Take advantage of these specials NOW! They will only be available till Monday, March 15th.
They are available for anyone who books a session from now until October 31st!
I’m only allowing a limited quantity of each special so that I can fit the sessions in! It seems only fair! So it is a first come first serve basis.
$400 Special must be paid in full at booking.
$600 & $900 Special can be made in 2 payments. Half at booking and remainder 2 weeks after.
Print credit can be used on ala carte, packages, & gallery items (fun products)

*But what if you just had a session and haven’t received your gallery yet? NO BIGGIE!!! you can take advantage of these specials right NOW before your gallery is available!
*But what if you just paid your session fee for your future session and the session falls within the time frame required??? NO BIGGIE!!! you can also take advantage of these specials! You’re just already $120 in!! Woohoo!!

Please contact me asap to take advantage of these specials! If you’re interested in one of these packages along and you’re a High School Senior or wanting a marternity/newborn combo we can definitely make these specials work for you.

And a big THANK YOU to the sweet girl in the photo (Finleigh) who turned two recently & it just fit perfectly for this special! haha Her family’s SP will be posted tomorrow!

Everyone have a great day!!
xoxo Melinda Ann

ps - I’m totally blogging from my iPhone right now! I’m amazed by what they offer in apps!!

This is pretty much a post on how much I love my neighbors! And to show Erin some shots from her mini modeling session! Erin’s on her way to stardom! We just did this shoot to get some different pictures.

Erin is like my very own personal model/guinea pig!  Clearly, you can see that from the pictures below that she is GORGEOUS!!!!  She is such a GREAT and trusty model for me! Leighton has to work on her listening skills still then maybe she can model more! haha Erin is the best babysitter too!!!

I could go on and on and on, but I know I did that in the previous post that involved Erin.
bottom line - We love our neighbors!

xoxo
Enjoy!
Melinda Ann

Our assistants - her lil brother and Leighton - were doing nothing that they were told to do… like get us water and some fruit or to change the song! UGH! Good thing we didn’t pay them! They had fun terrorizing my downstairs as you can see! During Erin’s change of clothes, Mr. S wanted a mini shoot! haha

This post makes me feel so old! Grace just turned 5 and Lydia is turning 3 in a few weeks. *sigh* I’ve said this often but I’ll say it again…time is fleeting! FLEETING folks! Who cares if your babies pout, throw a fit, or act crazy when you want to take their picture. Just keep snapping because before you know it a year has passed and they have completely changed. *sigh again*

Let me tell you a little bit about my nieces before you check out their pictures because maybe then you’ll truly understand their choices in poses.

Grace is 5 going on 13! She has always been 2 steps ahead of my sister and brother in law. Keeps them on their toes! When you try to tell or ask her what you want/need/would like her to do, she will ask you why….as most kids do, but Grace, well you have to explain your reasoning to her and it better be darn good because if it doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense, then you will get called out…by a 5 year old. Mmmhmm! She is witty, brilliant, sweet, sassy, athletic, hilarious, charming, beautiful, VERY kind hearted and a fabulous model!

Lydia is 3 and going on 2. hahaha I’m not saying she is behind for her age but she is the baby and likes to be treated like the baby.  Here is a story to show what I’m talking about. Jenni is snuggling Lydia before she goes down for the night and while Lydia is drinking her warm milk she pauses and says in lydia lingo:  ”Momma, wen I gow up like gace, I will dwink apple juice but I still a baby so I dwink milk.” True story.

I’m so very thankful that they have eachother because I’m not sure what my life would be like without my 3 sisters. I’m pretty sure that my days would be awfully boring.

I love you girls with all my heart! I hope you like your sneak peek!

xoxo
Aunt Sissy  (when they hear the name Melinda, they have no idea who people are talking about haha)

*blue dress on grace by CourtneyCourtney

*Teal hat on Grace by NuxieMade

Ever since I moved to Northern Michigan 4 years ago, I have wanted to get a few pictures of a snowy owl. I would be satisfied just seeing one though. They’re pretty hard to find in the snow and they’re only here for a short time.  It is one of the most recognized birds to visit Michigan in the winter. They actually fly south from Northern Canada and Alaska in October and November, then fly back north in March and April. Only the males will be completely white, the females are generally larger, but their feathers are white with dark spotting or barring. they can normally be found in large open in-land areas such as farms, marshlands, and some have even been spotted at airports.
Well LUCKY FOR ME, my friend Alison (also a big nature  & photography lover) mentioned that her husband and her went on a day visit to the town of Rudyard in the U.P because they heard there were a few sightings of Snowy Owls around the local farms.  they got lucky and saw SIX of them!!! We immediately scheduled a “Snowy Owl Shoot Day” (disclosure: no snowy owls were harmed during our shoot day - well WE didn’t harm any at least haha) for ourselves! Leighton and I left our house at 7am to meet Alison in her town of Gaylord, Michigan (an hour away from us) to carpool to Rudyard which is 90 minutes north of Gaylord. So I’m saying that we drove a lot in hopes that we would see just ONE snowy owl.
When you get to Rudyard, you pretty much just drive around a few country roads at 10mph and keep your eyes WIDE open! that’s it! If you see one you scream! Well you don’t mean too but you just do because it is so exciting to spot one! Ten minutes into our super fast drive I did spot one, but it was dead. :*( It was about 20 feet off the road, next to a fence. :*(  Alison and I are hoping and praying it was NOT a malicious act upon a helpless and BEAUTIFUL animal. hopefully he died of natural causes. Alison was able to contact the DNR and it is VERY illegal to have a bird of prey in your possession but they gave us the “OK” to take it back to Gaylord! We thought we felt pretty special!  We felt bad taking pictures but we would never get a chance to get so close to one.

Sad isn’t it? :*(
Thankfully we did end up seeing three owls that were alive. The third one ended up loving our cameras so we went click crazy!

So glad I got a flying picture because their wing spans can span FOUR FEET!!! I wish he was facing the other way but beggars can’t be choosers. He flew up to a nearby electric pole….

I have to give a shout out to my sweet sweet camera Canon 5D Mark II and of course my amazing 70 - 200mm lens because without them the last two photos in the above picture, which are magnified 200%, would not  look RIDICULOUSLY crisp! I love you Canon! *MUAH*

This post was a bit different but I hope you enjoyed it while finding it informative on such a beautiful bird!

xoxo
Melinda Ann

Remember this sweet little peanut?!? Well she is ONE already! :*( Where does the time go?

she is the funniest and sweetest little girl! She photographs so well and is very animated with her facial expressions! I always enjoy taking pictures of her!!! Look at those baby blues!!! Aren’t they just gorgeous!?!?!? WOW!

Thank you Kristin and Katelynn for the laughs and fun!!

Enjoy

Melinda Ann

xoxo

I’ve said this before but I LOVE brave pregnant women! Mindi and Aaron were up for anything and were so fun to work with! I have met the best parents-to-be lately! I was happy to not get any weird looks when directing them. haha Their sweet baby boy is due in just a few weeks and they are READY! Mom is counting down the days till she meets him and his nursery has been finished for a while. Now that is being prepared!
Thank you for letting me come into your home and document such an exciting new part of your life’s! I wish you the best these next few weeks and can’t wait to meet your bundle of joy!

xoxo
ENJOY!
Melinda Ann

I thought this next one was fitting for the weekend.

PS - Why the heck didn’t I look as good pregnant as the past few maternity clients have?? gees! haha

I had the BEST time with this couple! I did a bit of a “storyboard” sneak peek with some of their photos to show just how WONDERFUL and easy the Waters family was to capture!  I always tell people “act as natural as possible” but I also understand that it is easier said than done, so I normally talk your head off to get everyone a little more comfortable.  I bet a few people are shaking their heads yes as they read this. But these two….oh wow… the words were barely out of my mouth when they just started talking and laughing at eachother. AHHHHH!!!! Love it!!! You can definitely tell that these two are perfect for each other and that this is one lucky little lady in the belly! Or are they the lucky ones? We will see in just a few short weeks, right?

Thank you for the espresso, the good laughs, and the fabulous photos! I really enjoyed myself and cannot wait to meet baby ______! Can’t wait to hear her name either! haha

xoxo
Melinda Ann

Melissa made that canvas you see below…. I never asked why she chose those words but I’m going to guess it is because they have been waiting for this sweet baby for a long time.

OH IZZY!!!!! You are still SO loved little girl but you’re in for a surprise in a few weeks! hee hee