Spring Is Calling My Name – Sweet Pickle Pictures – Manhattan, KS Family Photographer

Happy March, friends! Can you believe it? Only a few short (I hope) weeks left until Spring is officially upon us. I was just telling my husband today that just about this exact time every year I hit a point where I think that the bare trees and brown grass (and snow) are just bound to be permanent. It’s amazing to think of the transformations that are to come. This winter has been a busy one for me with LOTS of studio milestones over the last two months.  I haven’t honestly had time to even consider getting spring fever – until this past weekend.  Thanks to being officially caught up on editing, I’ve had some time to work on updating my galleries and all these beautiful outdoor photos have given me such a craving for getting back to warmer weather.  It’s literally palpable. I’m ready! I’ve alerted Mother Nature…let’s get this show on the road. 😉 (If you know my track record with Mother Nature, I probably just jinxed us! Sorry!)

In addition to rambling on about spring, I also wanted to post today  to talk some about my availability in the upcoming months and some of the events I have planned for the year.  I know it’s a bit hard to think about now, but  I am officially booking family/outdoor sessions for April, May and June dates at this time! I know the fall season can be a pretty tempting time to get photos done, but it’s also a very busy and hectic time for most people (myself included!) If you haven’t considered spring or early summer for a session – you are missing out on some seriously beautiful seasons! To prove my point, enjoy a few photos from last year’s May and June sessions I’ve collected below (excuse the old watermark, I literally grabbed these off my facebook page!) and please continue reading after that since there will be some important information to come!

 

 

Convinced yet? 😉  Well the good news is that I still have availability for spring and early summer sessions!  Take a peek below. I have a few words about my current availability for each upcoming month as well as a bit of info for what I will be booking the rest of the year. Please note – I will not be updating this this post with my availability as the season progresses. If you are interested in a session, please use the contact form in my menu below to get in touch with me about available dates!

March 2015 – I will continue to work in studio for the most part this month, looking forward to a few more milestones and a couple of sweet newborns that are already on the schedule! Kansas weather is just a bit too iffy to plan much outdoors, but I still have one or two weekday afternoon openings for babies or young children in studio at the very end of this month. If time got away from you and you have a milestone coming up, contact me very soon!

April 2015 – I will continue to book some milestones in studio this month and by mid to late month, outdoors should become an option as well for family or milestone sessions. By the very end of the month we might just see some wildflowers blooming! Only a few weekday openings currently remain!

Events: I will be offering some special mini sessions Sunday April 26th for Mother’s Day. These will involve capturing images of mom and her little (or not so little) ones! More information including time slots and pricing will be announced by mid-March via my facebook page. If you know this is something you will want to partake in, send me a message through my contact form and I can make sure to let you know as soon as booking opens.

May 2015 – This month is prime time for outdoor sessions! Early in the month we should be seeing some wildflowers and trees in bloom if all goes well! This month tends to book up fast and as things stand, I only have maybe 4 openings available at this time with only one weekend left open, so now is a great time to book a May session! Keep in mind all outdoor sessions are photographed in the last 1-2 hours of daylight so with the longer days upon us, weekday evenings become a much more viable option as well.

June 2015 – Long, warm summer evenings can make for great outdoor sunset sessions! I am also currently booking sessions for this month with 5-6 session slots remaining with a few of those being weekend slots!

Events:  I will open booking for fall session dates starting this month!!

The rest of the year–

Some important things to note about the second half of the year – I will be taking some time off during July and August as I did last year. These months are pretty unrelenting in the heat department and a good time to throw myself into the last days of summer with my kiddo before we start yet another school year. I will only be booking one or two time-sensitive milestones during this period and will resume full availability by the end of August.

September and October are my busiest months of the year for outdoor/family sessions!  This year I will only be taking on a set number of sessions during this time, so early booking is necessary! Booking will open by mid June for these dates and book on a first come, first serve basis. I am also planning to set aside one date each month for fall mini sessions like I did last year. Dates of course will be determined a little later and announced on my facebook page as well as here on my blog.

November and December are typically hectic months behind the scenes getting all my fall/holiday sessions wrapped up and delivered. For this reason, my plan this year is to only book studio milestone and/or non-family sessions during these months to avoid a last minute crunch. If I have additional time, I may consider a round of studio holiday mini sessions for babies and young children in there somewhere. There jury is still out, but it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while.

And that is my 2015 in a nutshell! I am looking forward to seeing some old AND new faces this year and of course I am always so honored to capture your life moments with you. If you are loving the idea of a session between now and the end of June, please contact me and let’s talk details! If you are looking for a newborn session for one of these months, it’s even more vital to get on my calendar as early as possible! Newborn sessions are best photographed in the first 14 days of life and unfortunately I am less able to accommodate newborn sessions with short notice during the busier months.

(PS – Curious about my pricing or what types of sessions I offer? Click the “Investment” button in my menu below!)

Cristen