Santa's Workshop in Penrith is a HUGE hit!

Once again Santa came to visit us for Christmas 2012 for our Santa's Workshop Portrait Sessions!

We were excited to see so many of our regular clients again  - some of them have been coming for 3 years now and it has become a family tradition! It is great to catch up with the parents and kids and see how much they have grown, particularly if we haven't seen them since the Christmas before. Some of our families have even added a new one over the past year with one mum who was due to deliver a few days before her session telling her doctor to hurry things up as she had Santa booked! Bless her! She made it with her new baby boy and we were so excited to meet him!

We also met some new kids that came for the first time and there were some magic moments there too, one little girl impressed everyone in the room with her bravery - she was so scared of Santa to start but she kept trying and eventually ended on reading a book on Santa's knee. It is moments like those that make it so worthwhile - I was so proud of her! Then we had one of our favourite families in with their little boy - these guys are always good fun and both Mum and Dad will do whatever it takes to get their little sweetheart going - well they did the BEST version of a wiggles song, complete with the dance, the little guy was on fire! He was dancing and rocking it with THE best expressions, even a high five for Santa...another one of those moments that make Santa's Workshop so very special! And it makes me realise just how lucky I am to have such wonderful clients and gorgeous kids coming in year after year.

Anyway, with the Christmas/New Year thing, I am a bit behind on blog posts...yes I know, I am always behind on blog posts...so I thought I had better get our 2012 Santa's Workshop slideshow loaded before we get to next Christmas - I know that Santa is waiting to see it!

Oh, and speaking of next Christmas (2013) we have a pre-register list and already we have 2 and a bit days booked - we only do 4 days! Looks like it will be bigger and better again in 2013 - oooh AND I almost forgot I have a new set in mind, maybe even different sets on different days - have purchased a new backdrop to get ready for it!

Cheers and enjoy the slideshow!

Alicia xx

Sandy Puc would like to interview you....

So what do you say when you get an email saying that the great Sandy Puc would like to interview you on SPTV? You say YES of course - and mark it down as one of THE most exciting moments of 2012.

For forever, Sandy Puc' has been my idol. For those of you that don't know of Sandy, she is the Doyenne, the Queen, the Oprah of babies and children's portraiture in the US. Co-founder of Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, serves on the Board of Directors of the PPA, holder of the Canon Print Master and Explorer of Light titles, holds the PPA Masters in Photography, international photography teacher, philanthropist, amazing photographer of children and babies and all in all one hell of an inspirational woman.

Going back some years ago, I came across an interview with Sandy and was blown away by her honesty, and how down to earth she came across. When I first saw Sandy's children's portraits, I knew right at that moment, that that was what I was going to do - create gorgeous portraits of children and babies. Sandy has a forum for photographers and I became a member (still am!) so that I could learn more from her.

Anyway - on to the exciting bit! This all came about in a couple of parts. Sandy contacted me via the forum mid-2012 about our Granddad's Garage Limited Edition sessions. She loved them and asked me if I would be interested in having her team create a marketing campaign around the theme and featuring my promotional images. Sandy's marketing campaigns are available to forum members and also are available for purchase via Ukandu - her Marketing and Business template site.

SPTV is Sandy's weekly internet TV show and is a great resource for photographers, with sections on business, marketing, interviews with leading photographers in the industry, live shoots, image critiques and featured photographer spotlights. When the show kicked off in about November 2012, I submitted several images for Sandy to critique live on air. If you don't think having your images critiqued, by one of the best in the business, live, in front of thousands of people is scary...well, you should try it some time. Fear, excitement, anticipation, dread - you name it, I felt it ALL!

I believe it is very important to have your images critiqued by knowledgeable and respected photographers - good quality constructive criticism (CC) is one of the greatest learning tools for any photographer at any level. I could not miss this opportunity to have Sandy tell me what she thought of my portraits...I was nervous but knew that whatever she said would be beneficial to my ongoing education and growth. And guess what - she loved them! Found some minor area's that could be improved (which I duly noted!) BUT she loved them! Complimented the lighting, posing and set/prop design - I almost busted a foofoo valve, I was so filled with pride.

Then it happened. A couple of weeks before Christmas, I was contacted by the team from SPTV which is Sandy's weekly internet TV show. They said that Sandy would like to set up an interview with me for the show! We would pre-record the interview via Skype and it would be aired the very next day. To say I was stunned was the understatement of all time - and so very excited! I was going to speak with Sandy Puc - THE Sandy Puc - in person! I have long dreamed of meeting Sandy and one day visiting her studio in Colorado...well this was the next best thing!

It was wonderful, a chance to speak personally with Sandy beforehand and then straight into our interview. Sandy wanted to know about our Limited Edition Theme Days, how we handle such big days in our small studio, our marketing and how I came to do baby and children's portraits. So for about half an hour, there I was chatting away with one of my idols, who, without her actually knowing it, has been a mentor to me, a woman who has shared so much with the photographic community and someone that I have learned so much from. Truly a dream come true!

Since then, Sandy and her team have been back in touch and have some new and exciting teaching resources in the works - and they have asked me to take part in that as well. At the moment the finishing touches are being put on the new project and it is expected to launch at the end of January 2013. I can't wait to be a part of this and hopefully be able to share and help other photographers that wish to make their dream of having a successful portrait business a reality.

If you are a photographer and aren't familiar with Sandy Puc's forum or her other teaching and business resources - go check her out at the links below - and keep an eye out for the new project too.

Sandy Puc University
Ukandu Marketing and Business Resources
Sandy Puc Portrait Design

Cheers
Alicia xx

What's for dinner???

Ok, now that is the question I find the hardest to deal with every day! It is always busy here but the last few weeks have been incredibly busy with lots of Newborn baby portraits, family portraits and of course our Santa's Workshop - something that big takes a lot of time, preparation and organisation!

Anyway, back to dinner....and what goes wrong. Sometimes I just don't get to the supermarket, sometimes I forget to defrost something and sometimes I just don't have time to think about it at all! I'm fairly lucky in that my other half (Robert) will cook dinner if I ask him to and as long as the supplies are there he does a pretty good job of it.

The Solution!

A great friend of mine shared this recipe with me a while back and in summer I just adore this one - thought you might like to try it out too. It is quick, healthy, super tasty and I love the simplicity of it, come to think of it - so does Robert!

This will make enough for 2.


2 Chicken Breasts - or if you are extremely time poor, grab a BBQ chook.
Mixed Lettuce
1 Bunch Coriander
Shallots
2 Mangos

Dressing
A splash of Olive Oil or Peanut Oil if you prefer
1/3 cup of Sweet Chili Sauce
1 Lime

Slice the chicken breasts and cook them off quickly in the wok or on the barbie.
Toss Lettuce in a large bowl
Roughly chop coriander and add to lettuce
Chop shallots and add to lettuce and coriander
Cut mangos into chunks and add to above
Put the chicken in.

Dressing
Add all the ingredients together in a jar and shake it up. Pour over chicken mango salad and toss through to combine.

Takes about 10 minutes all up - perfect for busy mum's!

Enjoy.

PS - let me know what you think :)

Newborn Portrait Session - baby girl.

Little Chloe was just 10 days old when she came in for her Platinum Newborn Portrait Session. An absolutely perfect baby girl, sleepy, gorgeous and happy for to be posed. She was so good, I was brave enough to try out something new - I wanted to have her sleeping in a basket. Yep, I know nothing new about that...but I wanted to turn the basket on it's side and have her curled up in there.

Her mum had brought with her the most beautiful baby blanket and I really like to use something of their own in their portraits. The result is the first portrait in the series below and I named the pose after her, it is now officially called (well around here anyway!) The Chloe.

Surely, that is just a hint of a smile...isn't it?

Family and Newborn Portrait Session

I always include Mum and Dad (if he can come along) in our Platinum Newborn Portrait sessions, and big brothers too! Little Darcy came along for his brand new baby brothers newborn portraits and between the two of them I wasn't sure who to cuddle first!

Darcy is a bit of a regular here, he has been along to several of our Santa's Workshops and is coming again this year and it has been fantastic to watch him grow. Now he has the most beautiful little brother Saxon and I was so happy to meet the latest addition to this fantastic family few weeks back.

I adore Kayleen's hair!

The men of the house.

 Isn't that just too cute? The brothers.

Gorgeous family!

Such a beautiful and sweet baby boy - look at those little lips...sigh.

And Grandma too!

Thank you for coming and sharing your new little man with me, he is so very beautiful. Plus it meant I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Kayleen when she came in to collect her wall portraits...and I always enjoy that. See you soon xxx.

Your Children's Photographs on your very own iPhone App???

Well, I love all things techie and geekie (including Big Bang Theory)...I don't always understand it first go round - I'm more Penny than Sheldon - but I love to give stuff a go. Now this is super cool..well I think so anyway! And several of my clients thought so too, so I included it in some of our Limited Edition Enchanted Garden Fairy Portrait and Granddad's Garage packages.

It's your very own iPhone App! Now please. What could be cooler than that??? It includes all the purchased images from the portrait session and can be viewed on an iPhone or iPad and then you can share it via email, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest - cool huh?


Want to see it in action? Click on the link below - when the images come up, click on one and then use the play button to run as a slideshow or the arrow keys down the bottom to go to each image. You can even try out the share and contact buttons as well! If you send it to your iPhone, the first time you open it you will receive instruction on how to add it to your homescreen...and from there, it is always available!

Tamia and Nyah Limited Edition Fairy Session

Noah and Jett Limited Edition Granddad's Garage Session

So give it a go! And don't forget to tell me what you think of it. Personally I think it is a fantastic, new way to share your kids portraits with friends and family and have them available on something that you have with you ALL the time - your phone. And then there is that other thing - it is really, really cool!

Tell me what you think!

Cheers
Alicia.

Melinda's Maternity Portrait.

Melinda is one of those special people. You know the ones, those people that just make you happy to be around them? Yep, she is one of those. She has the most fantastic big, happy smile that you seriously cannot help but smile too - and she has a great sense of humour and a willingness to step out of her comfort zone and throw herself into trying new things with sense of fun and abandon.

So, it was all of those fantastic attributes that came together to make Melinda's Maternity Portrait so good. It was fun for all of us and I love Melinda's portraits - I know it sounds dumb but I feel like we really captured "Melinda". And she is beautiful. Inside and out.