When was the last time you had family photos taken? A year? 3 years? 10 years? I’m not surprised.

It is an easy thing to push aside, to not save for, to put last on the priority list. The common misconceptions on a photo session are;

It’s a lot of work

Your husband won’t want to do it

It is too much money

The kids will hate it

The photographer won’t get any good pics so the session will be a waste of time

I am here to tell you every single one of those thoughts are 100% wrong and I’m here to prove it to you.

Us as Moms know that every single day our children change, they get bigger, they start doing grown up things, saying grown up things (Just this week I heard, “What does betrayed mean?” “Did you know some parents don’t take care of their children?” “What is the dog having surgery for and what is “getting fixed” mean?” …. holy cow). We do our best to keep up the baby books (ha!) and jot down funny little things they say. We take pictures of them with our phones and save school homework that shows the day they started writing their 5′s the right way. Every now and then we hold the camera out in front, sit a child on our laps and take a photo of ourselves. Just to document that we were here…our faces were in the picture.

You deserve more than an iphone shot every few weeks. Your walls deserve to be plastered with beautiful family photographs, ones that you can be proud of.

I love taking photos of people, love seeing them interact and being a fly on the wall to their love. I absolutely love taking photos of Moms and Dads, who most likely hadn’t had a photo taken of themselves together since their wedding day.

My friend and mentor Michele from Pinkletoes posted this on her facebook the other day and it spoke to me because this is exactly how I feel;

“If you have not had family pictures taken within the past 3 years, promise me right now that tomorrow morning, you will find someone to do it. I don’t care if it’s a neighbor, I don’t care if it’s a portrait studio, I don’t care if it’s a tripod and a remote. Just do it. We have no guarantees in life, but at least we can have the photos to prove that we were here, we were together, and we were happy.”

So with that, I am giving away a photo session. Here’s the info;

The winner can include up to 5 people who you consider family, pets included (let me know if you have 11 children ok? we’ll work something out :)

The winner and I will decide session location within 30 miles of Sacramento, CA.

The winner will receive a full session (1-2 hours), styling consultation and CD of 8 – 10 rockin’ images.

I receive the satisfaction of helping out a family who deserves photos and also a signed model release.

The session must be held before September 2011

This session is not applicable towards birthday parties, events or weddings. This is for a standard session where we have a blast for a couple hours and you get memorable photos in return.

Anyone can enter, past clients, photographers, etc, (but no one related to me of course) and if you don’t live in Sacramento and want to enter on behalf of a deserving family who lives around here, go for it. Or if you live in Hawaii and want to fly me and my husband for an all expense paid vacation to take your photos there…I won’t argue with that :)

No purchase necessary to enter or to win.

So here three different ways to win:

1. Tell me in the comments section when was the last time you had family pictures taken.

2. Head on over to Facebook and “like” my page – www.facebook.com/amyschuffphotography – come back here and tell me in the comments section that you did so.

3. Tell everyone and their Grandma about this giveaway…Facebook, Tweet or Blog and come back here to tell me you did! Tag my Facebook page in your status update! (If you don’t know how to do that, in your status update box, type @amy schuff photography until you see me in the drop down box and click!) My twitter username is @amyschuffphoto.

You must use the comments section to enter and each way must be put in as a separate comment to count for three different entries.  No entries on Facebook will be honored. Only 3 comments per person. The giveaway closes at 11:59pm on May 31st and winner will be chosen at random on June 1st…which is…a very special day :)

The giveaway is closed and the winner will be announced on June 1st!

I love families!!

Give a really thoughtful gift this year. The kids are only *thissmall* for so long we need to take a snapshot of our lives right now…in this moment…whatever your family looks like…wherever you are.

Amy Schuff Photography offers gift certificates, they are custom made for each client and can be purchased in any amount. The gift certificate will be gift wrapped in the simple style of Amy Schuff Photography and will include all the necessities to get ready for your loved one’s session.

Please contact me for information or to purchase a gift certificate! Deadlines to order a custom certificate are December 17th.

I’ve decided to open up a mini session day! I’m calling them Deluxe because they are quick…yet still so grand and perfect in every way :)

There have been some inquiries about holiday cards and I just couldn’t let those families who haven’t gotten their photos taken yet to go by the wayside. So here is YOUR chance to book a photo session and send out some amazing Christmas cards or receive gift prints perfect for Grandma…Auntie or even just yourself! As with all photo sessions, a CD of images and enlargements can always be purchased.

Please don’t wait to contact me if you would like to schedule a session. The date is November 20th and that is only a week & a half away! I will help you with your outfit choices and guide you through the preparation process.

These sessions will get booked FAST so please don’t wait!

(These Holiday Sessions are limited to 3 family members, additional family members may be included for $15/person)

Here is another example of some of the holiday cards I am offering this year. I just simply LOVE this year’s selection! I need to choose which one I’m sending out myself!