The Avon Walk is quickly approaching; there are only 45 days left!!  We are making great progress toward our goals but now it’s crunch time!  Over the next few weeks, we will walk over 120 miles in preparation for the event.

On the fundraising front, we have reached $7,660 of our $9,000 commitment.  That’s 85%!!  But that means we still have a little bit more to go.  To help us reach our fundraising goals, I have offered to raffle off a FREE photography session plus the DIGITAL NEGATIVES (over a $400 value) to one lucky winner who donates to our team.

To enter:

1) Receive one entry in the raffle for every $10 you donate.  Go to our team page and donate to one of our team members who still needs to meet the $1800 minimum goal.*

2) Come back to this post and submit a comment answering this question: What type of session you would choose if you win – maternity, baby, family, engagement?  Your entry is not complete without this.

3) For an extra entry create a Facebook or Twitter post about this contest.  Make sure you are a fan/follower of Amber Katrina Photography and link to my page.

Details:

The contest ends at 12pm on August 13, 2010.

All completed entries will be entered into a raffle for one FREE photo shoot.  The winner of this photo shoot will get a 1-2 hour session and the digital negatives on a CD (over $400 value).  The session must take place in the Los Angeles area by September 30^th, 2010.  Your choice of a maternity, baby, family, couple or engagement session (excludes wedding sessions).

100% of the proceeds go to support the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

*Donations already made to our team may be submitted to the raffle by commenting on this post.

My friend, Christine, asked me to come take pictures of her family and their first home, since they were moving.  They wanted to record the memories of this time in their lives.  I was so excited for two reasons.  Christine and her husband Matt have an awesome casual, cool style in their dress, home decor and personality.  They are so laid back, I knew it was going to be a fun session.  Secondly, they described my favorite kind of session when they told me what they wanted: to just hang out at home doing some of their favorite activities as a family.  And I was not disappointed.  This was definitely an amazing session.  One of my favorite!

Christine and Matt’s little boy, Emerson is around the same age as my son, Elijah.  So I knew it was going to take some skills to get him excited about participating in the photo session.  When I got there, Emerson was “mowing the lawn” with his little toy mower.  And he didn’t really want to take family pictures.  So I told Christine and Matt to ignore him.  What?!  Did you know that’s the worst thing you can do to a toddler?

We took some great pictures of Matt and Christine…

All the while, Emerson was getting more and more interested in what we were doing.

And just like that, he wanted to join in the fun.  I’m so tricky.  :)

We went inside to do some fun things they enjoy as a family, like reading books.

They are a very musical family.  In fact, that was the theme of Emerson’s third birthday party.  Emerson showed off his guitar skills.

And then got to rock out with daddy.

We even went down to their basement and played drums.

Next we played with some of Emerson’s toy trains.

And then we got to jump on mommy and daddy’s bed.  This was definitely a favorite.

I loved this series of Emerson jumping on the bed.

And then they got to snuggle as a family.

Next we went outside and they showed me all the different fruits and vegetables in their garden.

Some more time playing as a family.

And then skateboarding.

Oh la la.

Finally, I wanted to share a special picture that Christine asked me to take for her and gave me permission to share.  About a year ago, Christine lost a pregnancy to miscarriage.  She was able to do it in the sanctity of her own home and these memories are precious to their family.  Christine asked that I take a photo to remind her of her special baby in heaven, Quinn.  I hope this captures the spirit of your emotions, Christine.

Thank you for asking me to capture this special time in your lives, Christine and Matt.  I love your family and I was honored to be a part of it for this day.

I’m pretty behind on my blog posts (like always).  That’s what happens when you have two active little boys who need constant attention.  Combine that with editing pictures for clients and training for the Avon Walk and not much else gets done around here.  I should show you pictures of the disaster zone that is my house.  And somehow I thought it would be a good idea to raise chickens (more on that to come later)…  hehe

So I’m going to combine some things, like Sarah’s maternity session and their newborn session into one blog post.  First, here is Sarah and Rick and their cutie little doggy, Tudy.  Tudy is their first baby and she knew it too!  She wanted to be the star of the show, and we were happy to oblige because, well… she’s so darn cute!

Sarah had to deal with high blood pressure during her pregnancy.  So she had to spend much of the time on bed rest.

…and taking her blood pressure.  Rick wasn’t too happy about how her blood pressure was doing during the photo shoot.

We went outside for a few last shots, before Sarah needed to get back to bed.

Their adorable little baby girl, Abigail, was born a few weeks later.  I was able to come over shortly thereafter to take pictures of Abby and her family.

I love Rick’s expression as he holds his baby daughter.

And Sarah, so proud and relieved, I’m sure, after having such a tough pregnancy.

I loved the light in their bedroom.  It was perfect!

Tudy felt a little left out, so we made sure to include her too.

And lastly, a few closeups of adorable little Abby.

So everyone is asking where the pictures are found.  I guess the challenge was harder than I thought.  Thank you to everyone who participated and took the time to look through my images.

First, I will show you the screen shots from mormon.org and tell you where they are located on my blog.  Then I will announce the winner of the free mini session.

The top banner picture of the LDS Newport Beach Temple is from Kelli and Todd’s wedding.  It’s also located on a second page on mormon.org, so I accepted this answer for the “hidden” picture.

The next picture is from Matt and Christina’s wedding at the LDS Los Angeles Temple.  The real “hidden” picture no one found.  It is behind the photo of Matt and Christina, and it’s actually a different picture.

The third picture is from Sharon, Stanley and Katelyn’s holiday mini session.

And the winner of the free mini photo session is…… Danielle McKee!!  It seems appropriate since she also happened to be the first person to finish the challenge just a few hours after I announced it.  Congratulations, Danielle!  Please email me to arrange a time and date for your photo session: amber@amberkatrina.com

And to all those who entered but did not win, I will offer a $50 discount if you would like a photo shoot.  This offer is good for one portrait session, and must take place by August 31, 2010.  Contact me for pricing and details: amber@amberkatrina.com

I am so excited to announce that my work has been featured on the new mormon.org website!!  I was contacted several months ago by an LDS Church representative, asking if they could have permission to use some of my photographs for the redesign of their website.    After weeks of working with them and then waiting for the necessary approvals, it has just gone live!

So instead of just sharing screen shots of where they are located, I thought we could have a little fun.  Let’s have a treasure hunt to see if you can find all of my photographs on the mormon.org website.  To sweeten the pot, I will give away 1 FREE mini photo shoot to one lucky winner.

To enter:  There are 3 of my pictures featured on the momon.org website.  All of these photos are here on my blog.  First, visit mormon.org and figure out which pictures are mine.  Then, come back to my blog and find the ORIGINAL blog posts containing the pictures.  Leave a comment on each blog post, saying where the pictures are located on mormon.org.

You can get an additional entry in two ways:

1) Leave a comment on Facebook, Twitter or a Blog Post telling your friends about this contest.  Then come back to this post and leave a comment.

2) Find a “hidden” 4th picture and leave a comment on the blog post containing that picture.

The rules: All entries must be completed by Monday, July 19th at midnight.  Any incomplete or incorrect entries will not be counted.  If more than one person identifies all the pictures correctly, there will be a drawing to choose the winner.

The details: The mini photo shoot includes a 45 minute session and the fully retouched digital negatives on a CD.  The session must take place within 15 miles of 91722 before August 31, 2010.

And because a post is always better with a photo, here is a fun sneak peak from a recent family session.