This is a photo I took the other day for a contest entry over at The Light Workshop.  This was one of five photos that snagged 3rd place out of 500 entries!  Yippee!  The very same balloons that caused the rash…I wonder if she’ll think it was worth it!?

Thank you Detra!

Hey Connecticut Seniors!  Are you interested in having awesome senior photos that will cost you next to nothing!?  Hallie Westcott Photography is looking for juniors in the Hartford, Tolland & Middlesex, CT areas that will be graduating in 2011.  I am looking for students that are interested in having their portraits taken early in exchange for print credits, gift certificates and discounts.  Cool huh?   Interested and want to learn more?   Go here or click on the ‘2011 Seniors’ link on the navigation bar.

If you are coming from a contract school and must have your yearbook photo taken with the school’s contracted photographer….no problem.  You can have your senior photo taken with them and have the FUN PHOTOS done with me, and receive a $30 discount off your session fee.

There are a very limited number of spokesmodel positions available, so make sure you fill out your application soon!  Applications will only be accepted until February 25th.

Now…check out the awesome new wallet templates!  And yes, all of the wallets have rounded corners.  You can have your choice of any of these, as well as a few more not shown here!  If you can’t choose, just mix and match with your favorite session photos!

Calling all 2011 Connecticut seniors!  If you book your “2009 for 2011″ senior session by January 31, 2010, you will receive 2009 prices!  A $185.00 savings!

To find out more about senior sessions, just fill out the contact form located here and I will get right back to you.

All senior sessions have unlimited locations within a ten mile radius, unlimited clothing changes and unlimited time!   So set up your session soon and don’t miss this awesome package!

If you are coming from a contract school and must have your yearbook photo taken with the school’s contracted photographer….no problem.  You can have your senior photo taken with them and have the FUN PHOTOS done with me, and receive a $30 discount off your session fee.

PS – I’ll be looking for 2011 CT Senior Reps soon, so stay tuned for the details!

I love the soft vintage look.  I should really do this more often.

This past summer I had the pleasure to take photos of Jared, Sarah and Allena….to us they are our extended family.  We met several years ago at a homeschool co-op and since have developed an extremely close relationship.

There is something so special about these three, and I love them so dearly.  Jared is hilarious and so much fun to be around.  He is gentle and shy, yet genuine and outgoing.  He loves children and they love him!  My little one hangs all over him and he genuinely enjoys her company.  He will make an extraordinary father someday.

Sarah is brilliant when it comes to academics and life.  She has so much wisdom for her young age.  She wanted to be president from the first day I met her, and the way she’s going I’m sure she’ll make it there eventually.  She’ll be going off to college soon and I know there is not a  school around that will not accept her.  She’s brilliant and beautiful, inside and out!

Last but not least, Allena is the wittiest girl I’ve ever met.  She is my Sarah’s best friend and like another daughter to me.  Together we gang up on my Sarah, and we all get a good laugh.  Allena is outgoing and she speaks her mind, even to me.  That’s probably what I love about her so much.  She is so genuine.  She is studying graphic design…a girl after my own heart, and I can’t wait to see what she does with her future….I could go on and on about them.   Truly I could…but most importantly, they have strong, godly parents that gave them a great foundation.

When you put these three together, it’s sure to be a day to remember.  Now that all of them are away; Sarah and Allena in boarding school, and Jared in another state, we don’t get to see each other too often, but it’s a blast when we do!

Love you guys….hope I didn’t embarrass you too much

I love Christmas.  I love all that it represents, I love the smells, the colorful decorations, the Christmas music, the anticipation and joy on my children’s faces and mostly, knowing that a new year is about to begin and in a just a few months, we will be rid of all traces of snow (pretty, but I could live without it for a year or two.)   What I don’t love is the traffic, the overspending, the obligations, and the exhaustion that inevitably sucks the life right out of me.  So this year I decided I was through with all the hoopla associated with Christmas.  I planned on getting my shopping done early, going totally low key and then I had a revelation of sorts.  I made the announcement that on Christmas day, we were starting a new tradition.  We would visit with our family on Christmas Eve, but on Christmas day, we would be staying home in our pajamas, eating baked macaroni & cheese and watching Christmas movies.  And let me tell you, it was the best decision I ever made.

Christmas Eve day, we baked and cooked from morning until evening.  Family came, we ate, we laughed, opened presents and out the door they went.  Do I sound happy?  Well I was.  They don’t take offense to it.  They are low key and not overly sentimental, just like me.  They know that for the last 15+ years, the responsibility of getting everyone together and making it a merry Christmas has fallen on my shoulders, and I am just tired of doing all the work.

Christmas morning came and we were so tired from the previous day, that we even skipped church, but I can tell you, it was the most glorious Christmas ever!  We were in our pj’s all day, watching Tim Hawkin’s DVD’s, laughing until we cried ( and thank you Tim.  You are a gift that just keeps on giving.)   We ate nothing but junk and the most work I did all day was lift my hand to my mouth.  You can call that a gift to myself.

Hope you all had a wonderful *your* kind of Christmas!

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I’ve been on somewhat of a cleaning frenzy lately.  Everything from the closets to my hard drive and I can tell you, there is no end in sight, which for me, is the bad news.  The good news is… I have taken some time to edit some of my favorite photos.  You know the ones.  You promise yourself you’ll get to them eventually and they just sit there taking up precious space.  Your good intentions fly right out the window because there is always something more important to be done.

My life story. Always.

But I decided to live a little today and cast my responsibilities to the wind.

Editing makes my heart sing and while I’m lost in Photoshop world, I haven’t a care.  But just like good movies, it eventually comes to an end.

Though I’m quite thankful I can view the results of my labor.

My poor photo-less child.  She is always holding the reflector, (my faithful assistant, even on this day.)   Finally, it was her turn in front of my lens.

Did I ever mention how much I love urban sessions?  Well I do.  Big time.  And these three made it even better!

I don’t know that I have ever had a session where I had such a difficult time picking preview images.  They are such great looking kids and super fun as well!

It always makes my job easier when the kids are having just as much fun as I am, and they sure did.

Thanks so much Colleen!  I hope you like them!

I had a blast photographing this bunch the other day.  And they are by far the liveliest children I have ever known.  My one regret is that there is no audio to go along with the photos, because they were hysterical!

They all made their best attempt to be serious at times, but to no avail.  They are so full of fun and mischief, my only hope was to wear them out, which did eventually happen, right along with myself.

Aren’t they sweet!?

This little sweetie made my day!

It’s not too often I come across a baby that doesn’t cry.  Ever.  Seriously, Mason is a photographer’s dream.  He smiled and smiled and then smiled some more.  And in between, he made cutesy faces.  I could barely focus on what I was doing because I was too busy saying, “awwwhhhh!”

And then to add to the cuteness is Bodi, the family’s English Bulldog.  Just look at that face!

Thanks Carrie for letting me be the one to capture all Mason’s sweetness!