My sister's journey, my sorrow

"One's sister is part of one's essential self, an eternal presence of one's heart, soul and memory"
(quote by Susan Cabil).
My sister has always been my cheerleader, my sharer of memories, believed I could do anything, was an integral part of my building my photography business. So since it's partly because of Laurie that I am where I am today, I share with you my sorrow at her fighting an illness that took years away from us during its battle, and is about to win. I am now anxious for her to be at peace, but I think of her and mourn for that little towheaded girl that used to always want to go where her big sister went. Now, she's the brave one moving ahead.

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

This was FUN!!! Here is the entry I used for analysis to see who I most closely resemble in my writing style. I'm not sure that it's accurate, but I am a Stephen King Admirer, so I don't mind being put in his league!
Here it is... see for yourself....
When having the luxury of free time, with no company or schedule demands, I like to tour my own backyard. In this place, the wind ripples the leaves of the trees, the upper pond gurgles as it empties into the lower, the birds flit through on their way to somewhere else and the light plays through the woods, caressing the ground where it touches. By walking slowly, I can see the progress of plants, in the Spring as they awaken from their frozen slumber, and later in the season, their budding, blooming and dying back again. It's here, at ground level, that I find so many small surprises. I find a yellow striped wasp sleeping on a twig, face inches away from a surprising bedtime companion, a black and yellow caterpillar. I witness a near death experience as a frog leaps into the pond and eludes the grass snake, who now slithers away, though whether it's moving away from me or towards its next hopeful meal I'm not sure. Tucked away in the brilliantly blooming shrub near the sideyard path, I spy a brown spider as it pulls itself deeper inward away from my inspection. I am happy to leave it to itself, as spiders, though facinating, hold a special gross-out factor for me.
This little walk around the grounds is full of familiar friends and new delights, and before I know it, hours have passed. The only human voice has been my own as I murmur encouragement to young plants, soothe the surprised creatures and sigh with contentment. This is my little piece of heaven.

Great photo days means great fun for me, savings for clients!

THREE great Photo Days, lots of fun,
lots of savings!

I'm looking forward to the three photo days currently scheduled in the Studio in July and August. Center Stage, with dancers in costume creating one of a kind portraits, from classic to contemporary; they are sure to all be very exciting. And StoryBook Page Portraits, (sigh), a celebration of a more innocent time, set in warm, endless summer days. Then, there's the Executive Portrait Day, one of my favorite scheduled photo days, because every single session is different. There might be a Chef in a kitchen, a Physical Therapist in a clinical setting, or a Financial Planner in a wood paneled office... as always, there are no limits!

I know I say it all the time, but it's true... I really love my job!

If one of these portraits fits you, or someone you know, don't hesitate to go to the website, http://www.bstpierrestudio.com/, and book right away. The number of sessions are limited and they will book fast!

My job, so much more than just a job.

This weekend, I was invited to photograph the Dance Connections Studio of Salem NH's dance recital. So, you say, you're a photographer... what's so unique about that??!? Well, this grab action kind of photography is not the work I usually do, AND, I was asked because this client, and all the parents at her Dance Studio, now think of me as "their photographer".

This past May was my second year of week long portrait photography days at the Dance Studio, and I am officially now "their photographer". They look forward to my arrival, there's much enthusiasm during the sessions, and the parents are very complimentary about the finished packages they receive. I wanted to share this, because knowing that I am creating something lasting and valuable to my clients makes me FEEL GOOD. As I snapped away during the Recital, I felt pride in each and every one of the dancers, clapped as enthusiastically as their families when they finished their numbers and was thrilled to be part of this very special occasion for them. I am so lucky that my job, is not just a job.

If you'd like to see some of the images captured, visit their album on my site at:

http://www.bstpierrestudio.com/mp_client/pictures_welcome.asp?categories=no&keywords2=no&eventid=51737

Power outages, time to hunker down and wait it out!

It's been all over the news, so it's not news anymore. New Hampshire and Massachusetts was battered recently, resulting in trees falling everywhere; on wires, houses, cars, blocking roads, ROOFS on cars, siding peeling off like it was paper, flooding rivers, and widespread power outages for multiple days. We're on the recovery side of it now, and everyone has a story to share, but the overall attitude is "it could have been worse". I'm proud of all of us. We bore the inconveniences with Yankee attitude, ingenuity and sense of humor. We fired up our wood stoves and generators (many purchased after the ice storm that kept us in the dark for weeks in the not so far gone past!). Neighbors helped neighbors. We didn't gnash our teeth and cry foul... we settled in, slowed down, and waited.
Our property is full of those tall pine trees that crashed down all over New England, but ours thankfully kept their roots solidly in the soil. They threw an unbelievable amount of pine cones at us though! The wind that night was truly scary. Our only casualty, aside from electricity, was one of the barn doors, and we are pretty sure we can fix it. I actually led a client into my Studio by flashlight to bring them to the photo set area where we accomplished their photo session by generator supplied power! It was an adventure for both myself, and the client!
The photo here is of a road in my town, Merrimack NH, ironically named "Wire Road". Four telephone poles went down in this area, along with many pine trees, pulling the wires right down to the road. It was literally WIRE ROAD!
Kudos to the workers that got us all up and back to our hectic, Internet-focused, electronically run lives. There is still a small percent without, but I understand they don't have long to wait. In the interum, I'm sure someone has provided them the use of heat, shower and laundry, because THAT is the way we do things here.

Some gals dream of diamonds...

The snow was melting today, bringing the first days of "mud season" in the driveway, and though that might sound like a negative thing, it heralds the upcoming change in seasons to Spring! It made me want to immediately look for a spring-like image to post, but this was a really busy day, following a week of the same. First opportunity, I started casting about in my files for something that is symbolic of my favorite seasons... (the warm ones!).... and I found this one.

This guy was my friend one afternoon late last summer, as I was wandering my gardens. I really do enjoy the simple things. I love using free time to go slow, to see and enjoy the small & fascinating details found in a pond & garden, from the overall beauty of my surroundings, to the veins in an individual petal or leaf, the sleek gold scales of my goldfish. I'm also in awe of these ugly and dangerous looking creatures, the dragonflies, which, I think I've read somewhere, haven't changed since the dinosaurs. Huge goggle eyes, fuzzy torso, insectile bristley legs, pincher-looking tail end, it is no wonder so many people are afraid of them. But the COLORS they come in, and the complexity of dealing with six legs and four wings, and how they use them for precise movement, to pivot mid-air to catch those pesky mosquitos (for which I am very grateful!). And the way their wings lower, as if powering down when they land... you can almost hear an engine shutting off! I, for one, love sharing my space with them, and, am much happier to wear them as jewels than the real thing! This one was not anywhere near the prettiest I've seen, but he or she sure was friendly!

Though I know it's much too early yet, just seeing this picture reminds me of the feeling of peace and happiness I felt the day it was taken and makes me anxious to begin looking beyond the snow for new growth in the gardens. What do you like to do when you can take a break from work?

Hey, are you paying attention?

So, tonight I began a big job for a local Veterinarian Hospital, Animal Hospital of Nashua, and here's one of the participants in a Puppy Training Class. In fact, it was graduation night! This pose reminded me so much of human graduations, where the kids are looking around at everything and everyone BUT the stage where the speeches are being made. As a dog lover, it was hard not to fall in love with every single pup there tonight!

For the next two days I will be at this client, photographing their services and staff interacting with clients, all sorts of technology and treatments. It'll be challenging but very gratifying!

Isn't that the way life is in general? We hear that anything worth having is worth working for. We face our challenges and fears, and sometimes we come out triumphant, and sometimes we find out that what we were striving for was not what we really wanted after all. But if we are open to new ideas and experiences, and paying attention, sometimes life hands us something great and surprising.

My Studio is taking a new and fun direction with the addition of the StoryBook Portraits. We are rolling out the different portraits a bit at a time and at the end of this month, we are having a Princess Palooza! Become a Fan at www.facebook.com/bstpierrestudiofanpage, and get the details! I'll give you a hint... princesses, gowns, hair and make-up pampering, really, really good price... find out how to get in on this great deal at our Fan Page!

Who hasn't thought kissing a frog would work?

OMG!, right?! Here it is, our first Princess! If you could see me, you'd know I am positively beside myself with excitement!

I am having a ball with these StoryBook Sessions. I know you've heard me say this before, but I just can't express enough how happy these make me! They're making others happy too, if the comments on FaceBook and everywhere else are to be believed, so that makes me even more ecstatic!

You know, I've been a photographer 25 years now, and the last .... ummmm.... 10 years I guess, I've really been enjoying the results of my efforts. What I mean to say is, though my clients were pleased with what I provided for them up to that point and it was good... don't get me wrong, I was still reaching for more. Then, suddenly the continuing education, people that came into my life, the new location in Merrimack, the ongoing creative process... everything fell into place. I found a way to create and provide more backgrounds, and believable backgrounds at that, my sets came together, my lighting clicked into place for the way I see it in my head and like to see it in the final portrait... it's been a great journey. And now, add to that these sessions where we joyously celebrate childhood, the stories, the fantasies, the make-believe play that all us adults are too grown up to participate in anymore (too bad, huh?), and I'm simply exploding with energy and enthusiasm!

Your responses to my work are what feed my quest for more, more, more... so keep on letting me know what you think! I'm also eager to hear your suggestions and ideas too!

Every day differs

Isn't this image beautiful? It's got the "awwww" factor for me! This has been a very active couple of weeks in preparing to launch StoryBook Sessions, and I've been showing you work from these sessions, but in between, there's been a lot of other things happening here too! Every day is a little different for me, and that's the way I like it! For example, last Wednesday, I photographed all day long for Animal Hospital of Nashua.... 15 Veterinarians, and each brought at least one pet... some brought 3-4! Yikes! It actually went quite well and I'll be sharing some of those pics soon. These people are wonderful and if you've got a pet, even exotics, you should consider their services. They have equipment there that you'd usually have to drive to Boston for if your pet needed it. I've got a big project coming up with them in preparing their image library for their marketing materials for 2010 and am looking forward to working with them on that in just a couple weeks.

We're also in the planning stage for an interior expansion so that I can more easily store some of my studio set elements. It's getting kind of tight in the photography room right now! It doesn't help that we've recently added a set stage, the dock, some mobile walls and prop critters, without having a plan for where I'm going to store them! Oops. Small detail, to soon be resolved.

So today is absolutely GORGEOUS outside... the snow still heavy in the trees, touched by the sun and bright against the dark pine & blue, blue sky, and the temperature is a comfortable 40 degrees. It's one of those post snow storm days where you actually like winter! I should be out there photographing for fun! I think I will do that! I hope you find a moment to get out there before the sun sets, and enjoy it too!

Make-believe is good for the soul

Recently, there was a devastating earthquake in Haiti, there are the ever present atrocities perpetrated on human beings worldwide, hunger, sickness, endless schemes to steal your identity and your money, and to top it off, us New Englanders being bombarded with nasty Massachusetts Political Ads. Is it my intent to depress you? No! Just making my point that Make-Believe is good for the soul! Here is another image in my new series of StoryBook portraits. Children KNOW how to play. I'm finding that I give them the environment, get all my technical stuff squared away and ready to go before they step on the set, offer a suggestion of a story, and they take it from there! Isn't this a great background too? I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! And about that other stuff? The overwhelming big bad of the world? My method of coping is to do good things to help the people I can, and know that every one person makes a difference, then find something positive to concentrate on for good mental health .... hey, how about some Make-Believe???!!?

Meeting some New Year's Resolutions!

I can't believe how long it's been already since I've blogged! I thought that during the planned "down time" following my early December surgery I'd be looking for things to do, but I had so many great friends stopping by and staying to keep me company, and so much to do (including reading a few books and Stephen King's newest 1972 pg novel, The Dome), that many of my tasks on the to-do list stayed right there. One thing I have done though, is made and kept (to date anyway) my New Year's Resolutions!
I resolved to lose weight, and started my diet with surgery, which made perfect sense since I wouldn't be allowed to eat for one day and then on liquids for another... what better kick-start to a diet?! Since Dec. 7th, I've lost about 10 pounds! I've got a few more to go, ok, a few more than a few...and 'nuff said about that, except that I'm keeping this resolution! I miss my thin & fit days. (smiling)
Another resolution was to add StoryBook Portraits to my Studio Plan, and here you see one of the "Enchanted" series... the fairies! New sets have been created, new background slides to pull it all together and, I've begun photographing! What FUN these portraits are! Make-believe and the long sunny days, story pages full of happy carefree moments, fantasy & princess stories, puppies and baby chicks... a magical time, and we're making magic in B. St.Pierre Studio! It's a goal realized, a creative outlet, and I'm a very happy photographer!