New Year, Newborns

I love shooting many types of clients at various stages of life, be it a full mass wedding to just following two brothers around as they ride bikes and climb rocks. I think it’s because it’s the memories that I’m capturing and I love being the one telling the story.

Maybe it’s the mom in me; I really didn’t discover my love for photography till after the birth of my first born, but those memories are so precious and fleeting and I know how important to me to document MY children that I feel a responsibility to do the same for my clients who have entrusted me to document their little one.

All that being said, I love it all but none as much as shooting newborns. There is something so special about documenting their little toes, ear, lips, belly buttons and everything! You can do so much fun stuff with them too! I mean, you can’t stick a two year old in a serving dish!!

I had the pleasure of shooting some real cuties last year (not including my own newbie!) and I really enjoyed every minute of it.

Here are a few details about my Newborn package. To see more details go to my website.

Newborn (1 to 6 weeks old) sessions are laid back and can last up to two hours to allow for diaper and clothing changes, feedings, and other necessary accommodations.

Because these sessions take more time, there is a higher session fee. In order to provide full attention to the infant, these sessions are limited to 3 people.
I believe it is best to have these sessions in your home. No bright lights or drives to the studio. No hassle or packing everything up and bringing it along. No pretense of pretending to be natural and happy on sterile white backdrops. Just opening the door and being yourself can ease some of the stress you would otherwise feel.
I recommend that, if you are scheduling a newborn or infant shoot, you designate the majority of the two hours to the baby and schedule family portraits separately.

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Brides

I was blessed to shoot some pretty amazing gals this year.

I am proud to say that they are all beautiful and all possessed their own style. There is something to be said about a bride and the glow of happiness that surrounds them.

 

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I am currently revamping my packages so if you are interested in booking a bridal session or a wedding in 2011 please contact me at jenniferlizenbyphotographer@gmail.com for the most current details.

 

A New Year a New Start

So every year I think that this will be the year I will stick to blogging and every year I fail… miserably. So this year I am going to try to blog at least once a month. I want to keep this blog somewhat current with the work I am doing and to show off my latest cuties, because let’s face it, I have some really cute clients.

So over the next couple of days I am going to try to bring the blog up to date on what I shot the last half of 2010. There are a couple of weddings and a few newborns and of course my yearly cuties for Christmas card.

I leave you with a pic of my newest little project and new muse.

Beau Asher Barton Lizenby

This was taken three days after he was born in the NICU. This may be my favorite shot of 2010.

maybe.

The question is not, “How busy are you?” but “What are you busy at?”

So things have been busy here and I’ve had some great sessions. Now just gearing up for Grandparent’s Day at GES and then the Christmas Minis on Saturday.
The location has been set and we will be shooting in down town West Monroe on and around the famed Antique Alley.  Should be a lot of fun and there are a ton of unique places to shoot down there.

Happy Monday!

Christmas Minis!

It’s Christmas time!!  Ok… not quite, but it is time to start booking mini sessions for Christmas cards.  These are not your traditional pull-down backdrop, flashing Christmas sweater, folded hands portraits.  It is 30 minutes of your family playing, hugging, laughing, silly faces, eyes shut, breathing each other in, and making a snapshot of how you really feel about each other.

Your final pictures may or may not include everyone looking my way, but they will be real and true.

Want to know more?

• Date: September 18th and November the 13th
• Location: TBA
• I am scheduling only six spots for the Sept 18th booking and four spots for the Nov. 13th (some of these spot are already reserved!)
• $50 session fee at the time of booking to reserve your spot
• Online gallery of 10 to 15 proofs
• You will get 5 edited digital images on a CD (Sorry, I will not be offering cards this year!)
• Balance for your package will be due at the time of your session

While the Lizenby family is looking forward to welcoming our new addition, Beau Asher, in mid October, it is making the scheduling of Christmas card session rather difficult. I hope that these dates work well for you but if they do not, please let me know and it may be that I can work in an additional date later in November. I would love to be able to accommodate everyone who it interested in a session. I will be working on a first come first served basis so please let me know ASAP!
I look forward to hearing from you and working with your family! I truly do have the best clients!

What’s New Bug-a-Boo?

So…. here’s what I’ve been up to for the past seven or eight months.

Wedding Sneak Peek

Shot a great wedding at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson on Saturday.I haven’t had much time to edit but I did want to get a sneak peek up.

A big thank you goes out to Ragan Oswalt for all her help. Having her there was not only fun but gave me peace of mind knowing she had my back the whole day.

Here a little something to wet the appetite.

So much to blog about

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you are running or maybe at work and it’s crazy busy and no matter how fast you run or work you cannot catch up? I had one of those dreams last night. I was waiting tables again and not matter what I did I was always behind. It must be one of those dreams that are fueled by the fears of your subconscious .

I feel like am loosing time. I just can’t seem to make it all fit in.

I know one of the reasons for this is my less than stellar organizational skills. I wish I had the ounce of organization that my sister has in her pinkie toe. I think Lisa had day planners for her Barbies!

All this is an elaborate way to say that I have been meaning to blog all of my awesome sessions but I just haven’t allotted the time to do it.

side note: I obviously have a problem with multitasking too! Just burnt my favorite plastic pan scraper from Pampered Chef while trying to boil water and blog at the same time! Ack! my whole house smells like burnt plastic now!!

And also, I have got to say thank you to the best clients ever! Not only have you been a great looking group but you have been a breeze to work with! A big thanks to all my clients who have been referring me to their friends and family! That has got to be the biggest compliment and really lets me knows that I’m doing something right!

OK, enough gushing. Here is a overview of what I’ve been to do over the last couple of months.

I Love the Time of Year

As I wake up (begrudgingly) early this morning I am greeted by giggly boy in my bed cuddling close with cold little toes. I here the heater click on as I pull them close and we snuggle deep into the covers talking about the upcoming day with lots of fun activities in store for us. A visit from grandparents, a soccer game and a trip to the Pumpkin Patch. It’s Fall and there’s no denying it. And to make it even better it is a beautifully sunny, blue sky Saturday! With all the record breaking rain fall we’ve had of late the sun’s appearance just makes it all the better! Despite the bad weather I have been able to squeeze in some of my favorite shoots to date. I have awesome clients! I know that every photographer says that but mine are not only cute as a button they are happy and well behaved and do everything I ask of them. Well maybe not everything but close! I am a firm believer in that if you expect the kids to just sit and smile then you, as the parent, are going to be frazzled five minutes into the shoot. I usually let the children roam and explore the setting and get used to me, the camera and their surroundings. After I’m acquainted with your child I might start asking them to look my way or stand/sit somewhere specific but I really try not to force a situation. What I want to capture are those unplanned moments, sweet smile and reactions because seriously, if you ask your child to sit there and say “cheeeeeeeeeese” the end result is going to be something forced and contrived and that’s not what you are paying me for.

Here are a couple shots I’ve gotten lately that demonstrate what I’m talking about.

(I love it when the dads make a special effort to be there and get into the shoot!)

I have had some great first birthday sessions and I love that the parents are bringing little cakes out for the babies to feast on. They turn out really cute!

When I work with siblings it’s definitely more challenging but if you let them be themselves and play off each other you can get one of a kind results.

This works also one on one with each child.

Once the kids are comfortable with me I can usually get shots like these.

I also like to capture shot when they are just being themselves.

Whether they’re being pouty…

… or thoughtful

…or just being silly.

What I want to capture is little snap shot of the way you as the parent see and remember your children. I am loving the “imperfect” pictures more and more because they’re the ones where the personality shows through.

Well I have a ton more I want to show but it will have to wait.  Have a great weekend!

I love my job. I really, really do. But when you get a session like this it doesn’t even feel like work. There was hardly a bad shot at all in this session. These girls came ready to be photographed and were a dream to work with.

Here is what I saw.