BRRRRR! Wow, we have had our share of snow. I know other parts of the country has also. I can't wait for spring now. Well, even though several appointments had to be postponed due to either snow or sickness - things have been crazy around here! Mother's Day portraits are in full swing and we are seeing more and more new babies each month!

Our new "Organic" baby plan is catching on and the moms love the look. I've posted a couple from one session below. I look foward to the nice weather when we can go outside for portraits!

I just got back from our conference for the Professional Photographers of Pa. The meeting originally was for earlier in February but got snowed out. Go figure. The speakers were good and I learned quite a bit as I always do. And of course I bought a couple new backgrounds from my friend who is always more than happy to show me what's new with her creations. It's great because no one else will have these backgrounds. I added several colors of fabric for draping as a background or an accent and I added two muslin backgrounds in cool colors. I can't wait to use them. I figure I'm safe until mid April when we have our State convention...

Back in January I travelled to our national convention and made some serious purchases. Of course all had to be special ordered so they are just now coming in. The poor UPS guy. New lighting equipment and a new toybox type prop that has a weathered finish to it - that will be used for organic style newborn and baby sessions and who know what all else!

Going to meetings such as the Prof Photographers of Pa. and going to classes like I went to in January and being involved with my photographer friends on forums I belong to continue to be such an inspiration and I come away with so many ideas.

So what else can I tell you - well, how about when you come in we are offering coffee and cold softdrinks for our clients (and kids too). I want our clients to feel at home while they are here!

Catch up!

Well it's time I catch up here. Been travelling during January and now that I'm back and in the swing of things again it's time to work on things. One of my goals is to keep up with this at least weekly. I just love seeing the babies coming in for their first year. It's a party. This little one just turned 1. I just love how they hold their hands out to help them balance.

Is it really 2010?

Thank goodness! Although I am really embarrased that it has been months since my last post. I did make some resolutions this year. Of course it is well into January now and my treadmill is still sitting there calling my name and my various bible study books I wanted to read also are still there waiting for me. Although it hasn't been because I've been lazy so maybe I'll let myself off the hook - a little bit. The Christmas season was a fantastic one. Considering how the first half of the year went, by August things were ramping up to being back to normal - thank goodness.

Then last week I spent 5 days in Nashville for the PPA national convention. It was an awsome time. I didn't see the city but Gaylord's Opryland was a fabulous place for a convention. It was PPA's biggest one yet with over 9000 people registered. I roomed with a friend from Georgia and met up with some of my friends from Pennsylvania Prof Photographers too. Twelve classes in 3 days had my head spinning but that's how it is. I spent alot of time at the trade show too. I went a little crazy there and crossed off the list some of the things that, admittely were the "nice to haves" not the "need to haves". But it was the first time in a couple years had the opportunity to handle and talk to vendors right then and there. Of course they offer things at show specials - so who and I to say no?

It was great too to see one of my friend Joe Campanelli receive the "Diamond" designation for print competition. All 5 entered prints were accepted into the PPA International Loan Print Collection. Another friend, Gerry Solan recieved his Masters. I'm so proud of both of them and was thrilled to see them receive it. Then as it turns out PPA also announced that my friends Tammy Wolfe and Tamar London are the "next team to be watched". They own London Wolfe Photography in Altoona and have toured teaching other photographers for several years now. Their business is thriving and we are all proud that they are on the PPA "watch list".

Next up? Well Sunday Taylor (my daughter) and I leave for Las Vegas. It is a 3 day award winning marketing boot camp for photographers. It has been a few years since I attended so I am excited to see my friends, be in warmer weather and have my daughter with me! It will be so worth getting up at 3:30 am to catch a flight.

2010 is going to be fantastic. There are some question marks on the horizon but I am planning how to handle any combination of things that could come 'down the pike'. I am pleased to announce new baby plans for new moms and other things too. Check out our Facebook group for some updates or call/email us for a newsletter.

Ok, so from here I want to just give you a little tidbit on using your camera outside this time of year....I would love your feedback so let me know if you have questions or comments!


Winter Camera Tip:
Electronics don’t tolerate the cold. Keep your camera in an inside coat or pant pocket at all times when outdoors. When you go back inside, place in a plastic ziplock back BEFORE coming inside - the moisture will collect on the bag instead of delicate electronics or lenses as it warms up. Wait until the camera is room temp before using (1-2 hours.).

It's a whirlwind

Hi everyone. Wow, I must say that since July it's been a whirlwind. Even the last couple days have been non stop. I've been covering the Marian Community Hospital Ball, the Keystone College Homecoming, The Central HS class of '49 which had quite the turnout last night at the Raddison and just this morning was proud to record the activities for the Little Sisters of the Poor as they honored my long time friends (and probably my most photographed personalities) Dave and Joyce Tressler. That was out at Mt. Airy Lodge & Casino. Wow, what a place! So now I practically am ready to collapse but still have things to do like get my overdue Holiday schedule out to you. Add to that tomorrow's daycare job, and the SBDC's woman etrapreneur award luncheon on Tuesday. It is like this until Christmas. It is about now that I proclaim to my fami.y that " your wife and mother has left the building - she's been replace by her evil twin..your wife and mother will return about December 25th". They understand by now and do everything in their power to help and to keep me happy - they know what it's like when I am not so happy! Thankfully my husband will even do some of the Christmas shopping for us.

No one can believe that we've had snow already. Not alot but some in the higher elevations. Had a senior Friday morning who is a die hard skiier. He decided he wanted snow in his outdoor portraits so up to the mountain we go to the county park. He froze his butt off...teeth chattering and all. But having snow on the colored leaves was awsome.

I don't think I mentioned in my last post my new person, Stephanie. She's awsome. An artist in her own right, creating her own jewelry. She is in charge of our production - getting your order ready for pick up. She will also answer the phones and help clients when they stop in. She's fun to have around and we have alot in common.

So anyway, looking toward the holidays with various specials and our holiday open house on Sunday, November 15th. We also have new items in to order for gifts. Special ornaments that your imaage can be baked into the ceramic, purses and now Terra Traditions albums. Stop by and check them all out.

We also have some available Saturdays that we kept just for portrait appointments for the holidays. So call today because we only accept a limited amount of appointments on those days. Of course we are happy to have appointments in the evenings too. But call today before it's too late! Really, don't wait - you know how fast time goes and I hate to say no or have to charge rush fees.

With that - I can't wait to hear from you for the holiday portraits. And stay tuned as we are really planning some cool things for 2010.

Today is the day

Well, it's a day...a Monday to be exact. Part rain part sun and some wind. I took in the portrait off the porch easel and flag off the pillar so it doesn't blow away. Ever have one of those days when you don't seem to get anything done? Today was it. I had some appointements and spoke with people who called, booked appointments but that to-do list didn't get any check marks. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. Stephanie and I are having a good time. We finally got in some missing items in that we needed to finish all the orders we had in house - so we worked together on Saturday to get all the orders ready for delivery. Boy, we were efficient!

Looking foward to this week. It's busy as usual but I seem to thrive on that... How does your week look?

So what's going on??

Wow, the summer went by fast! I looked at my last post and realized that the whole summer has passed by. Hopefully you had a chance to get away this summer. We stayed close to home. Our daughter had time away but we stayed close to home.

The summer has been busy with seniors as the summer has progressed and there is no end in sight. i've had a blast trying something new with just about everyone who has been in. It makes it fun for everyone and it's great to be creative.. and of course we have our regular babies and have had many newborns coming in for their first portrait. There is nothing more precious than a newborn.

And while we said "goodbye" to Caitlyn in August, we are looking foward to saying "hello" to a new friendly face. Nope - can't say who yet until things are finalized so stay tuned!

More rain?

Holy crap I'm getting so sick of the rain. We have the deluge and then nothing. Friday I watched as my little beach scene practically washed away. Had to do beach reclaimation over the weekend. Monday my early morning outdoor portrait session was cancelled - rain. He is rescheduled for today and hopefully it will happen for the poor kid. Many of my seniors are getting rained out. Some are lucky that the sun came out long enough for us to get images. So the sun is out again and I'm hopeful that even though our feet will get wet, we can do this.

Our world is rocked.

Oh holy cow. Our world has been rocked. Well, the other day I got a phone call from my husband telling me that Kodak announced that they will be discontinuing Kodachrome film. I know, you are saying "so what". Well this film is an awsome film. The truest color, finest contrast and detail of anything I've ever shot. You can make bill boards of the images and not see any grain or imperfection because it is so fine. I used it quite a bit in the early years. Granted it isn't a forgiving film. If your exposure was off, it was off. Unlike print film that you can expose the print a little longer - it is just off. I have boxes and boxes of slides as does my husband, of our family memories and professional work on this film. Of course in the greater scheme of things - it isn't the end of the world but it just seems like another hit to the Big Yellow Father, Kodak.

Have you seen it???

We have a billboard campaign running on some of the various digital boards in the area. They include Chinchilla, on one side of the board at the entrance to Wegmans/Target and on Davis St. in Scranton!

And the one below is the hospital in Carbondale and I provided them with their photography.

ONE DAY SALE

Wow, it has been crazy here today with the one day sale. Class of '10 are calling and taking advantage of 50% off their session. We've booked alot of seniors day! We purposely didn't book any appointments to day so we could be available to answer the phone. Anyway, it should be a fun summer. On the list are all sorts of cool places that we will be going to do sessions - let's see, Browndale and Justus Fire Companies, a horse, one girl does fencing and is bringing her equipment for that, we have guitars and flutes booked, as well as cars. I love the inspiration that I find when kids bring their stuff (or we go to it!)

Senior Season is Here!

The new Senior Session guide is out and we are getting ready for our One Day Sale next Tuesday 5/26. Almost all our sessions are on sale for 50% off for anyone calling that day to make their summer appointment. We have lots of cool stuff this year, some new props and backgrounds and our price guide is revamped so you can order exactly what you need.

If you haven't received our session guide - call us today. 570-282-4090

Where's Spring?

Just when I thought maybe we'd start to see spring - it is like 16 degrees out today. Just to make it worse - we are heading out today to go to (of all places) Maine! We are heading up to see my mom who had knee replacement surgery. It's a long drive but should be a nice, albiet brief, visit. She still has a ton of snow. yea. Wish us luck!

What's new?

we've been buzzing with activity! On Feb 27-28 we had our live bunny event. The results were happy kids and the bunny was returned to the Humane Society with a $165 donation. We all enjoyed the bunny - and what a big bunny he was!

Anywho...in addition we have been seeing mom after mom come in for portraits. Want to see more information? See our group on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1059925822&ref=name#/group.php?gid=38594466327

I also have been busy networking at various mixers and seminar. It is alot of fun to get out there and talk to people...seeing people I know and meeting new people too.

February already?

Things have been buzzing at the studio. Here it is mid-February already. We have a great line up of events this year. January was out Model Search month. We photographed a whole bunch of great kids for possible call-backs for other sessions we will be doing that we need samples for. Sometimes we want to test new lighting or techniques we've learned and that's where our models will come in.

Then we had our Birthday Party Open house on Feb 7th. Families came in to sign up for upcoming sessions and took advantage of the 50% off discount. While the moms were booking sessions, the kids were enjoying craft projects and face painting and of course birthday cake!

The following Tuesday 2/10 we hosted the Chamber of Commerce's February mixer. It was fun. There were about 40 people from various businesses around. Many new faces that I hadn't met before so made some great contacts as well as visited with my business friends who came.

We have of course our babies coming in and exciting news of some of our moms who are expecting again too! Oh, and then yesterday we had some visitors! A local Junior troop came and spent time at the studio learning things for their photography badge. It was great fun having the girls asking questions and seeing them act silly while getting their pictures taken.

Now we are into mother's day season. It's always fun - having kids interracting with mom. If you have't made your appointment don't wait. The Times' deadline is a week early this year. Call today!

Happy New Year

Hi and Happy New Year! It's amazing that we are back to having to check the date when we write it again. Just seems like I was getting used to 2008. But don't get me started on how time flies. I took advantage of an extended time off with the holidays. There was one working day in there but it was good. I find it hard to take time off - drives my family nuts. So what did I do with the time off? I think all we did was entertain guests. Actually just mom mostly. That was fine. She doesn't mind riding along doing errands and stuff (yea, some were up to the studio to make sure all was well). I also have been using some time to get my new newsletter done so it can be out in the mail asap. Of course should have done that in December but who can think straight before the holidays?

So it's going to be an awsome year. We have so much planned. Portrait programs, events and classes. It is going to be great. Stay tuned!

Some Shppping Ideas

We are right in the middle of the Holiday Shopping season. If you are looking for something to give friends or family, we have some ideas here for you to choose from. Double click the image to enlarge it.

Autumn Newsletter

For anyone who didn't receive this in the mail last month, or pick it up in the Steamtown Mall, here is our autumn/Holiday newsletter! We are also offering a 15% rebate on your portrait order. That rebate will be given back to you as a gift certificate that can be used as a gift or use it for yourself! Just double click on the newsletter and it will come up larger.

Happy Halloween!

The studio was a-buzz today as our Halloween special started. We had several of our regular clients come in...let's see, we had Arial, Hannah Montana, a Carbondale cheerleader, a mouse, and Happy Feet, among others. Tomorrow is the town-wide trick-or-treating and are expecting many more kids. We ran a coloring contest for the local schools and pre-schools. It is awsome to see how many pumpkin pictures hanging in the hallway. It is going to be difficult to judge who will win! We will post more when we choose the winners!

School's back in session

I can't believe summer is over. Things have zoomed by so fast that I am still kind of waiting for summer to begin! I guess because it didn't really get that hot for long and we were busy at the studio too. My daughter Taylor helped quite a bit assisting myself of Caitlyn with senior and baby sessions. When she was in that is. She had a babysitting gig this summer so she stayed home quite a bit so she was on time for that. Then she was out of town visiting the grandmas and we had vacation too. Now that I stop and breathe, I realize it is time to gear up for Christmas specials. I will be posting my newsletter shortly as well as getting it in the mail. Lots of things coming up! We are offering a rebate this year as our holiday special. We are also excited about having our work on display at the Steamtown mall! At the moment there is a tv with a video running in the former Hot Topic window. Watch for our "models of the week" starting tomorrow.

Stay tuned for more to come!

Class of '09 Seniors are everywhere!

It is summer and summer wouldn't be complete without senior portraits. Caitlyn and I have been busy busy busy with indoor sessions and outdoor. We changed the program this year so every senior can customize their session to be exactly the kind they want. It has proven to be terrific and very inspiring for us at photographers - we always tried to make each session different but now they definately are. We have some new backgrounds too, not to mention the areas right on the studio property that have made for nice portraits too. Check out our Myspace page for more details (www.kaiserfinephoto/myspace.com) and some videos of our ambassadors. These DVD music videos have been popular this year as we produce one for every session as an add-on to our packages. Anyway, check it out and if you have not had your senior portraits done yet - call us!

I've had it with the idiots on the campaign trail - I'm ready

Spring is in the air

I'm so glad to have nice weather! Of course that means the grass is growing like crazy. So any eveing during the week when you are driving by the studio you will hear the whir of the lawnmower. Of course that is if I get more gas for it. I ran out half way through the back yard. I'm kind of afraid to look now since the one area hasn't been done yet at all. I also need to get some landscaping done. My friend Randy who own R&A landscaping took out the row of trees last fall for me. They were too big and not looking so nice. But I am going to replant. Hopefully with something that will grow quick to hide the naked cinder blocks of the Pizza Man building! I do miss the screen of trees that was there. In the back I need to finish my beach scene but need to find special gravel-like sand for it.

The best news is the new addition to our staff. Shannon joined us two weeks ago. She is awsome and will be handling our sales, customer service and some administration stuff. On her first day she already had made some changes so we are more organized! So when you call or stop by make sure you say hi to her. She is expecting her second baby in August and we are exited about her new arrival coming.

Women helping Women - we had great PR for our fundraiser on May 1 to benefit the Women's Resource Center. The event featured 10 vendors at our studio. We held a basket raffle and raised $130 for the Center. Women who attended were treated to Mary Kay samples, Tastefully Simple sample and a number of other items that were available. It was a great event and we are planning on doing it again next year!

First Holy Communion

Spring is almost here! How do I know? Well, the first indication is when we are almost done with our Mother's Day sessions. Three more weeks or so for the deadline for the Times. The other indication are the white dresses I see already in the department stores! We already have some of our prime appointments already spoken for so if you are looking to have your portraits done in time for First Communion - call us today to make your appointment. We can make appointments through the second week of April in order to have them for you the first week of May.

Our special? 50% off your session fee and 15% off your order. As always, every pose you choose is carefully retouched and enhanced and mounted. We include this discount on any collages you might be interested in. We have posted one below as an example of what a mom ordered last year. We also custom design announcements and Thank You's.

Is it February ALREADY!!???

Yikes. Not sure where the time went. But thankfully winter is mostly behind us now I would think. Maybe some late Feb/March snow but that doesn't last long - just long enough for the kids to have a school delay!

Well, it has been probably the most productive January & February I have ever had! In addition to my babies and seniors coming in for portraits, I'm proud to say that after all these years in business I have a complete marketing calender done - down to where and when my ads are going to be and when to get them in by (can you tell I'm proud of myself?). We have done some things around the studio too. I finally got a projection screen put up in the sales room (it's gorgeous) and portraits hung in the entryway. So there's been lots of good stuff going on.
Caitlyn and I have also spent time studying with other photographers from around the country on a number of different topics and we are so psyched for this new year. If you didn't get our email or our newsletter, contact us at kaiserfinephoto@yahoo.com and we will be happy to send it to you!

MOTHER'S DAY
The studio has been all a-buzz with mother's day portraits. If you haven't made your appointment yet, call us today! 282-4090





BUNNIES BUNNIES BUNNIES!

On February 29th and March 1st we will be photographing children with a live bunny! Some appointments are still available for both Friday and Saturday. Call us today and help to support the Lackawanna County Humane Society!

Whew - what a year it's going to be! Join us! And if you are in the neighborhood - stop by and say hi, we love visitors!

Happy New Year!

Here we are in 2008. I'm not sure what the heck happened to 2007! It was indeed quite a year. I closed both my studios and moved into the new one. Of course I have a huge to-do list for January. Alot of things didn't get done when we moved in so it could be business as usual for our customers and we wouldn't have to shut down for any period of time. Then there was the Christmas season. Holy moly what a season it was. Late one day, when Caitlyn and I finally had a moment to breathe - she looked at me - both of us were feeling like we just ran a marathon - and she said "how did you do this last year when I was only working 15 hours a week?" I thought about it and realized that she (now nearly full time) and I were doing the work that 4 of us had done just last year! No wonder I felt exhausted! Needless to say by that point we were nearly through the crush so looking for extra help wasn't really an option. I did make a mental note for next year though!

We have bid plans for January. I love the feeling of having a clean slate. Anything can happen with a new year - so I want to make sure that it will be a great year. On my goal list is a the project of converting an upstairs room into another camera room. Our goal with that is to offer special, limited edition upscale sets that can be left up for a period of time, uninterrupted by other types of sesssions. This room also has beautiful natural light that we want to utilize more. Of course before I can do that I have to reorganize my storage spaces because it was just so easy to just drop stuff in this empty room!

We will also be giving a new look to our literature, website (long overdue for updating) and business cards. We also have some new products in the works - including a custom line of sterling silver jewelry to hold your favorite portraits. So, as I sit here on the couch typing this on a Saturday night, I am surrounded by literature, notes, lists and ideas for the upcoming year - a typical scenerio for me in the month of January. There is so much I want to do that I don't even know where to start but I can't wait to get it done!

Caitlyn and I spent the last couple days planning the year. Watch for our upcoming Mother's Day specials - including an early bird special. Of course we will be delivering you glossies to the newspapers for you. We are also going to have a live bunny for our Spring/Easter special. You will get more info on that soon. If you aren't on our email list, contact us at kaiserfinephoto@yahoo.com and we will make sure you are kept up to date.

Well, back to the drawing board!

The Holidays are here!

Can you believe it?? Wow. Good thing I love Christmas music. It started playing this past Sunday for all the families who came to see Santa. We had a great day. The appointments were booked solid from noon until 4:30 or so. With the new location I encouraged everyone to come a few minutes early to have a chance to relax and let the kids get comfortable before their time to see santa. Everyone enjoyed cookies and juice and it was great having a studio full of kids! A few of the kids were less than enthusiastic about seeing the big guy but we did our best to lure and coax without upsetting them. I've posted a couple images below...

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and safe travels.

If you would like to have a visit with Santa, don't forget that we will be at Corky's Garden Path this Saturday and Sunday 1-4:00 pm.

Happy Thanksgiving! Cheryl

Look who was here!

Halloween Quicktakes

Check out a couple of our visitors who came for Halloween Quicktake portraits!

Purses Purses Purses

Check out our new line of purses!!!

The latest

I have to stop waiting so long to update! Here are a few of our "subjects" lately! May I present to you - Charlotte and Charlie! Charlotte was just in this week for her 3 month portraits - we have so much fun with our babies. Charlie came in a few weeks ago but I just couldn't resist adding him in. I was actually prepping the hand tinted image to be sent to have a new purse made. Check out my other post of a new line of purses we have now!

Don't forget to mark your calender for our Halloween Quick Takes next Tuesday and Wednesday 10/30 & 31. Packages will start at $15. You will view and choose right then! No appoinments necessary, just walk ins.

It was a big weekend!

Today, being the Columbus Day holiday, Taylor had off from school. Well, she needed a haircut. So off to the salon we went. I baited her with "if you do something radical I will buy you a new outfit". Needless to say we were at the mall tonight! But doesn't she look beautiful!!

Yesterday was a big day here in Scranton. The Steamtown Marathon took place and Bill ran it again for the 7th time. The weather was too warm and humid and unfortunately, although he finished, he was "done" at only mile 6. He simply did a survival shuffle to the finish. About 50 minutes longer than any other marathon. We are proud that he finished. Taylor and I have a tradition on marathon day. We drop Bill of in downtown Scranton to catch the bus to the start line in Forest City, at about 5:45. From there we have our Grand Slam at Denny's...then off to WalMart to kill time shopping (the only good time if you have to go to WallyWorld). Then we were in Carbondale by 7:30. We saw Bill come through town at about 8:45. From there we saw him in 4 other spots along the course. At each place we have instructions...new water bottle & power bar...whatever. Anyway, I only took a couple photos because he was really a hurtin' pup.