check it out: the anna elliott photography blogsite is ranked 92 out of the top 100 blogs on the photoblog.org site! 

if you've never been to the photoblog site, definitely head over there.  you can spend hours surfing all types of blogs - they have over 32,000 listed.

so two things about facebook:

first, anna elliott photography now has its own facebook page. what's the difference between the blogsite and the facebook page?  you'll be able to see photos on the facebook page that aren't on the blogsite and also get to read my comments and occasionally a 'how to' on how i created the photo. so head on over to facebook, do a search for anna elliott photography and become a fan! 

second, i've had a few clients ask if they can use their photos on their facebook page.  i don't mind if you do it but please give credit for it (you can put it in the caption).  i know lots of photographers are funny about letting clients use their images on facebook and myspace but it doesn't bother me.  just spread the love and let people know where you got your fab photos done :)

i'm nearing the end of the holiday photo session rush and as i sit here downloading the photos from this morning's session, i am overcome with gratitude.  i'm grateful that i can earn money doing something i love, that there are people who appreciate my art and that i get to work with some fantastic clients.  i mean, really.  does it get any better?

to all my clients: thank you.  thank you for trusting me to take photographs of your family.  i know there are other places you could get your photos done and i'm grateful that you've chosen me.  thank you for the positive feedback, the referrals and the repeat business.  without all of you, i'm just a mom with an expensive hobby.


 

the other night, my daughter (kate) threw a heinous temper tantrum because she didn't like her options for dinner (it was leftover night).  i warned her several times that she would go to her room without dinner if she didn't stop but she didn't.  so i put her in her room without dinner.

when i went to check on her later (she was asleep, of course), i found this:

last weekend jeff and i and the kids headed up to the berkshires in massachusetts to meet up with some of jeff's friends from college.  there were two other familes, both with kids, and we spent the weekend hanging out, catching up, cooking, eating, drinking and picking apples.  the weekend was far too short and i can't wait for wildcat weekend 2009 (jeff and his two fraternity buddies (andrew and keith) went to northwestern.  the wildcats.  keith even got tshirts for all of the kids with 'wildcat weekend 2008' printed on the front and their names and birth order (1, 2, 3, etc) on the back. way too cool.)

all the kids were cute, for sure, but baby cormac was my favorite (it's pronounced cor-mick, not cor-mack like i said several times before eva was sweet enough to correct me).  he's 13 months old and is the only child that age i've ever photographed who didn't a) try to eat the camera or b) crawl away from me and make me chase them.  he was fascinated by the sound of the camera lens and would just sit and stare at it.  taking a picture of him was like shooting fish in a barrel.  i couldn't miss.

i just ordered both of these photos as 24x30 canvases to hang in my studio:

(cormac at the apple orchard)

jeff and i took the kids to a larriland farm today.  it's a pick-your-own farm and they have apples and pumpkins and hay mazes and hay rides.  we did it low key - we picked our pumpkins out of the 'already been picked' bins (as opposed to treking out to the pumpkin fields and having to cut our own and then lug 50+ lbs of pumpkin back to the car).  the kids went through the hay maze and did the boo barn  - a kid version of a haunted house. 

of course it was beyond packed but the weather was beautiful and for once neither of the kids were whining or throwing a temper tantrums.  i mentioned to jeff that it was so nice to be able to go to the farm without a stroller or diapers or worrying about feeding a  baby or working around nap times.  the kids actually went through the haze maze by themselves which left jeff and i to smile smugly at each other as we watched the hordes of parents with little children struggle.  we've been there.  we've earned the right to be a little smug :)

i got a new computer last week (a mac pro.  swoon.  i love it.) and have been going through old folders, throwing away stuff i don't need any more.  i found a few photos i haven't seen in a while and this one struck me as particularly poignant.  i think jack is about two years old in this photo; i have no idea where or why it was taken but my heart skipped a beat when i saw it.  it's just a tiny moment... jack and jeff and an almost kiss.  one moment, captured forever.  these are the kinds of photos that remind me why i love what i do.