St. Louis Photographer » A Journal by Holly McCaig

Here goes: I’m not a fan of the Christmas holidays much anymore. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to be with family and eat yummy foods. But, I don’t like cold weather. I don’t like crowds when I need to shop for something other than a gift. I just don’t like how the commercialization of the holiday makes people mean. I want to step back, back to a time when I was a kid and I just believed in the magic of the season. Santa leaving me toys and me leaving him milk and cookies. Driving around and looking at the beautiful lights on the houses. And, my grandparents arriving to stay with us for the the holiday. Those are the days I miss. I miss the days where you just enjoyed it and relaxed, and believed.

I look at this photo from holidays cards my clients ordered. The kids, the love, the word: believe. It helps me remember that there are good people in this world and that the season just has a different experience in mind for me then when I was a small child. I’m glad I do have the magic of my amazing clients to remind me of that. It’s been a challenging and wonderful year all wrapped into one.

I hope that you are taking time to really remember what the holiday is all about. Don’t get caught up in the extravagant shopping and rushing. Just take a moment to relax and believe.

I am so lucky! I really am. One of the most rewarding parts of running my own company is the friendships I make. My clients become my friends. I think it’s what sets me apart from big huge photography studios that don’t cater to the customer so much as they do cranking out the sessions and prints. How many clients can they shoot in a day?

I told myself that I always want to remain a boutique studio. I do everything in my power, never to book two sessions in one day. I feel that I need to know that I can extend my sessions for my clients if I need to, or reschedule or move the time around for whatever reasons. I spend a lot of time choosing the right images and proofing them in my style. I want my clients to LOVE their photos and I want them to know that I love their photos too.

I’ve been photographing a certain family for four years now. FOUR YEARS! It’s hard to believe. But, every time I see them, the hugs get bigger and I get to share in the growth of their children, and meeting more of their family. This time, they brought these delightful cookies with them to their studio session (we got rained out for a park shoot). Yah, families like this…it’s what makes me so lucky to have what I have.