Holiday Mini Sessions are Here!

Photography By Charise is now officially annoucing the arrival of Holiday Mini Sessions!!!

Holiday Mini Sessions are short and sweet 25-minute studio sessions to capture those great images for your holiday enjoyment, gift giving and greeting card needs at a discounted rate. I will be offering 2 days of mini sessions in my NEW studio! Appointments will be scheduled every 30 minutes throughout the specified mini session dates. Due to the nature of these sessions there will be no background changes or clothing changes durning the sessions.

Approximatly 7-10 days after your mini session you will be provided with a password to access your own personal online viewing and ordering gallery containing 10-15 proofs from your mini session as well as greeting card samples to choose from.

I am offering 3 mini session packages to choose from. Each of the 3 packages include the session fee along with prints, greeting cards or a digital file for printing your own cards and/or gifts. You must choose from one of the three packages to take advantage of the mini holiday sessions.

These packages are all offered at discounted rates specifically for holiday mini sessions and will not be offered for standard full sessions (full sessions last 1-2 hours with 30-60 proofs).

Because of this great deal and the convenience of these sessions they will be scheduled on a first come first serve basis. Due to the anticipated response to this offer it is highly reccomended that you call to book your appointment as soon as possible as space is limited. A $50.00 retainer is due at the time you book your session to hold your requested date and time.

The Dates

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Sessions will begin at 9:00am and will end at 5:00pm with an hour break mid day.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Sessions will begin at 10:00am and will end at 5:00pm with an hour break mid day.

The Pacakges (click image for larger view)

Holiday Greeting Card Samples - please note holiday cards can be ordered from a standard full session at regular price

Raffle winner!!!

My goodness, my world has been a little crazy the past 2 weeks! Between lots of photo sessions, normal family life and working on preparing for the holidays I realized that I didnt share the name of the raffle winner!!! I actually have some shots of my little munchkin pulling the winning name out of the hat that I will have to post later today. But in the meantime, the winner of the free session is.....

Arlene Curry

Congratulations Arlene!! I will be contacting you via email to set up your free session.

I would also like to thank all of you that entered and watned to let you all know that I will be mailing out the $10.00 gift certificate print credits to the first 10 entrants.

Sneek peek of yet another wonderful family!

Meet three members of the "M" family. These 2 kiddos were so much fun! One a little model and the other a little reluctant in front of the camera but did warm up to the camera after just a few minutes. Jumping, playing with daddys sword (carefully of course), admiring the scrapbook mommy has been creating while daddy is in Iraq...they really were such a pleasure to photograph. Here is a quick sneek peek from our session but of course, be sure to stay tuned for the "reunited" session when dad returns from Iraq creating some true "family" photos in just a few more weeks.

Dont Forget!

Today is the last day to enter your name for the photography by charise raffle for a free session and a 25% discount on prints!!!

Just email your name and contact info to charise@photographybycharise.com

I've been tagged!!!

Well, I've been tagged by the wonderful Amanda, of Amanda Prince Photography.... http://amandaprince.wordpress.com/. So here's how it works...I list 8 random facts about me and then tag 8 more photographers to do the same.

8 Random Facts about me....

1. I hate to wear shoes...I go barefoot most of the time but when I must wear shoes flip flops are my top choice. I think I own somewhere around 15 pairs.

2. I am not a coffee drinker but rather addicted to Diet Coke.

3. I curse WAY more than I should. In fact I think I'm going to make a conscious effort to stop that.

4. I have a sick addiction to anything creative. Not only do I love the creativity of photography but here are a few other creative things I have done, embroidery, sewing, tole painting, crocheting, jewelry making, purse making, wood crafts, faux painting...I think that's all.

5. I'm a reality TV junkie

6. 3 of my very good friends and I all have the same symbol for "friend" tattooed on the lower, inner side of our right foot.

7. I once had my tongue pierced but sadly had to take it out a few years ago.

8. My husband and I were high school sweethearts. We meet in 1993, started dating not too long after and here we are 14 years later happily married!

Okay...my turn to TAG some friends.
http://pinkfeetphotography.blogspot.com/
http://appleofmyeyeportraiture.blogspot.com/
http://aglimpseintomyworld.blogspot.com/
http://sweetonyouphotography.blogspot.com/
http://annettes365.blogspot.com/
http://www.eikonphotography.blogspot.com/
http://www.justbeephotography.typepad.com/
http://www.livelovelaughphotography.blogspot.com/

Reminder

We are getting down to the last few days to enter the Raffle for the free session and 25% discount!

Dont forget to get your entries in before the end of the week.

And to my current clients.....for every person you refer to enter into the raffle I will enter your name into the raffle one extra time!!! Just be sure they mention you name when they email me their entry!

Looking forward to announcing a winner on Saturday!!

The "B" Family on the "B"each

Graced with the opportunity to photograph another wonderful family. The "B" family was so much fun to shoot! The little man wasnt too thrilled with the first portion of our session but once we hit the beach those beautiful eyes of his lit up as his sweet little toes got a good feel for the sand. This was his first time on the beach (while awake) so it was a whole new experience for him. But dont you worry, big sis knows the ropes at the beach, running out to the water and running in as fast as her little legs can take her just before the next waves crashed. She really had a blast running through the water and playing on the beach. Here is a sneak peek from our session...

A little BEAUTY!!!

I had the pleasure of photographing the ever so sweet and not to mention BEAUTIFUL little miss "M" to celebrate her upcoming 3rd birthday! Can I just tell you what a pleasure this little sweetie was to work with! Her adorable smile (and even her little smirk) can really light up a room! Here are a few of my favorites from our session!

Black is back!

Well I thought I would give a new blog layout and colors a whirl....and after a few days decided it wasnt for me. So Im back to the black, clean and simple layout of the blog. Hope everyone is enjoying the sneek peeks and recent posts :)

Dont forget to email me at charise@photographybycharise.com your info to enter in the raffle for the free session. You can find additional details in a below post if you missed it.

Happy 1st Birthday!!!

I would like to send a very special Happy Birthday wish out to little miss Pres. I have been photographing her throughout her first year, and I have to admit I cant believe how much she has changed and grown. She is always a a GREAT model for me allowing me to do just about anything I want to her...such a good sport. Although she did throw us for a loop on her 1st birthday shoot as....if you can believe this one....she didnt like cake!!! I was SHOCKED! I will be shooting her family party tonight and will keep my fingers crossed that she is just a cake snob and merely didnt like the cake we had to offer her at our session!

Happy Birthday miss Pres!!!!!

3 months

6 months


9 months

one year

For those that may have missed it...

As you may have read in a post from Thursday, I let you all know that there was going to be an article in the paper featuring some of my charity work with Operation: Love ReUnited. Now, I knew that there would be shots of me photographing the Miller Family as well as one of my own photos from the Carstens homecoming session...however I had NO idea that they were going to put the story on the FRONT PAGE!!! I am totally flattered and honored to have had such a great article and coverage written about the wonderful work that Operation: Love ReUnited has allowed me to do. Here is a copy of the "Front Page" of Fridays Ventura County Star Newspaper along with a link to the full article that was written on Photography By Charise, Pink Feet Photography and Operation: Love ReUnited!

Click on the image below for a larger view and here is the link to the full story

Just 9 weeks old...still waiting to meet daddy

I had the honor of photographing precious baby "E" on Friday. "E"s daddy is currently in Iraq and as I can only imagine he is anxiously awaiting his return home to meet this beautiful little girl of his for the very first time. John, I truly hope that when you receive your album full of pictures of your wife and sweet daughter it brings some joy and comfort to you during this time. Here is a sneek peek from our session on Friday.

Its Raffle Time!!! Im feeling generous today!!

I think its time for a little raffle of sorts....what do you think???

What do you win??? A free, (yes I said FREE) photo session and 25% off of ala carte print orders!

Who is eligible??? Anyone! If you are a current client, a past client or an interested client, or someone referred over here by a friend YOU are eligible! Of course you want to make sure you are in my general area of service or going to be in the area of Ventura County or LA County.

How do you enter??? Its simple....just email me your name, address and tell me a little bit about you and/or your family, you can even include a photo of yourself or your family to be shown on my blog if you are the winner. Please only one entry per family. Submit info to Charise@PhotographyByCharise.com.

When do you enter??? NOW!!! I will keep this open for entries until Midnight on September 21st. The winner will be announced on my blog on Saturday September 22nd (if you supply a photo of yourself and/or your family I will include it with the winning announcement on my blog).

How will Photography By Charise pick a winner??? I will conduct this the "old fashion way". After receiving all of the entries I will print them all out, fold them up, put them in a hat and let my 2 year old pick the winner from the hat :).

How will you know if you won??? I will post the name of the winner on my blog along with a pic that the winner may have submitted on Saturday, Sept 22nd. In addition I will email the winner with a "Congratulatory" email along with all the necessary info for booking your free session.

Whats the catch??? No catch...just feeling generous and playful today.

WAIT! There is more!!! The first 10 people to submit their entries will receive a $10 gift certificate to use towards their next print order with Photography By Charise.

Looking forward to receiving your emails, stories and pics!!! If you have any questions, shoot me an email at Charise@PhotographyByCharise.com or leave a comment below and I will be sure to clarify for you!!! Good Luck!!!!

One more for today...

Just an FYI, be sure to pick up a copy of the Ventura County Star tomorrow, unless a big story breaks of course!! The Star joined me on an OpLove session for the Miller Family a few weeks back and will be running an article on Photography By Charise and pink feet Photographys involvement with OpLove and the OpLove program itself. Featured in the article should include photos taken by the paper at the Miller family shoot as well as one of my favorite images from the Carstens Homecoming session about a week ago.

The Holidays are JUST around the corner...

Can you believe it?? I am stunned at how quickly this year has gone by! I was on the phone scheduling a new client this morning when I realized I am now booking appointments in October, which means we are getting really close to Holiday Season. I know that I have already discussed Holiday portraits with many of my current clients but would like to remind anyone that is wanting to do Holiday portraits this year to book your appointment ASAP to ensure my schedule isnt too full as well as to allow for enough time to get your prints and holiday cards!

Be sure to keep an eye on my blog for upcoming mini holiday sessions for those of you that want to do a real quick session for personalized photo cards and/or gifts.