Giveaway! :)

Ok so I said that we would be having some contests/giveaways, and here is the number ONE for 2011! I hope to have a couple more this year!

This giveaway will be for ONE free portrait session PLUS $50 credit. {This will be the big giveaway of the year, for sure!}

Something about facebook...they have done some changing as far as their contest rules, so I am very limited in what I can and cannot do on facebook as far as promotions and such. I'm trying to be creative but kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. So that's why I'm running the giveway here :)

Okay, so what do you have to do?

1. First, be sure you like my fb fan page, Darling House Photography.

2. Make a simple comment on this blog post. In the comment, please write your full name and email address. If you are a little worried about writing your email addy on here for all to see, then just write your full name and send your email address to jackie@darlinghousephotography.com. Be sure in the email that you tell me who you are, lol. For me, it's never been a problem to send my email to anyone, but I understand if it is for you :)

3. Only one entry per person in this fashion. (May not add another comment just because it's a new day) For info on how to get more entries by other types of comments, please check out below!****

Want to enter more than once? Here you go....

****There IS a way you can get up to 3 extra entries (and post up to 3 more comments). Get up to 3 more people to like my Darling House Photography page on facebook. After each of them likes my page, {THEN} post another comment below, saying something like, "I got __________ to like Darling House on facebook." --then your own name again. You do not have to post your email addy again. If you share friends with another candidate, then whoever "claims" that friend first on this blog post gets the entry. The second "claimer" entry for that person will be deleted. So you can put in one regular entry {NOW}, and then enter up to 3 more times if you can get more likers for me! :)

{note} You can suggest my page to friends, put it up as a status update of yours, post a link on their wall, send them a private message with my fb page information, give them a phone call...however you choose.

{DETAILS}

{one} Each comment will be numbered, and winner will be chosen by random.org. I will post results late Thursday night!

{two} New {likers} may join in. =)

{three} Session must take place between now and 11.15.11. It is encouraged that you book your session 1 to 1 1/2 months in advance, as my availability is very limited.

{four} Any questions? Please post them on my wall at Darling House Photography, as I don't want to take up any comment numbers below. Or, of course you can always email me! :)

{five}This promotion begins {NOW} and ends on Thursday, January 13th @ 10:00 PM EST.

{six} Everyone please play nicely, and I reserve the right to put a cap on the amount of entries total in the giveaway...just because it's not really fun if your chance of winning is next to none. If I do, I'll let you know well ahead of time, and I would let you know at what number I would stop accepting entries.

{seven} You may gift your session to someone else, if you choose. =)

Thank you thank you thank you! I am sooooo looking forward to a wonderful 2011!

Go ahead and put your first regular comment below, if you would like to enter! Good luck!

Here's to 2011

I have committed to 2 projects this year: a 52 and a 365.

I plan for my 52 to be on strangers. That is my hope. My fall back will just be any person. I hope I can find some interesting subjects. Those in the group will also be posting one pic per week for the 52 weeks.

The 365 is a big group, of like 65 or so people. I plan to post a pic of my children each day of the year. Not necessarily a group, not even necessarily a face. But at least one child will be in the picture. I would like to have a book made at the end of the year.

So, if you're not a member of flickr, I encourage you to do the same. There are lots of groups out there you can join...and I am really excited about it! I even signed up my husband, although I doubt he will.

Why flickr? Well, flickr is supposed to be a much better spot for viewing pictures. Better than facebook or this blogspot. I'm brand new to it though, so I certainly wouldn't call myself an expert! So, if you know me, and want to join my 52 group, let me know. If you don't know me, search for one on flickr. Have a ball this year!

Here's the link if you want to see my first capture of 2011.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moorepartyofsix/5314430590/in/pool-3652011#/photos/moorepartyofsix/5314430590/in/pool-1554574@N23/

...and here's a lower quality pic of you to view. It's nothing special, but it's special to me :)

Welcome to My Blog!

Ok, I'm not going to lie...I'm not great at blogging. I have tons to say, just not the time or devotion in which to do it. But we'll try it out anyway.

{And yes, I am aware that this blog isn't very fancy or creative. I might look at other options in the future, when I update my website. But for those who are familiar with website building, you know what a hassle it is to do if that's not really your passion. So for now, I'm just going to stick with this...when I get fed up with it and must see a better blog, I may look at updating the whole site altogether...so please bear with me.}

2011 is going to bring a lot of new things to Darling House Photography. From offering the new, artsy, curvy frames by The Organic Bloom, to offering fine photo jewelry, I am crazy excited to see your portraits in a new medium. I hope you feel the same way! {Oh, and by the way...I am a vendor for the frames...you may buy these through me at anytime, regardless of whether you are a regular client or not.}

One more thing about 2011 that totally excites me...I have a new lens. That's right folks, a brand spanking new lens that is burning a whole in my pocket. I cannot wait to try it out!!! It's supposed to be a little warmer today...today may be the day!!!

Ok, so lets discuss pricing for a minute. It's a new year, so of course I have spent some time tweaking my prices. However, mostly things just stayed the same. I looked at what my clients bought, and I took into consideration what I want my clients to have. Hahaha. (Insert personal note here: My husband asked me last week..."Why didn't you ask me what I wanted for Christmas?" --in the middle of his harassing me for gift ideas to give me-- and I said, "Because I buy you what I want you to have." LOL No seriously, I pay careful attention to what he likes and what he doesn't (which pretty much anything orange and white is a winner), and then I take into account what would be a wise buy and what wouldn't...what's a good price and what isn't...what we can afford and what we can't...Don't you?)

Back on task here...There are items that I want every client to have. I suppose every photographer has their favorite items.... Mine are the accordion mini books. OMG how I love them! They are perfect for carrying around right in your pretty little handbag, waiting for an opportunity to show off. They. Are. Awesome. In my opinion, anyway. So I put those into a collection. Then, I also love gallery wraps. They are just gorgeous, and are a sure fire guarantee that the portrait will not fade away in the little presentation box that you received your pictures in. It will be seen. It will be loved. And it will become a part of your home. That is a good feeling. So I left those in our fine collections.

My hope is that the tweaking that I have done will please my clients more. The print prices have pretty much stayed the same...The session fees are the same...really my changes are what's in the collections and a little bit about the whole half price print process thing. And of course, the addition of new products! :)

Want more information about my pricing? Send me an email at jackie@darlinghousephotography.com and I will get back to you pretty quickly.

What else is new in 2011? Well, I would like to book a handful of weddings. I would love to spend some sessions with soft and cuddly newborns, and I would of course like to get some high school seniors. That's a really big range, but what can I say...I love doing each one of those...and of course children. Anyone who knows anything about me knows I LOVE kids :). Expressions...that's what I love the most about them...capturing pure expressions. So anyway...2010 was pretty much awesome over here, and I hope 2011 is even better.

Let me talk a minute about balance. I hope to be better at balance in 2011. I don't really believe in astrology. However, I am a Libra, and I do find the characteristics of Libras are also the characteristics of me. I am always trying to seek balance. I generally take on too much. Why? Because there are certain things I must do, and there are certain things that I do to bring me joy. Photography I do to bring me joy. I love to shoot. I ran across a question that a photography related page posted, and it was..."Do you ever just leave your camera at home at family gatherings so that people won't ask you to take their picture?" Well, for me, the answer is no. I LOVE to take pictures. I hate to edit, so most of them end up on overload. Most pics you will never see, although I did take them. I used to love to edit. Then I bought software to make me even better at it. That's when I got introduced to watching paint dry. It takes forever. And I don't mind to spend forever on something, but when I have a ton of sessions at the same time, and I'm editing session after session...well my bottom gets sick of sitting. I start to feel anxious. I start bouncing in my seat, tapping my foot, stretching out my neck. Pretty much dying. I start to die. How long you ask? Maybe 45 seconds. Like back in the slow internet days...where you had to wait forever for a page to load? Yeah, that's what it's like for me. It's a killer. Every process I run takes maybe around 45 seconds. So no, I cannot get up to do a load of laundry while I wait. I just sit there. Dying. So anyway...balance is what I hope to do better in 2011...less time keeling over...more time accomplishing. Ask me how I will do that and I will tell you I have no idea. Let me know if you have any ideas!

Thanks to all of you who are following me on facebook. That really is the best way to keep tabs on all the new things going on at Darling House. Switching from the Picture Perfect page to the Darling House page has been a little cumbersome. I only have somewhere around 120 "likers" so far, which is a kind of a bummer. It's around 350 less than I have at Picture Perfect. But that's okay...I'll take quality over quantity any day! :)

So will we have contests this year? Yes! Will there be giveaways? Yes! But not too many of either. My time is very valuable (as is yours), and I can't reasonably spend time away from my other responsibilities (5 of which are humans) to do things for free. But, I love to have a good time, so there will be a few fun things coming up! :) Actually, January through March is really the "drier" part of the year, since it's right after fall (which was superpacked), and it's still crazy cold, so these 3 months will probably be the time for those few contests & giveaways. I am SO looking forward to it!

Thanks so much for reading my blog...do come back and read again! And if you'd like to leave a comment, I'll let you know right now that I love them! If there's a question you'd like me to answer, post it here or on facebook, and I will happily address it. I'm going to start off fully enthusiastic about this blog! :)) And I really hope I can keep on it! I know this blog post is a little bit all over the place, and it's basically because my daughter just woke up and I have to post it as is. So...I hope it wasn't too difficult a read.

Well, to tie things up, and since it has been crazy cold around here...here's a pic of my loves in warmer times :)



I don't know why it doesn't look very clear...you can click on it and it looks a little better. Oh well...

Hope everyone has a great New Year's!!!

--jackie