Did you know that Christmas is only 37 days away? I am a chronic procrastinator, but I have committed myself this holiday season to not procrastinate! I already have the kids’ stocking stuffer gifts, our family photo session has already been done, and my house is on it’s way to being organized and clean for friends and family to come over during the holidays. Whoo hoo for me! :)

On the other hand, I’ve been getting quite a few session inquiries for the holidays, and I wanted to let you know that I only have 4 dates available until my holiday session cut off date.  I have also added a great Digital Collection to my prices just for the holidays! Contact me for a full price list and for my available dates. I will be taking the last two weeks of December and the first week of January off (except for already scheduled sessions!)

Aren’t these Christmas cards so cute!? They are so much fun and so very different, which I happen to love. This is a small sampling of the cards I am offering right now, or I am also extending the offer to upload your chosen photo to tinyprints.com so you can create and send out your Christmas cards yourself. This offer is open to all 2011 clients, just contact me for info.

When I first became interested in photography, I scoured the internet looking for photographers who’s photos I was drawn to. I quickly found Amanda Keeys, she was a young mom (like me!) with an amazing eye for children’s photography. Her photos weren’t like anyone elses’ though, they were soulful, dark and a bit mysterious. They were edgy and absolutely breathtaking. I am still in love with her photography today as I was 4 years ago. She is now a mom of 5 children with #6 on the way! I don’t know how she does it all!

Her Photoshop actions were some of the very first that I ever bought, and I can honestly say I am still using them to this day. 99.9% of the black & whites that you see on my blog or website have been processed with her black & white actions. One action in particular, I can run all the way through with no tweaks and I love it.

So I contacted Amanda quite awhile ago asking if she would allow me to host a giveaway of her actions on my blog. I get the most inquiries about my black & whites and how I accomplish “the look”. I always direct people who ask to Amanda Keeys, and I hope that they have purchased her actions along the way. She quickly said yes and so here we are!

So I thought it would be super fun to give away her set of Essential Black & White actions. Believe me, you WANT these actions.

Here’s how to win (entries are blog comments, make a new comment for every entry, scroll to the bottom of this post and click “leave a comment”)…

You at least need to leave a comment here…but every other way to enter is optional! The more entries you have the more chances you have to win!

Leave a comment here saying you want them! (1 entry)

Share this giveaway on your blog, forum or facebook!! (2 entries)

Go to my Facebook page and “like” Amy Schuff Photography, or tell me you already have! (1 entry)

Go to Amanda’s Facebook page and “like” Amanda Keeys Photography, or tell me you already have! (1 entry)

Go purchase a set of Amanda Keeys’ actions or something from her etsy store, come back here telling me what you bought! (5 entries)

I’m going to run this until this Sunday, October 2nd at midnight (pst). So go!!!

Thank you Amanda!!!

ps. Those of you who have stuck with me the past couple months will probably notice I’m enabling blog comments again. I realized I needed to if I wanted to host a giveaway! :)

I’m excited to announce my very last mini session event of 2011! You won’t see another event until Spring 2012 (did I just write 2012?? This year is flying by!)

I really wanted to host one last event because I feel it is so important to get photos taken, especially around the holidays. If you never take them all year, this is a great excuse to do it! Prints, Christmas cards and images on CD can be purchased separately. With a mini session, you are not restricted to only purchasing a CD package. Contact me for a detailed price list.

I’m hosting two dates this year, one in Sacramento and one in Roseville, the exact locations will be revealed to those who book the sessions :)

Please contact me as soon as possible to reserve your time slot!

So contact me at this link

or this one

or if you can’t stand to wait a second longer…just go here.

Tonight someone told me that I wasn’t returning their emails and I immediately checked my inbox and facebook emails. I am mortified to say that if you contacted me through the contact form on my website recently (as far as maybe 2 months) then I DID NOT receive your email! I deeply apologize and hope that you will not think me the rudest person on the planet! I always aim to write back emails the day that they are sent to me, sometimes they have to wait for the next day, but I never ever ignore emails for weeks or months at a time!

If you contacted me through my website contact form and I didn’t write you back, please contact me using this following form and I will get back to you so soon you will be amazed and shocked! :) You can also email me at amy@amyschuffphotography or call 916.420.8889. Thank you for understanding!!

I’ve been staring at that number up there for a few minutes now.

I usually draw blanks when I go to write blog posts and today is no exception. At first, I was excited about turning 30, how grown up I would feel, so mature it sounds to be “in my thirties!”…then I had a panic attack, oh my gosh I was turning 30!!! Now…I think it is going to be totally fabulous :) I do feel older today, thinking back that I got married in my teens, had all three of my children in my 20′s, I wonder what will make my 30′s memorable? I’m hoping my 30′s are adventure-less…in a good way. I want to spend my 30′s watching my children grow, sipping coffee with my best friends, taking small travels with my husband and photographing families who are in the middle of their own adventures. I feel like that is adventure enough for me.

Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes! I truly appreciate each and every one of you that stops by my blog each time I post. This blog has always been for my family, my children, but knowing that you stop by makes it all seem a little more worth while. So to commemorate this wonderful month of June, I am embarking on a photo challenge. Since I was born on the 1st, I’ve always thought that I should have a birthday MONTH instead of just a birthday DAY anyway! I would absolutely love it if you would join me in this 30 day photo challenge that I found on Pinterest. I didn’t realize that the lady who created it was challenging her blog followers to do this challenge starting today as well. I thought the subjects were just wonderful and interesting, so I am participating. (See the challenge at the bottom of the post!)

A portrait of me, (taken by my husband!) on June 1st, the first day of my 30′s.

Now…for the big reveal! Thank you so so much for all the lovely people who entered into my Session Giveaway. I am truly honored that so many of you would like for me to be your photographer! Only one entry could win though, and that goes to…

#26: Rachel who said “The last time we had a family photo was three years ago right after our son was born and that was by a friend. We have been married 10 years this summer and have never had a real family portrait done! We would love to!”

Rachel has been notified and I am anxiously awaiting her email back!

For everyone else who didn’t win but would love an opportunity to schedule a session with me, contact me asap and I will honor HALF OFF my session fee! And with my summer special already in effect, that means your session fee will only be $75. A HUGE savings that can go toward my awesome digital collections that display your rockin’ photos! This special is only valid until June 8th, so contact me asap!

amy@amyschuffphotography.com