Beautiful McKenna
Beautiful McKenna-
Imagine being a young girl and having no hair. Totally bald, no eye lashes or eye brows. So many of us are attached to our hair. Men spend millions every year for hair replacement treatments. We as women spend hours on our hair, we cut, color, highlight, low light, tease, curl, and straighten. As adults we would have a very hard time living without hair.
For McKenna this is her life. A beautiful 10 year old girl who is hairless.
McKenna has an autoimmune disease called alopecia. There are different degrees of the disease and I’m not educated enough on the subject to know all the details - however I do know McKenna.
I am proud to know McKenna! Her courage, strength and spirit are immeasurable. She could wear wigs to blend in with other children and society in general but she chooses not to.
She is funny, smart, outgoing and completely comfortable in her own skin - her own bald skin. She has the kind of confidence that we as adults could all use a lesson in.
McKenna is not shy or embarrassed by her disease. When she is out in public she will notice when strangers are staring at her and boldly explain why she is bald. She says,
“I’m just like you without hair”. She has a way of making you feel comfortable around her instantly and is happy to explain to other children about her alopecia.
This session is the 3rd or 4th time I have photographed her and it is always such a joy. It occasionally takes some coaxing on my part to get her to be creative with me and let me wrap her in fabric or put gigantic eye lashes on her and in the end she is always happy she did.
This session was done for a new website her mother Tracey is creating for an alopecia organization to help find a cure. I’ll let you know when it is live so you can check the site out.
I had an idea for McKenna of creating dramatic eyes for her. I knew I wanted to create big eyelashes and play with make-up. Every little girl loves to have her make-up done. At first she was really nervous about me putting the lashes on her and she really didn’t want to do it. Finally, she gave in. I began to apply her make-up and she kept peeking in the mirror getting more and more excited. With the jumbo eyelashes in place McKenna lit up like the sunshine, she LOVED having the lashes on and asked her mom if she could keep them on for the rest of the day. That moment made my day. It was amazing to see her enjoy and embrace her own beauty.
There are always clients who don’t like being photographed because they have gotten older and wrinkled, they have gained a few pounds, they have a blemish on their face, or any number of reasons people choose not to embrace themselves exactly as they are.
McKenna in her youth and advanced maturity lives and breathes what it means to be confident and comfortable with herself despite having something most of us would have trouble dealing with. She proudly stands in front of my camera enjoying having her photograph taken because she is Beautiful!
McKenna, you are one of my favorite people on the planet. You teach the world around you everyday that true beauty lies deep within the spirit and when the spirit shines we are all perfectly beautiful.
With love and gratitude your friend,
Michele
Holiday Portrait Sessions
I realize that we are still in the middle of August and it seems that there is no end in sight for the heat, but before you know it - it will be time to start thinking about the holidays. As a photographer I start thinking about the holidays long before most people.
This past week we finished photographing the samples for the new in studio holiday set and I must say this is my favorite holiday set I have done.
The colors are amazing, the set is so unique and the kids loved it. I am always striving to do something new and exciting each year and I am more than excited about this set.
I will only be photographing on this set for 2 weeks from November 2nd through the 14th. In order to make sure everyone receives their holiday cards and portraits in time for Christmas the last day to place any holiday orders will be December 4th.
I also have fantastic specials for our traditional outdoor family sessions.
You can choose between our mini session (one location) or our full traditional sessions (multiple locations in the park).
The mini sessions are only $95 and the full sessions are $50 off our regular session fee.
There are limited dates available for the outdoor session so call soon.
Below are example of both sessions.
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A very exciting move!
A very exciting move!
I am so thrilled to announce that I am moving my studio! After 5 wonderful years in our commercial studio, our lease has expired. With a new lease sitting on my desk, for some reason, I was reluctant to get it signed and now I know why.
Paul and I had been in the process of looking for a slightly larger home for the new expanded family we have blended. The house we originally wanted was turning into quite a hassle and our realtor recommended that we look at some other homes. Reluctantly I went....
The first house we walked into felt just like home and Paul and I fell in love... with the house. (we are already in love with each other)
Anyway- I realized that this house offered more than enough room for me to work from home and still have my right hand studio manager work with me. Dawn is simply the best and my studio would not run if not for her so I had to make sure we had room for her too. (just to work - not to live)
The yard is perfect for landscaping areas designed for children and family portraits. The pool is really nice too.
We immediately put an offer in and 24 hours later we had a “YES”!!!! I could not be more thrilled. Anna is 8 now and in the third grade. She was going to after school care at our community center and I will now be able to pick her up and have her home with me in the afternoons. I think that may be the best part of working from home - being able to spend more time with my family!
The house is only one mile from our current location which makes it perfectly convenient for my clients. The response has been wonderful from all of my clients (who are moms too).
I am so incredibly blessed with the most amazing supportive husband, the sunshine of my life, Anna Banana and the two greatest step-daughters any step mom could ask for, not to mention my friends who love and support me during the best and worst of times.
In addition to the blessings listed above I am grateful for the many, many wonderful clients who have turned into friends and for all of you who love and value the work I do. You are all a brilliant part of my life.
I know that I will continue to grow creatively and be able to serve my loyal following of clients. I will keep you posted with the details of the move.
As we do every year, we will be setting up an amazing Christmas/holiday set for portraits as well as our traditional outdoor family portrait sessions.
Moving my home and business will be a bit stressful and so I called in the big GUNS! My mother who is the queen of organizing and getting stuff done will be flying out to help! Thanks Mom and Jim!
Again, thank you to all for your support during this wonderful transition.
With love,
Michele
The Newstrom Family
The Newstrom Family
Sometimes you never know where a good idea might come from. Michelle Newstrom is a long time client and probably one of my favorite women. I have been photographing her family for more than 5 years. I get emotional looking at new images I have created for her because I feel like I know her and her children so well. Michelle has always loved photography. She once came into the studio with albums that were her grandmothers. They are her most prized possessions. He home is decorated with tons of photographs from wall portraits to smaller images displayed in beautiful ornate frames.
At the end of last summer I was struggling with perfection issues. I don’t see myself as a perfectionist - I think if you are a perfectionist you must do everything perfectly and want all things perfect all the time. I always thought of perfectionism as a bad OCD type of problem and therefore did not want to be identified as one.
I spent days calling close friends to ask “Do you think I am a perfectionist?” (I know - a loaded question) However, I really wanted an honest answer.
To my surprise most everyone said “yes”! WHAT! I don’t make my bed everyday, I leave dishes in the sink, I’m kind of messy, it’s rare that you can see the surface of my desk, there is always 2 weeks worth of laundry on the chair in my bedroom, I sometimes leave the towels in the washing machine so long I have to rewash them to get the moldy smell out and I really don’t care if there is hair on the bathroom floor. All things that would drive my perfectionistic mother NUTS!
How can it be? It was then that they clarified that I was not a perfectionist in my personal life but that I was in my work. Ok- I think that might be alright.... maybe.... only problem with that is that I always think I could be doing better work, reaching new creative heights, learning more techniques.... I’m not perfect....
Well, as in life all things happen for a reason and it was at that moment when the studio phone rang and Michelle Newstrom was on the other end thanking me for being such a perfectionist. WHAT?
She had been on her annual summer vacation at the beach in San Diego and had family portraits done with another photographer. (I was in Africa during this time)
She called to tell me how unhappy she was and that none of the photographs she picked up looked right. The color and cropping was off and she just was not happy.
She wanted to let me know how much she appreciates that nothing leaves my studio unless it’s “perfect”. She spent less money than she normally does with me but it didn’t matter how much she spent she still wasn’t happy. The lightbulb went off and I said to her... “we can fix that - I will go to San Diego next summer and photograph your family.”
Needless to say it was me on the beach this summer with Michelle, Doug, Daniella and Chris. This years summer beach portrait sessions were planned around Michelle’s vacation. I could not have been happier to be there with them and capture these images which are of course “PERFECT”!
Michelle and Doug - Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to photograph your beautiful family over the years. I am blessed to have you as clients and as friends.
The Wright Family
Ok- I’m a little behind on the blogging task but nothing compared to how long it took Emily to get her family session done. Emily came to see me about 3 years ago and booked an outdoor family session, paid her session fee and then life got busy.... Three years later we accomplished the task after her husband Dave mentioned to me at the gym that they needed to finally get the session done.
The session was done last month and Emily was worried that Dave would be sweating up a storm in the Arizona heat. All of my outdoor sessions are scheduled late in the day for the best light and I assured her that it wouldn’t be a problem.
I totally enjoyed photographing the family and below are Emily’s favorites. Emily and Dave, thanks for finally making the time to do this. I'm thrilled that you love the images that I created for you!
Dave, I'll see you at the gym where I'm sure Josh will be jealous of how great you look in the pictures!
