We wanted to extend a big welcome to our newest Their First Year portrait club member- Lillian Carollo.  Lillian was born on July 4th at _ in the morning in San Antonio.  She weighed in at _ pounds, _ ounces and was _ inches long.  She is welcomed by her father John, her mother Marli, her big brother Robert, and many friends and family.We cannot wait to see this sweet little girl grow up in front of the camera!

*Portrait with this blog is “Held, So Loved” (a favorite from Lillian’s newborn session a couple of weeks ago).

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT THE BENEFITS OF OUR PORTRAITS CLUBS, PLEASE VISIT THE SAVINGS PAGE OF THE WEBSITE!

I just got back from a Children and Family Photographers of America’s conference.  It was a four-day conference, jam-packed with information on working with children, photography workflow, controlling and experimenting with light, and marketing.  I took pages of notes and can’t wait to implement some of the ideas.

I also participated in the print competition they held.  “Flower Girl” received an above average rating from the judges; “Expectant Beauty” got an above average rating from the judges and received first place in the maternity category of the people’s choice awards (from my peers); and from the judges, “Darling Doll” received merit!  I was thrilled!

*Attached are “Flower Girl,” “Expectant Beauty,” and “Darling Doll.”

I want to tell you about this wonderful book club that my daughters have loved being part of for the past two years.  It is Etta’s Book Club and it is especially for girls around 8 to 12 yrs old.  Heather Bohman of Boerne started this club to encourage girls to read more by making it a fun experience and a parents/child experience.  Every other month the girls receive a box in the mail that includes the book selection AND a craft or activity that ties into the book AND a charm to go on the bracelet they receive upon joining AND a scrapbook page to add to their scrapbook on which they write their own review of the book AND a newsletter with a letter from Etta, tips for parents to help them discuss the book with their daughter and much more. 

More information can be found at  ettasbookclub.com and by watching SA Living on WOAI (ch.4) on Wed, July 30th at 10am when Etta’s will be a feature story. 

Ms Bohman was honored to be part of the Christamore Guild of Indianapolis, IN, annual extravaganza along with five award-winning authors, including Cokie Roberts. 

I have been so impressed with the outstanding quality of every kit we have received.  I am hoping that many more girls can find this fun club and either learn to love reading or just enjoy interaction with other girls like themselves at the semi-monthly optional meetings.

*Portrait is “still untitled” (one of the many favorites from Marlin and Michelle’s maternity session taken during our maternity model search).

THANKS to everyone for voting for us as your favorite photographer in The Boerne Star’s Best of the Best contest!  We won silver again this year!  It’s an honor to be recognized the last four years in a row.

*Attached portrait is “Expectant Beauty” (my favorite portrait of Hillary from her maternity session during our maternity model search).

We wanted to extend a big “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” to one of our Watch Me Grow portrait club members- Madison Seamans.  Madison celebrates her sixth birthday this month, and we hope she has a wonderful day filled with lots of fun and laughter!  Happy birthday, Madison!

*We’re awaiting her session.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT THE BENEFITS OF OUR PORTRAITS CLUBS, PLEASE VISIT THE SAVINGS PAGE OF THE WEBSITE!

I got my haircut this morning.  Not just any haircut- oh no!  I got ten inches trimmed off.  The summer’s too hot, I was pulling it back too much, Evan had begun tugging at it, so it was time.

So I made the quick trip over to Tim Barefoot at Main Hair Studio, and I let him work his magic.  Just as he did for me five years ago after Ben was born, I was again thrilled with the results.

And the icing on the cake is that I had enough length to donate to Locks of Love.  If you have not heard of this cause or if you’d like more information about what they do, please check out their website.  What a beautiful way to help a child dealing with cancer- to give them the gift of their hair back.

Are you a business owner that is also a Chamber member?  If so, we want to let you know that we’re participating in the new member-to-member discount program.

Why not take advantage of the program and set up a session with us?  With every paid session you’ll receive a FREE gift print (an 8×8, 8×10, 8×12, or 10×10), which are each valued at $37.  As always, no minimum print purchase is required.

*Portrait is “Family Fun” (my favorite portrait from Dale, Deelaina, and Garrett’s session earlier this summer).

I can’t believe it is nearly 6 mos. since I joined Amy at Shutter-Happy!  I have had so much fun “meeting” Amy’s wonderful clients on the phone and then seeing their beautiful children and families after their sessions are over.  I was able to personally benefit from Amy’s talents when she photographed my four daughters in February.  Now all their faraway grandparents have beautiful portraits of them in their homes, and I have a unique pendant necklace in black and white that I love to wear especially when we aren’t together. 

I have been very impressed with the fun Limited Edition sessions that we have done during this time.  The Easter pictures with the bunnies were so charming, and the Blue Bonnet sessions were so uniquely Texan–and unique for seeing a blue blonnet patch at all this spring!!  Kudos to Amy for thinking ahead and creating a wildflower patch at the studio!

The summer is flying by quicker than ever for me.  Before we know it we will be back in school and tucking early Christmas purchases away in our favorite hiding places!  if you are planning to take portraits of your children or your family this summer or fall, now is the time to get on the calendar.  The studio hours are Monday through Friday evenings 6pm to 9pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 9pm.  We can book you now to guarantee you get the time slot that works for your family. 

Thank you to everyone who has recommended us to friends who have become clients.  We hope that you have enjoyed your thank you gift certificates (if you haven’t used yours yet, don’t forget to call and we’ll get you in). 

I look forward to watching your families grow up over the years.  There is nothing more precious or important on this earth than what we do, teach, create within the walls of our homes.  I  feel blessed to be able to work with Amy to capture even a tiny moment of the beautiful families and lives you are all creating.

God bless,  Alice

*Portrait is “Sweet Baby” (a favorite portrait from Hadley’s newborn session).

I did it again- I got Nathan behind the camera to photograph me.  The first time?  That was my maternity session.  And I loved the results of that.  So now I got him in the camera room again to photograph me with my new son.  Again, the results are gorgeous.  And I just had to share them with you here since I can’t put them on the site.  Here’s a few of the sweet moments we captured…

Well, we finally decided on a new slogan for Shutter-Happy.  We’re moving from “Real-Life Children’s and Family Portraits” to…

“Celebrating Childhood, Celebrating Families”

Thanks so much to client Lori O’Connor of San Antonio who provided us with the idea for this slogan as part of our contest we started back in March.  As a thank you, we are presenting her family with a free session and a free wall portrait of any size to suit their home.  CONGRATS, Laurie!

*Accompanying portrait is simply “Family” (a favorite of mine from Jeff, Danielle, and Caitlyn’s session at the creek earlier this summer).

Texas Professional Photographers Association’s annual summer conference in Kerrville took place earlier this week.  While I was unable to attend any of the seminars, I did take part in the print competition.  All three prints scored an above average rating- 75, 75, and 77.

*Attached are my entries- “Bluebonnet Beauty,” “Morgan Shine,” and Darling Doll.

We wanted to extend a big “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” to one of our The First Year portrait club members- Leah Lira.  Leah celebrated her first birthday last week, and we hope she had a wonderful day filled with lots of fun and laughter!  Happy birthday, Leah!

*Portrait with blog is “Big Girl Birthday!” (a favorite from her birthday session).

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT THE BENEFITS OF OUR PORTRAITS CLUBS, PLEASE VISIT THE SAVINGS PAGE OF THE WEBSITE!

While I was pregnant, we gave away free portrait sessions and free prints to three lucky members of the community who agreed to be maternity models for us.

Now that our new son is here, we want to celebrate babies.  So again we are giving away sessions and prints- to a few lucky newborn models…

We’re looking for new babies, seven days or younger whose parents will allow us to use their images in ads, on our walls, and on the website.  If you might be interested in helping us with this newborn project, please give us a ring.

As a thank you, you will receive the session for FREE!  You will also receive a free album print for every image we decide to use on the website.  And if we display any of your images as a wall portrait, you will also receive a wall portrait of your image.

*Portrait with blog is “Bundled” (a favorite from Jamie’s newborn session).

MODEL SEARCH IS OVER.  WE PHOTOGRAPHED THREE BEAUTIFUL BABIES, WHICH PROVIDED US WITH MANY GORGEOUS PORTRAITS TO CHOOSE FROM FOR SAMPLES.

We have been blessed with another big, beautiful baby boy!

Evan Christopher Anderson was born on Tuesday, June 10th.  He weighed in at 9 pounds, 5 ounces and measured 20.75 inches long.  He is all filled out, plump, and just gorgeous.

*Attached is a collage of Evan’s newborn portrait session.

We wanted to extend a big “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” to one of our The First Year portrait club members- Cody Smith.  Cody celebrated his first birthday last week, and we hope he had a wonderful day filled with lots of fun and laughter!  Happy birthday, Cody!

*We’re awaiting a portrait from Cody’s birthday session.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT THE BENEFITS OF OUR PORTRAITS CLUBS, PLEASE VISIT THE SAVINGS PAGE OF THE WEBSITE!