The First 48

Dad and I (Elise) have been discussing different product lines that we would like to add to our portait collections, and some are portrait product lines that are new experiences all in themselves.

I greatly enjoy photographing our maternity sessions. We don't do very many, and I've found that it's mostly because we cater towards Wall Portraits. The majority of our clients invest in a wall portrait for their home, and most pregnant women don't want a larger image of their belly displayed in their home. My initial idea was to offer a coffee table book or small album of the maternity session, but then I thought how excitingly special it would be to have an album for our clients that tells the story of New Family. It could start with the maternity portraits- maybe just one session, but hopefully a few sessions that tell the story of a mother's pregnant journey; followed by a portrait session with the parents and their new child.

In the summer and fall of 2007 I had the honor of photographing several families with their new babies on the day after the mother delivered. I was so blessed to get to be a part of that. An infant is usually more awake in the first 48 hours of his/her life, than it is in the next few weeks. I greatly enjoyed watching the new parents revel in the wonderment of their new baby.

How precious and cherished would an album with all 3 of these sessions be? A mother's pregnant journey, The first 48 hours, and then a relationship style session of Mommy and Daddy loving on their new addition. And how do you start a new series of portraits and let your clients know what you offer without samples?

I met Devon late last spring. She was the bridesmaid of one one of our summer brides, and 4 months pregnant. Her husband was serving our country overseas, and wasn't scheduled to return until November/December, but none-the-less, I knew she would be a perfect model for the album I was wanting to create. We created her maternity portraits at the end of July when she was 7 1/2 months along. I then had the honor again of meeting little Presley Grace when she arrived in late September. Ideally we would have photographed Jason with Devon at all 3 sessions; the 3rd taking place within the next 3 weeks after Presley's arrival. But how many times do we actually have an "ideal" situation anyways? And I knew from the start that Devon and her new little family would be perfect for my project. We're scheduled to create the final family portraits next week, after which I'll add some additional images from that session here too.

I am so excited about this new experience we're offering our clients! Our goal as a business has always been to offer our clients portraits that will be cherished for generations, to capture the Love that is Family, and offer unique and professional services.

That's why we say, "It's all about life, it's all about family, it's all about the Love".

Last Week's seniors and Next Year's seniors!

Had some fun sessions last week. Several people came in for their consultations and had "no idea" what they wanted - just something different. So we got to be creative - using some different backgrounds around the outdoor studio, doing some things with the patterns in their clothing to create "blends" - overlaying the image of the pattern over the actual photograph to create a whole new background. I was about to post some images, but I need to make sure we have model releases on everyone first.

It's almost time to kick off our Senior Spokes Model program for Class of 2010!!! Can you believe it? If you're a junior this year - I know it's way to early to be thinking senior portraits - but effectively marketing to seniors actually begins several months in advance. If you're a junior girl and you're thinking of using us for your senior portraits and would like to earn some incredible rewards just for helping to spread the word about Carr Portrait Art, call our office (392-3929) and talk to Rick, or e-mail him, or use the contact form on our website and let him know you're interested. He'll explain the program to you. If you want to talk with your parents about it before you call that's a great idea, and if you'd like we can set up a time for you and them to come chat with Rick about being a Spokes Model.

We have decided to name our black & white relationship portrait product line. I hope this name and concept works - i.e., communicates well to people. We're calling it "'Love Is' Portraits." It's about relationships - the track on which love can flow. It's a product line designed to reflect the love people share by capturing moments and relationships in simple, uncluttered, elegant, classic black and white portraits. It's designed to show what "Love Is." It's for engaged couples/young love, parents to be, young families, parents and their children whatever their age, empty-nest couples, and senior adults!
Hmmm: "engaged couples/young love." Where could we go with this?
parents to be/expectant love
young families/multiplied love
parents and older children/tested love, or coming of age love
empty-nesters/revitalized love, rediscovered love
senior adults/timeless love, seasoned love
Tell me what you think.
Here are some images I've posted to the web and on Facebook and Plaxo. Some you may have seen before, but they are in layouts for postcards that we plan to send out late summer/early fall.

I'm really excited about our new black & white product line. We'll officially be kicking it off this summer. Trish & I wanted some for ourselves, and needed to update our portraits together anyway, so we got Elise behind the camera and had our own session. I'm still working on a name for the product line.

Most people simply refer to this style as "relationship portraits." I can live with that, but would prefer to come up with something more exclusive for our own company. If anyone has a suggestion I'm open to ideas - but I need to decide soon so I can finish designing marketing materials.

Anyway, check out these images of my sweetie & me.

Lisa & James

Okay, so the bunnies aren't here anymore. They went back to Pet Lovers Pet Store in Mustang. Again, many, many thanks to Pet Lovers for being willing to take them back. If you've never been to Pet Lovers, check out their new location in the log building on the south side of Hwy 152 just west of Hwy 4 (Mustang Rd) in Mustang.


Now, to Lisa and James - check out these images!! These are some of their engagement portraits. Tell us what you think! We're going to be introducing a new line of black and white portraits soon, and James & Lisa agreed to model for me. We're waiting on our lab to get the printing up to the standards we're looking for before we actually offer this portrait line for purchase, but that should happen within the next couple of months - hopefully by mid-June?!?

The Bunnies Are Here!

We're getting a couple of bunnies to spend a few weeks with us and help us with "Bunny Sessions" at the studio. They'll be here until Easter weekend - March 22. Much thanks to Pet Lovers Pet Store in Mustang for helping us with the bunnies and the supplies to take care of them while they're here. Please check out Pet Lovers for your pet needs. They've got all kinds of pets and the supplies for them, from fish to reptiles, to rodents, to rabbits, to kittens. (With all the super stores around with various specialties, it's getting hard to find individually owned stores of any kind anymore. When you find one, support them. Owners of "mom & pop" stores are usually very passionate about what they do, and very knowledgeable. You won't find that in the super stores or discount stores! But, I digress.) Visit Pet Lovers; I think you'll like it. They are about to relocate to a larger store on Hwy 152, just west of Mustang Rd.

We are offering $25 children's sessions while the bunnies are here - that's half off our regular children's session price. We will create some beautiful children's portraits, and finish the session with some portraits with the bunnies. We're offering a special package of 1 8x10, 2 5x7s and 8 wallets for just $149, and all our regular portrait collections are 20% off on any children's sessions photographed by March 22. Orders must be placed by April 18, 2008.

If you would like more information about specials for children, families or high school seniors, call us at 392-3929, or use the contact form on our website: www.carrportraitart.com/contact.php

Class of 2009

Big priority right now is finding a few more ambassadors for Class of 2009! We need to begin photographing our ambassadors soon. This is an exciting new ambassador program that will be a lot of fun for you and your friends. And, it will reward you with some great photographs!
We have several ambassadors hired, but still need at least one more ambassador for most area schools - for some larger schools we could use two more.
If you're a junior this year, and are active in your school, please call us right away at 392-3929! We'd love to talk with you. More details of the program are available on our website - www.carrportraitart.com; and we'll fill in even more when you call.
Don't miss out on this cool opportunity!!