Laura is a Junior and Waukee High School and was our first House Call of the season.  When we decided to offer House Calls (aka in-home sessions) to our senior portrait clients we hoped and expected that the homes would provide rich opportunities for more diverse and natural images that reflect the client’s personality.  In Laura’s case, we found exactly that.  Laura’s home is on two acres that includes a small wooden bridge crossing a creek.  This made for a great setting for some outdoor portraits.  And because it was close to home, it gave her a chance to grab some outdoor outfits she might not have thought to bring to our studio or another location.  Her bedroom was painted her favorite color (bright green) and provided a great setting for some casual portraits of her relaxing with her fashion magazines - one of the ways she spends her free time.  Even if she thought to bring a couple dozen fashion magazines to our studio, we would never be able to capture her as relaxed and at home as she was in her own bedroom - even if it did resemble a photo studio for a brief time.  Laura’s home also has a beautiful long window-lit hallway with a contemporary wooden backdrop at the end.  It was a great place to capture how beautiful she looked in her full length dress.  We’re really liking these house calls and hoping Laura likes her senior pictures.

Brittany and I accomplished a lot in a short senior portrait session.  She came prepared like a pro ready for fashion modeling, cheerleading, dancing, and even some casual modeling in her step-dad’s Boston Red Sox sweat shirt.  As a life-long New York Yankee fan it was hard to create a Red Sox themed image composite, but I worked through it because she was kind enough not to make fun of the music on my iPod.  You’re a beautiful young woman Brittany and we hope you like the images.

We didn’t know Kendra too well when she came in for her senior portrait session and thought perhaps she was a little on the shy side.  Boy were we wrong!  This was one of the most fun senior portrait sessions we have done and a great way to start off the season.  Kendra is a super model and athlete and quite a character.  She was scheduled to get her wisdom teeth out today so we had to work fast before she turned into a chipmunk.  We wish her a speedy recovery and hope she’ll be ready for an encore session soon.  Great work Kendra!

Photojeania is offering a limited number of free test sessions to select Des Moines area High School Juniors now through mid-April.  Test sessions allow us to try out new ideas and get feedback from potential clients.  Specifically, we are looking for athletes, musicians, and fashion-oriented High School Juniors to create dramatic and artistic multi-image composite prints.  Test session participants receive a complimentary two-hour session and complimentary prints from the session.  All we ask for in return is for two hours of your time, feedback from you and your friends on the images we provide, and the right to use the images for marketing purposes.  We also select our Senior Models from our test session participants.  Senior Models receive our top senior portrait session for free and can earn free prints and products representing our studio.

If you know a High School Junior (Class of 2009) who is active in sports, music, or fashion and has an interest in modeling, please encourage them to contact our studio and ask for Chuck or Jeannie.  There is a great demand for these sessions so interested students should call and schedule soon before they fill up.

888.482.5735

In February we were inspired to create fine art children’s portraits with a flower theme and just a touch of color and our friends and clients were eager to volunteer.  Our friend Danette Lynd designed the floral head dresses for us.  She is a very talented and experienced floral designer and is in the process of starting up a high-end floral design business aptly named “Fleur de Lynd”.  Here is what we came up with.  Please let us know what you think.

If you like this type of portraiture we will be offering children’s sessions for Glen Oaks Country Club members at their Easter Brunch on Sunday and we will also be offering to the public at the Clive Festival Portrait Contest in June to Des Moines area children ages 2-7.  Of course, you can always book a session with us in the mean time.  These portraits are great Mother’s Day gifts and would look great on a Gina Alexander Handbag.

The Waukee High School Dance team put on their 2nd Annual Spring Dance Show on Saturday as a finale to their tremendous season.  The show included a number of performances by the team, including their State Pom Championship routine, as well as joint performances with the cheerleading squad and some men in black.  There were three performances by the kids who participated in the clinic earlier in the day and a guest appearance by team of dancing cows.  The night was capped off by a very entertaining daddy-daughter dance with a 70’s theme.

I can’t put to words how impressed Jeannie and I were with how well these girls dance.  They clearly have a lot of talent, strong work ethic ( all those 6AM practices paying off), a great coach, and supportive parents.  We’re really proud of your success and wish all of you the best. 

We are so grateful that our girls could be a part of it.  Thank you.

Lindsay with two very proud parents.

Lindsay showing her moooves

Liza (with a Z) - a super performance by Lindsey (with an E)

Waukee High School Dance Team

Sorry for the cheap shot Abby, but your facial expressions are always priceless and we love watching you perform.

The really junior squad getting ready to perform

Steph in flight

Mackenzie in step

The Williams Twins - these girls are so inspiring, they deserve their own post in the blog. 

Madi Williams (I think)

Future Waukee Dancers: One of the dance routines taught in the dance clinic earlier in the day.

Allison and Lindsay showing their State Championship Pom Moves

Abby

The Finale

Not your typical Daddy-Daughter Dance

Three guesses which Village People song they were dancing to

Jessica’s first performance since knee surgery in September.  Great to see you back!

Wondering if these costumes are from the 70’s or The Matrix?

On Saturday our girls had the great opportunity to participate in a dance clinic put on by the Waukee High School Dance Team.  The team taught a different dance to three age groups of children so they could perform later that night in the School’s dance show (see upcoming post on the Waukee High School Dance Show).  The Waukee Dance Team team did a wonderful job teaching the kids and making it fun with Hannah Montana music and an occasional game.  Thanks for the opportunity ladies!

Allison, seasoned veteran, demonstrates how to dance without losing eye contact with the camera.

Many part time pop starts were in attendance.

Lindsey caught in a game of Dance Tag.

Head Coach and Disc Jockey Steph Guiter

Our Maddie succumbs to dance fever and is rescued by Claire.

Steph demonstrating how to stretch (or maybe just chill?).

Our “little terror” (a term of affection from her Aunt Gina) turned 5 last week and we celebrated her birthday with a pool party at the Comfort Suites in Clive.  What a great place for a party.  We have been to a number of pool parties there and it is always a good time - as long as you don’t wear a sweater (lesson learned from previous party) as the humidity is about 110%.  It was a nice break from a very long winter.  When the sun shone in you almost forgot it was 10 degrees out.

 
How many birthday girls do you know that request banana chocolate chip muffins instead of a birthday cake?

Small milestone: Lanie discovered she can keep her head underwater without plugging her nose.

We’re not sure if Lanie and Eric were overcome by the smell of chlorine or something else.

Look - no camera!

Maddie and her Montessori Childrens House girlfriends.

We are very proud to be able to offer handbags by Gina Alexander.  We have looked at a lot of photo handbags and these are by far the best we have seen.  Each bag is hand-crafted from the finest materials.  They are beautiful handbags on their own, but they are even more special when they include photos of your loved ones.  Even Chuck said he’d wear one if he were a woman.  Should I be worried?

To introduce these hand bags, we are offering Gina Alexander bags at a 25% discount to our customers who order a bag from a new or previous session before March 20th.  Orders placed by this date will be ready in time for Mother’s Day.  Also in time for Mother’s Day, we are offering Cift Certificates for any Gina Alexander Bag, including a portrait session, for $300.  These make great Mother’s Day gifts and allow Mom to arrange her portrait session and select the perfect bag at her leisure. 

For more information, please don’t hesitate to call me at 888.482.5735.

Enough talk about blogging - I’m finally doing it.  I love it already.

Chuck and I are so blessed to have a business we love and the support of great friends and we are looking forward to our blog adding a new dimension to the relationships we share with our friends and customers.

Since the holidays, Chuck and I have been traveling and learning and planning our next year in business and have some really exciting things to share with you in the coming months.  We will be introducing new ways to experience our studio and your images.  We will be announcing special events and programs designed to help strengthen our communities.  It’s going to be fun so we hope you check in with us from time to time and see what we’re up to.

I hope you will participate in our blog and tell us what you think and I encourage you to comment on the news and images that we post and share your own experiences with Photojeania.

Blog on!
Jeannie