Merry Christmas & a little business info!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! I'm still trying to figure out how it's already the end of December! Time has flown WAY too fast!! I'm hoping to slow things down a bit this week and just take some time to enjoy my sweet family.

I am so very grateful to each and everyone of you that has allowed me to photograph your families this year. I am so blessed to have been able to meet each and every one of you! You have made my first months of business so incredible and I look forward to working with you in 2009!

There will be a few changes for 2009...a few rate increases & some new products, too! You have 30 days after you receive your proofs to place an order at the current rate. But, if your 30 days have passed and you want to order anything at the 2008 pricing, you just need to call me or e-mail me by December 31st in order to get your prints at the current prices.

If there is anything that you'd like to see me offer next year, please let me know! I'm always looking for new ideas & would love to hear yours!

I'm definitely going to keep the a la carte pricing, but will most likely offer collections as well in order to give you some discounts for higher volume orders.

Again, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you'd like to see next year! You can leave a comment here on the blog, or e-mail me at info@acrossthemilesphotography.com I hope each of you have a wonderful Christmas and new year!

Kellie Penn
Across the Miles Photography

Some people just amaze me!

My friend Jaime made the cutest dollhouse & is giving it away on her blog. It is way too cute to not let you guys know about it! (Of course, if you don't enter, my chance of winning is higher! LOL! Just kidding!)

I'd show you the pictures on my blog, but I probably shouldn't copy the pictures from her site...so you'll just have to go to her blog and check it out for yourself!

(and Jaime...after knowing you, I suddenly have been shopping for houndstooth stuff! I am searching everywhere for a cute houndstooth coat & think of you every time I hit the mall! LOL!)

Here's the link to her blog:
Click Me!!

Good luck!

Michael and Natalie

I had the pleasure of photographing Michael and Natalie's wedding last Saturday. It was so cold & windy (the joys of living in Illinois) but they braved the elements and we ran outside for a few pictures after the wedding was over...and I'm so glad we did! There's just nothing prettier than outdoor pictures! I am so grateful to have met this couple & enjoyed spending the day with them! Here's a little sneak peek for you!



















Congratulations Michael & Natalie! You are such a beautiful couple!

Teran....this is for you!! :)

The other night at our Sunday School class party, we got to talking about old TV shows/songs we loved & we got to talking about Perfect Strangers!

I had to do some digging around and I found these!


And...if you want to view lots of Perfect Strangers episodes, just click here & get ready to re-live the early 90's!

and how about a little If I Had No Loot for ya? :)


Good times!! :)

My new logo & other business info!

So, you may have noticed that the watermark on my pictures has changed! I have a new logo for my business! :) (you can click on it to see it larger)


I was trying to come up with something that was pretty symbolic of "Across the Miles" and the reasoning behind the name of my business. I kept coming back to a dandelion. Little Miles' life was so short, but he did so much with his little life while he was here. He spread lots of good to those that met him and to those that heard his story. I think his little life has touched many people Across the Miles. So, that's the logic behind my new logo! I'm really happy with how it turned out! (Thanks Tiffany!)

A couple of little business announcements:
If you are wanting your order in before Christmas, I need to have your order no later than Tuesday (or you'll be subject to rush charges.) It's a busy time of the year for the lab, so we need to make sure to get those orders in! Can you believe how quickly Christmas is sneaking up on us?

Also...I am taking the rest of the month off to get caught up on editing & to spend some time with my family during the Christmas season! I look forward to photographing your families throughout 2009! I am so very grateful for each of you for trusting me with your families precious photos this year! I am so blessed to have met each and every one of you!!!

Reuben the toothless wonder!

Reuben's mom and I thought it would be fun to get some pics of Reuben while he is missing some teeth! There's just something sooo cute about this stage in a kid's life! He was so cooperative and I had so much fun watching him pose for his studio shots!

Here's a sneak peek at my little buddy Reuben:

The Clark Family

Last night, I met up with the Clark family at their home for some Christmas pictures. I've met Angie a few times at different craft shows...she and her friend Jodie sell the CUTEST hairbows (Lil' Bow Peeps)! And, with all of Millie's curly hair, we are always needing some fun, new hairbows! :)

This family is so sweet & I loved getting to spend a little time with them. (even if one of the boys wasn't so excited about getting his pictures taken! haha!)

Here's a little sneak peek from last night:

Waiting on baby...

I was so excited when I received a phone call about taking Brande's maternity pictures. It was a Christmas gift for Brande and her husband and I think it was such a sweet idea for a Christmas present! I always wish I would've had maternity pictures done...but my kids never wanted to stay in my belly long enough to do something like this! Brande is such a beautiful mommy to be and I can't wait to meet the little boy when he arrives! He is gonna be one lucky little kid to have parents that already love and adore him as much as Brian and Brande do!

Here's a little sneak peek from our session:

exhausted.

Whew! I am sitting here watching Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman and I'm trying all I can to keep my eyes open! I went to two craft fairs today & hit the mall while the kids were at the grandparent's house...and I am wiped. Christmas shopping is a lot of work! :) But, I can scratch a few more names off of my list and am pretty close to being finished! Yaay!!!

Before I head to bed, I want to share some recent studio sessions with you!








Have a great rest of the weekend!

Erin & Ally

On our way home from spending Thanksgiving in Dexter, we met up with Erin and Ally in St. Charles, MO for pictures! They are ADORABLE & their mom dresses them so cute! When we arrived in St. Charles we were surprised to see it so busy...and then found out they were getting ready to have a parade. People were EVERYWHERE! We still found some fun spots out of the way of the crowds! :)

Here's a little sneak peek at their session! (Shouldn't they be models for The Gap?)

Santa & Mrs. Claus were sweet enough to pose with us for a photo!










I'm in love with this picture! Isn't it fun?!?

The Haws Family

On Saturday, I headed over to the Haws' home to take their family photos. I took Kollin's senior pictures this summer and I was really excited to get to work with this family again! (Plus, I just did the headshots for their business, so they have seen a lot of me lately! :) ) I came home and showed Tyler the colors in their home and it has me itching to start doing some painting around here!

This family is so sweet & so photogenic! Here's a little sneak peek from Saturday:













Whew! 3 sneak peeks in one day! :) Tonight I am planning on getting caught up on e-mails, so if you don't hear from me in the next 24 hours, I probably didn't receive your e-mail & try e-mailing again. I am so grateful to each of you who have made the first few months of this business so wonderful!

Ashley & randomness

Ashley attends Millikin here in Decatur and wanted to surprise her parents with some pics for Christmas (So, if you're Ashley's parents...quick, close this page! Don't peek! LOL!)

This was such a FUN, fast session! It was so cold that we were running from place to place downtown. We went to lots of random places & I think the word "random" sums up this session quite nicely! She posed with a snowman, we grabbed a barstool from a local restaurant and used it in the street, and lots of random people kept giving us funny looks. I don't know how many times we used the word random in the 45 minutes that we took pictures! My favorite random moment was when a firetruck pulled up in front of the bank for an emergency. We used it as a photo prop! :) Here's a little sneak peek from Ashley's "random" session! Thanks, Ashley, for letting me take your photos...I don't know when I've laughed so much!