St. Louis Photographer » A Journal by Holly McCaig

Last night, we had guests stay with us, as they trek their way across the country before relocating with the Navy to Japan. It will be so sad to have them go that far away, but it was so nice that they were able to stay here for one night.

Of course, it meant that I got to hang with NONE OTHER than the adorable, and cute, and silly, Haley. I swear, her parents have a lot of work cut out for them when she gets older. I just adore her.

We went up to the studio for a few hours to get some shots of Haley. Which I promise to share later when they are ready. I have a few client sessions to wrap up. But, last minute, we decided that Haley needed to be Lollipopped and so it was! Her expressions are enough to make you have a toothache from how sweet she is! This morning, I had breakfast with the Dunns and they headed down to see the Arch before their next stop in Tulsa.

Tonight, I wanted to make her giggle and show her these:

I do love Lollipop Smiles! They are so fun and allows a person to just be silly for a moment. We don’t do them often, but it’s always a treat to see the end results! I decided that when I had my pizza party for my ‘11 Senior Elite Models this past Sunday that we had to take some silly pictures of them. I love them, don’t you?

I freshened up the blog a little bit. I want to do an overhaul, but for now this will do. I just updated my header so it now rotates with my favorite senior images. Plus, I’m addicted to white wash, shabby peeling paints. I would love to be in an entire room of just white like that. Dreamy.

Just a few reminders:

1. You can still register to win a spot at our boudoir marathon. Visit this post to leave your comment. Then, if you want to book your session, also contact me today to do that so you don’t lose a spot! Session is just $499 and an AMAZING deal with full makeup and hair by Elisabeth Cutshall!
2. Valentine mini session bookings are taking place now. Visit this post to learn what you get when you book a V-day mini session in the studio.
3. and, I’m having a Lollipop Smiles open session. Come on by the studio on January 27 (actually, you need to book and prepay for your session):

Every year, we take a new holiday card photo. Sometimes, we try and look nice and civil. Other times, we do it up a little silly, and fun. I tried to go back and look up old ones, but I suck at locating disks of archives. I finally bought this hip disk cabinet thinga-ma-jig, but it sits empty. Resolution for 2010 perhaps?

Anyway, I’m not sure how we really came up with this idea. First we thought about doing shaped bokeh lights behind us. Then, it turned into using Snuggies. Then, into mocking the commercials. Just see for yourself:

Though, I’m not really sure what I was thinking I was mocking in the picture. Just being goofy, I suppose.

It got me to thinking about how I’d LOVE to get you all thinking about your holiday cards for next year. If you have a fun, zany idea that you’d like to shoot, we can consult and pre-plan. Heck, we can even schedule your session any time during the year. Get it out of the way, right. My prices are going up next year, but I’d like to make the offer now! You can bite on a $150 session with the digital image to use if you book before the end of January on your holiday card session. Take advantage of warmer weather outdoors, maybe do a Lollipop picture, or plan a fun set like we did. Depending on the actual setup you have in mind, it would just be $150 and then you can get your cards wherever you’d like. Get in touch with me about this!

A few of you may not have gotten your card from us yet – they’re coming!

Remember this party? Well, the lovely hostess recommended me for doing the same set up at Focus St. Louis’ Move & Shake Event this past Saturday. When people see a backdrop and a basket full of props and boas, you often get stares and looks of curiosity. Until…that one brave soul comes over and eagerly jumps at the chance to put on some Elvis glasses and a fake pair of lips. SAY CHEESE!

It’s probably the one time you can get away with saying “cheese” and being silly – as a grown up. Ahhh, love it.

Great event, good times. Below is a sample image and a little album template I’m designing for my Lollipop Smiles & LolliSnaps events for 2010.

Photographers interested in the above template design, coming soon to Pink Ink Studios! 8 Template pages and one cover. I designed these to fit Blurb 12 x 12 books.