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!