My Belly Bumpin Buddy!

Meet Monique! She is about a week more pregnant than I am, so we had a great time sharing stories and comparing belly bumps. She's such a cutie and we had a great time during our session. Had to share her photos!

A whole new look!

Had a break in the action today, so I spent a bit of time working on getting my new site up and running. Kim Townsend from Simply Splash was the creative guru who put together my new logo and splash page... LOVE her! I am loving the new look and having a good time tweaking it and making changes. I've always felt my site wasn't quite "me", so my goal with this one was to make it very much ME! Well... me and John...lol. He loves it too tho, so we are good on that front. If you have a few check it out! The portrait side of the site will remain the same for a while, but will probably be changing soon also. The wedding side tho is a whole new site and weddings now have their own dedicated site. Take a peek! I'd love to get feedback, so let me know what you think!

www.cristynielsen.com

Enjoy!

Prayers for a fellow photographer!!

Please take a moment today and say prayers for a photographer from my photography group, Laura Wolff and her family. This morning they lost their home in a housefire. It's a horribly tragic situation and there are no words really to express the pain that I am sure they are feeling. They lost most everything... So please think good things for their family in hopes that they can begin healing and rebuilding their lives and her business.

Taking the weekend OFF!

John and I will be headed to the Dave Matthews concert this weekend and we are SO excited! Just wanted to let you all know in case you try to email and I don't respond. Will get back to you all on Monday! Have a great weekend!

:)

Prepare for some changes!

I am currently redoing the website! I'm so excited about this and can't wait to share it with you all! I am splitting our wedding photography section off from our main site and giving it it's own place to be displayed. It's been a work in progress for quite some time and hopefully will make it easier for our brides and grooms to see our work in a way that is more organized and appealing. The more I work on it, the more I love it, so I hope you all do too!

I'm looking for a few testers for the site, to play with it, give me some feedback, and make sure everything is working okay. If you are interested, please email me at cristy@cristynielsen.com and I will provide you with the link to check it out. It should be finalized and all up and running within two weeks, so keep checking back for more updates!

You know those people in your life...

Those ones you just can't live without... I am blessed to have many of those people in my life. I swear all of my friends were given as gifts to me, they push me, challenge me, wake me up when I'm being an idiot, and make me laugh till I feel like I'm losing my breath. Julie is one of those friends. I have written about her before, spilled my feelings if you will. BUT... I had a dream last night and she was in it, so I figured I would post about her today.

We met a year and a half ago in Chicago, IL at a photography convention. Who would have known that this girl that is soooo totally different from me would turn out to be a dear dear friend that now I can't imagine my life without. We spent the weekend learning about photography and really didn't get a chance to talk or connect much... until we shared a cab to the airport. I was running late... SHOCKER, and scrambling to get my plane. I knew she was pure gold when she called me as I got to my gate to make sure I had made my flight. Ever since that day we have talked almost daily and our friendship has blossomed into this beautiful, loving sisterhood that still baffles me, makes me cry, makes me miss her like crazy and makes me want to jump on an airplane to Utah like once a week just to see her smiling face, Sesame Street PJ's and hear her laugh.

She is coming here in six weeks to shoot Graham and Travis' wedding with us. She'll be leaving her 5 kids with her inlaws and bringing her hubby David along for the fun. It's their anniversary weekend, and John's birthday so we'll all have a nice adult weekend of celebrating. We'll be traveling to Marco Island for the wedding and renting a condo there to enjoy a long weekend of R & R, fun, and I'm sure tons of giggles... we tend to do that like teenagers! She will also be coming back again in December to be here to photograph the birth of our baby and stay for a week to help out and keep me sane while I begin my transition as a mother of two!

I have tried not to think about when she is coming because it seems to drag the time on... but I woke up this morning dreaming of us having a waterfight on the beach, and it hit me that we are so close to our fun weekend...YAY! Anyway, this girl means the world to me... she's made me appreciate life in a way I hadn't before, made me see how precious family, our friends and relationships are. She's one of those people that you just hold onto with everything you have because you know they are a gift in your life. She's been plunked into my world for a reason... I wish she lived closer, but it also just makes me appreciate her that much more. I'm also totally excited for her to meet my other two best buds who I can't live without... Lesa and Tamu!

Love you Jules... see you SO soon! Don't hate me but I had to add my fave shots... and yes we are TOTAL cheeseballs...lol.

Don't usually share boudoirs and intimates...BUT...

Thought these were not too overly sexy to share, so I had to had to post a peek for Carmen. She traveled to see me from Detroit, Michigan for her 36th birthday and for this session. I was thrilled to have her fly in for this shoot, and she's my first boudoir client to do so. She had a thing for pearls, for red, and for high heels. Talk about gorgeous lady in red, yeah well boys, she's single and this is her.

Gorgeous Carmen! Sneaky peaky...lol.

Real Living's Grand Opening!

We had a great time last Thursday night at Real Living's Grand Opening event! Tons of people came out to show their support to Jim Hirschhorn and Tony Marino. There was amazing food, great company, and lots of fun to be had. Here's the photos from the evening. John and I walked in and immediately fell in love with the display of our images on the walls. They did a great job putting them up, arranging them and showcasing them! Thank you for giving us the opportunity to showcase our work in such a grand location! Congrats to Jim and Tony for the opening of their Real Estate office. I'm sure you will be a wildly successful!

Jayden turns ONE!

It seems my studio has been taken over by one year olds lately... so many of my client's kiddos are turning one right now. Altho this time last year I was busy with all of their maternities...lol.

Anyway, here's Jayden. What a darn cutie he is with his bright blue eyes. He was a bit tired tonight and not quite in the mood for cake, but we managed to get lots of shots of him. He's grown so much since he was a bitty newborn. And he's quite the little charmer.

What an AWESOME family...

Meet Tom, Kim, Emily, and Michael... these guys were so fun and so easy to photograph. They were sent to us by their friends Cindy and Zac after they lost their home recently in a fire. Sadly all of their photos were lost with it. There are no words to say how that must feel. I know for me, photography is a huge part of my world and to lose the captured moments of those memories would be so hard.

We knew it would be hard for these guys emotionally, but it really made me realize why photographs are so important... but even more so, why they are so lucky they still have each other. It made me really appreciate how quickly things can change in life, but yet how love and family will still pull you through.

Tom, Kim, Emily, and Michael... John and I are so thrilled to have had the opportunity to give you something to start anew. We had a great time and really enjoyed our session with you. Thanks to Cindy and Zac for sending them our way and giving me a good reminder of life and all the gifts is brings, even in hard times.

Here's their slideshow, I was going to wait until tomorrow to peek, but couldn't help myself. What a beautiful family, and beautiful kids. I tell you Tom and Kim... you are in trouble with both of them...lol. When they hit the teenage years the boys will be calling for Emily, and the girls for Michael. Might as well chain them in their rooms now! LOL!

Come Check Out our Display at Real Living Real Estate Solutions!

Please stop by and check out our display on Thursday, August 23rd from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. at the Grand Opening of Real Living Real Estate Solutions. Orlando's hottest realtor, Tony Marino commissioned us to put together a very large wall of photos of the Orlando area that will be on permament display in their office. To download the flyer about this fun evening, please click HERE and choose Adobe Reader to view the file.

If you haven't met or heard of Tony Marino, you are missing out! He helped us purchase our home in 2004 and we have recommended him to anyone looking to buy or sell their home in Central Florida. He really does a great job of going after what you are looking for and finding buyers for the homes he lists. A former Watson Realty top dog, he has ventured out of his own and started his own real estate company. Congratulations to Tony Marino and staff for making this happen! I know we're members of the Tony Marion fan club for life!

:)

Half Price Reorder Sale!!

In preparation for the upcoming holiday season, we are cleaning out the office, computers, and storing our digital files. We're running a reorder and disc sale for the remainder of August! To qualify for this sale you must have had your session in the last 12 months, and you must have already placed an order with Cristy Nielsen Photography. Through August 31st you will receive 50% off your reorder of prints from any session. This qualifies for prints up to 16x20 in size, canvas is not included. So if you missed ordering some of your favorite images from your session, email us now to get in on this sale, and receive a password for your order gallery.

We are also offering a high resolution printable session CD for $500 for all previous sessions, this is a $1,000 savings off of our normal rate for these. This disc will include all of the images from your session at 300 dpi and will be printable up to 16x20 in size. You will also receive web resolution files to share with friends and family and post to the internet.

**Orders must be completed and paid for by August 31st to qualify for the discount. Thank you!

Holiday Session Sale!

We will be running a sale for the month of August on any sessions book in September and November for $100 off your session fee and 25 complimentary custom designed holiday photo cards. This is a $125 value, but you must book before September 1st to receive the discount. A friendly reminder that the holiday cutoff this year is November 1st for all orders and cards to be guaranteed for December delivery. To save your date please contact us ASAP to schedule your session! We are only taking a limited number of families this year so act fast to guarantee your slot! This offer valid for in studio or on location sessions and limited to 8 family members per family.

Congratulations Jessica & Justin!

Part of the reason I traveled up to Maine for vacation was also to shoot my step sisters wedding. It was a beautiful day, and the wedding was held at my dad and step mother's house. It was nice to see so many faces I had not seen in so long! To enjoy the slideshow of their day click on the arrow below.

Home... but exhausted!

We got home late last night. For those of you that emailed and left voicemails while we were away I will get back to you in the next few days. I apologize for the delay. Please give me a few days to catch up and get back on track.

For those of you that placed print orders before I left town on August 6th, your prints are in and will either be mailed or you can contact me to arrange to pick them up.

Thank you!

:) Cristy

Going out of town! Studio closed!

I am headed out of town to shoot an out of town wedding and have a much needed vacation! I will be leaving on Monday at about noon, so please if you need anything prior to Monday get in touch with by then. John will still be in town, so any emails or phone calls that come in after Monday will be handled by him. He will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Any orders that were placed in the last two weeks will be available for pickup when I return on the 15th.

Thanks for your understanding! Here's a sneak peek at where we are headed... ahhhh! Our family lake house... can't wait!

HAD to peek at these tonight!

We did an engagement session with Graham and Travis tonight. Oh my was it fun! We just walked around being silly and laughing a ton. They turned the ick day I was having into a great night! I had to stay up for a bit when we got home and play with a few of these.

They will be getting married on Friday, October 26th, 2007 on Marco Island. We can't wait for the wedding!!

Booking for Holiday Photos!

We are already booking into the fall for holiday photos. If you'd like to secure your spot, please do so ASAP so we can assure that you get a slot on our calendar. The holiday cutoff this year is November 1st. We are cutting it off earlier this year due to the upcoming birth of our second child. We will only accept 15-20 families for holiday photos this year as we have a busy wedding season during that time as well, so please book your session now to secure your spot.

:)

Going on vacation!

My daughter and I are headed to Maine next Monday the 6th for a wedding I am shooting and some vacation time. We will return on the 15th. John will be home and helping me handle emails and phone calls, but I will not be able to deliver orders, or place orders to the lab until I return. Please keep that in mind when placing your order or sending an email. All orders that come in while I am away will be ready for pickup at the end of August. Any collage or album work will have to wait until after the 15th as well. Thank you for your understanding. This is our once a year trip that we make, so we are very excited!

:)

Really fun and great family!

John and I did a family session yesterday at the Marriot Grande Vista in Orlando while we were away on our "adult only" weekend. This family came into town for a get together and Disney trip. They were all from out of state. We had a great time and the kids were so wonderful. Sharing a few from their session!