Yep, I think I jinxed the entire eastern seaboard!  I am freezing!  It is supposed to warm up this weekend.  I hope so.  I knew that weather was a dream come true!  Sorry everyone for the jinx!

For those of you who may be interested in our Family Fundraiser Days, now is the time to get your name on the list for the fall of 2007!  The few available spots that I have open go very very quickly.  So, if you are interested, give the studio a call and have a simple agreement sent out to your school.  You can start promoting it in your spring newsletters for next year!

A terrific family from last year!

Take care!

Donna

Global Warming?  Not all that bad! 

Okay, I know that is an extreme statement to make!  But what a January we have been having so far!  Who knows why we have been having such a warm winter.  It can't possibly be a result of Global Warming.  Not this quick!  I think it is just a freak weather season.  Nonetheless, I have been able to do a ton of outside portraits because of this warm weather.  Usually, we have to cut off the outdoor portraits around November 15th.  But thanks to this weird weather, the phone is ringing  with outside portrait requests.  I even had two shore requests!  I may have just jinxed this, but I have to honestly say that the folks down south have no idea how lucky they have it! 

The phone is starting to get warm with Holy Communion requests.  If you are thinking about getting portraits done for your child's Holy Communion, give us a call.  We will glady walk you through the easiest way to get it done and also discuss the biggest and most common mistakes that parents make when they get their little one ready for their Holy Communion portrait.

Take care!

dl

Happy New Year Friends and Family!
A new year.... A new start.  We all have a chance to start fresh.  What changes are you going to make for 2007?  Come on now!  Not just the usual "loose weight" thing.  There is one change that everyone would like to make that all of us keep secret.  You and you alone know what it is.  Is this the year that change will happen?  Just like the Wizard of Oz when the good witch said to Dorothy, "My dear, you've had the power all along."  What ever your dream wish is, it can only be accomplished if you put your plan into action.  If you fail, then you can at least say you tried.  If you never even try, then you will always wonder.

As for me, well, I have some changes in store for my business as well as well as my personal life.  I plan to take more time to get my health back by not working so much.  This year I pretty much worked from September until the Friday before Christmas without a full day off trying to accommodate everyone.  Many times when clients come in and express their holiday spirit I have to admit that I want to scream inside.  If you noticed, there is never holiday music playing in the studio.  I don't want to be reminded of how far behind I am in shopping and doing things that most people do during the holiday season.  But it is a choice that I made years ago and I love what I do. I know I will get it done eventually.   My biggest problem is trying to make everyone's late wishes a dream come true.  So next year, cut off dates will be for ordering will be December 1st. 

This year to celebrate the new year coming in, I went down to Penns Landing to see the fireworks display at midnight.  I am not a big fireworks person.  However, standing down there this year among the thousands of people, a little girl approximately 3 years old was propped high on her dad's shoulders next to me.  Everytime a new firework shot up, she screamed in laughter. I enjoyed watching her expression seeing this firework spectacular for probably the first time in her life.  At that moment I have tell you, if you ever feel down, look at a child's face as he or she sees fireworks for the first time.  Seeing the delight in her face on New Year's eve made me think of how much this little girl will see in the next year.  All the new things she will be exposed to.
So, if you get a bit down, think of doing something different in your life to make you see the firework display .  The joy is still there.  You just have to find it.  When you close your mind to new things and possible new roads to take, you might as well pack it in.  Remember, "you've always had the power."

Take care,
dl

Penns Landing, Philadelphia PA  New Years Eve 2006-07

 Just a quick line to all friends wishing you all a very enjoyable holiday.  Yes, it is stessful.  Yes, sometimes we want to crawl under the blanket and sleep through the entire holiday.  But somehow, we manage to make it another day and try to make it through another season of trying to do it all!  Why do we do that?  When is enough enough?  Two presents, four presents, or 8 presents?

As you sit at the table with all your relatives around, take time to just look at one person... preferably your mom or dad.  Take a good hard look.  Yes, they may be driving you nuts, but they are in fact, enjoying every moment they are sitting there.  A colleague of mine just passed on at age 47 from cancer.  She was beautiful and when I think that there is one little girl out there without her mommy for Christmas I get very sad.  So, if you are lucky to have a parent at your dinner table, try to ignore the weird stuff they sometimes say or do and remember that at one time, they tried just as hard as you do right now to make your holiday a memorable occasion.  They passed on traditions and now it is up to you.

Take time to look........

Donna

Holidays..... holidays!  Whew!  I have to apologize for not writing sooner, but we have been working day and night as well as weekends keeping up with holiday demands.  We have had terriffic such a positive response this year to our fundraiser program with schools and enjoy seeing these kids grow up from year to year!  Also, what a great way to bring much needed dollars to your school organization.  As always, sign up for these fundraisers are a first come first serve basis.  So, if you are thinking about doing a fundraiser for your organization, why not think about our family portrait day fundraiser.  Call the studio for details at 215.321.3600.

Anyway, I still have to admit that I am pretty burned out with shore portraits.  However, we just completed an image that stands out and I am proud to post it.  This is the Carl family.  For those who subscribe to my rants, it is clear that they (the Carl family) "get it".  What do I mean by that?  Well, its not about specific posing.  It's not about cheesy smiles.  It's about a feeling.  Having said that, I have to say that hiring me to photograph your family comes with an understanding.  First and foremost, that you have hired me to photograph your family in the style of which I do my work.  It is understood that when I photograph your family and then again when you see the completed images.  If  you want cheesy smiling photographs, I can direct you somewhere else.  If you want a feeling, an image that you will look at over and over again, see me.  Its that simple.    Anyway, talk soon!

  dl

  Friends!

Does your senior portait resemble one like this?  Okay, the parents like the cap and gown and that will never go away.  They have their place!  But why not do something a little different?  Our senior portraits are taking off like fire!  Check out Meredith Potocki below! 

Don't forget that we have a terrific senior program!  Call for a brochure!  215.321.3600!

donna 

Friends:

Sometimes you have to make an executive decision and this is it!  I have decided that I will be suspending doing shore sessions.  I love the beach and love doing sessions down the beach.  However, for reasons that I feel I will not bore you with, I am gonna try to stick to my guns and turn down the nice day at the beach.  I will say that I think that clients who expect rigid perfect poses without wind blown hair (down at the beach) is something that I don't do.  I am sure there are a ton of other wonderful photographers out there who will place you architecturally within centimeters of the next person and wait for that perfect toothy grin.  The client will receive an image that is a carbon copy of thousands of others.  The client hires a photographer because of their style.  Hire a painter because of his technique.  Don't whine at them after he paints your house!

I  feel sad making this decision and hope that you will understand. 

donna

Is it me or is fall just zooming by?  Every year from the
beginning of September until Christmas, we are in overload mode here at
the studio.  We love the holidays, but work pretty much seven days
a week trying to get everyone's requests processed.  Our clients
sometimes ask us to work on Sundays and once in a while we do. 
But all in all, we try to accomodate everyone and their time
frames.  What most clients don't understand is that we in fact
work almost every weekend with portrait requests, weddings or event
parties.  Plus, we are in the studio every day except Monday and
work two nights late to accomodate those who can't make it in during
the day.  As for me, well my day usually starts around six,
getting to the studio anywhere between eight in the morning and leaving
sometimes late into the night.  Many times never seeing the
outside except for the drive back and forth!
Thus the reason that I encourage everyone to make their appointments when we call you for pick up or viewing and don't delay!
Anyway, I thought I would drop in a recent wedding photograph I did
that just brings a smile to my face.  Hope it does for you as well!
Take care!
dl

 Hi Friends!

Back from Oregon and hit the ground running!  Great seminar and lots of new stuff always popping up.  My plane landed on Friday evening around midnight and had to work a wedding the very next morning!  Whew.....  Glad to be home though! 

I had to drop a line here and talk a bit about large family gatherings and the value of a photograph.  My studio gets tons of calls every year for portraits taken at either an event, a location, or here at my studio of combined families.  I love to do these because generally, everyone is in such a festive mood.  With every session, I always explain that with a large family photograph, everyone is not going to be perfect.  I explain to them that when you look at say a group of 5, 10, 15 or even twenty, there are gonna be some individuals that just are not perfect.  "But", I say, "are they acceptable?"  Meaning, are their eyes open?  Are they looking in my direction?  These factors should be taken into account when viewing these large portrait groups.  Of course, if need be, we can switch a head from one person to another if we have to.  The point being though, that many people are looking at these images painstakingly and analyzing every face down to the last possible tooth showing! I can take as many of 30 portraits of just one family position and naturally, no two will be alike.  It is just a matter of fine tuning which one is the most acceptable of everyone.

My style is to "softly pose" these large groups.  Well, what does that mean?  It means that I am not a stickler for making sure that your hand is in the absolute correct spot and your head is 8 inches from your spouse's.  What it does mean is that I ask families to come together and pose them informally.  So, Granddad might be sitting down while Grandma might be standing or reverse.  If I were to "hard pose", then I would bring out posing chairs and position everyone in a church like photograph.  How ugly would that be?  To have everyone standing at attention with heads proportionally aligned is what you get with that old school posing.  So, if you would like that type of posing, then I would be more than happy to pass on another photographers name who loves that.  But, frankly folks, count me out.  People are people.... flaws and all.

Anyway, check out this great wedding photograph from this weekend!  

  Take care and stay well!

dl

Just a quick hello  from Redmond, Oregon!  While on a
business seminar, I was given a chance to  photograph some
incredible people and I thought I would post some of the images. 
Hope you enjoy. 
 

By the way, the weather here during the day is absolutely terrific!  However, it sure does get cold here at night!
Stay well and see everyone next week!
Donna