Holland Photography The Blog

As promised, Holland Photography is pleased to announce a digital sessions sale! We will be offering a limited number of special digital sessions. The cost of the session is $500 and includes your session fee and all* of your full resolution final proofs presented to you on a flash drive with full printing rights! This is a savings of $350! You will also receive 25% off any additional orders you place from these sessions including prints AND boutique items (Christmas card time is just around the corner!).

Sessions are only available between August 21 and September 19th and there are a limited number being offered so hurry before they are gone! To reserve your session contact me for available times. The full fee is due at the time of booking to reserve your spot – no exceptions. Can not be combined with any other sales, discounts, coupons or gift certificates.

*(approximately 20-40 final proofs per session)

My very beautiful and talented friend, Maria Gloria Cardarelli is asking for your help! Maria is in the running to be part of next year’s Athens Dancing With the Stars!! To get her coveted spot, she needs to raise money for a very worthwhile organization: Project Safe. Project Safe is a non-profit organization working to end domestic violence through preventative and educational programs, crisis intervention and ongoing supportive services for survivors of domestic violence and their children. Their advocacy systems, which help provide legal help to obtain orders and press charges against abusive individuals, change lives in our community and liberate the mentally and physically oppressed, frustrated and vulnerable victims of abuse.

You can donate by going to the Project Safe link above and clicking on the Dancing With the Athens Stars link and selecting Maria – contestant #3 or by contacting Maria at 706-255-5522. There will also be special nights (certain Wednesdays in August) at the Hilltop Grille in Athens where you can come and hear music and have wonderful food and a percentage of the sales will go to support Project Safe through Maria’s campaign. The first one is August 11th and it’s a Caribbean Night featuring the rhythm of Los Pleneros del Caribe and complimentary appetizers will be provided by Plantation Quail. Don’t miss it!!!!

There will also be events at Casa Mia in the month of August! For more information about either restaurant and these events, go to http://www.hilltopgrille.com/ and http://casamiatapas.com/

IT IS THROUGH GIVING THAT WE RECEIVE!

Today I did some pics of sweet Declan and his mommy. You may remember him from his newborn pics HERE. I can’t believe how quickly he’s growing! And still cute as a button!! I hope to see him again very soon as he is THIS close to being able to sit up on his own! I can’t wait!!

This is just a “Formal Announcement” to let you know about a few upcoming pricing and policy changes. These changes go into effect July 15th, 2010.

Session Fee – Session fee will increase to $100.  Please remember to pay your session fee at the time of booking in order to hold your spot. Fall is a very busy season and weekend spots go very quickly. Unpaid session fees may result in your session time possibly being given to someone else.

Gallery Hosting – The length of time for galleries to be hosted will now be 14 days. The early bird discount will remain the same.

Digital Collections – The minimum purchase requirement will be dropped on digital collections however you will soon see new pricing on the digital collections to compensate for that.

Just a reminder about the popularity for doing fall sessions and to let you know that my availability this fall will go quickly. If you are planning on doing a session this fall you will want to contact me asap to get it on my calendar.

I WILL be doing some North Georgia Mountain sessions in the Dillard, GA area on October 16 and 17. More information will be posted on that later but mark your calendar!

Look for announcements for sales and specials in the coming months! As always, thank you for your business!

I’m so happy for this sweet couple! They are friends of ours and just this time last year I was shooting the very soon to be big brother. Not too long after that they were emailing me with a “guess what”… They are planning to welcome their 2nd boy at the end of July. Big brother Ashton is excited about it, but he “says” he’s more excited about his 4th birthday that is coming up in August! Here are a few previews from our fun session on Sunday. Best of luck to you guys and I can’t wait to meet him!!

I can’t believe how fast this little guy is growing! Here he was all brand new… and now he’s got his head up and is wide awake and all smiley!! We’re kind of aiming for a black and white little pieces collage of all of his sweetest parts. My favorite is his infectious smile!! Happy Sam…

Savannah will be turning two in a couple of weeks! It’s crazy to me to think that her newborn session was one of the first ones that I blogged! All of these little kiddos are growing up way too fast!!! Happy 2nd birthday Savannah! Hope it is a wonderful one!

If  you’ve been following my blog for awhile you may remember THIS post about an organization called The Littlest Heroes Project. Well tonight I had the honor of shooting my first session for LHP! Today I met a wonderful family with an amazing little boy named Lance. No one can tell you about Lance as well as someone who is very close to him so I will give you a little “Cliff Notes” version of his story as told by him mom in his LHP application. You can also read more about Lance’s journey on his website: http://www.cotaforlancew.com/

“Our son Lance was born 7-14-2003 with hypoplastic right heart ventricle, ASD,VSD. At the age of 6 months he had his first open heart surgery. We then had a somewhat calm 5 years. We had doctors appointments but we lived a normal life. Then Dec 2008 Lance started getting sicker.

We scheduled his second Heart surgery and he had this surgery in April 2009. After this surgery his heart function went down hill and his kidneys shut down. The doctors tried everything, but after 2 months it became apparent he needed a new heart

After we got over the shock he was listed ,and five days later received his miracle heart. He was in the hospital 3 months, and it was a very scary time for us all. He came home in August 2009 and he was still very weak, but with time and love he is now thriving.

He does have a lifetime of care and statics say that there will be future transplants. We are staying optimistic and with prayer and medical research we focus on the positive. He is about to be 7 and is now playing baseball and a fearless base runner. We are so Thankful to the donor family that gave so many people a second chance. “

Check out this “fearless base runner”…

He has an amazing family to back him up!

This is big brother Emory. He was happy to make sure I was well versed in the art of buying Silly Banz…

Obviously this family has been through A LOT! But their love and support for, not just Lance but each other was apparent and heck, the fact that they hung out with me for an hour and a half in the Georgia summer heat and humidity says a ton about their spirit and resolve! Lance is obviously doing great right now but I’m sure they would appreciate if you’d send up a prayer for him, next time you are sending them up! One of his interview questions was “if you could have one wish what would it be” and he said “to stay out of the hospital”! That says it all right there.

So Lance, (and family), may God bless you and lift you up! I sincerely hope to see you all again sometime!

Today I went to Linzi’s house and got these wonderful pictures of her. She is absolutely adorable and was smiling at me from the time I walked in the door. Linzi’s mommy works right across the hall from me and I have been looking forward to meeting the sweet little one and doing these pictures for her. She is obviously a blessing in her family’s life!

What a wonderful opportunity I had yesterday to meet these two! They are getting ready for a wedding next month and asked if I’d shoot some fun engagement pictures for them. They were a really fun couple, up for, well, most anything. We got some fun stuff both on the UGA North campus and then headed across the street for more fun downtown. Jarrod even sprang for ice cream so I could get some fun Ben and Jerry’s shots (I swear, Ben and Jerry’s should be paying me for these shots!). Here is a preview of their session.