Just to humor you!

Let's talk about the upcoming Santa Days next week!

I stumbled across this image from a photographer friend of mine who lives in Colorado and has already started her Santa Days... oh I can't wait! LOL Keep in mind... by the time Santa appears, we already have all of the good shots for a great Christmas picture! Let the fun begin!!!

Happy Thanksgiving 2009!

Hope all of you have a wonderful day!!!

A few happenings to announce!

Our 2nd annual Black Friday Sale! It's even bigger and better than last year. I am among the crazies that will be out first thing tomorrow morning! I have a session at 10 and by the time I get to that session I will have already spent the past 5 hours shopping! I hope to complete my entire list tomorrow!

click to enlarge ad(above)

As always, gift certificates are available for that special person on your list. I can't imagine a gift I would enjoy more than photos of my kids and family members. Gift Certificates are available in increments of $5 and come ready to deliever... uniquely beautifully wrapped and customized.

Lastly... every year we offer a photo ornaments. This years are cuter than ever! I found a wonderful vendor at etsy.com who's workmanship is adorable! These ornaments are $10/piece you choose the photo! All proceeds from the ornament sale will go to benefit NILDMTS. www.nilmdts.org

Another blog!

I have gotten some of the most heartfelt testimonials from my clients. I never felt like it was appropriate to "toot my own horn" per se, however... I was encouraged through a recent online seminar that I took. I have decided to add some of my testimonials over at: www.tmmwabp.blogspot.com

Please stop on over if you are considering a session!

It's been way too long since I have done any interviews on my blog so I thought it would be fun to get back into the swing of things and highlight some local businesses that I think do amazing work, are local, and have wonderful feedback!

I had the opportunity to sit down with Janet, owner of Brooklyn Bridal and Prom to chat about some of the great things about her charming and quaint, yet WONDERFUL store right here in Brooklyn, Michigan!

Brides, bridesmaid, and girls looking for prom dresses... don't miss out on stopping by Janet's store on your dress hunt. I promise you won't be disappointed!

1. What do you feel sets you apart from other bridal stores?

The warm and charming atmosphere coupled with high quality gowns that are priced very reasonable.

2.Do you carry hard to fit and plus sizes?

Yes I do! I carry sizes 0-34 in bridal and bridesmaid, both petites and longs, and sizes 00-34 in prom styles. I have personally fitted customers who have physical restrictions and handicaps.

3. How do you choose dresses from your store?

I work closely with the designers and their salespersons to chose gowns designed for certain body types. I choose gowns based on the past inquiries and customer feedback. I have chosen a large variety of styles to be able to offer something for everyone.

4. How do you keep up with the latest trends?

I depend on the designers and their salespersons to tell me what is HOT! They will advertise in the magazines, on the internet, and use hollywood celebrities to push the product. If I have it in the store based on what they tell me, I am ahead of the curve.

5.What other services do you offer within your store?

Wedding Planning!! The day-of-coordination is the best value! This allows brides to relax and enjoy, but also the mothers can relax :)

Additionally, I offer wedding gown cleaning and preservation that comes with a 20 year guarantee, prom gown registration, measurement services, and ironing or pressing of any formal wear.

6.When should brides order their wedding dress?

As soon as they know they are in love with a gown! Gowns do become discontinued or have price increases. Once they know they found "the perfect gown" they should buy it.
-Bridesmaids?

Bridesmaid dresses are often dictated by what the bride chooses. I recommend the bride and the bridesmaid have their dresses orders six months out from the wedding date.

-tuxes?

The tuxedos should be chosen, measurements taken, and deposits made, three months before the wedding date.
-mother of the brides?

Mothers' dresses should be ordered four months before the wedding date.

7.Do you offer wedding planning services?

Yes, I do! I love to work with brides and their family. I offer a free initial consultation to show how I can be a benefit to the planning process.

8. What is the most outrageous request you have ever been asked by a bride?

Nothing to crazy really. I once was the taxi service driving the photographer between sites and doing floral deliveries from church to reception site.

9. Do you mainly see local brides or where do brides drive from? What is your service area?

The majority of my brides come from Jackson and Lenawee Counties. Occasionally, there is an out-of-town bride who is visiting her family in our area, stops in to browse, and quicly determines my prices, products, and service are fabulous! I have brides from all over including Illinois, California, Panama, Texas, and Colorado.

10. We think you have an amazing store and selection, brides who are considering driving a long way to see your store, what can they expect to make it worth their drive?

Thank you for the compliment! If the bride has made an appointment she will get dedication and one-on-one service. It's just her, me, and whoever she brings. Being a small intimate boutique, they get the run of the place and don't have to compete for attention or service. I like to recoginze each bride who makes an appointment with a small token of my appreciation.

11.What new trends are you seeing for the upcoming 2010 wedding year?

Feathers, everywhere! On the dresses, in the flowers, in the head pieces, and the decorations. Brides are leaning towards natural and soft textiles. Retro styles are very popular and often the feathers coincide with the era of the gowns.

12. What is the largest wedding party you have ever outfitted?

Last year I fitted a large party of 18: bride, groom, bridesmaids, groomsmen, fathers, and mothers. It was amazing! The family has returned this year with the other daughter who is now engaged and we're working on the next big bridal party!

Also, I a wedding tuxedo party of 17 and all the tuxes fit great.

13. Bridal wear has become more casual for some who want their wedding to represent their style. How do you accomodate these brides such as destination brides?

I have two designer lines in my boutique that specializes in creating destination gowns. Besides being great styles, and fabrics that travel well, many are priced under $350.

14. Lastly, Why did you open a bridal shop and how did you choose Brooklyn to be the "home" for your store?

Over the years I have worked in various positions developing skills and relations in retail and customer service. During the courtship with my husband, I had accumulated such an excessive amount of information that I decided to become a wedding planner. As a wedding planner I met a lot of great people in the wedding industry, and brides and grooms, who inspired me to be my own boss and take it to the next level. Then during my engagement, I had a hard time finding bridal shops who were charming or inviting in our area. Now seeing both sides of the wedding planning process, as the bride and as a planner, I was sure I could open my own bridal boutique and offer something special to the brides and grooms. I worked hard developing a business plan but knew that location was going to be key to my success. As I did the demographics I noticed the corridor of M-50 was highly traveled. It seemed like a natural fit to put a bridal boutique right in the middle of the quaint and charming town of Brooklyn.

Thank you SO much Janet for taking the time to answer a few questions for us

Baby Brady!

Ohhhh newborns... I can NEVER get enough of these precious little ones. The wonderful infant smells, soft skin, sweet noises, and sleepy grins. It really doesn't get much sweeter than that. And this little guy... those baby cheeks, so so kissable! It's been a few weeks since I have done a newborn and I was so ready to get back to one of my favorite sessions. I seriously think I would LOVE to photograph newborns every day. It can take a lot of patience, but I think that's why I like it, it's like a challenge to get the winning shot and not totally tick of the baby in the meantime!

We had to work hard for some of these sleepy shots, but they are always worth it. Isn't he just the cutest, sweetest little guy? At 3 weeks, he already has some wonderful baby chub! Next session at three months, the baby chub should be in full swing and that my friends... is the best!

Brady and his parents traveled all the way from northern Michigan. I give anyone who is willing to travel more than an hour with a newborn, let alone 4 hours... Parents of the Year! ;-) Wow! Looking forward to watching Brady grow over the next 12 months! Congratulations!!! He is wonderful!

Franklin... 6 months!

His smiles can light up an entire 60 story building and his baby blues will melt your heart! Franklin was such a fun baby to photograph. He was so easy going and just happy to look out the window! We had a hard time getting his attention from looking outside, but once he would look at us... it was smiles all around!

I got so excited doing his session when we did some Christmas stuff. I am beyond ready for the Holiday season. I mentioned in a previous post that I used to be kind of a bah-hum-bug... not this year! I could not be more excited. I have one more image that is an absolute favorite... but Im going to make you wait!

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge... Autumn Beauty

I have been so busy over the past few months I haven't had a chance to enter in any of these challenges, but... when I saw the title to this weeks challenge I had a certain picture pop right into my mind!

I think this was the very first "fall" shot that I took this year. It was absolutely beautiful out that day. I can't lie, it's kind of depressing to look outside now and see very little green left. It all happens so fast. Oh well, there is always SPRING! LOL Can you tell im not a big "winter" fan?



Be sure and stop over at: www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com to see all the other great entries and give it a try yourself!

Elijah - ONE YEAR ALREADY!!!

Eli and his beautiful momma.
Baby model? Yep I think so... he is SO photogenic.

Big sisters having a ball! They have such a fun friendship and definitely know how to have a good time!

Don't ask me where I keep getting all of these beautiful babies! Im pretty sure this little guy could be a baby model! He was just as sweet as he looks. I know I say this with every session, but I really think I LOVE photographing 1 year olds. They laugh at my noises, are so easy to entertain, and generally don't run from me! This picture (below), he posed himself up there and it was PERFECT! Does he not just LOOK like a football player? He has NFL written all over him!
Thank you Elijah and family for a WONDERFUL session, I had such a good time!!! Who knew a session with 4 kids could be such a success?!

Olivia... ONE year already :-(

3 months

6 months (above)

9 months (below)
And here she is for her FIRST birthday!!!!! Happy first birthday Olivia!!!! Her first graduation with public announcement! Olivia has officially graduated from the Bebe' Collection here at Touch of Love Photography.

Seems virtually impossible that a year has already passed since I started photographing this little sweetie. It truly brings tears to my eyes to go back and look through her first year of photos. It's wonderful because she's such a thriving, sweet, fun loving little girl, but at the same time its sad because its gone just like that!

Ashley, Olivia's mommy was like clockwork everytime it came time for Olivia's session and I am so proud of each of these sessions. Olivia will always be near and dear to my heart. This has been an amazing journey to watch her grow. Thank you all for the opportunity to capture your beautiful girl and also thank you for your diligence with the Collection program! Love to you all!

Jason & Kristen... Engaged!!!

One of my favorite things about this couple is probably something anyone who knows them would most likely agree with. When Jason and Kristen are together, they are smiling! They have personalities that are a great compliment to each other. I had not met Jason until this session, and I always try to go easy on the guys because the majority of them are doing the session for someone else, not because they WANT to! Typically the guys take a little more directing to get certain "poses/looks"... but Jason... he was a total natural in front of the camera. Their wedding is going to be SO.MUCH.FUN.

When you watch Jason and Kristen you notice the smiles that I already mentioned, but you also can see how comfortable they are with each other. They both seem pretty easy going and their love for each other is very obvious, they pick on each other and definitely know how to have fun together!

Thank you Jason and Kristen!!! Looking forward to May!

They came back!

Kaitlyn (above) has grown into such a sweet gentle little girl. She seems so easy going to me, she was pretty shy and unsure about me 2 years ago when I did their session and this time, she has completely come into her own. She is just beautiful.

Ethan (below) is a total natural in front of the camera... and look at those reflective big brown eyes... SO handsome!
You know you are parents when....
And Timothy is not a baby anymore :-( Bittersweet, but one thing his is... He IS TWO!!! and if you have ever had a 2 year old boy you know exactly what I mean! Look at how gorgeous his eyes are.


I really HATE to go back on my blog and look at old sessions because I am hard on myself and I look photos and go, "ugh Kari, why did you do this or that?" However.... feel free to head to this post back in 2007 to see how much these kiddos have grown and changed".

It has been 2 years since I have seen this family. So I was so excited to get the chance to do family pictures for them again. They are so much fun to be around! I met up with them at their home and we ventured back to a pond that they have behind their house where they spend a lot of time and even have names for the fish in the pond ;-) "One eye" is a huge bass with... well one eye!

Rosa, Tim, and kiddos. It was so wonderful to see you and catch up. I could not be more honored to be able to watch your family grow up. You two are wonderful parents and are doing a beautiful job with your kids, I admire your patience and heart for them!

Santa Days - Holiday Season 2009

I think I have kept you all in suspense long enough!!! So it's time to break the news for our Holiday 2009 event. We really want to see this become a yearly event where we can provide some great family fun photo sessions and also give back to our communities at the same time. I have some incredible people behind this event who are helping Holly and I get everything planned, styled, created and constructed. So with that... id like to send out a huge THANK YOU to: Jess over at Image That Graphic Design and Kylee (Details... Details Wedding and Event Planning) who is our set designer and visionary to help make our visions and ideas a reality.

AHHH... I can't believe I'm among the businesses launching Christmas didn't we just have July 4th? I have always been a tad like Scrooge at Christmas time beacuse when I was a kid I had to go about 30 places to celebrate with all of my families. (LOVE them all, but it's part of coming from a divorced family and it got old being shuttled so many places during the Holidays) . NO Scrooge this year and it feels GREAT! I am REALLY looking forward to everything family and business this season!

Without further ado!!! (click to enlarge)

My goal in getting this information out there as you consider doing a Santa Days session is this: This is NOT your typical Mall Santa deal. We have some great tricks up our sleeves that we are planning and as the advertisement (above) mentions, we are GUARANTEEING a photo with Santa. If you love photography as we do around here, let me paint a picture for you. Imagine your child(ren) at the studio on the set (designed by Kylee *AMAZING*) and we are interacting getting some great Christmas shots of your child(ren). Through a back door (that will be hidden) we have Santa who is going to quietly sneak in and stand behind your child. At this point, the kids have no clue he is there... Santa will bring his pointer finger up to his mouth in the "shhhhh" motion and we will snap!!! There is your guaranteed photo! So those of you with children like my son who want NOTHING to do with the man in the red suit at the mall... this is the perfect opportunity! And for those of you with kids who absolutely love Santa... PERFECT. Santa will spend some time with each child (that wants to) just chatting and interacting for the remainder of the session while we finish up with some great shots.

A few points of interest:

• We would love to see some of you bring your children in those adorable Christmas pajamas for their session. Kids can wear whatever you want them to of course, but we thought having some of them in those PJ's would be fun.
  
• We are going to be offering Milk and cookies to the kids during their session as a way to just reassure them this is FUN and not a stuffy sit on a table kind of photo session.
• We are offering some great and affordable portrait packages. These will make WONDERFUL Christmas gifts for those tough to buy for family members that adore your kids.
• If you have worked with me in the past you know that I try to keep photo sessions fun... it's super anxiety provoking for me to bring my child (who is a HANDFUL and a half) to a studio and expect him to smile and pose for complete strangers. My intention in this senerio will be similar... just tell your kids we are going to go "play" and have a snack. Thats the goal here FUN!!!
• Sessions will be held at Holly Frey's studio in Grass Lake. It's really an easy quick drive if you are from the Brooklyn or Jackson Area. The address is listed on the flyer.
• The Christmas Card templates that I launched last week (in this post)... will be on display at the studio during your appointment. If you want to use one of our cards, you can use your photo from that day to include in your card!
• Holly and I both love our communities (Brooklyn and Grass Lake). We know that with the economy the way that it is, there are many people who are in need of food assistance. I know the grocery bill from my family can put a huge but necessary dent in our wallets. Let's be honest... it's a bill I HATE to fork out money for... i know necessary, but who likes spending money at the grocery store? Let's help those struggling and help to lift some of this burden for the holiday season. If you bring and donate a canned good/non-perishable item to your session, we will donate that to our local food pantries in "our Santa Days clients" honor and in return add a free 5x7 to your package.
  

I will be emailing this flyer to all of my clients as well as the pricing information. If you are not on our mailing list, please send me an email @: karicarpenter2002@yahoo.com As always, if you have any questions please just shoot me an email or call me anytime. My contact information is always listed on sidebar to the right.

Lastly, because I know I have the world's most amazing clients who I know some of you are already excited for this event... I want to tell you thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love every minute of this work and it wouldn't be possible or fun without any of you. This has been an amazing and healing year for me personally and I owe so so much of that to each of you. Again, THANK YOU.

He's here!!!!

I knew they would be great parents. They are better than great... they are amazing with him. I knew when I did their maternity session that they had a love between them that would only grow exponentially... I never get used to that new love that first time parents have for their newborns. It's that overwhelming, adoring and one of a kind feeling. I am so lucky to be able to witness them bonding with this sweet, cuddly, calm, and absolutely precious little guy.

Connor surprised his mommy by coming a few weeks early, but it's obvious that they couldn't be happier to have him in their arms. Carl and Jennifer probably don't know it, but they are certainly an exception to the norm. So many of us who have our first baby are so nervous and unsure if we are doing everything correct. Im sure both of them have moments where they feel that way, however... I have to mention how easy going they are with Connor... it's like Connor has always been with them and everything is just so easy and natural. It's really quite beautiful to watch as an outsider. Because they are so easy going and natural with him, his personality is a mirror of them. Connor is so easy going. He let me mess with him for about TWO hours and he just rolled with it. He NEVER once fussed or complained... even when he got hungry, he just tried to suck his daddy's hand!

Carl and Jen, thank you for sharing your little guy with me. I feel so privileged to have been able to watch you and capture you through this journey. You two are amazing with your new little guy and he is so so lucky to have such wonderful parents who not only care so much for him, but also for each other. I wish you all the best! Love Kari :-)