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. :)