Congratulazioni!

And the winner is...

The M Family!

Congratulations to the three (well...five counting the buns in the oven) of you! I'll be sending you an email with all the details concerning your free session. Be sure you thank all of your friends and family for all their helping votes (and there were A LOT! lol)!

I also want to thank the S family for participating in the competition. It's Christmas morning and I'm feeling particularly giving, so be sure you check your email because I've got a little something for you, too. :)

To the M family, the S family, and all of you readers...Merry Christmas!

Now I'm off to watch my little one rip through wrapping paper.

xoxo

Have yourself...

...a merry little Christmas. From my family to yours.

Finalists...

...but first an apology. Things got a little crazy this weekend between Christmas shopping and throwing my hubby a birthday bash (pics to follow). So forgive me for being late updating the second half of the photo contest.

As for the contest, I received lots of inquiries about it, but alas, not many eligible entries. I was debating canceling it altogether since we didn't receive enough entries for five finalists, but I still feel like giving so you know what? Let's just go for it! :)
I did receive two from two gorgeous families, making me very glad the decision for the winner isn't mine! lol

So without further ado my friends, I give you our two finalists!

#1 - The M Family



#2 - The S Family

Remember, you're voting for which picture you like the most. All you have to do is hit the comment button below and indicate the number of the picture you're voting for.
Voting starts immediately. Only one vote per household, per day.
Winner (will definitely) be posted on Christmas morning!!!

So don't just sit there - go enter your vote. Then email your friends and family and have them vote, too!

Good luck to both the M family and the S family! :)

You asked...

I've received a couple of emails about this contest, so I thought I'd post the questions and their respective answers in case anyone else was thinking along the same lines.

Q. Are you only accepting entries from people with children?
A. Absolutely not. Family is what YOU make it. So whether it's just you and your spouse, a couple and their dog, you and your siblings, or even just you, submit your entry!

Q. I'm a mom and usually the one with the camera, so I don't have any recent pictures of all of us together. Will you accept an old photo or one of just my kids?
A. Of course! Trust me, I know how you're feeling. Pictures of all three of us (me, husband, and daughter) are few and far between. But hey - there's a reason I'm behind the camera ;)

Q. Can I submit an entry for someone else?
A. Hmm. This one is tricky. I would hate to tread on someone's privacy. If for some reason your nominee doesn't have an email address or something, I suppose you could enter them. I would just need their phone number so I could contact them and verify everything, prior to posting the finalists. I will also need your contact information so I can let them know who referred me.

So let me repost the contest and its rules for you. Get those entries in as soon as you can! There's only one more day left!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * THE CONTEST * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Entering is very simple. Just send me an email with your favorite picture of your family (or even just your beautiful self!).
That's it - it's that easy! I will be accepting entries from now until December 12. The top 5 finalists will be featured on my blog on December 13. After the finalists are posted, readers can vote by commenting with the number of the photo they love the most. Voting will end on December 24. Please invite family and friends to vote for you (one vote per person per day). The winner will be announced on Christmas Day!

Your prize: The winner will receive a FREE session and a FREE 11x14 print. That's a $110 value!!!

So what are you waiting for?! Go tell everyone you know to enter this contest. All entries should be emailed to info [at] sweetface-photography.com

Official rules:
1. You must be a San Diego county resident or willing to travel here for your session.
2. Only one entry per person.
3. Professional portraits will not be accepted. Any professional pictures emailed to me will be discarded and not available for voting.
4. This contest is only open to new clients. If you are a previous client, please pass this information along to your friends and family so they can enter a chance to win.
5. Please include your name, address, and phone number, along with your entry photo.

Good luck!

.: the news you've been waiting for :.

So, everyone likes free stuff, right? Of course we do. And like I'm sure most of you do, I absolutely LOVE giving stuff to my friends. So here's your chance to win a freebie from me. It's time to officially announce Sweetface Photography's very first contest!

Entering is very simple. Just send me an email with your favorite picture of your family. That's it - it's that easy! I will be accepting entries from now until December 12. The top 5 finalists will be featured on my blog on December 13. After the finalists are posted, readers can vote by commenting with the number of the photo they love the most. Voting will end on December 24. Please invite family and friends to vote for you (one vote per person per day). The winner will be announced on Christmas Day!

Now, what's the big prize up for grabs? The winner will receive a FREE session and a FREE 11x14 print. That's a $110 value!!!

So what are you waiting for?! Go tell everyone you know to enter this contest. All entries should be emailed to info [at] sweetface-photography.com

Official rules:

1. You must be a San Diego county resident or willing to travel here for your session.
2. Only one entry per person.
3. Professional portraits will not be accepted. Any professional pictures emailed to me will be discarded and not available for voting.
4. This contest is only open to new clients. If you are a previous client, please pass this information along to your friends and family so they can enter a chance to win.
5. Please include your name, address, and phone number, along with your entry photo.

Good luck!

Stay tuned...

...something BIG is coming soon to Sweetface Photography. The official announcement will be made December 1st!

I am thankful for...

...my family. Especially my daughter and my husband. My heart is full every single day because of them. I love you both so much.
...my mom and my brothers. You are my best friends...my ambassadors of quan even. ;)
...my friends. Though the number of you may be low, the quality of you is astronomical.
...my clients. You each have touched me in different ways and I love that you trust me the way you do. I love that you let me do what I love to do.
...my God. Because He is.

Thank you.

Casting Call...

Sweetface Photography is looking for girls age 2 to 4 years old to model!

Wanted: 4-5 girls, ages 2-4 years for fashion shoot in San Diego.

Details: The shoot is tentatively scheduled for the afternoon of Monday, January 19, 2009. There will be no cost for participation. Additionally, all participating models will receive 8 wallets and an 8x10 print from their session at no cost.

How to apply: Email me at info [at] sweetface-photography.com with your child's full name and age, along with 1-2 clear photos. Girls will be selected sometime next week and you will receive a return email only if yours is chosen (I will not be able to respond to each individual submission so thank you in advance for your interest!!). More details will become available after the final 4-5 girls have been selected! Please do not inquire unless you are 100% available.

Even if you don't have a child who is eligible to participate this time around, please share this with your friends and family who might!

Thank you!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas! Can you believe Christmas is in 40 days? I told you it would creep up on us and smack us on the toukas!

Anyhow, I'm just doing a quick update to the blog tonight. Just wanted to let everyone know that there is only one mini session date left, but there are still a couple of slots left. November 22 we'll be shooting downtown in the Gaslamp District, which will make for some awesome urban shots. So if you're not into the typical San Diego shots (think beaches and Balboa Park), this may be the shoot for you. Here are the available time slots:

10:30am ~ 11:00am ~ 11:30am

If you're interested in taking one of these spots, just shoot me an email at info@sweetface-photography.com and indicate which time slot you'd like.


Also, I've got a couple of things up my sleeve for Sweetface Photography as we approach our first anniversary in January 2009. Big things are coming down the pipeline (including FREE sessions) and if you'd like to stay up on the latest, I suggest adding yourself to my mailing list. Just send me an email entitled "mailing list" and you'll be added right away.

Well...it's late and I have to get up early in the morning. Thankfully, tomorrow's Friday and then relaxing weekend here I come. Hope you all get to bum around in your jammies like I plan to this weekend!

Sneak Peek for S and family...

Today I had the great pleasure of photographing my niece for her family's holiday cards. She just turned two months old and is just as sweet and adorable as can be. Didn't want much to do with me and my camera at first, but she warmed up pretty quickly. Well...as much as a two-month old can :) Since a few of my viewers are probably also going to be receiving their holiday cards, I'm only going to post a few teasers (so I don't spoil the surprise too much).

Hope you guys enjoy...

Holiday Portrait Special

Well...Halloween is just about here and those two aisles of Christmas stuff they already have on display at Target will soon multiply into six or seven! So what does that mean for you and me?

Why, it’s time to start thinking about your family's holiday portraits, of course! And I just wanted to remind you guys that this holiday season, Sweetface Photography is partnering with Photo Flair Designs to offer you a sweet deal on your holiday photo cards. Just book your photo session with Sweetface Photography between now and Thanksgiving and you're entitled to:


35 or more standard photo cards for only $0.90 each! {Regularly $1.25/ea}
or
15% off 50 or more press print cards {Regularly $1.80/ea}
and
Complimentary set of matching return address labels

And remember - this special also applies to the remaining Mini-sessions (click for available slots), but is only good for sessions booked up to Thanksgiving day (November 27).

So don't wait a moment longer!

Email me today to book your holiday session!

It's the great pumpkin Charlie Brown...

With Halloween just around the corner, and noticing that most of my friends had already started posting pictures of their wee ones at the pumpkin patch last week, I figured it was high time for me to get my munchkin out there. So after much pondering and research (ok...maybe 5 minutes and a random google search), we headed down to the local Pumpkin Station. There we met up with my brother and his family, and let the girls go. They had a ball - petting horses (which were really three goats and a llama), running through the cornstalk maze, and of course, picking out their pumpkins.


Feeding a "horse"...

Some of us may have been a tad hungry?

I'm actually really excited for Halloween. Looking forward to taking Beans trick-or-treating for the first time, plus she's going to be cute as all get out in her costume. You'll see...of course.

Lovebug...

The title of this entry is fitting for two reasons. First, I got to photograph the sweetest (not to mention beautiful) little girl yesterday. C is turning 6 next month, and she is just a total lovebug. Which brings me to reason two - the Jonas Brothers just released the video for their song called "Lovebug" and C is a huge fan of theirs. You should have seen the smile on her face when I asked her who her favorite band was!

Joyce, C is a doll and I had such a great time with her...even if she didn't want to sing for me. ;) Hope you and your family enjoy the sneak peeks!


Love her look of innocence and wonder as this bird perched on the fountain...

I told you she was beautiful!

And just for you C...in case you haven't seen it yet ;)

Say "Buffalo Wings!"

So today I had a mini-session with the T family. Well let me tell you, it may have been a mini session, but these kids had big personalities and because of them, I had big fun photographing them. All three kids were full of energy (especially the youngest ones at 4 and 6!) and brought their best smiles with them. And my favorite part - instead of saying "cheese" when it was time to take a picture, they wanted to yell "buffalo wings"! lol I don't think I've ever laughed so much at a session! I had so much fun meeting the three of you (and mom, too!) - thanks for the laughs! I hope you guys enjoy the sneak peeks from your session...

Seriously...how GORGEOUS is this girl?!

And this little lovely? Totally adorable.

And lastly, the star of the show.
This cutiepie the did nothing BUT smile for me. ♥

Sneak Peek for H & J!

A few weeks ago I was contacted by H, who was coming into town from Arizona, and looking to get some portraits done for her and her daughter. Just through our email conversations, I could tell this was going to be a fun shoot and H & J did not disappoint! They were down to try just about anything - even chasing down a random surfer so we could borrow his longboard! What more could you ask for from clients? Fun, outgoing, and gorgeous! So without further ado...here are the sneak peeks...

It was such a pleasure to meet both of you ladies and I had a BLAST with you this afternoon. I hope you both enjoy these sneak peeks, and I hope you enjoyed your mini-vacay in San Diego. Hope to see you again soon!

Mini sessions...

That's right! Holiday Mini-sessions are here!

Mini photo sessions last approximately 30 minutes and cost only $50 (up to 4 people). Each session includes three digital negatives of your choice, on CD.

These sessions are booked on a first come, first served basis.

Also, if you have a playgroup or a large circle of friends, and are interested in setting up a mini session day specifically for your group (you must have a minimum amount of people to do this), please shoot me an email. All private mini sessions will receive discounted print prices!

Remaining dates and times are...

Saturday, November 1
Solana Beach
4:00pm ~ 4:30pm ~ 5:00pm ~ 5:30pm

Monday, November 10
Presidio Park
10:00am ~ 10:30am ~ 11:00am ~ 11:30am

Saturday, November 22
Downtown San Diego – Gaslamp Quarter Trolley Station
10:00am ~ 10:30am ~ 11:00am ~ 11:30am


More good news! These sessions qualify for discount pricing on holiday photo cards ordered through Photo Flair Designs!

If you would like to book a time slot, please email ALL of the following information to me at info@sweetface-photography.com.

Your first and last name.
Your date choice and first two time slot choices in order of preference.
Number and names of people in your group.
If applicable, ages of any children in the shoot.
Contact phone number.

Scadoosh!

Last Saturday, our friends and family came out to help us celebrate Beans turning two. The theme for the birthday party was Kung Fu Panda and it came together pretty nicely, if I do say so myself. Everyone appeared to enjoy themselves - most importantly, the birthday girl had a blast! She was worn out by the time the last guests said their farewells and fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the bed.

Thank you to everyone who came out to help us celebrate, and all who sent their love and birthday wishes. We are so blessed not just by her presence in our lives, but also by the love she is shown by all of you. A million times, thank you.

Invitation, courtesy of Photo Flair Designs

Yummy peaches-and-cream cake, courtesy of Crumbs of Paris

My cup runneth over...

I can hardly believe it, but my Beans is two-years old today. I will have much more to post this weekend since her party is on Saturday, but I couldn't let the day go by without saying something. Everyday I don't think my heart could feel anymore full, but then she smiles at me. *sigh* She is, by far, the greatest gift that God has ever given to us. We are so thankful to have you in our lives.

Happy 2nd birthday my sweet girl. Mommy and daddy love you so much.

2006

2008

So now I'll leave you all with one of my all-time favorite quotes...

"I was not alive. I existed. I imagine that I drew breath and exhaled...but I don't have any particularly fond memories of it. I mean, I don't think I took a real breath until my daughter was born."
- Johnny Depp

Sneak Peek for J and Family!

First, I have to say Happy 1st Birthday J! It has been so fun watching you grow up and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for you.

Second, I had the absolute pleasure of photographing J's first birthday party this past Saturday. All of the kids enjoyed meeting and getting their faces painted by the clown, jumping in the bouncehouse, chowing down on pizza and the Elmo cupcake cake (so yummy)! I also have to say that of all the first birthday parties I've been to (including my own daughter's), little J was the most appreciative kid I've seen! He smiled at every single gift. Especially shocking since mom had to wake him up to open his gifts.

Thank you J and family...I had such great time! And without further ado...some teasers from the big day...

Oh - this was also the day that J received his very first haircut. There were a lot of emotions - everything from excitement to hilarity to a bit of, well, fear! lol Check out mom's face!