And the winner of our First Pay It Forward Friday is, John L’Esperance of Howell High School, who was nominated by Nick Friend. John is the winner of a free studio and outdoor senior portrait session and a $500 portrait package! Congrats John! Thank you to all those who participated. I will definately do this again and hope others will follow!

I hope everyone will go out and do something for someone else, even in the littlest way. Pay it forward to someone else, and I guarantee you it will come back to you. God Bless!

Most people who know me, know that I absolutely LOVE what I do. Being a photographer is amazing. I love looking back at photos that I have taken, both professional and just snapshots, and remembering those moments as if I were there again. It’s all about capturing the moment, who that person is right then and there, and being able to feel it when you look at the photo. When clients contact me after viewing their photos and let me know how happy they are or how the photos made them cry, then that is when I know that all my hard work has paid off. It just truly puts a smile on my face. I just wish that everyone could enjoy and afford having custom professional photographs. I completely understand how hard times have been and still are, with the economy. We have all been there. It has been a ripple affect on us all.

I cannot imagine not having photographs of my kids, especially high school senior photos. My oldest two kids are ready to embark onto the real world, getting ready to spread their wings and fly, soar to their future. And I want to have documentation of who they are today, to be able to look back on those photographs of my babies and smile or cry. Unfortunately, there are others who won’t be able to do this due to finances or personal circumstances. So, I want to help. I have thought about doing this for some time now, but a good friend of mine, Marci Ralph, who recently did this too, encouraged me to follow through. So here we go. I am announcing my first PAY IT FORWARD FRIDAY giveaway to a deserving 2011 graduating high school senior!! The giveaway will include a full senior session, studio and outdoors (1.5 hours) and a $500 portrait package!

Here’s how it will work: There are too many circumstances that can prevent one from getting senior portraits done. A family provider could be laid off, there could be medical issues in the family, or just plain having financial setbacks. Tell me about it. Are you a 2011 Senior who deserves this opportunity? Tell me why and nominate yourself. Do you know someone who deserves this but might be a bit humble to tell me their story? Nominate them by telling me their story and why they deserve this. I want all high school seniors to have photographs to capture their memories of today! They all have the right to enjoy the experience of having their senior photos taken, in a studio who really cares about them, who wants to laugh with them and help make their senior year memorable! Send me an email to karina@karinagphotography.com and in the subject line put Pay it Forward Friday Seniors and then tell me your story, at least a few paragraphs (not pages please), then their name, high school they attend, and city they live in and who is nominating them and relationship to them. All entries must be in by next Thursday, May 20, 2010. We will review all nominations and the winner will be announced here on our blog and on Facebook next Friday, May 21st, hence the name Pay it Foward FRIDAY!!! The senior photo session will take place in June or July of 2010.

I look forward to reading the entries. Now go and do something nice for someone, pay it forward; it will always come back to you!

I photographed a last minute 2010 senior a couple of weeks ago and I am so glad I could get her in. Jordyn came to Karina G Photography all the way from Garden City! I love how I am getting clients from different cities and distances; it really makes me feel great knowing my work is making its way throughout Michigan. Jordyn was supposed to have some fall photos taken, but the weather didn’t cooperate and then life got in the way. We finally got her and her mother here and I was so pleased how her session turned out. She is not only beautiful, but a pretty smart student and dancer. Oh yes, Jordyn also is not afraid of snakes…hence the photo below where she happily picked up the friendly snake we discovered during the outdoor session. EEEWWW! Thanks for putting up with my phobias Jordyn, you truly are a brave soul! I wish you only the best Jordyn and congratulations! Thank you for choosing Karina G Photography for your senior photos.

And here she is with the snake. I figured I’d better photograph it because I will never be that close to a snake again! lol

                                          http://surveys.polldaddy.com/s/14B00A5A02A11811/

It’s that time again, where our studio searches for qualifying high school juniors, ready and willing to work for some great perks. We absolutely love photographing SENIORS!! The excitement of your last year in high school, showing off your personality, going crazy – it’s all good! We need some enthusiastic representatives who are willing to get out there and show off some great photos and help friends find us, to photograph them for their own senior photos. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please pass along this information.

What do Senior Model Reps have to do?

Easy! Come in for photos, show them off, pass out some referral cards that give your friends FREE wallets just for booking a senior session with us – that’s pretty much it in a nutshell. We want everyone to have a great experience and want all seniors to be in love with their photos. Just spread the word about Karina G Photography to potential juniors in and around your high school, and if they bring in your referral card with your photo on it, you will receive portrait credit towards your order. Senior pictures can get expensive, so why not help your parents cut down the cost??!! It’s a win-win situation! We need outgoing, friendly and fun JUNIORS, committed to our studio for their senior year. You cannot sign with another studio or photographer, and have to get your photos taken by Karina G Photography. If you are interested, keep reading

What are some perks for a Senior Model Rep?

You will receive a free mini-photo session (up to 30 minutes) in February to create images for your referral cards. You will also receive half off of your full senior session fee (session must be held between June 1st and July 31st, and paid for by referral card pick up, in order to receive half off your session). You will get up to 5 websized, watermarked images from your mini-session for you to use as your profile picture on Facebook and/or MySpace (studio logo must remain on the images).  Senior model reps will also receive our popular, custom Karina G Photography “Dare to be Different” t-shirt to wear around town.  The best incentive that our reps receive is a $25 photo credit for each booked referral good towards your final portrait order. This is a fantastic way to help your parents bring the purchase cost down. You just have to really work it! As a final reward, whoever has the most booked referrals by September 1, 2010, will receive a  $150 Visa Giftcard! **A minimum of at least 7 referral bookings mustbe made in order to be eligible for this reward. The rep who gets the booked referrals first will be the deciding factor in case of a tie.

Still reading??? Great! Now, click on the link below to fill out the application. All applications will be reviewed and we will contact you for an interview. Please be sure to talk it over with your parents because they have to sign the contract and model release along with you; and as parents, we LOVE to be included in some of the decision making   Click here for the application: http://surveys.polldaddy.com/s/14B00A5A02A11811/

**The deadline to apply is Friday, February 12th.

Long time coming, here is Maegan, a beautiful senior from Howell High School. She is the captain of the soccer team and works very hard at school, as well as on the field. We tried some different shots at her session and I had a blast doing so. Here are a few shots, my favorite being the last one. I love how we played up her sporty side, yet showed off Mae’s feminine side as well. The rest of her session will be revealed this week. Enjoy!

A sweet side of Mae from her outdoor session.

Last night, unfortunately, something happened on the hosting part of my site and my beautiful senior site was wiped clean. A photographer’s Nightmare, let me tell you. As I sit here at 8:20 a.m., I am nervous, angry, sad, and feeling very anxious about this whole mess, but am very hopeful that it will be up and running by tomorrow. I do have all the galleries saved, thankfully, but the whole site itself, with all the technical mumbo jumbo that goes along with it, I do not, because it is being held captive by the site template designer. Yet, a 911 email has been sent to them in hopes they will be able to restore it. I have had issues with hosts in the past, and I thought I had found the one, but as you can see, I have not. So, I ask for your patience during this temporary blackout. I know there are some of you who have galleries in there and I promise they are still there, we just have to wait to see when the site can be restored. Their site says they are open Mon-Friday, but I am hoping somebody does work the weekend shift and will respond to my 911 Site Down shout out.

I have had some awesome sessions lately, and have been plugging away at them night after night. If you are interested in booking a senior session, please contact me via email at karina@karinagphotography.com or at 517-546-6654. I have a couple of openings for the third and fourth week of September available, or in October.

Again, I appreciate your patience and understanding. I am doing everything I can not to pull my hair out. I am off to continue proofing before my youngest is up and about ready to do more school shopping. Wish me luck all the way around today, please.

Meet Tyler H. from Howell High. He is a doll; tall, dark and handsome and plays basketball for Howell. His mother is a dear friend of mine from high school, so it was fun seeing him grown up.

 Introducing Samantha, better known as Sam, from Fowlerville High School Class of 2010. She was pretty much in her realm during this session. She is beautiful, smart and outgoing! Her mom is a friend of mine also, so watching her grow up into a beautiful young lady has been fun.