Stewart Photography Blog

On Wednesday I got to hang out with one of the most fun families I've had the honor of meeting. Donna contacted me a few weeks ago out planning a photo session for her parents and children. After talking about the details with her Mom, they decided to have the whole family come along. I just loved photographing 3 generations of family hanging out together, playing at the river! Donna, you have DELIGHTFUL children, I had so much fun with Zach and Sela, they kept me laughing the whole time. And you and Mark are truly blessed to have such wonderful parents nearby to love on their grandkids the way they do! Thank you for asking me to come out to the river with you to document your wonderful family! Enjoy the teaser

Ok, I promise you, I DID NOT pose this photo! They were playing on a path, Sela was playing hamming it up for me, when Zach ran up and put his arm around his sister. And I would normally think that it was nothing more than these kids just know what to expect when a camera is out, expect that I saw both of them put their arms around each other many times throughout our evening together, when they didn't know I was looking They are such sweet kids!




Walking down the hill with Nama and Papa


I swear this captures little Sela perfectly, she's just a big blur of lovable energy! You were SO right Donna, thank you for the heads up ahead of time I just wanted to squeeze Sela she is so adorable and fun, and full of life, except I'm not sure I could move fast enough to catch her


Watching Papa skip rocks, so who DID win that skipping contest Mark & Hank????


Donna has so much fun with her kids, her and Zach had fun splashing water at each other. First Donna had the upper hand


But I think Zach may have won in the end




Now come on, how can you NOT get beautiful photos of these kids??






Yep, they got me, BUT I told them the could


I have to admit, I was a little obsessed with Sela's curls. They are just SO adorable!! And their full, bouncy, just a little wild characteristics couldn't have found a better fit with any other little girl


Of course there's nothing better than a Papa's teasing, throwing you in the water. You're laughing, and having fun because you have that perfect child like faith that your Papa will do anything to keep you safe.


I cannot tell you how much I LOVE this photo!!! I want a photo of Chris and I like this when our kids are grown and have kids of their own. Such a timeless love story in this photo

As many of you know, we have been working on potty training Aiden. And I have to say it's going pretty well. He's had less and less accidents lately, and we've even gone out for a few shopping trips diaper free and stayed dry. I think we are well on the road to success!!

But I just HAD to share with you my comical morning the other day. Aiden as I said has been quite successful lately, but only with #1 if you know what I mean. He will wait all day to go number 2 in his diaper at night.

The other morning we were having a slow morning, and I didn't get him into his undies as early as I normally like to. I knew I had a lot to focus on, so I put him in diapers for the morning. I saw him sneak off to his bedroom, and close the door behind him.............. a sure sign he was going to "do his business". So I ran in after him, picked him up and announced, "guess what, you're going to go poo poo in the potty, YEA!!!"

I swooped him into the bathroom, removed his diaper and set him on the potty.

Let's just say he was less than thrilled.................

He pouted for a bit


Gave me a bit of his evil eyes, all the while saying "no me poo poo momma"



Then tried the puppy dog eyes


Then, when all else failed, and he resorted to SCREAMING, on the top of his lungs, "NO. ME. POO POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"


I felt bad, but couldn't help but laugh. All our windows were open since the weather was so nice, and I have to wonder what my neighbors must have thought! lol

ETA: As it was pointed out by my mom in the comments, I never said if it was a "successful mission".............................. eh no. After he finally composed himself, I let him down. BUT he did have a successful trip later in the day (and no tears)!!!

We have VERY exciting news for all of our clients, your shopping experience just got a LOT more simple!!!! We have been working non stop for the last week on our new shopping cart program. We've listened to all of our clients feedback with their past shopping experiences and I think we've found a solution that goes above and beyond expectations!

Introducing our new shopping cart!!!


You can poke around and check everything out for yourself by going to http://www.JenStewartPhotographyClients.com/RedCart or you can go to our website, and there is now a link there called "Shopping Cart" for quick easy access to the cart!

And what is a new announcement without a special deal offered?!?!?! To kick things off we would like to offer any of our past clients, the option to try the cart out for yourself, help us kick the tires, and order some of those photos you've been meaning to order from your previous session with Jen Stewart Photography.

If you had a photo session prior to August 1st 2008, contact us in the next week (by Wednesday August 21st) we will upload your photo session and you will get a 20% discount on any orders placed during the 2 weeks your gallery is online!!!

Below I've written out step by step the ordering process for a reference to anyone who may want a step by step walk through.

Your shopping experience should be much easier now. The system walks you through the process step by step and is very intuitive. As you can see in the home screen above, you now have an image next to each gallery making it easier to find the gallery you are looking for. Once you select the gallery you are looking for you click on the photo to enter the gallery. You will be prompted to enter your email address. This is so your favorites, any orders in process, and "my album" choices will be saved and you can come back to them at a later date. You will also receive one reminder email prior to the gallery expiring, but don't worry we will NOT spam you. We HATE HATE HATE spam and promise never to send useless emails to our clients!


1) Once you enter your email address you are taken to "The Light Table". This is your individual gallery's home screen showing thumbnails of each image in the gallery. Click on any image to see a larger view.


2) Once you click on a thumbnail image this is the screen you will see. From this screen you can do many things. You can click on your image and drag it to one of the 2 compare boxes down on the lower right of the screen (where the YELLOW ARROW is). Once you have 2 images in the compare boxes if you click on the word "compare" above the boxes it will toggle you between the 2 photos. The RED ARROWS show where you can click to go back to your "Light Table" to view all the thumbnails. If you would prefer to just scroll through the photos in this larger view as you are viewing now, the boxes in the upper right corner are your "previous" and "next" images, just click on either image to move forward or backwards.


3) From the single image view you can add photos to your "My Cart", "My Album" (which I will explain in a moment), and "My Favorites". The RED ARROWS on the photo below show you the 2 locations on the screen where you can add your photo to these areas. The top arrow points to our drag and drop feature. You can click on your photo and drag it to any of the 3 options (my cart, my album, my favorites). As you can see in the photo below there is a small red circle with an "x" on the image as you drag it, the "x" will disappear once you have it in a place where you can "drop" the image. If the drag and drop function ends up being too confusing never fear, you can just click on one of the options to the right of the image (where the 2nd RED ARROW is pointing in the photo below) and the photo will be added to the option you chose. Once you put an image into one of these options, you will be taken to the appropriate "cart", "album", or "favorites" screen to proceed.


4) When you add a photo to your "cart" you will be taken to a new screen to make your order choices. As you can see in the photo below, the new system walks you through this process step by step. Next to each step are little information buttons with an "i" inside a circle (where the RED ARROW is pointing the photo below). Move your mouse over the button and a yellow information box will pop up with more information.


5) Once you make your paper selection, you then choose the print size. You now have the ability to see how the different sizes will crop on your photo. And YOU can choose where to place that crop!!! Once you have the crop the way you like it, select "proceed with crop" in the bottom right of your screen, a window will pop up showing you what your photo will look like with that crop. select "confirm crop". You than can add any special notes you may have for that image. For instance, small blemishes removed that are included in your session fee (please call if you have any questions on this) or any other notes you'd like us to know specific to that image. You can choose to re-crop the photo, or add blemish removal, if you have more intensive touch ups you'd like made. If you have no special requests for the image, or you are done entering these, you can then click "add to cart" on the bottom right of the screen.


6) For our specialty items you can go to the "Store" to place your order. In the store you can pay your session fee, purchase your album, and purchase custom designed, press print cards.




7) When purchasing the custom designed, press print cards you now can choose a selection of photos as a suggestion of what to use on the card design. You can do this by adding your photo choices to the "My Album" section of the cart. Once you have made your photo selections you can submit those and then proceed to your cart for checkout.


8 ) The photo below shows you the checkout screen. This is where you can look over your order and make any corrections before finalizing your order. If you see any errors in your shopping cart, you can drag that item to the box that the yellow arrow is pointing to in the photo below to remove it from your cart. If you were given a promo code from a sale, or product credit enter it by clicking where you see the RED ARROW in the photo below. Once you have looked over your order and made sure everything is correct click "Check Out" on the bottom right of your screen (where the GREEN ARROW is in the photo below).


9) On the next screen you can enter your billing/shipping information. The RED ARROW below shows your options of either picking up your order, or having it shipped to you. **Please note, there is a $10 shipping charge if you choose to have your order shipped** Once all your information is entered you can click on "continue" on the bottom right of your screen, where the YELLOW ARROW is pointing in the photo below, to continue with your order.


10) This is the final step in the process. Look over you order one last time confirm you have everything correct, and select how you'd like to pay. The RED ARROW on the photo below shows you where you can make this choice. **Please note, if you are choosing to order via paypal you will be taken to paypal's website to complete payment on your order.** Once you have confirmed your order click on "Submit Order" to complete your order. The YELLOW ARROW is pointing to this selection in the photo below.


11) Congratulation when you have completed your order correctly you will see the screen below!