Mommy & Me {and our photographer}

Now that I have finally earned internet privileges from my service provider I can catch up on my blogging! I am sure you are all barely able to contain yourself with the joys of reading my life altering blog posts. I am actually beginning to enjoy blogging more and more every blog. Let me remind you once again that I am not a writer, I am a photographer. I am make mistakes and I always spell check but sometimes I miss things, if you are one of those types that a misplaced period or comma will keep you up at night, then you may want to stop reading now and just scroll down to the pretty pictures. I type like I think, fast and like one giant run on. So buckle up, here goes....

What we are embarking on is a mommy and me session. And to be completely honest, this session scared me a little. Yes, I have been doing this whole photography gig for 7 years, and yes I have shot plenty of session sof mom and child but when you change the name of it to Mommy and Me, to me, it takes on a whole new meaning. It is no longer a simple portrait session, it becomes a greater thing. My goal is to capture the same thing, but now it is called a Mommy and Me session. This is hard to explain. It has always been my goal when working in sessions of family members to capture not only the unique characteristics of that family but also the bonds of that family. It is not always an easy job either. And with this new found Mommy and Me pressure too, I am capturing the bond between mother and child. 

When I first started talking to Mandi about her session, I immediately loved her! We had alot in common and she had something about her that put you at ease, I know now that it stems from her bionic maternal instinct, but anyways, when you talk to her, ya just feel comfortable, one of those ladies you could tell anything too and she listen until the end types. I hate to admit that I didn't actually meet her face to face until the day of her session but that is sometimes how it goes when two people are busy and on different schedules. 

The day of her session was one of the nicest days weather wise we have had in ages. And you can see that in the images below, it was a gorgeous day. And a few other things you can see in these shots from Mandi's session, it is carried through in these photographs, the love that she has for her baby girl and the bond that the two of them share. It is a beautiful thing and I will say it is also something that you cannot Photoshop in and you cannot force or stage, it is natural thing that exists only between a mother and her child and it is beautiful. It is love. I am pretty sure I was scared of the Mommy and Me session because I was scared that I may not be able to capture that love and I was jumping out of my chair when I looked back at the images from this shoot for the very first time. Baby Kindyll, who I might add is a very strong and active lil baby....I held her for a nano-second before she tried to launch herself out of my arms, scaring the ba-jesus out of me, back to her mother...as I was saying, baby Kindyll has such a strong bond with her mother it was hard to get shots of her looking at the camera and not her mommy, still that is so sweet. And all in all it was a no need to worry or stress session just because it was a different named shoot. Turns out I love the Mommy and Me sessions, I think every mom should do one or two, one as your child is a baby and one as a toddler. As you look at the images below and think to yourself about the last time you had pictures done, let alone a specialty session like a Mommy and Me, consider booking one. If you are interested in a Mommy and Me session, email me {cynthia@unobstructedstudios.com} and lets talk about it, mention this blog post to receive $50 off a Mommy and Me session. But, I do suggest to not wait to long to book a date, we are booking into the fall already. 

Unmentionables

It's that time when we must talk about those unmentionable things that no one likes to talk about and remind everyone that Unobstructed Studios is a company and has policies. 

Session rates went up a few months ago and they will not be going up again until January if they go up at all. A half session is what most clients can get by with unless you need location and wardrobe changes. It's is $150 and requires a deposit. Every single session requires a deposit. A half session deposit is $75.  The minimum deposit amount if you receive a special or a discount the deposit is $50. 

If your total amount due is less than one hundred dollars the full amount is due as your deposit when you book. 

A full session is $225 and this requires a deposit of $100. 

I will not hold a spot for anyone, not even my own family, with out a deposit. 

If you are rescheduling your session with in 24 hours there is a $25 fee. Whether you reschedule, cancel or cancel until further notice. The fee is $25. 

If you are more than 30 minutes late upon arrival at your session it is a $20 fee. You will not receive your images until its paid. 

A full session covers 8 people after that additional people are $25 a person. 

A half session covers 6 people. 

I am not the enemy here at all. I am merely a small business owner that is tired of being taken advantage of and losing money that makes my company run. 

I have no problem offering specials from time to time and giveaways but some people do expect that I should be giving everything away. I hope you all can understand I have bills to pay and an operating cost to meet and in photography that is a high cost. Should anyone have questions about this here is my cell phone number, 904.200.0897. 

I do have deadlines and costs associated with those deadlines and when things are meet and everything is running smoothly I am able to being more savings to you all, the clients that keep me running. This is more than a job to me I am very invested in each and every one of my clients. I value each one of you personally. And I am extremely greatly for each and every one of you. 

You cannot measure the love of a parent

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I do believe this, I believe that this is also very applicable to family members as well. I have two siblings that live over 2000 miles away, hell, one lives in another country, So, when you finally do see that person the time you have with them is alot more valuable. You cherish those moments alot more. And that is one reason I am a photographer, I want to bring to people those magical moments when they have those reunions and see people in their lives that they previously have not seen for years. Those people that you have a relationship with but you only speak on the phone or through the internet somehow.

I am sure that many of my fans can recognize the man in these images, as I work with him alot, if you do not remember him, this is Scott, he plays the bass for the River City Kats, I do alot of work for them being I am their official photographer, and yes I am very proud of that. Anyways, most of you do not know that Scott has a daughter, Sarah, she lives in Idaho. And although she is just like her Dad, they had not seen each other in almost 20 years until last month. This reunion has been months in the works and Scott did what ever he had to do to make it happen. We all heard so many wonderful things about Sarah prior to meeting her. I can remember way back when I first met Scott in about 2007 or so and even then he had the most amazing things to say about his daughter. She truly is Her Dads child. When Sarah made it to Florida and we all finally got to meet her, it was amazing to meet someone that had so many similarities to their father whom they haven't seen in 20 years.

Sarah obviously inherited a music gene from her father because the girl can belt a note like no ones business. It is rare to meet a person like Sarah, that is so young but has such an old soul. She actually started playing some music that she liked for her dad and it turned out to be some of the songs on his bands set list. The irony is just amazing I could go on and on about the common things these two share. It was almost as if no time had past and these two had just seen each other the other day. And although it was a sad day to see Sarah go back to Idaho, I know we will be seeing her again soon, and I am totally down for taking a trip to Idaho to see my new friend, I hear it a beautiful state. These images of Scott and Sarah I took a few days after she got here, just because I wanted Scott to have these memories of her visit and their time together. And he just so happen to have a wonderful backyard for photos, and I am so thankful that no one mowed the grass because it was amazing. The overgrown grass and little weed flowers than popped up were beautiful, these are the location features that I search for and he had them right in his backyard.

Look y'all!!! It's my sister!! My sister and her boyfriend Will are making their first of many appearances on the blog today! After a few months of dating these two are gracing us with their pretty little faces! My sister has been wanting to do a session for awhile now, as it has been awhile since I twisted her arm into doing a shoot a few years ago, that session was just of her and a few of me and her for our mom. But, it was alot easier this time around, especially since she wanted to do it! Me and my mother teamed up on these two and for Christmas we got them a gift certificate for a full couples session, which by the way, in case  you didn't know is $225, split into two payments, if you need them to be, one deposit and one payment. And it also now includes two locations and two outfits and about 60 images. And, it now comes with amazing packaging when you receive your DVD. Anyways moving on, and back to their session!! It was a gift for Christmas, but we ended up shooting it in March because of the insane weather this year. So, we all road together and headed towards Boone Park in riverside  which if you know me, that's one of my favorite places to shoot, but I will not be shooting there anymore solely to add more variety to my images and not keep using the same places. 

So, we get to Boone Park and walk around and try and find some amazing light and it was one hell of a challenge, it was such a spotty light day, the sun was coming in and out and there wasn't alot of shade coverage anyways, so from the start the light was like the weather had been the previous 3 months. We took a few shots here, got some good ones and then I asked if they would mind leaving and finding somewhere else. From there we headed further into Riverside and landed at riverside park, this is right by 5 points, it is most well known for the duck pond in the middle of the park. One side of that park is all shade, that makes this photographer very happy! This park is always full of the most interesting people, including the homeless man that would not move his laying in the middle of the sidewalk self out of my way. He literally straight up ignored that I was even talking to him or that I existed when I politely asked him if he minded moving over slightly to the right some. But, its okay I had a great ole time photo-shopping him from all the images he photo bombed. Other than him and  a rouge duck that flew directly at into my face just about, the location was great and the pictures were great and you can really see the love between these two. And, yes I am partial 100% because it is my sister, and I am so happy for her and her boyfriend who is so sweet to her and treats her like she deserves to be treated. And he better or else he will have me to answer to!! And yes sir that is a threat! LOL. But in all seriousness, I am so happy that my sister has found her happiness and on top of all that they now have these wonderful images to go with it. And, they even got a great photo-book from this session too!! You can add one to your shoot as well!! 

I love the couples sessions like this one, where you can see that they are so in love and so happy. For one, when a man is willing to even do a couples session, that alone says something right there about how much he loves his girlfriend or wife or what have you. I know how much men hate having there picture taken, so that being said, when that is the case, during the shoot, sometimes I will tend to focus slightly more on the lady and it always always always makes for amazing images. 

 Another great reason to shoot in riverside, just jumping around topic-wise, is that there are so many different locations that are amazing and totally with in walking distance to each other. From Riverside Park I made these two little love birds walk across the street to an old church that had amazing brick walls. It added a great texture to some of the images and it gave the session alot more images to choose from with alot of variety in not only posing, but backgrounds. I am all about getting the most for your money here folks!! And the church also had a great little grassy area in the front of it too, that made for a great place to shoot, so, if anyone is down for alot of variety, riverside is where it is at! Just please be aware of crazy ducks that will fly directly at your face and make you scream like your being killed and then have everyone turn around and stare at you like you are a moron. I love this job, no lie.
Couples are so much fun to shoot, I love the interactions between them I love having my clients renew my  own sense of the love in the world by their actions. That being said, I want to work with more couples!! If you would like to book a session or get more information on a session just let me know, you can email contact@unobstructedstudios.com to get more info or to book. I will be glad to help in any way I can and I am so excited to implement new packaging for all sessions, I am sooooooo happy an excited about the new packaging and presentation of your images, I cant wait to share it with y'all.