Thank you, Ashley and Kim | Memphis Family Photographer

I'll be contacting you about the boudoir (I still don't like that word) sessions soon.

Hey lovely lady blog readers... | Memphis Family Photographer

So I've got this idea in my head that I want to share here so I can get some input. I'd like to offer boudoir sessions. You know, where you dress up in pretty clothes or lingerie and have some really beautiful, well-lit portraits taken. You keep them for yourself. Or maybe you present your husband with a book of carefully chosen images.

I hate the term "boudoir". 'Cause you know it sounds like dirty pictures. And that's not really what I want to do. I want to make you look glamorous and feminine and lovely. I want you to look at these portraits of yourself and go, "wow!" I want these to be your private photos, that you share with whom you choose.

I'm also concerned that the moms who hire me for family photos will think, "There's no way I'm getting my picture taken in my underpants. No one wants to see that." After all, I live in a conservative area. And moms generally have a few body image issues, whether they are warranted or not. I know I do.

So here's what I'm asking for. Can you imagine yourself getting a boudoir session? Would you do it if you knew your husband would love it? (btw, if your husband is at all like mine, he would LOVE it. Men are visual creatures and they love you just the way you are. Trust me.). Would you like a session at home or at a special location with amenities that make you feel pampered? Would you want assistance with choosing outfits? Hair and makeup?

And if you are a male reader: would you like a boudoir session of your beautiful wife, even if she wasn't initially crazy about the idea (help me prove my point above)?

And finally...do I have a volunteer? Seriously. I'd want to do a test session with images that I could use for marketing (you would approve which images I use). I'm still working out compensation for this. It won't be a disk; it will probably be prints or a small book.

So. Tell me what you think. Please leave some feedback in the comments.

More Mommy Card designs | Memphis Family Photographer

Last week I spent some time messing around with new Mommy Card designs and came up with the above (click to enlarge). I've decided that I want to keep the fronts simple and add all the contact details to the back. Details of the package are on the white sheet above.

This mom & kid package will remain a standard session, and can be scheduled anytime throughout the year. I will let you know that I'm making pricing changes beginning September 1st, so if you are looking for a session at the current prices, book me now. And sign up for the newsletter if you want notice of the changes. Wondering what else is in the works? A special package for your favorite sports fan, and a holiday card session. Details to come.

Memorial Day | Memphis Family Photographer

We took a quick trip to Nashville this weekend, to hang out with some friends. After an extremely busy week, both with kid activities and work, I was highly stressed by the time Friday afternoon rolled around. After spending part of the day uploading photos for clients and processing preschool orders, I spent the next few hours going back and forth between the girls' end-of-year parties. And somehow ended up agreeing to be a foster mother for Audrey's class fish. Because I needed one more thing to do. (Although I am a little bit in love with Mimzy).

I gave the girls assignments when we got home (including repacking some of their earlier choices for clothes) and sat down to process more preschool print orders. John showed up around 3p, and I told him I was absolutely not leaving until I had finished. And I still hadn't packed.

So I finished, then packed (at least all the laundry was done) without thinking too much about it. I changed Mimzy's water and gave her some food. We released the butterflies we've been hatching (sorry, no photos available). I watered my hanging baskets out front. Then we finally left. At 6p. Only about two hours later than I had planned. It is by far the most poorly planned trip I've every organized.

But once I sat down in the car, I instantly relaxed. I was not going worry about work or all the things left undone. I just wanted to have a good time. And I truly did. I slept in both days and took a nap on Saturday. We went out for a steak lunch, then had a deep-fried turkey for dinner. All the kids played beautifully together. All the adults got lots of talk time. It was just what we needed.

I started packing up Sunday morning and John could see the glint of workaholic in my eyes, but I kept it at bay until we got home. And it was back in full force this morning, as I had a Baby's First Year shoot this morning.

Now I'm ordering photo books and burning disks and trying to declutter my studio. I am by no means caught up. But I just had to take a break to see what photos I got of the kids. And I must admit: I love them. 'Cause even when I'm on vacation, I'm always working. Just don't tell John.

I am a promise, I am a possibility.

This is what we did yesterday.

Yeah, I twitter | Memphis Family Photographer

So I've signed up on Twitter. Catch me here. Originally I did it to read Shaq's tweets, since John was always talking about them. I'm guessing the tweeting is more fun when you have a phone that texts easily. My phone does not. It takes me three minutes to reply "no" when someone texts me. I'm going to hold out for an iPhone or a kid who's old enough to figure it out.

I'm betting on the kid.

Is this site loading slowly?

Please let me know if this site seems to be loading much more slowly. I've changed the way I've been adding photos, and I may need to go back to the old way. Thanks.

New lens | Memphis Family Photographer

Two days ago I quickly sold my old cameras and 50mm f1.8 lenses, which meant I was suddenly in need of a new 50mm. Of course, that could only mean an upgrade to the f1.4. For the non-geek, that's a sweet lens that provides lots of light, a very shallow depth of field and creamy goodness.

In between getting a lot of home/business stuff accomplished today, I stalked the UPS site, waiting for my new best friend to show up. It wasn't until dinner time that the package arrived, so I coaxed the girls outside (pretty easy when you hold up a birthday gift and say we can open up the package).

At first I just let them do their thing. I wanted to check out the bokeh (the area where the photo is blurry/out-of-focus. On purpose.).
First I made Audrey the focus. Then Margret. Note how the other kid is blurry? I meant to do that.
Then I asked for some posing. Sometimes I get cooperation. Sometimes not.

I reminded them that I gave them spoonfuls of cookie dough after they finished their homework.
Later, I tried working on poses that I may try to replicate with clients.
And I think we all did okay.

Eight is great!

Eight years ago I was holding that smiling little nugget in my arms. I still remember how wonderful it was to finally meet her. To know that she was "Margret" and not "Davis". To see the little blond tips on her dark hair. To know that her birthday would be in May, not June. To see John with the biggest, tired-est smile on his face.

Some new moms are a little freaked out about taking home a new baby. As in "does the hospital really think I know how to take care of a baby?" Not me. Not that I thought I knew everything, but I was just so happy to finally have my own baby. And she was so much more than I ever hoped for. I think I've done okay with her. So far.

And if I mess that one up, I still have this one. Hmmm. May be too late. She's completely nuts.

Low light photo.

One of the reasons I got my new camera is because it's good in low light levels. Take, for instance, this photo of the lovely Lena, one of my favorite kids. It was pizza night at our house and the kids were outside playing as the sun set. Lena ran up to me with some honeysuckle and I had a very short window to point and shoot. It's at 1600 ISO, 1/4o shutter speed, f2.5. With the old camera, I tried to never shoot above 400 or I got too much grain. This photo does have grain, since it was dark out and it was a bit underexposed, but I was able to work with the file to pull this out of it. I couldn't have done this a few weeks ago. And I would have missed this adorable picture.

Canon XTi Rebel for sale. SOLD!

Now that I've moved on up to the Canon 5D, I'm letting go of this XTi. It is a refurbished model that I bought last summer, and it has been fabulous and reliable. You can read more about the model here. It comes with a 50mm f/1.8 lens, which is great for portraits, but can also handle most other needs. Most any Canon EF lens will also fit. I've taken great care of this camera: neither it nor the lens have any signs of visible wear. If you're ready to move up from a point & shoot, this is a great camera to have. You can start out on all Automatic and stay there, or move up to all Manual, with several options in between.

The whole package includes:
• Canon XTi (10.1 megapixels, with pop-up flash)
• Canon 50mm f/1.8 II fixed lens
• One fully charged Canon battery and battery charger
• One 2GB CompactFlash card (memory)
• Unopened package of Canon manuals and software disks
• Unopened cables
• Canon camera strap

This is everything you need to start shooting right out of the box.

To buy all this new on Amazon would be $650; refurb/used would be $525. I'm asking $450, plus actual shipping. If you're local, I'll spend half an hour with you teaching you how to use it. Please email me at marci @ marcilambert.com (take out spaces around @) if you're interested or have questions.

ETA: I actually had two of these and both have been sold. Thanks!

I'm number 49!

My dear friend, Kimber, just sent me my copy of her excellent new book. And it really is excellent: great tips and it's beautifully produced. I also loved reading her account of learning my scrap secret. It's absolutely true! Get the book, and look at Secret #49 for an amazing tip.

Olga's book.

These days, it takes a commission to get me scrapping. Not that I want it to be that way, but it just is. I still take photos that are "to be scrapped", but the pile is growing as I spend my free time on photography for others. And it's okay. I'm sure I'll get back to it one day.

The book above was made for a friend, who's giving it to a family who is moving back to their home country. What's kind of cool, is that I already had several photos of their daughter, from birthday parties I had been to. I mixed those with my friend's photos, and varied the output in color, b&w and sepia. I picked a bright blue cardstock and a multistriped patterned paper to pull everything together. And I used black and white bookbinding tape on the seams to keep the book strong. I think it turned out totally cute. Maybe it will inspire me to make my own little book...someday.

Sassy and Sweet.

The girls seem to be outgrowing the haircuts at Fantastic Sam's. They used to get decent cuts there, but the last few times have been rushed and careless. And uneven. So I thought we'd try "Sweet & Sassy". It's a salon and party venue. Audrey went to a party there last year and while I find the name cloying, it's jam-packed full of estrogen and I love it in spite of myself.

Today was the big day, so we did homework and headed on over. Audrey, who wore a cape that said "Sassy Diva", received a stacked bob, with shorter layers in back and longer in front. It fits her. Margret, draped in "Sweet Princess", thinks she may want to donate her hair someday, so she's just letting it grow long. After the cuts (which include complimentary glitter and fruity fragrance), they got fancy lollipops, tattoos on their hands and glitter stars on their cheeks.

I don't think we're going back to Fantastic Sam's.

More new photos.

Since my photo shoots for today have been rained out (still holding out hope for this afternoon, but it's unlikely), I thought I'd toss up another photo of the girls from our impromptu session the other day.

After I shoot a session, I go through each image and tweak it (some images need more tweaking than others). I've just added Lightroom 2 to my arsenal and have been using a bit of that and a bit of Photoshop. But honestly? I barely did anything to this photo. And I love it. And I love those crazy girls.

Okay, I just edited a few more: