Its a BOY!

I must say - one of the most expressive newborns I've worked with! He had us cracking up with every face he made.
A sneak peek for the parents of baby "C".




Thanks guys - I had so much fun with that little man! I hope to have the rest of the proofs ready by the end of the week.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Seven years ago our family was blessed with a sweet baby girl - who would have imaged how fast seven years would fly by? Before we know it she'll be off to college...

I try not to take it personal when she requested Burger King for her Birthday dinner.

Holiday Fest 08

Last weekend was the annual Shop Canton Holiday Fest. I was asked to photograph the event. After assembling a team of cracker jack photogs, we managed to capture over 550 images! Despite the snow storm and freezing cold temperatures, we had a blast.









If you braved the storm and attended the event, check out more pics from the festival at www.stephanieweatherly.com under "proofing" enter HFEST08

Holiday Card Sessions!

New for November is Holiday card sessions. For $75.00 a 45 minute session includes one set of 24 holiday cards custom designed with images from your session. Orders must be placed by Dec. 1 to ensure delivery before Dec. 24th!

Holiday season is underway - Ready or not!

I know its been awhile since my last post. I think the hustle of the season has gotten the better of me! I'm working on some exciting events for the holidays - a lunch with Santa (where I'll be available for family portraits) and a community holiday fest - more info on those to come!


SNEAK PEEK FOR THE "E" FAMILY!!


My most recent session was with one of my favorite little guys. The "E" family have been clients of mine since I did their maternity session. They asked me back to do the newborn session when K was born and now a year later I've done a holiday session. What a joy to "watch them grow!" Hard to believe just a year ago he was little enough to fit in a basket!


I'll have the rest of the proofs and a link to the proofing gallery early next week. Have a great weekend!

Michigan Harvest Gathering

About 1 in 10 people in Michigan rely on a food bank each year. Together with the Texas Roadhouse Restaurant in Westland, I have planned a food drive and costume party to bennefit the Michigan Harvest Gathering. There will be goodie bags for the kids, games, a bouncer from Bobby's Bouncers, and fun for everyone! I'll be there doing Halloween portraits. Bring a food donation and receive a free 4x6 print! Can't wait to see you there!

Saturday, October 25th
11-2pm
Texas Roadhouse Restaurant in Westland, MI

More info can be found HERE.

And the Michigan Harvest Gathering website is HERE.

Thunder!

Hey team! The pictures are now posted on the website.
The above poster will be available for purchase if there is enough interest. Be sure to let me know if you'd like to order one!

With the Month of October being recognized as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, The Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation holds its Annual Fund Drive for six weeks starting in mid-September and ending in October.

If you are in a place to make even a small contribution to NILMDTS, please know that doing so will continue to allow the organization to provide improved resources, training, communication, and other tools necessary in support of our amazing contingent of professional photographers who provide the gift of free remembrance portraiture to families in need.

Remember the Moments that Matter

This time of year is so busy for so many of us. The kids are off to school, sports teams and dance classes are back in full swing. Getting the kids to bed at a reasonable hour after a summer of staying up late and sleeping in is enough of a challenge. Its hard to remember that these are the days we are meant to cherish. In the hustle and bustle, sometimes the little things get lost. I've been working on our family photos from this past summer. An entire summer of memories. Yes, I've neglected to upload them from the cameras until now. (kind of like the shoemakers kids not having any shoes...) A quote came to mind - though I don't know who said it and I'm probably butchering it terribly - "We don't remember days, we remember moments." I thought 'which moments do I want to remember?'

I love this one not because it is a particularly amazing photograph but because this is the moment my son transformed from my baby to big boy.

I was instantly glad that I had neglected his haircut and fell completely in love with those eyelashes. I'm sending my little guy off to preschool this year and I'm so glad to have this moment.

Or a sleepy summer evening while she was tuckered out on her dad's lap. She mustered a smile for me and whispered "This is the happiest day, mommy."

Who'd want to forget that?

Check it out!

Fall family days are here!


Every Sunday in the month of October I'll be offering outdoor mini sessions for families. It's the season for family portraits, after all! These sessions will last 45 minutes for up to four people. These days fill up fast so schedule your session today! (It's not too early to start thinking about holiday cards too!)

Minis!

Introducing new mini sessions! These are theme sessions designed for one child age 1-6. They will last about 45 minutes or fifty frames - whichever comes first. Clients can expect 10-15 images to choose from. Outdoor locations only. $75.00

Clients may choose from four different themes (more to come - be sure of that!)

Tu-tu Cute - dress up tu-tus for little girls.
Gone fishin - fishing pole and fish props for little boys.
Fairy Tales - wings and wand for little girls.
Round up - cowboy/cowgirl hats and hobby horses for either boys or girls.

Check the website for more information or drop me a line!

For the parents of Miss M

Thanks guys! I'll be in touch soon with a link to a proofing gallery.



This little doll agreed to be my model and help me develop and promote my upcoming "mini" sessions. More info about those to come.

Sneak peek for the parents of baby C

This little doll and her mother traveled a very long way for our session. After a day on the road, complete with car trouble, we still managed to get a few smiles!

Helping Families, One Mile at a Time...

I had the honor of being the event photographer for the PPD4PPD charity run last weekend. That is "pounding pavement and dirt for postpartum depression" The event benefits the Ann Arbor Postpartum Depression Support Group. This was the fourth annual run organized by my client and friend, Christine Hughes. The event

included a 5k, 10k and 25k run as well as kids fun runs. I met so many wonderful people and it was a joy and privilege to be a part of this great event. Thanks to everyone who participated, gave what they could and supported moms everywhere!


Participants can find their race pics at www.stephanieweatherly.com under the "clients" section enter PPD08.

Happy Days Agaaaiiin...

My family and I spent the holiday weekend at our cottage near Clare, MI. We did a little work on the place, played on the water, took in some fireworks and a smash up derby. Yeh, just like Fonzie and Pinky Tusckadero. Its a small town, up north kinda thing, sure. Good times...

The highlight of the weekend for my son was the snake he and his dad found in the wood pile. For my six year old daughter, it was going outside in the middle of the night to check out the stars with dad. Everyone's favorite is making s'mores by the campfire. {I still claim the title as champion marshmallow toaster, thank-you-very-much.} Its been far too long since we've all been together, having fun in the sun out on the lake. I came home with an awful sunburn and a resolve to make more time for the "Happy Days".

Here's hoping you share many "Happy Days" with the ones you love!

Sneak Peek for the parents of baby N

Just 20 days old! It was so much fun to do this sweet baby boy's pictures! A few from our newborn session...


The rest of the proofs should be available on the website soon.

hot, sticky, humid, sweltering....

Sneak peek for the parents of M...



The day was a challenge from the start - hot, sticky, humid, sweltering - all before noon! Some days I work a little harder than others... :)

I'll be in touch with the finished proofs soon!

We're rockin and rollin Live!

The new website is live! It opened to some rave reviews too! So exciting - but exhausting too. It felt like moving to a new home, trying to unpack and reorganize, finding a place for everything, getting rid of the extra junk I've been keeping for far too long...

Check it out and let me know what you think! www.stephanieweatherly.com

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Now that the official website is live... I can get my personal work (the stuff I love to photograph!) organized on the Shutterpixie site. I'm getting there. Its so nice working with the simple templates - its all about the images not fancy bells and whistles... http://stephanieweatherly.shutterpixie.com/

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A note to the Huron High school Seniors - Your prom pics are on the new website: www.stephanieweatherly.com Contact me for your password!

E Pluribus Unum

"E Pluribus Unum" is Latin for "Out of Many, One." The theme for Pioneer Middle School's eighth grade photography exhibit. I have been working with the school on this project. The kids photographed New York City and Detroit as well as the Plymouth/Canton Community. The Art Exhibit consisted of nearly 200 images. Incredible images those kids produced. I am in awe of the talent... My oldest Daughter received an honorable mention in the show. (Yeah, I'm bragging...)

Shopping Carts By Alexis Weatherly

Best in show Award. By: Jamie Emens




Check out the show at the Plymouth Arts Council and be blown away by the amazing work of these kids!

Riding horseback and milkin cows

My daughter's kindergarten class spent a fantastic day at the Real Life Farm in Canton recently. They got to ride horses and do "chores" on the farm. They fed the animals, milked the cows, held the baby animals. Parents, teachers and children all had a great time - despite the rain! My proudest moments were when my daughter conquered some serious fears... It all started on a horseback riding trip in North Carolina a few years ago. She was too little to go on the ride up the mountain so we stayed behind to ride an old work horse named cookie. We set her on that old sway back horse and before he could move a muscle she screamed in terror. You'd think we put her on a bucking bronco, wild and unbroken! Poor old Cookie didn't know what to do so he just sat down. She hasn't wanted anything to do with horses since. Fast forward a few years to kindergarten and there we were, sitting on the line of hay bales, waiting for her turn to ride the horse. She was certain of two things - she did not want to ride that horse and everyone else in her class was not afraid to ride that horse. Ah...peer pressure is an amazing thing! When her turn came she gritted her teeth and climbed on. The second pass around the barn we even got a smile!
Then later in the day - she milked a cow! Now she was sure she'd never do that! But there was no way we could get her to touch any of those bunnies, baby goats or hold a kitten - no way!

A sneak peek for Caitlin

A sneak peek for Caitlin...

Caitlin is a creative, smart, fearless adventurer. It was a great pleasure to work with her. She introduced me to a great place to shoot - and we spotted deer, up close and personal!

viruses, spybots and worms...oh my!

Worms - We're infested with worms! My computer is anyway. This weekend of getting things done is not meant to be I guess. Who the heck does that?? Create a virus so cunning and invasive - it actually turns off my virus protection software?! My files are {mostly} backed up on an external hard drive so keep your fingers crossed that loss of images will be minimal. So both my computer and external hard drive sit at Canton Computers.... Like rushing a child to the ER I tell you. Nothing to do but wait, fingers crossed, pacing... I hope the jerk who created the spybot worm suffers ten thousand paper cuts, slivers, hangnails and stubs his toe and bangs his funny bone for good measure. Bad karma coming your way buddy...

To add to the frustration of the weekend, my senior portrait session was rained out Saturday. The upside is that though the session didn't happen, I did get to the location and snapped a few set up shots. Discovered a great park that I haven't been to before and can't wait to do a session there.

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Update - After a total system restore, there is no trace of a worm on the machine. And file loss was minimal. Now its just a matter of putting everything back where it belongs. Back on track...whew!

Little Miss...

I recently had the pleasure of photographing Kayla for a Dance competition. The category is Miss Photogenic. She placed fifth overall with lots of sub-categories, even taking gold in one of them! Congratulations Kayla and thank you for letting me be your photographer!

Cool Chicks, Hot Mammas and Baby Boys

I got to hang out with the coolest chicks around last weekend...My old college girlfriends. We don't get to see each other so often now that we all have such busy lives. Since theres a baby boy arriving in June that is eagerly anticipated, the girlfriends threw a shower for the mommy to be. Even though its her second baby, the need for a girlfriend-get-together trumps the rules. Rules schmules... It was so great to see old friends - and meet some new ones! Hangin with those girls makes me feel nineteen again... but now we're like real grown-ups! We're having babies, getting engaged (yay Julie!), buying new houses, renovating old ones, getting real jobs... O.k.- feeling thirty-something again. But man, I sure miss those girls...

The mommy is not only an old friend but a client too. She was nice enough to bring her maternity session slide show DVD to share with everyone. That gained lots of ohhs and ahhs - I felt like a proud momma for minute too. Thanks Laura for the nice compliment!

I'll share a couple of images from our recent maternity portrait session:

Get your tails movin...

"Are those lazy fish?" "No day not, mommy. Day reawy movin now!" He watched those "lazy fish" hardly move at all beneath the ice all winter long. A fistful of fish food brought on a flurry of orange flashing in the water and squeals of three year old delight! He's been waiting all winter for the fish pond at Grandma's B&B to thaw. Theres nothing like a fresh baggy of fish food to get their tails moving after a looong winter. If thats not happiness...