A Benefit for Buster...A Great Deal for You!

By now, I think everyone knows what a Groupon is.  Well, I've decided to run my own version of this and I call it a Houpon -- "Heidi Coupon".  For those of you who didn't see it on my Facebook page, my cat Buster went into the Urgent Care Vet Hospital this weekend due to an obstructed bladder.  Poor thing, he was only hours away from his heart giving out!  I am so thankful to the staff at Urgent Care for taking such good care of him.  He's home now, feeling much better and seems to be back to his old self.  But unfortunately for me, I'm left with $1500 worth of vet bills.

So what does one do when they are faced with a debt they didn't plan on?  Get creative!!  I am doing a special for the next 10 days and it's pretty great.  Don't need it yourself?  No problem, tell a friend!  Anyone can purchase this certificate and it's good until 12/31/11.  What is it, you ask?

Receive a local half hour family, pet or child portrait session and $200 worth of print credit for only $125!  That's 55% off my usual fee.  You must purchase this certificate between now and August 5th, it can be used for yourself or anyone you want to give it to, and it does expire December 31, 2011.  Pretty neat, huh?

If you are interested, just call me or email me by August 5th and I will send you an invoice for the $125.  Once paid, I will send you a certificate for the session and print credit.  And remember, all proceeds go to Buster's Benefit.  So thanks for your help and Buster thanks you too!

It's Official! I'm Bonkers Over Baby Props!

 What is it about little babies?  Is it the way they smell, the cute little faces they make when they're sleeping, or just because they're so teeny tiny?  Whatever the reason, I just can't have enough of little babies.  Luckily, I've been hit with a number of my brides from the past couple of years coming in to do their pregnancy photographs so I'll be doing a string of newborn photos with them soon.  That got me thinking...what new thing can I offer them?

 So I've been taking seminars on baby photography to see what's new and exciting, and I fell in love with the baby beds.  I've borrowed some images from other great photographers to show you what I mean.  Isn't it just too cute?  Itty bitty, teeny tiny beds that little babies can fit on.  So I finally ordered one the other day and it should arrive by next week.  But could I stop there?  Of course not!  I decided to order some nifty vinyl backdrops that look like wood flooring, wallpaper and the such.  They come in 5'x7' sheets and can be rolled up and stored out of sight.  How convenient!  With that, I need to make a trip to Home Depot or Lowe's to get some really tall baseboards to stain and paint to match the flooring.  Yeah, another good reason to shop at the Depot!  Seriously, I love shopping there because you can craft some cool props with stuff there.  If you look at these images, the top two have cool floors with baseboards and the middle one has a wallpaper look.  This is what I'm going for.

So, let me know what you think.  Is this a good thing for newborn photography?  Would you want an image like this hanging in your home?  What would you do differently?  And the really important question is, am I really bonkers over baby props?

Cute and Happy Damask Custom Cards!

There are just days when the simplest little thing makes you smile.  I think these card designs are one of them.  I just fell in love with the simplicity of them, they look like hand crafted cards yet much nicer.  I've been offering the Luxe Cards for a few months now.  Some of you may ask, "what is a Luxe Card?"  They are two sided cards that are cut out with scallop or other designs to make them unique.  I have some great designs for high school seniors and you can see those on my senior site and blog.  But these I thought would be amazing for birth announcements, children's party announcements, etc.

So the next time you want to send out a holiday or other special occasion card, and you're looking for something amazing, I offer these cards for $100 for the first 25 and $65 for each additional set of 25.  They come with envelopes also.

Butterflies and Bellies

I have been wanting to do a fantasy style pregnancy session for a while now.  Luckily, I had a wonderful client who was totally into the idea and I came up with this image.

There are a few tweaks I would like to do next time.  Maybe have the toe peek out, have the client looking off to her right, etc.  But overall, I was pretty happy for my first attempt.  Now it's time to start thinking of some other great fantasy portraits.

Are you insane for props??

Oh my gosh, where do I start?  One of my favorite websites, Prop Insanity, is looking for a new writer to test out props and what else, write about them!  Many of you don't realize this, but in junior high and high school I was on the school newspaper.  I was determined to be a writer as my career choice but as many things in life, things didn't turn out as expected.  Don't get me wrong...I LOVE being a photographer and wouldn't change that for anything.  But somewhere deep down I always felt like my inner child was telling me that I gave up on dream that was so important to me.

So here I am today, excited and giggly like a 15 year old, hoping that the staff at Prop Insanity like me.  Well not just like me, but really really like me!  I'm hoping that I get selected as one of their writers and that I can have fun with my photography while using new props and then write all about it.  How cool would that be?  It's like having your cake and eating it too!  And to top it off with a cherry, I would be giving away free sessions to my clients when I use any of the new props that I will be writing about. So wish me luck and I'll let you know what happens.

Back to Basics Session & Files Now Offered!

I've had so many requests over the last couple of years for doing a session and giving the files, so I've come up with a "Back to Basics" program that includes a session with unretouched files to print up to an 8x12" print.  The prices are listed on my website by visiting my RATES link.  I'm offering this program for maternity, newborn, children and family sessions.  There are certain restrictions on days & times for this option, but it's a great way to go if you are looking for files without spending a fortune.  Let me know what you think!