It’s almost Mother’s Day, and I am a fan. I am all about holidays that involve me getting gifts and special treatment. Even if the special treatment is slightly questionable breakfast in bed. But, I love giving gifts, too. So…for Mother’s Day, I am giving away not one, but TWO free photo sessions! Free stuff is awesome, right? Usually, anyway. I have seen some very funky things on sidewalks, with “Free. Take me” signs on them. Photo session are not gross, though. They are fun, and useful, and filled with glittery unicorns and rainbows. So let’s talk details….

The details:
Nominate a mom that you think deserves a photo session, by telling me why you think she is deserving.
I am not going to dictate the methods that you may use share her story…..you may write it out and send it in an email, write a blog post and send me the link, make a video, make a quilt, a collage, bake a cake and frost it with her story. I don’t care. Go crazy. Creativity is always encouraged.

All entries must be received by 11:59 PM on Friday, May 6.

You may nominate and enter yourself.

I refuse to discriminate with a narrow definition of “mom”……………please don’t hesitate to enter those that have had losses or are struggling to conceive, if they do not mind you sharing their story.

One winner will be chosen from the entries submitted, with the help of my super secret panel of judges.

Winner will be announced on Mother’s Day…..May 8.

Wait a minute……you said there were going to be TWO free sessions given away!

You are absolutely right. The second free session winner, will be chosen, at random, from those of you that do one (or more) of the following things…..
Share the link about the contest on facebook.
Share the link about the contest on twitter.
Like double scoop photography’s new page on facebook.

You will receive one entry for each of the options…allowing each person to have up to three entries.
The winner will be selected at random, and will also be announced on  Mother’s Day……May 8.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A MOM TO WIN THIS SESSION.

Fine print:
Free sessions are full sessions. Description of what is included can be found here.
Session must be within 75 miles of Murrieta, CA. You don’t have to live that close to enter, just be willing to travel to a location within that range for your session.
Session must be booked and completed by June 30, 2011.

After my last post, I realized that I had never blogged the pre-baby Ryan session. Doh. How could I forget to blog the session that includes one of my favorite family images ever?

I also have a little favor to ask. Part of the contest that we are in, is the People’s Choice award. The winner is the book that has received the most votes, by..well…..the people, of course. And the people, is YOU. So, I would be ever so grateful, if you would take a minute to register and vote for the Notes Girls Write book. It is not the easiest process ever, but it is not too bad. If you go to the link for our book, and then click on the “Vote for this book” button, it will ask you to provide an email address. They will then ask you to verify your email address by clicking the link in an email that they send you. A bit of a pain, I know, but relatively quick, and it keeps the competition fair. They just want to make sure you are a REAL person, casting a REAL vote. So, if you like the project, and you like the book, your vote would be awesome.

Notes Girls Write by lynsey peterson and melodee tonti | Make Your Own Book

And this blog…I am so happy with some of the cool new things this blog has to offer. The biggest one being that it allows me to share images this size……

See? How cool is that? There will also be a fancy slide show, coming soon, at the top, up there. So watch for that. This blog required me to learn how to do some changing to the  CSS. Yeah….I have never done that before either..but I am a determined little thing, and when I put my mind to something, there is no stopping me. Or, maybe I am just delusional and consistently bite off more than I can chew. It could be that. So…point is….while I did my very best to get things as perfectly perfect as possible, there may be a thing or two that I missed, and will adjust those as I find them, but I still think it looks rather pretty, overall, don’t you? So come on in, make yourself at home, just don’t sit in that big, comfy chair over there…that one’s mine.

Hi. I am Melodee, and I love photography. I did not go to school for photography, or study under an expert with years of experience. I am a girl that has always loved the idea of a camera and what it could do. I am a girl that was raised by a single mom, which meant money was tight. There were no fancy cameras in my growing up….but there was an old 110 camera…and then a Kodak disc camera….remember those? I organized a whole “fashion shoot” with two friends and that crappy disc camera. Then, when the disc camera was broken, and I could not afford a new one, there were countless disposable cameras…many of which never got developed. But there were many of them that did….and there were stacks and stacks of images….faces….friends….family…smiling…laughing…goofing around…..posing, and not posing. If there were pictures taken at Christmas or another get together, they were probably taken by me…with a little cardboard disposable, waiting for the light to tell me the flash was ready.

After my son was born, I took him back to Pennsylvania, to visit family. My grandfather, who was deep into his battle with Alzheimer’s, wanted to hold my son, who was eight months old at the time. I snapped away with my little disposable camera, knowing that this may be the only time I ever saw them together. It was getting dark, and the flash was not ready fast enough for all of the clicking I was doing, and I was sure that I would have nothing to show for it. When I got that film developed, there was a shot of my son and my grandfather, looking right into each others’ eyes. The only time they would ever do so. It was looking at that image that I really understood the power of photography.

When my daughter was born, we got a REAL camera! A fancy camera. A camera that DID things. You could control things! And it was digital! Instant gratification and no paying for developing film! Oooh, the power! I posed and posed and posed my newborn daughter. My images were…..well, not exactly fantastic. But then, I caught an image of my husband holding my daughter up in the air and smiling at her…and as soon as I saw it on the screen, I felt it again.

When I had pushed my semi-fancy Sony and my point and shoot to its limits, but was still craving more control, and wanted to take even better pictures, I was lucky enough to get my first DSLR. So exciting. That camera was in my hands non-stop. No person, or animal, or flower, or blade of grass, or pair of shoes was safe from its lens. I put more hours into that camera than I had devoted to anything in a long time. I read the manual, cover to cover. I scoured the internet for tutorials, and articles, and classes. I took pictures of anyone that would let me. I looked at photography blog after photography blog, sometimes until 4 am. Then, I found this website, and spent the night pouring over it. After working with the elderly, and losing both of  my grandfathers, it immediately grabbed me. Very soon after that, my step father died, after being very ill for a long time. I heard my mother wishing that she had gotten some sort of images of him to have from their last year….images of their hands together….the details. I realized again how amazingly powerful an image can be. My mother and I started working together to provide photo sessions for people on hospice and their families. As I was doing this, I began to have people ask if I would take pictures of their kids or their family. I agreed, but made sure to caution them that it was just a hobby. About a zillion digital files, and a whole lot of encouragement later, I took my first paid session. That was over two years ago.

In those two years, I have had friends that have become clients, and clients that have become friends. I have photographed a baby crawling for the very first time, a first kiss as husband and wife, and a dad that had been deployed, meeting his baby girl for the first time. In the world of photography, I would be considered by some to be a just a MWAC….a Mom With A Camera, and that is considered to be a bad thing. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to prove myself as something more…..then I realized that there was no need to be more. I don’t need to be more than who I am. I do not choose to pick up my camera to get the approval of some photographers that may have taken a very different road to this business than I have. I pick up my camera because I love photography. I pick up my camera because I love seeing my clients enjoying the images we have taken in our sessions.  And even with external hard drives full of images, I still come across images that take my breath away…and not because of my fancy camera or my knowledge of aperture and shutter speed….but because of the moment that was captured. (And holy crap, I hate using cheesy words like “capturing moments”…but sometimes there is just no other way to say it.) …and that is a rush like nothing else. It is what I love….and no crabby photographers…..and no self-doubt…and no meaningless acronyms, like MWAC….will ever change that for me again.

I am so thankful for all of the clients that have given this girl and her camera a chance to be a part of their story. Here are a few images of moments that remind me why I love what I do….

Now what does something like that look like? Well, take a look at our promo. It will give you just a little sample of how freaking cool a session like this can be. Official pricing and details will be posted soon, but until then, feel free to email me for more info.

Now you can watch this video here…but I recommend watching it here…where it is all bigger and prettier.

Ever since we had our family photo session, in June, I have been plotting and planning for an opportunity to have a session with just my husband and I. We haven’t really had any nice pictures taken of us since our wedding. I have a feeling that we are not the only ones. And you don’t need to be married for this to be an awesome gift. Just take a minute to picture your girlfriend’s reaction as she flips through her customized book of images.

You can even add a message of your own to be printed in the book, to give it that extra touch.

I know coming up with the perfect gift doesn’t usually rank very high on a guy’s list of fun things to do, so I am going to make it easy for you. For one great price, you can get your session, a dvd slideshow of your finished images, set to music (an awesome gift all by itself….known to induce happy tears on many occasions), a cd of high resolution files of your finished images, and, of course, the coffee table book….all for $325. You can complete your session by January 30 to recieve your book in time for Valentine’s Day, or you can just give the gift certificate for Valentine’s Day and schedule a session later. See how easy that is? And to sweeten the deal, if you schedule and complete your session in January, I will also throw in 2 8×10 prints of images of your choice.

So, since I have a feeling that most of the people who visit this blog are not of the male persuasion, I am counting on all of the woman to pass this information along to someone you think would benefit from it. Maybe a brother-in-law, a son, or maybe even your own husband. Or heck, maybe you want to give this gift to your significant other….or to another couple you know would love it. Just pass it on and spread the love.

This is New Orleans Square, taken while we waited in line for our soup in bread bowls. At one point, they ran out of bread bowls. A lady came down the line, and was all….. No soup for you! But, miraculously, a few minutes later, more bread bowls appeared. It was a Christmas miracle.

We found our spot on Main Street to watch the fireworks…

I kind of hate crowds, so usually avoid anything that involves packing myself in with hundreds of strangers like sardines, but this was worth it. Look….

Catching faux snow in his hat.

I’ve been so busy with holiday editing that it feels like the holidays are passing me by, so it was nice to take a break and enjoy it.  What do you like to do to get in the holiday spirit?

These cute kiddos are cousins….

Ahtalya…..

and Tatyana are sisters. (Tatyana was ready for her n-a-p)

And….their cousins….

Would you take a look at these two? Roman and Mario…..but please don’t ask me which one is which.

And their beautiful sister, Mayah.

Thank you for letting me hang out with your families this morning!