Senior of the Week--Neal Scaggs III

Sorry it's taken me so long to post. . . This week's senior is Neal Scaggs III from Logan High School. Although Neal wasn't looking forward to the long and extensive session, I think that, in the end, it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Anyway his portraits turned out awesome and Neal was so easy to work with. Also, I enjoyed catching up with his mom, Kristi who I have been friends with for years. Neal is planning to attend Marshall in the fall and is very excited about his position as a manager for the Marshall men's basketball team. Here are a few pages from Neal's senior album. Enjoy.







Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Band: Coldplay
Favorite Movie: Friday Night Lights
Favorite TV Show: Family Guy
Hobbies: golf, basketball, PlayStation, hanging out with friends
Lucky Number: 12
Favorite Website: espn.com
Pets: Sadie Grace--Bichon Frise
How would I describe myself: disciplined

New Camera Bag

I am so excited! While in Phoenix at Imaging USA, my photoDUDS booth was just a few doors down from the Jill-e designs booth. I have been admiring their stylish camera bags for a couple of years now but I finally made the step and ordered one. It's from their new line, jack. (It's probably no surprise to those who know me that I chose a bag for their new men's line.) I have always has a thing for messenger bags and the bag I ordered is based on this style and is even called the Messenger Camera Bag. Anyway, it's too cool and I can't wait to get my bag next month!!!

Professional Photographer Magazine

Wow! It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks. So many exciting things happening and my head is spinning. Last week I returned from Phoenix and Imaging USA, where I was so honored to receive three national awards, two for my photography and one for business. I think I was most excited to receive the AN-NE Award for a marketing campaign I created for my business. I have never been recognized for my business practices before and although I have managed my business for nearly 12 years now, I am continually working to improve my marketing and business practices. So, winning this award was really thrilling for me! Moreover, the award lead to a news feature in the January issue of Professional Photographer Magazine. Exciting!! Thank you PPA !!!

Senior of the Week--Abby Rhodes

I am so excited to post this week's senior Abby Rhodes from South Charleston High School. I met Abby many years ago when she and my daughter, Katherine became friends at Arts Camp. Abby is a beautiful, fun-loving, energetic and intelligent young woman and I am so glad to have had the pleasure of getting to know her. An interesting fact about Abby is that she and my daughter share the same birthday, September 18.





favorite colors: red, teal
favorite band: The Beatles
favorite movie: Donnie Darko
favorite tv show: House m.d.
hobbies: anything to do with the arts
lucky number: 8, 18
favorite website: foresterphoto.com =)
two words that describe me: wild, passionate

Happy Holidays!!!

Well, it's a little late . . . but here is our Christmas card. I have been so busy: first finishing everyone's portraits for Christmas and then editing images and proofing 16 hours a day. 5,000 images and 1,0000 previews later and . . . . I am now in the airport on my way to Las Vegas for the SPA (senior portrait artists) convention. Then, I am off to Phoenix and Imaging USA where I will be receiving the AN-NE award. Also, I will be exhibiting in the photoDUDS booth. I'm still kinda addled but hopefully will calm down in a bout an hour or so. . . I hope all of my necessities made it into my suitcase. . . if so it would be the first time EVER!! I'm out . . . the plane is here.

Christmas Special

It's that time of year again. . . . yep, time for our annual Christmas Special. We've been fully booked for the two day event for months. . . . and, we have gotten tons of calls about what the set will look like . . . so here it is. Also, here are some of the new cards we'll be offering this year. I want to thank Sophia Pearson for coming in early to be photographed, so I could create all the gallery samples and cards. She was so sweet and gave me a big hug and a kiss before leaving.

Fall In WV

Well, it's fall here in WV and it's been such a beautiful season!! The fall season is my favorite time of the year. I enjoy the crisp air, the varied colors of the leaves, and the smell in the air. . . . I wanted to share a few images from this season with you. Here are a couple of seniors and two photos from a recent family session. The seniors are Hannah Vinson from Logan High School and Molly Bradshaw from Scott High School. The family is the Hatfield family of Madison: Caroline, Matt and Hope.

Senior of the Week--Anna Butcher

This week's senior of the week in Anna Butcher and I think she has the most beautiful red hair I have ever seen!! I have always loved shooting red heads for some reason. (Maybe I wish I had red hair.) Anyway, we had such a blast and her photos are so awesome!!




School: Chapamanville Regional High School
Favorite Color(s): Turquoise and Purple
Favorite Band: Lifehouse
Favorite Movie: Georgia Rule
Favorite TV Show: Law and Order
Hobbies: Dancing, Running and Movies
Lucky Number: 5
Favorite Website: Myspace
Two Words the describe ME: Sweet and Sassy

Katherine

Yesterday my daughter, Katherine, had surgery to remove her wisdom teeth. So, I thought I'd cheer her up by posting one of her images that I had prepared. I hope you feel better soon!!

Last Wedding

Well, I recently shot my last wedding. . . . if you already didn't know, I am no longer shooting weddings. It had become too hard on my body and mind; plus, I have been traveling quite a bit speaking all over the country. So, something in my life had to give. I have to admit, I was a bit sad when working on the images from this last wedding. And, I have to say that it was a nice wedding to finish with. The couple was Amelia Jarrell and Eric Frye both of Madison and it was a pleasure sharing their day with them. Amelia was probably about 5 years old when I moved to Madison and I have photographed she and her sister numerous times throughout the years. Eric moved to Madison later in life, but even though I didn't watch him grow up we still had some commonalities which came up during their engagement session. Eric nearly attended my college alma mater, Centre College but instead opted for Washington Unviversity in St. Louis. So sure he would attend Centre, his mother even purchased a Centre Mom sweatshirt. I don't even think my own mother purchased a Centre Mom sweatshirt! Anyway, . . . . enough rambling . . . I thought I would share some images from this joyous day. (P.S. as you will notice some of these images are from their additional session at the Capital)

Early Christmas??

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted but I have been working day and night trying to get caught up at work. I've been up early and to bed late, working diligently on all of the in-house orders and proofs. So, if you're waiting for either be patient with me. I only put 100% into every person's images and that takes time.
Anyway, Diane has been working hard on our newest photoDUDS' releases (yes, 3 at once) of Holiday card templates. The templates are for bi-fold and tri-fold cards. We'll be offering all 27 of these designs as card options in the studio this season. I am so excited because they are too cute!! Here is a preview sample of a bi-fold 5x7 card which will be printed on your choice of card stock. Thanks to Bella Bowen for her images which are too cute for words. Enjoy!!

New Music

This post is totally unrelated to the studio but I couldn't help myself. Earlier this week Kings of Leon released their new album, Only By The Night. Anyway, as a long time fan of the band, we got it on the day it came out and I have worn it out. I love it!! Check it out! Favorite tracks: Closer, Sex on Fire and Be Somebody Also, here is a photo of brothers, Caleb and Nathan Followill that I took during their performance at Bonnaroo in 2007.

Senior of the Week--Jennifer Wimmer

Jennifer travelled all the way from Virginia to have her portraits taken at our studio. I had previously taken her sister Sarah's portraits several years ago when she graduated from high school. We had an awesome time and the pictures turned out great!!

Graham High School
Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Band/Artist: John Mayer
Favorite Movie: A Walk to Remember
Favorite TV Show: The Hills
Hobbies: Shopping and Spending time with friends
Lucky Number: 2
Favorite Website: Myspace
Pets: Dog-Chloe
Two Words to Describe You: Spontaneous and Random

AN-NE Award

I am so excited!!! I recently found out that I won an AN-NE award. The AN-NE Marketing Awards competition is held annually by the PPA, (Professional Photographers of America) and is the premier program for recognizing outstanding marketing efforts in professional photography.
I have been trying to win a category in this competition for years and I FINALLY achieved my goal. The award winning campaign was in the Multimedia category. It was for a senior marketing campaign I recently implemented using Animoto videos and iTunes podcasts. If you are interested in viewing some of these videos you can visit the iTunes store to check them out.