A New Year Coming...

Each year in the photography business we’ve seen cycles of typical shoots. We were thrilled to be inundated with model shoots, then weddings and then babies.  

Now we’re seeing a real rise in artistic representation for real estate and photo coverage of 25th and 50th wedding anniversaries.  Maybe this is symbolic of life? The next generation goes on to be married, have children, purchase investments and celebrate a lifetime of happiness together…

I don’t know. But I do think it opens an optimistic eye to a brighter future.

We’ve all been struggling for the past few years within this economy but things are going to get better. I like how friends and family are pulling together and helping each other out. I like how we are building tighter bonds with one another – whether through Facebook or face-to-face. I see great things in all our futures. I’m very glad to know those of you who are taking the time to read this. I hope that your holidays are filled with love and laughter and the New Year brings everything you hope for.

Thank you from Penny Palmer Photography

Travel Tips

We’re very fortunate to be able to do a lot of traveling and know many people that enjoy the same thing. We’ve learned a few tips to help make you money and lower your stress level during your travels.

1.     With most airlines charging per checked bag and penalties of up to $50 for overweight bags, it becomes all the more necessary to pack efficiently. With our camera/computer equipment weighing in at approx 65 pounds, we’ve learned a few tricks along the way.  The airlines allow you to bring on 1 personal item, 1 overhead bin suitcase without a charge – if you don’t need both of those headed into your trip, pack a collapsible bag in your checked luggage in case your original suitcase becomes overweight. You can quickly remove some of your heavier items into the unused carry-on and away you go. Potential to earn: $50.

2.     A second way to earn money while you travel is by booking an earlier flight near holiday travel times. This gives you the opportunity to be bumped to the next later flight and still reach your destination at the originally desired time. Often during the holiday seasons the airlines will overbook their flights. Being the first to volunteer to be bumped to the next flight rewards you greatly. The standard payment for bumping a traveler is a roundtrip ticket anywhere that airline flies, good for up to a year after your travel and sometimes cash as well. This can mean hundreds of dollars in your pocket for a few extra hours of your time.  Potential to earn: $100-500.

3.     If you end up missing your flight and see there’s just barely time to catch another flight,  go straight to that departure gate instead of going to the ticket counter – most airlines will honor the ticket from the missed flight.

4.     Airlines usually update their computers at midnight. Checking available fares just after midnight is the best time to find the lowest priced seats that open up from previous travelers that had booked but not paid for those seats.

5.     Using a hotel safe – and keeping your money/valuables safe. It is becoming more and more common for hotel staff to dust the numbers of the in-room safes with a light coating of oil or powder on the buttons. When you key in your code, only the numbers you’ve selected will be residue-free. This makes it easy for staff to come in behind you and determine the numbers you’ve selected. By touching all the keys after locking your safe, it then becomes impossible for anyone to determine which keys were actually used in your secret combination.

We enjoy traveling and hope that you do too. If you have any tips to share, we’d love to learn about them.

Boy Meets Girl

Girl and Boy Fall in Love...

Girl and Boy raise happy puppies...

Boy is amazed with the Girl who will love Him forever...

Girl realizes Boy is all she can hope for...

Boy shows Girl how much fun He can be...

Girl shows Boy how Beautiful She is...

Boy and Girl step into the world as Mr. and Mrs. Painter, July 2011

Summer's Heating up so POSTERize IT!

This summer we'll be turning up the much needed heat in Seattle and offering fun mini sessions that will cost you no more than a moderately priced evening out!

Book your August Special now - $99 Poster Art!
Make it a date - Grab your family, friends or pets and come in for a photo session to create a 20" x 30" wall poster for your home or office. Coordinate color scheme and sets ahead of time to coordinate your poster art with the room you're going to hang it in! Dress up in character and make it fun for the kids, romantic for that softlit bedroom wall or we can even cartoon the image in post processing to create a fantastic bachelor pad look!

Check it out and email us today!

Khione Christine Russell

This is Khione with her Mom and Dad, Katie and Sonny!  Thank You for allowing us to be your family photographers.

animoto_360p.mp4 Watch on Posterous

Using Facebook, Photographers do good…

Many of you might have seen the picture we posted last week on Facebook of a fantastic terrier/corgi mix that is currently being fostered and looking for a home. His current provider took him in, trained him and has been loving him ever since. If you know of a good home for him, please contact us…

Meet BUSTER

More to the point is the idea that many of us try to make a difference in our communities. The Facebook community has grown leaps and bounds and as such, is now a marketplace to meet new people, stay in touch with old friends, or even help little strays such as Buster.

Last February Ginger Monteleone, a real estate photographer in Miami, took in a single stray named Cali and ended up a stray advocate photographer for a lot of other pups as well!  She used Facebook to connect with many other advocates. Kudos to all the photographers out there trying to make a difference! Check out Ginger’s article here:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/11/2062509/photographer-helps-homeless-dogs.html

As many of you know Penny Palmer Photography does a lot of volunteer work with Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep,  http://www.NILMDTS.org

We also like to go down to the Seattle Waterfront and feed the homeless in exchange for their time modeling for us and sharing their stories. If you’d like to go with us, please email us. It’s a win-win day for everyone!

We appreciate the opportunity to be involved in our community and welcome your suggestions and inquiries.

Sandy PUc's 2011 Creative Edge Kids Contest

Hey Everyone,

I just entered Sandy Puc's 2011 Creative Edge Kids Contest and I need your help to win! (What else are friends for than to help win popularity contests?)

A ton of really awesome prizes are on the line, including a FREE SmugMug Pro account and a 16x20 print from Bay Photo. To help me win, visit contest.sandypuc.com and find my image under Seattle, Penny Palmer). 

To vote, simply make a comment under my image. The image with the most comments wins. Only one comment per person will count, so please, spend your time spreading the word instead of making multiple comments!

Thanks for all your help. You're the best!

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Foote

We’d like to extend our congratulations to the recently wed Mr. and Mrs. Bill and Deana Foote!

We had the pleasure of shooting their amazing day for them a couple weeks ago. Their wedding took place in Seattle at a quaint little spot with a rustic theme. The family and friends participating in the wedding included the most noble of all ring bearers we’ve ever photographed – their Weinheimer pup, Ash.

Their colors were a beautiful royal blue and yellow and really made the wedding pop! They were fortunate to have their union blessed by their family friend. The excitement didn’t stop there.

 

The wedding party was gathered at the edge of the lake for family photos to commemorate this wonderful day. Penny actually rolled up her pants and climbed in to get the exact images she was hoping to capture for them! The traditional shots were taken along with some… not-so-traditional poses. We really enjoyed the playfulness and excitement of everyone in attendance!

That afternoon we returned to their reception in Northgate and brought along a fully edited DVD slideshow many of their wedding pictures set to music for them to project during dinner. Their reception was one of the best we’ve worked at – organized and filled to the max with laughter, well-wishers, and children with amazing dance skills! The food was out of this world, catered by one of their closest friends!

What an all-round beautiful day and wonderful start for a most amazing couple. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your celebration!

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Foote

We’d like to extend our congratulations to the recently wed Mr. and Mrs. Bill and Deana Foote!

We had the pleasure of shooting their amazing day for them a couple weeks ago. Their wedding took place in Seattle at a quaint little spot with a rustic theme. The family and friends participating in the wedding included the most noble of all ring bearers we’ve ever photographed – their Weinreimer pup, Ash.

Their colors were a beautiful royal blue and yellow and really made the wedding pop! They were fortunate to have their union blessed by their family friend. The excitement didn’t stop there.

The wedding party was gathered at the edge of the lake for family photos to commemorate this wonderful day. Penny actually rolled up her pants and climbed in to get the exact images she was hoping to capture for them! The traditional shots were taken along with some… not-so-traditional poses. We really enjoyed the playfulness and excitement of everyone in attendance!

That afternoon we returned to their reception in Northgate and brought along a fully edited DVD slideshow with many of their wedding pictures set to music for them to project during dinner. Their reception was one of the best we’ve worked at – organized and filled to the max with laughter, well-wishers, and children with amazing dance skills! The food was out of this world, catered by one of their closest friends!

What an all-round beautiful day and wonderful start for a most amazing couple. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your celebration!

A Few New iPhone Photos...

See the full gallery on Posterous

Life is short...
Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably... And never regret anything that made you smile.

Photography Tips for Kids!

Photography has become an inexpensive and fantastic outlet to heighten the creativity in our children. Without the cost of film and developing, our children can take hundreds of pictures to capture what they find important to them. It’s an excellent way for them to express themselves! When you download their pictures, you can go through them together and learn what excites them and get a new insight into how their minds work.

We took our daughter and her friend on a photo scavenger hunt and let them take pictures of different items. One of the goals was a $1 prize for getting a picture of a plane in the air. This encouraged them to concentrate on getting the plane in the frame, adjust accordingly, focus, and keep trying. They had a blast and the cost of this creative outing? Minimal!

With the availability of inexpensive point-and-shoot digital cameras, you no longer need to worry about your youngster dropping or mishandling your own camera. Check out this deal on Amazon - $7 for a kids’ digital camera… You can’t beat the benefit for the cost. (We are Canon Equipment users and are not endorsing this Amazon brand, but even if it only works a few times, you can’t beat the price!):

http://www.amazon.com/Argus-Digital-Camera-Pink-Aaas/dp/B000LRRZLY/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1303278583&sr=1-1

There a many really good websites with tips specifically for children. Check out this article with some real basic concepts:

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/13-lessons-to-teach-your-child-about-digital-photography

We hope that you will find the same joy in experiencing photography with your children as we do with ours! If you’re in the Seattle area, feel free to email us to join us on our next children’s photo excursion!

See the full gallery on Posterous

Waves of Life

We are so much like waves in a countless number of ways. Not just in strength, determination & consistency. We embrace and at the same time recoil. We reach out to the white sand and retract as we get there. We know what we want but hesitate along the way.

Have you ever observed a child growing up? They feel safe and begin to explore. They go further until the vulnerability sets in then they return to the safety of their home. Like waves in a rising tide, a little further each time. Stretch. Reach. Achieve. Regroup.

Adults are the same. Some adults choose to live like a tide pool, reaching a bit, then swirling aimlessly without stretching themselves any further. Others are like a tsunami, stretching too far, too hard, too fast causing devastation in their wake.

Life is a beautiful harmony of wavelike motions. Caress the sand, take calculated risks. Don't take your goals by storm then fizzle out to nothing after something gets in your way. Don't destroy those bridges that have gotten you this far! Set goals and reach for them. Regroup. Try again. Stretch.

Fears, insecurities, excuses all hold us back from reaching our goals, dreams & potential. Admit your fear and your dream. Glide up onto the beach. Focus on your dream. Regroup when you go astray. Try again. Over and over, flowing closer to your goal. Up onto the beach further and further toward your goal each time.

Take the opportunities afforded to you and carve your path. Build your own castle grain by grain. Don't give up. Be the waves- relentless and strong! Stretch, reach, achieve, regroup.

Instagram, An iPhone App. I Love...

I love my iPhone and all the applications there are to choose from, so I thought I'd feature some of my photos taken with the various photo apps. that I have. I know that we are 55 days into the year and I'm slacking on my 365 project, so along with featured photo apps, I'm going to try and get caught up!

These are from Instagram, a quick and easy app that is great for a fast upload to your favorite social networking site...

See the full gallery on posterous

Life is short...
Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably... And never regret anything that made you smile.

A Couple of Pics...

Here are 3 more pics from our stay on the Washington Coast last weekend... again, these are all from my iPhone 4 using the Camera + app from tap,tap,tap!! I love this app :)

See the full gallery on posterous