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The Hoot Design winner + March Fresh Favorites + a tease of another contest! – [St. Louis Photographers]

Posted on March 31, 2010

Ok first, the winner of the AWESOME Hoot Design alphatower is…

Amy Beachy!

AND the winner of the Simple Baby print is…

Christina!

Thanks again to Kristen of Hoot Design for the AWESOME giveaway!!! I can’t wait to get my own Alphatower in the mail soon!!!

And since April has just sort of snuck up on us, it’s time for the March Fresh Favorites!!

So you know the drill, vote by commenting on THIS post.  Tell all your friends, family, neighbors, mailman, who ever you can to come vote!  The deadline is Friday at midnight!  So get the word out!

The prize this month is a spriral bound proof book of 20 images from your session!  These are one of my favorite products and make great brag books!

#1  -  Spittal Love Light

#2 – Kalie

#3 – Colin

#4 – Stella

#5 – Rebecca

#6 – Jessica + Gabe

#7 – Charlie

#8 – Emma

#9 – Hertzler Love Light

#10 – Mohr Family

AND in other news…

Stay tuned for another super fun contest with an awesome prize… something for the winner AND for the winner to give away!  Sweet!

the mohr family – {St. Louis Family Photographers}

Posted on March 29, 2010

Saturday Kim and I headed about an hour outside of St. Louis to shoot the Mohr family. Not because they LIVE an hour outside of St. Louis but because on my way home from Wisconsin in January I saw a place I just knew I wanted to try using as a location… and they go along with any crazy idea we cook up!

They are so great! Seriously, one of my favorite families to photograph b/c they let us decide everything! And when we are inspired by our surroundings it makes for more creative work and a much better session in my opinion!

If all of our clients let us take them anywhere we wanted I’d be in heaven! Anyone brave enough to try the East side? HA! Lots of cool old buildings over there!

“E” is for ELLIOT!

Might be one of my all-time favorite family shots ever!

Katie and Russ always THINK about their sessions. They take time to come up with great outfits, they bring cool props, they have ideas… it is so great to work for people that GET what we do and APPRECIATE the art.

These photos of Elliot in front of his “E” are some of my favorites! The color, the faces, the GLEE! One of these need to be BIG in his room!

If you are curious about the QUESTION MARK you’ll have to head over to Katie’s blog HERE and ask her! It’s pretty cool!

And NOW. The best for last. This shot took FOREVER both to shoot and especially to edit. Almost THREE HOURS editing! OMG it was a nightmare but how cool is this?

I mean seriously! Who wouldn’t want something like this in their home?

Ok, wait, ONE MORE. One MOHR? HA!

So this photo was an accident.

We were setting up the BIG shot above and our original idea had them in the front but it didn’t work… so in this shot they were just walking away. My focus is on the field beyond them and I was exposing for the field, not them, so technically the photo is BAD. But there was just something about it that I loved when it came up for editing. LOVE. So I kept it!

As if you hadn’t guessed that this was one of our most favorite sessions! We had a blast! And not because Elliot was absolutely perfect and not because everything went off without a hitch and not because we had a ton of awesome outfit changes (HA! Katie left ALL of her extra clothes at home, an hour away!) and not because the location was everything we had hoped… but because Katie and Russ LOVE photography. So they had ideas of their own (like the crazy layered photo!) and appreciate the work it takes to get a great session. Their work on clothes, props, accessories and ideas made our job so much fun! And together I think we came up with some awesome images… that we couldn’t have done without their input!

THANK YOU MOHR FAMILY! We love you!

Shoot for Seamus – {St. Louis Family Photographers}

Posted on March 28, 2010

If you used to read my old blog (Jodified) then I’m sure you read THIS post. A year later and I am now really close to that amazing family! They have blessed me more than they will ever know and for a while now I’ve been trying to think of a way to honor their son, Seamus. (Go read that post so you know what I’m talking about and then come back!)

All of my ideas were terrible+cheesy+dumb so I asked Kim what she thought I/we could do and she came up with the most brilliant idea ever! That idea, spun with the ideas of Seamus’ parents, his aunt Julie and the incredible people at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, is now something that Kim and I couldn’t be more excited about!

More info on WHAT the Shoot for Seamus event actually is but first I have to tell you quickly about the incredible artists that helped me create this design!

When designing the logo for the event I knew that I needed a shamrock but anything I drew looked like Bailey had drawn it, so rather than go the clip-art route I emailed my favorite artist, Jessica Rose of Vol. 25, and asked if she would mind donating her time to draw a shamrock for us! She did and I LOVE it! Thanks Jessica! I also used the polaroid, one of her overlays from her Be Mine set, as the frame for sweet Seamus!

Then, I knew I wanted to get Seamus in the logo somehow but a photo wouldn’t print as well as I’d like on all the things we’ll need to print so in a last minute ditch effort I left a comment on a blog asking for help. I won’t link that blog b/c I never heard back from them. BUT, God was watching that day and worked it out perfectly b/c Angela of Simply Silhouettes happened to read those comments on that other person’s blog and SHE emailed me! And she offered to help! And her and her talented husband took an image of Seamus and created the most amazing silhouette ever! I love it so much and we have SO many things we’re using it for now! Thanks for reaching out to a total stranger Angela! Check out her AWESOME website HERE!!!

So with all of that help I managed to put together the Shoot for Seamus logo! And from there the rest was history!

Wanna know what exactly Shoot for Seamus IS???

We are SO excited! Email fast if you want to get more info emailed to you! Remember… ALL the proceeds will go to the NICU in honor of Seamus’ sweet life! ALL THE PROCEEDS!

AND that’s really not all but I’ll tell you about the other part later this week!

(We have a sneak peek to get up tomorrow for the Mohr family but this Shoot for Seamus poster will be making a few more appearances until we have all the sessions booked!)

love light hetzler style – {St. Louis Love Light Photographers}

Posted on March 27, 2010

Friday night Kim and I met up with Dustin and Karrie in the middle of down town St. Louis to run around chasing the light!

Love Lights are seriously a challenge. A challenge we love but the more we do the better we are at choosing the area we go to. For a love light session you don’t want LOTS of light, even though that sounds backward. Instead you want a small amount of very bright+direct light. Like the low hanging security light in the alley behind a small business. Which is why on our last session we took the couple to a very empty industrial park b/c we knew all of those businesses would have security lights on.

But Friday night we decided to try something different and walk around the big BIG buildings of the downtown St. Louis area. And because I know a lot of photographers read this and some that have tried these sessions before I’m going to tell you what we learned.

Big buildings have big lights. And most are really high, meaning that by the time the light filters down to our couple it’s not bright enough to leave the ISO at 200. Also, in the downtown area of a big city there are lots of street lights creating TOO MUCH light which means we loose the effect of having only the light that hits our couple show up and the rest black out (while our ISO is at 200 or so).

So Friday night we had a very tough time finding the light we normally look for and we were forced to look in some more unexpected locations, which is totally fine, but makes for a lot more walking and a much longer night (and when you start the session at 8pm it can get late anyway!). BUT Karrie and Dustin ROCKED IT OUT and trusted us to take them into all kinds of random nooks and crannies of our city! And we chatted and laughed the whole time!

So I have to tell you the story behind the next photos!

I used to be obsessed with Sex in the City. I’ve seen every episode a million times and can quote most of them! So when we walked by a deserted parking garage and I saw an elevator the episode when Samantha was making out with a ton of guys in her elevator and accidentally let in a burglar came to mind. I know, random! BUT it was genius b/c we had the MOST fun playing with the elevator light!

Then I had them go inside, to get a little frisky… KIDDING! But I did make them go in to just play along and the funniest part was that the door closed SO FAST! This image totally cracks me up b/c Kim almost lost her fingers trying to keep that darn door open for us!

And here Karrie REALLY played along with the Samantha theme! We were dying! Sorry you guys, I just HAD to post it! You knew I would! HA!

This is HANDS DOWN my favorite Love Light image ever!

Thanks Karrie and Dustin for being the best sports in the world and letting Kim and I follow all of our crazy ideas! We had a blast and even though it wasn’t the “ideal” light we like, your images are some of our favorites! Enjoy!

Artist Spotlight ::: Hoot Design Co.

Posted on March 26, 2010

When Kim and I met up with Brad and Annie for their maternity session before little Owen was born, we got to see his nursery and stopped dead in our tracks when we saw the print they had sitting on a shelf in his room. I was literally speechless! To say I loved that print is the understatement of the century! You can ask Annie, ALL I did was talk about the print! After the session I reminded her like a billion times to send me the name of the artist.

And she did!

Kristen Graham of Hoot Design Co.

And I think I immediately emailed Kristen, told her I LOOOOOVED her work and begged her to work with us!

And she agreed!

So over Valentine’s Day she created an awesome set of cards for us that were a HUGE hit with our clients! We also ended up using them as thank you gifts for a few lucky clients that month!

Also, once little Owen was born we of course had to photograph him in front of his print…

I mean seriously, could he be any cuter? I love it!

Then we asked (YES, we have asked a lot of Kristen!) if she’d want to do a giveaway on an Artist Spotlight post and HERE SHE IS! So hang out, read about her pure graphic design awesomeness and then hit up this crazy cool giveaway!

Thanks for being here Kristen! Obviously we think you’re the cats pajamas and can’t wait to see where this new venture takes you!

1. What’s the story behind Hoot Design? How did you start, why, when, etc?

Hoot started when I began doing more and more side projects while working as an art director at an ad agency in Chicago, but it really took off when I completed the first Simply Yours Print for my nephew, Jacob, in December 2008. I really wanted to make something unique for him since he was the first baby in our family…and I have always loved typography and the alphabet. I thought an alphabet poster would be so fun, and then I thought why not put all of our family’s information in there. We asked my brother-in-law for help, but it was a surprise for my sister-in-law, and her reaction was priceless. She brought it to her baby shower the day after I gave it to her, and it received a lot of attention. A lot of people were asking if I sold them…so I started thinking that it might be possible to make this a full-time job.

I love working with people on such personal gifts. And the surprise stories are amazing! I think the print is overwhelming at first because it is such a mishmash of type:) But then as people see THEIR name, THEIR street, THEIR baby’s name…it is so special for them…and they are always shocked.

I really like blogging! I like talking in general, so it comes naturally for me. I don’t really enjoy writing though — and make TONS of typos:) — but to me that is part of blogging. I love how natural and organic it is. You feel like you are sitting in someone’s living room talking with them about a new artist or couch that they stumbled upon. I love how it isn’t sponsored by a corporation or hidden agendas, and that is what makes all of the mistakes fun:)

I am trying to get my name out there by blogging every day. When I go to blogs I expect new content to be there, so my goal is to do at least one post per day. Secondly, I am trying to make friends in the blogging community like you and Young House Love, which recently posted a giveaway of one of the prints and tripled my traffic!

Well, not surprisingly, my favorite design is the Simply Baby or the Simply Yours design:)

The reason I am so proud of this is because after I was finished I was like, “Hmmm. That’s good.” I rarely feel that way about something I do. Then I was even more surprised when other people started reacting to it with words like WOW and HOLY COW. Mostly I am very proud of it because it came to me while I was just staring at a blank screen one day. I am often inspired by other artists or designs, but I really believe that I might have come up with this all by my very self!

Hmmm, that is tough:) My goal right now would be to make this my full-time job, and to do it well. I just started full-time with Hoot in March 2010. Before that I had been working full-time at the agency and doing this on the weekends….so I was almost upset when I received orders because it meant no weekend. Now I can really put my heart into making Hoot work and providing great customer service. I also love the marketing aspect after coming from an agency, and I’d love to see how I can really market this and help it take off.

My dream would be to have a family and career balance, and to be able to keep creating things that I am proud of.

I have one husband (Adam) and a chocolate lab named Camp (she has a special section on the blog).

I have no kids (which is surprising since I focus a lot of time on baby items), but I’d definitely like to add some in the future. That is one of the reasons my husband and I moved from Chicago to Columbia, Missouri — our home town. Here, we have both sides of our families and a lot of support. It is the perfect place to start a new business and raise a family.

My husband works for an engineering firm based out of Chicago (marry an engineer if you never want to put Ikea furniture together again), and moving home might have been the smartest thing we ever did.

——————-

THANK YOU KRISTEN! And just FYI… now that you’re in Columbia I hope we are the first to hear about your first baby! We can make the drive for newborn photos! HA!

So NOW.

Wanna see some of the incredible designs she does? Take a peek!

This is her “simply yours” design b/c she literally takes what you send her and makes a print out of it! So you can come up with the words for the most incredibly personalized gift I’ve ever seen! This is my favorite thing she offers! Although I did just buy THIS yesterday for the kid’s playroom! Love it too!

She does custom holiday cards or cards for any occasion!

Party invites too!

I really love her versatility!

—————————-

SO! Head over to her website HERE and then come back to tell me what you love most about her new site! We will pick a random comment sometime in the next few days to win her Simply Baby print!

Simply Baby:

AND to make this giveaway interesting… if you blog, tweet or facebook about this giveaway come back and leave comments telling me so! You can be entered up to 4 times (1 for your first comment, 1 for twitter, 1 for facebook and 1 for blogging)! AND if you do Tweet, blog or facebook it you can be entered for this additional print, her new “alpha tower”!

So does that make sense? Your first comment has to tell me what you love about her site to be entered to win the Simply Baby Print. Then if you tweet, blog or facebook this giveaway you can be entered to win not only the simply baby print but also the alpha tower!

DOUBLE AWESOME!

So GO! What are you waiting for???

Thanks Kristen!

hippity hoppin’ around the internet.

Posted on March 25, 2010

Let’s hear it for another addition of me wasting time on the internet! I’ve found recently that unless I have my TODO list literally sitting next to me on the couch or at my desk I get very little done b/c the distraction that blogs and the internet provide can keep me happy+busy for hours! I seriously thought I left procrastination in the dust in my early 20′s but it has leap frogged its way into my early 30′s via blogworld and ETSY!

Here we go.

1. If you are a photographer you have to watch THIS b/c it will make your chin hit your chest at the pure awesomeness the folks over at Adobe are cooking up! Kim and I are anxious now to make the big upgrade!

2. I think we have a lot of photographers that read our blog (do they? hello?) or I wouldn’t post THIS link but I think if you are a photog you should go participate! GO!

3. I’ve linked this blog like a MILLION TIMES but she always rocks out the awesome ideas so go check THIS out and try it before Easter! I love the idea!

4. Rebekah Westover out of Utah is an awesome photographer but THIS session she did with her kids was just to die for in my opinion! Wish I knew someone with small farm animals so I could copy her with my own kids… although the idea of Gray with little animals does kind of freak me out. For the animals. Great work Rebekah!

5. Talk about stealing ideas? Totally yanking THIS idea of my friend Sara for the grandma’s in our life this Easter! MOM/TERRI DO NOT LOOK AT THIS LINK!

6. I am CRAZY proud of my friend Katie for THIS she got posted on Design Mom! Katie you are awesome and that story makes me cry EVERY time I read it!  And did you see the linkage we got on Design Mom? Oh yeah I was totally excited about it!

7. THESE totally crack me up and are perfect for me b/c I know NOTHING about wine but sometimes it’s nice to bring something to dinner… I am in love with them b/c it then takes all the apologies out of the gift!

8. Stacy’s blog is one of my favorites and it’s where I get tons of ideas (like the item listed in #7!) so really I could just link the entire blog but THIS idea is one of my recent favs and since I have a ton of jars just might be showing up for Easter gifts this year!

9. Amelia and Justin Lyon are incredible photographers but THIS post I saved b/c I thought it was so awesome. Check it!

10. I know I’ve shared this before but THIS is still really freaking cool! HA!

11. Oh yes! I am on link overload today!

12. I want THIS book for my kids b/c of THIS post. Great idea!

Alright. This edition of how to waste a ton of time on the internet is officially over! It is a rainy+gloomy here today but after all the awesome sun I’m ok with it. I’m thinking we might need to start wintering in Florida though b/c rainy spring days don’t bother me but MAN do the countless weeks of gloom all winter take their toll on my being! Anyway, I’m fighting a crazy cold that stemmed from some crazy allergies I had down in KY last week so we canceled a fun Grandparent dinner we had planned for tonight… and now instead we’ve invited Bailey’s BFF over for their very first sleepover! The perfect way to make me feel better is to add another kid right? HA! We really are excited though as the details from dinner to dessert to movie night to a possible art project are perfect! I really can’t wait! And Bailey? BESIDE HERSELF with excitement! Parker’s excited too of course! So we’ll reschedule with the grandparents and welcome Kate tonight! AND OF COURSE I will be videotaping the entire thing! So expect a movie in the next few days!

the charlie video, take two.

Posted on March 23, 2010

You tell me which version you like better!

(something I learned…. you can actually hear the camera focusing while recording so always focus when NOT recording!)

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