Holiday BBQ & HD

We've enjoyed some down time during the holidays. We closed the studio Tuesday before Christmas and will reopen on Friday 1/2/9. Our daughter has been home and we have treasured some wonderful time together as a family. We did create a new picture for our Christmas card after Janell got home from North Carolina - that's on the front page of the web site.

Yesterday, Tuesday, was as gorgeous a day as you will ever find in Atlanta in December - Sunny & 65 degrees. My friend John and I just had to take advantage of that weather to get the motorcycles out for a spin. No long trips - just a run out to Winder for a BBQ lunch and some riding along some of the back roads of Barrow and Walton County. I'm grateful to Nancy and Janell for their willingness to take some time together to go shopping at Phipps so that I could go out and play.

Since our friend Mark was on the road driving his family through Tennessee we had to occasionally send him a text or a pic to be certain he knew he was missing a great day for riding. Here's a pic John made of me just before we went in to enjoy that sandwich and cup of stew.

Hope you all have had a wonderful celebration of Christmas and that your New Year's Eve will be safe and enjoyable. We've got some great special offerings coming in 2009 that I know you will enjoy. Some will be posted right here on the BLOG and offered by e-mail. If you'd like to be certain you get these offers be sure to send me your e-mail address and request being added to our list. Mail to: glenn@martinphotography.com

Lawrenceville Kiwanis Christmas Kids

For over 10 years now I've had the joy of serving as the official photographer for the Lawrenceville Kiwanis Club's Christmas Kids Party. This local service club has made a difference in the joy of Christmas for local children for many years. With the help of folks like you the club has been able to provide presents as well as a party for over 300 local children. With the challenging economic times we're in we had no clue how the public might respond this year as the children's wish lists were distributed (these are children involved with Gwinnett DCFS). Folks amazed us - I think this year we had more gifts - including bicycles - than ever before. I guess that hard times make us appreciate what we have and encourage us to be more aware and giving with those around us with real needs. Thanks to everyone who contributed - we gave each child a sack full of Christmas presents, a party and a picture from a visit with Santa. Here I am with Santa during a break in the photography. Among the Kiwanians present were 5 Judges from various courts in Gwinnett County. We took advantage of a great opportunity to make this pic of Santa with Judges Greene, Washburn, Mock, Hutchinson and Clarke.
Hope you all have a great Christmas - I know a lot of kids that are thanks to you!

Sibling Smiles

The other evening we had a brother and sister in for a session . It's always interesting when we get teenagers together in portraits - posing close takes just a little encouragement. However, these two fell right into the portrait mood and we created some wonderful images. These are fun portraits that their parents and grandparents are going to enjoy for many years.

Here's a good opportunity for me to remind all of you about the difference it makes when you plan your clothing for portraits. Notice the dark solid clothing. Then notice how the white accent on each coordinates and dresses up the portrait with just a bit of formality without being stuffy. The pearls and the tie keep a fun teen look but give the portraits just a touch of dressiness. Probably you didn't notice this at all - that's because it works! When properly selected the clothing really shouldn't be a focal point in a portrait at all. The clothing is just a palette for showcasing faces!
I'll climb off of my soapbox now and let you go back to enjoying the portraits.

Christmas At Biltmore (actually birthday!)

Last weekend we made yet another pilgrimage to The Biltmore House in Asheville. We've been fans for years and have always made our visits in the spring & summer. Each time we'd visit there would be conversation about wanting to see the house decorated for Christmas. A couple of years ago our daughter made that visit and then came home talking about how wonderful it was. Well, we made plans to make a Christmas visit ourselves. Several months ago I "informed" Nancy that she needed to schedule a Friday off for a long weekend trip to celebrate her birthday - a surprise, destination unknown type of trip. Usually she will trust me so she indulged me on this one. Though she did keep wanting to know how to pack.
Since her birthday was actually a few days prior to the trip I did let her in on the destination on her big day. What I didn't mention was the fact that we would be joined by some friends for the trip. Not until we were leaving town and ran by a friend's house and they came out with suitcases did Nancy know that Mark & Carolyn would be traveling with us. Our trip us was pleasant and we caught up on all the news in both families. We checked in at the Inn On Biltmore on a cold afternoon that promised an even colder evening for touring the house. Here's a view of the house from our room at the Inn - look carefully, it's there! We had dinner reservations at the Bistro there on the grounds and yet another surprise when we were joined by another couple from home for dinner and celebration of the birthday girl - thanks Steve & Joy!
After a great dinner we took the van over to the house - outdoor temp was in the 20s so we never took our coats off in the house. The decor was as wonderful as we'd heard and imagined. We fully enjoyed our 2 1/2 hour stroll through a Christmas wonderland. Though we had to agree with a quote from an actual guest that stayed at Biltmore one winter - "it's bloody cold".
Saturday morning we awoke to a brisk 22 degrees and a beautiful sunrise out our window. After that heavenly breakfast buffet at the Inn (the main reason we keep returning to the Inn at Biltmore) we headed back over to the house for a Behind The Scenes Tour. If ever you visit Biltmore take this extra tour - we've done it before and it is constantly changing. Likewise, in warm weather we highly recommend the "Legacy and the Land" tour. Thanks to a couple of nice young ladies who took the "blog cam" and made a picture of the 4 of us. It was a great weekend with good friends. We're grateful for all of it.

Christmas Portraits - Aurora Theatre Ad

We've had a great November and December for creating family portraits for Christmas. Last week 3 of my favorite subjects came in for a family portrait for their Christmas card. Nothing like three fun ladies to work with - you just can't miss on creating a really fun portrait. We knew we wanted something really fun so we went for a little attitude...... Of course, whenever we have folks in the studio all dressed and ready for a family portrait we want to make a few individuals as well. these girls were most willing to share a smile with me. I had a difficult time picking just these few to share with you.

Nancy and I are great fans and supporters of the Aurora Theatre here in Lawrenceville. If you aren't checking out the great productions at the Aurora you need to call today and get your tickets for the Christmas Canteen (678) 226-6222. Anyway, we have an ad in the Aurora Playbill for each production. This week I was creating the ad for the winter production of "Corpse!" and wanted to feature our Business Portraits and Head Shots. Strolling back through the files of recent portraits to pick ad models I kept thinking of the pose of younger sister from the above session....so I used that and a couple of adults that came to mind as well. I'm constantly astounded at some of the pictures folks use in their ads and publicity. Your portrait represents you as an introduction long before you get to talk to anyone. Actors know this and place appropriate importance on their Head Shot. Like the ad says....You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Christmas Portraits - there's still time!

What a busy week we've had working on portraits for Christmas. We had a wonderful weekend with a number of families in the studio for our Christmas Special and that has not stopped. Add in some location portraits and a lot of fun sports pictures and we've had a wonderful week! Saturday morning I had a visit from my associate photographer, Dennis and his family. We talked about the big loss for the Spartans football team the night before at Callaway. Dennis covers a lot of sports action for me and had followed Coach Ken and the Spartans again this season. Somehow, through all the fog Dennis came out with some great pictures of Spartan Football. Friday evening I'd been photographing some Spartan Swimmers. Anyway, we did take time photograph Dennis and his family for their Christmas Card- here they are for you to enjoy.

OK decoration procrastinators - I had a session early this week in a home completely decorated for Christmas - yep, trees, lights, wreaths, garland and more. How neat to be able to make the Christmas Card picture prior to Thanksgiving in front of your own decorations. You'd never know these three had made it through a whole day of school prior to this session - thanks guys, I had a great time working with you and everyone is going to love the pose your mother picked for the card.

Sometimes we need an excuse or just a "gentle shove" to get us into action on those family portraits. We all want them but they can be a challenge to coordinate on the scheduling end of the deal. I recently read an article about how a family's pictures are the most prized possessions in the house. How many times have you heard, or considered yourself, that if you had a fire the one thing you'd try to save would be pictures. They are indeed priceless. I think one reason that I encourage family portraits so much is the fact that in my growing up years my family did not have portraits made. I think that weddings were the only time we were all in a picture together - before I started insisting on portraits a Christmas. But by then I was grown and a photographer and everyone expected that. I'd give almost anything to have a picture of all six of us in my childhood family - but it doesn't exist! Sure it can be a challenge to get it scheduled and get everyone in the correct outfit - but you are not only recording the moment to enjoy today - you are creating a treasure for generations beyond today. Really, let's schedule your family for a portrait treasure - there's still time before Christmas!

Baby Portraits

While I'm updating I could not resist adding in these two sweet faces from last week. Both of these two are special because I've photographed their older siblings as well. Hope you enjoy the smiles!