Gift Ideas and Specials

Christmas is right around the corner, and you're stumped to find the right gift. We can help!

Top of the list: a Studio Mark Emile Gift Certificate. Not only is it handsomely packaged and ready to put under the tree, but it is guaranteed to fit and be the right color. You simply can't go wrong. And to sweeten the deal even further, we are offering a chance for you to both give something AND get something. Any gift certificate purchase made by Christmas Eve will come with a bonus gift for you: your own gift certificate worth 50% of the gift certificate you purchased. The only disclaimer on the free gift certificate is that you need to use it by March 15th. That's it! So buy a gift certificate for your sister's family, and get one for your own family. No wonder they say it's better to give!

Note that you can purchase a session and prints, and we can write out the gift certificate to indicate the session and prints they are getting rather than a dollar amount if you like.

Next up: DSLR Camera classes!

Do you know someone who is getting a new camera for Christmas? Or maybe they already have the camera but lament the fact they don't really know how to use it. No matter- we can help. We will be starting up our beginner class for digital photography in the new year. You get the most enjoyment out of your camera if you know how to control it rather than press the button and hope something good happens. We give you the knowledge and confidence to operate the camera. It's a 6 week class, for $250.

And don't forget, we are offering FREE sessions for those sessions booked by Christmas Eve and held by March 15th. This limited time offer will not be extended so don't miss your chance to be photographed on our dime.

Thanks for Voting Us Best of Nashua!

So while we may not be ones to toot our own horn, apparently some of our clients are happy to do so! We were recently honored to have been selected by the readers of the Nashua Telegraph as the best photography studio of greater Nashua. The interesting thing here is that we didn't even know we'd been nominated, and there was no attempt to drum up votes at all. This is straight from you, our clients. So thank you so much! It's great to be appreciated.

To show the extent of our appreciation, we've decided to run some specials for you all.

Special #1: Free Sessions!

Book your family, baby, or senior session between now and Christmas Eve and it will be completely FREE! Your session fee, which is paid at booking, will be applied in full to your print purchase. There is a low, $250 minimum print purchase to qualify for this deal, and the actual session must be held by March 15th.

Special #2: 50% Gift Certificate Bonus

Purchase Studio Mark Emile gift certificate by Christmas Eve in ANY denomination and you'll receive an additional, bonus gift certificate for 50% of your purchase. The bonus gift certificate must be redeemed by March 15th, but there are no additional restrictions on the gift certificate that you purchase.

4th Annual Beach Portrait Special!

One of the most popular summer sessions we have is the beach session. Whether you are a high school senior, a family, or couple, we have sessions that will be enjoyable and fun, and provide you with some beautiful wall art! We've already been this year, and this is what we created:

Beach sessions are a substantial time commitment for us. We need to pack up all our stuff, drive for an hour+, do the session, repack all of our equipment and make the drive back to the studio. For this reason, we charge a little more for beach sessions than for your standard "on location" sort of session. Except during the one week each year when we head up to the beach for the week, and do sessions at a discount. Because we spend the week at the beach, we reduce our time commitment for any one session, and are happy to reflect this savings in the form of a lower session fee for our clients. This is the week to book your session if you want to save a little $!

This year's Beach Portrait Special will run from Sunday, August 2nd to Saturday August 8th. Yes, we will continue to offer beach sessions on other days at the regular price, but to obtain the special price you need to book a session within those dates.

We only shoot during the best times of day for lighting, which include first thing in the morning and late afternoon/evening. There are only so many sessions available, so it is important that you book your session while there are still slots available. Don't wait, or you'll have to pay full price! Call today and tell us you want the beach portrait special, and we'll get you in the schedule.

Graduation Photos

For the class of 2015, senior year has come and gone. Graduation is mostly memories and a few thank yous left to write. And college is only weeks away. If you came to Studio Mark Emile for your senior portraits last summer or fall, there is one thing left to do: swing by the Studio with your cap and gown for one good graduation photo. It's included in the package your parents purchased. It's super quick and easy. Call to secure your appointment, and you will be in and out in 5 minutes. And you'll have a nice 5x7 of yourself that looks like these. Something worth having. It's a small part of how we add value at Studio Mark Emile.

If, perchance, you did NOT come to Studio Mark Emile for your senior portraits, you can STILL have a nice graduation photo. Call the Studio at 603 886-0957 and we'll set you right up!

Of Portraits and Self-Esteem

As parents, we all want to raise strong, healthy, and ultimately self-sufficient children. Many parents realize that one of the greatest gifts we can give out children is a healthy self-esteem. While many of us consider things NOT to do (belittling, browbeating, etc), far fewer expend much energy thinking about positive things one can do to build a child's self-esteem. Research over recent decades has identified a simple way to enhance a child's self-esteem: the creation and display of family portraits.

The link between photography and children's self-esteem was established in the mid-seventies, in the Murfreesboro Study. In a nutshell, a group of fourth graders with low self-esteem (as perceived by their teachers) were given polaroid cameras with which they took photos of each other in a variety of assigned poses and expressing a multitude of emotions. They worked with these photos over the course of 5 weeks, scrapbooking the prints on a weekly basis. At the end of the 5 week period, the teachers reported an increase in behaviors indicative of positive self-esteem of 37% versus a control group, whose increase was just 10%. Ammerman, M. S. and Fryrear, J. L. (1975), Photographic enhancement of children’s self-esteem. Psychol. Schs., 12: 319–325. doi: 10.1002/1520-6807(197507)12:33.0.CO;2-X

Ok, so there's a link between self-esteem and photography. Great. How does that relate to family portraits, and why? To answer this, I'm going to reference the blog post that spurred this one: http://www.glowimagery.com/family-photo-benefits-childrens-self-esteem/ by Chris Cummins, a photographer out of Kansas City, MO. Chris did all of the legwork on this, so he deserves to be cited. He interviewed experts in PhotoTherapy, and this is the upshot of what they had to say:

• The family unit is important, and a family portrait provides visual reassurance to the child of belonging and being valued.
• A child sees himself as part of a unique family, with its own relationships and stories. This is reinforced by a photograph of the family, which captures a moment in time and provides a visual sense of the family in his place in it.
• Printed family portraits, which require no power source or user action to view are more effective than photos on a cell phone or computer in providing positive feedback to the child.
• Displaying portraits prominently in the home sends a message that the family values the portrait, and hence the family, and also provides opportunities to talk about the family.
• Older children can participate more fully in the portrait creation process, offering their own thoughts on location or clothing, which can enhance these effects.

There's a lot more to the original blog post, which I encourage you to read if you find this interesting. My point is this: a family portrait is more than just a pretty picture; it has a positive psychological impact on your children. It's not something to "get around to one of these days," it's important and if you haven't done a family portrait in the last few years you really should set up an appointment. Show your children how much they matter.