Right about the time we start thinking about Halloween, all Moms start stressing about Christmas. It’s not neccessarily all about the gifts and such, but merely everything we have to do to get prepared for Christmas: Greeting Cards, Turkey & more food, Church Functions, Family Gatherings, Holiday Work Parties, and more…the list goes on and on…
Custom Christmas Photo Sessions for children and families begin in November. Locations for sessions are at The Horseshoe and Riverfront Park. Sessions begin at $150 for mini session including CD of all high-resolution images for photo cards & printing. Additionally, we will have our 2010 Photo Cards ready to preview within the next week or so.
Here are last years Photo Cards.
So it’s my birthday tomorrow and I’m kind of excited. Not because I’m expecting gifts or stuff like that (I’m really not that material) but, because I’m looking forward to my 35+ years…as I’ve reached that next demographic:)
I certainly feel more comfortable in my skin at 35 than I did in my 20′s. Just hoping that I age gracefully…
Enough about me…ugh! My daughter used the word ‘similar’ today in a sentence and in the accurate context it should be used. She then ellaborated that we (my daughter & I) were similar. And, then I made a silent gasp. Not a gasp of surprise or anything like that, but one of pride.
Similar to taking a deep, deep breath for air. That explains my pride.
Amy McWatty Photography is participating in the International Charity Model Search to select North America’s Cutest Family and to raise funds for the non-profit Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation. (NILMDTS.org) Are your loved ones North America’s Cutest Family? We’ll give you the opportunity to prove it!
Many exciting prizes will be awarded, and the grand prize winner receives a new car!
Model Search Special: $50 entrance fee includes a 30-minute model session and one image submitted to the national gallery. Finalists will be determined by online votes. Each vote is $1 (no limit on the amount of votes you can cast), and all proceeds from votes benefit Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS.org). Grand prize international winner will be determined from the 52 city finalists. The winners will be selected from the finalist gallery by photography and modeling industry experts. The winning family also receives a session with the renowned portrait artist Sandy Puc’ and international recognition.
Call 803-361-7486 now to enter your family in this exciting contest.
*Contest open to residents of the US and Canada. For more information, visit http://sandypucmodels.com/.
Have you ever sat in silence thinking of what’s going on around you? My daughter’s sound asleep and I don’t get many moments like these, so I’m basking in it. But, the silence doesn’t feel that warm to me. Because when I stop and unwind, I begin to think about what’s going on in the world…and, all I can see in the background are images of our children. If Haiti had been the US would we had responded the same? Or are we just a product of selfishness and greed. It’s definitely something to think about. No matter where you stand politically, the situation in Haiti is beyond heart wrenching. I was chatting with a friend earlier today and we were trying to come up with the words to describe what’s going on over there and we came up with words like, pitiful, sad, heart wrenching, devastating, and many others. Yet, none of them seemed to describe the emotion we felt in our hearts, nor the sadness of those children left without a family, or loved ones who don’t know whether their people are alive or dead.
Choose to pull a little bit out of the coffee money, or whatever you splurge on each week. For me, it’s clothes. And NO it’s not clothes for ME! It’s clothes for my daughter. I almost cried last night as I was going through her closet to donate clothing my daughter’s outgrown, just thinking about the thousands of innocent, pure and loving children of Haiti, without a family, without clothing, yet still full of hope.
Here are several places you can give a gift of love to these precious people.
American Red Cross and designate Haiti Relief and Development
Max Lucado’s Message for Haiti Fundraising Efforts (Because I thought his perspective is much more representative of the Christian faith and this situation).
xoxo, Amy
My first Valentine Children’s Session is the last week of January. I can’t wait to create some of the sweetest most loving images of little ones this Valentines. Who’s complete without love, huh? I have to admit that my daughter has taught me so much about the ‘l’ word. I don’t even know if I really understood it fully until she came along. About an hour ago she started laughing uncontrollably at something that happened while I was bringing her dinner. At first I wanted to discipline her for being silly at the table, but then I remembered how precious these moments are. Not to mention that she’s been sick for days and me disciplining her for laughter after days of lethargy would be inhumane…
I’ll be hosting Valentine Photo Sessions until Valentine’s. If you’re interested just send me an email. Personalized Valentine Cards are great for your child to give to their friends. I’ve been working on ours and I can’t wait to finish so you can see the result. For the past 3 years I’ve customized Valentine Cards for my daughter with images of her and things she enjoys, etc. I hope she thinks fondly of that later, lol.
xoxo, Amy
Before reading, please pardon my hyperlink drama…my Wordpress system isn’t working the way it normally should, i.e. allowing you to see the name of the site instead of the full blown website. Anyway, I thought this post was well deserved before I was able to wrap my hands around my dilemma.
Real story starts [now]!
There are so many people who need help today due to unfortunate circumstances. It’s a visceral feeling when you consider how fortunate some of us are to even have a roof over our head. Yet, all too often, we’re so focused on our selfish needs that we ‘fail’ to realize what our ‘true’ needs are. I minimized my computer screen and googled the definition of ‘need’, and as it turns out…the meaning is necessity. The question I have for myself is, “What does necessity mean to my family”? That’s when I stumbled upon http://www.cristinacocophoto.com/blog/a-visit-to-safehouse/.
The sincerity, courage and love for humanity shared in this message resonated with me.
I encourage you to go online to http://www.safehouseoutreach.org/ and see for yourself what they’re all about to get a true picture. For more reading visit http://learningtolivelove.blogspot.com/.
Just imagine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_RVZgf1frM
In 1982, Ph
ilip Bray took to the streets to es and runaways in Atlanta, Ga. Inspired by his own experiences; he wanted to reach those who the church considered unreachable. A booth in a local hamburger restaurant became the headquarters for SafeHouse on Friday and Saturday nights. Within 6 months, over 200 volunteers came togethehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_RVZgf1frMr with manpower and compassion and began reaching out to anyone in need. Soon Safehouse outgrew the booth and moved to a storefront off Peachtree Street. They held church service at midnight on Friday nights and became known within the city as a place where the unreachable could come for assistance. This was the beginning of Safehouse becoming a full service community development organization.
I can hardly believe that we’re about to jump into Year 2010. It is my sincere wish that 2010 brings hope, promise and love to many people, and especially those who faced such a challenging 2009.
My gift of Love for 2010 includes a new project called -Vintage Valentine – where I’ll be hosting ‘vintage – inspired’ sessions for girls and boys this Valentine’s. Since this is new, I’ll give you and idea of where I’m going with this. Think white ruffled dresses and little girl bonnets. A Radio Flyer filled with flowers. Little girls and boys playing jump rope. Babies dressed as cherubs. Flower bouquets. Complete with an old, red stool amidst beautiful greenery.
Each session will be curtailed to your child. We’ll discuss the look we’re going for and all plans will be made prior to our session.
These are just a couple photographs I’ve found that motivate me for this project. I can’t wait for it to begin and I look so forward to working with your little ones.
This year has been so tremendous in terms of meeting new families and friends. I am so blessed to have met the people that have come into my life because of photography. 
