A lovely family

We get a fair number of families in for portraits here at the studio, and sometimes one or more of the family members are in from out of town. Well, this family redefines "out of town". Mom flew in from the Philippines! How cool is that? It's hard to be from much farther away than that!

This was one of the easiest sessions we've ever had. It was one of those times when everything goes right, and I literally could have picked the images with my eyes closed because they were virtually all good ones. And they are all such nice people, it is a thrill to be able to create such images for them.

We are putting up a few here so that people back in the Philippines can enjoy them before Yvette returns. I won't ruin the whole surprise, but here's a glimpse:

Getting a jump on things

Well, the Class of 2010 may not yet be graduated, but by now the vast majority of the the senior portraits have long been done, given the early yearbook deadlines. We may get the occasional late bird or dissatisfied customer from somewhere else, but the senior market is very quiet this time of year. So I was a bit surprised to get a call from a mom inquiring into senior portraits for her daughter who is in the Class of '11.

Seems her daughter was getting braces put back on and wanted her yearbook picture to be braces-free. No problemo. Bring her down and have her bring clothes and things that are meaningful to her, and we'll have some fun and create some cool images. And we did.

Shoshana turned out to be a great subject- cute, brimming with personality, and just plain a delight to be around. We had a very successful session, and everyone has been pleased with the results, some of which I share here. This is the earliest of early-birds that we've ever had, and we are delighted to start off next year's senior season with such a great senior. Enjoy.

Announcing our Bonus Bucks Program

This is our ad which ran in the Hudson-Litchfield News.



Here's the skinny: any gift certificate you buy qualifies you for Studio Mark Emile Bonus Bucks at 25% of the value of your gift certificate. Bonus Bucks are studio credit which can be used up to March 31, 2010. So if you give someone a $100 gift certificate, you have $25 in studio credit you can use yourself (or give to someone else). There is no limit. So spend $1000, and get a $1000 gift certificate AND $250 of studio credit.

Portraiture is a great gift. Maybe you know a real estate agent or other professional that needs a new business card headshot. That's only $150, and you'd get $37.50 in bonus bucks for yourself.

This special offer is for a limited time only. Purchases must be made by Christmas Eve to qualify!

Fun with Santa

Having Santa in the studio has been a blast. Whether it was Girls Night Out or our daytime sessions, we've had plenty of frivolity- and not a few tears. Some of our younger clients apparently do not yet appreciate the generous nature of the jolly old elf. Honestly, some of those images are my favorites.

Here's a sampling of our pics with Santa.

One of the doggies who joined us:



A family:



Girls Night Out hijinx:



Nik and Mike



For this little one, the magic question was "do you like pizza?" :)



Honestly, I AM smiling. Really.

Winter Holiday Stroll

Saturday night was the annual Nashua Winter Holiday Stroll. This eagerly anticipated event happens every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and is always well attended. This year was no exception. Sadly, howling winds made the candle-lit procession to the tree-lighting all but impossible. I saw only a handful of candles in the throng. I was atop the Hunt building to get some images of this very procession, and the wind up there was brutal. Even with a tripod it was very difficult to prevent movement of the camera. I salvaged a few shots.

Here they come:






And the tree is lit.

Thanksgiving brings families together

And while Black Friday means shop 'til you drop for some, for others it means taking advantage of family being in town for family portraits. Take the Retter family, for instance. Mrs Retter came into the studio one hot summer day looking to get some color copies made. While this is not exactly what we do, it's something we can do, and so I did at a really good price just to be nice. While she was in I suggested that she get a family portrait done, and suggested that Thanksgiving weekend might be good since her son is away at school. A few weeks ago she called, and scheduled an appointment for today. They came in this morning and we had a nice, easy session. Here are a few of the previews they will be viewing:

Oh, what fun!

Santa came to the studio today for the first of his appearances, and we have a couple of the images that we created today to share. First up is Brennan, who is modeling our traditional look. Brennan is a cute little guy, but not too fond of the jolly old elf quite yet. Still, we had our share of laughs at his expense. :)

Next is Nina, who is showing our Rockwell style portraits with Santa. Observant followers of the blog will notice it is Nina's second appearance. A lovely young lady, who wants some Wii games for Christmas. What kind of games? "The fun ones, of course!" LOL

Santa returns to the studio on Nov 29th, from 10-4, the day after the Winter Holiday Stroll. Call the studio now to reserve your session at 886-0957.

As Thanksgiving Approaches

Thanksgiving is barely a week away, and we at Studio Mark Emile would like to encourage those of you who are going to take advantage of your families being together by getting a family portrait on Thanksgiving weekend to secure your sessions ASAP. We hate to disappoint, but there are only so many slots left, and we have a very full schedule over the weekend. Saturday night is Nashua's Winter Holiday Stroll, and Sunday we have Santa coming from 10-4. All we have left is a small number of slots on Friday afternoon and Saturday, so don't delay! Call the studio at (603) 886-0957 and make sure that your family portrait session is secured before all available slots are filled.

Aside from the fact that family from far flung places may be back for the Thanksgiving holiday, there is one other very good reason to get your sessions scheduled pronto. Time is running out on our promotion of 25 custom designed holiday or Christmas cards FREE with a family portrait. Thanksgiving weekend is the last weekend before that offer expires, furthermore we are rapidly approaching the holiday deadline after which we can no longer guarantee delivery in time for Christmas.

Here are a couple of the cover designs we have done so far this year to give you an idea of what we are doing for our custom cards. With a variety of finishes available, these cards are sure to impress and many people keep the cards from year to year, so well are they loved by the recipients. You don't want to miss this deal!

Guess Who's Coming to Studio Mark Emile!

That's right, that jolly old elf from the North Pole, Santa Claus!

Why hassle with long lines at the mall only to get terrible pictures? We have convenient parking, specially priced prints, and the big man himself! Bring your little ones, bring your dogs, bring your girlfriends. It's going to be so fun!

We have multiple days set aside for Santa photos.

Especially for Kids and Pets:
Saturday, November 21, from 10-2
Sunday, November 29, from 10-4
Saturday, December 5, from 10-4

And we are also having Girls Night Out with Santa
Thursday, December 3rd, from 6-9pm

Happy Halloween

We took a few shots of the grandkids when they arrived at our home for "trick or treat". One little ghost and little bo peep. :) Such cuties.

New Orleans

We are back from a series of speaking engagements for some of the professional photography guilds in southern Lousiana. We spoke to the guilds in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette. What a great tour!

We flew in a day early as we had never been to Louisiana. We can't wait to go back! It is so cool down there. We managed to spend 3 days and nights in the vieux carré, aka french quarter. It was AMAZING! So much history, it almost looks like a theme park, except it's real. So many textures, artists, examples of great architecture, and so much fun! For a photographer, it is a target rich environment. I could have spent the entire time shooting and still had reasons to go back.

Our hotel was located near Jackson Square, just a stone's throw from Cafe du Monde, where we sampled the beignets the first morning. We ate very well. Love that creole and cajun cooking!

We are looking at going back and bringing our youngest with us. Can't wait! Never been to a place that served all its alcohol in "to go" cups, and let you roam the streets with it. Lots of live music, too. What a fun place.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Masks are everywhere in New Orleans. These were in a wonderful shop that ONLY had masks. No "3 for $10" masks here. They were all handmade works of art.


There is a rich artist community around Jackson Square. So many painters and performance artists, displaying their wares or entertaining the crowds. It's great watching talented artists create in front of your eyes.
So much cool architecture, with such character. This is on the end of Decatur St.


Jackson Square- about 30 seconds walk from our hotel, La Place d'Armes.


They line up carriages by the dozen for rides and tours. This is right across from Cafe du Monde.

Trying to catch up!

We've been out of the office for a bit, having traveled to southern Louisiana to speak to several professional photography guilds. Boy, do we love Lousiana!

We had a fun time at our avatar night party. Sorry it's taken me so long to post these! Looking forward to doing it again, and we hope even more people will join us.

What are you doing on Friday?

Coming to the FREE avatar party, we hope!

We are opening the studion on Friday from 6-9pm for an evening of fun, frolic, food and drink. And we are going to be taking pictures that Mark will post and you can use as your profile picture on your social medium of choice- Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc. Feel free to bring props, or you can use whatever you find in the studio to personalize your profile picture. We are up for whatever- it's going to be great fun and the price can't be beat.

We will also have specials for people who attend the party and want to book a family session, or want to by prints from our Friday night adventure.

All you need to do is contact Betsy at the studio to RSVP, or RSVP on the Facebook fan page for the studio (click here.) This is an all-ages event, so bring the kids.

Here are some examples of profile pictures and headshots from past sessions:

Chloé and Ruby come to visit

We had a very special visit this morning from our granddaughters, Chloé and Ruby. They came to play with us at the studio, and brought us each a present- an apple they had picked themselves. Then we got down to the fun of photographing them. Chloé is now very mobile indeed, and is tough to keep up with. They were a joy to be with this morning, along with our daughter Tina.

Part of today's fun was to try on halloween costumes. We think we've found them. :)

We will be holding a special day in the studio for children to come and get their pictures taken in their costumes for a very special price. Stay tuned for our Halloween special; details to follow.

The lovely Miss Chloé sporting a delightful ladybug costume.



Big sister Ruby showing off her pitching arm in her princess costume.



Follow the leader?

Sitting like a princess...


The highlight of the day: popping bubble-pack! The sight of Ruby bouncing up and down the hallway popping the bubbles in her princess costume is one I am not likely to forget! It was hilarious. I only wish I had video.