I know I said I wouldn’t be doing mini sessions this year, and I meant it. Between the normal Christmas rush and getting the studio ready, I just didn’t think I could handle it. I didn’t want to promise something I couldn’t deliver. But after repeated requests and wanting to accommodate as many people as possible, plus checking some big things off my to-do list, I’m feeling ready to take this on… THIS SATURDAY, November 22. (sorry for the short notice, but I wanted to be sure I could handle it before I put it out there!) If I fill up this Saturday, I may do a couple sessions the next Saturday as well, so let me know if that one works better for you in a back-up situation.

So here’s how it will work… We’ll do slots of 15 minutes each. You’ll get 10-12 images to choose from in an online gallery. Because of the tight holiday deadline, orders will need to be made within 3 days of my posting the gallery (which may take up to 2 weeks).

The cost is $100 and includes one 11×14 print (worth $95). In order to sign up for a session, please email me at shannon [at] shannonmontez [dot] com (I did that so the spam bots won’t get my email address…) with “mini-session” in the subject line. Please indicate what time of day you prefer (morning or afternoon). All sessions will take place in downtown Campbell… we’ll meet for all sessions at my studio (393 E. Campbell Ave, upstairs). You’ll have a choice between colorful walls and a grassy park-like area as locations.

Again… sorry for the short notice. I hope this doesn’t create problems. On the bright side, that’s less time to worry and stress about what to wear!

Other items in the above image will be discussed later…

A word of clarification… the studio really isn’t for sessions. I still plan to do all sessions on location, unless it just won’t work elsewhere (I love when the location has some type of meaning to the family). It’s small, but the light is great… so for the occasional newborn, I’ll make an exception.

Ok… so you saw the maternity session for these guys, now let’s meet their beautiful baby!

These two shots make me happy… that tiny head, that precious yawn…

Check out these perfect lips….

I’ve done this shot before, but I love it… the scale of the tiny foot and tiny bottom and daddy’s big hand just makes me happy.

Some of my shots are to capture some of my favorite memories (that are getting old and dusty as time goes by!). Sleeping with a baby on my chest was the BEST.

See that bay window and beautiful light? {happy giggle!}

Watch the blog tomorrow… I’ve got some big holiday promotions to announce!

GOOORGEOUS family. Check them out!

Those eyes… that quizzitive look. Love her.

She was so awesome. She greeted me by telling me that she has a camera at home. But that she can’t change the lens like mine. And that she can look through the viewfinder. And I was pretty impressed that she knows her camera terminology!

Mr. Man was getting tired, it was his nappy time… his parents were doubting he would smile for me, but boy were they wrong. My acting like an idiot got lots of chuckles of of him!

Fun, playful family.

I turned my camera over to little Miss Budding Photographer. She did a rocking job, don’t you think?

My absolute favorite type of family shot. Just fun and happy and everyday life. I’m always chasing this type of shot, even though I’m aware that people love the ones for grandma where everyone’s looking and smiling… I’m one woman on a mission to change grandma’s opinion of the perfect shot!

I don’t often come to a session expecting to get a certain image, but lying in bed the morning before this session, remembering being pregnant, I suddenly wanted to capture this image:

I love the way these two interacted…

She owns a pet grooming business, Canine Concepts. I included their first baby in a bunch of the shots, but I think this one is my favorite…

If you’d like to see the entire session, you can view the slideshow right here.

Sorry, no pics with this post. Just too lazy, and I’m on my laptop, and my computer and my laptop aren’t speaking nicely to each other lately. But soon… I’ll post all of these sessions I have gathering dust on my hard-drive that are dying to be shared!

Yes, London.

London, Kentucky.

What on earth would bring me to London, Kentucky, you ask? Good question! My sister moved to Kentucky this summer. She wanted her family photos taken, and figured that rather than hiring someone, she’d fly me out! I have to give a big thanks to my husband, the very kind and patient Dave, who is REALLY the one making this all possible. {insert standing ovation for Dave}

I had no idea how beautiful it is here. My sister had said so, but when someone moves to Kentucky, they have to make everyone think it was a great idea, right? But the whole time I’ve been here, I’ve been in awe. Her house is the kind of place you vacation to, not live in. For example…

These are my socks enjoying the view from my sister’s back yard. Yes, this is her back yard. Can you believe it?

With my family, we hang out by watching a video and eating popcorn. If the kids are being good, we might even pop TWO bags of popcorn!

But Andrea’s family? This is how they hang out together:

And if they’re really good? Maybe they’ll stop over and do some rock climbing at their own private crag across the lake.

Crazy, huh? (I debated posting the crag picture… I know it’s torture to my hero Dave that he doesn’t get out much anymore, and here they are, with rock climbing just a canoe ride from home.) And this was just a little time kill after getting back from playing all day elsewhere… before we spent the evening around the firepit, roasting hot dogs and making s’mores. I was beginning to think that it was all too good to be true… that they rented this house for the weekend and are making up a bunch of lies to impress me.

Ok… off to bed, another cool day awaits me tomorrow, I’m sure. I’m pretty tired after all that. Not to mention that I got only 2 hours of sleep the night before I left. Franklin had a seizure in bed… it was freaky. Short, but freaky. We got an ambulance ride to the ER and a cat scan and everything… they concluded it was probably just a little reaction to a virus, a very common occurance in kids. Franklin got some blood drawn and an IV put into his hand, and the tough guy didn’t even wince. Watched the whole process with interest. I don’t think the nurse had ever seen a 4 year old be so calm during that process. It was nuts. Crazy night. So I almost didn’t come. But… provided everything at home with my hero Dave and my munchkin Franklin goes well… I’m glad I came!

The studio is *almost* ready for visitors. I just need to get myself a desk and put pictures up on the walls. Oh… and signage for outside. It’s looking good! I’m planning to have an open house sometime, probably in the beginning of November… but I’m waiting until it’s all finished before I commit to anything.

And now… for sharing time. I just finished up this session and don’t want to wait to share it… This family has such an amazing story. The mom contacted me because she’s going to have a kidney transplant next month and knows that she’s going to be pretty sick for a while. She wanted to have a family session done while she still felt pretty good.

Dad is a golf pro at Boulder Ridge Golf Course, so they were able to get us in on a Monday when the course is closed for maintenance. We had the whole place to ourselves. The weather was perfect, the sun was all beautiful and golden. We had SUCH a great time.

During the course of the session, we chatted about the upcoming surgery. I learned that the kidney problem was a result of her pregnancy… that her body attacked itself and caused her kidneys to shut down.

While they lasted until 30 weeks, this little dude had stopped growing and was less than 2 lbs when he was born. The doctors gave him a 5% chance for survival, and IF he survived, there was a 90% chance he would have brain injury or major complications. And yet, this miracle boy survived. And thrived. And is completely normal.

The love within this family is evident.

But the connection that struck me most was between mother and son.

Against all odds, they have each other. They fight for each other. They take care of each other. This upcoming storm is small compared to some of the things they have faced… and they’re meeting the challenge head on. Together.

If you’d like to view the entire slideshow, click right here.

I’m opening up a studio space in Downtown Campbell!

I couldn’t be more excited. I *love* the vibe of the city there, and there is so much going on, from farmers markets to art walks. It is so alive. And so cute! It’s been a dream of mine for a long time, so I’m excited to see this coming true. It’s close to my home, so it will be so nice to be able to pop over when I need to meet clients… this will be a great way to help people figure out what products we offer and what will look best in which size and so on. FUN!!

We’ve already leased the space and are working hard to make it match my vision.  One more coat of paint, and all the fun stuff: furniture and pictures… and then I’m ready to share. But trying to get all that done on top of a busy month full of sessions and kids and homework and, well, life in general, has made things pretty crazy sometimes. So please bear with me.

And while I’m here… let’s share a recent session! The adorable Davis family. Davis was my high school, and the middle name of my oldest son, so I have to love them, right? It was easy. I wanted to bring this little guy home with me. I’m fresh out of 16-month olds of my own, and I miss them.

He was so busy, I love watching them explore the world.

Even the dogs got into the action for a couple shots.

Can I just say again how much I love what I do?

And while I’m here, I might as well post a session! This one was from this summer. It was a large family group. Large family groups can be intimidating and rather hard to work with. There’s not a whole lot outside the “class photo” sometimes, but we had fun! I did take a few shots that were just for me.

I LOVE these doors.

And these ones.

These two said they hadn’t kissed so much in a while… I think he enjoyed it, don’t you? I like it when I have that effect on people. I’m trying to make the world a better place.