If you haven’t heard of the Silicon Valley Moms Blog you’ve been missing out! A couple of years ago I was a contributor to this great mommy resource and I still stop in to read the thoughts of some great mothers in Silicon Valley. This month I had the pleasure of working with a group of the writers and their families to give them a glimpse of the joy I capture for so many families in the Bay Area. Here are some of the happy images from their sessions! How cool are these?
One of my favorite places in our house is this certain corner of my couch. I don’t sit there to watch TV or to enjoy a fire in the fireplace. In fact, you can’t even see those things from there. I sit there and gaze at the wall where a large gallery of photos looks back at me; photos of my children, my family, our life. Some of them are happy, some are serious, some are just plain silly. All of them are a beautiful tribute to our life together and the four little lives I am watching unfold before me. Sometimes when I am enjoying the view I smile to myself. I smile because I know that I have had a hand in creating hundreds of beautiful memories just like this for countless families in Silicon Valley and beyond.
I so love my job! I truly believe that what I do is important. I don’t just record an image that shows what a child looks like at two or five or nine. Instead, I seek to record his spirit, her energy, and the love they share with siblings and parents. Capturing that spirit is at the heart of every encounter I have. Ooooh, I get goose-bumps just thinking about it. What a privilege it is to be a special part of the lives of so many families!
If you want to see a whole lotta’ cool galleries that my clients have shared, visit the Images by Anna Facebook page.
Like most of you, we are looking forward to what a wonderful 2010 has to offer. Speaking of offers . . . we’d like to make you one!
Since we know that all of you made a New Year’s resolution to get your friends to use Images by Anna, we wanted to make it a little, well, a LOT, more rewarding. I know, seeing your friends’ kids being captured by Anna is reward enough for most, but we’re going to kick in a little extra anyway!
For each referral that books a custom session you are going to get a BIGGER than usual return.
Your friend books a session for a date:
-Between February 5-7 receive a $150 referral credit & your friend will receive a $150 discount! Crazy, right?
-Between March 24-28 $100 each,
-Between April 20-24 $75 each
-Between June 3-6 $50 each.
And it just got even sweeter:
If you book YOUR session in the same month as your friend, you both receive a set of 25 adorable note cards featuring your favorite image!
Note: In order to earn your referral credit your friend MUST give us your name at the time of booking. The only restriction on the bonus referral credit is that you will need to use it in 2010.
Contact Brian or call 408.221.4570 to get booked!
A Special offering in partnership with Willow Glen’s adorable Baby Buzz. click here to snap one up!
Oak Meadow Park: February 6: 4:30, 4:50, 5:10 (Half Off, only $100!)
Molly’s Porch: March 26: 8:20, 8:40, 9:00 am
Capitola Beach: April 24: 6:30, 6:50, 7:10, 7:30 pm
Crissy Field: June 5: 7:00, 7:20, 7:40, 8:00 pm
If you have done Short & Sweet Sessions in that past, and plan on booking one in the near future, be sure to visit the Short & Sweet page of annamayer.com to review some of the changes to the program.
I’m sure many of you received one of the latest and greatest cameras this year, and now you’re thinking . . . cool! Now . . . how do I use this thing? Digital cameras are getting easier to use all the time, but here a few tips to get the most out of your camera.
My life: Have you ever heard the phrase “If you want something done, ask a busy woman to do it.”? Well, it is true . . . usually. I have a gift, though, of asking myself to do things, crazy things, when I am the most busy. Things like posting every day for a month in the middle of my busiest time of year!! Hello . . . So I have gotten just a bit behind and now I must pick up the ball. I am going to modify my commitment just a bit. I will do my best to post every OTHER day, for the rest of the year. I think I can do that . . . we shall see.
Your images: Up there in my favorite client hall of fame . . . This family is so much fun! Every session with them ends with a gallery of life-infused images that just shout out to you from the walls. Next time I am in San Jose (that’s next week already!!) I need to get over to their house and take a photo of their amazing wall display for you. They have two years worth of fantastic sessions gracing an entire wall in their home. It is spectacular!!
My life: Well, ’tis the season of chaos and late-nights. As a portrait photographer, I find myself doing about 50% of my year’s work in just two and a half months. It can be exhausting!! But somehow we always come through for our clients and we always get it all done, with time to spare. I may have a sore tush and a hand that is begging for me to step away from the mouse, but it will all be done, none-the-less!!
Your images: This lovely little family belongs to my wonderful assistant, Rachel. This was a sort of “farewell” session for her, as she has moved on to other pursuits and is heading back to school. I miss the companionship of working with her but enjoy our coffee dates when I come to San Jose for shoots. Now, if I could just get her to visit Milwuakee in January, that would be fun!!
I’ve made it THREE days now. Can you belive it?! Today was more of a family day and I almost didn’t remember . . . It was COLD here in Milwaukee today. The actual temp was 43 degrees but it was windy and the “feels like” temp was 33. It WAS very cold. My kiddos had fun anyway. We carved pumpkins at lunchtime and then dressed up and headed out for an afternoon of Trick-or-Treating. Apparently there was once an abduction or something on Halloween night in Milwaukee, so they moved Trick-or-Treating up into daylight.
Here are my three youngest, all dressed up. (the Teenager volunteered again this year to hand out candy at home.) 
Lydia was the most adorable Sock Monkey I have ever seen. Poor thing is still very sick (been sick since Monday, I think the Piggy Flu) so she only made it to a few homes. Made me so sad, because she has been looking forward to trick-or-treating for weeks. These are from before we went out. I should have taken a picture a minute later, when she laid down in the leaves from exhaustion. 
MissAlayneous wanted to be a Gypsy and we struggled with finding a costume that was appropriate. Then, on Wednesday afternoon she and I raided my closet and viola!; a Gypsy. A pretty one, too. While Layna was parading about in this get-up, Lydia asked me “Mommy, did you not ‘buyed’ that costume? You made it?” I told her I did and she said, “You are GREEEAT, Mommy!” Sigh- I’ll take it!
Isaiah’s costume was a HUGE hit in the neighborhood. He was a Ace garbage can. LOL. He would waddle up to the porch and get all put away. Alayna would ring the doorbell and the people would come out and wonder what was going on. Until . . . Isaiah’s hand would pop out of the can! Several people thought we’d dragged a big garbage can with us to hold all the loot. Too funny.
Here is a little video of Isaiah’s costume in action. ha!
Um, Isaiah is ten. ‘Nuf said.
Hey, check it out; I’ve made it to day two! Don’t laugh, it would be easy to slip. Its not a habit yet! I have another habit I am trying to create; running. Not that I have TIME for running. I am honestly not sure when I am going to squeeze it in. But I know I need to do it and so I am going to find a way! My son, Isaiah, (10) is really into running. He ran cross-country this fall in middle school. He and I are thinking of signing up for a 5K on New Years Eve in Minnesota. We will be there for our first Christmas back in the Midwest anyway, so why not? I can’t think of a better running partner, can you? The bonus: my brother and sister both ran the Twin Cities Marathon this fall (way to go, guys!) and they are both thinking of running, too. It will be a family affair.
About today’s image; I just love shooting at the city beach in Capitola, California. Natural Bridges in Santa Cruz is also lovely, but I love the pier, the rocks and the lighting at this beach especially. This shot I just love and her parents must, too. They got a big canvas of it, which I just loved. Nice pick.
Okay, I just gotta’ say, I LOVE being a kid & family photographer. I love it! I won’t kid you when I say that there are times when I am tired, or overwhelmed, or that I don’t miss miss miss my family when I am in California shooting. But there are so many moments when my heart just swells with happiness; seeing my favorite clients year after year as they grow and change and come to be my friends, doing something new and fresh with an adventurous client and then opening the file when I get back in my office and my heart skipping a beat with the thrill of it, hearing my clients tell me just how precious their images are to them as the years go by, having a client who loves my work so much that she saves for several years so she can hire me AND have every image she loves on display in her home, and just knowing that what I do brings happiness into so many lives. Can you TELL, I love my job???
This shot is one of those that was born of a great idea, fun fun fun clients who let me “do my thing” and this image is one of those that gives my heart a flutter when I open it on my computer and see that my vision is a reality. Doncha’ just love it? Mind you, Dad and I just about tossed our cookies, ha ha! But it was worth it.
I had the pleasure of capturing my dear friends and their adorable boys on the beach in Duluth, Minnesota while I was on tour last month. Our shoot got off to a bit of a rocky start. My friend gave me directions to the beach that sounded a bit like this: you go down the road past the lift bridge, then, when you get to the community center (you know, the one that is currently under construction and has no signage) you turn on 23rd AVENUE (you know, the one that is actually named 25th STREET), turn left. You will see the beach access right there (you know, the 10 inch break in the foliage on the dunes that is completely obscured) and you will be there! It reminded me of old jokes about rural “directions” using burned down barns that “used” to be there and restaurants that “used” to be named such-and-such. LOL I thought I knew which beach she meant, so I got there early and parked my self in the sand with Lydia and Shannon (who as hanging in Duluth with me). Unfortunately, the number I had was her HOUSE phone…not that it mattered because she left her cell phone at home! I ended up driving up and down the “road past the lift bridge” half a dozen times before I found a local who could help me decipher the directions and point out that I was just two blocks away the whole time!
It all worked out in the end, because their photo shoot was awesome, the boys were adorable and fun and the light at the beach was sweeter than it would have been had we started on time. All in all, it was just funny, more than anything. And since I abandoned Shannon and Lydia on the beach (and Shannon’s cell died so she didn’t know what was happening) I had to take them out for ice cream at the Portland Malt Shop, which I didn’t mind doing at all!
Thanks for sharing your sweet family with me, my friend. Next time we come to Duluth we are going out for drinks and steaks and some real catching up!
