Attention! High School Juniors

Time for me to face the facts. I have a son who is a junior in high school and will soon enough, become a senior. Yikes! Where ever did the time go? I still can't wrap my head around the thought! lol For high school juniors, there is so much planning and whatnot that needs to be done. Time to start thinking about the future and future college plans. My son is thinking of joining the National Guard, which I think is really great! Even if he changes his mind, I will fully support whatever he decides for his future. It's also a time to start thinking about senior portraits!  It's never too early to schedule your senior portrait session. Or, for those seniors who haven't gotten their senior pictures taken yet, you still have time! 

Your senior portrait session with me will last up to two hours and during that time, you will have unlimited clothing changes. I also accommodate up to two locations in your fee, as long as they are in relative close proximity to one another. I do have my seniors (or soon-to-be-seniors) fill out a short survey prior to our session that gives me a better idea of their personality, likes and dislikes, etc. This helps me personalize your session to you!

I will be looking for two senior reps from each high school. My reps receive a discount on their session as well as a free set of rep cards to pass out to their friends. The rep cards will feature the senior as well as have my information on them. Each time one of their classmates turns in a rep card and books me for their session, the senior rep can earn free prints, albums and more! It's a win-win situation! If you are interested in becoming a senior rep for your school, contact me before your friends do! 

My high school junior...soon to be senior! 

Happy Valentine's Day

Sam and Brandon's Engagement session. Downtown Royal Oak, Michigan 

It's that special day of the year...Valentine's Day! I loved Valentine's Day as a child. I couldn't wait for my mom to take me to the store so I could pick out a box of Valentine Day cards to pass out to my classmates. What would I pick? The decision was always so hard; Care Bears? Rainbow Bright? Cute kittens? Once I finally picked out my box, I then couldn't wait to start writing out the cards. I would sit the night before, carefully writing each friends name on the card and signing my own name. The next day in school we would have a Valentines Day party which involved passing out our cards, passing out candy and sometimes, the teacher would wheel in the tv on a cart (you know the one!) and we would watch a movie or cartoon. Super fun!

As you grow older, Valentine's Day means something different. It means picking out the perfect gift for the one you love. And for some, it's the start of something really big. Big as in engagement! I recently read (and forgive, I forgot where) that 10% of couple get engaged on Valentine's Day and more than 2.2 million couples get married each year in the United States. That's a whole lotta engagements and weddings!

So if you are one of those 10% who has proposed or has been proposed to today, a huge CONGRATULATIONS to you!

To make it "official" why not get some engagement photos taken? These are a great way to announce your engagement to your friends and family (and the world!). They are also great when used with "save the date" announcements for your upcoming wedding. Contact me and we can create the perfect setting for your session. Engagement sessions are free if a retainer fee is received for your big wedding day. Otherwise, I do offer just engagement packages.

Mary & Jim's Wedding {sneak-peak}

Here we have the gorgeous bride, Mary, just before the ceremony began. Isn't she stunning?!

We had a blast taking photographs at a local fire station, both inside and out. Mary and Jim even went up in the ladder basket high above the rest of us! Incredible! 

Saturday, February 11th I was honored to be chosen to photograph Mary and Jim's wedding. What an amazing couple! Heck, the entire bridal party was amazing as well as all of the guests. I hate to be biased but this was probably my favorite wedding to date. I just had to do a couple of quick edits to share with everyone. A longer blog post, with lots more photos of course, will be coming in the future so definitely stay tuned (or just subscribe to my updates!).

If you are interested in booking me for your big day, please contact me at niki@nikicollisphotography.com. You can see all of my current pricing on my website at Niki Collis Photography under the Investment tab. I can't wait to hear from you!

Boudoir Sessions

Anytime you do something, anything, for the first time, there definitely is a part of you that is somewhat nervous. I admit, I was a teeny bit nervous just before I photographed my first two boudoir sessions over the weekend. But I seriously couldn't be happier with the results. Each of the women I photographed are absolutely gorgeous. They both had some ideas of what they wanted to do and how they wanted to pose (thanks to Pinterest! lol). I am 100% positive that their husbands are going to have HUGE smiles on their faces when they see the photographs for the first time.

Please contact me if you are interested in a boudoir session. My Valentine's Special ends on Saturday, February 4th. You can read all about the details HERE. Gift certificates are also available. I will also be offering boudoir photo parties, more details coming very soon!

The above photo is from one of my sessions (and I did request permission before posting). 

Fit-It Friday

It's Fix-It Friday over on I Heart Faces! I haven't done one of these in quite some time. I enjoy the opportunity to edit and play around with someone else's photo for a change though. Thank you to Andrea Riley Photography for allowing us to edit your photo!

You too can participate over on the I Heart Faces website!

This is the original, unedited photo by Andrea Riley Photography.

My edit (and for whatever reason, it looks more "drab" or "washed out" on my blog than it does in cs3)

For editing, I used CS3 and a combination of Florabella Actions:

• Classic Bright 83%
• Warm Color Pop 85%
• Add Some Drama 80%
• Rich Autumn 60%

I then cropped the image and rotated it :)

Feel free to comment AND join in on the fun! A new Fix-It Friday is posted every...you guessed it! Friday!

Boudoir

Attention ladies! Stumped on what to give your significant other for Valentine's Day? Why not give him/her a gift that will keep their heart racing for years to come? Your (strictly confidential) boudoir session will most definitely give him/her something to smile about!

Sessions take place in the comfort of your own home and will last at least an hour, maximum two. With your paid session, you will receive a disk with all edited images as well as a keepsake mini accordion book, perfect for gift-giving!

Unsure of what to wear? Some suggestions are lingerie, corsets, teddies, nightgowns, fishnet stockings, high heels/boots, a button down shirt, boy shorts, and dresses. It's all up to YOU and your comfort level! You may be a little nervous at first for your session but you should never be uncomfortable.

This special Valentine's deal ends on February 4th.

Not quite ready for a boudoir session but want to hold on to the super-savings price? Gift certificates are available for purchase and must be redeemed within six months. Gift certificates are also great for the fellas to give to their significant other, as bachelorette/bridal shower gifts, and as a gift to your solider stationed overseas!

If you have any questions or to set up your session, please contact me :)

What to wear?

Often I have clients who ask me for suggestions on what they should wear for their photo sessions. The possibilities are pretty endless. My suggestion for children is to make sure they are comfortable. If a child is uncomfortable in a certain article of clothing, chances are they will get antsy and are less likely to sit still and won't be too enthused about getting photographs taken. Now that I just wrote that, I believe that it can go for any one of any age! If you don't feel comfortable, you won't look comfortable. I want your session to be comfortable for everyone from the time we start until the very end. I do stress that character clothing and huge logos on clothing can be distracting. You don't want to take away from your smiling faces :)

The amazingly talented Corina Nielsen has compiled a few clothing suggestions for January sessions and has graciously allowed photographers to use these images she came up with. Thank you Corina! I think my favorite out of the three is the second one, but they are all pretty great! I love the reds in the first set and love the darker cooler hues in the second and third sets.

So if you are having difficulty deciding what to wear for your upcoming session, check out the following ideas and go from there. Hopefully these ideas will give you some inspiration :)