Merry Christmas {Michigan Child Photographer}

"Believe" in the magic of CHRISTmas.

Not sure with the last minute craziness if I'll get back to the blog before Christmas so I want to take a moment to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope it is a time of blessing for you and your families. And I hope the true meaning of Christmas is near and dear to your heart this holiday season.

It has been a year of blessings for me...so many things to look back on and be thankful for and so much to look forward to and be excited about. I know I say it often, but I truly am thankful to be apart of so many of your lives. I look forward to our continued relationships and making new ones with the changing of the year. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting me capture your heart and soul moments.

God Bless,
Hayley

till next time...

Oh...Matilda Jane (Michigan Child Photographer)

Oh...how I love this clothing!! :) And yes I apologize, I am still playing catch up on the blog...thank you for bearing with me :) This is a post I have been very excited to share :)
Back in October was the beginning of something very exciting for Hayley Hamlin Photography. One of my clients and I teamed up to introduce Matilda Jane Clothing to this area. She was gracious enough to host the Matilda Jane Trunk Show for me and in the future we will continue to do this with the seasonal changes of the clothing line. So stay tuned about future updates and fabulous pics. Below is a link to the clothing line if you are not familiar with it....but be warned...get ready to fall in love :)
Matilda Jane Clothing

And because I can't post without 1 pic, here is 1 I shared on Facebook :)

till next time...

Little Man "R" cont... {Michigan Baby Photographer}

This is the little guy who came visiting from out of state :) I showed you this teaser during Thanksgiving so his family could all see at least 1 photo while they were her for the holidays. But now it's time for a few more. He was such a dream to photograph even at 3 months he slept right through me posing him in the trencher and bowls :) He was perfect :) Thank you for letting me capture your little man while you were visiting Michigan for the holidays. Again, I had a wonderful time with your family and I look forward to many more sessions with your little guy :)

And because he couldn't' be any cuter in this hat...I had to add one of these :)

till next time...

Blog Slacker....

Yes I know...I have been slacking on the blog. It is crazy busy right now, editing (still have some sessions to share on the blog), doing lots and lots of ordering and packaging and jewelry making and the list goes on and on. UPS has pretty much been a daily visitor here and today I looked around and thought where am I going to put this new pile of boxes...LOL. But I wouldn't have it any other way, it's been a busy season with much more still to do and I am loving it. I am thankful and truly blessed beyond words!! :) It's kinda cool because it feels like Christmas everyday seeing all the items come in for client orders, I am especially loving all the specialty items, which I wish I could share here, but that's for another day :)!!

But before I go I thought I would share the other thing keeping me super busy this Christmas season, my hand made jewelry. Any of you who are familiar with my jewelry...know my favorite pieces of jewelry I make are my rings. I will apologize right now...I have been terrible about updating all the styles I carry. Many of them never made it to the website and the antique swivel is one of them. These rings were introduced in 2008 but I only showed you 1 of the styles I carry when there are actually several in the swivel collection. And...since the antique swivel happens to be one of my faves it was time to snap a picture of it. :) Although really me choosing a favorite style ring is kinda funny...because I I love them all. I have every style and I just mix and match...LOL.

So here are a couple rings from the swivel collection. These also come in oval and round in both styles. You will recognize the children on the jewelry from some of the recent blog posts :)

"Antique Scroll Swivel Ring" "Chunky Square Swivel Ring"

So...If you are looking for an "original" gift item or maybe a little something special for yourself, my jewelry is a perfect choice to showcase your favorite photos. You will get tons of compliments on it too :) I love it when clients tell me when they go places and people see their jewelry they know it's a Hayley Hamlin piece...just by looking at it :) This jewelry is special and you will feel special wearing it :). And on that note, for anyone who missed the holiday jewelry deadline, I will resume new jewelry orders Jan 1st. :)
till next time...

Featured Session {Michigan Newborn Photographer}

I first showed you this little man quite awhile ago, he was the beautiful baby in the antique bowl. Now you are going to get to see a lot more of him as he is my featured session. This little guy was a dream to photograph. Recently you have probably been hearing me go on and on about this gorgeous antique trencher, well this is the person I have been thanking for it :) So...last week I went back to get a couple pics of her little man in it. Even at almost 2 months old he was a dream baby for me. Let me pose him in the trencher and slept right through it :) Most of these are from the newborn session, but I did sneak in 1 of him in the trencher :)
So since I couldn't pick just few to show...here is a featured slide show of this session as well. Enjoy!! :)

Please remember to TURN OFF THE MAIN BLOG MUSIC before viewing. Blog music is located at the bottom of the blog. :)



And onto some pics :)

The antique trencher and little man "R" at almost 2 months :)

And got to meet up with my buddy "K" again for a few. "K" is Baby "R's" big brother and he is such a sweetie pie :)

Had to add just 1 of "K" by himself...isn't he adorable!!

Till next time :)

Little Man "R" (Michigan Baby Photogapher}

A while back I got an email that was pretty exciting. This little man's mommy contacted me from out of state to book a session with me while she was here visiting family. I am pretty honored to be the photographer that she chose to photograph her little man! I am glad you found me "L" and it was my pleasure to spend time with you, your mom, and your little guy. I will have much more to share from your session in a larger sneak peek soon, but I wanted to get 1 up for you to see while you are still here visiting. You have a beautiful little boy and he was just perfect for our session. Thank you for allowing me to capture him for you!! Have a safe trip back :)

Also...I wanted to give a shout out to K.P....you know who you are :) A HUGE thank you for the antique trencher!! It is perfect and I absolutely LOVE it. Can't wait to get your little guy in it on Monday...see you then!! :)

till next time...

A senior with a style all her own...{Michigan Senior Photographer}

Oh Alexa...what can I say, you are beautiful inside and out my dear.
So, a little background...Alexa contacted me back in the summer about doing her senior photos. We made arrangements to do a split session of fall and winter photos. I was excited about the winter photos before, but after doing 1 session with her, I am even more excited about the winter one :) From talking on the phone with her I knew that this was going to be a unique session because she is just that...unique. She is a soulful young lady who isn't afraid to march to the beat of her own drum. And let's face it...you put 2 artists together and it's bound to be a fun session. And it was :) I had so much fun hanging out with you :) I hope you enjoy your sneak peek. I had a hard time choosing which ones to show...I just loved too many, so once again get ready for some major image overload :)

As I said...absolutely beautiful.

*love*

this is one of my faves :)

don't ya just love her style ;)

A little laughter never hurt anyone ;)

A little artistic freedom :) These next 3 images are certainly not your everyday senior pics, but I knew from speaking with Alexa that she would be up for anything. I love the emotion in these and although they may not be everyone, I love them and I know Alexa will too :)

But before we go on.... I have to share this story about this next image. I had a lot of images in my head for her session, but after speaking with her on the phone and getting to know "her" this next image was one I had envisioned that I thought would suit her well. When I went to meet her at her house for our session I walked in and there hanging on the wall was almost this exact image sketched by her. It was the weirdest thing, but so cool. For me...there is so much emotion in this image. The sunlight is streaming perfectly from above her head and the flare is dancing all around her. The emotion in her face...can truly be felt, she did exactly what I had hoped for this image and the fact that this image was in her head too just makes it all that much more special. I love this one...

Sometimes you just need to take a minute to close your eyes take a deep breath and...be still. And so it is titled..."the quiet stillness"

"waiting"

Alexa really enjoys photography as well. So I had her bring her camera's along. We did pics with her Polaroid and her digital camera, this one is my fave :) And there better not be any pics of me floating around my dear...LOL

1 more from the wall structures...I loved this location as you can tell :)

And...1 more fun one :) I told ya it would be image overload...LOL

I hope you enjoyed your sneak peek :) Thank you for allowing me to be apart of your senior year!! Can't wait till our winter session!! I will load some to facebook for you very soon!!

till next time...

"N" & "K" Engagement Sneak Peek (Michigan Wedding Photographer)

Oh...Michigan falls...unpredictable yes, but nothing beats them!! They truly are gorgeous. And I am SO glad we were able to get this session in the day we did because the color was at it's peek and the very next day we had major high winds and there wasn't a leaf left in sight on the trees.
We had a blast hanging out together for this session, thank you so much for letting me be apart of this special time in you life. I truly am honored to be apart of it and I am looking forward to your wedding!! I hope you enjoy your sneak peek, I will upload them to facebook for you very soon :)

I really love this first one, probably one of my very faves, although as you can see from the image overload I love a lot of them ;)

These guys were great, up to anything I threw at them and they rocked this session!!
I really love this location...breaks my heart they are tearing it down!!

See what I mean about the color, gorgeous!!

And 1 more from the Fire Station :)

Hope you enjoyed your sneak peek :) Let me know what you think!!

On a side note about 2010 weddings, if you would like me to be your photographer for your 2010 wedding, you need to book quickly. I take a limited amount of wedding work and I am almost booked for 2010 :)

Till next time...

Senior Sneak Peek for "R" (Michigan Senior Photographer)

I always love hanging out with this family...they are SO much fun :) This time around we had some weather problems and rescheduled...let's see, I think I lost count how many times...LOL. But the session finally happened and we had a great time. I first met the "H" family a few years ago and we had a blast at that session and this one was equally as fun!!

Yes, the first photo may be a serious one...but when you get to the storyboard, that is how most of the session was :) He is fun and goofy and we laughed a lot. And once again we hung out at the golf course for most of the session, and that truly is where "R" is in his element.

I have to say I told mom when I left that this would be my fave...and it is :)


I could have filled up a few of these storyboards from the session, this is just a small sampling. He is such a riot...LOL :)

And where we spent most of the session, the golf course :)

I had this vision in my head for this session but being that it's almost time for the golf courses to close for the winter they had removed all the ball washers. Luckily we were able to get one out to use :)

1 more serious one :)

Hope you enjoyed your sneak peek. Saving the drum one for your gallery...but it's really cool :)

till next time...

The "F" Family Continued...{Michigan Child Photographer}

As promised, here is the official sneak peek for the "F" family :) I put a teaser out the other day since they were being so patient with me. They were the family on the tractor, here is a link to their post :)
Last time I did a session for this family it was just for their daughter, but this time I got to meet their little man. We did lots of pics to celebrate his 1 year milestone, some family pics and of course I got to hang out with the beautiful Miss "P" again. Their older son even let me grab a couple photos of him ;) I must say, I am pretty lucky...I have quite a few clients that have awesome property or houses filled with the best props to use and this is definitely one of those clients. I always LOVE visiting this location, it's like a big playground :)
Thank you so much for allowing me to continue to capture your families milestones and memories. I have so much enjoyed watching your family grow and change. You have a beautiful family and I love being able to capture the heart and soul moments of your life for you :)

Okay get ready for some major image overload :) This first one...melts my heart, and he's not even my kiddo. Those eyes, amazing!!

Peek-A-Boo :)

I love this :)

This barn, I love. I'd like to take the whole thing...LOL. It is the coolest thing ever and so unique :) Anyway, last time I took photos of their family, I have one of "P" peeking through the barn door and you can see the whole barn...anyway, it is one of my all time favorite photos. I look at that photo and then this one and wow, how time flies...

He was so cute :) At this age, if you get any photos, you are doing good :)

Oh little "J"...this became a game. This was funny, I had this grand vision in my head well then every time I'd walk away he'd stand up and lean over the crib. Yeah, that didn't work...LOL. So mom and dad both had to stand close and I couldn't get as much of a pull back shot as I wanted but boy do I sure love them!!

Yes...I must say, I really love this...

And 1 more. The joy on his face says it all :)

I hope you enjoyed your sneak peek. Your proofs are almost done and I'll be in touch soon.

Oh and mom...the antique firetruck ones, absolutely loved those too, but I had to save some surprises for you for your proofs :) I could have kept right on posting, but had to stop somewhere...LOL

Till next time...

Sweet Baby "R" {Michigan Newborn Photographer}

Oh boy am I behind on sneak peeks, so I have to sneak in just 1 teaser of this little man. There is TONS more of him to come as well as some of him and big brother together. I loved this session, as you can see mom's house was a photographers dream :)

More to come soon :)
till next time...

The "F" Family (Michigan Family Photographer}

Don't worry "M" this is only a "teaser" as there is SO much more to come from your guy's session. I just didn't want to leave you waiting any longer without something to see :) So here are a few of the fun ones from the session.
I have to say I always love visiting this location because there are so many cool things to use, I always tease grandma and say I am going to load my van up before I leave. :) Thank you for continuing to allow me to be apart of your family, I adore your kids and their will be lots more to come :)

More to come soon :)

till next time...

Family Fun {Michigan Family Photographer}

First off I want to say, I know there are many of you out there waiting on sneak peeks from your session and I promise I am working as fast as I can to get them to you :) Thank you for your patience.

This was a fun fun session as you will see. And I will add, most of these will be in B&W per mom's request. When mom booked the session she said how much she loved my b&w work so I knew we'd be getting along very well :)

First off was a little hopscotch, like I said..fun, fun, fun :)

I can still here her saying 1, 2, 1, 2 as she jumped. It was the CUTEST thing ever!!

Then onto some fun in the leaves :)

And if there's stuff to play on, have to do a little of that too :) I was bummed though, the sun was going under the clouds as I took this so I didn't get much flare.

And we had to take some time for little miss "B" to have some dress up time. Oh do I love these :)

Even found some wishing flowers :)

Hope you enjoyed your sneak peek. I will load some to facebook as soon as I get a chance :) Thank you for hanging out with me and braving the cold!! I had a fun time with your family!!

If you are stopping by, feel free to leave a comment :)

till next time...

Sweet Baby "A" {Michigan Newborn Photographer}

Just one of the little sweetie pie :) Isn't she precious...

till next time...

The "M" Family {Michigan Family Photographer}

My clients have had to brave some pretty cold weather this month and this session was no different. It was cold and windy, but they were troopers and braved it with me!! I know you have been patiently waiting to see your sneak peek, thank you so much for your patience!! I'll be sending your gallery link to you very soon :)
And as soon as Facebook will let me sign in, I'll load some there too ;)
Enjoy your sneak peek!!

I love this one, I can hear her laughter as Dad decided it was time to have a little fun and do some tickling :)

And yes, this would be the same family as the previous post. I absolutely love this series!! Hopefully I"ll have some of my own family like this some day :)

Hope you enjoyed your sneak peek.

till next time...

Family {Michigan Family Photographer}

"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family"
~Anthony Brandt
I

Hope you are having a great week...there is more to come from this beautiful family :)

till next time...

Senior Sneak Peek-Class of 2010 {Michigan Senior Photographer}

Yes, we are still making our way through the seniors...freezing to do it, but we are making it through...LOL. "P" was a trooper, it was absolutely freezing outside when we took these. I was dressed in winter coat attire and mom followed wrapped in a blanket...LOL. I know the things we do :) I am just posting a couple, as I trying to get caught up on blog posts. As you can see...I love his serious side ;) Enjoy your sneak peek!!

till next time...

The "M" Family {Michigan Family Photographer}

Recently I had the pleasure of meeting up with the "M" family. The afternoon started out perfect and then it got pretty chilly and luckily we ended just before the rain started. But the 2 boys were troopers even towards the end when it got chilly. Such a beautiful family!! I had a wonderful time with you, thank you for spending the afternoon with me :) I had such a hard time picking ones for the sneak peek, I wish I could show them all :) Your proofs are almost ready, I'll be in touch soon!!

Loved this old tree, they had access to awesome property for the shoot.

Adorable!!

Love this moment of laughter :)

Such a serious little man at times...

I love this one, he is so serious in this one but honestly most of the time he smiled and laughed for me. But there is something about this one. I can feel the wind and hear the leaves rustling when I see this. Just something about this one gets me...

Could he be any cuter?

Love this!! :)

Such a beautiful "real" family moment. I love that everyone is laughing and having fun. The truest and best captures are these...

Hope you enjoyed your sneak peek. Thank you for letting me capture the heart and soul moments of your life!! :)

till next time...

Updates, News, and Deadlines :)

It's that time of year again where we have to talk about deadlines. But before we go there, I"d like to take a minute to thank you all for blessing my life this year. I am so thankful to have met so many wonderful people this past year. I am also so very honored to remain in the lives on my faithful returning clients, it is so wonderful to watch your families change with time.
I truly am blessed...and I thank you all for letting me capture the heart and soul moments of your life for you!!

I also would like to add, I know I have been way behind on posting photos to the blog, I think the blog will be taking a bit of back seat for a bit ;)

So...onto the deadlines. Here are some dates to think about...

First off, if you are wanting any pieces of my hand made jewelry this year for Christmas, the deadline for ordering is Nov. 1st. I am taking very limited jewelry orders this year as I am so busy with portrait orders. So...I will only be excepting jewelry orders with your complete portrait order. I will not process any jewelry orders separately this year.

SENIORS, remember...your complimentary yearbook photo will not be ordered or released to your school without your complete paid order. Orders take 4-6 weeks to process, so make sure you order in enough time to make your school's deadline.

Christmas Print ordering deadline is Nov. 20th. That is prints only, if you have specialty items you need to allow more time or there will be rush fees involved.

I think that covers everything right now. If you have any questions feel free to drop me a line :)

And because we can't post without a picture, here's a fave of mine from a recent session. This is from the same session as the little girl pulling the wagon below. They both got to play with the teddy bear :)

till next time...

To be a child...{Michigan Child Photographer}

"If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older".
~Tom Stoppard~


till next time.

Capturing the Heart and Soul of life... {Michigan Child Photographer}

I recently shared this quote on facebook, and had plans to share it in a post on my blog as well. But life is crazy busy right now and so it took me a bit longer to get to it than planned. Our family got hit with illness again and the proofs of the little one who is featured in the slideshow hadn't even been sent off yet. But alas, we are healthy and the mom has seen the proofs...so onto blogging :)

One of my photog friends posted this quote of hers on facebook a bit ago and I fell in love with it, I asked her if I could share it and I am thankful that she let me. Thank you Nadia for sharing this quote, it is perfectly said...

"You have two choices when deciding on a photographer for your child - Do I want images of WHAT my child looks like or do I want images of WHO my child is?" ~Nadia Smith

Those of you who have been through children's session with me will "get" this quote and know that is exactly who I am ...someone who wants to give you memories of "who" your child is at this point in their life. Moments that tug at your heart and reach into your very soul. You won't find me sitting your child down and asking them to say cheese :) Your child is experiencing new things everyday, they see the world with honest eyes, and through my camera lens I want to capture that for you. It truly is the details, the little things...like how they discover, the way their eyelashes fall gently on their precious face, the curls in their hair, the way they hold a flower with their tiny hands, or the way they play with their most treasured toy...yes, I could go on and on.

I truly love working with children, they are so honest, so innocent, so full of life. I love to just sit back and watch them...observe them. If you've read the details section part of my website, you've already read this...but here is a section from it...

"I often refer to myself as "the silent observer" during sessions because that truly is how I approach them. Especially when working with children, I will stand back and let them be and click away as they discover their new surroundings. Children are at ease with this type of photography as they feel no pressure to sit and perform. And honestly it is in these moments of them just "being" that you will get the best photographs."

Yes....it’s the “heart and soul” moments of life that I strive to capture and turn into beautiful pieces of art that you will cherish forever. I am thankful to all the families who have let me be apart of their lives and capture these moments for them. I have said it before and I'll say it again...yes...I love my job :)

Here is a video of a recent session that captures just "WHO" this little one is at this point in her childhood. Yes she is full of smiles, but she is also serious and soulful. She is playful, and from her session I know she loves to chase bubbles, she loves the touch of her mommy's hair, she has the most beautiful curls in her hair, and she likes her shoes ON...LOL. She can climb a chair all by herself and she has a gentle kindness to her. What do I mean? When I was sitting to take her picture as I proceeded to get up, out stretched a little hand and from her mouth came the words up. She was reaching her hand out to help me up. All of these things are "WHO" this child is and I am thankful that I could capture "HER" for her mommy and daddy. Watch the video and you'll see. Might want to grab a tissue mom :)

Enjoy...
Remember...When viewing videos turn OFF main blog music at bottom of blog :) Also, this is a very low resolution video for blog use. I see now they are giving an option to view full screen but it's only going to distort the video and not recommended :)



Thank you for letting me apart of your life...
Hayley

Featured Video-{Michigan Child Photographer}

Recently I showed you the lovely little girls from the "B" family. There was some major image overload on that sneak peek..LOL, but could you really blame me :) Well today their proof gallery is being sent off and they also are going to be featured here on my blog. You probably have noticed that every once in awhile I pick a client that is featured at the top of my blog in one of the videos. Lately I've kept up my senior video, but it's time to start doing some features again...so this time it's the beautiful and adorable "B" girls. Their video will be at the top of my blog as a featured video for a few weeks. Just a little info on the videos. They include a collection of images from your session, not all of the images. They come in 2 formats, a low res file for things like facebook and also a high res version that you can watch on your computer, t.v., etc. They even look great on big screen t.v.'s. If you'd like more info on these DVDs, feel free to email me at hayleyjhamlin@hotmail.com.

REMEMBER -When viewing the video turn OFF main blog music at bottom of blog :) Also, this is a very low resolution video for blog use. I see now they are giving an option to view full screen but it's only going to distort the video and not recommended :)

And because I can't post without a picture, here's another fave from their session.

Find delight in the simple things...

Hope you enjoyed the featured family :) Thanks for stopping by!!

till next time...

Sneak Peek-The "D" Family {Michigan Child and Family Photographer}

I know mom is very excited to see this sneak peek and I have been excited to post it. Thank you for being so patient :) I had the pleasure of meeting up with the beautiful "D" family recently. Most of the session was for their little sweetie , "M" but we did some family pics too. Their little one is the cutest thing ever. I love this age, they are so full of discovery and are busy busy. She was full of smiles, but every so often she'd just look right at me with those big eyes, it just pierced right through me. It made for some very timeless images and with the location we had, it was perfect for my style. I was in heaven at their location, such cool stuff to work with.

Big smiles for the first one :)

This was that, "come on Hayley, chase me" glance. She was so fun.

Catch me if you can :)

Such a beautiful family, and I loved their front porch :)

This location was just perfect to create timeless pieces. And she was the perfect little model :)

Love these last 2 :)

And of course you all know me, these are my favorite kind of images. These are the images that speak volumes to me. :)

Hope you enjoyed your sneak peek!! Thank you for letting me capture these memories for your family. I really enjoyed spending the evening with you all :)

till next time...

2010 Wedding Season (Michigan Wedding Photographer)

I have been getting quite a few inquiries for the 2010 wedding season. If you are interested in having me capture your special day, you can contact me via the website or you can email me at hayleyjhamlin@hotmail.com. I take a limited amount of weddings each summer and dates are booking up fast. To see my work, you can visit the TRUE LOVE gallery on my MAIN WEBSITE.

And if you would like to hear first hand what it's like working with me, here is a wonderful letter I received from my most recent bride and groom. Honestly this letter brought tears...thanks again Jessie and Ryan, your letter meant so much!!

Hayley,

The pictures are amazing, they really captured our day and how wonderful it was! We're so happy we chose someone with the talent, heart and passion to create our memories. The wedding may be over but we'll have these photographs for the rest of our lives and for that we are very grateful. You really know how to put our love for each other on film; working with you was really our pleasure. The morning of our wedding was such a disaster with the weather, lack of power among other things, but you, through it all stayed positive and fulfilled my dream of having an outdoor wedding. You created a relationship with us that was so much more than a photographer, but someone who cared about the two of us. We felt so comfortable being ourselves around you, we never felt we had to pose for pictures and those are the best kind. We were having fun and being ourselves..."just being" :) Ryan and I just finished looking at the pictures for the first time and I can't even explain the emotion the two of us felt, we were laughing, I (not Ryan) got a little emotional at some points :) The day went by so quickly for the two of us, there were so many things that we couldn't pay attention to, but looking back at these pictures we were able to see everything else that was going on around us; people laughing, crying, smiling, cheering, all of the things we were hoping to achieve by having all of the people we love at our special day.We can't thank you enough and I can't wait to call you for our first set of baby pictures :)

Much Love, Ryan and Jessie DeHaan

The "just being" is something you will understand once you've worked with me :) I love that you guys included that :)

And it wouldn't be a post without a picture, so here is one of my faves from their wedding.

Till next time. Thanks for stopping by!!

Sneak Peek-The "B" Family {Michigan Child Photographer}

Okay...get ready for some major image overload!! Recently I had the pleasure of hanging out with these 2 little beauties. These girls are absolutely adorable and both of them have the most beautiful hair and eyes. My goodness, I could have taken pictures of them all day :) So needless to say I gave up on only posting a small sneak peek...LOL.

Look at that hair and those eyes. GORGEOUS!!

Yup, I am going to just have to show this in b&w too...even though I love it in color the b&w reaches right into the soul :)

She was so full of smiles :)

Perfect little pose...


And meet big sis, having a little playtime in her playhouse. The chalkboard had other things written on it (in case you are wondering where that is mom). It will be included and shown in the proofs, but I do not like to put names on my blog, so I cleared them off for my blog post :)

This just cracks me up. Hmmm...what should I do next :)

I caught this one when she was playing peek-a-boo with me between her 2 playhouse windows. So cute!!

More beautiful eyes!!

There was no way I was leaving with a shot of her gorgeous curls :) Okay, maybe I took a few...LOL.

I absolutely love this one, she has the cutest little "catch me if you can" grin on her face as she is walking away from me. :)

What is she putting in the carriage you ask...rocks, and lots of them :)

And the 2 little sweeties together. I love how she closed her eyes in anticipation for big sister's kiss.

Hope you enjoyed your sneak peek!! Thank you for letting me capture these special memories for your family!! If you are stopping by, feel free to leave a comment :)

Senior Sneak Peek {Michigan Senior Photographer}

Cayli got a bit of a preview of her session in the senior contest, but here is your official Sneak Peek my dear!! This loft is not a normal location for me. The mom asked to have the session done here as her best friends owns it. It was pretty cool though and the light was amazing in there. We ended up shooting a lot of Cayli's session here. Thanks again to Robin for the use of your loft!!

And one more from the loft...look at these windows. The light was gorgeous!!

Hope you enjoyed our sneak peek!! Thank you for letting me be apart of your senior year. Your gallery is almost ready. I'll be in touch soon!!

SENIOR CONTEST IS HERE!!! AND THE WINNER IS...{Michigan Senior Photographer}

I am back, thought it would be easier to update the contest in this same post :)
The votes have been counted and someone is walking away with ALL the goods!! Yes, she gets it all, the Senior Buzz Cards and the DVD!! So...who is it you ask....Click on the video to see :) BUT don't for get to turn OFF the main blog music first (located at bottom of blog)!!



Congrats!! You went right to work recruiting those votes!! I am trying not to use her name here in case someone is reading ahead without watching the video...LOL (don't want to ruin the suspense). But I wanted to mention, this senior is actually my most recent senior and has not even seen her sneak peek yet. I was going to post the DVD/video of the senior who won, but then I got to thinking...it might be nice for her to actually see her session and her sneak peek before showing her the DVD :) So...your sneak peek will be coming in the next day or so :) I'll be in touch with all the details of your prize!! Congrats again and a HUGE thank you to all the seniors who participated!! This was lots of fun!! You all are FABULOUS and I have enjoyed getting to know each and everyone of your very unique Senior Styles!! :)

Hey Seniors...I told you all there would be a cool contest coming and it's here!! Who wants to win some cool stuff?!? :) The first thing that is up for grabs are some awesome Senior Buzz Cards. These come in sets of 25 and I am giving away 2 sets. They are business card size, front and back and showcase your favorite pics from your session. They also have room to include things like your facebook, email, whatever you choose. But yes, it gets even better. The big prize, is what everyone is talking about. The rockin DVD's!! These awesome DVD's are a great way to showcase your senior session in style. They come to you in high res so you can use them for your open house, but you also get a low res file for things like facebook. So who's ready to play and win some cool stuff?!?

Below are samples of the senior buzz cards and the DVD. You will see lots of familiar faces on the buzz cards, as they are past seniors. And the lovely Miss Natalie from the Class of 2010 is my featured senior in the DVD :)

WHEN VIEWING VIDEO-REMEMBER TO TURN OFF MAIN BLOG MUSIC AT BOTTOM OF BLOG!!!

So...who wants to know how to play?!? Here's the scoop, below are the entries from the Class of 2010. These are some of the awesome seniors that I have had the pleasure of meeting this year. The senior with the most votes wins. So how do you vote you ask? It's simple...under this post there is a place to leave comments, all you have to do is leave a comment voting for the senior you want to walk away with goods. This is where YOU the seniors have to spread the word and get everyone you can think of to my blog to vote for you :) Anyone can participate, so send the link to friends, family, whoever you want!! Please do not send duplicate entries, your comments will be saved and I will NOT publish the comments until the end of voting. All duplicate entries will be deleted.

And no, you do not need to know these seniors to vote, my regular blog followers can play too ;)

At the end of the contest, the person with the most comments left in the comments section, gets 2 packs of senior buzz cards (total of 50). To make sure everyone out there is trying to win (wink wink) there is a catch to win the DVD. You must have at least 25 comments left for you. Just keeping it fair :) Prizes will be delivered once your senior photo order is complete.

Okay, that about covers it, if you have any questions...feel free to drop me an email. hayleyjhamlin@hotmail.com

Contest Begins NOW :)-Thursday September 10th and ends Wednesday Sept 16th. Winner will be announced by Friday Sept 18th!

Below are the entries, if you would like to see more of their sessions, you can scroll through the blog or simply visit the SENIOR WEBSITE. Good luck to all!! Now go start spreading the word and get voting!! :)


Also while I have you all here. I am starting to accept applications for Senior Reps for the Class of 2011. If you are interested in being a Rep for me and want some info on that, drop me a line. There are lots of perks for my reps :)

Till next time...

SENIOR NEWS, UPDATES...and an upcoming CONTEST :) {Michigan Senior Photographer}

Just a quick update to all SENIORS. I know some of you still have sessions on the books for this fall with me but many have their sessions complete at this time. A note about yearbook photos. Please keep your YEARBOOK PHOTO DEADLINE in mind when ordering. Every school is different ranging from as early as Sept to as late as Feb. If you do not know when it is, you need to find out. Also, you need to place your full order to receive your complimentary yearbook photo in time to meet your school's deadlines. Remember the turn around for orders is 3-4 weeks, so you need to make sure you leave yourself enough time to get yearbook photos in.
Just a reminder...proof galleries are only left up for 2 weeks.

Okay now onto some FUN stuff. Very soon I will be running a blog contest for the seniors. The winner will win some pretty cool stuff....So, keep checking back to the blog, because that's the only way you'll get the info on how to play :)

And it wouldn't be a post without a picture right :) Since senior season is still going strong here, here's a teaser from the latest senior I had the pleasure of meeting. The beautiful Miss "C". She has a unique style all her own...can't wait to show you more!! Also thank you to Robin for letting us use her loft for this session!! More to come soon :)

till next time....

Some exciting news...

that I wanted to share with you...
Every once in awhile things happen that are pretty exciting and you just have to share them :) A few weeks ago the photo lab I use called and told me they were getting ready to do a site upgrade and wanted to know if they could use some of my images on their home page slide show. Ummm...let me think about that for a second. I'm thinking...YES!!!!...LOL!! In all seriousness though, I can't even tell you how completely honored I am that my work is being displayed on their website. With all the work they see go through their lab on a daily basis, I am just beyond grateful and honored that they thought enough of my work to call me. A few days ago I saw the upgrade was complete and it was pretty cool to see my images on their site. I won't display all the images here that were chosen, but since it's peek senior season here, I will share 1 of them that they chose for their site. This is actually an older image of mine. She was a 2009 Grad, and this was one of my faves from her session, so much that you will recognize it as the entry image to my senior site. :)

Thanks for letting me share my excitement with you :) Hope you all are having a great weekend!! Till next time...

Senior Sneak Peek for "D" {Michigan Senior Photographer}

Yes it's another stunning senior!! I have been so lucky to meet so many awesome seniors this summer!! I had the pleasure of hanging out with the lovely Miss "D" the other day. We had a great time and I have to say my dear you are Beautiful!!. I mean really look at these pics...

Okay, so I have to mention...this would be the point when if you were passing by you would see the crazy photographer lady laying in the alleyway to get these first 2 shots. Hey...what can I say, it was worth it...isn't she stunning!!

I loved them both, color and b&w :)

Um...hello, where are these girls getting these amazing eyes? I swear!!

LOVE...

Yup...the old truck is back!! LOVE the old truck!!

Thank you "D" for letting me be apart of your senior year!! Hope you enjoyed your sneak peek!!

If you are stopping by, feel free to leave a comment, I love to hear from you :)