Baby Callista

Baby Callista was so much fun yesterday. She was a perfect angel -- the only time I heard her cry was when she was getting in the car seat to go home. She wore an adorable bright pink polo dress. There were so many good photographs to choose from that I just put a whole bunch into the slideshow.

They had gone someplace else for their 3-month portraits and weren't all that happy, so they were thrilled that we could schedule them in so quickly. I'm so glad they came in, too. Enjoy the slideshow!

New images in Columbus Bride magazine

This is so cool! We just got our newest copy of Columbus Bride magazine and once again, we have some photographs printed in there. This is so exciting to show couples who get their images printed in the magazine. Of course, they're all going to get several copies -- really, as many as they want.

First of all there was this photograph of Sheri and Bradd at their rehearsal.

And then, later on in the magazine, there's a whole page of them in the Local Weddings section with these three pictures:


There's also a picture of Shannon with his groomsmen. The storm had just passed and the sun started shining.

Then there's this wonderful image of Wendy and Harry exiting the church. It snowed on their wedding day. Well, you know what they say about it being good luck if it rains on your wedding, right? I suppose it works for snow, too!

I can't wait to tell them all about having their wedding photos in the local magazine.

Kilbourne Baseball Poster

This is pretty close to the final design for the Worthington Kilbourne Baseball poster. I think they turned out pretty cool. These will be up around town next week!

Worthington Kilbourne Baseball

We're making the posters for a local high school's Baseball team -- you know, the posters that have the team photo and schedule and everything on them. It was windy and cold, but we had a blast with the team. A great bunch of guys. I'll put up a copy of the poster when it's done.

German Shepherd Puppies

Oh, this was so much fun. I photographed a litter of puppies this evening. Last Spring I had photographed a litter from the same breeder, Steel Magnolia Estates Shepherds, which breeds White German Shepherds. This time the male was not white, but he had the recessive gene (or something like that) so the average should have been about 50/50 for white and non white. Out of ten there were three white ones, and the others are incredibly colored. Real pretty. As always, there's a slide show to be seen. This one's a long one so get a cup of coffee before you see it.

PPO show in Dayton

We were able to go to the PPO trade show in Dayton over the weekend. I love going to shows to hear the speakers and of course to get some new toys. I got this really cool rubber chicken that squawks this hideous noise from the APR booth. I bet you thought I meant toys for photography. Nope, real toys. I also got a rubber band yo-yo kind of thing. It's a ball made of rubber bands on an elastic cord that attaches to your finger. You can throw it and it comes back to you. Really low tech, but it gets people's attention. Also got some little "squeakers" for getting kids to look at me.

But the real exciting thing was hearing Mike Colón speak. Wow. What a great lesson that was. He's such a down-to-earth kind of regular guy that has these amazing ideas. We're implementing them into our business already and can't wait to tell the world about it. Yeah, you read that right. Stay tuned for a big (well, big to us) announcement.

Updated Web Site -- WooHoo! I'm so excited!!!

After weeks of decisions and finding time, our Web site has finally been updated. The general design remains the same ('cause I like it so much ;-) ) but I've added a few more sections, removed some others, and generally made it easier to find information. The first site lasted for two years -- way longer than I expected it to. There were always parts of it I didn't like, and now they're changed. I can't tell you how excited I am without sounding like a blathering idiot (no comments on that, please, ha ha).

Things that have changed:
1. Put in slideshows on most of the sections. These shows are really fun to watch -- especially if your pictures are in there! The sections that don't have them, yet, will shortly.
2. Made the galleries easier to view. Again, the sections with the "old style" of galleries will be updated soon, too.
3. Added rollovers to the headings so they highlight when you mouse over them. For some reason this makes a huge difference to people viewing sites in general. It's always been in the plan -- it just didn't happen for far too long.
4. Added sections for kids, seniors, and families instead of just lumping them all into the "people" section.
5. I lumped the "places" and "things" sections together under "other" because that's not a focus of the business any more. That section still needs a bit of work. Eventually we'll have information on our events and sports coverage and teams in there, too. But then again, maybe they need a section all for themselves. Hmm.
6. Put in a section for testimonials because so many people want to know what other people think of us before they hire us. We have a lot of comments on Angie's List and they're all wonderful, but not everyone is a member over there and even those who are, probably don't know that we're listed!
7. Made it easier to find contact information and to read our bios. Yeah, the "About" section still needs work (see a theme, here?) Once we find pictures of ourselves that we like, we'll show everyone what we look like, too (now, if we just don't scare people away with what we look like, we'll be in great shape).

Now, of course, I still have some ideas on how to make it even better than it is already. It's all about usability: Is it easy to use? Is it easy to find information? Do you need to think too hard to find what you're looking for? And probably most of all, does it make people want to call us as soon as they can to have their portraits made? :D

If you have any ideas on how I should make it better, please let me know. The site is really there for you, not for me, and if you don't like the way it works, I'll change it pronto!