I can not believe time has slipped away from me again and have not been here since Saturday!  Wow!  I swear I am not neglecting anyone, I know you all missed me....right?!  The little man has pretty much completely done away with naps even though that is not suppose to start until about 18 months I have heard, Knox has fast tracked it and went down to 1 nap around 9 months and now at 10.5 months I am LUCKY if I get that one nap to last more than 30 mins.  This child does not sleep!!!!  Reminds me of myself when I was younger ;0

So that said, the precious few minutes a have during the day is spent cleaning, preparing bottles and trying to promote my photography business and of course, Custom Creations by Christina.  I don't even try to edit photos during the day anymore....I wait for the little man to go on his power snooze at night.  You may be fooled in to thinking this is still not bad, likely goes to bed for the night around 7 or 8 I bet your thinking!  Baaahaaahaaa, I should have it so easy!  No, my little high energy monster stays up (with just that 30 min nap a day) most often until 10-11pm.  So I start editing photos about 11pm every night...and I ran out of coffee today...very good thing nobody came by today for any reason.  Between my appearance from lack of sleep/time and no coffee the house is a full out war zone with the cute little man in the center of it.

So for everyone local to my part of the world in Southern Alberta, near/in Calgary.....I have a few things to share!

First, I am offering a few June specials.  The 1st to celebrate Fathers Day.   I would like to offer half hour mini shoots at Kinsmen Park (Strathmore, AB) on Saturday June 9th from 1:00pm-3:30pm for $50. For this as always, you will receive ALL of your completely edited photos on a disc with no watermark and your choice of either 3 5x7 prints or 1 8x10 print from ...your session. Your completely edited photos will on top of full re-touching also include a wide selection of b&w, sepia and color knock out just to mention a few. This is a fantastic gift for dad for him to have some updated photos. Have dad in the photos or surprise him with updated photos of you and the kids! Makes a great gift for Grandpa also; "kill 2 birds with 1 stone" idea! As I will only do a limited number of slots that day, space is limited and therefore a 50% deposit is required to reserve your time slot. Please email myself directly at christina@christinabethlehemphotography.com to reserve your time slot.

Second, For any sessions booked as a week night sunset in June (Monday-Thursday) in Carseland/Strathmore area for about an 8pm(+-) start time (have to always keep up to date on what time sunset is at so 8...pm is just an estimate) you can can take 10% off the regular price session fee! You keep your weekend wide open, get some epic sunset shots at the end of the session and have some extra $ on the way home to buy your sweetie or kids a ice cream or milkshake! Everybody's happy!

So there you have my June Specials for photography, snap one up today!

And here is one of my favorite edits from last night on Erin's TTD Session

I'm sure you are all familiar with QR codes, if you are not by chance....they are those little square UPC codes that you see popping up everywhere.....newspapers, magazines, business cards etc.  They are a GREAT way for a business to advertise either a line of text or take someone directly to the company website.  Why is this better than a typical ad in my opinion?  Let me tell you....for starters, they can be as big or small as you like so you can place an ad much cheaper then a typical text and image ad.  All you do is put the QR code in as the ad, everyone pretty much has a smart phone so they just scan it and presto; they get the ad you want them to read or are taken directly to your website; just like that!  So less expensive advertising is a good start!  The next great thing about QR codes, you can make them yourself online for FREE.  Yup, FREE and it takes about 30 seconds to generate one then you just either print, email or save it to your computer.  I made all of mine last night in less than 5 minutes for 4 QR codes; it took me longer to get my printer to print.  There are ton's of places on the web but the one that I used, and HIGHLY recommend is http://www.qrstuff.com it is completely FREE, there is no hidden now that you have made your QR code please send us your 1st born to get it and here is my favorite part....you can pick the color of your QR code so I have a nice selection of pink & purple ones naturally!  And talk about easy...I would have done this months ago if I knew how easy.  A 4 year old that knows how to spell and type could do it!  The last and most important reason in my opinion why QR codes are a great way to advertise....humans are curious by nature, period!  The busiest person in the world will take a split second more often then not to scan one because you just never know what is behind that code....it just may be exactly what you have been looking for and only takes a second.  So with this method of advertising you do not only have to put the QR on a business card or in a print ad, I am going to print these puppies off and put them on bulletin boards, community websites and absolutely anywhere I can put up a piece of paper!  I can't wait to see the amount of traffic that makes it's way to my website, FB Pages and Blog here just based on human curiosity.  Many people will just shut down the browser when they realize it is not something they are interested in but I will still get the initial traffic and therefore with the numbers game have more people actually reading about my services in general and many of the scanners in smart phones saves the web history so even when they shut the browser down; my website is saved until they purge so at a later date they may end up back there again!
So with all that said....here are my 4 QR codes that I made last night completely free; and yes you can even scan them right from here on your computer monitor!  So go ahead, you know you want to!

Happy Saturday everyone!  And tis' the season to wish all the Grad's out there a congrats on your 1st major milestone into adulthood!  Enjoy your grads ceremonies, have a blast at your banquet and please be safe while having your fun this weekend or whatever weekend your grad is!  You have your whole future ahead of you so have your wobbly pops if you so choose just make sure you have a DD :)
On a different note, I finished editing S & E's May 5th wedding photos last night, woohoo.  The disc is burned and ready to go in the mail....now on to Erin's TTD photos.  Maybe not until tonight though...busy day with some housework and then a bday party this afternoon.  And I may have to swing by the annual Carseland Take It or Leave It today when the little man has had his morning nap...which may be a bit as I can hear him playing in his crib still and not napping!

With finishing S & E's wedding photos, I made a collage of some of the photos I took of their YUMMY desserts from the reception and have realized maybe food photography could be another route for me to add.....I don't think they turned out half bad for never photographing food before!  And I'm sure there are lots of smaller business owners that could use some great photos for menus/websites without getting a bank loan to have a photographer come in so I may have to look in to that....

Custom Creations By Christina is adding new items several times a week!  Just added this morning are the black velvet "Bride" hangers for just $10 each!  Blingy garters will also be added later today and a wedding favour idea instead of traditional wedding cake!  Head over to www.facebook.com/customcreationsbychristina and "like" the page to keep up to date as new items are added and don't forget 10% off all orders placed with deposit by May 31st!

Erin's Trash The Dress on Sunday was simply amazing!  What an incredibly beautiful bride trashing a stunning gown.  Erin was married about 5 years ago and a few months back her hubby asked what she was going to do with her gown.  Like many brides, it had just been sitting in the closet or basement since the wedding day.  It's so sad that you can never wear the dress again, but I maintain ladies everywhere should be able to throw on their wedding gowns anytime they like and wear them out!  Maybe your feeling blue and the gown and memories of wedding day will be an instant pick me up, or perhaps the laundry fell behind; throw it on!  Lol, I would love to see you ladies start a new trend of wearing your gown out and about whenever you feel like it!  Seriously though, that likely will never happen so if you are not going to hold on to it in hopes of a daughter or niece wearing one day (good luck with that, it's a wonderful thought and all the power to you ladies) but there are not that many women on their wedding day that want a 2nd hand out of date wedding gown.  I wish there were more so these beautiful gowns did not collect dust forever but it is another sad truth that not many really end up being worn again, and for the ladies that have worn a hand me down gown from in the family; you rock for giving that beautiful gown one last show.
For the rest of the gowns, some may get sold for a blushing bride on a budget; again no harm in that AT ALL; would do it myself if I loved the gown.  But I am a bit superstitious so I can honestly say I would only buy a used wedding gown if I knew all the details of the marriage the gown came from!  Divorced, nope...bad mojo; lol.  I won't even get started today on my superstitions or for that matter all the "signs" that were there leading up to my wedding day, lol.  No offence to me ex-husband at all.  I am where I am today as a result of the 10 years we were together.  You see I am also one of those firm believers of "everything happens for a reason" even if at the time you have no idea why it is happening it's all part of the plan that you know nothing about, lol...but it's for your best.  See had my marriage not ended, I would not have ended up in a sales job almost 11 years ago.  That job changed my career completely which in turn 5 years later put me in to a better sales job with another company which had me travelling out of town to Medicine Hat & Brooks once a month.  I looked at a map one night before a trip to the hat and saw from where I lived there was a "back way" I could take to shave a half hour off.  On the way home the next day I saw a little sign on the highway pointing to a town called Carseland.  I was in the market to buy a house or leave the province completely; whichever happened first I did not care.  I had no major ties keeping me in AB except for my dad who on a trip to BC just a few weeks before mentioned how much he liked it so if I transferred my job to BC and said goodbye to AB, dad would have come with me.  When I got home, I pulled up the MLS to see what this little town Carseland had that I never knew existed only 20 mins from Calgary.  Well, did it have something to offer....houses for less than a condo in Calgary; done!  I called the listing real estate agent that night I believe and had a viewing of 3 houses in town that week and put an offer in right away.  The house was vacant so I got the quick 2 week possession I wanted the end of September 2009.  Halloween rolled around a few weeks later, I was on my computer chatting with a friend in Calgary that was suppose to come but had to cancel.  I already hand my costume on from handing out candy so figured I would drag dad down to the local pub to play pool and have a few wobbly pops and chicken wings so I did not eat all the remaining candy; and I wanted to get out and see some of the locals in the town I had lived in for just over a month.  And from that point on the rest is history!  I met a boy that night, lol (Mark) and ironically enough I could not have been looking less if I tried.  The absolute furthest thing from my mind was dating or starting a relationship; no thanks!  But this particular one seemed sweet so when he approached me and started talking to me (after he caught me looking at him a few times) I actually chatted with him as opposed to my regular response my close old friends can attest to....Krissy, Pam and a few others told me years ago that when I guy even started to get an incline to approach me I could end it from 50 feet away with one look....they so adoringly called it my f off look; and it apparently was enough to stop the most eager sure of himself man in his tracks at 50 paces, lol.  So it almost became a game for my friends when we were out, lol.  Anyhow, this time for some reason I did not.  We chatted a few mins here and there on Halloween and he found out I was actually working at the pub the next day as I almost always use to work a full and part time job when I was single.  Kept me busy, out of trouble some of the time and woohoo extra shoe money!  So dad was tired, it was getting late so home dad and I came.  The next day lets just I was a few shades of green from the wobbly pops the night before!  But I drug my throwing up hung over butt in to the pub to start my new pt job.  Carol the owner offered to start training another day as soon as she took one look at me, lol but I stuck it out for the whole shift for 7 hours like I agreed to.  About an hour or 2 in to my shift so mid afternoon in walks Mark and his friend I also met the night before.  They sat at the bar and ordered a beer and just chatted amongst themselves and also to me a little.  I was behind the bar cleaning, trying not to throw up and muttered to myself I would kill for an ice cap...the jolt of ice cold coffee in my mind would surely make me feel better.  I guess at that point Mark said to P, road trip?  But I had no idea....the only thing I was focused on was not throwing up on my new employers floor ;0.  So they just up and left pretty much, thought it was odd no "see ya around" or something but maybe the whisky courage wore off so no big deal; again not looking did not care, lol.  A little while later in they walked, and Mark was carrying an ice cap...I did not know when he walked in it was for me so I'm sure to some extent I was salivating, lol.  He came over to the bar and handed it to me and pointed out he heard my comment about killing for an ice cap.  So he and P drove to the next town with a Timmy's about 20 mins away, got themselves some lunch and Mark brought me back an ice cap.  That was it, literally.  From that day on we started "dating" I guess you would call it, moved in together 5 months later in April of 2010 and had a baby in July 2011.  So even though this is a long winded read, you get the point.  Everything happens for a reason and dont' fight it; something better is always coming no matter how dark something may seem at the time.  All of the above events brought me to where I am right now, signing off this blog to go give breakfast to my AMAZING son Knox who I could not imagine a single moment without!  And the best part, I swore my whole life I never wanted children at all.  Even when Mark and I started dated he got the "you don't want kids right?" talk as there was not way I was even having kids; period.  Then I woke up one day and decided I wanted one; literally just like that and we chatted about it for a few months and then decided in September 2010 to have a baby and I was pregnant just over 2 weeks later the middle of October ;)
So don't fight change, everything happens for a reason!!!!  And for more of my work and more of Erin's TTD please visit my website at www.christinabethlehemphotography.com and my FB Page at www.facebook.com/christinabethlehemphotography

2 hours until the start of the lovely Erin's Trash The Dress session!!! Fantastic weather, thank you mother nature!!! Only thing that could make it better were if some big puffy white clouds could show up as they always look great in pics on sunny days! I'm shooting around Carseland, the campground and Wyndham Park starting at 12:00 so if anyone would like some photos today in those areas!

Well mother nature messed up the grad photo session today with horses so it will be done after grad now, oh well...but now I am even more excited for Erin's Trash The Dress session tomorrow!  I can't wait to do the session and praying mother nature gives up a break from oh 12:00-1:00pm! lol

On the bright side with being home today, I was able to add some new items to my Custom Creations By Christina "business"....custom wine glass charms!  They can be made for any name you like!  Here are the images of the Bride, Groom and Love wine glass charms.  They are just $4 each, $7/2 or $10/3, a very unique but inexpensive gift for any occasion.  You can see more at www.facebook.com/customcreationsbychristina

Only 2 page views away from 700 hits!  Nice, but I know I can do better so lets see if we can hit 800 by then end of May then I just be in line here for 1000 in July which would go perfectly with my goal of 1000 Like's on my Facebook page www.facebook.com/christinabethlehemphotography so head over there if you have not done so already and "like" the page!  The perk for you is seeing some great photos but more importantly you will be kept up to date with contests and promos all year long!  While you are surfing the net clicking away why not also swing by my fabulous new website that was just launched a week or so ago at www.christinabethlehemphotography.com

So last night I was at the Nickelback concert here in Calgary.  I had bought the tickets months ago as a birthday present for the BF (btw, BF for me is boyfriend, not best friend, lol) and a few great friends also came with us.  The concert was great, I was just a little off myself with a 6pm start with the sun still shining outside; it just felt weird to be at a rock concert to me in the middle of the day.  The opening acts My Darkest Days, Seether and Bush were are great and I do like all of the bands but clearly Nickelback was the big draw as the dome was maybe only at 50% capacity until they hit the stage.  There are many Nickelback haters out there; I'm not even sure why to be honest?!  Especially Nickelback haters in Alberta, and this part of Alberta...hello?!  Not to take anything away at all from all the other amazing Canadian artists from Celine Dion to Bryan Adams to Justin Bieber (not my cup of tea on the Bieber part but I am also not his target audience!) but in all seriousness; Nickelback is not only Canadian, Not only Albertan but OUR part of Alberta and as far as I am concerned they are extremely talented.  I have been a fan from day 1 long before they were getting radio play every hour on major stations on over the world, I enjoy their music and lyrics in general, I can personalize with more than 1 of their songs and hell; they actually sound as good live as they do on the radio!  That right there is worth it's weight in gold for me.  I have been to soooo many concerts where it is a huge disappointment to realize the band/singer has been edited to death in the recording studio to the point it does not even sound liek the same band/person live.  Kind of like how you see those photo shop tutorials where they take a middle age woman next door like myself perhaps and a photoshop wizard makes me look like a bloody centerfold 10 years younger!  This was not my 1st Nickelback concert nor will it be my last and once again I am proud they are from my part of the world, actually sound like Nickelback live and they put on another great show here last night in Calgary.

Custom Creations by Christina now has (wait for it.....) custom flip flops for the bride and bridal party...or just any girl that wants some pretty flip flops in white, black or pink with any color of bling she would like!  That's right....you pick the base color of the flip flop then state what color of bling your would like on them and here is the best part!  They are only $15 each or 3 pairs for $40...that's WalMart pricing for custom flip flops!  LOVE IT!!!  Here is a pic of a sample bride pair in white and a black pair with pink bling which I will be rocking this weekend, oh ya!!!!  Head on over to www.facebook.com/customcreationsbychristina for these and other great items but remember, everything is custom made to suit your specifications and budget so just tell them what you want!

Brides!!! Have you been to WeddingLovely?  If you haev not, what exactly are you waiting for???  This is where you need to go for all the latest tips, articles, DIY ideas for the DIY Bride and of course for a FULL list of only the very best wedding related companies/vendors in your area!  Whether you are in the market for a venue, stationary or a photographer; WeddingLovely has one stop shopping for everything you need!  You will even see yours truly there as a Calgary area preferred wedding photographer which in my opinion is JUST FANTASTIC!!!  I'm just a little bit excited to see myself listed on there... ;)  So, for your WeddingLovely virgins the website is www.weddinglovely.com and don't wait another minute!  Seriously, why are you still reading my blog; get over to WeddingLovely!!!

So with my "creative" side and reluctance to buy run of the mill gifts for people that 10,000 other people have...I got to thinking last week what I could do about it myself.  And from that "Custom Creations By Christina" was "born" lol.  The little man and photography keep me busy by all means but I try not to do much photo editing when at home with the little man as now that he is very mobile and getting in to absolutely everything it can be difficult to edit photos with having to look away from the computer every 20 seconds so it is typically left to evenings and weekends when Knox plays with daddy :)  But I still wanted something else to do so I thought of "unique" gifts that people would happily give to someone whether it be for mothers day, birthday or for your bridesmaids.  The "site" is very much a work in progress and I have a very very long way to go but I do have a few example up and a few pending orders as well.  There is MUCH more to come as I get all the supplies for my other ideas and sit down to make them and take photos.  So head on over to Custom Creations By Christina at www.facebook.com/customcreationsbychristina and take a look at the few examples I have like little gift baskets, coca cola glass mugs filled with candy or diaper cupcakes and large cupcakes made of baby blankets and body suits!  Boring old gifts are a thing of the past!  Not only will I have a small inventory on hand of basic items but what I am MOST looking forward to are the custom orders..perhaps and office that requires 20 gifts on admin. professional day or a bride looking for unique tailored gifts for all the girls in the wedding party!  The sky is the limit, just send me a note with what your budget is and what you would like and just think of me as your "personal shopper gift maker".

Hope all the fabulous mommies out there have a fantastic mothers day!  This 1st time mommy is shutting the computer down now that the little man is up from his nap and after lunch some outside play and a walk are in order! 

Well I have dropped off the face of the earth!  Did you miss me?  Wait, don't answer that! lol  I had a busy busy weekend...hired Thursday for a Saturday wedding which was great even though mother nature refused to let us get even one outdoor photo so we improvised with Kane's Harley Diner, an Art Gallery and the Bentley and Aston Martin dealership so some variety to say the least!  So I have been tucked away editing and hopefully will be done by next week....so fingers crossed for a 8-9 day turn around on wedding photos!  On a seperate note, almost every day I am asked if I have a website in addition to this Blog and my Facebook Page and the answer is no...but there will be very soon!  I think with not having an actual website that would show up in search engines I am missing out on potential customers so I have joined the dark side and have started designing a website.  I use the term "designing" very lightly as quite frankly I have no idea what I am doing but by no means in a position to pay to have a 3rd party build one for me so it will have to do until I win the lotto.  Depending on how the little man is as far as happy vs. cranky, I am hoping to have it "live" this week sometime and of course if I can figure out what I'm doing, lol.  The typing in my info, putting links to here and Fb are easy...where I am going to get a bit stumped is doing the meta tags/keyword's etc. for the search engine.  Can I not just have one amazing catch phrase that every single person in the general Calgary area would type in if looking for a photographer? lol  Must have radio stations start playing subliminal messages "Christina Bethlehem Photography" for the listeners "Christina Bethlehem Photography" to hear while they enjoy the music "Christina Bethlehem Photography" so that when they sit at the computer they just type in my company name!  I wonder.... ;)  On that note, hope everyone is FABULOUS so I am going to try and do a few more mins. work on the website and TRY to be asleep by 11:30 as the little man rises early and...I'm meeting a Bride tomorrow :)

About a week or so ago I wrote a little something about professional courtesy as I had a bee in my bonnet about something.  This morning I just learned that the sheer lack of personal/professional courtesy is far more wide spread then I even imagined!  I advertise on Kijiji, it's free; why not?!  I also go through the looking for ad's as well...never know right?  Today was just one of those mornings or right place right time for me I guess.  There was an ad looking for a wedding photographer as there usually is every few days.  Some I respond to, others I do not if they do not seem like a good fit.  This one caught my eye, the wedding is this weekend; yes 48 hours from now.  So to make a long story short a photographer was booked and as the big day approaches, the bride is of course trying to get every last detail sorted out; crazy huh?  Wanting to make sure everything for one of the biggest day's of your life is going to go as planned!  Well, no response from photographer; at all.  So my understanding is a web page was visited and that is how the bride found out that something has come up health wise and the photographer is not working at this time.  I truly hope the photographer is okay but, here is my "beef".  Where was the courtesy call/email/text/carrier pigeon if necessary to advise your customers of this?  I do not think a general website comment is sufficient, to me that more informs people looking to hire you; not people that have already booked your services!  So if there was time or a person able to update the website, could they not have contacted people that were already booked?  Especially a wedding?  Family photos can always get done another weekend as can most photos but a wedding?  I was shocked to hear this story to say the least...so in short....hope the photographer is okay, feel awful this bride had to go through this just 48hrs before wedding, yaaay for me; I had nothing booked this Saturday as I was getting my hair done now I'm shooting a wedding (hair Sunday now) and people PLEASE.....courtesy, courtesy, courtesy!!!  It really goes a long way and in some cases is just the right thing to do, PERIOD.  Okay, now back to scouting out locations for this wedding Saturday!!!!

Brides.....do you know 2 of the top wedding trends for 2012? The 1st is your venue...many brides are going away from the typical hotel/golf course reception venue and opting for a ranch or farm that has a lovely barn to accommodate a full reception! This is no longer just something a country bumpkin does; it's catching on for brides everywhere. There are lots of places that specialize in using thier facility (barn) for weddings and other gatherings but you would be surprised if you just ask around how easy it may be to find a private one with just a bit of hard work and word of mouth. As long as the structure is sound, you may be able to get the farmer down the road to let you use his property in exchange for you and your helpers just clearing and cleaning it out! Make sure the owner gets an invite to your reception and by all means; even if they were kind enough to not charge you; show your appreciation in some way. After all....how many thousands of $'s did you save by not renting out a hotel conference/banquet room?

The other trend is in dresses.....long sleeves and lace are making a huge come back this year. Elegant and classic lines accompany the in high demand gowns this year. Kate Middleton and the latest Twilight movie are said the big the biggest influence for this new trend. Now here is where I have to insert an opinion....how does an elegant beautiful well educated now Royal get put in the same classification as the Twilight movies??? Sorry Kate Middleton but unless you are a fan (please do not be a fan) this is bordering on insulting to your classic taste. I will stop there before I loose 300+ fans with my Twilight opinions, they are just that; my opinions...so to each their own! Just shocking those two could be responsible for the same trend?!

 

 

Yup, you are seeing correct....I just changed my blog background to ZEBRA stripes!!!  I am such a girl, lol.....ZEBRA stripes, pink & purple?!  I know a certain friend that may have those colors/themes at her wedding next year! lol

So out and about today I found another great old barn, pretty much obsessed with old barns!  But they just look great so how can I not be?!  Anyhow, the way I edited this photo tonight....the second I was done I looked up at my screen and the photo just screams CD Jacket to me!  Now since it was taken in Alberta, 1st band naturally that comes to mind is Nickelback of course; so I even shared it on the Nickelback Facebook page ;0  Who knows...maybe their people will call my people (Knox, my baby) and offer ludicrous amounts of royalty money to use it for their next album cover; which I have also named for them so it fits the photo of course!  My photo for the CD Jacket and the album should be called "Home Again"!  Can you see the vision???  All the boys have to do is write the songs during this tour spend some time in the studio late 2012 early 2013 and voila...new CD, lol.  So tell me what you think!!!!  I am dying to hear at least 1 person agree with me!!!  On a slight side bar...guess who has tickets to the show in Calgary in just a few weeks??? Hehehehe, just a tad excited event though I will miss my little man more than anything being out that night.