Shannon Holden Photography

There was a young girl who dreamed in hues of pink and sparkling silver. She filled her days with imagined stories of white horses, whispering fireflies, and noble, heroic mice. She was too young to pine for Prince Charming, and yet nonetheless, she knew how happy she felt to dance with her own handsome prince (whom she called Daddy). Through the power of her imagination, her nightgowns became ball gowns, and her sandals became glass slippers. This little girl never lived in her own castle, but the halls and archways she dreamed of were real enough for her. In her heart, she was most certainly a real princess.

My daughter is a real princess, at least in her dreams. I cherish every second of this precious age in her life, because I know the clock will strike midnight all too soon, and she won’t believe in the magic anymore. That is why I am more excited about these limited edition sessions than anything else I’ll do in my business this year.

We now have dates set for our Atlanta Fairytale Princess Portrait Sessions!! These sessions will be a partnership between Shannon Holden Photography and Heather Lickliter of Stylized Portraiture in Athens, GA. Those of you who asked to be notified should have received an email by now. Sessions will be booked first come, first serve for the weekend of May 1-2. Contact us for more details on pricing, location, and times available. Tick tock!

I love my job. That’s no secret. One of the things I love most about it are the people I meet along the way. And when clients become cherished friends, the rewards of my job grow even more.

Desiree is one of those people. I first met her years ago at a Portrait Party I was shooting, where I created some family portraits of her and her husband, and their (then) young son, Hunter. A couple of years after that, Desiree hosted her own Portrait Party with me. At that time, she was pregnant with her daughter and I was pregnant with mine, both of whom happened to be born precisely 2 months apart. In the months of our pregnancies and the birth of our babies, we became even closer friends, and her friendship means the world to me. Our daughters love their playdates together, and Desiree and I meet when we can (when our crazy schedules allow) for coffee or a workout. We even share personal training sessions … nothing like the accountability of a friend to get you to the gym. (Speaking of which … Des, don’t forget to email me about our next training time!)

I was thrilled for the chance to create some updated portraits of Desiree, her children, and her family this past holiday season. This is one of the sessions that I didn’t get a chance to share in the hectic months before Christmas (though those of you who visit my Facebook business page might remember these images), which is ironic since it was one of my favorite sessions of the year. I literally squealed out loud when I passed this open field on the way to Desiree’s house. She and Paynter were so patient and understanding as I dragged them out to this seemingly barren strip of land. I’m sure you photographers can identify with my glee. Thankfully we didn’t encounter any snakes. Hunter and Vivian were awesome for their photo session, and they are gorgeous kids to photograph.

Desiree, thank you. You make me laugh, you share my tears, you are a true friend. Love you, girl!

Much love,
Shannon

They say it takes 21 days to create a habit. I wonder how long it takes to fall out of one? Because I obviously have fallen out of my blogging habit. I let the blog go during the crazy busy holiday season, in favor of more important work and family matters. (My personal blog is sorely neglected as well.) And then I took a little time off after the holidays. And then I did some traveling. And then …

Well, I’ve been reminding myself daily that I had to get back to the blog. Yesterday, I remembered a contest I had a couple of  years ago … aha! That is what I need … a personal challenge to get me back in the blogging habit. So help me out, ok?

Catch me not blogging! I’m going to strive to post on my blog every single day between now and February 22. And if I drop the ball, you have a chance to win a prize … a $50 gift certificate to Shannon Holden Photography!

Here are the rules:

• I have until 12:00 Midnight (Eastern) to publish my blog post. Each “day” will be the calendar day, midnight to midnight.
• IF you catch me, you must post a comment on the most recent blog post to claim your prize. You also must post this comment by 12:00 Noon the next day.
• Only one winner at a time or per day. But IF I miss more than one day, the same person can win twice!
• If two readers post at the exact same time claiming their prize, I will split the gift certificate 50/50. The blog will time stamp your comment. If two readers post within a few minutes of each other, the comment with the earlier time stamp wins. (If you have never posted a comment on my blog before, it will hold your comment for moderation by me – this is to prevent spammers. Rest assured I will receive your comment via email as soon as you post it, with the time stamp in tact.)
• Any gift certificates issued will expire August 1, 2010. Gift certificates are not redeemable for cash, and are not-transferable.
• Your gift certificate will only be valid on portraits, not session fees or specialty items. You are welcome to use the gift certificate on a past or current session.

I’ll be sharing my recent sessions of course, along with some personal photographs I’ve been working on, and maybe some other helpful photography and technology tips. Have something you’d like to hear about? Just let me know!

Catch me if you can!

Much love,
Shannon

(And since photography blogs are boring without photographs, here is an image I made during one of our recent snowflake sightings. Since a half inch of snow isn’t much fun for the kids to play in, I thought I could at least have fun playing with my macro lens.)