Working Hard

Ok, so you're wondering where I've been right? Well, I've been working hard! I just put the finishing touches on my brand new monthly e-newletter which will be going out in the next couple of days! Be sure and look for it in your email! I will be adding a link on my blog to sign up for it as well.

Also, I've been hard at work on my new website! It's so pretty! I can't wait to show you! But it's not quite finished yet. I'm still working on getting photos into the galleries and getting open client galleries transferred over. I hope to have it ready in the next week. To all my current clients, you're gonna love it! The new client galleries are awesome! Each gallery can be divided into mini galleries such as "Family" "Child #1" "Child #2" etc. You will have the ability to star your images as favorites and then view just your favorites if you like. But the best part is there will a shopping cart! Yep! You will be able to order your favorite images from right inside your gallery! The prices are all there for you and it will calculate as you add in your images. It will make ordering so much easier for you.

After I get the website done, I will be revamping all my forms and marketing materials as well. Everything will coordinate, which will be nice. It's been such a hodge podge while I try to find my style. But I think I've got it now! It will nice to have everything go together.

And lastly, I'm going to be working on some High School Senior Portrait marketing. I will be looking for some seniors or rising seniors for next year to do some modeling for me to build up my senior portfolio. These will be free sessions with a couple free prints as well. Models will have to have signed model releases from their parents (if they're under 18) so that I may use their images for advertising. I will have much more on this in a couple of weeks.

Also, I am going to be starting a Senior Portrait Scholarship Program. This program will be for seniors or rising seniors, who might not be able to afford the high cost of senior portrait photography. Once I get the Scholarship details worked out I will do a large post, email newsletter and place links on my both my blog and website for information.

So, although my camera has been gathering dust the last couple of weeks, I've been very busy!!! I'm really excited about what 2009 has in store for S Keys Photography!

Best wishes from my family to yours for a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Christmas At Our House

Just a little peek at some of our Christmas decorations ... We don't go "all out" here, but we do like lots of lights and totally enjoy decorating the tree! Speaking of trees ... we put up two this year. Two in the same place. While my youngest and I were outside putting up lights, someone, presumably my beloved kitty, Rocky, knocked our beautiful tree of 20 years over and effectively killed it. Bent the trunk beyond repair. AFTER it was already decorated, mind you! So my hubby and I had to go out and buy a new one and we had to decorate again. Our new tree is cute, if a tad short, and PRE-LIT! Love that! I gave in and let the masses go with colored lights. Although I may sneak a few white lights on next year. Colored lights just don't illuminate the way white lights do.

My kids are counting down the days till Christmas morning. I've been doing something fun for years. I assign each kid a reindeer name and that's what goes on their gifts. So they never know which gifts are theirs until Christmas Eve when they find a tag in their stocking with their assigned name for the year. Then it's lots of snooping to check out all the packages and see who got what! Fun! Fun!

Don't know about your kids, but my kids are up most of the night on Christmas Eve. We can hear them padding about (now mind you, I have 3 teenagers, so they're not too quiet). And now-adays coffee is already brewing for us by the time my hubby and I head downstairs. We always made the kids wait till after we got the coffee going - you know, just to prolong their agony just a little longer. hoho!

I hope that you are enjoying the holidays at your house as much as we are here!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Me Time

Friday I delivered the last order of 2008. It felt WONDERFUL! All done and time to relax. aaaahhhhhh..... I'm looking forward to it, I must confess.

I finally have some time to edit some of my own pictures taken over the last few months. Here's one of my kids and their grandparents ... my Dad and his beautiful bride of 20+ years! They are always so much fun to hang out with! For each "good" photo there are 5-6 bloopers to go with it!! LOL

Here they are sporting their Mobster Look! I think it suits them, don't you?? :)

Another Christmas with Elliott

15 years ago I decided that I just HAD to have a dog. My husband was a little reluctant. We lived in an apartment afterall, with two small children. But I insisted, whined and even pouted until he gave in. So off to the animal shelter we went! It was filled with adorable bouncing puppies, but we were drawn to the cage containing the small black 11 week old puppy cowering in the back. He so wanted to come up and see us, but was just scared of his own shadow. We learned that he, and his brother and sister, had been abandoned on a downtown Atlanta highway. The lady in charge took him out into an enclosed hallway so we could get a good look at him and we fell in love. We took him home and named him Elliott - after Bill Elliott, my husband's favorite Nascar driver.

He has been the most wonderful dog. Everyone he meets just falls in love with him. He's been a part of my kids live's for as long as they can remember and is even older than our youngest! And here he is, 15 years later still going strong. Yes, he's a little gray around the edges, ok more than just the edges! He's blind in one eye and can't hear worth a diddly-dipp. But he can still run and play with the best of them. We had a couple episodes with him a few months ago and thought that maybe his time had come. But, here is healthy and happy and ready for another Christmas! He loves Christmas and I'm sure Santa will bring him something he'll adore.

Hope you are all enjoying the Christmas season!

thirteen years ago ....

Thirteen years ago, we were blessed with a beautiful baby girl, who I'll call Miss "K". She was our third and last child. What a journey the last 13 years has been! Miss "K" is our creative, dramatic child. If you had a couple of days, I could tell you some stories! Her mind is in constant motion, always thinking, always creating. Sometimes it makes us laugh and sometimes we just want to pull our hair out! Living with Miss "K" is never dull. I can't imagine life without her! We love her to death!

Here's a photo I managed to get of her this afternoon. Check back tomorrow to see just what I had to go through to capture this one image!

As promised .... here are the outakes from yesterday's attempt to get a nice shot of Miss "K" on her 13th birthday.



Yep, this is the little girl I know and love! This is the same little girl who blew up the latex gloves I use for painting, and attached them to the stair rails to mimic the Olympic Flame on TV. This is the same little girl who painted the inside of the laundry closet with white out "so it would be pretty!" The same little girl who makes handmade gifts and cards for every member of the family for every holiday and sometimes just when you're feeling sick or blue. She's a sweetie. No denying it.
But taking her pic might just be the death of me!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY K.K.!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Mine {I Heart Them}

Still Alive! Promise!!!

Well, so much for me keeping up with my blogging. I had one good week though, didn't I? LOL Been crazy busy editing and ordering so everyone will have all their beautiful pictures back in time for Christmas! Almost done!

I must confess, I'm looking forward to a little r&r time. Seems like forever since I've had a weekend, or even a day off. But I have enjoyed every bit of my first crazy holiday photo season! What an experience it has been! I've learned so much and expect that next year will flow a little bit better.

I haven't even edited my own family's photo session yet. Just one or two here and there. Here's one of my girls .... in one of their sweeter moments. haha!

A Little Kookiness

My Dad and his Beloved were visiting a few weeks ago and, of course, we had to take a few pics before they got away. It's been a few years since we've taken a picture of all of us together. Here is an example of the nuttiness that ensued. It's difficult enough to get my kids to behave, but throw my Dad in the mix and .... well, you get the picture. :)

A Different View

Sometimes it's fun to try a little something different ...

I See The Light!!!

I'm getting excited!!! I am finally starting to see the light at the end of my tunnel! My goal was to get the rest of my sessions edited by the end of tomorrow and I think I'm going to make it! Just a few more edits to do. I'll be able to enjoy my turkey day with my family guilt free.

Hot Diggity!!! :)

Here's a couple more of this cutie I did a couple of weeks ago. I just love the chubby cheeks and great big eyes on babies. So sweet. I can't wait to have grandkids of my own someday.

Kids at Play

You know sometimes it's hard to get little kids to sit down for a photo. And sometimes you don't get a genuine expression. But, put a kid in their natural element and they just light up like a Christmas tree!!! I got these shots of Mr. "L" after we were all done with our photo session. He took me out back to show me his awesome new swingset. Just look at these adorable smiles!

Do We Have a Baby Yet???

Thinking of you "s" ...

The Hat

Little boy, big hat. Love it!

Just Plain Fun!

I know I've been neglecting this blog lately. I've just been so busy with editing and ordering. I'm going to try and post at least a couple from recent sessions every couple days.

Here's some fun ones from my recent session with the "K" family!

This little ladybug landed between Mrs. "K"s eyes right in the middle of our shot! I was laughing so hard I almost missed it! Mrs. "K" played right along like a good model! Thank goodness is was a lady bug and not some other undesirable bug!!! LOL

Updates Coming

I have taken so many photos of beautiful children & families the last couple of months. I just want to share them all, but I am so busy right now, I barely have time to post sneak peeks.

But rest assured, for those of you who signed model releases, your fabulous photos will be on display soon! In December, after I have wrapped up everybody's orders, I will be updating my website. So be sure and check in to see all the additions! The address is http://www.skeysphotography.com/

And because no post should go without a photo, here's one of my three. :)

What a Beautiful Baby

This little cutie is Miss "C". She's the adorable baby sister to Mr. "L" (yesterday's post). These two are about as photogenic as they come. Love their enormous blue eyes! You may remember Mr. "L" from about this time last year. He sure is growing up! Last year he just wanted to sit on the John Deere tractor. This year he didn't want to sit at all! lol








Check out Mom & Dad! These two are why these kids are so cute! Talk about photogenic!



We actually managed to get one really quick shot with Mr. "L" sitting somewhat close to the rest of the family! You gotta love two year olds. They are all about doing their own thing!

I can't wait to get to the rest of your pics! There's so many great ones!

A New Favorite!!!

This is for you two ladies - yeah, you know who you are!!! :)



I absolutely adore this photo! I knew as soon as I snapped the shutter, that this one was a keeper. And if you only knew how "un-into having his picture taken" he was feeling .... I was thrilled to get such a cute shot!

I'll have a few more tomorrow ....

Cute As A Button

This is 9 mos old Little Miss "A". Isn't she a cutie?? She was so sweet - although we adults were acting like total loons in order to get some smiles out of her! Sometimes I wish I could photograph what goes on behind me - better yet - video tape it!!





Here she is with her Daddy. Are they not the spitting image of eachother??

Enjoyed our session last night you guys!!! Can't wait to edit the rest of the pics!

Due in Two

Can you believe that Miss "S" is due in just a couple of weeks??? She's got the tiniest little belly! She's been waiting to "get bigger" before getting her photos done. But we had to hurry because her little bundle may come at any time now! I just love how these came out. She looks just beautiful!

Good luck "S"! We'll be thinking of you! Can't wait to see your precious little one!

A Fun Time!

Positively LOVE this family!!! I met the mom several months ago, the dad recently and the kids yesterday and yet I feel like I've known them all forever! They are just the kind of people who make you feel so welcome in their home. And photogenic - just look at them!





The kids were great! They were so funny with their posing. I was just cracking up! I have tons of great and funny shots of them. Here's two just to get started.





You know I've been collecting hats for several months now. I'm addicted actually... These guys were all for the hat shot. LOVE IT!! It's so them!

Can't wait to get the rest edited! There are so many good ones it will be hard for me to choose a favorite.

Thanks "K" Family! We had a blast with you last night!

November's Inspiration

This lovely lady is going to be my inspiration from now thru December.

It was just over a year ago that I started S Keys Photography. Never having run my own business before, I'm learning through trial and error and reading about how other's have done it. For most of the year, the business has experienced a slow and steady growth. But then October came - and - BAM! I got super busy!! Hurray! I love it! I do have to admit, however, it can be a little overwhelming at times. The holiday season is a busy, busy time in the photography industry. Probably the busiest of the year.

I want to thank each and every one of you who has allowed me to capture some photographic memories for you. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during the times that I fall a little behind schedule. Although I sometimes find myself a little stressed out, I wouldn't change what I do for anything in the world! I'm so very blessed to be doing what I love and for getting to meet so many wonderful people ... my heart is full.

Now, having said all that .... the lovely lady you see above will be living on my desk to remind me that wallowing in self-pity is not allowed! I think I should blow her up poster size and hang her on my wall! That way she could really stare me down!
Ok....back to work now ...

The Blur (hah!)

I read a quote this morning that so applies to the adorable Miss "R". It reads:

"The elastic heart of youth cannot be compressed into one constrained shape long at a time." ~ Mark Twain

If this quote doesn't apply to this little tot, than I don't know what does!




This little girl holds a special place in my heart. She was my first official client when I started my little photography business just over a year ago. And boy did she give me a workout back then!!! Two at the time, I had never photographed such an energetic child!




Well let me just say, that a year hasn't changed anything! She's even MORE energetic now! And she talks. It was all we could do to keep up with her today. She's constant motion. She could care less about looking at the camera and getting her picture taken. She just wants to run and explore, and run some more!




I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown as she ran along the edge of the water and the little paths that dropped off on the sides .... I felt like such a worry-wort! But her Mommy is amazing. She takes it all in stride and keeps up with Miss "R" stride for stride AND she's pregnant with baby number 2!!! I will say that I was pretty proud of myself for keeping up with Miss "R" as well today. It's no small feat. (Course, I came home and took an hour nap afterward, but we won't tell anyone that).




I hope that Miss "R"s Mommy and Daddy like profiles, cause we got alot of those today. She just wasn't interested in looking at me at all. Shoot ... I was happy just to get some shots that were in focus!! It was like trying to photograph a speeding car!!!

I would have given my left arm (not my right one, cause I need it) if she would have looked at me for this photo. Just a quick glance would have been perfect... But I love it anyway. She has the most gorgeous red curls. They just glow in the light.

H A P P Y H A L L O W E E N !!!

Every year my youngest enjoys carving a couple of pumpkins for our front porch. Let me tell you she does a fabulous job! Just look at these! AND she does them all by herself - start to finish. Impressive! My favorite is the witchy one - such intricate carving - too bad it's all shriveled up already :( They sure don't last long after you carve them.

The artist with her creations. Awesome job K.K.! Love ya, Mom

I LUV TEENAGERS!

They stay where you put them. They smile and look like they mean it (cept my own - lol). They're willing to try anything. They brave the wind and cold without whining. They're just fun to be around. These 4 were no exception.

Adore this image! I've known Miss E since she was in 2nd grade. Now look at her, practically all grown up. And as sweet as they come. It's no wonder she has such a sweet young man to dote on her.





Love this picture too! ...even though the sun was shining so brightly and we couldn't get over to the other side to block the sun's rays due to ravines, and boulders and raging water (well maybe that's just a teensy bit of an exaggeration), but really we couldn't get over to block the light. But I LOVE it anyway ... the football player and the cheerleader. It's just so classic and sweet. Therefore, despite the glare, it's a keeper. :)