Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Date at the ice cream shop...

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Seriously is this not the funnest photo ever?!  Yes I know funnest is not a word but I have my own dictionary rules I follow didn't ya know?!  Anyway, on to the photo shall we.  This was one of the best sessions ever, honestly!!  Just look at the colors (if blogger would work properly that is).  Not to mention how sweet hubby is looking at his wife.  If that isn't love I don't know what is.  There are tons more I could share but I'll wait until the family has a chance to take a look first.

Hope you're all having a FAB summer!!
Angela

Thursday, June 2, 2011

*Warning Proud Momma post here*

After a slow start to the season Logan's baseball team The Hooks won their first game last night.  There was much rejoicing and celebrating afterwards.

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Look at his batting stance...tough as nails :)


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Knocking it out of the park...

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Let's go...


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Hooks!!!!!


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Good game Express!


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LET'S GO HOOKS!!!

Let's do it again tonight!!

Lucky you-2 posts from me in 1 week :)
Angela


Sunday, May 29, 2011

Sweet Baby Avila and setting the record straight...

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I figure I have to start with a photo so I can get you hooked right away.  I know I'm a delinquent blogger and honestly I do feel bad about it.  The problem is that I am like a little hummingbird flapping my wings a million miles an hour and rarely slow down to take a break.  Maybe in the next life I will be better at time management and relaxation :)

On to the good stuff...The photo above is sweet baby Avila.  Isn't she just gorgeous?!  I mean look at those lips, kill me now would 'ya!

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I swear to you blogger hates me!  No matter what I do or how I load my pics the color is ALWAYS off.  I guess I'm a little picky about certain things and when you're a professional photographer color is definitely something to be picky about.  Anyway, this sweet little girl wasn't all dreamy and angelic the whole time.  She certainly made me work for what I got.  But you'd better believe I stuck it out and we have some beautiful memories for her fabulous family!!

Now to setting the record straight.  I promise I'm not going off on some political tangent or anything crazy like that. I just want to start off by thanking my loyal clients.  I love each and every one of you more than you will ever know.  Photography is my passion and capturing your beautiful moments and memories brings me so much joy.  I am a perfectionist and I strive to provide you all with an unforgettable experience.  Am I the biggest name photographer out there?  No way and honestly I don't want to be either.  I want to know each of my clients personally and connect with them in a way that huge studios with multiple employees and large overhead will never do.  I want you to look back on your session and smile, maybe remembering a funny joke we shared or a quiet "in between" moment I captured.  One of my very favorite quotes says: "Life stands still in moments that look suspiciously like ordinary life."  It sums up my business goals perfectly.  To capture the amazing adventure that is ordinary live and preserve it forever.

With all that being said I feel like I need to address a couple of things.  I do have a family and a husband who works out of town.  Just like your family is your #1 priority to you, my family is my #1 priority to me.  I certain work hours that I have set up to accommodate you as well as my family needs.  There will always be special circumstances that require special handling and I will always do my best to make it work.  I have no plans in the foreseeable future to bring on anyone else to lighten the load.  I enjoy the process of working on every aspect of your session and seeing it through to the end.  I do not outsource anything other than the professional printing and framing (photos, books, collages, custom framing etc.)  Everything else is handled by yours truly.  That is the reason it takes approximately 2 weeks to edit the photos from your session.  I am looking at each and every photo then editing the best of the bunch and custom designing all the special add ons you always see.  The collages I create are 100% my original design.  Same goes for the albums and wall galleries.  A piece of my heart and soul goes into every photo that you see from me. 

The other part of all this is that it is my business and I do need to make a living.  Just like I am not the biggest photographer out there I am also not the cheapest.  I have certain costs associated with running a business and as much as I love what I do I still need to make money.  When I am working I am taking time away from my family and therefore need to be compensated for doing so.  Your time is valuable and so is mine.  I have always promised never to take advantage of anyone and I vow to continue with that same guarantee.  My prices will never be on par with the Target and Wal-Marts out there.  My services are not the same so why should my prices be?  I will also never be the most expensive professional photographer out there.  I am very frugal with our family budget just like you are.  I promise to continue to make beautiful professional photography with a touch of spunk very affordable for the average family. 

The last piece of this "novel" has to do with social media.  I understand the desire to stay connected 24/7.  However I will go back to the part about my family being my priority. If I am online on Facebook or even blogging every single day I am not connecting with my family and they are missing out.  I am more than happy to post your photos on Facebook or here on my blog for you to share with your friends and family.  However I request that you respect that I am a professional and these images are copyright protected.  Please do not remove my name or logo or use them them without my permission.  If you want me to post 15 photos online-great!  Just ask and I will gladly oblige once you have placed your order.  I do occasionally post a "sneak peak" but the bulk of the photos will not be posted until after your order.  I do not check Facebook or this blog everyday.  In fact I don't really even check them every week unless someone has asked me to.  I will not ever have a million "friends" or "likes" or "followers".  That is just not me or how I want to run my business.  I would much rather be a real friend and trusted photographer with a handful of fabulous clients that I connected with personally and who come back year after year.  At the end of the day we only get one life.  I choose to spend it doing what I love with the people I love the most.  Thank you again for your continued support.   I truly feel that my life is blessed because of all of you.

sincerely,
Angela Lilyquist

Monday, April 25, 2011

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

That is my motto right now.  I know, I know I'm a really bad blogger and I'm always promising to do better but rarely following through.  I also know that you don't want to hear my sob story about my crazy life.  So with that in mind I thought maybe I'd share a few things we've been doing lately an maybe a photo or two.  Since that's why you're here after all :)

So what have we been up to lately?  Well my little guy turned 7 recently and started playing on a machine pitch baseball team.  No more t-ball for him, it's the big time now :)  Too bad his 1st real game was canceled due to the CRAZY weather!

My almost 10 year old is dancing up a storm.  She will be performing an extra part in recital this year so that will be her regular part performed twice, the extra part and a separate jazz dance/recital.  She absolutely loves it and it is such a joy to watch her succeed!

My hubby is hanging out is Fresno CA when he's not flying all over the place.  Fresno is his home base for right now so we only see him about 24 hours every 7 days.  Lucky for us he does have some time off soon and we plan to soak it all up!

What am I up to you ask?  Well the usual...spending a lot of time at the gym, cooking, cleaning and working, working, and more working.  Honestly I don't really know how to sit down and do nothing.  I just don't think I have it in me.  Lucky for you folks that means more photos right?!

Well here's a few recent shots that I love...
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I mean just look at her!  Isn't she the sweetest?  And that thumb in her mouth-LOVE IT!!


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If you've been hanging out around here for awhile then you know I love me some squishy baby cheeks.  Especially the kind that go home at night and keep their own mamma's awake :)

Now that I've written a small novel I'd better wrap it up.
Until the next time I'm feeling long winded...
Angela

Monday, April 11, 2011

I'm back to the grindstone...

I never really left but haven't had much time to blog lately.  I've been working overtime and the darn weather just doesn't want to cooperate :(  I was able to take a couple days off to hang with the kiddos during Spring Break but man am I paying for it now.

Here is a sneak peak for Josh a Layton High School class of 2011 senior.
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Blogger messes up the colors and doesn't do this photo justice but if you head to facebook you can get a better idea.  Either way the ladies better watch out :)

Speaking of senior photos...it's not too late.  With graduation the beginning of June realistically we can still shoot during the entire month of April and have everything back in time.  With that being said I have very few appointments available so call or email asap to reserve your time.

That's all for now...
Angela

Monday, March 28, 2011

Sweet Baby Sophie...

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Well folks I know it's been a little while but isn't this sweet photo worth the wait?!  This is Sweet Baby Sophie as we like to call her.  She is our newest little niece and to say that she's captured Savanna's heart would be a HUGE understatement.  She is absolutely smitten!  This angelic photo was quite the ordeal but well worth it in the end don't ya think?!  I shared it on Facebook last week but forgot to post it here-so sorry!  Anyway I'm working on the rest of the album and hope to wrap it up soon and share some more photos here and on Facebook.

thanks for stopping by!
Angela