“No gift to your mother can ever equal her gift to you … life!”

Next week begins May and you know what that means … Mother’s Day is two weeks away. Have you thought about how you want to celebrate this year?

Dads – this question is for you! When is the last time you celebrated how much your wife means to you? As the mother of your children doesn’t she deserve a gift that lasts a lifetime? No I am not talking about roses that die in a week, or candy that you pick up at the drug store on your way home from work. I am talking about giving her a portrait session just for her and the kids at our studio. She will love you for it. It can be her day to look beautiful and actually be in a portrait with her children!

We have 2 options for you:

1. Mother’s Day Mini Session PLUS Framed Boutique Mini Canvas Portrait  – $195

2. Mother’s Day Mini Session PLUS 8×10 Beveled Designer Portrait - $135

We know men like gift giving to be easy. So we are going to make this SUPER EASY FOR YOU!! You don’t even have to leave your computer to make this happen.

    Purchase your Session PLUS Portrait ONLINE NOW

We will email you a personalized certificate that you can print, and put in a card for Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day Mini Sessions will take place May 15-18th

If you have any questions, please give us a call at the studio at 813-994-4552

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One of Dr. Rice's therapy dogs came in for a photo session

Today I have an amazing guest blogger for you. Through networking I met Dr. Wendy Rice of the Rice Psychology Group, a month or so ago. She is an amazing lady who helps children and families through diagnostic interviews, testing and assessments. While chatting over lunch I mentioned to her that I talk to mom’s everyday about the worries and struggles we face with our children. Dr. Rice was kind enough to offer writing a brief blog for me on one of the most common struggles for mom’s of toddlers, Separation Anxiety!! Which one of us mom’s hasn’t struggled with that or worried that our kids weren’t normal? Here is what she has to say about Separation Anxiety and some tips for how we can help our children work through this common stage of childhood…

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Everyday separations are a common occurrence in early childhood. When separation is emotionally manageable for the child, he/she may respond with mild distress, but be able to be comforted and find security with a substitute caregiver. So while the child will miss their mother/father they will be able to find enjoyment in their environment and with their peers. When separations are difficult, emotions become overwhelming; the child may panic and desperately cling to their parent with any efforts to console or distract the child being rejected.

Separation anxiety is a common phase during child development in part due to innate fears that the parent may disappear if out of the child’s immediate sight. As children become more aware and curious about their environment their longing to explore increases. Children first begin to explore by moving a few feet away from their parent, looking back every few steps to reconnect and obtain reassurance that their parent is still there. Children are able to explore further away and for longer periods when they have repeated positive experiences of their parent being available to them when they return. If fear that the parent will disappear when the child leaves their side dominates, insecurity takes over and separation becomes a frightening and frustrating experience for both parent and child.

Separations are most difficult when:

• It is prolonged (overnight or longer)

• It occurs abruptly, so that the child is not prepared for it

• The child is left in unfamiliar surroundings and with unfamiliar caretakers

To help your child with separation adequate preparation is key to building mutual confidence and ensuring a joyous reunion. The following tips are applicable whether the separation involves a few hours with a babysitter, full-day daycare/pre-school or when parents have to be away for a few days.

• Try to avoid overnight separations until the child is older

• Make time to talk with your child about the separation (when it is schedule, who will be caring for the child, where you will be and when you will return). Use language that is simple and straightforward and use a positive tone of voice.

• Give child time to talk about their worries

• Make sure the child is familiar and comfortable with the substitute caretaker and environment

• Inform the substitute caregiver about your child’s personality, likes and dislikes, specific worries and fears, daily routine, and ways that they are soothed.

• Use a transitional object (audio recording of you singing or talking to him/her, blanket, favorite toy, book, photo) that the child can use to help sooth anxieties by being reminded of your love

• Talk about what you and your child will do when you return (go to the park, have ___ for dinner, play their favorite game)

• Talk about how you will be thinking about your child and looking forward to reuniting with them.

Rice Psychology Group is a Tampa-based private practice that offers diagnostic interviews, testing and assessment, psychotherapy, and cognitive training. The group was founded by Dr. Wendy Rice, who has more than 15 years of experience and first opened her practice in Tampa in 2001. With five psychologists on staff, Rice Psychology Group is dedicated to providing highly personalized and compassionate care to individuals and families. Rice Psychology Group offers special services for children under the age of 5, group therapy and evaluations.

To learn more about Dr. Rice please visit her website www.ricepsychology.com or call them at 813-969-3878

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It is funny the saying when it rains it pours. About six months ago we had a crazy number of newborn sessions. I think I may have even blogged about the fact that there was something in the water in Wesley Chapel 9 months ago. Well the fun part of having a burst of newborn sessions is that six months later I get a burst of six month sessions. Many of you know this is my favorite age during a baby’s first year to photograph. Why? Because the babies are fun to interact with. They typically giggle, smile, mimic, make funny faces and have a pretty long attention span without getting tired. It is also the stage of a baby before stranger anxiety sets in and before they start crawling away from me!

Yes, I love babies that sit and laugh at me

In between all the duck madness this past month we have photographed a ton of six month sessions and I thought it would be fun to share some of the images. Enjoy!

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Every child that comes to us has a unique personality and we can’t wait to capture that personality in a portrait for you and your family. Don’t let picture day stress you out! Our entire studio is designed to make children comfortable and help their parents to relax!

To learn more about our Children’s Portrait Sessions visit our Children’s Information Page and Gallery

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There is NOTHING like a new baby in the house. New life, a whole new world of possibilities. These moments mark the beginning of your lives together, and they are moments that go by too quickly if we don’t find a way to hold onto them. Which is why we created our Baby Steps First Year Plan, a plan that covers your baby’s entire first year and helps you hold onto all the little things that you adore about your new addition!

View details on our Baby’s First Year Plan

View our Baby Gallery

April 2012 Baby Plan Special …

I know you have read everything and want to sign up now!! Don’t hesitate … don’t wait and don’t miss out. Your baby is growing and changing every day.
Take advantage of our $95 April Special and sign up today online! If you prefer to call us you can call us at 813-994-4552

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–> Click Here to View Duckling Portrait Pricing <–

Sample Picture on Simple Duck Set for 2012

I can feel the excitement in the air. Duck Season is here! For the past 4 years, our Spring Duckling Portraits are one of the MUST HAVE sessions of the year!
The kids love playing with the ducks so much that they ask about them every time they come visit the studio. All the moms get to be the hero when the kids find out they are coming to play with the baby ducks!!

The 2 Sets we are featuring in 2012 are:

Simple Set – Green toned background
Saturday March 3rd- Tuesday March 6th

Spring Country Barnyard
Saturday March 10th – Tuesday March 13th

Background for Country Barnyard Setting

The Duck Portraits are a Limited Edition Set. You can reserve your session by calling the studio at 813-994-4552 or filling out the form below.

The session reservation fee is $45 for one child and $10 for additional children.
If your child is in our Baby Plan or Small Wonders they do not have a session fee!

Portrait Packages will be posted soon. Check back in February.

You can reserve your appointment online now with a credit card! We will call you within 24 hours to get your requested time on the calendar. If the time you request is not available we will get you scheduled as close to that time as possible.

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Valentine’s Day is coming up next week. In the days leading up to the big day, we thought it would be fun to post each day something different we love about children! To make it easy, I will just keep adding to this post. Check back each day and share your comments!

Children are worth celebrating!  We hope you enjoy sharing in the fun with us!

Wednesday, February 8th – Today we wanted to share that we LOVE adding to our family! I am Italian and I Love family! One of the reasons I love what I do is the relationships that we build with people. Many of my clients end up becoming an extension of my family. We share in each others happiness and sadness and share in the excitement of watching a child grow and change. I can’t express in words how greatfull I am every day for those that walk through my studio door and choose to allow me to become apart of their family. We love all of you!

We LOVE growing our studio family

Tuesday, February 7th – Today we wanted to share that we LOVE a Child’s Happiness! When a baby comes in for their first birthday portraits we always have fun. Most importantly the babies have fun too! To watch them play and attack their balloons and then their cake, it is amazing. The parents always enjoy watching their children enjoy the moment. Yep, nothing beats a genuine smile from a baby or child!

We LOVE a genuine smile!

Monday, February 6th – Today we wanted to share that we LOVE a Child’s Puppy Dog Eyes! I mean how can you resist this look? This is the look that gets them what they want. They melt your heart with it and get you right in your soul.

We LOVE - The Puppy Dog Eyes!

Monday, February 6th – Today we wanted to share that we LOVE a Child’s Puppy Dog Eyes! I mean how can you resist this look? This is the look that gets them what they want. They melt your heart with it and get you right in your soul.

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This past weekend I had the extreme honor of being asked to speak at SYNC, which is a national conference geared towards High School Senior photographers. Each year they always bring in one or two speakers who specialize in children and babies. This year the children’s speaker was me!! I shared the platform with Gail Morello from New Hampshire. We had a fabulous time. She spoke on babies and I spoke on children.

You guys have no idea how many hours I spent preparing for this 1.5 hour seminar. When you see people speaking from the platform, they make it look so easy. Let me just tell you … it is not easy! I was so nervous knowing that I was speaking to 400-500 of the industry’s best talent! Little ol’ me from Wesley Chapel …

If you knew how many books I had read on giving presentations, your head would spin. All of them said the average speaker spends something like 90 hours preparing for every hour of speaking. I remember reading that and thinking yeah right … Now … I believe it!! I have lived and breathed preparing for this seminar for the past 2 months. It was all consuming.

Despite the nerves and not being to eat or sleep for a day before …. I am so glad I did this!!! It was amazing to talk with other photographers after the seminar to hear how much they learned. Little things that I said that can actually help someone’s business succeed just a little bit more is so incredible. It was truly an honor to speak at this convention and I look forward to future opportunities to do this again.

I thought you guys would enjoy me sharing this video I put together quickly to show the people in the audience what the studio looks like. I had Eryn help me with the project.

I have to thank my friends Tiffanie and Rob from Thread Art, Tim from Re/Max, and Brad from Digital Brainz, for letting me practice on you guys last week. Without your help and feedback, the success on Sunday would not have been possible. I also have to thank Kim and Kevin for helping me put my video together at the last minute.

I truly did get by “with a little help from my friends”!! I love you all more than you could know.

Jeanine

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I know some of you have had the pleasure of meeting Carla. She joined our team last summer and quickly became a valued member of our studio family.

Well, for those of you don’t know  … Carla is having a baby! She is due at the end of May. I told her she isn’t allowed to leave me to have a baby. Sigh … it will be a long Summer while she is on maternity leave. Maybe she will miss me enough to do some work from home while the baby is napping

I asked Carla to blog a little about being pregnant. I thought some of you may enjoy reading what she has to say …. so take it away Carla …

It has been 22 weeks and I finally got to take a sneak peak at the life growing inside of me. It still seems so unreal, like if it were just yesterday when I used to stuff pillows underneath my nightgown and pretend I had a baby in my tummy. Except this time I am no longer six years old and my tummy really is starting to get bigger and bigger.

I must admit – I am scared. Not a day goes by that I ask myself if I am really ready to have a child. Yes, I am 25 year old, out of college with a great job and a secure marriage, but I still feel like that little girl who used to play with Barbies and baby dolls. It is scary how fast time flies by, now I’m getting ready to be a mom!

Each time I retouch pictures from a newborn session, my heart warms up and I find myself saying, “I want one of those!” Well, four months from now I will. When I went in for my sonogram last week and saw evidence of that little life growing inside me, the fears of not being sure if I was ready for a child began to diminish. There is something about creating another living being that is flesh of your flesh and bone of your bones, a little person that has a little bit of you and a little bit of your spouse.

Not a day goes by that my baby doesn’t make his or her presence known by kicking and turning. My husband and I decided from the beginning that we wanted to be a surprised if it is a boy or a girl. Ever since I was little I have always liked the suspense of surprises. Although I have to admit, it was so hard to keep my mouth shut and not ask the sonogram technician what the baby is. At one point I looked over at my husband and asked him if he wanted to find out. But he stayed strong and didn’t ask, and I am so grateful to him!

It is so wonderful to have the job that I have here at Cloud 9 Studios as the Digital Artist. Every day I get to see little children and babies. Each time I retouch a child, I dream of the day when I will have one of my own. There is something about the way a child looks at the world with so much wonder and curiosity that I want to see it too.

Carla

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I put the word “shoe” in quotes on this blog title, because many of you that know me well, know I rarely wear shoes when photographing in the studio! Ha. The privilege of owning your own business; I get to choose my own footwear.

Last week, I embarked upon what many of you do when you come to our studio. I had to prepare for a family portrait. Yes. The photographer became the photographee. We haven’t had a family portrait that wasn’t done on a timed release or done with me photoshopping “mommy” in the picture in a very long time. For my birthday this year, I decided this was a present to myself. Eryn is 4.5 and it is about time that there is something hanging on the walls of our home besides just images of her, her and dad or her and mom.

Like many of you, the thought of being in front of the camera NEVER appeals to me. I took up photography for a reason. It gives me a place to hide in crowds! HAHA. I always think I look fat, squint one of my eyes and realize I need braces again after having to suffer through them in high school. So yes … there are not many portraits of me floating around.

However, like I tell all of you on a daily basis … it isn’t really about me, it is about Eryn. Wouldn’t it be sad someday for her to grow up and never have any portraits of all 3 of us together? I am sure she doesn’t think my eye looks weird, and I am sure although she may think I am fat, she would never say so (at least not until she is in high school)! HAHA

So I sucked up all of my vein thoughts and called my good friend Andi Diamond to see if she would photograph our family. We have photographed each other on several occasions, and are the best of photography friends! I am sure she thought this would be easy. After all, Jeanine is a photographer! LOL She was wrong. I think I must have called her at least 10 times chatting about clothing, locations, shoes, hair, etc. It is one thing to tell your client what to wear, it is entirely something different choosing it for yourself!

I did make a promise to her … I promised to not yell at Eryn or my husband during the session. I kept this promise! In fact on the way to Philippe Park, Eryn and I made a game up of who could smile the best during the session. The winner would get a prize! So the entire session we kept joking about the smile contest. This worked really well and I highly encourage using this game with your kids.

On the morning of the session, I had two sessions of my own to photograph. Then I realized David didn’t have the right color of brown shirt, so we had to go buy him one. I figured no problem, I was getting my makeup done at the mall so he could just buy something at Macy’s at the same time. Yeah right. He was like “you don’t really trust ME to do this?” … so I had to run like crazy through Macy’s before my appointment to find him a shirt, then get my makeup done. By the time we got home, I had 30 minutes to do my hair, get dressed and oh yeah … get David and Eryn dressed too. Well you can imagine who got done last. Yep, Mom. We are always last!

I must say the session was amazing! The results were fantastic (I only think I looked fat in a few of the images, and trust me when I say that NO ONE will ever see those). HAHA. I am currently working with Andi on a Canvas Cluster design for my house and can not wait to hang up the 5 or 6 canvases over our piano.

So here are a few of my “mommy” moments lessons learned:

- Husbands can not pick out clothing, so don’t even waste your time asking
- Your daughter’s hair will never look as cute as you want, so just go with the flow and realize that expression is way more important
- Laugh at yourself during the session, the smiles will be much more natural, and it is better than crying about being in the pictures.
- Schedule an appointment to have your makeup done! Otherwise you will get everyone else ready and be applying mascara in the car ride.
- Same goes for hair …
- Bring a clear drink for your kids. It is easier to just give them a sip of water than to hear them complain for an hour that they are thirsty.
- And finally … Just Have Fun. This is a family experience. Many of us don’t get to do things as a family that often and you should enjoy this. Don’t yell, don’t stress, just have fun. If I could do this and have fun, then I know you can too.

Thank you Andi for everything!

 For those of you who are in need of a wedding photographer, or if for some reason I am not available for your portraits, you definitely need to check out Andi. Her website is www.andidiamond.com

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