I'm so excited to announce the launch of my NEW WEBSITE!!! It was time to for a new look so I'm thrilled to finally unveil it to you all! I'm not sure who's more relieved it's done, me or my husband. I've had this new site for months now but busy season hit and I had NO time to work on it. Finally, now that I'm taking this month and part of February to catching up on administrative to-do's that have been sadly neglected during busy season, I can complete (or at least attempt to complete) my long to-do list of business projects/plans. Wow, that was a major run-on sentence {shrug, wink}. Anyway check it out and let me know what you think!! Thanks for stopping by!! 
{Designer Spotlight - Kennedy & Friends Co.}
Oh my these tutu's are so fun! I received an exciting package of goodies a while ago from my friend Nathalie, amazing tutu designer and shop owner of Kennedy and Friends Co. , with these beautiful tutus! I love them both! Of course my daughter was tickled when she saw them - her eyes got big and she said in a slow whisper 'Oh they're beautiful mommy'. Then she carefully picked one up and then the other and put on not just one, but two tutu's and began dancing around the house. Then she ran upstairs and grabbed the other tutu's Nathalie designed and put all of them on. She was covered from head to toe in colorful tulle. She even put one on her head and started 'dancing like a princess'. When she saw I noticed her she started to giggle and said, 'How do you like me mommy?'.
I processed these in a faded age washed look - actual tutu colors can be found at Kennedy and Friends Co.Check out her store site for more styles.
Below Brielle was coming up with her own poses - I thought it was funny yet cute since it was her trying to be very posey posed. She even laughed as you can see below.
{it happened...}
Tyler lost his first tooth today. I can't believe my little boy is growing up.
As I pulled into the school parking lot I saw Tyler talking to Briella and I noticed something was different. I gasped knowing what had happened. I waved excitedly to him and mouthed the word tooth while pointing to my teeth, eager to have him jump in the car and show me his missing tooth. When I was finally within talking distance, I whispered excitedly 'Oh my goodness look at you!' He was anxious to tell me. He said 'I lost my tooth mom'. I smiled and said 'I know, I can't believe it'. And he corrected me and said 'No I really lost my tooth.' He told me it happened at lunch. He was eating and he asked his friend Bobby if his tooth was gone and Bobby said yes. Tyler looked all around where he was sitting, in his apple, everywhere and he couldn't find his missing tooth. His teacher is fabulous and said that she's pretty sure the tooth fairy will take a note instead of a tooth since he couldn't find it. So guess what he did right when he got home? You got it - he wrote a note to the tooth fairy all on his own - as you can see he tried to spell everything himself. Wow, my little boy is turning into a little man and there is nothing I can do to slow things down. He is so proud of his toothless smile and shows me every few minutes - as if I've forgotten. No way... before we were even out of the parking lot at school I gave him my cell phone to call both sets of Grandparents - I knew he'd want to be the one to share the exciting news. Briella wanted to share the news with Grandma too - she said into the phone in her little voice 'My friend Tyler, has a loose tooth. I mean a lost tooth.' I love how she refers to her brother as her friend. Daddy won't be home until Friday but I was able to talk to him briefly and tell him about Tyler. He requested a picture - so I'm blogging it in hopes that he can see it tonight. Excuse the poor quality of the image - we were inside in low low light on this dark and rainy day so I maxed my ISO. Thanks for taking the time to read through this post. It's such an emotional milestone for me - I'm sure those of you who are parents can relate . ;-)
{December 2008 Synopsis ~ Overdue}
I can't believe it's already January of the new year! Wow, where has time gone? Well I thought I'd dedicate this post to the last month of 2008. What a month with Christmas, family, friends, and all of the festivities that go along with the holiday's and leading up to New Year's. In summary:
- We had a new house guest this year. A silly looking but irresistibly fun little elf named Zig Zach (the kids named him immediately - Tyler came up with Zach and Briella came up with Zig so we combined the two - a nice compromise). The kids miss him terribly but we're hoping he'll be back to visit us next year.
- Tyler has his first loose tooth - makes me a bit teary to think not long ago we were counting each tooth as they came in. Now we're counting how many loose teeth he has. Why is this so emotional for me? He's so excited he can hardly stand it while I'm wishing I could make time stand still.
- Brielle at age three was so into the magic of Christmas this year. To her everything was 'beautiful'. And I mean everything - from the partially squished grasshopper she brought me to nurse back to health, to the cracked Christmas ornament of the Seattle Ferry. I loved her sincere expressions of how everything was so amazingly beautiful - she'll say it in soft whisper as if she's almost lost her breath it's so stunning. And Santa brought her some pink princess shoes and when we ask her where Santa left them, she replies with her cute little lispy sing songy voice, 'he put them in a big thSock (sock)' ~aka her stocking.
-We also talked to both kids about why we celebrate this amazing holiday so they were reminded of the real reason.
- We had family stay with us in the beginning of December and the end of December - such a great way to start the beginning and end of the month. Wish we could see them more.
- We had our first ever family portrait done! Woo hoo!! I'm so bad, I'm never in pictures since I'm the one behind the lens. So this was fun for me even though I was still the photographer ;-) We used some of the pictures on our holiday card. And I'm hoping to take more pictures of our family together in the future, this is time we can't get back so I want to capture it now.
Overall we had a wonderful end of 2008 and hope to have more fun memories in 2009. I also wanted to thank my clients for such a wonderful 2008 - I couldn't have imagined such a great year, meeting so many new people and their beautiful children. Thank you!
Happy New Year!
Here's a compilation of images from December - just a taste of the final month of 2008. 
And our Holiday Card: Front
Card: Inside Spread
Card: Back {couldn't resist including the dork factor ;-) }
{Giving Is Awesome - Decision Time}
Thank you for the many powerful and moving stories you sent to me. This was truly a very hard and stressful decision. So difficult that I couldn't just choose one person/family to give this gift to, so I've selected two nominees. Even narrowing it down to two families was painful since every nominee had such inspiring, powerful and courageous stories. I hope to donate to some of the others at a later date. I'm currently in communications with the selected families and want to ensure I get their permission before sharing their names and stories on my blog. But as promised, I wanted to make a post about it this evening. Thank you again for taking the time to participate in this important project.
Merry Christmas! God Bless.
{the calming fog}
Thank you so much for those of you who have nominated a person/family for my give-away below. The stories I've gotten so far have been heart-wrenching reminding me how important it is to give to others and to give often. There's still time to send more nominations - just make sure you send them to kara@karamayphotography.com telling me your nominations story, their name and your contact information. I'll be posting the results on Christmas Eve (after obtaining permission from the recipient).
I love mornings like this morning. I woke up to deep mystical fog outside my window. I love the quiet, calm feeling fog brings - everything seems to slow down a bit. It's almost as good as snow (I love snow and have been so jealous that my family and friends in Seattle are seeing snowfall - I miss it and Tyler does too). Anyway, after I dropped the kids off at school I rushed home to get my camera and set out to take a couple of quick pictures before heading back home to packaging orders. Here's some of what I captured today. I haven't had time to look at all of my images just these few. The second image I played around with my two of my homebrewed processings to give the image a different look.
Image below: I drive past this old tree and decayed shack every day. Something about this path takes me to another place. I'll even take the 'long route' just to get another glance at my lonely, beautiful tree an the long narrow path. 
{Giving Is Awesome!}
You know someone. You know someone who's experienced a tragedy, is struggling to stay afloat, is raising kids while holding down more than one job, or is volunteering selflessly despite extenuating personal circumstances. You know someone who can't afford custom photography, but who would cherish it this holiday season. You know someone who deserves a year-round reminder of their family's spirit, love, and beauty.You know someone. I guarantee it. I want to know who they are, and I want to give them the chance to experience complimentary custom photography - $1000 worth, to be exact. Whether it's an albums, prints for Grandma, a bunch of large prints...it's in your power to give them the artwork they deserve this holiday season.
Oh, and the best part? The person who nominates the winner receives a $200 print credit. What better reason to show some love could there possibly be, people?
The rules: You cannot nominate yourself, and the person nominated must sincerely be incapable of purchasing my services. (Being unable to make mortgage payments for a two-million-dollar-home does not qualify as sincere financial need.) The nominee must reside in Florence, Darlington, Timmonsville or the Hartsville area. Tell me who you know, what they're experiencing, and why they deserve my artwork. Please include a way to contact both your nominee and yourself as well. Comment on this blog entry to let me know you've entered, and e-mail me the full story: kara@karamayphotography.com
The winner will be announced on Christmas Eve...get nominating! I can't wait to read all of your entries!
Open your heart to someone this holiday season - and thanks for giving me the opportunity to open mine.
Note: I can't take an credit for this idea my friend Kristen Kalp (www.essentialimagery.com) started the project , Giving Is Awesome (www.givingisawesome.com). She has such a big heart and literally gave me the wording. She's incredible!!
Thanks you!
Faded yesterday - tweaked as always ;-)
{Designer Spotlight: Kate Emerson & Nuxiemade}
You all know what a huge fan I am of these two designers. I use Nuxiemade hats in almost all my sessions and the kids {and moms} love them!! She's coming out with some new designs after the holidays - I can't wait! And Kate Emerson is starting her new Spring line - here's a little sneak peek at one of her adorable knot apron dresses. Brielle felt like such a princess in this dress - she kept dancing and twirling around during our mini session. And when we got home she insisted on keeping on her 'flower princess dress' coupled with her princess crown and sparkly shoes. I had to convince her to take it off to go to bed. She's all girl {except for her devotion to 'little creatures' - aka lizards, ladybugs, any bug really}. Anyway, thanks for stopping by more spotlights to come.
{fantastic finale to my 2008 sessions}
Whew...my 2008 photo sessions are officially done!! Now..... I have a ton of orders to process and packaging to do but after that, I can breathe and enjoy a little bit of time just before the holidays! This last session was so fun, another session I didn't want to end (so many ideas, so little time). I photographed Hayden last year, but this year I got his parents in on the session! I love it when clients let me go with my vision. Thankfully, 99% of my clients let me run with my ideas & vision for the session and this family was no exception. They were awesome to photograph - a gorgeous family. I couldn't decide what images to post so I'm posting a bunch. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Thanks for stopping by my blog :)
Below: faded yesterday conversion
Below - Vintage B&W
I can't help but admit that I LOVE the two pictures below. I asked Kate and Chad to kiss (PG) and here's Hayden's reaction....
{Everywhere...}
Yep everywhere. We went to so many locations during this recent senior session. Kaitlyn was amazing and was up for any locations or ideas I had in mind - which makes for a perfect session. She has the most amazing eyes with her dark brown hair - absolutely gorgeous. Anyway, here's a peek at our session.
Side Note: I've had a lot of client inquiries for sessions lately (my Spring schedule is almost booked) and I apologize for not responding right away. Since this is one of the craziest times of the year I'm just working long days on my current clients needs managing to fit in a couple of hours rest each night and a shower here and there ;-). But I'm thrilled at these requests and will get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks for your patience :) And I look forward to chatting with you about booking a session.
Below - my color... below that one, a bit of my homebrew yesterday's haze. Fun to play :)
