A Trip into New York City!

One of our Christmas traditions is to take our boys into New York City to Macy's at Herald Square for a visit with the REAL Santa Claus! (Those who have seen Miracle on 34th St will know what I mean.) It is a very special trip and I look forward to it every year.

We start out by taking the train from the station in the town my parents live in. Christian rode the train for the first time last year, but he was only a couple of months old so he really missed out on the experience of it. However, this year, he really enjoyed it. And Ian always enjoys taking the train!


The Santaland at Macy's if phenomenal! The boys really enjoyed looking at everything and the pinnacle is getting to see Santa. (Ian asked for a Bicycle with 99 Rocket Jets on it. We'll have to see about that one! LOL When Santa asked Ian what Christian wanted for Christmas, Ian told him that Christian wanted a Bicycle with 2 Rocket Jets on it because he is just a baby.)



We got to enjoy a puppet show this year since we got to Santaland at the right time and didn't have a long line to wait in. Both boys really enjoyed the puppet show. Christian loves to cheer and clap when other people do.


And of course, the day always ends the same way...with 2 very tired little men! (And just a disclosure...half of these images were taken by Shan. I was manning the stroller through Santaland! LOL)



Now that is a great tradition! I hope you enjoy your favorite holiday traditions with your family.

Steph

Guess I should back up a little...

I just posted the images from Christian's first haircut and I realized that I never explained how he got the scar on his nose. So I thought I would backup and give you a little background on it.

When Shan and I were working at a wedding several weeks ago, Christian was in his rocking horse and Ian, our 4 year old, lifted the back of it to help Christian touch the buttons on the TV. He lifted it too high and it ended up flipping the rocking horse over and Christian caught his nose on the edge of the TV stand.

Callie came over and took Christian to the emergency room for us since we were in Cleveland and had no way of getting home fast enough to take care of him. He ended up needing 10 stitches! I was so glad that Callie was able to take care of him for us. She is truly like his 2nd Mommy!

Here is a before and after picture of Christian. (Please excuse the quality. I wasn't exactly working on quality for these, just something to have it documented! And Christian was in no mood to let me take his picture.)

So now you know the story. The scar is getting lighter and I am trying to do everything I can to keep it from being a permanent scar. If you have any tips, I would love to hear them!

Steph

First Haircut

Shan and I were able to enjoy Thanksgiving up in New Jersey with my parents. While we were up there, we took Christian, my 14 month old, to get his first haircut. Here are just a few images from that. It is amazing how much his look changed with just a haircut. Enjoy!

Congratulations Tony and Rachel!

Tony and Rachel were married at Old Stone Church on November 10th. The ceremony was very sweet and the couple and their bridal party were loads of fun! We rode with them around Cleveland in the party bus and had the opportunity to take pictures at the Cuyahoga County Courthouse, the waterfront near the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Old Arcade. It was a lot of fun. The reception was a great party and everyone seemed to have a great time!

Congratulations guys!
Steph

3rd Place!!!

The Fox 8 Cleveland Hot List Winners in the Photographer category were announced yesterday. And I am proud to say that 831 Photography took 3rd place!!! (Of course, being a competitive person, I really, REALLY wanted 1st place!!!) But 3rd place out of over 90 photographers is nothing to be ashamed of!

I was pleased to be in the top 3 with 2 other photographers in this area that I admire. I felt that we all deserved to win 1st place, but alas, that is the issues with competition. Only one can actually win.

Thank you to all of you who voted for us! We couldn't have done it without you!

Steph

Midwest Conference - What a Blast!!!

Last weekend, I had the honor to be asked to speak at a conference of photographers in Cincinnati, OH. This conference included photographers from across the Midwest (there were people from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and West Virginia there!) We had a great weekend shooting and sharing about our photography businesses. I thought I would share a few pictures with you.

This first one was one that we had seen elsewhere and knew we had to try it. The only way to get this shot is to throw the camera up in the air while it is on timer mode so that it goes off in the air. I had tried the first 3 tosses, but ended up cutting open my finger on the flash hot shoe of my camera (that metal part at the top that the flash slides onto). So my hubby, Shan, ended up doing the next 21 tosses to get the shot just right. (I am at the bottom in the middle in a sage green turtleneck.)


This is Lauren. She is 14 years old and was a model for us for the weekend. This was just a quick shot that I got of her when she was modeling for one of the seminars.



This is Liv. (Some of you may have seen here 2nd shooting for us at weddings) She came with us for the weekend to be a model. I think this shot should be titled "Homeless Diva Bride". LOL


Here is Lauren again giving some attitude.


Gotta love fisheye shots!


I didn't end up shooting very much this past weekend because I was working one on one with a lot of photographers and helping them to learn new tips and tricks about their cameras. It was very awesome to be teaching what I know to other photographers and knowing that by sharing my knowledge with them, they would cut so much time and so many headaches off their business growth.

We all had so much fun this past weekend, that we have already scheduled another one for April. It was great to get to know some new friends and to laugh! (If I get really brave, I will post some pictures of our night out at the Claddagh, the Irish Pub we went to. LOL)

I had a great time with everyone and thanks again for asking me to speak!

Steph