Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

About one week ago I was contacted by a nurse from a local hospital. She informed me that a family needed my assistance immediately and asked if I could come to the hospital that evening. A beautiful little girl had been born and we would only be able to be with her for a very short time.

I was able to get there, and we were able to capture the photographs.

I called the family this evening to let them know their pictures were finished, and that they could view them. The family was grateful. I felt a huge sense of satisfaction.

You see, this family will likely have these photos for the rest of their lives. In sixty years, the family won't remember who the photographer was that came to visit them in the hospital (nor should they)... but they will remember the color of their daughter's hair, and the way her beautiful little fingers and toes looked.

Some folks wonder how it's possible to capture such a sad event in an appropriate way. To demystify the process, I am going to post one of the pictures I took of this family. Sure there are others (and the pictures of the mother and father holding their little girl are absolutely breathtaking...) - but I'm going to keep them private for the family.

So, the next time you are at a hospital or an OBGYN, and you have a couple extra minutes, ask the staff if they know about Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. Maybe they will be able to help a family, similar to this one.

It breaks my heart that right now, as I type this, the family is seeing the slideshow for the first time. It must be so hard. But maybe in some small way, it makes them feel more at peace. Now, they will be able to look at their daughter whenever they wish...

A New Toy for Beth...

Well folks, I finally broke down and got a Blackberry today. My hope is that I will be able to facilitate client orders, Pictage questions, and e-mail responses quickly - no matter what state (or continent) I am currently in.

So for folks that need to get a hold of me right away, I strongly suggest e-mail. I will get your message immediately, and will be able to respond as soon as possible.

Hope all is going well with the holiday planning, shopping, and celebrating!

Beth

Slideshows

There have been some questions about Slideshows... most folks just want to know, "how do I order them?"

Well, for those of you who don't know, I release a slideshow for most of my on-location clients. The slideshow links are kept private, hence the reason many of you may not have seen them. But anyway, about the ordering process....

To order a slideshow, click on the shopping cart at the bottom of the screen. The shopping cart appears when the slideshow is playing. The company is a very reputable company, and you should get your slideshow sent by mail shortly after ordering.

If you have any questions at all, feel free to give me a call. (248-425-6008.)

Have a great day!

Beth

Charity Event Photos

Hello Everyone... I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I wanted to post some pictures from the Charity Event... (sorry I am so behind with the postings!)

I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Beth

Thank you!!!

I want to say thank you to everyone who helped make this fall's charity shoot a huge success! I was so flattered that almost everyone donated even more than the minimum to their favorite charity! All in all, we raised quite a bit of money for each of the four charities.

I now have about 10 hours of shoots to edit... put plainly, I have about 600+ pictures to edit! (Rather intimidating when presented in that light, huh?) So, while I work to get your shoot posted to Pictage asap, please know that I will try my very very best to make sure each of you has all of your galleries posted by Thanksgiving. (Note: I will issue your gift certificates when I release the gallery...)

Okay, now off to Photoshop! I've got some (serious) work ahead of me!!!!

Thanks again everybody... we were able to make a huge difference!

Beth

The Vandeveegaete Family

My very good friends, the Vandeveegate Family, stopped by on Saturday to get some holiday pictures. I have been taking pictures of their son since birth and this is the first shoot where we've been able to capture these wonderful curls! (So cute!)

From Santa hat to Halloween costume - we did it all, and this little man was a champ!

Here are some of my favorites from the session...

Enjoy!

The Valade Family

One of my favorite little boys came to my studio on Saturday. He is very well behaved, and so good natured. I first took pictures of this little boy when he was one. Now, a year later, it's amazing to see what a little man he has become!

Mom chose a black background with black clothing for the later half of the session. The result is very striking and makes the subject just pop out of the picture. Absolutely beautiful...

Here are may favorites from the session.

Enjoy!

Siver Family

Last weekend, on a chilly Saturday morning, I met up with a family in Rochester. Dad had to go into the office, so it was just mom and her three boys. Three boys. Soooo much energy! Those of you that know me, know that my favorite sessions are the ones full of running, playing, and laughing. And this shoot was exactly that.

At one point in the session, the oldest brother just tackled the middle brother! No one got hurt - and so it was okay.... but I said tickle. They heard tackle. Hilarious!

I love little boys.

Here are some of my favorites from the session... (and notice the last picture, a split second before the tackle!!! hee hee!)

Enjoy!

Jeff and Megan

Last weekend, Jeff and Megan stopped by to have their engagement portraits taken. They are a super fun couple. And although Jeff wasn't crazy about the idea of getting pictures taken, in the end, he was a great sport about it - and made the event hilarious. I can't wait for this wedding. It's going to be a ton of fun!

Here are some of my favorites from the session...

Enjoy!

November 17th Schedule (Charity Event)

I am very excited to report that there's a lot of buzz about the November 17th Charity event! So much in fact, that I am going to create an online schedule so folks know what sessions are available.

Again, the sessions will be about 15 minutes long, with 5 minutes of "buffer" time. We're going to begin at 8 sharp! The event will take place at 17 "1/2" & Rochester Rd in Troy, Michigan. I have hired two extra people to help you answer any questions, explain the process, and make sure you get in and out of the studio without any hiccups. I will be in the studio doing what I do best!

IMPORTANT: Please show up 15 minutes ahead of your scheduled session. Unfortunately, if you show up late, we will not be able to add additional time... (Thank you for your understanding!)

8:00
8:20
8:40 Bejune Boys
9:00
9:20 Julia C.
9:40 Jon H.
10:00 Team Champoux
10:20
10:40
11:00 Stacia M.
11:20 Misty M.
11:40 Pete H.
12:00
12:20 Megan Goff
12:40 Megan Goff
1:00
1:20
1:40
2:00 Heather S.
2:20
2:40 Cathy I.
3:00
3:20 Jen Minewiser
3:40
4:00 Team Wilbanks

The fastest way to sign up is to e-mail Beth at beth@bethmerritt.com. Remember, first come, first served, so I will try to update this list as frequently as possible!

I hope to see you there!

Beth

Charity Event - Saturday Nov 17, 2007

In a year when I've been so lucky to have met so many new clients in the community, I thought it was important to give back... I will be setting aside one entire day to have multiple photo sessions where 100% of the sitting fees collected go to charity.

I am in the process of sending these out to my current clients, but I wanted to also post this here so some folks can get a head start.

This is a great opportunity to get pictures taken in time for the holiday. Whether you need a family picture or individual shots, this is a great opportunity to help out the community - and get those photos in time for the holidays!

Due to the amazing response, the sessions will not be my typical one hour sessions, to allow more families to take part in the event. The sessions will be long enough to get a variety of poses (and of course many of my popular unposed shots!) While 15 minutes doesn't seem like a ton of time, please know that this is LOTS more time than I typically have at weddings and school photo sessions to get the same shots! Fifteen minutes is often a perfect length of time for little people. The pictures will be edited and posted online within 48 hours, to ensure timely ordering before December. (Please note that the actual session will be 20 minutes so families are not rushed in and out of the studio.)

Here are more details...






If interested, please e-mail me at beth@bethmerritt.com Space is very limited and spots will go fast, so call or e-mail me early to be a part of this charity event!

Hope to see yo Nov 17th!

Young Female Entrepreneurs!

Two very young ladies, Cara and Natalie (still in high school) visited me this afternoon to educate me about their new business "That's A Wrap!". I was so excited about these young ladies and their initiative. They were going door to door to introduce themselves and teach the neighborhood about who they are and what they do.

I get so excited when I see young women doing such great things! I know this isn't in any way related to photography, but I just wanted to take the time to highlight these two great young women doing business in our community. Many of you know that it is so hard to run your own business - and to do it at such a young age is really amazing!

If any of you are like me, and don't have a minute to spare, check out the services provided by these ladies.

Have a great day! (And Cara/Natalie - keep up the great work!!)

E-mails from Pictage

I've had some complaints from clients informing me that they are getting massive amounts of e-mail from Pictage.com. Admittedly, this is one of the biggest flaws with Pictage, and I am very disappointed that I am powerless to monitor or reduce the e-mails that they send out.

However, I do know that there is an "opt-out"/"unsubscribe" option at the end of the e-mails they send. If you are getting bombarded by e-mail please do not hesitate to unsubscribe to these e-mails. (The last thing I want is unhappy clients due to the online hosting service!)

I promise to look for a new (better) one in March when I visit the next major photography convention...!

Please accept my apologies for this inconvenience...

Beth

A (short) vacation for me!

Yes, yes... you heard it here! I will be taking a vacation starting Friday afternoon, returning Sunday evening. I will not be checking e-mail or voicemail during this time... I will do my very best to follow up with your requests on Monday when I return. (This is my first day off in about four weeks... I cannot tell you how excited I am!!!)

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Thank you!

The McGuire Family

I had the pleasure of meeting the entire McGuire Family this Sunday. The newest McGuire is super cute - and so happy! I love the picture of him with the little patch of hair sticking up.

We had tons of fun in the park.. climbing trees, exploring playhouses, and running around. And fortunately for the little ones, it was about 20 degrees warmer than the previous day! Everyone was dressed in brown with the cutest little brown sweaters - (props to mom as she had one of the better coordinating outfits that I've seen...!)

Anyway, here are some of my favorite from the session... Enjoy!

Goooooo Spartans!!!!

This family is absolutely crazy about Michigan State! They had called me about taking some pictures to celebrate their parent's 40th anniversary, and I expected what folks normally want: some posed pictures with coordinated outfits amongst a nice background... But this family didn't stop there!

Add a change of (green) clothing, three dogs, one huge helmet, and some pom-poms and what do you get? A fabulous family picture with some Spartan spirit! Even the dogs were dressed in Michigan State bandannas! It was awesome!

Here are some of my favorites from the session...

Enjoy!

Tiffany's Graduation Pictures

This beautiful young lady has more than good looks... in just a couple of months Nancy will begin college and will major in pre-med. Beauty and brains!!! (...Boys, catch her now before she finds a doctor of her own!)

Here are some of my favorites from our session.

Enjoy!