The Way I See Things (3 minute read)

There was a song back in the 50s, called The Twist.

Chubby Checker taught the world a new kind of dance, and it was a sensation overnight. 

It’s still a fun dance.  When one hears the song, one can’t help but get up and start dancing.  It will never get old.

In a similar way, I help my clients “twist”… or, as I affectionately like to call it, “The Way I See Things”.

My client says, “When I get home from work, I’ve already stopped at the store, so I’ve got grocery bags, and my purse, and the minute I step in the door, the kids are all over me.  It’s exhausting.”

I TWIST it, and reply, “Isn’t it wonderful that your kids miss you so much, that they are so excited to see you, that when you come home they can’t help but come running to you, wanting to hug you?”

My client says, “I stay at home with my children, so to bring in extra money, my husband drives Uber on the weekends.  I never see him anymore.”

I give it a little TWIST, and say, “Isn’t it amazing that your husband cherishes you and the kids so much, that he doesn’t want them to be in daycare, and he sacrifices his time with you by taking on extra responsibilities?  I’m positive he misses you guys on the weekends, but it sounds like he knows that this is what he needs to do, so you can stay at home.”

My client says, “I’m a work at home mom, so when the baby goes down for a nap, I hurry to get my work done.  It feels like just as I’m getting into it, he’s waking up.  I wish he’d sleep a little bit longer.”

I hear the wistfulness in her voice, and I know she is looking for validation.  I TWIST her perception by saying, “Isn’t it wonderful that you can work from home?  Isn’t it wonderful to be the one your baby sees when he first wakes up from his nap?  What do his eyes look like when he sees you?”

“Oh, he’s so happy to see me!  His eyes are big and his smiles are wide!  He bounces with excitement when I pick him up.”

“Isn’t that beautiful? How does that make you feel when he reacts that way?”

“I feel loved and wanted.  I never thought about it that way.”

“So, when you think about it like that, what does that mean to you?”

“I feel like I can successfully be a work-at-home-mom with a baby.  It’s all worth it.”

“What would you do with a photograph of your son, looking so excited and happy in your arms?  What would that mean to you?”

“Oh, I’d put it by my desk so I could see it all the time while I’m working.  It would mean so much to see that every day!  It would keep me going!”

Do you want a TWIST, a new way to perceive your life?  Just like Chubby Checker performed The Twist and all of America started dancing in a new way, I would love to help you see things differently.   I’d love to speak with you and find out what’s most important to you, so that I can photograph that for you, and you can love it every single day.

Recently, Danielle LaPorte quoted, “Life is art”.  I say, “Be in love with the artwork of your life!”

Talking to your mom and dad about a multi-generation session and photograph

I talk to people all of the time about their families and the special connections that they all have.  

When I ask about their moms and dads, their voices change.

“My mom sacrificed everything for us growing up.  I love her more than anything.”

“My dad was gone a lot for work, but when he was home, he played with us and did projects with us.  I was really lucky.”

And then I ask them about now.  What do they mean to them?

“My mom and dad love each other so much.  They’ve been married for 47 years and I think that’s wonderful.” (For the record, so do I!)

When I bring up doing a multi-generational session, the first words are usually, “Oh, my mom won’t do that.  She hates photos of herself anymore.”  Now, this makes me sad, because we all age, and that’s a celebration in itself!  To have a beautiful photograph, surrounded by the most important people in one’s life, your progeny, is an amazing thing!

I want to mention something here.  The 3-generation photograph is not necessarily for the grandparents.  Of course, they’ll want one.  But do you know who the photograph is really for?

The grandchildren.

It is for them.  It is for them to look back on and remember that day, if they can, with misty eyes and have a moment in the sunshine, where they played in Grandma’s yard and helped pick veggies from her garden.

That photograph is going to be treasured and cherished long after Grandma and Grandpa have crossed over.  This is a photograph that the grandchildren’s grandchildren will look at and wonder that they were ever that age.  They will see it proudly displayed on the wall, and feel that legacy of ancestry, that where they came from and who they look like.

So when I talk to someone about these multi-generation photographs, I give ideas on how to speak to them.  The first thing is celebration, married for 47 years, all the kids and grandkids are there, and it’s a reason to celebrate.  The second is capturing those moments, where Grandma is holding her youngest grandchild on her lap, and surrounded by her beloved grandkids.  The third is memories, because photographs help trigger memories, keeping them fresh and alive in their thoughts. 

There’s a beautiful story behind every meaningful photograph, and such a photograph will mean much more as the years go by.

I want to encourage you to really consider what a wonderful gift you are giving yourself and your kids when you tell your parents what you’d love to do and why you want to do it.  And, when you display your artwork on your wall, in a place you’ll see it every day, you’ll be able to feel those emotions all over again.

Bee in love with the artwork of your life.

I Won a Gift Certificate! What's Next?

What is a Gift Certificate Competition?

Every once in a while, here at HBP, we love to celebrate relationships by offering competitions.

A competition is different from a contest.  A contest is usually a drawing of some sort.  A competition is based on specific content, and here is where you get to share your heart, and tell us what you love most about people like,

                                                                 Your family

             Your siblings

                                                        Your parents

                    You and your partner

                                                                         Your children

                                                                                                        You!

Wait, what?

My team and I go through the entries and choose the very best one for the grand prize winner.  A winning entry might go something like this:

My sisters and I grew up together with a lot of love in our home.  We are now separated by miles due to marriages and careers, but we get together every summer at the shore.  I’d love to celebrate the fact that we are now all in our 40s with a photo shoot so that we can remember how awesome we are!

Sometimes, the competition is very specific.  I’ll look for families who never get to spend quality time at the dinner table any more due to kids at sports, mom and dad pursuing education and careers, all the while juggling visits to Grandma’s house every 2 weeks.  That’s just one example of so many!  All of the entries should be themed around something in this statement that resonates with the person entering the competition.

Next, we’ll go through each entry, and choose the ones that make our hearts sing.  Then we’ll decide on and call the grand prize winner, and the first place winners as well.  Together, you and I will discover some really wonderful things about who you want to include in your session.  We’ll also talk about what your gift certificate covers, and how you can use it.

Our session is going to be unlike anything you’ve experienced before with a photography session.  Together, we’ll have fun, we’ll savor the moments, and we’ll soak it all in.  Every little bit.  Because your session is about those moments that we create together, so that every time you look up at your artwork, you’ll relive those moments and feel those same feelings again and again.

Next is our party!  We’ll get together at your home with a Premiere and Design Party, where we go over your photographs and put them together in designs that are meant to impact your lives every single day!  It’s the first time you get to relive those moments from our session, so having everyone, present,  who was photographed is important.  It’s a beautiful part of the experience because it gives you just a quick taste of what’s to come soon after!

Finally, the moment arrives for our second celebration:  when I come to your home and deliver your artwork to you!  This is like Christmas morning, where your anticipation bubbles up and you feel like a kid again, as you can’t wait to open your artwork!  Having everyone there for the delivery is also important, because experiencing this together is a bonding moment, as everyone soaks the artwork in.

We think that this is the perfect way to celebrate relationships, and are certain that you think so, too.  Keep your eye out on FB for our next competition, and start thinking about what you might say to get that winning entry!

Forest Ridge Elementary School PTA Online Auction Fundraiser

Why You Should Consider Artwork to Celebrate Your Love with a Forever Session (4 minute read)

Why You Should Consider Artwork to Celebrate Your Love with a Forever Session

Marriage is certainly one of the hardest things to manage in most people’s lifetimes.  Because it consists of two people who are very different from each other, who are trying to learn to compromise and serve each other, and who sometimes just fall short of the other’s expectations, rough patches can be tough on the relationship. 

This doesn’t mean that It will always be tough.  There are plenty of beautiful moments that help to soften those rough patches, that loving couples soak up and savor.  As most humans are very visual creatures, they are most influenced by visual media.  Having small mementos of recent adventures around the house is fun, especially on electronic devices, and being able to see it at the push of a button is delightful…  until your device breaks, or falls into a puddle.  Or the media corrupts.  Or the Cloud rains.

When a couple has been together, and married, for twenty-plus years, the tendency is to put the children first with school and sports, to work hard, and to create a savings account to live well after retirement.    As the years go by, time becomes more and more precious for parents as they navigate through a multitude of schedules.  It’s difficult for most couples to get a romantic weekend away, let alone a Friday night date of dinner and a movie.

Time is cherished by such couples.  Taking the time to celebrate your relationship through artwork will help oft-busy couples reconnect with each other, especially during periods of business travel, or opposite schedules.  Because of the presence of such poignant artwork, the reminder of love you have for your partner is always visual.

Why, yes, you did have wedding photos done, and yes, there’s the token snapshot of you, together…  but do they convey the emotional part of your relationship, as it is now?  Wouldn’t you love to have a bit of time together, to soak up everything you love about each other, and really have that moment to treasure for years to come?  Wouldn’t that be amazing, to share, during your experience, these beautiful sentiments with each other, and attach that admiration and desire for each other to your artwork?

Every time you walk past your artwork, how incredible would it be to feel those feelings?  To fall in love all over again?  To imagine you are feeling his embrace, or smelling her perfume, every time you see it in the corner of your eye?  It’s an amazing experience to be able to relive again and again.  As much as the words I use to describe this experience, the only way to know for sure is to go through your own photographic experience.

Finally, the artwork that you display in your home of you and your partner should be a celebration of the love you share with each other.  This is a milestone that you have in your life, and it’s just as important as the milestones your children enjoy.  You have every reason to celebrate! 

Be in love with the artwork of your life. 

Dream - Discover - Create - Display (2 minute read)

Over the years, I’ve come across a lot of moms who stress over all the things about getting ready for their photographs:  the clothes, the background, the kids, the partner… so much to manage!  No wonder so many Moms of Two think to themselves, “Oh, there’s so much going on, I’ll just do it Next Time.”

Before you know it, Next Time comes, and goes, and guess what?  It keeps getting pushed away, with a vague sort of intention.  Eight years and two children later, there are no photographs on the walls of the whole family, when your second child was two.

Moms of Four now have no photographs of smiling parents and children, gathered together in the safe haven of a loving embrace, on the wall, for everyone to see.  Do the younger children ever wonder if they were just dropped off one day?

Moms, I give you permission to dream about having a beautiful family photography experience.  I give you permission to stress less over outfits and locations.  I even give your partner permission to enjoy the time together.

Discovering what is most important to you is the beginning of your journey.  Take this time to savor each family member, and soak them in.  Reconnect with your partner, discuss more about life than the bills.  Coming together as individuals who interact with each other genuinely will be more evident in your artwork when approached in this fashion.

Planning your photography experience, photographing exactly what you want, and creating artwork that is perfect for your home are the next steps.  This is necessary, because without this crucial part, all we have is a potpourri of photographs that we don't know what to do with, and then it becomes a mundane moment.  The magic can only come when the steps are followed.

Finally, the best day comes, and that is when I deliver your artwork to your home.   As you open each piece and lovingly touch them, you'll recall what it was like that day, with the warm sun on your shoulders and your children’s giggles ringing on the breeze.  You’ll fall in love with your family all over again.  As the artwork goes up on your wall, you'll fall in love again.  And every time you pass it by, you'll fall in love again, and again.

You see, the artwork on your walls can truly impact your life, and each of your family members' lives.  Let this artwork be a guide for your family, to remind you of how you love each other, even when times are tough. With artwork, it's easy to be able to feel that love, every single day.

And that's all that matters, right?