It’s your senior year!  12 years of school…homework, books, teachers, sports, detention, parties, friends, laughing, crying……You FINALLY made it! Woohoo …..now, are you really the kind of person that wants to remember your senior year with the same old boring pictures that everyone else has?   You know the one I’m talking about….. you, sitting on the floor by the big white “2011″ numbers????? Yeah- I didn’t think so.   You want images that are reflective of  who YOU are at this point in life- modern, fresh, fun….oh and cool…haha!    If this sounds like YOU- let’s get together and create a lasting memory that you will be PROUD to show off in 5, 10 or 20 years…not one that embarrasses you!

Check out some examples here: http://www.meganmanusphotography.com/index2.php?v=v2#/featured/

Helpful Information:

* Maternity Sessions are shot around the 7-8 month.  The focus of these sessions is of course, the baby bump, so keep the clothing simple (solid black or white sets of sports bras, tank tops and lounge pants.)  Bring some cute items from your baby’s nursery to use for props ( stuffed animals, shoes, rattles, baby blocks).  Check out some examples here: http://www.meganmanusphotography.com/index2.php?v=v2#/featured/

* Newborn Sessionsare shot within the FIRST or SECOND week- very important! You want to bring your baby in as soon as you can after birth to capture the “tiny-ness” and “new-ness” (yes those are words) of the baby!  When they get to be a couple weeks old, they start squirming and looking all around, and since they can’t focus their eyes at that age, open eyed newborn pictures…are sometimes funny looking- haha!!  90% of newborn images are of the naked baby…and that’s the look most parents are after as well.   I have lots of baskets and bowls and other things that I like to place the baby in for these images, or you are welcome to bring your own props. Check out some examples here: http://www.meganmanusphotography.com/index2.php?v=v2#/featured/

* Baby Plans: I offer two baby plans that “grow” with your child. The first  plan offers 5 sessions to capture every bit of your child’s first year of life, and concludes on the child’s first Birthday.  The second plan offers 3 sessions, to capture the major “milestones” of the child’s first year.  If you would like further information about these plans, please contact me via email : megan@meganmanusphotography.com

My friends, Austin and Paula and their girls- Anna Lyn and Kate, had some fun on the beach recently with some family portraits.   Well, I can’t say Kate had all that great of a time….she was not interested in the beach at all…so of course that meant I was dancing and jumping all around trying to get her attention…which I am sure looked really cute to anyone passing by- haha!!   But hey- it’s all about the picture!

I am excited to show off my newest technological advances……Flash Drives!!

From now on, when a wedding client purchases their digital wedding files from me, they will be on this handy little device! Cute huh?   I think flash drives provide more safety for your digital memories, because they don’t scratch like discs do, and they are more compact and easier to store as well!   And I just love the blue and brown colors and my logo looks kinda cute on them too- haha!!!   Anyway- just wanted to share the latest- hope you like!!

Well, Whitney said she prayed really hard for no RAIN…and God listened.  On my way to Charleston Monday, I just knew I was looking at a repeat of the previous Friday..rain, rain, rain!  But, it held out for us- whew!  Whitney’s finance is a baseball player, so we started the day out at the River Dogs stadium for a few “fun” shots….and some roasting in the sun- haha!! It was HOT!  But I am sure that Lee will be very happy when he sees them..she even showed off some of her pitching skills- haha!!  After the baseball field, we drove on to Boone Hall and started the “real” session there.  Whitney looked absolutely gorgeous….but of course you have to wait until after her wedding to see…..

Whitney’s makeup and hair was done by her friend, Savanna Welch, of New Dawn Salon in Manning, SC- what a great job!!

I can’t believe this little guy is already 10 months old!! wow how time flies!! Ryland made us work for some smiles in the beginning, but after he started…there was nothing but grins from ear to ear!!

No, No- not a green wedding dress….green as in Environmentally Friendly!   

These days, green is the way to go to reduce pollution and help the Earth by reusing and recycling. 

In this week’s Tips + Tricks post, Brittany Baker of Simply Southern Events shares with us a few ways to make your Wedding green-er……and for even more ideas, just google this topic!

v  A GREEN WEDDING DAY: Tips for the perfect ‘green’ event

o   Waste less paper – Use tree-free or recycled paper for everything from invites to programs to seating cards.

o   Leave a smaller carbon footprint – If at all possible, choose a location central to the majority of your guests so that fewer people have to fly to your event.

o   Decorate sustainable – Rentals are a great way to be more environmentally conscious because you’re reusing. Also, consider renting linens from companies that use ‘green’ dry cleaning and offer products made of eco-friendly materials.

o    Use in-season florals – Spring from in-season flowers that are grown locally. This also helps the local economy! Also, consider blossoms that have a big impact with using fewer flowers.

o   Wear green – To ‘go green’ with your wedding attire, have your dress made locally to avoid the carbon emissions involved in shipping.

I just wanted to say a great big “THANK YOU” to all of my customers for being patient with me while we were moving these past two weeks .  Thankfully, I didn’t get too far behind, but I did take a day or two longer to edit some sessions and a few days longer than usual on getting some orders out…but thank you to everyone for being so patient and understanding!!  Ya’ll are the best!!  I must say that moving is truely horrible…and just think…..once we get good and settled in here, we will get to do it all over again- oh joy!!!

So this session was a little ……wet.   As soon as I stepped out of the car in Charleston last Friday, I was greeted by the ominous sound of rolling thunder…   Of course, being the eternal optimist, I told Amanda (Mandi) and Patrick that I was sure that is was not going to rain- it was going to go right around us….of course I was totally wrong!  I think we shot for about 20 minutes before the rain started…and it never let up after that.   But hey that’s ok….we did manage to make it to a shelter before the rain started so we just hung out and shot in there.  Actually, looking back on it, it was good because not only does a stormy sky make for super-dramatic images,  it also  forced me out of my normal comfort zone and made me think more creatively…because I pretty much had to shoot the entire session in the same place….that’s a lot of different “shots” to come up with - haha!!

After we had shot all that we knew we could…while still staying DRY…Mandi and Patrick decided to have some fun for the last few shots and ran out and played in the rain! I absolutely loved that! They were so cute out there running and jumping around, laughing, kissing, and just having the best time together.   I love it when you can just see “good chemistry” between a couple….and these two definitely have that.   Mandi and Patrick- thanks for being so much fun to work with and for taking the rainy day right in stride!  You two were awesome!!

Whoa Mandi!!! haha!!

Little Camden came to the studio last week for his one year old pictures. This little guy was all smiles from the minute he came through the door- love that!!   And Camden’s mommy brought him the best surprise….a big chocolate cake- just for him!  At first he was being very neat and clean with the cake, but once he figured out that we actually WANTED him to dig in and get dirty- he had a blast!! Happy Birthday Camden- you are such a cutie!!