My New Year Wish

~ Is for all to be compassionate citizens, to live in harmony with whatever…..

{enjoy} Baby Emmitt {photos and post by paige}

Emmett is such a happy baby, and it was so sweet to see him with his parents. They were all smiles playing with their sweet little boy. I am certain Emmitt had a wonderful first Christmas with his family! {enjoy}

Me & Repeat

Name: John Anthony Craig Jr.

Born: May 19, 1969

Occupation: Photographer

High light of this year: Published in two books, couple of magazines and had short story published.

Low light of the year: Forcing my ego to commit suicide, now I feel guilty....

Influences: Picasso, Bach, Ken Wilber, Gary Snyder

Hobby: Yoga

Strengths: I can do push-up, lots of them

Weakness: My wife’s smile

Height: 5’9

Weight: 158 lbs

Hair: Dark brown

Eyes: Hazel

Religious Views: Integral Spirituality

Addiction of choice: Coffee…no, no it’s red wine…no, no it’s scotch

2009 :: A look back

I'm sooo excited for this new year... before the clock strikes 12:00 I want to recap the wonderful adventures of 2009...

An Ardent Photography Photobooth

2009 was a terrific year for Ardent Photography... I started out the year shooting a wedding with Rachel of www.mergeweddings.com in Key West Florida. I flew to the island in a ridiculously small 8-seater airplane - in the co-pilot seat! I knew from that moment it was going to be a fantastic year!

In March I returned for my second straight year at the WPPI conference in Las Vegas, NV. I had a blast rooming with Molly Michel of m three studio and participating in classes and shootouts all week long. I bought my first "real" purse and necklace at Tiffany's... thank Molly for introducing me to nice things.


That Easter Andy and I took off to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for some along adult time. It was so very relaxing to have nothing to do besides sit and soak up the sun.

Shortly after our trip to Mexico I was hired to shoot my first destination wedding in the Dominican Republic. I brought along friend and photographer Miranda Zynda-Kneeland of Reminisce Photography to be my second shooter. It was a true honor and privilege to photograph Robin and Justin's wedding in Punta Cana.

My busy wedding schedule only allowed me to take a limited number of High School Seniors. This year I shot 10 sessions and had a blast photographing seniors from Xavier, Appleton East, North and West as well as a senior from Winneconne High Schools.

The summer's weddings brought lots of joyful moments in couples lives - and I loved shooting at many new locations. I especially loved shooting for Tracy and Tim in Pembine at the Four Season Resort and in Door County for Kirsten and Andrew at the family's private residence. Thank you to all of my wedding couples for making 2009 such a fantastic season!!!


The most joyful news of the summer had to be finding out I was pregnant with our second child - a GIRL!!! Drew will finally be a big brother - our due date is March 1, 2010. He wants to name her "Cook"... it's actually quite cute, we are calling her that for now... but we do have several cute girl names on our list!

In other business 2009 news... Unveiled Portraits - my boutique boudoir photography venture has been such a dream come true. I've shot more than 75 boudoir sessions total and in the month of October I raised $900 for my first ever Boudoir for Breast Cancer fund raiser with the help of matching funds from Invitation Consultants.

I was also featured in Wisconsin Bride Magazine as an expert in boudoir photography. I am beyond excited to continue photographing boudoir session in 2010 and continue to make Unveiled Portraits the best boudoir photography studio in the state of Wisconsin. Thank you to all of my wonderful ladies!!! Here's to a new year of loving your sexy-self just the way you are!!!

This year was also a great year for my family. We took our very first family vacation in December to Disney World. Seeing Disney through the eyes of a 3 year old was definitely magical.

Drew had the most fun on the Triceratops ride at Animal Kingdom and getting his face painted up like a dragon. For Andy and I, our favorite part of the trip was getting selected to see the fireworks show as VIP's at Epcot. We were the only people in the entire park that got to sit alongside the people who designed the show and just yards away from where the fireworks are shot off.

To help make way for lil' sister "Cook" Drew said goodbye to his toddler bed and hello to a big boy bed. He is doing great in the bed and hasn't fallen out yet... He also was bumped up in his swimming class at Swimtastic Swim School. He can swim all independently for 3 feet, he is also jumping into the pool and swims to the side - all by himself!

Andy caught the biggest fish at my brother Nic's bachelor party in Pickerel Lake, WI - the thing was a HUGE 42" and very very tasty ;-) He has also been very busy playing in his softball and pool leagues. We are very fortunate his company has been so successful this year and are looking forward to what the future holds. We are both so lucky to have careers we love and a family that we adore!


Have a very happy and prosperous 2010!!!!

xoxo Amy

Photo of the Week

Camera: D700
Aperture: F/ 7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/100
ISO Speed: 400
Focal Length: 50mm

Photographer’s Blog Class ~ All January 2010

You will learn:
Are you struggling with:
~ Finding business
~ Finding time to market/brand/ advertise
~ Finding time to shoot

Due to scheduling conflicts & previous one-on-one sessions I have decided to cancel the Purposeful Blogging Workshop and instead will be doing small group classes (4 people or less) or one-on-one sessions.

Prices will stay the same $55.00 for the class (be it small group or one-on-one) you choose.

Why the change? Privacy ~ Over the past year of doing the one-on-one session it has been beneficial to the photographer to be able to ask business questions that publicly they would not be comfortable sharing.

Location: 502 W. North Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Cost: $55. 00
Length of class: 3 hours, give or take
Contact: Elizabeth Craig at 724.355.9079 or by email at craigphotography@mac.com

Meet The Family

Photo Taken by Annie O'Neill

Question

~ What is the “It Quality ” that creates separations between you and other photographers in your market?

~ What has changed in the photography market in the last year?

{enjoy}

I took this photo on my iphone when I was antiquing with my husband. I like how it turned out. {enjoy}

{enjoy} Baby Charlie {photos and post by paige}

Baby Charlie and his parents were so much fun to work with. They had such a warm and friendly home and they were glowing with their new baby boy! How cute is that full head of hair? I love it. Thanks for a great shoot... we are looking forward to seeing Charlie grow!

Quick Thoughts

~ Left over Indian food is good for breakfast
~ Martin Sexton album "Seeds" is groovy...
~ For God-sake use a tripod people.
~ Why are insurance company stocks raising if reform is on its way?
~ We are out of coffee, just a quick thought.
~ I think my wife may be funnier person than I am.
~ Also I think my wife may have better taste in music then I do?
~ The UPS truck stops at our house nine times a day. Should I get the driver a Christmas present?

Photo of the Week

Camera: Nikon D700
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/1.6
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 200

County Chronicles, There's No Place Like Home

You can check out some of my night photography photos that were just published in a book written by Ceane O'Hanlon-Lincoln "County Chronicles, There's No Place Like Home".

You can pre-order the book (here)

Class of 2010

I have been a bad blogger over the last month or so! But I've been a very good photographer and order-filler!!! Boy am I busy this time of year.

I recently prepared Beth's images and really wanted to share them all with you. I had a blast photographing all the high school seniors from Xavier, Appleton East/West/North and Winneconne last summer.

Here are just a few of my favorites from Beth's session...







To see more from Beth's session and more of my 2010 Fox Cities High School Senior Pictures become a fan of Ardent Photography on Facebook!

{enjoy} The Starita Girls

I loved the Starita family. Their kids and my kids have been friends for years, and this is the first time I have had the privilege of photographing them at their beautiful log home. My favorites are their fun leg wear! I hope you enjoy these three little girls as much as I do!

{enjoy} The Orth Boys

Instead of shopping on Black Friday, I had the privilege of spending time with these two energetic boys. I had fun watching them play hockey and playing with their dog Cooper. {enjoy}