We love Facebook here at Merrick Photography, and I see a LOT of profile photos in the course of a day! I also get a lot of requests from people for a headshot they can use on Facebook, especially from those wanting to present a professional appearance rather than using a photo of themselves at the beach or with their cat.

So, I’ve decided to dedicate one Friday per month as “Facebook Friday” where anyone can come down to the studio for a quick headshot they can use on their Facebook profile (or LinkedIn, Twitter etc.)

Normally, I would charge $50 for an executive headshot, but on “Facebook Fridays” it’s not even $25, not $20, but ONLY $16.50 per person (one pose), including sales tax.

You get a great headshot you can use on your profile, emailed straight to a computer near you the same day.

Our first “Facebook Friday” is Friday August 20^th (yes, I know it’s a little short notice, but better late than never!), from 11am to 4pm inclusive. Just drop on by, we’d be thrilled to see you!

I love to photograph families – creating these beautiful, intimate portraits that celebrate the love people have for their family members is one of my favorite forms of photography.

This particular family portrait was no exception. Shelby Farms provided the perfect backdrop of late summer colors with the early morning sun giving us exquisite lighting to create a timeless photograph.

As the summer starts to draw to a close, and the kids head back to school, it’s a sure sign that the leaves will soon be changing and autumn will be upon us. This is the perfect time of year to create portraits of your priceless family, just in time to make greeting cards for the holidays.

Better still, October will soon be here and, with it, comes Family Portrait Month – a month-long celebration of family and relationships where we get to help other local families in the community through our partnership with Fayette Cares.

For more information visit the Family Portrait Month web site. But hurry, we only have 20 openings available, so book early to avoid disappointment.

Do people stop you and tell you your child should be a model, but don’t know where to begin?

Whether you’re looking to get started in modeling as a career or looking to add a new fresh updated photo to your current modeling portfolio, no experience is necessary for me to photograph your child. Leave that to me and my experience behind the camera.

Take a look at this short video of some of our recent models and see for yourself what we can do for you, and what fun they can have here in the studio!

We use models to constantly update our studio portfolio. Our regular (paying) clients expect industry-leading portraits, so we’re always trying out new photographic styles and lighting techniques to create the most flattering photographs imaginable. We NEVER let our work get “stale”.  So it’s a win-win deal. We get fun, fresh images for our studio, and our models get a free top-of-the-industry photo session. And not just a mini-session either – this is the kind of portrait session you can create a knock-out portfolio from if you want to. And if you don’t want a portfolio, you’ll have a ton of great portraits to choose from for the free digital file we give you for your comp card. We love getting calls from all the super-excited moms when our models get new jobs.

For more information, visit our Angel Hill Models web site where you can learn more about the program, fill out an application and schedule a session for your child.

Over the weekend I was watching Peter Jackson’s wonderful movie, “The Lovely Bones”, and it made me stop and think for a moment about how fragile life can be and the importance of love, family and relationships.

When we go through those difficult patches in our lives, the bumps and rough spots, we discover that the most important things to us, the things that really matter are our families and those we love and treasure more than anything else in life.

For many of us, it’s not just the family we have around us that we turn to, but those who are no longer with us for one reason or another. In addition to my wonderful family here, I’m fortunate to have my parents and brother, even though they’re many miles away in the UK, but we do get to talk on the phone as often as we can.

But what about those of us who are not so fortunate? When I thought about that question for a moment, I realized that one of the amazing things about my work as a professional photographer is the ability to give people a “hug on paper”, a permanent connection to the past and their family, which they can enjoy and draw comfort from for the rest of their lives.

The moments that pass us by every day might not seem significant at the time, perhaps even mundane, but we need to stop and take stock once in a while to understand what we truly have, and how precious those things are to us.

A hug caught today in a child’s photograph or a family portrait really can last a lifetime and may become one of our most prized treasures further down the road. Don’t let another moment pass by without capturing the love and spirit of your family, something you can celebrate for many years to come…

I know it’s still cold out there and it’s only March but, like a lot of people right now, I’m looking forward to summer 2010! Hopefully, spring is just around the corner and we can finally see the back of the frost and the cold!

Here’s a portrait of Amy that we created last summer on vacation in Florida, but could just as easily have been made here in Oakland or Somerville. Spring is coming and we’re ready for it!

“I Love You…”

Nothing is more cherished or treasured than a child who says to you, “I love you…” and Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse for them to do just that!

Kids love to make things and helping to create their very own Valentine’s Day card has to be up there at the top of the list!

30 Minute Portrait Sessions

For a limited time only (2/2/10 to 2/5/10) we’re offering our “Hugs & Kisses” afternoon sessions for Valentine’s Day. There are only a few 30 minute sessions available each of the four days and once they’re booked, that’s it, they’re gone!

The kids are going to have so much fun creating these photographs, to produce a beautiful set of lasting portraits that you’ll treasure for a lifetime. These sessions are ideal for kids of all ages and everyone is welcome, but they’re particularly suited to those aged around 5-10.

Custom-Designed Art Valentine’s Cards

Not only do they get three truly awesome concertina cards with up to 12 poses, but the cards are sure to be something you’re going to want to keep forever. Printed on archival watercolor paper with a custom cover, the finished cards are a unique item indeed.

Free $20 Build-A-Bear Gift Card

As if that’s not enough for them, what young child doesn’t adore the “Build-A-Bear” store? I’ve never met one yet that doesn’t go nuts over the place. Now, for a limited time, we’re including a complimentary $20 gift card to the Build-A-Bear Workshop with any portrait package purchased from the “Hugs and Kisses” sessions.

Be A Music Video Star!

How would they like to star in their very own music video? Now, they can! Imagine how excited they’ll be when they see their photographs in a really cool slideshow, all set to music? You can share the video with friends, post it on Facebook or just watch it on your TV. Either way, these cool music videos have been a great hit.

How Do I Book?

The portrait creation fee is normally $75 but, for the “Hugs and Kisses” sessions, the price is only $45, a saving of $30. But, you must act soon. These sessions are going to sell out fast, and I can only fit in a certain number in the four days that the special is running and guarantee to have the cards here in time for Valentine’s Day.

Act NOW!!

If you like what you’ve seen and read here, call me TODAY at (901) 606-9105 and we can have a chat about the sessions and what to expect. There’s no obligation and I can let you know if I have any session slots remaining. But hurry… you can never call too early, but you can call too late…

Arguably the most romantic day of the year is fast approaching – Valentine’s Day! This is the exciting time of year when we celebrate our love and our everlasting relationships, although I would advocate celebrating such things every day!

What will you do for Valentine’s Day this year? Send a card? Go out for a romantic meal? Give a beautiful gift? Send flowers?

But how much of that will actually last more than a few days?

How about a gift that will last a lifetime? If you could have something that would capture the beauty of your love for each other and preserve it forever, so that you could reflect on it and enjoy it for the rest of your lives, wouldn’t that be the most amazing gift you could possibly give?

That’s precisely what a beautifully crafted portrait of the two of you can do…

For a limited time only, you can have a “romance” portrait session that will truly capture your wonderful relationship and the love you share with each other.

No other gift will say, “I love you” so clearly and for so long…

For more information, simply call me TODAY at (901) 606-9105 and I’ll be happy to chat with you.

What’s more, the first 9 couples to make their booking before 2/13/2010 will receive 50% off their session fee and 15% off portrait packages. The actual session can be held at any time, at a location of your choice, but you must book before 2/13/2010.

These romantic sessions can be held anywhere that’s meaningful to you, or in the comfort of your own home, but you must hurry to qualify for the special promotional discount.

We’ve been so busy lately, it’s hard to keep up with everything, but I just had to post some of the adorable photographs we created of Margaret during her 1yr old portrait session this week!

This is one of the first sessions we’ve done in the new studio, and with our new backdrop, and the results are amazing. It’s great to finally have the space to be able to hold indoor sessions, especially at this time of year when the weather outside is a little on the chilly side!

Margaret was the perfect model during her portrait session, and we couldn’t have asked for anyone better or cuter for these photographs! She was a bundle of joy to work with and, as you can see, she made some wonderful images.

There’s only a short window of opportunity to capture children at this time of their lives – it’s truly incredible how quickly they change. I photographed Margaret only 3 months ago, and was amazed at how much she’s grown and changed in just that short amount of time.

Portrait sessions like this are now available by appointment Monday through Wednesday each week, and also on Fridays.

This short video is the result of a wonderful kids portrait session in the park at Shelby Farms. What a great day! Wonderful people to photograph, beautiful colors and light, and the weather was simply fantastic! These three sisters had so much fun just being themselves and playing at being models for an afternoon – they all agreed afterwards that they had way more fun than they were expecting, which is a real compliment.

For me, I had a truly great time, and enjoyed creating every one of these photographs – one of the amazing things that makes being a photographer so rewarding.

The fall colors are still here, so call today to schedule your own fun portraits in the park session!

While on our recent vacation in Florida, we were able to meet up with our good friends for a few days to catch up since the last time we saw them. Never one to pass up an opportunity to take a photograph, I created a series of portraits of the four of them on the beach. This was one of my favorites, showing them relaxed and enjoying each other’s company after a fun day playing in the pool and in the ocean. We waited until just after the sun had set to catch the best light, and then used a combination of the soft early evening light and flash to produce some lovely photographs.

Of course, our vacation is over and it will be at least another year before we get to see them again, but I’m pleased that we were able to take some time out to create this precious memory for them.

Family portraits, such as this one, can be created almost anywhere – in fact, I produce all of my portraiture on location, away from the studio. This lends a much more natural feel to the images and the subjects are more relaxed because they are in a less intimidating or closed-in environment.