Merry Christmas!!

The presents have been opened, the Cinnamon rolls have been eaten and the Sammie-dog is asleep under the dining room table. We had a great morning! Hope your Christmas is wonderful and Santa brought everything you asked for!

Here's a favorite from this morning... Gotta love it when the present is almost bigger than the girl!

Mmmmm... cake balls

Ok - so they might not sound like anything special, but I can assure you that these little treats are heavenly! And easy to make too!



So here's how you make your own!
1 box of cake mix (whatever flavor you like best!)
1 container of frosting (or make your own!)
Almond Bark or Chocolate for dipping

Make the cake as per the directions on the box. Bake until done. Let cool. Take cake out of pan and put into a large mixing bowl. Add frosting to the cake and mix together until you get a dough-like consistancy (the amount of frosting you need is different depending on how moist the cake you baked is.) Put the dough in the freezer for 15-30 minutes. Take out when the dough is cold and form into 2" balls. Put balls into freezer for an additional 30 minutes (this will help the chocolate adhere to the balls and because they are frozen they will be easier to dip.) Melt chocolate. Dip 1 ball at a time into melted chocolate, making sure to evenly coat. Garnish with whatever you like!

The fun part is deciding what type to make. For Christmas this year I made devils food cake with chocolate icing. I crumbled some candy canes and added that to the dough. Then I dipped some in white chocolate and some in milk chocolate. I sprinkled the remaining crushed candy canes over the chocolate coating before they cooled. The options are totally up to you! You could try spice cake with cream cheese icing and white chocolate and walnuts (yummy), chocolate cake with chocolate icing and dark chocolate or vanilla cake, vanilla icing with milk chocolate. The options are endless and it's really up to you and what you like! Enjoy!

Tips for taking better pictures...

I get a lot of e-mails asking for photography tips, and since I have a little free time while I enjoy my break, I thought I would take some time to answer some. Try these out and let me know if they help you create better images!

Tip #1 - Get down on the child's level
This is probably the most important thing you can do to improve your snapshots. If you get down on the floor, you will be on the same level as the child. Not only will this make your little one happy and get their attention, but you will also create more of a connection with the camera. I only rarely take a picture from above the child's eye level, and usually that's when I stand on a ladder and shoot from above.

Tip #2 - Try turning off the flash
Nothing says "snapshot" like using your on camera flash. It gives most kids a "deer-in-the-headlights" look and unflattering shadows. But next time you are taking pictures, try turning off the flash and look at the difference. The red eye is gone, the shadows are more flattering and softer. As long as you have sufficient light (especially next to a window or doorway) you should get good results!

Tip #3 - Capture the little details
As your taking pictures on Christmas morning, take a minute to notice the details around you. The bow that the kids stuck on the dog's head. The doll that your daughter won't let go of. Your son with icing all over his face from the special cinnamon rolls. It's those moments that really matter. Don't ask the kids to look at the camera - just shoot. Those are the images that make it into our family album.

The Christmas Belll

We've been reading "The Polar Express" every night. So Colin was thrilled when in our Christmas Decorations he found a bell. He keeps telling us it's a bell from Santa's Sleigh. He is absolutely fascinated by it!

Happy Holidays!

With Christmas is just around the corner, holiday orders have been placed and now I'm taking a little break! The rest of December will be spent making Christmas cookies, decorating the tree and just generally enjoying the holidays with my kids, husband and the rest of my family! Appointments will be available again during the first week of January. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

Sneak Peek!

We had been planning this shoot for months. Their whole family was together for Thanksgiving and wanted some portraits of them. They are going to be very, very happy! Here's a couple of my favorites of the cousins together...




And one of the grandparents with their grandchildren

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day and takes the time to give thanks for all the wonderful people in their lives! It has been a very busy year in the Prochazka household but we have been very blessed. We have a beautiful, healthy family. What more could you ask for?

Such a cute couple!

This is their first child - can you tell? They are so cute together and are just glowing with excitement! I'm excited for them - they have so many wonderful milestones coming up! They don't know if the baby will be a boy or a girl, but I'm thinking boy! What do you think? Here's a few of my favorites from their session.

Some new card designs!

I've had a lot of requests lately for some modern Christmas Card designs. So take a look at these gorgeous cards!

You can find the full list of these funky cards here: Modern Christmas Cards

All Christmas Cards are printed on you choice of archival watercolor, linen or pearl paper. Available in 2 different styles: 5x7 flat (with a photo, greeting and message on one side) and 5x7 folded (with a photo and greeting on the front and message inside).

Pricing:
5x7 flat $2 per card (including envelopes)
5x7 folded $3 per card (including envelopes)
S&H and tax are additional. 25 card minimum order

My new site is LIVE!!!

I am SO excited about this! For the last few weeks I've been working with a great company to design a new website. It's now ready to view! There are some really great new features, including larger photos, testimonials, an in-site proofing slideshow and much more! You can visit it at http://www.prochazkaphotography.com/ Enjoy! And I'd love to hear what you think of it! Feel free to drop me a note!

A teaser...

Remember this beautiful family? I had the priviledge of doing maternity and newborn sessions with them. They asked me back to do some Christmas photos for them and got some gorgeous shots! Here's a few...

Just in time for Christmas...

Luxury leather photobags by Babycakes! Show off your photos to to world with a custom photobag! Your gorgeous bag will be created using your favorite photos from your session! To see the full line of bags available, browse the Babycakes Website

Photo courtesy bags by babycakes

Christmas is 2 months from today!

I know, I know... It's not even Halloween yet - how can I be talking about Christmas already? But in the world of photography, Christmas planning starts in September. Which is when I started scouting for some really great Christmas card designs. The cards that we're offering this year are absolutely gorgeous and look even better printed! Your family and friends will love receiving these!

To see the entire line of cards, please visit our Christmas site at http://prochazkachristmas.blogspot.com/ You can order these by e-mailing me with your card design and the photo you'd like to use. These are only available to our clients. All card orders must be placed by December 1st to ensure delivery before Christmas.

A quick peek...

Introducing "Vintage Holiday" Cards!

This Christmas, share your special photos with friends and family with these upscale luxury Christmas Cards! Here's a quick peek at one of the cards - there are 8 different designs to choose from!

All Christmas Cards are printed on you choice of archival watercolor, linen or pearl paper. Available in 2 different styles: 5x7 flat (with a photo, greeting and message on one side) and 5x7 folded (with a photo and greeting on the front and message inside).

Pricing:
5x7 flat $2 per card (including envelopes)
5x7 folded $3 per card (including envelopes)
S&H and tax are additional. 25 card minimum order

Made for each other!

This is how we started the engagement session...

So I knew we were going to have a good time. This is my sister and her fiance'. I really had a hard time keeping these 2 serious! They just kept cracking up (which is a wonderful thing!) Here's a few more of my favorites from their session! I'll be shooting their wedding in April (and I can't wait!!)

Check out these eyes!

We had a really fun session last night! This is the baby of one of my maternity clients and he is absolutely adorable! He was so easy to work with and just a doll. I'm still proofing, but couldn't resist posting these few...

Miss Meghan

She had just gotten up from her nap and I couldn't resist. It's rare that I get Meg to sit still for longer than 10 seconds any more (she's almost worse than Colin at this point because at least I can bribe him!) So this was a nice treat for me!

Announcing Mini Christmas Sessions!!

Yes, it's already time to start thinking about Christmas! All Christmas orders must be placed by December 1st, so booking your session now will ensure that you get one of the remaining dates. This year I'm also proud to announce a few Christmas mini sessions!

Limited Edition Christmas Mini Session:
$300
Come to our beautiful Hancock, NY location and get your Mini Christmas Session! Session includes 45 minute session (for up to 5 people), 2 8x10 prints, 2 5x7 prints, 25 custom Christmas Cards (designed with photos from your session) and a custom photo ornament.

These gorgeous handcrafted wooden ornaments are only available through these sessions! Only 5 mini sessions are available and will go fast! Please call or e-mail for more information!

(Photo courtesy of Little Whimsy)

A couple more!

I'm really loving this one! This would look gorgeous as a large print with a shabby antique frame!


A traditional studio shot!

An adventurous engagement session!

This couple was up for anything! They were great sports - even though it meant getting into the creek and sitting on rickety docks over a lake! We had fun and I'm loving the shots we got!

MY SISTER'S GETTING MARRIED

WOW!!! She just told our family! We are all SO excited! Kristie and Bruce are getting married late next year. Wow. They'll be coming over for some engagement photos soon and you'll be sure to see them! We're all so happy for them!

Congratulations Bruce & Kristie!!

Here comes the Bride...

We had a beautiful day for these shots! The weather is finally cooling down a bit and the sun ducked behind a cloud just at the right points in the session. Plus Bridget and her mom were great to work with! Here are a few of my favorites so far!

Smile!

A little Cowboy...

Surgery is over...

Thanks for all the prayers and good wishes! Everything went SO well this morning! Colin went into surgery at 7am for an inguinal hernia repair. He was in surgery for 30 minutes and the Dr. said everything went perfectly! We were released by 11am and home by noon.

Colin seems to have bounced back amazingly well. He's in no pain (although some of that is thanks to the Tylenol) and is up and around (as much as we're trying to keep him down and quiet). About an hour after surgery he was back to his normal self. Tonight as we were putting him to bed he said he had a really fun day and asked to go back to the hospital tomorrow! LOL! Full recovery is 4-5 days so we have to try to give him quiet projects until then. He goes back for a check-up in a week.

Thanks again for all the prayers sent our way! It was really as simple as surgery can be and I know Colin had some great guardian angels looking out for him!

Peek-a-boo!

I have to start by saying it was almost impossible to pick favorites from this shoot. I was giddy going through my images and each time I had found one I loved, the next one I loved just as much. Here's a quick sneak peek of my latest session. It was a maternity session, but once we got there we quickly realized that it was just as much about capturing the family as it was maternity.

The pregnancy glow...

You know how some women just glow when they are pregnant? They just have that beautiful round belly and look so good with it? Well my maternity client last night was like that! And she has a beautiful family! Here's a quick peek into their session!



I always have such a hard time finding my favorites, but so far I really love these!

Bad hair day

This is what happens when you combine a little boy, a water table and a nap! :)