The kids and I were out and about the other day, getting the rest of Zach’s shots for Kindergarten next week. His dr happens to be next to Goodwill and of course we had to shop around a bit! When I saw this car for $20 I had to snatch it up. I may or may not have panicked when I saw another mother put her little boy in the car and look at it lovingly. I walked straight up to the car and hovered. I think that probably wasn’t the most polite thing to do…but then she admitted he had two other cars at home…so then I didn’t feel so bad.

Lily is the only one tiny enough to fit in it, Abby is very distraught that she doesn’t fit at all!

If you want to incorporate this pedal car into our session, please contact me and let’s talk about it! I’m thinking a little boy wearing a pub cap and a tweed blazer, or a little girl in a yellow vintage dress…oh the ideas I have! I can’t wait to incorporate this into my nephew’s 1 year old session. I hope I can pull off my vision for him!

Tonight is shaping up to be a very fun night for the Alternative Pregnancy Center’s “Shoes, Shopping & Salsa” event! Apparently we are going to wear cute shoes, shop the different vendors and eat salsa :) I’m excited. Salsa is one of my favorite foods…I make a mean batch of salsa.

Tonight I’ll be camped out at my table with cards & goodies & sample products of things that I offer my photography clients. I really encourage you to stop by! There will be 15 other vendors there just waiting to share their wonderful local businesses with us. I personally will be giving away gift certificates and attendees of the event can book their session right there and receive 50% off their session fee! The whole evening is to benefit the Alternatives Pregnancy Center, all the vendors will be donating part of their proceeds from the night. I really believe in what the pregnancy center does and want to support them in any way I can. If you are unfamiliar with them, please visit their website and read all about the beautiful babies that they have helped come into this world.

Directions to the “Shoes, Shopping & Salsa Event!”

This photo has nothing to do with tonight’s event…but I liked it :) I took it in the bathroom of the Hilton today at the WPPI Roadtrip. I got to hang out with some great friends and make some new ones as well! The girls I hung out with were poking fun at me for taking photos of everything…yes I even bring my camera into the bathroom with me. Who knows?! You might get something like this…

July is such a great month to start thinking about Christmas pictures. The awesomeness of Summer is on us, the kids are home from school and in great moods, taking a “summery” photo for your cards will help you remember your long lost tan when December comes around. I wanted to show off just a few of the Christmas cards I will be offering this year to my clients. These are 5×7 flat cards (just the front is shown here and these can also be ordered as folded cards and in a variety of colors.)

I know it may be last minute for some of you, but this weekend’s Impress Photo Sessions would be a great time to get some family pics done and take care of your Christmas card so when the holidays come around, you can actually send out a card before New Years (I have *never* been guilty of that…ahem…)

Contact me for session info or to request a full price list.

So over the next two months I’ll be traveling quite a bit….

no…not there…I wish!!!

Some local session info first…

July is upon us and I actually still have 1 or 2 sessions available for Mid-July. Also, please take advantage of the Impress Photo Sessions I have planned on July 10th! It is not too late to schedule a session! If you have any questions about it, please contact me. This is a huge deal and I really hate for some of you to miss out on this! I will be having the Impress sessions again, but not at the $199 price. The deal I’m giving for this session day is *crazy*! You won’t find a photographer in Sacramento who will give you a CD of photos (20-40 images) for $199. I did this so that all of us who are taking great care of our finances can still afford to get great family photos!

Okey dokey…moving on!

Over the next two months I’ll be in San Diego, Denver and Pismo Beach. My normal pricing will apply, but the great thing is that there will be no travel fees from Sacramento. :)

San Diego/Oceanside: End of July -  I will have probably one or two days that I will be available to schedule sessions.  I’m thinking family session on the beach? You tell me because San Diego isn’t my hometown…but I super love the beach! I wish MY family could get family pics done on the beach! Any photogs in San Diego want to session swap? No really…I think that is a great idea! We don’t have much beach here in Cowtown…oh I mean Sactown!

Denver: Beginning of August – I will have time for only one session while I am there. I’ll be there teaching on photography for a whole week! I’m very excited about that…haven’t quite got my head wrapped around it…but I will!

Pismo Beach: End of August, just for a few days…beach! I can schedule one or maybe two sessions.

For exact dates and pricing requests, please use this form to contact me or you can call me directly at 916.420.8889. Leave a message because I am probably getting my kids out of the pool or guiding a tantrum to take place on the carpet and not the tile floor… :)

I am so excited to announce a brand new development for Amy Schuff Photography.

Sessions will now be split into two separate kinds of experiences. I now offer either Classic Photo Sessions or Impress Photo Sessions. A Classic is a normal, full Amy Schuff Photography experience that I have been happily offering and enjoying for the past few years.

Impress Photo Sessions are a flat fee, no hassle, fun, stress free, mini session.

The main difference between Impress and Classic is that the images on your Impress Session CD are not fully retouched.

Here are some examples of Digital Negatives and Fully Retouched Photographs:

Dates for Impress Photo Sessions are once a month and determined when and where, by me, before hand. Each session will be about 30-45 minutes long. My goal is to take as many photographs of you as possible in our time together. After the session, I’ll delete blurry photos or any with closed eyes, but then you get the rest! You’ll receive at least 20 images, usually many, many more.

Impress photo session are for:

• Families of 4 members or less (larger families please contact me.)
• Engaged couples
• Couples in love
• Pets
• 1st birthday, 16th birthday or a milestone
• Siblings
• Picture of the Grandkids
• Christmas card photo
• Photographers always behind the lens
• or maybe you haven’t had family photos taken in years!

There are so many more reasons to take part in an Impress photo session. You decide!

About two weeks after our Impress session you’ll receive a CD with your images, then you can feel free to print them when and were you choose! I will provide a digital negative printing kit to help guide you in the absolute best way to print your photos.

As an extra bonus, all Impress Photo Session clients will receive an 8×10 of their favorite photo, fully retouched. This is in addition to a CD of at least 20 digital files.

I am offering the first Impress Photo Session at an introductory price of only $199. This is over half off what future Impress sessions will be priced at! I encourage you, if you desire professional photographs, do not miss out on this first Impress session date. I promise you, this will sell out extremely quick!

The first Impress photo session will be on Saturday, July 10th! The introductory price of $199 is reserved for the first Impress photo session date only. After July 10th, Impress photo sessions will be priced at $450 (which is still a significant savings over a Classic Session.)

For this first Impress date, we will be hanging out in Old Sacramento, one of my favorite places to be! Old Sacramento is full of great buildings, textures and even some grassy areas. It is safe for little ones and still fun and funky for an edgy couple.

To take advantage of the best light in Old Sacramento and because it is getting HOT here in Sacramento, these are the available Impress Photo Session times:

8am
8:45am
9:30am
10:15am
5pm
5:45pm
6:30pm
7:15pm  Booked!

Follow this link to reserve an Impress Photo Session!

Can you tell I am excited about this? I really hope those of you who have wanted to book a session with me, but were unable to do so for some reason or another can take advantage of this. If you know me at all, you know that my HEART is for families to have professional photographs of themselves, their kids, their memories…hanging everywhere in their homes. That is what I want for you…

MWAC = Mom With A Camera

That is pretty much all I am…a mom with a camera. My camera might have a few more settings than yours, but that doesn’t matter one tiny bit. I love my kids. I love photography. I love making memories. Therefore…I’m a MWAC.

I’ve been getting a lot of questions and comments from other MWAC’s regarding their cameras and just wanting to learn more. I wish I could magically impart all the knowledge I have about using my camera just straight into your brain! I am not professionally trained, so I know there is soooo much that I have to learn about photography. But for now, I’m ok with the pictures I present and every day I am trying to better myself and learn more. I want to learn…that makes my heart fully connected with yours.

I have been tossing around the idea of giving a day or weekend workshop, just for MWAC’s like me who just want to take better pictures with their cameras. I’ve been talking with a friend about maybe collaborating with me. All of us at the workshop could just talk and talk and use each other as models and serve a nice lunch…maybe go out for coffee afterwards and keep talking about what we want in life and how we want to grow as moms and as photographers.

If this is something that you would be interested in, please email me at amy@amyschuffphotography.com. I would love to hear your feedback. What would you like to learn? What topics would you like covered? This workshop would be geared towards the beginning to intermediate photographer, so what tidbits would you want to know that at the end of our time together, you felt like you could take better photos of your kids?

So contact me through this link or send me an email, you can also contact me through my facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/amyschuffphotography

I look forward to hearing your comments! I think if we had enough interest we maybe could plan a workshop for this winter?? Let’s see :)

Tomorrow I’m sending out my very first Amy Schuff Photography Newsletter. The reason for sending out a newsletter, is that I offer special deals and promotions to all newsletter recipients before I announce them on my blog!

In this newsletter, I’m announcing my brand new mini sessions called “Impress Photo Sessions”! I’ve wanted to offer mini sessions for so long now to meet a need among Sacramento families. Well now I am…and I could not be more excited!

Follow this link to sign up for the newsletter! It is going out tomorrow!!

My sweet baby…she’s so happy about the Impress Photo Sessions…(HA!!) This is the first smile I got out of her all day, the flu has been going around our house!

Edited with Amanda Keeys VintageColour1

iso 400
f2.2
ss 1/200

So I’ve been nominated for the 2nd time for Sacramento’s KCRA A list of photographers. I actually didn’t realize I was nominated until some awesome friends on Facebook started voting for me! The contest only runs for another couple days, so if you can, give me a vote and help me place in the top 5!

Abby & I had some time together a couple days ago, just in our backyard right before bedtime. The light is beautiful at that time and she was a very willing model. Love that girl so much. She lost another tooth the other night. She declared she wanted “ten bucks” from the tooth fairy :)

sacramento child photographer, sacramento family photographer, sacramento birth photographer

Pick up a free copy of Sacramento Parent Magazine and check out the “Haute Mama” spread! How simply fun to see my photos in print. I had a total blast working with the staff and models of Sacramento Parent and Belly Bou‘ boutique!

Aren’t these women just glowing? It makes me miss being pregnant…then I see my three sweet children who all sleep blissfully through the night and I am thankful for the stage of life I am in!

See it online here.

The face of Amy Schuff Photography is changing up a bit. I recently joined an amazing group of photographers lead by Michelle Anderson of Pinkletoes and my goodness it has opened my eyes so much to how vast and in depth I want my photography to grow. The ladies there are full of ideas, encouragement and Michelle is just overflowing with advice and small pushes in the right direction.

My first start is revealing my new website. It has a fresh new look…definitely more ME! It will be much easier for my clients to see their online proof gallery and view my portfolio. Make sure you turn up the music when you launch the site…you’ll want to browse for hours with it in the background!

I’m also totally revamping my pricing structure. I have wanted to go all digital for about a year now, but really didn’t know how to introduce it. About 99.9% of clients who email me ask about a cd of images, and I totally understand! I absolutely love being in control of my own photographs, being able to print them and email them to my hearts content. That is what I want for those clients who choose to hire me for a session. I want them to not just take home a few 5×7’s and 8×10’s. I want them to have ALL of their photos, on CD…so they can print and print and print. I think every family deserves to have beautiful photos of their loved ones. Not just a select few that they can “afford”…but ALL of them.

I will introduce my new prices very soon. If you are not at all interested in images on cd, then this is the week to book before the new pricing goes into effect. In going all digital, the ability to purchase printed photographs at my current prices will change as well. In my opinion…they will change for the better…but you be the judge of that!

If you are interested in booking a session, I still have a couple openings in May. You can contact me at info@amyschuffphotography.com, 916.420.8889 or click the picture below to be taken to the new site and contact me from there!

I am so excited….just take a look!