2 months to be exact.

Wow.

So I’m dusting things off & getting things started again.

During the buys season it gets quite difficult to keep up with workflow & posting sneak peeks on Facebook, so often the BLOG takes a back seat.

My goal for 2012 is for that to change, to be a better blogger.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be catching up on some BLOG posts both portrait & wedding, stay tuned.

Also wanted to let you know over the next couple weeks/months I’m excited to roll out Natale Photography’s brand new website & BLOG that I’m hard at work with right now.

For the most up to date images in my portfolio please swing by Facebook or shoot me an email, I’d be happy to email you a current slideshow!

In the meantime watch for some new BLOG posts coming out this week, one today in fact.

We are into full swing Wedding booking season for both 2012-2013.  We are a little over half booked for 2012 & anticipating that we’ll be fully booked by the start of Wedding Season in May.  If you are still looking for a photographer call the studio to set up your personal Bridal Consultation.

Speaking of Weddings, here is a small iPhone pic of my booth this past weekend @ the EngagedMilwaukee Bridal Show

]]> http://natalephotography.com/blog/2012/01/dusting-off-for-2012-janesville-wisconsin-portrait-wedding-photographer/feed/ 0 http://natalephotography.com/blog/2011/05/oh-the-places-youll-go-janesville-wisconsin-boutique-portrait-photographer/ http://natalephotography.com/blog/2011/05/oh-the-places-youll-go-janesville-wisconsin-boutique-portrait-photographer/#comments Tue, 31 May 2011 18:13:29 +0000 Stephanie Natale http://natalephotography.com/blog/?p=3068 Oh, the places You’ll Go!

By : Dr. Suess

“You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own.  And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”

This book was given to me almost 15 years ago this month, from my parents when I graduated from high school & I am quite sure that I will be giving it to my children when they graduate from high school in the coming years.

This time of year tends to stir up many emotions as it is the time we as parents are ending a time of our children’s lives & looking on to the next chapter.

Whether it is the first year of PreSchool, Kindergarten, Jr. High, High School or maybe even College.

I made the decision recently, that I was going to start a tradition in our family, one that we’ll look back on when my children graduate from high school & go off to college. Hopefully something that they will both cherish forever.

I wrote both of them a letter, from my heart, about where we are at right now as a family & where they are at in their life.

I spoke about their favorite things to play with, their favorite movies, their best friends, what they said they wanted to be when “they grew up”.

My wishes for them as their mommy, our inside jokes & our favorite books.

I plan on continuing this every year & assembling the letters in a binder, to be read by them when the time comes.

As a photographer, I know that taking pictures of those moments are so important but I wanted to document in words as well.

So that they can see in pictures & hear in the stories what it was like when they were this age.

A few snipits from their letters

Gabriel’s Letter, Kindergarten Year, 2010-2011

Lucy’s letter, Pre-School, 2010-20011

{this dress is three generations old.  it was worn by my mother in the late 1950s, worn by me in the early 1980s & now Lucy wore it}

I hope you enjoyed this post, a little personal I know but I hope it inspires a handful of you to do this for your children.  Take the time, take the quiet time to sit down, document these moments, these crazy crazy moments.  Both in pictures & in words because although it seems like you will have years with them, before you know it they will be walking across that stage, getting their diploma.

As a mother, I know that I’ll never be able to say it enough, show it enough or write it down enough.

I love them to the moon & back, & back again.

“The Days are Long, the Years are Short”

“You’ll get mixed up, of course,

as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So…
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea,
you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!”

If you are, hopefully you’ll be cheering for the correct team : the Green Bay Packers.

If you would like a chance to win a studio credit for $45 {45 in honor of the 45th super bowl} head on over to my facebook page to enter

Natale Photography on Facebook

As a heads up, if you aren’t a “fan” of the page, you’ll have to “like” it first prior to commenting.

In order to win you must comment with your guess of the FINAL POINTS SCORE.

So an example answer would be this :

Packers 28 Steelers 14 = Total Points 42

It’s OK if more than one person has the same guess, I’ll offer a trivia question as a tie breaker.

Enjoy the little story board I put together for random Green Bay Packer things.

GO PACKERS!

Girl after my own heart.

xoxo LuLu

Pretty sweet.

The truth is that things have been so crazy busy since early fall (thank-you to my amazing clients) & there hasn’t been a lot of extra time to dedicate to my BLOG. I know, I know it doesn’t take long to put some thoughts together along with a few session favorites. But every time I would stop to think of how I wanted to ‘start’ my new BLOG, which title to use, which session and/or wedding to start with, I would get completely overwhelmed.

Call it ADD, call it being a woman, or perhaps call it just plain old over-thinking, but either way I never came up with what I thought was the ‘perfect beginning’.

So here we are in 2010 & I just decided to forgo the “perfect beginning”. Hence the not so clever title: “Insert Title Here”. I wasn’t going to think anymore about the title, images, sessions & text. I was just going to let the words flow from my mouth to the BLOG & have a starting point.

While we’re on that topic of words, I felt that it was imperative to state in my opening BLOG post a few things about my skills as a writer or lack thereof:

Facts:
*I will misspell words, for sure
*I like to abbrev, so get used to that
*I also tend to write as I would speak & therefore my grammar is less than steller, period.
*I love using random words, saying random things & sometimes I may just not make perfect sense

So if you are still with me (& most likely you aren’t an English Prof) I hope you enjoy this BLOG . I have some exciting weekly posts, contests & giveaways that I’m excited to roll out in the next few weeks & months.

In the meantime over the next few days I’m going to be posting some of my favorite images of sessions I’ve had over the last few months as well as some interesting things happening with Natale Photography.

For those of you who don’t know a lot about me, I’ll leave you with a few pieces of random information about myself & a few images of my two amazing children who give me so much of the motivation & inspiration to do what I love to do, everyday.

Randomness:
*Despite being called Natalie @ least 2-3 times a week, my name IS Stephanie
*My last name means “Christmas” in Italian (Buon Natale – Merry Christmas)
*My birthday is on Halloween, no that is not a joke.
*McDonalds coffee IS better than Starbucks (& cheaper, duh)
*If you would have asked me 15 years ago what I was going to
be when “I grow up” I would have said a Lawyer, hmmf not a Photographer.
Funny how life just seems to slap you in the face with a Kodak Brownie
*I love the smell of a brand new Cabbage Patch Doll (fresh out of the package)

Happy Valentine’s Day Weekend & stay tuned…

{stephanie}

gabe & lucy

gabe {5 years old}

lucy {2 1/2}

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