Hey what’s that? Is it Portrait Day Registration? Oh yeah.

Mark your calendars for April 20-22, 2012!

Register today for the Spring 2012 Portrait Day. Enjoy a complimentary mini session (kids only!). Sessions are short but result in 5-10 pretty awesome images of those amazing kids of yours. Your images will be available for online ordering within a week of your session and any ordered prints or files will be delivered in time for Mother’s Day gift giving.
What are you waiting for?! Register now! Can’t wait to see you!

oh how i love newborns. i was so lucky to photograph this little dude and his amazing parents before they left milwaukee for warmer weather!

hey everyone! thank you for tuning in this morning for my segment on milwaukee’s fox 6 morning show, WakeUp!  i had a great time chatting with nicole about newborn photography and was happy to share six tips for photographing your own baby.  for those who missed it, here is a quick overview of the tips:

1. let there be light! turn OFF that flash – please oh please, turn off the flash.  don’t know how? check your manual! lost your manual? google it.  move your subject to the biggest window you can find and let the natural light do it’s job.  on camera flash creates red eyes and flat lighting, not pretty at all.

2. angle.  get down on baby’s level and shoot at eye level.

3. simplify!  for super sweet shots that show of your beautiful baby, ditch the props.  grab a solid onsie and a plain blanket and shoot away.  for sitting babies or older kids, clear the background of any clutter or objects that will take focus away from your subject.

4. timing.  first thing in the morning right after a good feed.  baby’s fresh, mama’s rested (?), daddy’s patient, siblings have not yet driven you crazy.  and the light is pretty!

5. jump in! don’t forget to hand the camera to your spouse, friend, three year old, neighbor…. anyone.  be in the photos, too.  we are our own worst critic (believe me, i GET this – i just had to watch myself on television!) and we’re not always feeling and looking our best right after giving birth, but you’ll want these later.  do it for your future self, do it for your kids.

6. print! how many of us have loads of photos sitting on our cameras, our harddrives, our cell phones?  well hard drives fail! cell phones drop in toilets (not that i have ANY experience with this), cameras are lost.  print the photos! my all-time favorite way to document and store images is to print off photo books at mpix.com — just upload a year’s worth, a month’s worth, whatever, and let the software do the work.   use the code fox6 for free shipping on ANY mpix order of $25 or more between now and 2/14/2012.

and of course i’m here to photograph your family as well. 

it’s been a long, long time since i’ve posted a sneak peek the same day as the session.  maybe it’s this amazing weather we’re having, or the fact that i got to walk around one of my favorite milwaukee neighborhoods today (over by the knick!), or maybe because i have an apple crisp cooling on the stove right now, but a day like today just wouldn’t be complete without a little newborn love on this neglected blog of mine.

so e + a, here’s a little peek just for you

can you believe it’s september? where did summer go?  my girls went back to school this week and my life is so QUIET now, i wasn’t ready for our lazy days to end and our early mornings to begin.  good thing i have your crazy kiddos to keep me company during the week.  :)

so! portrait day is back.  this past spring, i changed it up a little and instead of doing 2 loooooong days, i did 4 shorter days, spread out over two weekends.  this worked BEAUTIFULLY on my end and i received great feedback from you guys, too.  i love the feedback so keep it coming, i’m all ears.

so this fall, portrait day will be offered on these mornings:

friday, september 23
saturday, september 24
saturday, october 1
sunday, october 2

as always, portrait day sessions are complimentary 5-10 minute mini sessions for kiddos only.  the resulting images (we aim for 5-10) are presented to you online within a week of your appointment.  ordered prints/files/products will be ready for pickup in time for holiday gift-giving and card mailing.

to register online, please visit:

http://www.christineplamann.com/portraitday/

as always, please call or email with any questions

this little guy was first photographed in mama’s belly, with his beautiful big sister.