Cutest Baby Contest

Mystic Memories is happy to announce it's 1st annual Cutest Baby Contest! 

I had so much fun doing the Cutest Kid Contest last year I have decided to get all those cute babies out there involved in their own contest.

Beginning May 1st you will be able to submit a photo of your cute Baby. I will be taking entries until May 7th. I will be posting the pictures to my facebook album "Cutest Baby Contest - 2012". You will know your baby is entered once you see the photo appear. Since I have no control over people liking the pictures once I upload them voting will begin as soon as your photo is posted. So the sooner you get your photo in the longer it has for people to vote on it. Voting will go on through out the month and close at midnight on May 31st. Winner will be announced June 1^st.

Sounds fun, right!?!

OK, now lets talk about the prize...

Winner will receive a FREE SESSION to show off their cuteness!

Here are all the Rules:

* Only one entry per Baby.

* You must be the parent or legal guardian of the child you enter into the contest.

* Baby must be under 12-months-old.

* You must have permission to use the photo you enter. Please do not send me photos taken by other photographers (I don't think they would appreciate you using their photo in another photographers contest. I respect other photographers.) If I have taken the photo I kindly give myself permission to use it.

* Photo must have been taken in the 3 months.

* Photos do not have to look professional. Any snapshot that shows the cuteness of your baby will work perfectly!

* Any photo sent after midnight on May 7th will not be entered.

* If any of these rules aren't followed I have the right to deny entry.

* This contest is opened to everyone, however if you don't live in the Southeastern Idaho area and you aren't willing to drive to this area I will have to charge for mileage to accommodate your prize session. I do travel to Utah (Hill Airforce Base area) often so I will be able to accommodate those of you in and around that area (dependent on schedules). Otherwise it is up to the winner to travel to my area for their session.

How voting works:

* For every "like" that your photo receives it gets a vote. 20 "likes" = 20 votes.

* Your job will be to send the link to your family and friends so they can vote. They will need to “like” Mystic Memories – Photography & Designing's facebook page and click “like” under your photo.

* Picture with the most votes at the end of the contest wins. (That winner has 48 hours to contact me or they default to the runner-up).

How to enter:

* First off you need to be a fan of Mystic Memories - Photography & Designing on Facebook. So if you haven't "liked" the page yet, please go to do this so you can participate.

* E-mail your photo to mysticphotography@live.com with the Subject line Cutest Baby Contest.
         Please include in your e-mail:
                       * Baby's Name
                       * Baby's Age
                       * Your Name and Contact Info

The only thing that will be posted is child’s first name and age.

OK now that you know all the Details and how to enter go ahead and find that perfect "Cutest Baby" picture and send it in.

The fine print:

This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

By sending in an entry you are giving Mystic Memories the right to post your photo on Facebook.

Nhyal 4-Months-Old

This little guy is by far the CUTEST 4-month-old EVER!

I might be a little partial because he happens to be my nephew....

But honestly even if he wasn't I would think that he was the cutest.

Just take a look at his sweet face and those baby blues - adorable!

I was so excited when I found out he was going to come visit - you see he lives in Minnesota and this was the first time I have seen him. 

I do have to admit when he met me for the first time he wasn't impressed and his mommy had to rescue him but eventually I won him over!

Oh I love this handsome little man and I am Soooooooo happy I finally got to met him.

I do have to make a little shout out to his talented mom who made his cute little hat and matching pants in the first pics.
Think I need to get her to make me a set for my prop stash! ;)

Getting back to the FUN stuff

It's been a stressful past month or so and I haven't been the best at posting previews or being active with my blog, facebook, or clients.......I apologize. 

Last night I sat down and asked myself when did this stop being enjoyable? 

I came to the conclusion that I need to start having FUN again. 

I LOVE what I do and just because things have gotten stressful and overwhelming I don't need to stop having fun! 

Life needs to be Fun, right?

YES!

So I brainstormed and I wrote down lots of things I think would be fun for my followers and clients! 

I am Soooooooooooo EXCITED and it's going to be tons of FUN!

I was trying to find out what made my followers happiest and more involved, and it hit me, 

ok it was more like a light bulb turning on. 

First off I have decided to do more mini session events - YAY! 

I get asked all the time about those so I figured I'd try to do one every month, "try" being the key word. 

Also I will be doing some fun contests, like my "Cutest Kid Contest" everyone loved that last year.

With that being said keep an eye out for those mini sessions and contests on facebook.

For the month of May I will be doing my Mommy and Me Mini Sessions

(which I only have 2 spots left open)

And I will be putting together a "Cutest Baby Contest"

so start digging through those snapshots and find a cute entry picture of your baby!

Let the FUN begin!

This is my sweet little girl and her Creative Kid Session we did last year. 

Just realized I never shared any of the images on the blog. 

Would anyone be interested in doing a mini creative session event?

Jeremy & Britni's Engagement Portraits

To say I had a fun session with Jeremy and Britni would be an understatement. It seems it would be better to say I had an eventful session with Jeremy and Britni (but it was also fun). We had to battle a few things like the cold, the wind, and the cops. lol. No we didn't actually "battle" the cops but we had to take some time out of our session to clear up some misunderstandings about a location we were shooting at. Sad to say the owner is not allowing people to photograph on the property anymore (nothing that we did she just doesn't want people on her land anymore)

Anyways we were still able to get in a full session and capture some wonderful portraits for Jeremy and Britni. It was a joy to work with them and I can't wait to capture their wedding! They are a great couple and I am excited for them! :)

Here is their preview:

I have an addiction....

I am going to take some time out and get a little personal here.

You see I have this problem and it's kind of taking over.....

I LOVE props!!!!

That's right I'll shout if from the rooftops no more denial... 

My name is Misty and I am a propaholic!

I admit I am powerless, 

I can't help but see something and envision some magnificent photo session where I'd use it...with that being said I always end up buying it. Buckets, blankets, hats, fabric, and my personal favorite chairs - I am a sucker for all of it! 

Problem is I have a small space to keep my props and lately it seems it has become a disaster area!!!

See for yourself...........

 Now pick your jaw up off the floor and get that disgusted look off your face, lol.
Truth is if I had more money and more space I'd have TONS more props.

Now that I've shared my deep dark secret it's easy to come to the conclusion - I totally SUCK at organization!

This room used to be my office/studio when I use to use studio lighting but my son broke one of my lights so I decided to try out some natural lighting and fell in love...haven't done studio lighting in almost 3 years so the room became a prop storage room. 

Another problem with the room is there is no door on it, when I used it for a studio I LOVED having no door so we never put a door on it. No door was never an issue until my daughter became mobile and curious, she started going in and destroying my props so I strategically placed some big props and things in the door way so she couldn't get in the room (don't ask me why I never just put a door on it, lol). That's when things really started to pile up. After sessions I'd just toss my props back in the room and not back where they were stored and thus became the hoarder look I've adapted to. 

I have neglected the room and avoided pulling things out and reorganizing because my kids are like a moth to a flame when it comes to my props. The moment I pull ANYTHING out of that room one of them ends up confiscating it and I don't see it again until they break it and lose interest in it. They also like to go in and find a blanket and claim it is theirs, which usually ends up in tears because I won't let them play with it (surprisingly it's more of my son than daughter with this one - he gets attached to different textured blankets....no clue why).

Did you notice in the pictures I have hardly anything on my walls - sad I know. My poor little diploma, white board and wire picture holder are all that decorate the walls....that's it.

Anyways to make a LONG story shorter... 

I have decided that I am sick of being called a "Hoarder" and I have a goal to get it cleaned up and organized in the next two weeks. Figured it would actually happen if I exposed my secret and had to be held accountable for it! Or maybe this is a cry for help and I am hoping someone will turn me into the show Hoarders so I can get some professional help - lol - totally joking! The rest of my house doesn't look like this and I don't know what I would do if they made me throw away some of my props...yikes! 

So there you have it, my dark side. I feel better now that I have shared.

But wondering where to even start. I am excited to be able to organize and get some art up on my walls. I also have a large collection of vintage cameras I can't wait to put up on display.

Wish me luck and I will be posting new pictures sometime in the next 2 weeks!

Mommy & Me Mini Sessions - Yes or No?

I keep getting asked about my Mommy & Me mini sessions (I did them last year and mentioned doing them this year but haven't made an effort to put anything together yet) So here is my question...would you like me to put together a mini session date or should I just schedule them separate? 

If I do it would have to be May 4th and May 5th - that's my only possibility. 

Thing is I don't want to move my plans those days if I only have one or two interested people. So if you are interested in those two days please let me know (leave a comment, message me or leave a comment on the facebook post). Or you can leave me a comment if you'd be interested in scheduling your own mini session on a different date. I haven't sat down to make up a price or anything but I just keep getting people asking me if I am doing them so I need to make up my mind. lol. I am guessing it will be kind of like last year (here was the info for last year) Price will be $25-$50 (depends on how many images I offer on a disc or prints). 

So please if this is something you are interested in let me know, and let me know if you could make Friday May 4th or Saturday May 5th work.

 Or if you'd be interested in scheduling your own separate mini session.

Presley is 6-Months-old

Little Presley is such a sweetie. I've had the privilege to photograph her a few times and I always look forward to seeing her. This time her mommy brought her the cutest little outfits! She wasn't the happiest but we still captured some sweet little smiles. Oh she is so darn CUTE!

Here is miss Presley's preview:

What to Wear - April

April sort of snuck up on me. Here are some inspiration boards on what to wear for those family portraits!

I love the colors!