The Cutest Expressions

On Saturday, I met a wonderful family for the first time. The parents were so laid back and really let me have some creative freedom. (Which I always appreciate!)

I usually don’t post storyboards to the blog, but when I saw this series of pictures, I couldn’t resist. This little boy had so many expressions – and I had so much fun capturing them.

Here are my favorites from Saturday’s session.

Enjoy...!

Beth

(PS: I am working on the website... ! It's coming, I promise!!)

Website Promotion (Coming soon!)

As a way to celebrate the upcoming new website, I have thought it would be fun to offer a free 8x10 to any family who I post a picture of on my new website. (...one per family please!) The free picture must be one of the ones posted on (the new) http://www.bethmerritt.com, and the best news is that you can order it directly from my new site!

I literally have thousands of pictures to go through, and so if I don't pick yours it probably means that someone with a name first in the alphabet filled the category first. (Adams, you're lookin' good... Schueler, not so much! hee hee.) No seriously, it will be quite random - so please don't be at all offended.

I just thought this might be a little fun event to get the season going...

Okay... now I've really gotta' get goin' on this new website!!!

Have a good night!

Beth

New Website...!

My good friend, and extremely talented photographer, Heather Rogers recently contacted me... Long story short, I was green with envy when I saw her new beautiful website. (For some reason, now that she moved to Ohio, I think I'm in touch more now than the last two years... funny how that works.) But anyway...

I had long been thinking about switching websites with a company that is the sponsor of one of the conventions I am attending at the end of February... and I checked out their website and they were having a sale - so, Beth Merritt Photography, who was scheduled to get a new website in late March, will have one very shortly. All thanks to my talented, (and Internet savvy!), friend Heather. (Thank you!)

So, the online hosting site (that most of you guys can't even pronounce anyway) will soon be gone. I will be doing all general ordering and hosting directly from my website. Ahhh the KISS principle... you gotta' love it. And I doubt any of you will miss their constant e-mail marketing that I cannot control. No more junk e-mails. I promise.

But I have quite a bit of work to do... so I should scoot!

Have a wonderful evening...

Beth

Crazy Weather in Detroit!

This afternoon, I went out to Goodrich for a family shoot. It was extremely foggy up there. The shoot was a ton of fun, and we got some great shots. (Note: You will not be seeing them though! Alas, the client is a high-profile, easily recognizable person, thus this gallery will be hidden...)

...but...

you will see the result of me blindly driving in search of the perfect 'fog' shot for about two hours down random dirt roads. We don't often get fog, and never like this, so when I had the opportunity to take some landscape shots, I seized it! Here are some of my favorites...

Enjoy!

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!