I got tagged!
I've never been tagged before! Noel, http://noelwarburton.blogspot.com/ just tagged me for 6 things that make you happy, so I guess I'm supposed to list 6 things that make me happy. Makes sense, right? Ok, so here goes. These are just right off the top of my head and are in no particular order so if they sound cheesy that's just me!

1. Anything my little girl does. (giggle, say a new word, jump, smile, the list goes on...)
2. Watching a newborn baby sleep and being lucky enough to document the moment.
3. Papa John's pizza - it's just so yummy!
4. Truly funny movies, the ones that make you bust a gut laughing so hard!
5. Playing board games with friends or family
6. The ocean. It's just so relaxing!

On a personal note, my sweet little Nina had her first official haircut yesterday! I am so proud of her! She did such a good job. I was expecting her to get upset with a stranger messing with her hair and throw a tantrum like the little boy was doing as we walked in the door, but no, not my Nina. She sat there so nicely and let the stylist give her a haircut. I was amazed, and I almost cried just seeing her looking so cute in that big salon chair. Here's a photo. Isn't she cute?

Ok, and another one:

Alright, well I'm done with my proofing for these little cuties, so I'll share a few of my favorites!

I was lucky enough to have the chance to photograph these adorable twins twice this last week, and they are just so precious! Their mother is the nicest lady you could ever meet. She's going to be such a great mother, and already is. I love photographing new babies. It's amazing how much love there is between a mother and child, and it's a really great thing to witness. That's yet another reason why I love my job! Here are a few portraits of them. I can't wait to go through the rest of the photos we captured that day. Just had to share a few as I'm working on them.

Good morning! I hope everyone is having a good day now that the weather is warming up, meaning it's not below zero anymore! Anyway, I'm working on a new baby plan, and would love your feedback. Basically, I am trying to come up with a more simplified plan for baby's first year, and a grow up plan for years following. Right now I have a $500 and $700 plan that includes quite a bit of stuff at a discount. You get an album and gift print from every session, and a composite and custom photo book at the end of the year. That's a lot of stuff and at a huge discount off the a la carte prices, but I made that available as an incentive to book the full year with me. However, some families just don't have an extra $500 or $700 to spend at once on top of the portrait order they're already placing, so I was thinking about doing a more simplified plan that would include 4 sessions and a storyboard of your 4 favorite images at the end of the year for $200. That would give you half off each session, and something for the wall showcasing baby's first year of portraits. Each additional session would be at $50 and may be included in the final storyboard. Please let me know if you like this idea. I appreciate your feedback!

Now, since I've been stingy with the photos lately, I'm going to give you some new photos to look at! These are some of my newest little subjects. I've been lucky enough to work with some great families lately. They are so friendly, and their children are just beautiful. See for yourself!

I've decided to make a late new year's resolution, and that is to keep my blog up to date all the time! I haven't been paying enough attention to my blog, and I know it's a great way to keep everyone up to date on new things going on on my end, such as new products, specials and anything else. So I promise to keep this resolution. If I am not paying enough attention to my blog, please call me on it and put me in my place! I can handle being pushed around a bit!

Ok, so I should post something interesting now! Here we go!

I have some new products, services, and promotions to introduce. Yay!
First of all, I just added Portrait Parties to my list of services. I'm really excited to get into these; they look like so much fun! Here's what it is: The host (you) would invite 5 or more of your friends and they would come over to your home, meet at the park, or wherever you choose and share a photo session. The host would get a free 8x10 for her efforts, and for every $100 the group spends on portraits, she also recieves a $25 credit toward any portrait purchase. If someone from the group books a full session of their own or another portrait party, the host also receives a $50 credit. So this is a great way to get free portraits, and to let your friends get a preview of what a session with me is like, without any commitment. The proofs will be available online for two weeks, in which time all orders must be placed. There is no pressure to order right away, since you do all your ordering in the comfort of your own home at your computer. How easy is that? Now here are some sample ideas of why you'd have a portrait party:

A teenager's birthday (Teens love to have their picture taken with their friends)
You have lots of friends with babies or children
Lady's night intimates (Get your girlfriends together and create a gift for your husband/boyfriend - nightgowns or lingerie, very tasteful, classy intimate photos)
Any time you want a mini portrait session of your child, but don't need a full session.

When NOT to have a portrait party and book your own session:
Your child is reaching a milestone (newborn, 6 months, 1 yr, or other birthday) - you'll want full attention on your child only at this time.
Senior portraits - same reason as above, though seniors are welcome to bring friends for a group photo.
Large family gatherings - when you want a large family photographed together and individual family portraits, this does not qualify for a portrait party and must be booked as a full session.


Ok, now that you know about portrait parties, here are a few more announcements:

Senior Reps!
Calling all high school seniors!!!
I am looking for 3 senior reps to start out the class of 2008 with custom on location senior portraits! You could get your senior portraits free! Here's what's involved:

The first three graduating seniors of 2008 to contact me and mention this offer will receive a complimentary FULL DAY session (must be completed by the end of May 2007 - see my website www.kariphotography.com for details on senior portraits) and 100 rep cards with their photos printed on them. Your job is to give these cards out to as many other 2008 graduates as possible and tell them how much fun you had at your session. For every person who books a senior session and uses your rep card, you will get a $50 credit toward your own senior portraits! So the more people you refer, the more free portraits you recieve! Your proof gallery will be online all summer long, instead of two weeks, so you can continue to order more free portraits as you get more referrals. You will be showcased on this blog with a few of the portraits from your session, and your photos will be added to an up and coming website that will be all about seniors!

Announcing the winners of my 1st annual photo contest!!!

I was suprised at how many entries I received! Thank you all for taking the time to look at my site and enter my photo contest. There were so many adorable kids, it was REALLY hard to choose the winners. Without the help of my judges, I never would have been able to choose, so thank you judges! Ok, so we have decided on six first prize winners. I had to split up the 1-3 age group into two, because it was impossible to choose with all those cuties, so there are now six categories instead of five. These first prize winners each received a gift certificate for a free session and a $100 credit toward their order. Congratulations! We also decided on a 2nd prize winner for each category, who will each receive a free session. Runners up are listed with the second prize winners below, because they were the ones we had narrowed it to in the end before choosing the winners, and I thought they should also be mentioned. Ok, here you have it!

Abigail Mary Block
1st prize for 0-12 month category

It was those big blue eyes and adorable smile that won over our judges!

Rilynn Reed

First prize for 1 yr category
That innocent face and great sense of style is what took Rilynn to the top!

Aurora Jacobson
1st prize for 2-3 yr olds
That little pout and beautiful hair made our judges melt!

Gavin Joseph Vetsch
1st prize for ages 4-7
Something about those eyes and that smile - he looks like a sweet kid!

Kaitlin Schiltz
1st prize winner for 8-12 year olds

The whole girl next door look got this cutie in the door!

Dillon Waldoch

1st prize for 13-17 year olds

Hardly even 13, this boy will soon be quite the heartbreaker!

And now announcing our second prize winners and runners up:

Blake Maher

Ethan Sutliff

Dominic Carlton

Amanda Peterson

Tyler Ketzmacher

Sam Ganyaw

Ashlyn Grace Vetsch

Andrew Lee

Ethan Behun

Sammi Rae Odegaard

Emma Lindsay

Sydney Holm

Emily Hannon

Kiera Newcombe

Jackson Navarro

Gabrielle Nelson

Connor Severson

Emmet Sutliff

Gabe and Blake

I just wanted to take a moment to share a very interesting article from MSN on what my type of business is all about! Please take a look: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15401287/

Let me know what you think!

Happy Holidays!

I can't believe it's already the middle of December! Crazy! I have been busy processing holiday card orders and prints, all that fun stuff! Anyway, I wanted to share my holiday card with you this year! If you look below, you'll see 3 images. The first is the front of the card, the second is when you open the first tab, and the 3rd is when it's open all the way. It's a 3 fold card. I was testing this type of card to see if I should offer it, and I just love it! It will soon be added to the Greeting Card/Announcements that I offer. Have a happy holiday!

Hi All! I just wanted to let you all in on a few things. First, if you look at my website under "rates", and scroll all the way to the bottom, you'll find my new baby milestones program! It's basically a great deal for those of you who want to document your baby's precious stages in a special way. There is also an option for a "mini session" which is basically a shorter session for a fun occasion where you don't need a full shoot, but want to capture something for a holiday card, a halloween costume, trip to the beach, whatever you want. This is available at a discounted rate, with the purchase of two full sessions in one year. Take a moment to check it out!

One other exciting thing I'm doing, is a photo contest. Submit a photo of your child that you have taken, age 0 - 17 years, and I will have a few friendly judges help me choose the favorites, one for each age category (0-12m, 1-3, 4-7, 8-12, 13-17). Photos are judged on the potential photogenic quality of the child, not your photography skills, so don't hold back because you're not a fabulous photographer. The winner from each category will recieve a free session and a $100 print credit. That's a $200 value! The photo you submitted will be posted here, and some of the photos from your session will be featured on my main site. To enter, send an email to KariLayland@gmail.com with a recent photo of your child, along with the child's age and the city where you are located. Must be 18 and older to enter, and live in the Twin Cities Metro area. Winners will be chosen on February 1st, 2007. Last entries must be recieved by January 20th, 2007. Good luck!