These can be used in a variety of ways. Do you have a certain theme that you’d like a few shots of your children in? Maybe you’d like a few portraits hanging in your bathroom. Your toddler in an old fashioned bath tub would be perfect!! How about a few shots of your kiddos helping in the kitchen? Have an event coming up? Need a birthday party invitation? How about a birth announcement? Maybe you just moved and want to send out your new contact information. A picture of you and your family in front of you new house would make it truly personal.

Father’s Day is coming up. Does your husband need some new pictures of his children in his office? I know it’s early to think about but time flies and Christmas will be here before you know it. It’s never too early to start planning for your holiday cards.

Or how about for your business? Need a new head shot for your website (or even Facebook?).

For pricing information or to schedule your mini session, contact me today!

These are the shots I took for our Christmas card this year. Well, I didn’t take all of them. Hubby helped out. He took the shots of me. I was very excited to learn how to make my youngest give me a real smile instead of one like this:

Yep. That is his smile when I say, “smile.” I even tried it his way. When he pretends to take a picture he says, “pile.” That doesn’t work either. I had to go way traditional and tell him to say, “cheese” and it worked. I really love his goofy smile. In fact, this is the picture I printed big and chose to display in my home last year. I guess I should have told him to smile for his goofy picture. But, he has this thing he likes to do called “see my ew.” His “ew” is what you see when he pulls his face down from his eyes like that. So, I decided I needed to memorialize his “ew” and share it with my entire Christmas card list and now you, my blog reader.

Anyway, we have a great card that I’m very happy with. It’s too late for this year, but never too early to plan for next year! Custom photo holiday cards are great and people love to receive them. However, they aren’t just for Christmas. Birthdays, just moved, birth announcements are all great times to use custom photo cards. Let me know next time you have a special event you need to announce!

Thanks so much for your patience!!

Home school portraits!! That’s right. It’s that time. Last year I did it outside. The weather was so unpredictable and it was cold and very windy. Made for some difficult shooting situations. I decided to forego the difficulties this year and just do them inside. However, I didn’t have any samples to show, so I invited a home school family over to fulfill that need for me. Actual home school portrait sessions will be April 20 and 21. Be sure to let me know if you want to participate!

I know we are a couple of weeks into the new year, but I’m feeling the fresh start and so wanted to post about it. I have an all new logo! Hubby is a graphic designer and he finally did what he’s been talking about for many, many months. With the new logo, came a new color! Green! I love it! If you frequent my website, you will also notice that my old flash site is gone. It takes a lot of time to keep up a regular site as well as update a blog, so I have decided to jump on the band wagon and just go with a “blogsite.” It’s a blog that is a website. All the information that was availalbe on my old site is right here, too! With the update of a new “site” I decided I needed a different design to my blog, so I also have that. I will be doing some tweaking here and there to get it just right, but overall, I’m quite happy with it. Feel free to share your thoughts on things!

Finally, with the new wide format, I couldn’t let a post come and go without posting a picture to take advantage of all that space! Just for fun, I am participating in a “365″ project. I’m taking a photo a day of something for me, not client related. This is a gorgeous sunset we had here in Central Illinois a few days ago. I’m such a sucker for a gorgeous sky, be it a sunset like this or a clear starry night. If you are interested in following my 365, I have a little blog for it at http://staceyspad365.blogspot.com.

Thanks for visiting me and if you are interested in having portraits done in the new year, let me know!

This year, I am offering mini sessions so you can have a family portrait taken and get your Christmas cards ordered all at once! The session will last 20-30 min. and can be in your home or in my studio. It will include several groups shots and other arrangements if so desired. You will have 10-15 proofs to choose from for your holiday card design. A catalog will be available at your session so you can choose which design you would like.

Holiday Card sessions will go from now until December 2nd. After December 2nd, I cannot guarantee you will receive your cards in time to mail out by Christmas. 

Pricing will be as follows:

24 flat 5×7 cards printed front & back – $100; each 24 $30 cards after that.
24 folded 5×7 cards printed on 4 sides – $125; each 24 cards $40 after that.
Specialty paper – Art Linen, Art Watercolor, Pearl, please add $10 for each pack of 24.
Pricing includes session fee, the first 24 cards, and envelops (white or parchment).

Holiday busyness got you bogged down? For an additional $30, we will print mailing addresses on your envelopes and insert cards for you (you will receive them unsealed). We’ll even take them to the post office if you like, for the price of postage. Please allow two weeks from time of order for cards to be addressed and/or mailed.

Not interested in cards but want that holiday family shot? That’s great! You can schedule a mini-session for $50, and receive 24 wallets of your image of choice! Upgrade to 4×6 for an extra $10. Inserting a wallet or 4×6 print into your own holiday cards is a great way to send photos to your extensive card list! Larger prints and gallery wraps make great gifts for Grandma and Grandpa.

Whether you choose a card session or a photo only session, all images are available for print  purchase at regular studio prices.

Call or email now to schedule your holiday session! 217-778-6749 or stacey@staceyrainerphotography.com

I do have a couple of sessions to work on and then I’ll have more photos to put up!