Heather Swanner Photography

The blog has a New Home!

As much as I've loved this blog, I decided that it was time to move onto BIGGER and better things.  So you can now find my blog at http://www.heatherswannerphotography.com/blog .  Please bookmark this page & visit me there!  I will keep this account open for quite awhile, as I know a lot of you like to go back & look at old stuff!  So, no worries!  It will stay here for awhile!  But visit me on the new & improved blog & let me know what you think!

A New Year, A New Me

I hope everyone had a wonderful and peaceful holiday!  I had every intention to post a few times over my vacation (which doesn't officially end until next week, so I guess this counts!).  However, I decided to take some time to actually put down my computer for a few days to just enjoy doing, well, nothing.  I don't know that I've experienced that feeling in years.  And truth be told, I kinda liked it!  :)

However, I realize that it's time to get back to work.  And while we are not officially back in the studio until next week, I have been a little busy bee this week pulling a new website together and well as working on lots of administrative-type things so that I am ready to roll next week.  

As I look back on the past year, I realize that 2009 was quite a year for me.  In so many ways it was wonderful.  I met and worked with so many new and awesome clients, and I moved into a new studio that I absolutely love.  2009 was also a year filled with a lot of emotion over the loss of my father.  Then it became a whirlwind of a year trying to jump back in and make up for the time that I lost from being off because of that.  2009 was also the year for rain....and rescheduling...and more rescheduling....and being disappointed because I just couldn't invent more days on the calendar to reschedule!  :)  2009 was also a year of learning and of trying new techniques...some that I loved and some that I didn't.  

I am so excited for a new year to do new things....and to start over in so many ways.  I have lots of new ideas for the studio that I can't wait to implement.  Expect to see my new website and new blog in the next couple of weeks.  Expect to see a little more organization in the way we do things (woo hoo!).  Expect to experience better customer service.  I would like to say to expect better weather for our outdoor sessions, but we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed this year!  :)  I can't wait to see you and work with your families this year.

With all that said, Happy New Year! (okay, I'm just a little bit late!).  If you've emailed me over the break, please give me until next week to get back with you when I "officially" get back to work!  :)

And I have to post these beautiful twin newborns that I photographed right before Christmas.  I included them in the slideshow before, so you may recognize them if you watched it.  I still plan to try to get caught up on the posting pre-holiday sessions!  

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Merry Christmas and Newborn Slideshow

Now that the holiday madness has begun to subside, I can sit back and reflect upon how blessed I have been this year.  I am so thankful for awesome clients...clients who become much like family to me as I watch their children grow from tiny infants to toddlers to children.  

Last year, I put together a slideshow of all of the newborns I had photographed, and because it was so well-received, I decided to do it again this year.  As much as I would love to compile a slideshow of everyone I'd photographed this year, I am just not that organized (really??).  I also felt that since we were celebrating the birth of a very special newborn that this might remind us to stop and reflect upon how that newborn baby changed our world.  

To see the slideshow big, you can click here .  Or, if you prefer to watch it small, you can see it below:

I hope each and every one of you has a peaceful and joyful holiday.   Justa reminder that I will not be in the studio until the second week of January.  I will be posting some sessions over the break that I just never had a chance to post, so keep checking back!  Love to all of you!

Mary Charles

Sweet little Mary Charles came to visit me at the studio last week.  She was only 7 days old....ah, the perfect time for newborn pictures!  It took her a little while to fall asleep, but once she did, she was putty in my hands.  And mommy brought along the cutest hat, which of course, I had to include in a few pictures.

Welcome to the world, Mary Charles!

And....on another note:  remember that tomorrow is the last day to take advantage of the gift card sale.  Scroll down a couple of posts ago for more details!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Baby Jaye

I'm coming up for air just for a few minutes to share some sweet newborn photos.  I can't resist.  She is just too cute.  Then it's back to work!  if only some photography elves would drop in for a few days....

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Gift cards, frame sale & holiday hours

Lots of things to talk about!!  First of all, the studio will be closed from December 17 - January 6th.  Please make your arrangements to pick up any orders that you want before the holidays by the 17th.  We will not be answering the phone during this time.  However, we will be answering emails - it just may take us a few days to get back with you!

Having a hard time finding that perfect gift for that special someone?  Or maybe your hubby is having a hard time finding something for you!  Why not surprise your loved ones (or yourself!) with the gift of photography!   Because I love you guys so much, I am offering a very limited special on all gift certificates from now until Monday, December 14.  Buy now and get 50 % more!  What that means is if you pay $100, we will give you a $150 gift certificate.  Spend $200 and get a $300 gift certificate.  Spend $500 and get a $750 gift certificate!  Spend $2000 and get a $3000 gift certificate!   To purchase your gift certificate, go to www.paypal.com, click on "send money", type in my email address (hswanner@charter.net) and type in the amount you wish to spend.  We will add in the extra 50% and package your gift card up in a candy-filled box, and it will be available for pick-up next week!  Just that easy!  Of course, you may purchase gift certificates at any time, but you must purchase between now and December 14th to get the extra 50%!

ALSO, from now until the close of business on December 17th, we will be offering a 25% discount on any in-stock frames.  Special orders will be 15% off.  What better gift than a gift card and a beautiful frame?  If you want to come by and look at the frames, please arrange a time with Christy (thebradybunch@haynes.net).  We are in and out of the studio a good bit these days, so we want to make sure we don't miss you!

Lastly, we are going to be making some changes with the way we do things in 2010 and are excited to share some of that with you in the weeks to come.  Keep checking back for more info and check back for more pictures....I will be posting new ones soon!

Cuteness

Mom came prepared with lots of hats....so we tried them all on!

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

Zayna

It took a little magic (and some patience) to get little Zayna to realize just how tired she was and how much she REALLY needed to sleep, but it was well worth it!  I so enjoyed meeting her and her beautiful mom and grandmother, and I look forward to the opportunity to watch Zayna grow up!

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

Miss "E"

I had the privilege of photographing Miss "E" as a newborn right before she and her parents moved to Georgia.  I was so happy that they decided to make the trip back over for more pictures.  I love watching these little ones grow, and I hope they will continue to drive over as she gets older!  :)

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Oh, to be 2 again!

I'm short on words tonight, but man, I just love this kid.  I'm glad I've been able to watch him grow up over the past two years!

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Baby "W"

I have been photographing baby W's older brother and sister for a while now and just love every time I get to see them.  I am so excited to be able to watch this family grow and to see the kind of love they all have for each other.  Baby W's daddy plays major league baseball, so of course, we had to incorporate his giant glove into our session!  I am so thankful to have been a part of this family for the past few years and even more thankful that I was able to meet their newest addition!

 

 

 

 

 

  
 
 
 
 

One more for the night!

So, I've missed out on about 2 weeks of blogging, but I'm catching up tonight!!  :)  Mary Marshall and William are faces I am always excited to see each year, so I was happy when we were finally able to reschedule our reschedule of our reschedule.  Mother Nature was just not on our side when it came time for me to take pictures of them, but after weeks of trying to work something out, we were finally able to get together....and we had gorgeous weather to boot!  These kids were so much fun and had me laughing during the entire session.  I have so enjoyed getting to know them and watching them grow up over the past few years!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Syd and LaLa

Sydney and Lauren are also very dear family friends who I love getting to photograph year after year.   At our house, we know them as Syd and LaLa.  I had so much fun hanging out with them "on the farm" a couple of weeks ago.  Unfortunately, we didn't have quite as much time as I would have liked before we ran out of light, but we managed to walk away with some beautiful images regardless.  And "Aunt Heather" got to spend some long overdue time with her honorary nieces.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Mr. Baby

I swore to do better about blogging, I know!  And for a few days there, I did!  Oh well.  I will keep trying.  I cannot express how thankful I am to be so busy this time of year.  I also cannot express how nice it will be to have a couple weeks off at Christmas!  :)  

Once I complete my "holiday sessions", I get to move on to "friend and family" sessions.  My poor friends and family get truly the worst service and often have to wait quite a while for me to work them in.  But I make it happen eventually!  :) 

Mr. Baby is very dear to my family, and it's been such a pleasure watching him grow up over the past (almost) 2 years.  Our session a couple of weeks ago involved a whole lot of running, a whole lot of playing, and an unbelievable amount of leaves in MY hair!  If Mr. Baby looks familiar to you, he is one of the gi-normous (is that a word?) pictures that I have hanging in the windows of the studio.  Only now he's all grown up!  Sigh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

More recent sessions

I am truly going to make an attempt to get caught up on posting highlights from recent sessions over the past few weeks.  Whether I will be successful is yet to be determined.  I'd love to stop and talk about each and every session because I truly do have something special to say about everyone I've photographed.  However, considering the fact that over the past few weeks, I have done a record number of sessions, there is just not enough time!  But I will give you want you really want....the pictures!   You didn't really come here to read, did you??  ;)  Without further ado (and any more of blabbing on my account), here are a few pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My own kids

I seized a very rare opportunity over the weekend...the weather was gorgeous and my kids were not about to injure each other (!!)...and took the kids out for a quick photo session.  Most of you know that photographing your own kids can be quite a challenge, even if mom is the photographer.  I exhausted all of my "tricks" with my kids years ago.....but bribery still sometimes works!  :)  So, with a Barbie and a new Lego Star Wars set promised (oh, and McDonalds and ice cream), I think that we had a successful shoot!  And best of all, there were no tears (on their part or mine!).  :)  I know these have already been posted on facebook, so I am sorry if this is redundant.  I just love my kids, that's all!  Here are a few, as well as their slideshow (press play, then pause immediately to allow it to load & then play it again...otherwise, you'll get irritated!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She believes that she will one day be the next Miley Cyrus!

 

Jack and Campbell from Heather Swanner on Vimeo.

Insert Creative Title Here

My brain is in overload from all of the sessions I've been doing lately and all of the holiday cards I've been throwing together, so if you want to help me with a blog title, go right ahead!  I realize that I'm neglecting the blog these days, but I do solemnly swear to update more regularly.  Holiday sessions will be wrapping up soon, and I will get caught up eventually!  Here's a little look at some of what I've been doing the last couple of weeks....and there's more to come!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, enough for now!  Off to edit  more!  May be a long night!

Three Beautiful Girls

I am feeling just a little guilty about not posting any pictures for a while, so here's a little slideshow from a mini-session I had a couple of weeks ago.  We ended up with QUITE a few more pictures than I would normally generate from a mini-session!  Enjoy!  

Untitled from Heather Swanner on Vimeo.

I promise that I have not disappeared!(...and Holiday Deadlines)

Apparently I have used the above title before.  As I started typing "I pro...", the remainder of the title just magically appeared, indicating to me that my disappearance may have been explained a time or two before!  :)  Tis the season.

But, truly, I have not disappeared.  I just took a little hiatus last week to San Francisco and the Napa Valley.  Somehow that post did not save last week before I left town.  Hmm... I know, it sucks to be me.  I don't know that I could have chosen a more inconvenient time to go on vacation, but it was the remedy that I needed to be able to push through the next few weeks.  As most of you know, this is, by far, my busiest time of the year.  And this season, with all of the rain, has been even crazier than usual.  It began with me pushing "rained out" sessions back until I reached the point at which I could push them back no further.  I am in the process of wrapping up rescheduled rained out sessions and am attempting to now try to get to a few of you who are on the waiting list for fall sessions scheduled.  I am technically booked until January, but if I see a way to fit a few of you who are already on the waiting list in, I will do my best!

Meanwhile, I have been working pretty much around the clock since I landed back in Birmingham to get holiday orders and Christmas cards completed.  On Sunday alone, I think that I ordered over 2500 holiday cards for various clients!  Those of you wishing to order holiday cards and pictures (that you want to give as gifts for the holidays) need to complete your order by November 14.  If you are having your session done during that week, then you will have an extra week.  After the 14th, I will do my best to get your order completed before the holidays, but I will not make any guarantees!  :)

I am also working at this time to get galleries from the past two weeks' sessions online and hope to have them ready by the end of the week.   I did do a TON of editing while I was away last week!  :)  Can't leave home without my computer!  But please be patient as I try to get them uploaded.  Apparently my server is a little bogged down right now, and things are taking a little longer.

I have about 100 pictures I need to post from sessions over the past few weeks, but I will save that for another post.  And eventually, I may even share my Napa pics with you....but it may be January before I get around to that!

Keep checking back....I will try to have more pictures up this week!  :)

Follow up to the last post

So I'm just checking out a new slideshow program to see if I like it.  Let me know what you think!  These are the girls from the last post.  It may take a little while to load up.

Becca and Merritt from Heather Swanner on Vimeo.