We’ll have my favorite vintage sofa out and ready to go. I love using this piece but due to it’s size I’m not always able to transport or unload it. So if you’ve dreamed of having your photos taken on a funky, vintage sofa in a beautiful outdoor setting, here’s your chance.

Ready for the details now? Sessions will take place on Saturday, October 23rd, 2010.

The $85.00 session fee guarantees your spot and includes the following:

• 20 minute session yielding 5-15 images for review in an online gallery
• One box of Holiday cards utilizing photos from this session (check out the 2010 Card choices)
• 10% off ala carte pricing

Just a few specifications, these are situations in which it’d be best to book a regular session:

• Mini-sessions can include families of 5 people or less.
• Sorry, due to time constraints pets won’t be included
• Payment is due to reserve your spot and is non-refundable. However, should you decide to cancel it will be applied towards a regular session to be used within the following year.

To sign up for your Mini-Session  just email me – cbyatesphoto at me.com. I have morning and late afternoon/early evening times available.  The remaining slots are sure to go quickly so don’t hesitate!

And before I end this post I’ll share some past client images captured with the funky sofa. Wardrobe choices are always fun to choose based on the color incorporated in the fabric. If you need clothing ideas I’d be happy to share some with you.

Cooler temperatures, football games, and beautiful foliage, we all know what these things have in common . . . it’s fall! With this time of year comes fall family portrait sessions and let me tell you, I’ve been busy with a bunch already. I still have some slots available for weekday mornings or weeknights in October and early November. Drop me an email if you’re interested!

I wanted to get the 2010 Holiday card samples posted to get people ready for what’s right around the corner. So proud of all my families that have already had their session done. All they have to do is choose their images and we’ll get their cards created. They’ll be on the ball once December hits and will have more time to enjoy the Holidays with their family.

Want to check out the choices a little closer? Head over to the proofing section of the website. This is also where you can place your order. As soon as your session is proofed and loaded to your private gallery I’ll send you an email with the link and password. From there you can choose which card you’d like and which photos you want to include. We can also customize the greeting, family names, date, etc.

I’ve left the 2009 card design choices online too in case you’d like more to choose from. I know that some of the designs seem specific to the type of shoot, example: wedding or newborn photography. Please feel free to look closer and know that even though those are the images shown doesn’t mean we can’t customize that card design with images from your family photo shoot.

Most of my clients order cards year after year but in case you haven’t seen them yet here are the specifics:

• Press Printed Cards are not photographs, but are produced on state of the art digital printing presses. The printing facility uses real liquid ink, not toner like a color copier as some other printers use, to give the cards the look and feel of a very high quality printed piece.
• Cards are double sided (more room to show off your gorgeous photos!)
• Size is 5″x 7″
• Ordered in increments of 25
• Pricing includes envelopes
• There are multiple paper finishes available (matte, glossy, watercolor paper, and pearlescent)
• Custom cards are $55 per box of 25 cards
• Quantity Discounts for multiple boxes
  

  3 – 5	$52.00
  6 – 9	$50.00
  10 +	$48.00

I am always excited to place orders for the Holiday cards. I love customizing the cards with images we’ve taken in the past year and waiting to see the end product. Everyone loves receiving them since they’re such a personalized item. And the other good thing about these cards is all you have to do is address the envelopes and you’re ready to mail. No signing needed since cards are printed with your name!

Holiday cards are available for all clients that have had a session or Wedding within the past year. If your session was earlier this year and you’d like to order cards please drop me an email and I’ll be happy to reinstate your gallery for you.

Sure hope everyone had a nice Valentine’s Day yesterday. I received a phone call from a very excited friend last night sharing the news that she was engaged. Such an exciting time for them! I told her to be and sure to savor each moment for the rest of the evening and to of course take some photos!

I imagine she isn’t the only newly engaged girl out there and that’s the reason for this post. I wanted to be sure and share some great resources for wedding planning and also extend a special Valentine special.

First up, let me share some wonderful sources of wedding day inspiration. These are the sites that I wish were around when I was planning my wedding 6 years ago. They make me want to get married all over again with all their unique ideas.

There are so many ways to truly make your wedding day a true representation of you and your fiance. These sites showcase many ideas that help you accomplish that goal.

• The Wedding Chicks – “Real Weddings”, beautiful photography, and my favorite, the DIY  section. You can get lost on this site.
• 100 Layer Cake – More unique wedding ideas and you have scroll down and check out their logo. Very fun!
• Style Me Pretty - If their title “The Ultimate Wedding Blog” doesn’t grab you and make you want to visit, I don’t know what will.

And one last thing before I end this post . . . cb Yates Photography is running a Valentine special for all recently engaged couples planning their wedding in 2010. It’s definitely a “sweet” deal so don’t miss out! Click on the “email me” link above and let’s get in touch before this offer is no more on February 27, 2010.

Offer applies to new clients only please.

Below are this year’s examples:

Another way to view these is by going to the proofing section of my website. This is also where you can place your holiday card order. As soon as your session is proofed and loaded to your private gallery I’ll send you an email with the link and password. From there you can choose which card you’d like and which photos you want to include. We can also customize the greeting, family names, date, etc. Also, I know that some of the designs seem specific to the type of shoot, example: wedding or newborn photography. Please feel free to look closer and know that even though those are the images shown doesn’t mean we can’t customize that card design with images from your family  photo shoot. I wanted to show a diverse sample of the many reasons to have custom cards printed.

Most of my clients have gotten a sneak peak at the card examples but in case you didn’t here are the specifics:

• Press Printed Cards are not photographs, but are produced on state of the art digital printing presses. The printing facility uses real liquid ink, not toner like a color copier as some other printers use, to give the cards the look and feel of a very high quality printed piece.
• Cards are double sided (more room to show off your gorgeous photos!)
• Size is 5″x 7″
• Ordered in increments of 25
• Pricing includes envelopes
• There are multiple paper finishes available (matte, glossy, watercolor paper, and pearlescent)
• Custom cards are $50 per box of 25 cards.

I am always excited to place orders for the Holiday cards. I love designing/customizing the cards with images we’ve taken in the past year and waiting to see the end product. Everyone loves receiving them since they’re such a personalized item. And the other good thing about these cards is all you have to do is address the envelopes and you’re ready to mail. No need to sign the card since we’ve already customized them with you family’s name.

Holiday cards are available for all clients that have had a session or Wedding within the past year. If your session was earlier this year and you’d like to order cards please drop me an email and I’ll be happy to reinstate your gallery for you.

What about the weddings you’ve got on your social calendar this summer? Give them something they’ll be really grateful for . . . a gift certificate to use towards their wedding photos! Be unique, be fresh, be creative… be a part of the bride’s first family heirloom. Gift certificates may be used toward the purchase of prints, wedding albums, and gallery wrapped canvases. Help them decorate their new home with beautiful images from their day.

I’ve had requests for these so I’m very proud to be offering them. There are two types of certificates available so you can customize your gift for the recipient. One geared towards engagements/weddings and another aimed at family/children/newborn photography.  Each one comes in a nice petal envelope with ribbon enclosure. All you have to do is hand it to the recipient, no wrapping involved!

We all know the second most important thing to rescue from a fire (after our loved ones & pets) is the pictures. Pictures are the way to capture moments now to create memories for later.

If you are interested in giving the gift of memories please go to the proofing section of our website. You’ll need to login (if you’re a previous customer) or create an account (if you’re a new customer). From there you’ll be able to place your order online and your gift certificate will be shipped to you complimentary!

Baby “K” sportin’ her ladybug outfit. A person could stare into those eyes all afternoon.

Baby “C” with his adorable red hair. I was lucky enough to photograph his parent’s wedding so I was thrilled to get to document another new step in their lives.

Check out his little smile!

Baby “S” was so good and very easy to photograph. Her mama taught me a thing or two about swaddling. She’s definitely a pro.

So happy to see this cute one grow up.

Also, wanted to share with you something else I’m excited about. My new prop! See the vintage high chair pictured below? Well I have big plans for it. I’ve used it once already and I’ll have to share pictures from that session later this week. Next time I use it I’m picturing a chubby little 6 month old seated in the high chair in a field of wildflowers. We’ll have to let the weather warm up and give the plants time to grow but I’m ready. So who wants to sign up for that session? Drop me an email if your baby will be around that age this summer!

Also pictured are baby K’s birth announcements. Mama and baby are dropping by today to pick them up. Love how they turned out. Check out this post for more info on custom cards.

I’ll be back later this week with more updates. I apologize for letting so much time lapse in between blog posts. I’ve been busy!

More to come about where I’ve been which includes a wonderful workshop in Dallas taught by JVS Pictures.

Well we all know what comes next . . . newborn pictures! I always enjoy taking picture of brand new babies and creating birth announcements so the new parents can show off their little bundle of love. You can’t help but smile and say “ahhhhh, how cute” out loud when you receive one of these in the mail. So I’ve updated my baby announcement designs and put up samples on the cb Yates Photography proofing site.

Custom birth announcements are printed the same way as the custom Holiday cards. Here are more specifics:

• Custom birth announcements are not photographs, but are produced on state of the art digital printing presses. The printing facility uses real liquid ink, not toner like a color copier as some other printers use, to give the cards the look and feel of a very high quality printed piece.
• Cards are double sided (more room to show off your sweet little one!)
• Size is 5″x7″
• Ordered in increments of 25 (Each box of 25 cards is $45.00)
• Pricing includes envelopes
• There are multiple paper finishes available (matte, glossy, watercolor paper, and pearlescent)
• Announcements are completely customized so all the “busy new mama” has to do is address and stamp the envelopes and they’re ready to mail. (allowing much more time for cuddling, feeding, and probably the most important thing on a new mom’s mind . . . sleep)

Below is this year’s examples:

Another way to view these is by going to the proofing section of my website. This is also where you can place your holiday card order. As soon as your session is proofed and loaded to your private gallery I’ll send you an email with the link and password. From there you can choose which card you’d like and which photos you want to include. We can also customize the greeting and family names, etc.

Most of my clients have gotten a sneak peak at the card examples but in case you didn’t here are the specifics:

• Press Printed Cards are not photographs, but are produced on state of the art digital printing presses. The printing facility uses real liquid ink, not toner like a color copier as some other printers use, to give the cards the look and feel of a very high quality printed piece.
• Cards are double sided (more room to show off your gorgeous photos!)
• Size is 5″x7″
• Ordered in increments of 25
• Pricing includes envelopes
• There are multiple paper finishes available (matte, glossy, watercolor paper, and pearlescent)

I am always excited to place orders for the Holiday cards. I love designing/customizing the cards and waiting to see the end product once it’s shipped out. Everyone loves them since they’re such a personalized item. And the other good thing about these cards is all you have to do is address and stamp the envelopes and you’re ready to mail. No need to sign the card since we’ve already customized them with you family’s name.

And since I can’t post without a picture I snapped a quick one of a couple of last year’s cards. Remember when I said it was a rainy, dreary day? Well please forgive the lighting in this photo since I had less than desirable natural lighting conditions!

Matt and Ashlie’s day turned out beautiful. They both looked exquisite. Ashlie put lots of time into the planning and had every detail accounted for. I was really good at keeping my own composure until their vocalist sang . . . then it hit me. As the words were sung I felt the tears hit my cheeks and realized my baby brother is all grown up. He’s starting a new chapter in his life with a great girl. 

As you can see, the reception was a complete blast. All of their friends are so much fun. There was never a shortage of people on the dance floor!

I also wanted to share photos of their “Engagement photo Guestbook”. I’ve been wanting to offer these to my clients and Matt and Ashlie’s engagement photos were a perfect chance to design one. 

These will now be available to all my wedding clients. We’ll design a custom press-printed, leather bound book that has pages that lay flat to allow your guests to write a quick message to the bride and groom. Now you won’t just flip through your guestbook and throw it in a closet never to been seen again. These are a perfect way to showcase all your engagement photos and share them with your guests as well as providing them a place to write a personalized message. 

Matt and Ashlie’s book went over great with all their guests. I was told there was a line waiting to look through the book at times. What a great little introduction into their lives right before their guests watch them take their vows as husband and wife.

Each easel frame can be viewed horizontally or vertically. There are twelve 5 x 7 photos that can be changed with each new month. The calendar is printed directly on the photo and after each month is through, the calendar part can be cut off and you still can decide what to do with the photo.

I really enjoyed putting these together. I got to go through the their various photoshoots from 2007 and literally watch their little girls grow up. What a difference a year makes and how incredibly fast it goes. I’m not a mama myself yet but I know it will go even faster when it’s my own kids!