7 May
A few weeks ago Isaac and I went to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. We really enjoyed all there was to see. Here is a glimpse and a link to the full blog I wrote on our family blog if you would like to see more of this amazing museum.
Thomas Jefferson
John F. Kennedy
Kanab Canyon, Utah
Click here to see more of our trip and learn more about The Black List by photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. It really is a neat exhibit.
31 Mar
Last Saturday night I had the honor of photographing some of the Noah’s Children Benefit. Children from schools around the Richmond area have been creating art that was auctioned off to raise money for sick children. From the Noah’s Children website,
Richmond pediatrician, Dr. Bob Archuleta, purchased the vibrant piece at a school auction and displayed it in the waiting room of his busy practice. Motivated by the daily compliments from patients, Dr. Archuleta decided that something more should be done with this inspiring piece of art.
At a “meet the artists” gathering to celebrate the children’s creativity, Dr. Archuleta spoke with the children as he handed each of them a print of the original collage. He told them he liked the prints as much as the original and suggested that additional prints be made and sold in the community. He asked the children what they should do with any funds that might be raised. One child raised his hand and said the money should go to help “sick children” and another suggested “dying children.” Dr. Archuleta promised the children to do just that, and six months later Noah’s Children Hospice and Palliative Care was a licensed program. The inspiration of these children, and the absence of a pediatric hospice in the Richmond area, was the impetus to establish Noah’s Children.
Today, Noah’s Children continues to serve a critical need as the first and only pediatric hospice and palliative care program in Central Virginia and one of the first in the United States.
Jenna Bush Hager, Author, Contributing Correspondent to NBC’s Today Show and Chair of UNICEF’s Next Generation visited with Noah’s family and was the keynote speaker at the benefit. Her kind words about helping those in need were truly an inspiration.
Dr. Archuleta is also wonderful. A couple weeks ago he visited with a few students and talked to them about their artwork for Noah’s Children.
The live auction was a lot of fun. There was a little battle back and forth on a few items and the auctioneer was having the audience laughing hysterically.
There were amazing works of art by the students. It was really beautiful.
Thank you to all those who came out to support Noah’s Children and for all those who put the benefit on. It was wonderful and I am so honored to have had the opportunity to share the evening with you.
8 Mar
After a busy fall season, I really look forward to January when I can do a little catch up and maintenance around the office. And since my husband had to go to Belgium to work for a few weeks, I had plenty of time on my hands to do a little office reorganization. My office has been in need of help for some time now. I will admit, I am not an organizational expert. I like to be organized, but I’m sure there are better ways to do things than what happens in my office. So when I met Christine Hanlon of Sage Organizing, a professional organizer, my life changed forever. And thanks to her, and I could not have done this without her, I have a much better organized space and am so happy and feel like working in my office now.
Behold…the transformation.
Where we started. The office.
Equipment storage room.
I started by taking everything out of the closets and off the floor and put it in piles on the studio floor. Christine recommended making piles made up of what things were being used for, e.g., in the office, in the studio, on location, use everyday, use occasionally, etc. I thought this was a great idea. One bonus of pulling everything out and making piles was that I could put things together in one place. I had some items that should go together stored in different places so it really made it hard to know what I had and where to find it.
After I made the piles, I needed to go through some items and get rid of what I didn’t need or want any longer. I have been collecting things for over 8 years. The kitchen was full of recycle after this.
I was at a loss of what to do next and thanks to Christine we came up with the idea of putting in shelving in the closets to utilize the space better. Perfect! So after we made a trip to Lowes to design the closet space I installed the shelves and started putting things back.
Once that was done, I again wasn’t sure what to do next. So I decided to rearrange the furniture.
I wasn’t sure how it would work so I tried this arrangement for a week or so. I wasn’t loving it so I decided to make some changes, again. I also wanted to organize a little more on a small scale so I picked up a few great baskets at Home Goods and Target. It made a huge difference!
It is important to note that there are adjustments going on the entire time I’m doing this. Sometimes I feel like I have to make a decision and stick with it, but in this case I needed to try one arrangement and adjust as necessary. The more I worked in the space, the more I could see solutions to the issues.
Then I had to tackle the ever growing pile of boxes and bubble wrap. I have been keeping boxes and bubble wrap for years. I just never know when I’m going to need to ship a box. So after many years of storing these things all over the house I pulled them all out, kept a few, and got rid of the extra. Some friends of ours are moving so the extra boxes and bubble wrap came in handy for them.
Here is the studio closet which is much more functional. And there are still a few things to take care of but my husband was out of the country and I needed some help with the rest.
So here we have the final, achem mostly there but still open to adjustments, office space. I am planning on putting more art up on the walls. So that will be fun.
I’m loving my space now. It is so much nicer to work in a clean, organized office. I will admit I almost painted the walls and would have loved to paint/purchase new office furniture. But I was pretty much done organizing by the time I finished so that will have to wait for another round.
6 Mar
I love Brugge! (Just a note, I am using the Flemish spelling of Brugge over the French spelling of Bruges.) This quaint little town near the west coast of Belgium is just an hour train ride from Brussels. And a bonus of being in Belgium in January is that you can buy a shopping ticket and take the train to any where in Belgium for only 10 euros. The shopping ticket is good for a there and back trip on Saturday or Sunday in January and February. So I took a little day trip to Brugge. I really enjoyed walking around and just taking in the sights.
The architecture in Brugge is incredible.
I wandered through the streets.
Horses were pulling carriage rides.
People were feeding swans.
I read in a guide book about Dumon, a divine Chocolatier. I found a little store and purchased a small box of chocolates. I wish I would have bought a bigger box. Wow! These chocolates were so smooth and creamy. I really savored these little chocolates.
I stopped to eat some frites (fries) for lunch. They were nice and hot and crispy. The key to these delicious crispy fries is the double frying. Nicely done, nicely done. Belgians eat their frites with mayonnaise. I’m not really a mayonnaise fan, but since I was there, I thought, why not give it a try. The mayo was more tangy than I have tasted at home, but I still don’t think I’m running in the mayonnaise direction. The frites were good.
On the east side of town there are a few beautiful windmills.
I love that so many people ride their bikes. Winter, rain, morning, night, it was great.
I started a tradition a few years ago when I bought a children’s book in Italian while I was in Italy, I Tre Porcillini (The Three Little Pigs). Isaac and I really love to read and while we don’t have children yet, we still love children’s books and we are very excited to read to our children one day. We also love languages so we like to buy children’s book from the places we travel and in the language of that country. I found a fantastic bookshop in Brugge and I knew I wanted to get books in Flemish and in French. This bookshop offered many choices and so instead of purchasing one book in each language I ended up with a few. Suske en Wiske by Willy Vandersteen is a comic that originated in Brugge so I bought one of those comics in Dutch. The American version of this comic was Willy and Wanda. I also bought a comic of Tin Tin by Hergé in French. Hergé was from Brussels and the original Tin Tin comics were in French. I also bought a book by a local author and illustrator. She really has creative illustrations made with different types of materials. When I can find them, I like to purchase books that can also be found in English in the United States. So I bought Karel (Kevin in the US) by Liesbet Slegers from Belgium. And one last find back in Brussels was a Winnie the Pooh book in French. I know, I got a little carried away in my book purchases, but I am really excited to add them to our collection.
I loved walking through the streets on the north side of town. I kept close to the canal and loved what I saw as the sun was setting. I really enjoyed all the canals in this beautiful place.
I wish I could have stayed longer. I definitely must go back to Brugge. One of my favorite places to visit.
View more fine art on my website.
4 Mar
Each year at the end of February the Virginia Professional Photographers Association (VPPA) holds an annual print competition and convention. I always enjoy visiting with friends from around the state, seeing the work they have created, and learning new things about how to better my business and my images. There were a lot of incredible images in competition this year. I learn so much from entering print competition and my work has improved over the years because of competition.
I am honored this year to receive Best in Show and a Kodak Gallery Award for Morning Frost, an image I created while we were visiting family for Christmas in Wyoming. My dear husband was so good to go out with me early in the morning in sub zero temperatures to create this image.
It was an incredible competition and along with everything else, I am also honored to be awarded Photographer of the Year. Thank you to all the wonderful people who support and encourage me to continue improving my craft constantly.
View more fine art on my website.
1 Feb
As soon as we got home from visiting family for Christmas my husband left for Brussels on business for the month of January. A month is a really long time for my husband to be in another country so of course I decided to go over for a few weeks to photograph. Now I don’t know about you, but I did not know Belgium was such a happening place. It is the headquarters of the European Union and back in the 1600′s it was central for trade in the now european area. There is a lot of history here. The northern part of Belgium is part of Flanders and is Flemish (Dutch) speaking, while Brussels is both French and Dutch speaking. Most things are in both French and Flemish and most people also speak English. With so many people traveling here on business it really is an accommodating place. I’m so glad I could come and enjoy some time with my husband, even though he is working 13-14 hours a day on this case, and wander through the city creating images.
Now when I go to Europe to photograph I tend to walk for hours and hours just wandering about the city. At the end of the day, well in the middle of the day, I am exhausted. But I just cannot help but take it all in and want to spend every moment creating images and experiencing everything. And then I have days like today when I am just ready to not walk all day and sift through the images.
After recovering from flying all night, I spent the day after my arrival walking around Brussels to see what there was to see. This is a very large city with lots of little book shops, chocolatiers, cafes and waffle trucks. Can I tell you about the waffles? Oh, so delicious! Now I have never been a big fan of Belgian Waffles in the United States. I know, gasp. They are just too much, I do not need so much. But I guess that is the American way, make everything way bigger. Anyway. I had been wandering for a few hours when I thought, hmm it is probably about time for lunch. Belgian waffles are not really a breakfast item here, they are a snack. So I needed a snack as I was considering what to eat for lunch, so I stopped at a gaufre (waffle) truck and asked for a waffle. You always know when you are near the waffles because you can smell a delicious vanilla aroma in the air. This waffle was delicious. He just hands you a waffle in a piece of parchment paper and you walk on your way. It was warm and sweet and just the right little snack. The waffle appears almost to be glazed in honey or something, but it is the melted sugar from the batter. I think that is what makes it so yummy.
There was a beautiful park on the east side of the upper city, Parc du Cinquantenaire, with beautiful trees and paths for walking. It was a beautiful day so many people were out running and walking through the park.
And it was a beautiful evening.
There is so much more, so stay tuned.
31 Jan
We are so excited to be offering a Valentines Limited Edition session this year.
Give a Valentine that is made especially from you! Send a Valentine to those you love. Let you child hand out unique, personalized Valentines.
February 3-4, 2012.
This 15 minute studio session includes 25 Valentines Cards and 1 facebook image for $99. Specially priced additional packages are available as well.
Limited times available.
Call to schedule your session
804.477.6617
18 Jan
Freshen your look in 2012!
Look great in your business cards, networking sites, brochures, and newsletters, with an updated professional portrait.
You work hard to build your business. Now it’s time to improve your ROI with a professional headshot.
Stephanie’s Portrait Design will work hard to accommodate your busy schedule. Join us at the studio on Monday Jan 30th or Tuesday Jan 31th. Sessions starting at $95 (normally $145.) We will create images, instantly view your session, select your image order, and be out the door in under an hour.
To schedule an apointment call Stephanie’s Portrait Design at 804.477.6617.
View more of our work at stephaniesportraitdesign.com
Become a fan on facebook
20 Sep
We are very excited to offer mini sessions for your kindergarten through 11th grade children. Do you want better photographs to remember your child at this age? We know the school photographer has to take hundreds of pictures of children in a day and does not have the time to make sure your child is looking his or her best. That is why we want to give you the opportunity to come to us and have a great portrait of your child with our school portrait mini session. One day only and only a few session left, so call for an appointment now. 804.477.6617
Saturday, August 24
Kindergarten to 11th Grade
Sessions will be every 30 minutes
One child per session
We will make sure their clothes are straight and their hair looks good.
Packages start at $35
We guarantee you will be glad you brought them to us!
View more of our work on our website stephaniesportraitdesign.com
Become a fan of Stephanie’s Portrait Design on facebook
13 Aug
We are very excited to announce our new logo! We have been working with creative designers to design a great look for Stephanie’s Portrait Design. Check out our website to see how the new colors and logo look! We look forward all the fun things we can create with this new logo.
