gwendolyn waite photography :: blog

Do you love holiday cards as much as I do? Especially the ones with photos of friends and family, right? Here are the holiday cards I will be offering this year, available with photos from your session. Aren’t they fun? They are a great way to showcase your beautiful family and your fabulous sense of style. All cards are 5×7 folded cards, personalized with your own message, and press printed on nice heavy paper - they have a wonderful feel to them. Wouldn’t it be nice to get them done early this year? Now there’s a thought. Maybe I should take my own advice :)

I have recently set up a page for gwendolyn waite photography on facebook. If you facebook, or if you don’t, come check me out. Make my day and become a fan!

Another shout out to all of you who are visiting my blog and website - right now if you google “baby photographer twin cities”, you will see gwendolyn waite photography as the first result! These rankings change daily, but I’m usually in the top ten. Sweet. Thanks to all of you for your visits!

This morning I woke up reluctantly, after a particularly rough night with the urchins. I was slow, groggy, and grumpy. But I was met with four beautiful smiles, one from each of my children, and one from my husband. I know some days I take it for granted, but I do realize how very lucky I am to have a healthy family, full of smiling faces.

I truly believe that every child should have a smile they can be proud of, so during the month of October, I will be donating 10% of my profits to Operation Smile.

Here are some numbers:

In as little as 45 minutes, for as little as $240, a cleft lip surgery can change a child’s life forever.

More than 100,000 children are born with a facial deformity each year in Operation Smile’s 26 partner countries.

Over 6,000 volunteer doctors, nurses, dentists, and specialized health-care professionals work with Operation Smile to help these children.

Since 1982, more than 115,000 children and young adults have been treated by thousands of volunteers worldwide and thousands of healthcare professionals have been trained globally.

That’s a lot of smiles.

Please join with me to help support this incredible organization. Recording the faces of children filled with hope and laughter is one of my greatest pleasures. This is why I believe so strongly in Operation Smile’s work.

With the holidays right around the corner, October is a fantastic time to get some family photos, so contact me now to make an appointment.

Meet little [D]. She’s all of four now - sweet, spunky, and very silly. And tell me she doesn’t have the most gorgeous eyes! We got to hang out at the Gibbs Museum (a historic farm) in St. Paul - none of us had been there before. It was fantastic - a great spot for a photo shoot. There were all kinds of animals - roosters, a couple sheep, a goat, and Henry the blind teenage horse. And a beautiful one room schoolhouse with fantastic natural light. Of course we had to play school inside… You can go on a tour of the grounds and buildings there, although we didn’t have time with all the photos, but I would love to take my own kids there soon. Thanks for a fun afternoon!

So yesterday I got to meet several photographers from the area - we started out at Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater, and brought whatever models we could muster. I happen to have three absolutely beautiful children (no bias here!!!) so they all came along with the bribe promise of a treat if they were cooperative models. Lo and behold, they totally got into it. Most of all, my soon-to-be-eight-year-old son. He had a blast. One of the photographers brought along a vision of a young Viking, and the props to back it up. So Oliver was a Viking. With Keens. Of course if a photo shoot involves jumping of a cliff you can guarantee Oliver will be down with it.

We also had a gorgeous senior who was so patient with all of us paparazzi in her face. She was awesome. Another little babe, very close in age to Elliott, with the most beautiful eyes, was there to model as well.

Here are some shots from the day.