Black Friday Sales!!

What? Huh? NO WAY! A sale, TWO SALES? All tomfoolery aside, I am beyond excited to be doing two crazy sales here at Stevi Sayler Photography! Let me tell you all about these wonderful deals!

Christmas time is beyond wonderful, full of happiness and cheer, peppermint mochas all around and twinkling lights as far as the eye can see. I love this time of year and at Stevi Sayler Photography we want to share in the spirit of giving!

From 8 a.m. on Black Friday (11/23/12) until 7:00 p.m. on Cyber Monday (11/26/12), gift certificates will be on sale!! For $50 you can purchase a $100 gift certificate! With these gift certificates, you get a photo session AND a gift print (valued at $150) with $50 to spend towards your imagery.  This gift certificate is also perfect for any friend or family member you’d like to gift a session to! I would hate for anyone to miss this deal, so please share it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, email, smoke signals, whatever it takes to get the word out! How do you purchase them? You can email me at hello@stevisayler.com and I will email you an invoice to pay online.

I don’t want to forget those  beautiful brides-to-be, if you book your wedding with me by January 1st 2013 you will get $200 off your wedding package! This amazing deal will only be available through the end of the year, so what are you waiting for you recently engaged ladies, email me at hello@stevisayler.com to find out more!

Gift certificates must be picked up by Friday, November 30th. I will set up pick up dates, times and locations (Starbucks, anyone?). Sessions outside of Eugene area will require a travel fee. Gift certificates are good from December 1, 2012 to February 28, 2013.

And what good is a blog post without a picture? Here is a little Christmas cheer to brighten up your day!

I had a wonderful time in Corvallis, It was a rainy and dreary day, but two scheduled shoots are a sure way to brighten the day! I was able to schedule a mini shoot with Annie Tuttle adorable kiddos! We took a little walk down the hill from their house to a great little wooded area where we could just run around and take awesome photos! The thing I love and hate about mini sessions is trying to get some great photos in a shorter amount of time. It seems to go over better with the little ones if they know they only have to be photographed for a short amount of time so it certainly makes it easier to get along, but at the same time, I will take photos for HOURS if they let me! haha

I have to say this shoot was short, sweet and perfect (despite the little bit of rain)!

Mike and Marla decided to celebrate their new home by taking before and after photographs of the big empty lot and the new house that they built.  I love this idea, not only were they able to have photographs documenting this amazing and huge step in their lives, they were also able to use those photographs on super fun invitations to their house warming party. I thought that was just the cutest idea ever!

See the before photos here! 

Another set of photographs from my awesome trip to Texas. I had a great time and had a great dinner getting to know all these lovely people! It was such a fun trip, I will always have a place in my heart for Texas. I seriously could live there!

I had the amazing opportunity to go to Dallas, Texas a few weeks ago to take photos of all sorts of wonderful people! The first shoot of the day was at the Dallas Arboretum, an amazing and beautiful park filled with Chihuly glass sculptures, ponds, gardens and all sorts of family fun! I had such a great time, it was a perfect day for family, we just walked around the park, took in the sights and took photos along the way! It was a great way to space out a shoot and really take our time. I LOVED it!

Chihuly Exhibit in the Dallas Arboretum (Past Blog Post).

The Love family was one of my more relaxed and fun family photo shoots, I just had to share their photos! They showed up on time and ready to go with a smile and a warm welcome. I felt at ease and ready to take some fantastic photos knowing that they would be both photogenic and fun. This shoot was everything I hope for in an outdoor family shoot! As a photographer I prefer to step back and take an observer role whenever possible, it feels more genuine when the subject and/or family aren’t following my direction or paying attention to me. I feel that the photos have a greater chance of accurately representing the family and kids if they are interacting with one another rather than with me. So with that said, I let them do their own thing and snap photographs when someone looks my way or when something fun is happening. It’s a lot of running around, being silly and the occasional pose here and there. It’s chaotic, at times exhausting and incredibly rewarding.

I had the recent pleasure of spending some time with the Pasterick’s as they begin the journey of building their first home in Junction City just outside of Eugene. They approached me about doing a two part photo series of them on their new lot before and after their home is built. I loved the idea and I immediately had wonderful ideas of how to combine the two sets of images to show the huge and significant changes.

I loved this idea because it is thinking out of the box! It is a way to document something that from the outside doesn’t seem to be a traditionally photographed event! For this couple, building their home is life changing and significant. It just goes to show you that photography and working with a professional photographer is a great way to document any huge event in your life! I feel that documenting your life is a wonderful way to preserve your memories!  One day your memories will fade, but you will always have your beautiful collection of images to look back on.

I had a wonderful afternoon taking these photos and I really look forward to our second session! In the second session, I will be able to see the tranformation of this lot to a beautiful home! I absolutely cannot wait to show the changes and come up with a unique way to edit them together or side by side!

I wish them luck and patience as they create a beautiful home for themselves.

I wanted to share with you a recent shoot of mine with the super fun and playful Sixel family. I had a great time taking their photos! It was an ultra short shoot, but a fun one to say the least. I met them at their home and was instantly greeted by the kiddos playing out in the front yard and a loveable golden retriever named Jasmine. The classic family who had a playful side, what more could a photographer ask for!?

This year,  for Father’s Day the Sayler family was actually able to be all in the same place for the first time in a while!  This doesn’t always happen, but when it does good times are had and we all just sync together!

My whole family, myself included all happen to dislike having their photographs taken, I coundn’t tell you why but we just get awkward the moment that camera comes out! Or maybe that is just what we tell ourselves, that we are so awkward.

I think these photographs can stand as proof that feeling awkward and actually looking awkward are two very different things. We all have those insecurities and concerns when we get in front of that camera. But truth be told, we are the only ones who notice that imperfection, all everyone else notices is the expression, the activity and the quality of the photograph.

I always feel for those who don’t necessarily want to have thier photo taken, but know that they will always wish they had photos to look back on. For some, that [family] portrait is thought of as something to get through, something you will be glad you did later, but not in the moment.

In my experience as a photographer, I have to say that the awkwardness or concern over appearance quickly disappears as they discover that I will not yell at them to pose in an unflattering way, or act like a tiger. They find that my photo shoots are relaxed, casual and result in some wonderful shots.

My parents are proof of that, they look wonderful, happy and so freakin’ cute!

I am so happy that they were so trusting and such great models! I’ve wanted them to have nice portraits for a while now and this came together perfectly! I think this is a time in their life that they can finally just be a happy couple, without my brother and I harrassing them or yelling and fighting in the back of the minivan. They seem strong and confident in their relationship and I think it shows through.

A few weeks ago I was given the wonderful opportunity to spend some time with the Rosin family. I was excited from the start because the littlest Rosin was the winner of my ‘Cutest Kid in Eugene’ Contest I held a few months ago. He was an amazing little model and I had a blast taking photos of just him, I knew his family would be just as fun!

The goal of the day was to just have fun and take some cute and silly photos. No one, including myself wanted to sit and do staged poses or get too formal. And with a little one, the shoot is centered around him or her and their little adventures.

With this little guy, searching out beautiful and colorful flowers was the name of the game and we were able to sneak all sorts of cute photos inbetween our missions to different plants.

I feel that this relaxed and casual atmosphere makes for much better photographs, the parents don’t need to worry about getting their little kiddo to sit still for an hour and they have the freedom to just play and have fun. I suppose this approach is akin to a more photojournalistic style, but I just like to think that I’m tagging along on their family adventures and I happen to have a camera to capture photos along the way.

Afterall, a happy kiddo will take the photo above and beyond any carefully and strategically posed family photo. Those who love those posed family photos, do not fret, we also got a few of those. About halfway through the shoot the whole family was able to get some super cute poses and photos of everyone all together after Max had gotten comfortable with me and my big scary camera.

I’m definitely a fan of these photos and this entire shoot, it was fun, playful and relaxed. I feel that formal family photos are usually too dang stressful, my goal is to make them fun!

-Stevi