Fairy Tale Photography

Top Images of Babies Under 1. Fairy Tale Photography Studios

2010-01-20T10:49:00.002-06:00

2009 was an amazing year for Fairy Tale Photography Studios! We met some great families and had the pleasure of photographing some of the most memorable moments in their lives. These next few blog posts are our favorite images from our 2009 sessions. We had the hardest time picking out the top images! There were just SO many to choose from! I hope you all enjoy our favorite images from this past year! We can't wait to work with you all again in 2010!

Top Images of Kids 1+ years old. Fairy Tale Photography Studios

2010-01-20T10:47:00.000-06:00

Top Professional Images of 2009. Fairy Tale Photography Studios

2010-01-20T10:43:00.001-06:00

Top Family Images of 2009. Fairy Tale Photography Studios

2010-01-20T10:40:00.000-06:00

Top Senior Images of 2009 Fairy Tale Photography Studios

2010-01-20T10:36:00.002-06:00

Top images of 2009!

2010-01-20T10:07:00.003-06:00

We had SUCH a great year in 2009! Looking back on all of our sessions, there were a few that definitely stood out. I had a hard time keeping it to a specific number of images per session type so there are more favorites for some sessions than others. Without further ado, here are our top images of 2009!!

Engagements:

Weddings:

We are SO looking forward to our 2010 wedding season!

2009-11-24T16:37:00.001-06:00

2009 has been a very successful year for Fairy Tale Photography! We have met a ton of new people and had the pleasure of photographing some of the happiest moments of their lives! From a couple’s wedding day to the birth of a beautiful baby, we are all about celebrating and remembering the moments and feelings of those days. We are definitely looking forward to more of the same in 2010! We just wanted to update all of you on some of the new products, new services and new policies.

We already have a very busy 2010 wedding season of approximately 9 weddings. A lot of our weddings are scrunched at the beginning of the summer (May and June) and we have 2 in October. Because of this, expect delays in any portrait sessions that may happen during this time. I will be doing my best to try to keep up but working full time, taking care of a toddler and trying to get editing done doesn’t always go so smoothly.

We are also starting to offer some brand spankin’ new products that I think you will all REALLY love! Our newest product is Custom Photo Jewelry. This is SO cool! Waterproof pendants, earrings and bracelets with YOUR favorite pictures on them! We have pendants that start at $50 and go up to $150. The bracelets are a bit more spendy but just ADORABLE! I am getting one of the pendants for myself for Christmas! So excited about these!

On top of the custom photo jewelry, we will now be offering some awesome custom photo leather products including purses, men’s & women’s wallets, & clutches. These are absolutely gorgeous! We will soon have some sample products in studio. Prices start at $30 and go up to $300. We are so excited to start offering these products. I mean, who wouldn’t want an adorable picture of their son or daughter or even a wedding picture on your wallet, purse or on a leather key fob? I feel the same way about the jewelry. I wanted to start offering these products because as a mom, they are things that I want of my own kid.

Some of our other new offerings include 4x4 Brag books of 20-30 of your favorite session images in a leather bound book! They even have funky leather colors including Hot Pink, Lime Green, Red & Navy Blue. We also have traditional leathers including Black, White & Brown. This would be perfect gift for both Mom and Grandma! It’s the perfect size to pop in your purse so you always have it with you. Other new products include a custom calendar with 20-30 of your session images spread throughout your entire year! It is a 5x7 hardcover book with lay-flat pages. We also offer it in a 5x5 size. One more product isn’t really a ‘new’ product, just a grouping of current items. We are offering canvas groupings! Do you have an empty wall that you need to fill? The canvas groupings would be perfect! They are groups of 3-4 canvases that go together in a nice grouping on your wall. You pick the sizes, you pick the pictures!

One more ‘new’ thing we are doing is called a Bonus Schedule. A bonus schedule is an incentive program that offers a percentage off certain products when you hit specified price points. Our bonus schedule starts at $250. If you spend $250 or more, you get 10% off a whole host of items including our new Jewelry line and our Custom Leather products! Here is a list of our Bonus Items: Canvas Groupings, Gallery Wraps, Calendar Products, Custom Leather Products, Gift Prints (prints 8x10 and smaller), Brag Books, Photo Jewelry, Framed Prints and Digital Images. As you hit higher price points ($500, $750 and $1000) you get more percentage off! The more you spend, the more you save! For example, if you spend $1000 or over, you get 50% off ANY of our bonus items!

Our new policies will go into effect as of January 1, 2010. Some of them are for weddings only and some for portrait sessions only.

Wedding only NEW policies are as follows:
•Galleries will be up for 90 days after image edits are complete for you and your family to order from. After the gallery has expired, there will be a $100 re-upload fee.
•Booking fees for weddings will now be $500. This must be paid in order to hold your wedding date and will go towards the final total of your wedding collection.
•If you do not sign a contract at your initial consult, your wedding day will be held for 10 days. If a contract is not received within those 10 days, your date will be released.

Portrait only NEW policies are as follows:
•Galleries will be up for 14 days after image edits are complete for you and your family to order from. After the gallery has expired, there will be a $50 re-upload fee.
•All portrait sessions will be signing a contract describing our policies and the services you will be receiving. You will receive a copy of this contract either by mail or email. You may request the contract ahead of time or they may be downloaded from our website.
•If you are a repeat client, you will sign for each session, but only retain a copy of the original contract, unless there are changes made.

There will be 5 mini-session dates per year. One or two ‘sets’ for each day. (March 6th for Easter, May 8th for 4th of July, September 25th for Fall/Halloween, October 23rd for Christmas, November 6th for Christmas.) Location of sessions will depend on first session booked and/or our scheduling. If there is a demand for both Dubuque and Des Moines sessions, we will open up a 2nd day/location for any of our mini-sessions. Mini Sessions will not be offered at any other time.

We will not be actively seeking seniors for our Senior Rep Program this year. However, we will take senior appointments if we are contacted about doing them. We may start this program again in the future.

As an FYI, the studio will be closed for almost two weeks in July as we are finally going on a vacation! We will be gone July 8-13th. During this time I will be monitoring emails, but will probably not be responding. If it is an emergency, my phone will be on and unless I’m busy, I will be answering it. I’m hoping to be spending a ton of time by the ocean, shopping with my family and eating at my favorite restaurants!

I am also looking for any Des Moines brides of ours who are looking to earn some of their wedding package, or earning print credit, by watching my kiddo at my house one or two nights a week for about 3 hours/night. This would also be available for regular clients looking to earn print or session credit. (Terms and amounts have not been set, just throwing it out there as a possibility) Until I can go full time, this will be an option. And if you have kids, you are definitely welcome to bring them with! Parker loves playmates! (Young and old! He’s not too picky)
DON’T FORGET!! We are still running our Boudoir Special!! Prices range from $225-$525 and include an album & professional hair and makeup!! It would be the perfect Valentine’s day gift or an even better gift to give your husband-to-be on your wedding day!

We are REALLY looking forward to what 2010 will bring! We truly hope everyone has a safe & happy holiday season!

~Ben & Melissa Rezab
Fairy Tale Photography

2009-11-10T14:03:00.002-06:00

I couldnt wait to post this sneak peak of Miss Lyla! I had such a great time hanging out with this family on Monday night. Lyla is just an adorable little girl! Enjoy your sneak peek!

Fairy Tale Photography I Des Moines, IA Wedding Photographer

2009-10-05T22:27:00.003-05:00

A quick sneak peek for Alyssa and John! Cant wait to shoot their wedding next year!

2009-09-01T11:06:00.001-05:00

Today is a big day for Fairy Tale Photography. Today is the big pricing change and the start of some new products and policies! We have done some market research and our prices were undercutting other photographers, which is not helpful to any of us. In our research with photographers pricing, our new pricing is still quite a bit lower and more generous than most in the area. We have decided to switch up the pricing ever so slightly in your favor! Instead of a $40 session fee and $50 minimum print order, we have switched it up so it is easier to read and understand. It will now be $100 session fee which includes the photographers time and talent and a $75 print credit. So $100 will be due at the time of the booking and $75 of it will go towards prints at the time of your order! You may use the $75 towards any of our products. For further information on pricing, don’t forget to check out the website.

Speaking of products, we have a few exciting new products we will be offering! Our first new product will be custom framed portraits. These are professional prints in your choice of frame! We are offering sizes from 10x20 all the way up to 20x30! They are simply stunning! With your choice of 14 different frame styles, you are sure to find one that fits your home décor perfectly!
One other product we are offering is a Premium Album. These albums are absolutely gorgeous! They are custom designed pages with your choice of a leather cover in sizes ranging from 8x8 to 12x12! These are different from the Coffee Table Books in that they are printed on professional quality photographic paper which really makes the pictures pop. They do take a little longer on ordering, but are totally worth the wait! These are available for any session including weddings, family sessions, baby sessions and anything else you may want.

Do you just want to share your images online? The Mini-Digi package is perfect for you! It will include your choice of 10 images in low resolution, perfect for emailing, MySpace & Facebook. This would be a great add-on to any package for just $10!

One of my favorite new products is the Soft Cover Calendar Brag Book! With this product you can choose a size of either a 5x5 or 4x6! In this calendar, you will have all of the images from your session in a nicely bound soft cover book with your images on one side and a calendar on the other! I just have to speak from personal experience here, but I made one of these for my mother with pictures of our son throughout the previous year and she loves it! She said “If this is all I get for Christmas every year, I’d be happy!” It’s just such a great way to keep pictures on you all the time and all in one place!

A few of our other new products include 12 Month Calendars, Single Page Calendars, Photo Key Chains, Photo Buttons and a Soft Cover Brag Book.

We have also started a new program called Welcome to the World! It’s our baby’s first year portrait package. You pick how many sessions you want and at what time and you will get the sessions, two 5x7’s and one 8x10 from each session, plus a CD of images from each session and one 10x20 storyboard to round out the year! You can pick from two sessions up to 6 sessions! Prices range from $285-$775 and you could save up to $300!! Payment is not due up front and you will be able to do a payment plan if necessary. It wasn’t too long ago that Ben and I were new parents. We didn’t just have $700 laying around and we don’t expect you to either.

Our other new session type is the Boudoir session! We have 2 Boudoir Days coming up in January in both Des Moines and Dubuque! Dates are not finalized but will probably be January 9th and 16th. A location for the Dubuque session will mostly likely be the Julien Inn in Downtown Dubuque. The Des Moines location has not been confirmed yet. There will be a professional hair and makeup artist included in all packages to be sure that you will be looking your best! Also included in all packages are 20 page, custom designed albums which would be a perfect Valentine’s Day gift! Contact us for more information regarding these types of sessions! Prices range from $325-$525!

Well, if you made it through all of that you deserve a prize! So, here it is! A November special for holiday portraits! A Holiday Mini Session with 2 outfits and 5 high resolution digital images for only $50! You will have printing rights with those images so you can print your own holiday photo cards from wherever you wish! There will be two dates in Dubuque and two dates in Des Moines! Des Moines dates are November 14th and 21st and Dubuque dates are November 7th and 28th. Call soon to reserve your time slot! (times are 10am, 12noon, 2pm or 4pm)

I just want to thank everyone for all of your support throughout the past two years. (Can you believe we started this venture two years ago?!) It’s been tough at times but I couldn’t imagine a better job with better customers! You guys are truly what keeps me going! Hopefully we will have many more years and many more clients to get to know! Thanks so much!

Holiday Specials!!! Christmas & Valentines Day!

2009-08-19T10:37:00.002-05:00

Ok, so first off, I know that Valentines day is a long ways away. However, for timing, the session has to happen earlier! With that said we are having two holiday specials! The first is obviously for Christmas time photos.
Our Christmas special will run the entire month of November! We will be in Dubuque on November 7, 26, 27, & 28 and we will be in Des Moines the 14, 15, 21 & 22. We will be offering Mini-Sessions for $50 which includes a 30-45 minute session, 1 outfit change (2 outfits total) and 5 High Resolution images on a disk so you can print your photo Christmas Cards wherever you like!
Our Valentines Day special is a saucy little number! Want to spice up your hubby's Valentine's day with a few tastefully done, racy photos of yourself?! We are offering Boudoir Photography on two different saturdays in two different cities! (can you guess which ones! haha!) dates are flexible but sessions will take place at a hotel or B&B. (places to be determined) Only one date per location will be decided upon but they will take place in early january. Spaces are limited and we will only be taking up to 7 sessions per location. If you are interested, please contact us right away to secure your spot!
For the Boudoir Photography an album and a professional make-up artist/cosmetologist will be provided and part of your package! Packages start at $325 and go up to $525. Please message me for more details!
~Melissa

Mike & Erica Ricks Wedding! Sneak Peek!

2009-05-31T20:24:00.003-05:00

This weekend, we had the pleasure of capturing all of the special moments of Erica and Mikes wedding! We had a great time and got some great images for them! Enjoy your sneak peek!!

Baby Ian - Sneak Peek

2009-05-26T14:28:00.002-05:00

This is a sneak peek for little Ian! He was such a doll to work with! Enjoy your sneak peek!

The rest of the session should be done shortly!

~Melissa

2009-05-07T11:13:00.001-05:00

Just testing out a new blog layout! Any suggestions?

sigh The Holidays are OVER!!!! Yay!!

2008-12-31T14:19:00.002-06:00

I dont know about everyone else, but Im glad the holiday season is over. I feel like I actually have time to do stuff! ...most of that 'stuff' really only consists of playing with the baby more and sitting on the couch. But hey, I need a little break! Ive been worked on editing every night for almost 2 months! But, after tomorrow, its back to business as usual! As most of you know, we sent out a mass email to all of our clients to let them know that our pricing and pricing structure has changed and that we are only taking 2 sessions per week. Those sessions are starting to fill up quite fast! This means two things, be sure to book in advance, and take a look at our website for the new pricing information. We still have our regular digital package but we have also added a 'mini' package. Instead of getting 20 images on CD, you only get 5. It is $20 cheaper and will work out well for the times when you just need a few snaps or perhaps some business headshots.

As for the family side of things, nothing new to report really. Parker is getting his 2 front teeth in and its absolutely adorable! Im just excited that he is getting both at the same time instead of just one tooth! I really didnt want him looking like a Hillbilly for his 1 year pics. ...oh boy... one year already?! I just cant believe it! He is getting so big and so smart. I really cant believe that he is my baby. Hes cute, funny, sweet, has the best personality so far, learns really easily, I just dont get how he is MY kid.

Anyway, I should get back to work! Im so excited to get off work tonight! No work tomorrow! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! so, who is on the weight loss wagon with me for 2009?

Anyway, hope the new year treats all of you well!! Be on the look out for contests coming up next year for a chance to win sessions, prints and other fun goodies!!

~Melissa

Parker says Happy Holidays!

Ava Christmas Pics 2

2008-12-08T16:11:00.001-06:00

Ava Christmas Pics

2008-12-08T16:09:00.000-06:00

Martins 2 final postcards

2008-12-02T19:58:00.003-06:00

This is the original with the pictures switched to color and switched around. I wasnt sure if the red looked very good with the pictures in color so I tried this next version. I just switched the red and green around. Let me know which one you like better and if there is anything that you would like changed.

Talk to you soon!
~Melissa

2008-12-01T20:06:00.002-06:00

This first card is a 4x8 card that would come with envelopes.

This card is a 4x6 postcard that would not come with envelopes.

If you like one design better but want it in the opposite size, let me know and I will change it.
Thanks!
~Melissa

2008-11-16T22:20:00.002-06:00

The next few posts are Previews for about 7 shoots! We are really backed up in the studio right now and I am trying my hardest to get everything out by the first week of December! If Parker ever feels like being a super content baby, Ill have them done in no time!! If I dont talk to you before then, have a happy holiday season!
~Melissa
Previews for Miss Ava and the first for Janae

Miss Ava:

Janae:

2008-11-16T22:16:00.001-06:00

Previews for Janae and her family and Mimi and her family!

Janae:

Mimi:

2008-11-16T22:11:00.001-06:00

Previews for Ethan and Skylar!

Ethan:

Skylar:

Sorry These posts are so short. We are working on some technical difficulties on our main website. Enjoy!

~Melissa

2008-11-16T21:56:00.002-06:00

A few previews for Hayden and the Martin Family!

The Martins

2008-10-21T15:12:00.003-05:00

Ok! We have two session previews here!! First up was our first senior, Melissa! We had a great time with her and her family! We went to some great locations and almost got kicked out of some great locations. Enjoy your preview!

Next up is the Woodard Family! The first time we went out it was really dark. The sky was ready to break open and pour throughout the whole session. Because it was so dark, we had to do a reshoot. Here are a few from the reshoot! Enjoy!

(ps, dont mind the logos! They wont be there in the final draft. Also, they have been resized for web so the size and clarity will be much better!)

ENJOY!!!

~Melissa

BUSY!

2008-10-07T13:03:00.002-05:00

So, the studio is taking on a TON of business! I am working just about every night right now to get the sessions edited and to the respective clients. Its been just nuts lately! Ive got probably 5 or 6 sessions to either edit completely or finish editing.
The wedding is almost done. I was talking to the bride, Lindsay over the weekend and they just found out that she is expecting!! Congrats to Lindsay and Cory Farver! They are due May 5 of next year. Im so excited for them! However, let this be a lesson to my brides for next year. My first wedding couple got pregnant within 6 weeks and the second couple got pregnant within 3 weeks! Just kidding! I think its great! Im so happy for both couples. hmm, I didnt even think of this but, both brides are teachers. Wierd!
The schumacher family was challenging to work with! Theyre related so Im allowed to say so! there are 3 kids, 2 of which were running crazy all over the arboretum! I had to be quick but I snapped some good ones for them! Theirs should be done by the end of next week if not before.
On to Sophia H.! What a doll! She is an adorable 4 month old with a ton of spunk! She was fun to work with and her pictures came out great! It was also nice to meet up with an old high school pal. Sophia's mom and I went to High School and were in Band together. It was great to see her again and meet her family! Im definitely looking forward to meeting the other member of her family, Gracie the dog, at her 6 month session in November!
A friend from work needed some pictures of her 4 yr old Jaylen for modeling. Now this kid was sooo freaking cute! It took him a while to get warmed up but we ended up with a bunch of great shots!
Erica and Mikes engagement session is DONE. However, I keep forgetting to bring the CD to her sister. They look great!
Ashley and Aarons engagement session is partly done. They did 2 smaller sessions. The first one is done and they have decided on a beautiful picture to put on display at their engagement party in 2 weeks! They are such a fun and cute couple. I cant wait to do their wedding. It should be a great day!
Aidens first shoot is almost done also. Just need a few turned to color instead of black and white and were done! He did so good! Only 10 days old and so precious.
For now, thats it! This weekend will pile on some more pictures though! The 11th is a family day at Howells Pumpkin Patch! It will be Parkers first time! Im so excited! Then Sunday is the Reshoot for the Woodards. Hopefully it will be nice a sunny! The first shoot it started raining as soon as we drove out of the Park. Needless to say it was very overcast. The pictures were too dark to salvage so we are reshooting the large family shots. After the Woodards is Season and her girls. We will be in Carlisle for this shoot. I cant wait to meet her girls!
Anyway, We have alot on our plate right now! If I dont blog for a while, dont worry. Im just buried under a pile of editing! Have a good week everyone!
~Melissa

Maternity.

2008-08-08T15:50:00.002-05:00

I think Maternity pictures are slowly becoming my favorite type of shoot. Its so fun! I know the mommies to be are probably very uncomfortable since theyre so pregnant but I just love the pregnant belly! I get to do another maternity set on the 24th and I cant wait! I was reminiscing with some of my older maternity shoots today. I love trying new stuff and getting fun angles and doing very simple, clean shots. After all, the focus is on the belly!
I just thought Id share some of my previous maternity session faves.

Have a good weekend all!!
~Melissa

New name, same great place!

2008-07-30T16:02:00.002-05:00

Im not really sure how many people read this but we have changed our name! Shutterbug seemed to generic to me. Ill admit it wasn't really that thought out. After careful consideration, we have settled on Fairy Tale Photography. I feel it captures the essence of what my work is and what my clients are looking for. I also feel it is better suited towards all types of photo work. Im very happy with the name choice and now I get to feel like a princess everyday! HA! Just kidding. I am still 'working for the man' to get the bills paid! And I can tell you, I sure dont feel like a princess.
Anyway, on to more photo stuff! I dont have anything to upload today. All of my new work is on our home computer. Sadness. I will try to upload some tonight. My mom took our 5 month old for a week last week so this week Ive been just eating him up! Ive even been letting him fall asleep in bed with me. Its more of just wanting to hold him FOREVER than a 'treat' for him. In fact, Im pretty sure he doenst sleep as well when he sleeps with me. But I LOVE it! He is usually in his crib by midnight though. This morning I found him on his belly with his butt in the air and his arms down to his side! I dont know HOW that could be comfortable but I almost woke him up because I was laughing so hard! I love my little man.
Ok, I swear, PHOTO stuff! Not baby stuff! I was supposed to have a shoot with Season and her girlies but her youngest fell against her bed and got a black eye! Oooh noo! That doesnt sound fun at all! As far as editing goes, Im working on a shoot I did for my parents neighobors this past weekend. Lauren and Evie were fun to follow around the playground. Evie definitely has a mind of her own and I hope I was able to capture that for the H. family! Ill try to post some of their edits when I get home. I am also working on editing the Farver/Philips wedding. A GORGEOUS couple whom I had the pleasure of working with all day! Their day went off without a hitch and she looked GORGEOUS in her beaded bodiced & pleated trained wedding dress. (I LOVED that dress! SOO pretty!) They were so much fun that day!
I hope everyone is having a fantastic summer. Unfortunately, it is coming to a close. Soak up whats left of summer!
~Melissa

2008-06-05T14:38:00.002-05:00

So, GOOD NEWS!!! I got 2 new lenses this week and 2 sticks of 512 RAM for my computer! OMG! Im so excited! I got a 50mm lens and a second zoom lens! woo hoo! I need to figure out how to use the 50mm though. It wasnt working when I first tried it. I think I may have the settings screwed up. Something wasnt focusing right. Eh, I have time to play!
The new memory should be installed in our computer in the next few days! WOO HOOO! I cant wait for a faster computer. Right now my computer has 256mb of ram so gett 1024mb of ram on TOP of my 256 will be AWESOME! Im sooo excited! Ill be greased lightning! whee!!
So I took some pictures of my little boy this week. It didnt go so well. I dont think he likes the camera much because he didnt smile once! grrr!
Here are 3 of my favorites!

Have a good weekend!
~Melissa

Friiiiddaaaaaaayy!! wheee!

2008-05-30T15:01:00.004-05:00

Well, not much of anything going on around here today. Just work as usual! I do have to admit that I havent done much work today though. Its FRIDDAAAAAAAAY!!! AND, my son slept through the night for the past two nights! (wheee!!) That makes me super duper happy!
Ive decided that Im going to teach my hubby how to work some basic things in Photoshop. It will make my life easier. I can do all of the 'special' edits and he can do all of the basic edits! This would enable me to spend more quality time with my son! Right now I feel like all I do is edit and I just want to play with Parker. I feel like I dont get to see him much and when I do see him, he is either getting fed, or sleeping. Thats why I love weekends! I get him all by myself! I feel like Im missing so much. Hopefully with Hubby doing the basic stuff, I will be able to spend more time with my cuddle bug. (and be a MUCH happier mommy!)
I wish I had a picture of my office just to show how dumb some people are. When you walk in ANY door of the building, you walk by a LARGE set of stairs. (probably 20-30 ft wide) The staircase is open to the 3rd floor! I get at least one person a day that comes up to me and says "I need to get to the 2nd floor, how do I get there?".... really? If the girnomous staircase isnt a big enough beacon, youve got much bigger problems than needing to get to the 2nd floor!
Anyway, enough crankyness from me for today! Last night I had a few extra minutes after editing a maternity shoot to throw together a thank you note for the wedding I did this past weekend. Its very poor work because it was just thrown together. It needs work but I think once I fix it, it will look great. I thought Id share the draft!
Im off to 'work' again! Have a good weekend kiddos!
~Melissa

Max's Cancer

2008-05-29T11:29:00.002-05:00

So, Im a bit obsessed with Baby Center. Most people who know me, know that! Well, I was on the Photographing your Family board today and this lady was saying how last night she was lurking on other photographers sites and just hopping around pages to different photgs. She came upon this.
http://mashedpotatoesforbreakfast.blogspot.com/
If you are at work, DONT READ IT!! This is something that should be read in a quiet moment alone. It is a little boys journey through Neuroblastoma (an agressive and very painful pediatric cancer) A photographer, Deb Schwedhelm, is taking his picture weekly to chronicle the rest of his life. They are day to day activities. She even takes pictures of him sleeping, eating, during chemo, taking his pills. The things that are everyday to them. The pictures are amazing, inspiring and humbling. As a new mom, its hard to come to terms with the fact that kids do get sick, very sick. I cannot imagine going through something like this. That whole family is nothing short of amazing. So strong. Those images will be priceless to that family. I dont even know how the photographer does it! Im a mess just thinking about taking those pictures! The stories that the website tells of Max and how he is always thinking of others is so amazing. Take a peek at this site, just keep some tissues handy!
The families of the NB kids have started a foundation called The Magic Water Project. If you can, check it out and donate whatever you can. Neuroblastoma needs to be stopped before it claims any more lives! There is also a ton of information on their website.
This may sound crude, but I love finding stuff like this. It makes me love life and everything about it that much more. I know tonight before I put my son to bed, I will hug him a little bit harder. Life is so precious and it is so easy to forget that. Please go read and donate whatever you can.
~Melissa

Welcome!

2008-05-28T13:34:00.000-05:00

Welcome to both you and me! Im a new blogger. (thats what they're called right?)
Our family had a super busy weekend! Friday night I left work early and we got out of town around 3. We got to Maquoketa for a good friends Wedding Rehearsal, then drove to my parents house in Dubuque. Saturday morning I had to be at said friends house at 6am! (yipe) After that I picked up the Hubby and we were off to the church to do our first wedding! By the time I got there she was already in her dress so I didnt get any shots of just the dress or her getting into the dress. I did get some shots of them lacing her in and putting her veil on and all of that other fun stuff though. I was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly everything went. However, the bride did forget to put makeup on untill about 5 minutes before she walked down the aisle! (that would SO not be me! My skin is WAAAYYY to blotchy to EVER forget makeup!) She looked beautiful anyway because I didnt even notice! I will probably darken her eyelashes a bit in photoshop just to give them some pop though. The ceremony was catholic and quite long, as catholic ceremonies tend to be, but it was awesome! Her and her husband are 1/2 of a Christian Band called Leap of Faith (http://www.leapoffaithonline.com/) and they performed during the ceremony. It was awesome! I feel like I was too nervous to really enjoy it though. I know there were a few times where we caught each others eyes and smiled though. I had a good time! I just cant believe she is married!! (my little girl is all grown up and savin' China! oh, I love Mulan!)
The reception site was BEAUTIFUL! Its called Costellos Old Mill. (http://www.costellosoldmill.com/) The whole night went off without a hitch. I would have to say that it was probably THE most perfect day for a wedding EVER! It was about 75 degrees, minimal humidity, partly cloudy (but still sunny) and there was an ever so slight breeze! It was absolutely perfect. You can bet if they hadnt gotten married that day, I would have been laying outside catching some rays! (ok, maybe not. Im a red head and the hour and a half we spent taking pictures fried my skin!)
Sunday, my 3 1/2 month old got baptized and we had a party for him at my best friends farm. I felt horrible! Little did I know that I was getting sick. I went to the doc yesterday and I have a double ear infection and strep! ick. Im feeling much better today and Im ready to get out there shooting again! Good thing because I have a maternity shoot to finish editing, a wedding to edit, a few 1st B-day pics to edit from my nephews bday, and a 1st bday shoot with my nephew. (who is totally adorable, although, I may be a bit biased!)
I feel like I have learned alot more in photoshop lately. There is SOOO much to learn on internet tutorials about photoshop! Im self-taught so they have been so helpful! Pay It Forward photography has been an AMAZING site! (www.pifphoto.com) GREAT site!
Anyway, This is the shoot I just finished editing so Ill upload a picture from there.

Have a good week everyone!
~Melissa

Fairy Tale Photography

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