digital.memory

moving on

I just downgraded the account.

TheBarnTales at Typepad is no more (but you can find some posts at thebarntales.tumblr.com until another site is created).

My photography business has evolved into meganfloyd.com and digital.memory has become [the digital.memory project]. These will be hosted at meganfloyd.com.

You can watch:
tumblr.meganfloyd.com for more information,
proof.meganfloyd.com for public photo galleries,
preview.meganfloyd.com for teaser previews of sessions and events, fac
ebook.com/meganfloydcom for contests and such, and
twitter.com/themeganfloyd for my thoughts in 140 characters (or less) at a time.

thoughts on and answering questions about [christmas.2010 - card sessions]

THOUGHTS ON [christmas.2010]

I am super excited about the Christmas season this year. Part of the excitement for me is knowing that I'll be helping friends and family record memories by getting pictures of them to use with Christmas cards. For as long as I can remember, one of the most exciting things about Christmastime has been Christmas cards.

I *love* Christmas cards for three reasons:
1- The cards themselves demonstrate love. Somebody cared enough to pick out, sign and stuff a card into an envelope, which they had to fill out and stamp, and then send it to my mailbox.
2- Christmas cards are instant holiday decor that is reinvigorated with each addition throughout the season.   
3- The end of the calendar year is a great time to get in touch with friends and family who aren't in your day-in/day-out circle of interaction, which makes Christmas cards a great way to share personal updates and PICTURES!

We should all know I love pictures. I'm a photographer because I love the process of capturing something you can see with your eye, transforming that captured image to match the emotion of the moment, then processing it - either digitally, in a single print, or as part of a book or card - so that there's a visual record available for the future. It's not something that I think about while I'm in the process; it's part of who I am and how I function.

 

ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT [card sessions]

I know that November and December are two of the busiest months in the year. This year I am being pulled in more directions than  usual, but I still want to have time to schedule sessions for  your family portraits. That's why I'm starting NOW and I won't schedule sessions for card photos after November 21st, 2010. (I'll still be available for normal shoots, but cards and books will need to be ordered by November 22nd to have time for order and delivery.)

So, what days are available?
I have an entire day blocked out on Saturday, October 23rd, and another on Saturday, November 13th, to shoot at HickoryHill Farm in Curry. Because of other demands on my schedule I have blacked-out more unavailable dates this fall than I usually would, so if THOSE DAYS OR THAT LOCATION DON'T WORK FOR YOU, THEN YOU NEED TO CONTACT ME NOW SO WE CAN WORK OUT A TIME AND A LOCATION.

What are the location options?
I chose Hickory Hill as the primary Christmas location because there are LOTS of different, beautiful background options available. I would love to block out an entire day to work at Railroad Park in downtown Birmingham, or schedule individual shoots there. I also enjoy shooting in downtown  Jasper and downtown Columbiana. Do you have another idea you would like to try? Then you need to contact me NOW to discuss it.

What's the deal with the time options?
I absolutely understand that sometimes you just want ONE GOOD PICTURE and the thought of participating in a photo-shoot for an hour or an hour and a half makes you crazy. By scheduling in half-hour blocks I know that we have 20-minute increments of good shoot time. Twenty minutes is plenty of time to get ONE GOOD PICTURE (you'll get a disc of 10 images). In 40 minutes we can get enough photos to do collaged prints (some people call them storyboards) or - if I know you want one ahead of time - a photo.book. In 60 minutes of shoot time (which comes with an additional 15 minutes of buffer in case we need it) we can get that perfect card shot as well as plenty of pictures to choose from for collages or books. ** If you're interested in extended-family shoots, we can combine time-slots to make it easier to keep kids from being totally bored. Contact me so we can work out details ahead of time.  

Where are you getting the actual cards?
This year I'm giving you the option to order cards from a place called Moo. Moo is a UK-based company that specializes in personalized, photo-related business and greeting cards. I will set up a few different options with your preferred card photo and let you preview those.
The folding cards come with envelopes that can be upgraded to different colors to match your card design. They start in packs of 25, but come in larger sets. If you need more cards than you've seen on the price.list, just let me know and I can get you a quote that will include card and envelope pricing, as well as shipping fees. 
Flat cards can be customized as postcards but also have envelopes available (for an additional charge). Flat cards come in sets of 20 with larger sets available, and the same "I need more!" principle applies.
Moo has recently released a fancy-schmancy STICKER BOOK option that I haven't checked out yet, but that I would be willing to look into if anyone wants personalized gift tags or envelope seals.

I have a different question. THEN EMAIL ME! [megan at meganfloyd dot com] You can also leave a comment on this post, but if you do that then please include your contact information. (When you sign in I can see your email address but other people can't.)

ORIGINAL christmas.card post HERE. 

topsy.turvy

I feel like life is a series of roller-coaster rides. Sometimes it's not so rowdy - you're coasting along at the beginning, or on the uphill side of a drop-off - wherever you are, it's just not that bad.

I am currently in the seriously loopy, flippy, dizzy, crazy, scary, screaming-your-head-off-but-no-sound-is-coming-out, upside-down, inside-out section... and I'm loving about 97.6% of it. It looks like I'm within a few months of resolving a few life goals and I really feel like I'm actually accomplishing all sorts of things.

[excited about christmas.cards!!]

I'll finish my undergraduate studies in December. My new-brand website is coming along quite nicely. I've finished up one topsecretsupersecret project session. I had an engagement session (this evening). I am surviving consistently being away from home for two full days while I attend my last semester of classes. I've made more time for friends and family and good times. I've gotten more organized with my approach to journaling (which, sadly, has meant less time spent blogging).

Life is happening, and it's mostly good. It's definitely good enough to over-balance away from bad.

Earlier today I was checking out my proof site - at meganfloyd.smugmug.com - and I was excited about the way it's coming together. I've been organizing my shoots differently (I'm still rearranging things and uploading photos) and I think it makes more sense. I have a few more ideas to try out before I'll be totally satisfied with it, but it's cleaner and clearer than ever before.  Go check it out! Feel free to look around. The galleries available for viewing are there to be viewed.

[pajamas... I'm so ready for cooler weather...]

Thanks for checking in! Contact me if you have any questions or are interested in scheduling a Christmas.Card session. (I still have spots available for both Hickory.Hill days.)

card pricing - christmas.2010

And we're ON! I am ready to schedule some sessions.
I'll be shooting at Hickory.Hill (in Curry) on October 23rd and November 13th.
[Birmingham.proper sessions available upon request (at the same pricing).]

Thank.You|deals:
1- If you pair up with another family to schedule back-to-back sessions, then I'll give each of you a $10 print credit.
2- If you "Share" this on Facebook (tag me in the post), via other social media (show me where), or by email (BCC schedule@meganfloyd), then I'll give you a $5 print credit.
***You can get up to $15 in print credits.

If you have any questions or comments or want to book a session, email me at [email protected].

Thanks, everybody!

me myself & i

When I finally worked up the nerve to gush to my husband about how well my photo.shoot with myself went, he sighed and said something like "I don't know why you're always surprised when your pictures look good."

I DO know why I'm always surprised when photographs of me turn out well: most of the time they do NOT turn out well. Today it was VERY hot, I was on the back deck at 2 pm, I had totally randomly decided to take photos so I half-did my hair and threw on some makeup (It took less time to cake all that on that it does for me to seriously put on makeup, BUT I wouldn't go anywhere like that. haha You can't tell from the photos, but it was ON THERE.)

So I was pleasantly surprised with the results as I was checking them on the camera.

Then I got them on the computer and started editing... and wow. I had downloaded some vintage and "old skool" coloring presets from a super cool website that I can't find again (oops). I don't ever like them applied straight to my pictures, so I adjust all sorts of values and suddenly it's still not-normal but it's totally ME (all six varieties!).

Here they are - in a collage format reminding you about the new meganfloyd.com.