This past weekend was the 4th of July - (these photos are from the Canal Days festival which was actually in June - I just didn't have any other fireworkds pictures to go with this post).  July 4th marks the peak of summer and the halfway mark to the year.  We spent the 4th camping out in the backyard with hamburgers and a big campfire - long live the Staycation :-)

The halfway mark of the year is a big milestone for wedding vendors especially.  By July 4th you've pretty much booked all the weddings you're going to book for that year and it's tme to look ahead to next year!  That means analyzing everything so far and coming up with the refined game plan to start fresh for 2010. I've really wanted to branch out into some new directions for next year and so I've cut back on products and services that nobody ordered - out with the old and in with the new!  Such as - Indoor studio style senior and family sessions.  The last time someone called me and said I want to take a picture of myself,my child, my senior, my family sitting up straight on the little stool in front of a washy background, looking into the camera and smiling - was 2 years ago.  There's been a gradual but dramatic shift in photography and what consumers are looking for.  Everyone that calls me is looking for a documentary, photojournalistic, lifestyle, relaxed, FUN session and photos that are REAL. 

Praise the lord.

The more traditional roots of photography were kids in patent leather shoes sitting on the box in front of the velvet backdrop in a cramped studio room with the photographer and mom and sometimes grandma and dad too waving the stuffed bunny and begging for a smile - bribing with promses of trips to the toy store, ice cream, you name it.  As a parent - you were exhausted by the end and the pictures were usually "hmm that's cute."  As the hassle goes on - you start out having your kids photographed twice a year when they're babies and by the time they're in grade school it's once every few years.  Everyone knows that old adage about how the oldest child has the biggest photo album, the thickest baby book, the most finished scrapbook pages - and the youngest was lucky if they got pictured with the older siblings. 

Why?  Are we bad parents?  NO! Because the thought of dressing and pressing 3 kids and wrestling them into carseats and trying to keep them all awake and happy and not get kool aid on themselves on the way to the portrait studio - followed by trying to keep them quiet and happy in the waiting room - then working your tail off with begging and bunnies - just to get one crooked little half smile - makes your knees quiver and your brow sweat and your skin turn a little green. 

I know - I've been the bunny waver. 

The one thing about those portraits was that it never told a story - the best it did was say "this is what my son/daughter looked like at age 3".  There's so much more a photo could tell you, why not seek photography that's more than a sit and smile portrait?  Invite your photographer to a day at the park or into your home for a few hours to capture your family in REAL time.  You'll have images to look back on that say "this is the shabby green tutu my daughter wore around the house for a whole year when she was three and refused to take it off"  or  "this is my son hysterical with joy running through the sprinkler water on the lawn"   "this was the time they tried to put doll clothes on the cat"  "here he is stomping around the kitchen in his dad's boots".

I realize fireworks photos don't have much to do with this post - except that its July 4th-ish.

Other than taking the indoor studio-style sessions of the pricing page, I've also increased my wedding coverage fee - but I've thrown in an incentive!  (If you met with me to discuss your wedding before July 4th you are still able to receive the 2009 pricing). Everyone booking a full day of coverage for their wedding will now not only get a free engagement session, but a Rock the Dress session as well.  What is that?  Have you heard of a Trash the Dress session?  It's like that - but with less danger to your wedding gown.  I'll talk about it more in a  later post.

For now - be glad that photography has moved in this direction where professionals are standing by at the ready to make REAL lasting memories of all the little moments that make up life.  Call me for a summer session !  I'll bring the bubbles and the sparklers - you just bring yourselves.  And maybe some giant slices of watermelon  :-)