BOSTON CHILDREN'S PHOTOGRAPHER, BOSTON FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER, BOSTON NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER

I had a wonderful Saturday morning meeting this babe… you know how I love to ditch my own family to spend time with my client’s! They love in the coolest house in my fav part of the city… it makes me so happy when I can be back in the old Hood. Not only that, I was all set to put it in a Resident Parking spot and deal with the ticket later, but I pulled up and there was an open Visitor’s parking spot RIGHT AT THEIR FRONT DOOR! [If you know me, you know I pride myself on good parking karma].

So once again, you know I am going to tell you how much I liked this family [I sound like I am off my rocker, but I seriously fall in love with my clients when I am with them.] Christie and I just. I would bet that she and I could meet for lunch and not stop talking — parenting, working mom dilemma’s and how cleaning the house just isn’t fun. But she has me beat by a long shot with nursery decor. I am not kidding you when I tell you that this was one of the prettiest nurseries I have ever seen. Not too classic, not too mod, not too trendy, but beautiful with just a bit of whimsical. And awesome light.

So here is yummy baby Olivia who was just so good. It was a pleasure!

Is your baby between 6-12 months old (ideally sitting!)?
Do you have a super cool nursery?
Would you be interested in winning a free session and mini-print package?

[contest information will be pinned to the sidebar until the contest is complete!  check there for details and updates!]

If you answered yes to all three of these questions, we would love to see pictures.  What’s in it for you?  A chance to win a free photography session featuring your baby and your nursery!  We would like to see between 1-4 photographs of your space.  At least one photograph must include your baby in the nursery itself.  We are looking for creative use of light, color and design elements.  Images must be taken by you or someone in your family (as in “please don’t submit images taken by another professional photographer.”)

All submissions must be received by midnight, March 5, 2010.

Entries will be judged by a panel of photographers who will narrow down the selection to 5 nurseries.  The finalists will be posted on the Kristina Young Photography Blog and the winner will be chosen via a public voting poll.  Voting will occur between March 10 – March 17, 2010. There are specific rules around voting that will be clarified during the voting round of the contest.

Winners will be announced on March 19, 2010. There will be 2nd & 3rd place prizes also awarded — gift certificates to Kenzie Kids (Wellesley & Dedham) & The Flat of the Hill (Beacon Hill)!. Winner must schedule session so it takes place between March 27 – May 8, 2010. Winners must sign a release to allow participating photographers to display images on blog, website, Facebook Business Page and any other print or web materials as deemed appropriate.

To enter, complete the following submission form: http://kristinayoungphotography.com/blog/nursery-contest-submission

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Don’t live in Boston? Have friends across the country? Check out these photographers who have nursery contests running in other cities! Their contest, terms and conditions may vary, so please make sure you read the details with care.

Birmingham, AL: Stephanie Fisher Photography
Northwest Alabama: Jennifer Weddington Photography
Denver, CO: Laura Werner of Vibrant Life Photography
Connecticut: Crista Acosta Photography
Central Indiana: Kristi Hibbetts Photography
Metro New Orleans, LA: Amy Drouet Photography
Frederick, MD & Washington DC/Baltimore metro: Shey Marin Photography
Northern VA & Washington DC: Amber Scruggs of Little Moon Photography
Mississippi Gulf Coast and Pearl River County: Emotional Imagery by Brandi Head Photography
Central New Jersey: Kim Schmidt Photography
Northern New Jersey: Christie Adams Photography
Cincinnati, OH and Northern Kentucky Area: Jessica Wright of Memories That R Precious
Columbus, OH: Andrea Roberts Photography
Philadelphia and Main Line, PA: Bernadette Uzcategui Photography
Pittsburgh, PA: Seedlings Photography
Rhode Island and South Shore of Boston: Amy Ro Photography
Houston, TX: Kerri Mathis Photography
Seattle/Bellevue/Tacoma, WA (and surrounding areas): Susan Berman of Whimsical Photo Design
Spokane, WA: Jaidean Baker Photography

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The Fine Print.

This is our contest, we make the rules.  We have researched many different ways of voting and there are pros and cons and hanging chads in just about every method out there.  This is how we have decided to run our contest, if it’s not a fit for you, we respectfully accept your decision to decline participation.  We also know there are ways to work around the system, so we will actively monitor IP addresses and research anything that appears to be fishy.  We reserve the right to disqualify any entry that appears to be suspicious.

All participants must agree to sign a model release allowing images to be displayed on participating blogs.  Winning participants must sign a release allowing images taken by participating photographers to be displayed on web site, blog, Facebook and print advertising sources.  Participants must also agree to standard Terms & Conditions of participating photographers.

Winning participants will receive a complimentary session focusing on nursery, baby and/or family as outlined by participating photographer.  Additional items may also be included.  Regular session terms and conditions apply.

We require an electronically marked consent that you are entering this contest voluntarily and that participating photographer is not promising any winnings or other compensation for participation.

Before you all start singing my praises… I did NOT come up with this idea.  Although I have always given guidelines on what to wear, and I have a What to Wear section in my client information packet, the idea of blogging What to Wear is not mine.  Many photographers do this.  But I did hijack the idea because we are upon the Holiday Card time of year and I’d like to offer up some ideas.  These are just ideas, I am not suggesting you spend the $612 or so that I just pulled together on Mom’s outfit at Boden.  But… if you are going to Boden, check out their Outfit Maker!  It’s fabulous!  {it also drew attention to the fact I dress like a dud, another story entirely.}

It took me at least an hour to come up with this, so I do know it’s not an easy task.  Things I kept in mind… I started with mom… because if mom looks good, everyone will have a much better day.  I also believe that if a mom is not comfortable in her outfit, she will generally feel bad about herself and not like the pictures.  I am telling you this because (1) I know it’s true and (2) I am that mom.   So moms… start with you and work out.  Once I had her outfit pulled together (and again, can’t sing enough praises about the Outfit Maker), I started on the boy… there was a Boden sweater I just loved that was the same aqua but with an argyle.  But after dressing boy & girl in aqua, mom in aqua, it didn’t leave me with much for Dad.  If everyone is dressed identical, it’s just plain boring.  I also decided to play it a bit more safe because aqua is a big color, so doing an aqua argyle was a bit too bold of a statement for me.  I loved the aqua and brown because it screams fall with a tiny little nod to the ocean!  I added in the cream pants for the dad (ok, light brown, sorry Owen, I won’t put you in cream) because I thought Mom & Dad would look great together and it would tie in nicely if you did cream tights for mom or the girl.  I also have some cream accents in the mom’s necklace.  Finally, I imagined the pairings you’d do in a session… Mom & Dad, Mom & Son, etc. and everyone seemed to really compliment each other.

Next week I’ll focus on a Gap or Old Navy option, then a more formal one with perhaps Olive Juice dresses for the girls!  Please leave me some love and let me know if you found this to be at all helpful!

Monica &  Todd are simply perfect together.  I walked away from them feeling so good about everything and that all would be right in the world.  They have known each other for SO long, like since they were playing together in nursery school… but not “boring” SO long… like they’ve been out there, they’ve seen things, they’ve done things, they’ve built their own lives, yet somehow merged them adorably, perfectly together.  They were clearly brought back into each other’s life for a purpose and I know it will always have meaning to them.  They are a really good reminder of why to get married, because you just love someone that much.

I had so much fun hanging out with them.  I seriously should have followed them home for Todd’s Tacos.  But it was about 90 degrees at 7:30PM and mama was not so smart and wore jeans and after climbing 6 stories to Trevor & Denise’s roofdeck, I just needed to go home and jump in the pool (which I did, after a brief pit stop in the old hood for a quick libation).

Anyway, the stars just sort of aligned with this.  Months and months ago we had brunch at Trevor & Denise’s house and I got the idea that I’d love to shoot on his roofdeck (who wouldn’t) and also in his stairwell.  I shot a few of Christofer, but then realized it wasn’t a setup for kids.  So I tucked it away and the minute I heard Monica & Todd were engaged I knew I wanted to bring them there.  So I basically hunted down Monica and haunted her on Facebook until she said yes!  T&D left us the key, the weather was perfect, the light was yummy and voila!

I hope you love these as much as I do.  I don’t work with adults very often, though it’s something I am exploring with a potential partner and we are both very excited by the prospects.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on these… and leave this adorable couple some love!

I am bursting at the seems I am so excited to blog this session… to proof the entire thing… but I am late on SO many other people that they have to wait in line.  But I’ll blog just a few more tomorrow I am sure.

Just check this out… are you as excited as I am to see the rest?!?