I have decided to make official what I have thought to make official for sometime. All teachers will receive a 10% discount on ALL products ( prints, framed prints, custom designed cards, albums etc), a 10% discount to all portrait packages ( including gift cards), AND 5% off all wedding packages. How's that. Kudos to the teachers. So don't be afraid to say, hey Sharyn, I am a teacher! ok COOL. let's ring in that teacher discount. Now, if your my daughter's teacher, well, you know I will be giving you free upgrades and extras too. So when your boyfriend or husband says, why is she doing that? Well, when you're Lucia's teacher, I want to be extra nice. Hello... Not just a homemade cupcake made by Lucia, which can sometimes, be more about the thought.

My mom, has been a public school teacher for longer than I have been alive. So I know the deal. I remember almost al of my teachers, and thank-fully there are many good ones to remember! A few I could live with out, but what's a few in the scheme of things.

I am a big fan of arts in education. I will tout what my former high school head mistress Stephanie Perrin from Walnut Hill said to Congress with the late Senator Kennedy at an arts education symposium - be it drama class, art class, music class, it allows students to bring THEMSELVES to the class, to their assignments, and therefore it engages them on a deeper level. It is not just regurgitation of information. It also allows for self criticism, group critics, and this is value able. I can remember critique after critique all through art school. I can remember a photo instructor Paul Kohl. ripping on of my 8x10 fiver prints down off the wall to make the example that a photo is just a photo. If it isn't perfect reprint it. ( I was actually proud he chose mine to rip up). And public schools with a strong arts curriculum have a higher graduation rate and higher percentage of students going on to further education. For me, I thank my lucky stars that I found Walnut Hill School for the Arts. My public school art teacher told me I could not go to college and study art, after my eyes lit up with the prospective of not having to follow in my academia older sister and cousin who were those students with the highest grad point average year after year ( there is a name for that, but I forgot, something about ocd on a 98.6 vs. 98.5 ave... ). Well I did attend art college. AND I loved it. Would do it again if I had to do it all over.

Thank-you teachers! discount now in affect.

Metallic photo paper, lush, colorful, shiny, can't take your eyes off it, ready to hang and hold your attention. The latest thing I love: Metallic Flushmount. 16x24 ins. a full frame delight. How an image should be seen. Quality imagery.

Please go to the order products link on my site for details, see the metallic flushmount on the top right hand side.

For the month of February I have had a display of portraits at the Starbucks here in Freeport. My dear Lucia was there to help, advise, oversee ladder duties, and consume donuts and apple juice. These are a great way to frame images from any shoot or wedding. If you are in Freeport I recommend going in and viewing them. If you are interested in size and price information for yourself, please go to the order products link on my site for details!

Last night at the Spare Time Bowling Alley, in Brunswick Maine, Bree Candland was proposed too, down on one knee, the groom to be, disco lights, galactic bowling, surrounded by sodas, gumball machines and good plenty's on plaid picnic table covers. She had just finished rolling, turned around, and the bride and groom were walking towards her with a microphone in hand, and told her not to go back to her seat. She was very taken aback. The groom got down on one knee, and together with his bride to be asked her to be their officiate. He opened up the jewelry box and their was a ring, the same one Bree said she liked while helping the groom shop for an engagement ring months before. Bree was bright red and very surprised. She said yes a couple of times. She would have said yes anyway, but getting jewelry was a major plus.

So the morale for this story for me, PROPOSE to your wedding vendors! How great would it be, if a couple came to me, or via the mail, since I don't go bowling to often, not to mention with my couples... with a little ring, and in it would be a note asking:, would you be our beloved wedding photographer.... and I would say .... yes.... as Bree says a little Jewelry goes a long

For a wedding officiate in Midcoast Maine, contact Bree Candland . She has couples laughing and crying at the same time. But come with jewelry.

This weekend Sweet Love Boutique in Gardiner is holding an open house and major SALE ( up to 50% off gowns). I will be attending part of the festivities. This is a shot we did at Sweet Love with some of their fabulous gowns. They have over 200 used/ discounted top brand wedding gowns in stock. Oh my.
I will be there along with other wedding professionals throughout this weekend for consultations. I hope to see you there!

Sweet Love Boutique: 289 Water Street Gardiner 207-512-5898

Pictures of Ali. Ali is a new employee at Headgames Salon. A massage therapist. Here are sample images used for her employee photo shoot. Ali says her dream massage client would be David Beckham. Yeah, I could become a massage therapist too if she called in sick that day. Had to get a shot of the background working boys tearing down walls. Their foreman sent them to lunch, apparently Ali was too distracting. :)
Here's to employee head shots that are pretty!

When someone orders images from their gallery, I will photoshop out blemishes. This includes pimples and razor bumps. I have yet to meet anyone who is personally offended by this. Sometimes there are small imperfections of the skin that you don't notice in real life. But a photograph allows us to study small details but capturing that moment and let's us" examine" it for hours if we choose. Now I do not expect those purchasing images, to examine their photographs, but to look and enjoy. I do the examining. I look for typical things that would stand out to me as, now we don't need to remember that. Yesterday I spent a good bit of time retouching small pimples, razor bumps, and hideous signs in the background that scream DANGER or EXIT. I LOVE those. I will also retouch some hair if the wind catches the back of a mans hair and flips up a piece that looks like a "thumbs up"... often though, I do like the wind blown look. Hate to make things not look natural. What I DO NOT want to do, is retouch so heavily people have no dimension to their faces, and look like the animated characters on the Barbie movies ( Lucia love Barbie, a Fashion Fairytale ... ). Have you seen these movies? These Barbie characters look like Gollem in Lord of the Rings. Their eyes are glassy and huge. eesh.

Yes so retouching will be done, but not to an extreme, even though extreme images are the norm in movies today.... I am not buying it for my portrait work. And neither am I letting a pimple get by me if I can help it.

So I am thinking, what does one do on Valentine's Day. My friend Marteen being a model girlfriend, buys a new dress to go out to dinner with her boyfriend, hires a babysitter for the evening, straightens hair, and has present to boyfriend wrapped, days before, a present of the boyfriend himself taken with his son by her said photographer friend. Hmmm. Not bad. Love the dress. Love eating out at Fore St. ok. What have I done? According to my non original to America friend, Valentines in America is too much about a romantic love.
Well I have made Lucia;s Valentines cards for her class this am. But perhaps, now that she is 4 I need to start a Valentines tradition. She loves flowers. LOVES. Loves all things pretty. There are probably no flowers left in the town of Freeport. I am thinking, take her out for a treat? chocolates? Or stay home and decorate the kitchen with dangly paper hearts, have heart shaped spaghetti with heart cheese ( we have 4 different heart shape cookie cutters)... with candle light? Lucia loves to decorate and use tape, and make it a picnic special... let's see how I do.


again, here's to LOVE...

In between snowstorms we did this shoot. This is Kelly and Brandon. Kelly and Brandon are getting married on Labor Day weekend. Chloe their baby (lab) came along for a few shots, with Kelly's mom, who used to work near Post Office square, where we did the shoot. I never had shot here in the snow. I first started shooting around here in 1995 when I had a job with Andrew Gordon photography out of NYC to photograph buildings throughout Boston. Brandon is a good foot taller than Kelly. Seems to be the trend in my engagement shoots! Brandon is a police officer. Uniform... cool photos. I think that is a must. Perhaps I will do a post wedding shoot, say year after the wedding, and he can wear the uniform then . . :)



Here's to LOVE...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baby Liam! A newborn session is one of my favorite things to do. Baby Liam is now 8 weeks old. Since Christmas Dayna and I have talked about doing this shoot, and it finally happened! As supporting roles in his big debut shoot, was his mom, dad and grandmother, and of course all were included in the shoot. Dayna (momma) had left to go to work in the morning, and left Dad with 2 instructions, bath the baby and make sure he sleeps. Well he bathed him, and Liam got about 15 minutes of rest. Of course Dad had to wake him up to take a bath. :) This was discussed of course after Dad left to go to work. Ah yes, the dynamics of parenting ...Little Liam was tired, dosed off 2 times during the shoot, peed on his momma once, all the things baby boys are expected to do when the photographer shows up to take his picture!

Here's to Newborn photos!

July 4th 2010, another spectacular, out of the ordinary wedding and it is now a feature in Seacoast Bride magazine. Not your typical brides, not your typical wedding day. 2 brides, and a float in the Round Pound 4th of July Parade, tennis swimming and then contra dancing. Now that this wedding has been published, photos will be on my site. If any of you have been to the Round Pound 4th of July Parade, you know it is anything but a typical 4th of July parade, by traditional standards. But to me in the theme of freedom of speech, is 100% American. One of my favorites signs on Carla & Martha's float was, "who needs Ogunquit, we have Round Pound" Love it. I will simply have to post images. Kudos to my assistant that day Bess Marine for JOGGING along side the float the entire way through round pound, while wearing black, and carrying a back pack of gear, and shooting the whole, and NEVER complained! Bess rocks, as does Carla & Martha and their whole wedding weekend.

Sharyn Peavey Maine Wedding Photographer, Maine Photographer and available for travel.