a newborn…http://jennifermott.com/blog/2010/02/retro-baby-toledo-newborn-photographer/  I was so excited when his mom called to have me back!  He is just so stinkin cute and his mom did the best time decorating his room!  I told her she needs to go into business somehow because she has a gift for finding cool things and pulling them all together!  I could use her help with my house!

It was so great to see D awake so much this time, he has the more gorgeous soulful eyes!

He is a serious little man:

This sleep baby shot takes me back…one of my kids sucked their thumb and another one played with their hair when they were tired…it’s such a baby thing that I miss!

So great to see you all again!!

A new favorite:

More soon!!  Also, if any clients from this year want to use a picture from their session for Holiday cards you can now find my new designs on the client proofing site.  At the top of this page, click on “Jennifer’s Web Sites”  then choose Proofs.  There you will find 2008 and 2009′s collections.  You can use cards from either set.  All cards are 5×7 printed on card stock on both sides.  Some designs have back designs, others I will work with you to come up with a custome design.  Minor modifications can be made to most cards.

The first round of mini sessions is this weekend and emails went out.  I will get emails out for next weekend soon!

Q was soooo adorable!

And I just loved his personality, we had so much fun!

He was VERY active, so the session consisted of lots of us chasing after Q and lots of fun running shots:

Toward the end he broke out a little air guitar, how cute is that?

Here’s a link to the story. Luckily there’s no video yet…we didn’t do the interview part until after I spent a good 30-40 minutes running around in the middle of the hottest, most humid day we’ve had yet this year!  Not a pretty site!  But Norm did a great job putting together my unorganized thoughts and tips and it was fun to learn that he is a photography professional himself with some great race car shots!

I can’t believe how fast this summer is flying by!  I am getting ready to head up to Detroit to go to a workshop, so I wanted to post about the mini sessions before I go.  I will be back Wednesday night, so if it takes a while to get an email or voice mail response back from me in the next few days that is why.  I’ll have my laptop, but I know we are going to be busy day and night…

And I know that I owe some sneak peaks,  I will try to get at least one more out before I go, but no promises!  It’s been a busy week and I have been working all hours to get some galleries and orders done before I go.  I also had a fun request from Norm Van Ness (a great photographer as it turns out!) over at NBC channel 24 and managed to fit taping a session and editing pictures for a “Darn Good Question” segment.  It will air either this Tuesday or next Tuesday at 7PM, so watch if you would like some tips on taking better pictures of your kids!

OK, mini session info:

The summer mini sessions will be colorful, fun, and nostalgic! I’m going to have several themes to choose from, and they will all be in cute spots around downtown Grand Rapids. Backgrounds will be picket fences, steps, flowers, or alleyways which I will choose based on the theme.

Themes (choose one):
Lemonade stand with bowl of lemons, old table & cloth, etc.
Watermelon slices with trike/wagon (or parents can buy an ice cream cone from a local shop)
Old- fashioned pull toy (for babies)
Colorful pop in glass bottles with straws: 7-up, orange crush, etc. (older children only)

I suggest colorful clothes and bare feet or sandals!

Dates:
Friday July 31 8:30 AM – 11 AM and 6 PM – 8:30 PM
Sunday August 2 8:30 AM – 11 AM
20 minute sessions every half hour, your session will be shortened if you are late.

Cost: $250 (plus tax)

You get:
Mini session fee, with at least 10 proofs viewable online
Designer 3×3 mini accordion album (see pictures below)
3 full resolution digital files on disk and loaded online at mpix.com
OR $240 credit toward prints at lower collection prices

Additional albums can be purchased for grandparents, spouse, etc for $25 each

Who:
Best for one or two children
Three or more children will be treated as a group with no promise of individual shots (I will try my best!)
Babies must be sitting and comfortable on the sidewalk or little red wagon