A princess who wears pink tennis shoes.│Jackson Michigan Child Photographer

Its so funny how two year olds tend to liven up sessions. This little miss (who you probably remember from this session in the spring) wasn't solo for pictures. No, the session was for her family of 5, however, Audrey was in diva mode (words from her mother) and was the star of the show. She wanted to run, drink from the drinking fountain, laugh, giggle and pick flowers. Perfectly fun things to do, right? I got her calm for a moment (and it was a moment) and we chatted about Miss Diva herself. She says she's a princess. And she wears pink tennis shoes. How cute is that?

Now, of course big brother Austin was there. He was as charming as ever- the same perfect gentleman as last time. What a great kid.

And baby sister Lexie... who just celebrated her first birthday. She sat back on the sidelines and watched sis and bro have a ball (isn't that typical for 3rd children... they are usually so laid back!). She is so so cute.

And, I can't forget a few images that just scream "FUN!" This is a little glimpse into how fun this family is. I cropped these images to 10x20 vertical images. I thought they were a perfect fit for a wall over a couch, or a long hallway or something.

I almost forgot this sneak peek!

Meet Little Miss Lauren, who just celebrated her 2nd birthday. Upon my arrival, she immediately told me "no!" That's two for you :) However, after a little playing, tickling, giggling and being silly, Lauren seemed a little fascinated with me, and I surely didn't hear "no!" again. In fact, I think she even liked me! She did, after all, give my EAR a kiss when I walked sideways into the bird feeder and banged my ear. Now THAT is sweetness for you!

Who will be the next face on the homepage of Nicole Barczak Photography?

While we've thoroughly enjoyed seeing beautiful Miss Madison's face on the main page of Nicole Barczak Photography (go check her out if you haven't yet... she's a doll!), its time for a change! I've had such a hard time deciding who to put on my home page... all of my clients have been absolutely adorable and that makes it so so hard to decide! So, I have decided to leave that decision up to you.... yes, its time for another contest!

I have gone through my portfolio and chosen 7 children to possibly be my "new face", and now the voting is up to you. Voting will begin now and end Wednesday, September 5th at 5:00pm. So, get the word out to your friends and family and get your votes in!

(You will need to click on the images to see them larger)

Coming soon....

a new featured face for the Nicole Barczak Photography website!

Keep an eye out, because I'll need YOU to help choose!

And... by the way... do I have any readers out there? Its been pretty quiet here in BlogLand. See that link below that says *0 comments*? You can click on that and leave comments. I do love them, you know! :)

Grace │ Jackson Michigan Newborn Photographer

Grace just turned 3 weeks old today, and this is already her second "unoffical" session with me. She was thrilled with being in the spotlight during her original session date when she was 11 days old, so I revisited to hopefully catch her on a happy day.

Today Grace was just as wide awake and curious as she was before, only she was happy this time. She's already growing up way too fast for her mommy and daddy... she was keeping an eye on everything going on, lifting her head up and looking around and trying to scoot on the floor. Silly girl... doesn't she know she's a newborn?

Luckily, after over 2 hours of hanging out with Grace and her family, she finally fell asleep and I got some of my absolute favorite images in that last 10 minutes of her session. It was completely worth all the waiting and patience that her parents and I put into her sessions. I didn't mind one bit as her parents are great company and I'd do it all over again just to hang out with this little cutie. I could seriously eat her up she's so adorable.





And one from her "first" session..

Notice a trend here on the blog... newborn, newborn newborn? Let me just remind how how NOT good this is for "baby fever". I can't believe *MY* baby is so much a toddler now!

St. Louis Session #3

Last, but certainly not least, is Miss Ashley. She's a typical 15 month old... explore, explore explore. And avoid the camera. I loved tickling her and getting some good laughs, and she played along well, and was then back to her exploring adventure. This age is definitely a test for me... I always leave sessions that involve one year olds and I'm nervous that I didn't capture anything worth showing. It was no different as I left the park on Wednesday, except for the fact that I would have no "do-overs" as they live 8 hours away from me!

But, I most often surprise myself, and of course I am in love with many of Ashley's pictures! Here are a few of my favorites...

St. Louis Session #2

Little Miss Yuri... she is such a calm and happy baby. She's 6 weeks old and an absolute princess. She was wide awake for quite awhile, but never fussed a bit!

I met Yuri and her parents through the friends was visiting in St. Louis. I met them the evening before their session and they are such a fun couple! Yuri was a good little girl throughout the entire birthday party Friday evening... she's so laid back and easygoing!

St. Louis Session #1

Here are some highlights from my sessions in St. Louis.

First up was Mr. Preston... just 2 weeks old and so sweet. He was a perfect angel through and through. He slept most of the session, which is a bonus in my book :)



I caught a little gassy smile , awww!

On my way home

In a delirious attempt to post this early this morning... I accidentally posted on my old blog.

Oops.

Anyhow... my post for this morning (Friday)

I'm in a hotel in Indianapolis, getting ready to make the second leg of my trip back from St. Louis. Let me tell you, traveling with an 18 month old- alone- is not fun. We had quite a few "want to break down and cry" moments last night (for me... Porter was already breaking down and crying!). I left at P's bedtime, hoping he'd fall asleep quickly (which he did, after 20 minutes of fussing and 15 minutes of me singing every nursery rhyme I could remember, back to back). I thought everything would be fine, other than the fact that I had 180 miles still to go, it was dark and lonely on the highway, however, when I stopped for gas half an hour later it woke Porter up which ensued 40 more minutes of crying an screaming from him to get out of his seat. Fun stuff, I tell ya!

Anyhow, my vacation was wonderful. For those of you who didn't get the scoop, my husband and I came for a surprise birthday party for friends of ours who just moved to St. Louis area from Jackson. My husband flew home Monday for work, and Porter and I stayed out the week so I could have more time to spend with my friend. Visiting good friends who live far away is always bitter sweet... its great to spend time with them but its so sad to leave as you realize how much you miss them!

However, it was also a working vacation (I managed to squeeze in a few sessions), so once I get home I promise to have some adorable sneak peeks for you!

Just a few things for those of you waiting for prints, emails or phone calls:

• If you emailed me or left me a voice mail over the past week, I will return those before Tuesday, I promise!
• If you ordered and paid for prints before I left (The 16th), those orders will be shipped out Monday morning so keep an eye out for a package next week!
• If you ordered before I left and mailed a check (so, it was received while I was away), OR if you ordered and paid while I was away, those images will sent to the lab for processing once I return home and you can expect delivery around the middle of September
• Jane- I'll see you and Grace on Saturday and as far as I know your announcements should be in and I'll bring them along.
• Nicole- I will be mailing out your images as soon as I return home, so look for those next week!
• Robin and Carly- I promise to finish processing your session as soon as I return home
• Erin, Marisa and Jennifer- I'll have your galleries up next week also!

I'm trying my best to make sure my absence has as little impact on you guys as possible. I apologize for any delays, and I'm doing my best to keep things running smooth.

Thanks everyone!

I was tagged!

I was tagged by a nearby photographer, Jennifer Dery of JoNa Photography to participate in a blog game where I'm supposed to list 8 interesting things about myself that my blog readers may not know and then try to get 8 other photographers to do the same! This was actually a lot trickier than I thought it would be!!

1. I hate the squishy sound of cotton balls... its worse than nails on chalkboards to me

2. I am a huge procrastinator. I guess I'd like to think I work best under pressure.

3. I started college and wanted to be a Pediatrician. I failed Chemistry my first semester at MSU and decided that wasn't a good career for me.

4. I used to want 3 or 4 kids, but now I could see being happy with just 2. Maybe 3.

5. I'm weird about nails... toenails... fingernails. I have to keep mine short (which reminds me all day I've been picking at my nails, just itching to clip them). I clip Porter's nails numerous times a week because I can't stand when his nails rip or snag.

6. In junior high and high school I was SUPER shy. I had my little group of friends and thats about all I talked to. I'm sure many people thought I was stuck up, but really I was just shy and insecure. I was afraid of the "super popular" people. Now, well, I would definitely consider myself somewhat outgoing and talkative.

7. I gag a lot. Yucky smells... I gag. Watching someone else gag or choke... I gag. Thinking about gagging... I gag. (I'm gagging. Ok, no not really).

8. I have my teaching degree- Elementary Ed/Special Education. The job market in Michigan is so horrible, I haven't had the opportunity to teach full time yet, although I gladly would (and still do photography part time)

My 8 Photographers...
1. Susan James
2. Yolanda
3. Jessica of Moments Photography
4. Haylee Bean
5. Stephanie
6. Shelly Rankin
7. Aimee Payne
8. Angelique

One more...

Carly │ Jackson Michigan Senior Photographer

Here is a sneak peek for you. I've just begun post processing your session and this is one of my favorites so far.

(She's absolutely gorgeous, don't you all agree?)

Do I get an award or something?

Three kids

under the age of 6

in the SAME photo

all happy.

What's even better?

MORE THAN ONE PICTURE!!

No, seriously though, these kids are great... this was my second session with Elizabeth and Aaron (the oldest kiddos) and I absolutely loved when we met up how excited they were...

"Remember when I found that GOLD COIN for Chuck E Cheese?!"

"Are we going to that cool place where all the rocks are?"

"Remember when we played hide and seek? That was so fun!"

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome.

So, this session was mainly all about Sarah, as her third birthday is coming up soon. Sarah has the most charming smile and eyes that light up right along with it. I was going through images and came across this one:

Honestly, I'm sure it was taken purely by accident. I actually think I was messing with some settings on my camera and fired a test shot. And look at that... beautiful smile... beautiful Sarah. Not the "typical" portrait, (and I promise I did get pictures with her whole head, mom and dad!) but I just love love love it.

And, as I said before... more feet. I can totally see this one in a 10x20. PERFECT.
(hmm... maybe in a mud room or bathroom???)


Alright... thats all for now!

Mustard, Relish... Catch Up!!

I'm swamped with sessions this week, and I'm sure to be busy playing catch up with both sessions this week as well as the sessions coming up in the following two weeks. I leave this Thursday for St. Louis and I apologize to all clients this week for any delay in getting your gallery up. My gallery posting will be closer to the 2 week time frame, and I apologize. Also, a heads up to anyone placing orders.... if you order isn't in by Wednesday this week, images won't be sent to the lab until I return home (so, prints will be delivered approximately the second week of September). I'm working hard to get as many galleries up before I leave as possible, but I am only human... right?

So... back to catching up....

Its been a whirlwind of week so far, and its only Monday! Here are a couple of my favorite images from one of my sessions this past weekend. This family was absolutely adorable, and can you imagine how excited I was to see this little girl dressed in this when I arrived:


A cute pink sundress and PINK RAINBOOTS! So so cute. I love funky, fun outfits like this. Funky hats, colorful rainboots, scarves, trendy mismatched clothes... so much character and so fun! She was a little cutie too, and quite a talker! I couldn't understand everything she said, but she sure had a lot to talk about!


Now, most of my sessions I do a majority of black and white and mix in some color images also. But this session, man, it just screamed "COLOR! COLOR! LEAVE ME COLOR!!" Ok, so maybe not quite like that... but I had such a hard time deciding on images to show you in black and white because they all just were "colorific" to me!

Both kiddos had the most beautiful blue eyes.


And, one last one. I was on a "feet kick" (no pun intended) this weekend, so there will be more feet images to come!

The pictures you've all been waiting for...

So, SJNEWK, you're the winner of the "Subscribe and Win" drawing! I don't recognize your email, and I could be wrong, but I don't believe you've had a session with me yet. If you choose to book a session, you'll now have a $75 print credit to use when you order! (and, if I'm mistaken and you are already a client, you can use your $75 print credit for reprints).

Congratulations, and thank you to everyone who participated.

If you missed out on this contest, don't worry... there will be more! You can still subscribe to the blog (look in the sidebar over there ------->) and get emails directly to your inbox when this blog is updated.

My how they grow!

If you're a blog follower, you might remember Meka from her newborn session. Here she is at just a few weeks old:

And here she is now, at 7 months!

She is the most adorable little thing, still has a head of hair and the cutest chubby cheeks.

Big brother Kobe was in the session as well... looking tough without his shirt on.
I just love to see how my littlest clients grow. Its amazing, isn't it, how fast they change? How quickly the time goes by. It seems like just yesterday I was at their house taking newborn pictures, and all of a sudden here we are in 90* weather taking her 7 month portraits! (They're troopers, by the way... it was SO hot and muggy that day!)

Thats it for now. Oh, I'll be announcing the winner for my "subscribe" drawing tomorrow. Porter is going to draw the winner. I hope to have photos of this process :)

Santa... bring me one of these, please?

Stumped on what to get grandma for Christmas? Well, do I have the perfect solution. What grandma doesn't want to show off her gorgeous grand children's faces? What better way to do it than with a custom photo bag!
And, whats better than that? From now until October 27th, if you order a photo bag you can get the second bag for 20% off. Order one for grandma, and one for yourself!

To check out the styles of bags available as well as pricing information, CLICK HERE.

Bags must be ordered BEFORE OCTOBER 27th to ensure delivery by Christmas.
*Shipping and handling is $9 per bag

Still proofing... │ Jackson Michigan Child & Family Photographer

Susan, I am giving it my all to get your gallery done TODAY. Sitting here at the computer... came across this shot. Dang, I just love it! So, enjoy this until your gallery is up and you get to see the WHOLE shebang! :)

***ETA***..... one more for you. Just a momma hanging onto her growin' up baby for as long as she can. Gosh, I know this feeling all too well.

Updated website

Wander on over to Nicole Barczak Photography, because we have some new images in the galleries! Go on, check it out...you know you want to see!!

Subscribe and win!

I posted the subscription link over in the sidebar, so now is the time to go subscribe!

Why should you subscribe? Well, everyone who subscribes to the blog by 6pm Friday will be entered into a drawing to win a $75 print credit that can be used toward your print order in a future session with me or, for past clients: for reprints.

Why else should you subscribe? Well, it keeps you up to date on all the new happenings with Nicole Barczak Photography. Pretty soon I will be having some new contest going on, and we all know how fun those can be :) These contests will involve both past and future clients, and should be fun for all!

So, hurry up! Subscribe today!

Family ties... │ Jackson Michigan Child & Family Photographer

I think its wonderful when my clients involve extended family members in their sessions... what a great way to honor parents and document those special relationships with children.


I absolutely adored this session today... the kids couldn't have been any cuter (well, the whole entire family was beautiful! I swear I say that about every one of my clients!), and everyone was so fun! By the end of the session I was sweating and Haden had about had enough... he wanted to hang out by the lake, so we went splashing through the water together. He thought it was hilarious that my pants got all wet :)

And Miss Lauren... awwww... such a petite little princess! She wasn't sure of me at first, but by the end of the session she had warmed up a bit (literally... the sun finally came out today!) and gave me some smiles.


Tyra and family, thank you for sharing your afternoon with me. I enjoyed hanging out with your family and getting to know you all!

Braving the heat....

Susan and her family made the nearly two hour trek eastward for a family session and could Michigan have given us a hotter day? Earlier today I think the heat was around 93*!!! We pushed the time back to 5:30 hoping it'd be a little cooler, but no such luck. It made for a couple hot, sweaty little girls with rosy cheeks, that's for sure!

Its always nerve wracking doing a session for another photographer. Especially knowing how my son is with the camera... he's been there, done that and the camera tricks just don't work. Well, with most photographers kids its the same thing, and these two cuties were no exception. They were not buying into my "lure you with silliness", but lo and behold, I did get some great shots that I am in love with. I parted with the McEntyre's feeling a little uneasy, but I feel pretty darn good about quite a few of these images.

So, Susan, let me stop rambling and show you some pictures!!

And I just love this family shot...