Category Archives: My life.

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Perspective

Dear blog readers,
I don’t often post here since Anna is the much better writer of the two of us, but on this I thought I would chime in.  As the designer and administrator annamayer.com, part of my job is to make sure that the design, content, and features of the website are current, relevant, intuitive, and functional.  Blog readers catch a glimpse of Anna’s life through her beautiful photos and colorful writing style, but as I have perused the content, I have found some content lacking–my perspective.  Some of you give her props in your comments to various posts, and there is some in long-form on the testimonial page, but I wanted to do something a little different.  She writes, shoots, and edits just about everything you see here, but what you do not see, I see.

I see a late night editor who chose to take her Lydie-bug and cousin Natalie to the beach during the day.
I see a story teller telling stories of when she was little to a boy who hangs on every word.
I see a compassion-filled teen mom who took the road less travelled . . . and wants to mentor those who come behind.
I see a communicator asking deep questions of her teen-age son.
I see a painter who had traded her watercolor and canvas for latex and the walls in her girls’ bedroom.
I see a reader who still reads to her nine year old . . . nightly.
I see a relentless innovator who is constantly persuing new ways to capture children.
I see a master scheduler who always figures out a way to get it done.
I see a visionary making plans in our new home.
I see a giver of time that she doesn’t really have.
I see a peacemaker.
I see a successful entrepreneur . . . three times over.
I see a business partner and teammate.
I see a friend and lover.
I see a mother of my kids.
I see a soul-mate.
I see my wife.

-Brian

Milwaukee Welcomes Images by Anna

After starting in San Jose and expanding to Minnesota, we have now officially launched our third market in the Milwaukee area!  We want to start things off by giving a big THANK YOU to Amber the store manager at the Starbucks on Silver Spring in Whitefish Bay for giving us wall space for our first local gallery.  During his research trips, this coffeeshop was Brian’s office, so he got to know some of the staff.  One day as he was chatting with the manager, he showed her this website, some of the photos, and a photo of one of our installed galleries, and just asked if she would ever want something like that hung up in her store;  she said, “Sure, I love to!”  It didn’t happen quite as fast as we had hoped, but now 4 months later, it’s up!  Here’s a not-so-good photo that Brian took of it with his little point & shoot.

We’ve had a lot of fun meeting people here in Glendale and Whitefish Bay, so to kick things off we are offering this extra special deal!  The first three clients to book a custom session will get it for only $100.  That is up to a $275 savings!  Email us from the contact page, or give Brian a call at 414-434-1940 to book your session today!

My life. Home videos.

This weekend was an exercise in Mayer-style insanity. Brian and I seem to seek it out, then look around wondering “How did we get HERE?”. Today was just such a day. Through some circumstances outside our control and some of our own crazy choices we ended up: having our big moving sale, setting up and overseeing a booth at a street fair, covering an event as the photographer and at the end of the day saying a foolish “yes” to our 9 year old’s request for a double sleepover. We made our way through this crazy day with only one fight, one booth missing its “walls”, some sort of scary black god-knows-what all over the kitchen AND bathroom sinks (leaving kids in the house largely unattended is DANGEROUS), one iced chai lost on the parking lot and on my pants and at the end of the day a sweet kiss of reunion and “high-five” for surviving.

After a nice shower to wash off the dirt, grim and HEAT we settled down with our kids (plus some spares) to watch some old home movies we had actually never seen. Brian found them while we were sorting through our “life” to prepare for our move. Despite a few groans from the peanut gallery that we weren’t watching the latest blockbuster, even Isaiah’s 10 year old buddies enjoyed themselves. We saw Brian and I as young, sexy newlyweds on our honeymoon in Mexico. We saw a 5 year old Ty and Brian together for their first father’s day as father and son. And as I watched the video of my children, now 15, 9 and 8, romp around together on our bed at 7, 2 and 6 months, my heart caught in my throat; we have lived a lot of life, a lot of wonderful life. But I wasn’t prepared for how I would feel when I looked over at Brian and saw him looking at me, this tender, loved-filled look on his face that said, “That’s US, Anna. That’s our LIFE together.”

Later, when he gathered me in a sweet, loving embrace, I teased him that he was fired up after seeing the 22 year old “me” on the video. He looked at me, totally serious, and said, “No, that’s not it at ALL. I just loved seeing US. You, me, OUR children. That was our life, is our life. I love you.”  Sigh . . .  my day might have been hot, sweaty and insane, but if it ends like that, it was a good one indeed.

Love you, too, my dear husband; life is good.

life. captured. Calling all cuties in Goggles!!

No, not the behemoth search engine; GOGGLES! Those adorable things that squish ears and make little eyes all wonky. I am working on a personal project; kids in goggles. I hope to create a book, a web-gallery, maybe an art gallery and perhaps even get it published!! Now I just need some little faces and fun goggles.

Read below to find out how you can have your child photographed by Anna for FREE!

goggle project

How will work:

-You find a cute kid (well, you should already own said child, for legal reasons)

-You find some fun or unique goggles (the kind for swimming, snorkeling or flying B-52 bombers)

-You snap a photo of your child in these goggles (this can be a camera phone, a crappy point and shoot, whatever!)

-You use the contact form to apply to be included in the project.

-You also email a jpg of your child’s goggle shot to images@annamayer.com

-We decide your kid and your goggles are what we need for the project (no one will be turned away for being funny-lookin’, only if we’ve already captured the same age/sex and/or goggles).

-We set aside a time and place to meet to shoot a few images (This will take about 15 minutes).

-You sign a model release, allowing Anna to use the image for the project, for sale, etc. (kinda’ the whole point)

-We send you a link to see a handful of my favorites.

-You tell us which one you love. (well, love the MOST. You WILL love them all)

-We send you a full resolution file of that image (with our logo in the bottom corner)*

-We post some very silly shots of kids in goggles for all to enjoy!

*you are welcome to purchase more prints/images if you choose.

Joy. Found. My baby girl in San Jose, CA

My newest work camera, the Canon 5D Mark II has this fabulous HD video feature. Brian and I had fun testing it out on Lydia for her third birthday. Isn’t she sweet?? To see the video in higher definition, click here: Lydia Grace Turns 3 from Brian Mayer on Vimeo.

Some great new blogging goodies for everyone.

I am SOOO excited to announce our new blog categories and some of the fun things we are adding to this resource. I hope that you will all just love what we have planned. So sign up to receive updates and make sure you check back so you don’t miss a thing!  Check it out:

About photography-

Life. Captured. Here you will find the same great image-sharing that we’ve been doing all along. Look for session highlights and even some full galleries to enjoy.

Images. Perfected. Whether you are a parent with a point-and-shoot or a aspiring professional photographer, in these posts I will share some simple tricks and some of my own “secrets” to capturing the moments of life beautifully.

About great inspiration-

Ideas. Introduced. In these post I will highlight some great ideas I have found, from a cool way to display your child’s artwork, to a great place to have your photo session.

Sweetness. Scouted. We are all always on the lookout for a great pizza place, a fun new boutique or a great on-line shopping hot spot. Here I will highlight some of my great finds locally as well as on the web.

About life-

Chaos. Tamed. Here is my little “How I do it” share. I don’t have it all together, no way! But I have found some unique and some pretty simple ways to corral my busy household and I would love to share them with you.

Joy. Found. Funny, sad, heartwarming and crazy tales about my life as a mother of four, a wife of one and a crazy small business owner. I promise to give you a laugh, a cry or little better perspective on your own life!

About other great people-

Love. Shared. I love my job for one reason; its all about family. Here I will share with you some of my thoughts on my wonderful clients and their lovely families.

Giggles. Heard. Here you will find a great little interview, giving me clients a platform to share the love they have for their own families. How sweet!