Winners!...and more

I finally convinced my oldest daughter to come back home on Thursday afternoon. She had a blast at my sister's house and was completely exhausted when she arrived home! After a day to recover, I had the girls go about choosing the winners of the Fresh Faces campaign. Here they are:

Grace's Choice...

This is Carter at FAO Schwartz in New York. Grace was just amazed at the number of legos used to build Spongebob...and Carter was pretty cool too. :) Carter has won a free session (in August or Sept.) and a free 11x14 print!

Then it was Claire's turn to pick. I had the photos in a slideshow so we could scroll through them and before I even turned on the slideshow Claire noticed this picture at the bottom of the screen. She squealed, "That's me...I pick that one!" I encouraged her to watch the slideshow anyway and then she saw baby Oliver and insisted that she was picking him too. It's just like Claire to insist on two when you ask her to pick one, so I just went with it. So there are two second place winners:
This is Leah (she does look a little like Claire, don't you think)


And this is sweet, baby Oliver:

Both Leah and Oliver will receive a free 11x14 when they complete a 2008 session. Congrats!

And finally is was Stella's turn. Her pointing indicated to us that she's a sucker for a boy all dressed up. :) She choose this cutie named John Foster:

John Foster wins a free 8x10 with a completed 2008 session.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered!! We had a blast looking at all the cute kids and remember, EVERYONE who entered (and didn't win) still receives a free 5x7 with a completed 2008 session!

And now on to some of my own photos. People often ask me what to wear to family sessions and I usually recommend a couple of options. This weekend I had sessions who happened to illustrate those options nicely!

This family dressed their adorable daughter in a print dress and then they all wore solid clothing that complimented the dress. Don't you think it looks so nice...I do!

The beautiful sisters:



This daddy and daughter just stole my heart together. He called her his little "chalupa" which I thought was adorable..and look at the love on her face for her daddy.


This weekend I also traveled all the way to Banner Elk to photograph this lovely family in honor of the dad's birthday (I think he was turning 29 :) Their clothing represented another option very well, which is to dress in the same color combo but vary the cut and style of the clothing. They were all in denim and white, but there was still plenty of variation there.

This family began when these two crazy kids fell in love:

They had three kids...they're all two years apart so I'll just let you guess which birth order.


And now they have this beautiful extended family, including adorable little Grant:


I had so much fun hanging out with them at their mountain cabin, with the highlight of the trip being perching everyone atop the mountain peak for this shot. A beautiful and loving group in a breathtaking spot!


Whew...that was one long post. If you made it all the way through, thanks for hanging in there and leave me a comment or two to let me know you were here!

Contest update and recent work

Due to unusual circumstances, I will be extending the contest until the end of the week. Now what unusual circumstances might that be, you ask? Well, I sent my oldest daughter to spend the night with my mom. She was then "stolen" by my sister who is holding her hostage with the promise of bible school, staying up late, junk food, and fun with her cousins! Seriously, my sister calls me and says "We'll call you when she gets homesick." Soooooo, she is not here to choose the grand prize winner and therefore I will continue to take more entries until Friday, June 27th at 12 noon.

If you ran out of time to snap a photo or didn't hear about the contest in time, now is your chance to enter! Just scroll down and read the post that gives the rules and email me a photo of your little cutie to julie@uppercasephotography.com . Thanks so much to all of those who have entered already. I have really enjoyed seeing all of the adorable faces in my emails (and I am glad I am not the one picking!!).

For those of you who are longtime blog readers, you have watched our youngest daughter Stella grow up over the past year. She celebrated her first birthday over the weekend with a pool party and lots of fun. She loved her cake and made quite a mess! We took her out yesterday for a few photos to mark the occasion of her birthday. She has the most horrific case of "photographer's child syndrome" (meaning she is so over being photographed) so she only gave us a few before she refused to look at me anymore no matter how silly I acted. But I do love the ones she was gracious enough to give me:




And here are a few from a couple of recent sessions at Tanglewood. All of these children were so sweet and adorable, it was truly my pleasure hanging out with them and taking photos. Some of the most cooperative clients ever, especially for their ages!

This is Dree, who is turning two in a few weeks:





This is Seth and Grace, ages 6 and 1:

Enter the Contest....Win Free Stuff!

Hi Everyone. Just a reminder, you have until Friday night to email me a photo of your child or children for the blog contest. I have received some entries but I would love more, more, more people to enter! Just to clarify, ANYONE who has not had a session in 2008 may enter. If you had a session last year or previously, you are welcome to enter. If you have never had a session, you are also welcome to enter.

Remember, this is not a "cutest kid" contest. My children will be picking the winners (which is about as random as it gets) so anyone has a chance to win.

First prize is a free session and a free 11x14 print. Second prize is a free 11x14 print when you complete a 2008 session. Third prize is a free 8x10 print when you complete a 2008 session. If you enter, but don't win-- you will still receive a free 5x7 when you complete a 2008 session!

See the post below for the "official rules"

So enter your own children (ages 0-18) and then email your friends and family so they can enter as well!

As since I'm blogging, here are a few from recent sessions. I still have more recent stuff to share from the past couple of days...so stay tuned for those.

More twin girls--how lucky am I to get more twin babies to photograph:






This sweet girl came for a newborn session and is back now that she is three months old. She was such a doll and even slept for a few sweet baby shots!




And this handsome two year old had his long locks cut off on the day of the session. I told mom I thought she was brave to tackle a haircut and a photo session in one day!

Fresh Faces Campaign

Hi everyone! Don't you think it's time for a contest? I do!

Here it is: This contest is going to be dedicated to finding fresh faces for UpperCase, so we're going to call it the "Fresh Faces Campaign." Here's how it works--I am looking for a fresh new face to use on my website and marketing materials and that face could be YOUR child.

Who can enter: This contest is open to people who have NOT had a session in 2008 already. If you've already had a session this year, forward a link to the blog on to your family and friends and they can enter. If they win, make them take you out to dinner or something! If you have more than one child you can enter each of them individually.

How to enter: To enter the "Fresh Faces" campaign email me a photo of your child (any age 18 or younger). I will choose finalists from the photos received and post them on the blog. From those finalists my three girls are each going to choose their favorite (I know, very scientific!) Grace's choice will be the 1st place winner, Claire's choice will be the 2nd place winner, and Stella's choice will be the 3rd place winner. With a 7, 3, and 1 year old choosing the winners--absolutely anyone has a chance of winning!!

When to enter: You can email the photo, the child's name (first name only will be posted on the blog), their age, and where they are from anytime between now and next Friday, June 20th at 11pm. The photo just needs to be a snapshot--I'm not looking for professional photos here--you'll get those when you win!

What will you win: First place will win a free session and 11x14 print! Second place will win a free 11x14 when they book a 2008 session. Third place will win a free 8x10 when they book a 2008 session. And get this--ANYONE WHO ENTERS will receive a free 5x7 print when they book a 2008 session!

The rules (yes, there have to be a few):
By submitting your child's photo for consideration, you agree that if you win you will sign a model release so that I may use the photos on my website or marketing materials. You also agree that the location for the winning session will up to the photographer and I will guide you in clothing choices for the session as well. The winner must book the free session within two weeks of winning and the session must take place during August or September 2008. Everyone who enters must also be willing to have the photo submitted posted on my blog if I choose. There, now that wasn't too bad was it!

So come on everyone, enter yourselves and then forward this along to all of your friends and family so they can enter as well. The kids are out for the summer and it's daylight outside until late, so I know you have the opportunity to snap a cute photo of your little cuties and email it on over! My email address is julie@uppercasephotography.com

And because a blog post just isn't proper without a photo or two, here is a fresh face from yesterday's session. This is what nine years old is looking like these days--isn't she lovely!

The Originals

This family were my very first "real" clients way back in 2006. I took photos of the two daughters and have since done photos of all of them several times. They recently moved to Salisbury, but we were able to meet up a Tanglewood this weekend for a family session. As you know if you stepped outside on Saturday, it was soooooo hot! The whole family hung in there as we captured what we could before we decided that we all needed a cold drink--and maybe a shower. :) But I think it was worth it--take a look at what we got:






Mother and Son--doesn't mom look gorgeous!


The Oldest:


The Middle One:


The "Baby:"


Belly laughs at dad--don't ask what he was doing because I'm sworn to secrecy. :)


Thanks to this family and to all of you for allowing me to have such a fun job!

Now it's off to get everyone ready for Grace's dance recital tonight. It will take hours to get everyone bathed and prettied up (okay, and get the house presentable for Stella's babysitter to come over!) Sometimes it feels like such a chore to take her to dance every single week all year long--the dressing in the car after school, the entertaining of her sisters for an hour in the lobby each week, the purchase of countless sets of tights and shoes. But I must say, it is worth it to see it all come together for all the girls in the huge production each year at the Stephen's Center. I always get caught up in the innocence and beauty of the dancers up on the big stage. Hopefully, I'll share some pictures of our little dancer soon!

Sit...now Stay!

Both of these recent sessions resulted in parents saying "Sit here...now stay!" It worked about 50% of the time with both subjects, which is really a great percentage when your working with doggies and two year olds! :)

I was so excited to see Mr. Riley again. He was one of my original baby plan babies and now he is turning two! I couldn't believe how much he had grown since his last session at Christmas and he was saying all kinds of words too. We played with rocks and sticks and even got to see the train come by at Bethabara Park.

Peek-a-boo Riley:


And the other view :)


Riley's technique for dandelion blowing required removing lots of seeds from his mouth!


Picking flowers



Check out his deck shoes--how cute!


Muuwahh--a kiss for me!



I also recently had my first full "dogs only" session. Talah and Radar were so sweet (and hot, hence the panting tounges!). They were so much fun to hang out with and photograph at their home.

Best buddies:


I got a little doggie drool on me for this shot!


Do you see Radar's little smile :)



Talah has gorgeous eyes!


I hope all of you blog readers are doing great and enjoying the warm weather! I am gearing up for a summer full of sessions, including quite a few beach sessions, and fun family stuff as well. I am still booking appointments for July (a few left), August and beyond. I am also looking for a few upcoming high school seniors for senior portraits (and free stuff for them!). So if you know of any cool, hip rising seniors who would like my style of photography, pass along my email address.