Preschool Photos with Julia

LET’S GET READY FOR PRESCHOOL PHOTOS
April 17, 2024

It’s almost Preschool Photo season!  Starting the end of this month I will visit six different preschools and photograph around 520 kids under the age of five.  I’m doing my squats to get ready because there’s a ton of getting up and down with preschoolers!  It’s a wild time, but I LOVE it!

I’ve been doing preschool photos long enough that some of my former preschoolers are coming to me for senior photos.  So trust me, I’ve seen a LOT of little ones with all kinds of different personalities.  My goal with school photos is always the same- to get great photos in a fun, stress free environment and I’m really serious about the stress free part!!!  Picture Day shouldn’t be stressful for kids, teachers, school administration, or parents.   

So if I’m coming to your child’s schools, here’s a picture day secret that might surprise you.  I always get better pictures of kids when their parents are not there.  I make sure picture day is not stressful.  Kids come out to play and in between having fun with their friends I spend a quick moment with each child.  Every kid gets a turn, and it’s so much fun kids are often begging to be next. So even if your child is shy or sometimes nervous, it’s not a problem.  Drop them off and take off.  Don’t worry; Picture day will be a blast!  

Sometimes Picture Day is scheduled on a day that your child doesn’t usually attend their preschool.  If that happens and you need to bring your child in for their picture, just send your kid over to play with their friends and relax on a bench nearby.  If for some reason I need help from you or a teacher, I’ll let you know.  But it’s almost always easier to get that beautiful, authentic smile you are hoping for when I have a one-on-one moment with your kiddo.  That’s great news for everyone- better pictures and you get a moment to relax! 

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about picture day.  I can’t wait to see your little one this spring!    

Visit my FAQ page for more information about Preschool Photos and/or send me an email if you are interested in getting your preschool on my 2025 calendar.

Don't Let This Happen To You

DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU
March 5, 2025

Does this sound familiar: It’s early November, and it suddenly occurs to you that you should send out a holiday card, only to remember you don’t have any updated family photos? You look at your completely packed calendar and realize your family will never be in the same place at the same time until… January! If you’re lucky, maybe you find an hour here or there that would work to squeeze in photos between kid activities, but then you’ll likely be confronted by another unfortunate reality: by then my schedule is also jam packed (just like every other photographer’s that time of year). Now you are having a panic attack! You spend hours looking through your phone hoping you can find just one photo with everyone in it. Then you spend even longer trying to think of something witty to say about the fact that your youngest child is picking his nose in this photo or that your oldest’s head is completely cut off. So much stress and you are still unhappy with the end result.

Skip the panic attack this year and
schedule your family photos NOW!

That way you’ll have plenty of dates to choose from and time to reschedule if something comes up or someone gets sick. Plus, everyone will enjoy your family photo session, because your nerves won’t be on edge. Then when you finally remember the holiday card thing—because let’s face it, we are ALWAYS going to procrastinate on that one—at least you’ll already have photos ready. And in case you can’t already feel your stress melting away, I have even more good news for you!

Take advantage of my FLASH SALE and Book your 2025 session before March 19th and you’ll get $100 off your session! Less stress, great family photos, and savings! Use the link below to book your 2025 session now. Seriously, don’t walk away from your computer. Do it right now!

Tips for Organizing Your Digital Photos

Tips for Organizing Your Digital Photos
January 16, 2025

In the age of digital photography we have all become photo hoarders. It’s so easy to take photos and so cheap to store them, so we have millions of photos! Unfortunately most of them live in a digital space that quickly becomes so cluttered that it is really hard to find the photos that you love.

This blog post is about giving you some helpful tips to tame the chaos so you can save what really matters and trash the rest.  These tips will makes it easier to get your photos off your photo and into albums or onto your walls. 

Stop trying to catch up and just start with today
When you are trying to organize your photos, it’s easy to want to start at the place you left off.  But if you made your last photo album five years ago, digging through 5 years of photos is going to feel overwhelming and you’ll probably quit almost immediately.  So just start with today.  From this point on, use some of these tips to keep your photos organized.  You can tackle that other stuff later, but start by establishing some good routines in the present.

Make a 2025 folder on your phone and put photos in there as you go
It’s a new year and the perfect time to build a new habit, so create a “2025” folder on your phone right now. After you take a photo you absolutely love, put it in that folder immediately. The goal here is to be able to pull up this folder at the end of the year and just put those photos into an album without sorting through anything else.

Be selective about what you put in your 2025 folder
If you want your 2025 Folder to save you time, you have to be pretty selective about your favorites.  Here’s a helpful guideline for you. When I make a Year in the Life album for clients I usually put 80-120 photos in there.  That gives a good sample of what the family did over the year without it being super overwhelming to look through. So if you plan on making an album at the end of the year, keep on an eye on the number of photos in your 2025 folder.  If you get to the end of February and you already have 60 photos in there, you are NOT being selective enough. Adding 8-10 photos to your folder each month is perfect!

Pick your favorite and delete the rest
We often take multiple photos of the same thing as we work to get a photo of everyone looking at the camera or the action shot at just the right moment.  This means we have tons of photos of the same thing.  Right after you finish taking them, pick your favorite and delete the rest.  This one is really hard for people because you’ll probably have multiple photos you like.  But they really aren’t that different.  Just pick one! Having all these variations on your phone will just be overwhelming later.  

Make Individual Folders for Trips or Events
There are definitely events in our life that justify more photos, like trips or events.  Don’t put those into your 2025 folder because that will fill up your folder super fast and make your organization system more confusing. Make a separate folder for these trips or special occasions. The goal is to be able to take all the photos in each folder and make a photo album without any additional culling or sorting. This is all about building routines so we can organize as we go. You can always combine folders later, but separating them out is a MUCH harder process.

Start a tradition that will force you to print your photos
We are most likely to print our photos when it is part of an established routine.  A prime example of this is the holiday card.  Tons of people who never print any other photos will make a holiday card because that is just part of their routine.  If you can start other traditions that will force you to print photos it will help you stay on top of organizing and printing your photos.  Here’s one tradition that I’ve found easy to maintain over the years- The Birthday Poster.    

Lots of people make some sort of photo display for their kid’s first birthday. I just kept going with this idea and make a birthday poster for my kids every year. Each of my girls has a 16x20 “birthday poster frame” that hangs in our house year round. Then at their birthday, I replace the old photos with a new one. I just have to gather 8-12 photos each year and pop them into my template. It’s easy and manageable and my kids LOVE it! They look forward to seeing their new birthday poster each year. But more importantly, I love that I can stay on top of this routine without any extra stress. Plus when my girls turn 18 I can put all the birthday posters into an album and see their development over the years.

Life is crazy, I totally get it. So find easy ways to integrate organizing and printing your photos into your routine. That will make sure it actually happens.

All the Fun and NONE of the Stress

All the FUN and NONE of the Stress
December 13, 2024

Enrollment for the 2025 Year in the Life Experience is now open. I designed this experience based on what I want as a parent, so I know it’s perfect for busy families! Watch this video to learn more about what went into the design process and why you’ll love having your family memories captured in this way.

Use the button below to complete an interest form and I’ll get back to you with lots of information. Space is limited so I’ll be offering Year in the Life contracts to families based on the order I receive your interest form. I cannot wait to start this incredible journey with you and your family!

If you have any questions or want to schedule a coffee date to learn more about how this works, please get in touch with me.

What is a Storytelling Session?

What is a Storytelling Session?
March 8, 2024

A Storytelling Session is all about spending quality time with your families. Instead of thinking about your session as photos, think about it as doing a fun activity with your family and the photos will just naturally happen during the outing. But why would you hire a photographer for something like this?

Great question! It is SOOO hard to be the parent and the photographer at the same time. I’ve tried…many, many, many times! You miss the moment you want to photograph because your kid needs your help or you miss the opportunity to celebrate with your kid after an exciting moment because you were taking the photo. You are constantly being pulled in multiple directions and it feels like you are always just a second too late for both the photo opportunity and the parenting moment. Plus, you will never capture the complete story because you won’t be in the photos. And your presence is a HUGE part of your children’s memories. Seeing you in their photos matters!

During a Storytelling Session you get to be completely present in the moment, you get amazing photos that include the whole family, and I’ll take care of everything for you. I’ll even provide activity recommendations based on your family’s interests. Imagine how great it will feel to spend a wonderful afternoon with your family and then get a beautiful album full of precious memories without doing a thing! Your ONLY job is to have fun with your family.

You can do anything during a Storytelling Session, but these sessions are perfect for really active, hands-on, or messy activities. These are the memories we love but are so hard to take photos of while you are actively involved in them.

I just went biking with a family during a storytelling session last weekend! I kept thinking about how much I love biking with my own family. But of course I don’t have photos of us biking together, because as a parent my primary concern is for the safety of my own kids. I can’t take photos and look out for my kids’ safety at the same time. But as the photographer tagging along with another family, I could bike ahead or let the family pass me so that I got photos that included all the context that is important to the story. I could take photos while I was biking because I wasn’t also pulling a kid on a tag along bike. And most importantly I could get photos of the whole family in their line of bikes, which you cannot get if you are trying to do photos yourself. I cannot emphasize enough how happy it will make you feel to see photos of your whole family doing something you love together.

As many of my clients can attest, I am up for ANYTHING! If it’s important to you, I’ll find a way to photograph it. I’ve taken photos while boating, in the pool, on ice skates, riding a bike, on the sledding hill… My clients’ kids think I’m crazy and I love that. Capturing these adventurous moments is so exciting and giving your kids an album full of unique memories is worth the investment!

You can book a storytelling session here or contact me with any questions you have. I can’t wait to go on an adventure with you and your family!