I'm so excited to start the new year of 2018 with a fresh calendar and fresh ideas for my studio. Quite a bit has changed since opening my business in 2015 at the friendly nudging of some close friends. I had always dreamed of taking my photography skills to the next level and preserving memories for other families. As I look back on the last few years, I'm continuously humbled and amazed at what all I've done. From starting as small business owner, putting all my business school knowledge to the test, and growing in vision and skill as a photographer, I've truly come a long way from that first session in my backyard! To all of you who have trusted me over the years with your family memories, I offer my deepest thanks. I can't describe how much it's meant to me to be part of your journey and share my talent and passion with your family.

Now with the start of 2018, I see more exciting growth and change on the horizon. My own family has grown by 2 since first opening my business, and my oldest is now in Kindergarten. Time sure does fly from babyhood to grade school! I have four busy and active kids, each unique in interest and personalities, and I want to make sure I'm putting my family first on my calendar and how I schedule my time. I'm finding the balance between sharing my love of photography with other families with taking care of my own family's needs. I'm sure many of you out there know exactly what I'm talking about, as you juggle work and home life on a daily basis. 

With that, I've taken a close look at my professional goals for my business and how to best serve you, my wonderful clients. I also tried to incorporate my family goals and spending time with my kids now, when they actually care to spend time with me. I've run numbers, prayed, and probably talked my husband's ear off about how to best serve the interests of everyone involved. So without further ado, I'd like to roll out my official plans for the new year! 

New Fresh 48 Sessions

I'm beyond excited to officially announce I'll be offering Fresh 48 sessions to my newborn clients! I've dreamed of photographing these for about a year, and with the birth of my littlest last May, the desire only got stronger.

A Fresh 48 session is one that takes place within a new baby's first 48 hours of life, typically while still at the hospital. These are more documentary in nature so will be very different from my newborn sessions at my studio. There are no wraps or poses, and the focus is really on all those new tiny details: the hospital bracelets and hats, photos in the bassinet, mom and dad in the hospital bed snuggling their precious new baby. 

These will also be fully inclusive, so the fully gallery of 30+ digitals are include in the package investment of $350. They will be offered to existing newborn clients and will truly capture that special, fleeting time immediately after your baby arrives. I'll also have a much faster turn-around for these, so you have all your hospital photos before you come back for your newborn session. 

New Simply Kid Sessions

I'm increasingly getting inquiries about kid sessions and what that looks like as the children no longer fit the baby packages but aren't teens or graduating seniors. As my own kids grow before my very eyes, I feel the need to offer a specific kid friendly package to parents. These will be similar to the baby session package in price and time (30 minutes in length) as well as the number of digital files included. But they will be simply for kids! We can split the session with an indoor and outdoor option to get great updated photos of your child and siblings can be added for a small additional cos. Now you can get all your kids in together at the same time but still have an individual focus on each individual. 

New Lower Price for Senior Packages

I've spent several hours crunching numbers from all my senior sessions over the years as well as reexamining feedback from teens and parents. I wanted my seniors to still feel special and have that individual touch to their sessions and keep the options for wardrobe changes. Plus, I've learned the school yearbook guidelines are fairly strict so there needs to be time to photograph those specific images for yearbook submissions. With all that in mind, I decided to move my package price down to $400 and still include the 20 digital photos, $50 print credit, and the session time with wardrobe changes. I feel that will allow families to receive high quality professional images of their senior while giving me some flexibility to focus on the details that are important. 

New Price for Family Packages

As I did the evaluations for seniors, I started to realize that I was able to lower the price precisely because my editing time was focused around one person. Time editing for one is lower than more than one, except when it comes to newborns. So I needed to apply the same logic and formulas to my family packages as I did with my seniors. I realized I was spending significantly more time editing for families just based on the fact that there were more faces in the photos.

One of my biggest desires is to always keep the same package price per an immediate family. As I'm now part of a family of 6, I struggle when I see prices that say only 4 are included and I have to pay extra for more people. So my family packages still includes all immediate family members, 20 digital photos, and a $50 print credit. The price just increased a tad to now be a package at $475, which reflects my time after your session as I edit all your beautiful faces. 

New Price for Newborn Packages

Newborns are becoming some of my favorites. It's such a special time in the life of a family when a new baby enters the world. Over the past few years, I've spent a great deal of time investing in my newborn education, learning new poses and editing techniques, and also adding new high-quality props, hats, fabrics, and backgrounds. My passion has captured beautiful images for many families and even won awards in image competitions. I strive to be different in offering lots of color, always welcoming siblings as part of the process and package, and delivering high quality photos you can't wait to display in your home. 

Editing for newborns is truly an art. Some newborns need corrections for jaundice, or have flaky skin, and I like to make sure everyone in every photo always looks like the best version of themselves. So post-production involves hand-editing each, individual image and making magic happen. As such, I decided to raise the package price for these specialty sessions to $595, which will balance my desire to deliver high-quality professional images and allow me to give you a truly personal touch with every session. All other aspects of the package remain the same, including 20 digital images and the $50 print credit. And of course you come away with beautiful images of your growing family.

I so look forward to sharing my talent and time with you in the upcoming year, preserving memories for you and your loved ones. I strive to offer professional value and beautiful images to each and every client, and hope you'll be part of my photography family in 2018!