Just a regular Saturday morning

I love Saturday mornings. I am currently sitting here with my two (very crazy) dogs, enjoying a delicious cup of coffee. Does anyone else have the Keurig coffee makers? I got one right after I moved into my new apartment and just LOVE it. It's like making coffee on the go. It takes all of 30 seconds and i have delicious coffee. It's not big and fancy like the one pictured, but my coffee is pretty basic.

Alright enough of the brew. I have received such AMAZING feedback with my shoot last week with Mejia mamma and her family. Thank you to all of you, it means so much to me! Today I will be working on some more marketing/branding. I think I'm almost there. I found the perfect color scheme that, I believe, is a little edgy, a little fun, and very much me. I am very excited to show you guys! Once I get it up and looking perfect, I will post pictures and re-post my sessions/price list. Instead of music playing in the background, I have  "The Holiday" playing on my TV. I love this movie, I'm pretty sure I've watched it... a million times. At least. I almost know it word for word! Adios for now fellow bloggers!

A little family to end the week

So first I cannot believe it's taken me this long to post in my blog. SECOND! I have finished editing from my shoot this previous weekend with the beautiful Mejia family! Calista is the founder of Custom from Calista. Custom from Calista is an online boutique that specializes in hand crafted, made to order, customer baby/toddler gifts. I had gotten some flower headbands and a few tutu's for my newborns and they turned out amazing!! She's very talented!

Ok, back to my little family. They are seriously such a fun and easy going family. I had the best time working with them. We met up at a park in Encinitas and although it ended up being a nice afternoon it was definitely on the chiller side! I know their daughter K hadn't been feeling well but she toughed it out with me. We put her on the swings to start with so I could get some photos with Calista and James and she almost didn't get off! I was so happy to get some photos with just Calista and James as she had mentioned they hadn't had some in awhile. I am in love with how they turned out! So here are a few more sneak peeks that I didn't throw up on facebook, enjoy bloggers!!

Price list finally up! and many other exciting things

So first and foremost I finally have a print price list to go along with my session list! Normally, I had been just doing CD's and allowing my clients to print at their own will, but with  my last session I had actually gotten prints done and was just blown away by the sheer quality of the prints I received. It is remarkable how much better the pictures look when printed at an actual print lab and not at Walmart or Walgreens. So after I noticed that, I started toying with the idea of having an actual print list. Below is what I came up with!

Also, on top of my price list, I also realized (I know, a little late in the game) that I really needed my own set of marketing materials instead of the hodge podge that I have now. There are SO MANY forms that you can use! Any suggestions on what other photog's love and which ones they use the most would be great =) I need all the feedback I can get! I have been trying to get an idea of which forms I need and which are great to have around just in case, but it's so hard to pick the essentials and also have a little variety so that I can cater to each shoot personally.

I absolutely love Design Aglow's website. They have such fantastic materials available. I wish I could just buy them all! I also found another great site called Brand Sushi. They have a lot of similar packets available and a slightly cheaper price. Seeing as how I am still greatly on a budget, this helps a lot. Any other recommended sites or suggestions would be greatly appreciated =)

Off to keep searching for the evening then finally crashing. It has been a busy week at work and it's only Tuesday.

Taylor and Michael go to the park!

So as part of my portfolio building, Taylor and her boyfriend Michael really helped me out by doing a session with me. We went up into Fallbrook and found a cute park and did a little off roading on our way out of town! Here are a few sneak peaks of our trip...

A little new scenery to end the day

At work today I was looking for some new locations to do photo shoots. I know I live in San Diego and it's basically the epitome of beautiful places, but I'm looking for things a little off the beaten path that aren't used as much by everyone else. So I just started google searching for "fields", "parks", and basically anything in between and browsing images. This.Isn't.That.Easy. Don't try it at all, I looked at the same photo I swear, 15 times. Eventually I just pulled up google maps and looked around the area. Another thing I noticed? San Diego is full of golf courses. But I did find a couple places in particular for my session tomorrow with the awesome Taylor and her boyfriend Mike. We are going too be up in Fallbrook. Below is a little sneak peak at the scenery I saw today! I was a little disappointed because its behind a hill so the sun sets faster.. but along the route there are some great off the road places. Does anyone else do that? Just pull over when you see a good photo spot just to try it? Hopefully you do and I'm not crazy haha

So with that, I bid you adieu =)

Finally, a session pricing list

So I finally have a session pricing list. I did a lot of research to come up with the prices and time frames listed below. I will also be posting a price list, which includes pricing for prints and digital options. The list below is basically the session amount, length of time and some more important information. If you have any questions please shoot me over an email at jennkten@gmail.com!

Good things come to those who wait

Sorry for such the delay! It's been a hectic few days. However I am happy to announce that in July I will be doing a newborn shoot in my hometown. My godsister is having a baby! Not only do I get to do the photos for what will be the cutest baby ever (we don't know if its a girl or a boy yet) but I also get to be the godmother to that beautiful child!! I'm so excited I cried at my desk haha. In that same day, I also found out that I am getting about an extra $300 in my taxes. This is a fantastic thing haha. So how is everyone doing?! In need of any photos done? I have a few upcoming shoots that I am excited about. Getting to branch out and do families, couples and young kids. It will be a great up and coming month!

So today is all about football. Even though I don't like football I will still be going out with friends to enjoy the game. Be safe today everyone!

and then there was 3!

Who doesn't love a good happy hour? No one, that's who. Everyone loves a good happy hour. 

And to end my fabulous happy hour evening, I have happy news! I have the 3 couples who will be helping me build my portfolio! Big shout out to Nickole, Calista, and Kristen for volunteering for me! We will hopefully be getting these sessions underway in the next few weeks and of course, sneak peaks will be posted!

Stayed tuned! 

Workin' on the portfolio

Of course it's raining. The weather was finally thinking about warming up and it had to go and rain! Not that I completely mind it, but I'd much rather be at home with a warm drink and movies, than be at my desk all day. Thankfully, I got to have some homemade soup tonight and that really just made the rest of the day worth it.

Here's the deal! I need your help fellow readers! Anyone in the Southern California region, I need to start putting together a portfolio and would love some help! Please see the picture below for more details, but basically I need 3 couples who are willing to give me up to an hour of the day for a free shoot and some additional photographs of you and your significant other!

I'm super excited about it! Anyone who'd like to participate, please send me an email and we can work out the finer details. If I do get more than 3 offers, than anyone after that will receive a discounted rate on a sitting fee.

Also, I am super stoked to be seeing my best friend who is in town tomorrow and her beautiful baby boy. I can't believe how big he is getting! I took the picture above a few weeks after he was born and its incredible how big he already is! He needs to shrink... or stay at his current size, but nonetheless, I am so excited to see them both!

I am off for the night! Going to try and get to sleep early and be well rested tomorrow. Goodnight!

It's website time!

As I sit here, finally backing up my pictures (I've been meaning to do this for weeks! I just keep forgetting where I keep my external hard drive) I can now say, I have a website!! You can now view my work at Jennifer Katen Photography. It feels very official =)  It's the time to get things done around here, nothing like the present!

Other than that, today was just another day. I work for a tech support company from before the crack of dawn till early afternoon. My shift just recently changed to this so I'm hoping to start scheduling shoots for mid afternoon, which is a fantastic lighting opportunity here in San Diego! But today is Thursday and this is known as "Bagel day". My office provides bagels, fruit, muffins and donuts on Thursday's for us =) It's nice way to start off pre-Friday haha. But really, it's nice thing for our managers to do for us.

Tonight I am going to start working on my new marketing packets that I *hope* to finally finish in the next couple weeks. I've been gathering ideas the past few days on, of course, Pinterest, where else would I go? I swear, I have found some of the best companies on that site! So I've been trying to decide how I want to brand my business. I'll post pictures as soon as I start compiling ideas!

~Goodnight everyone!

A little something at the end of day

So I just signed myself up for my first ever giveaway from Mandi Cleveland Studio and Design! It's very exciting haha I know, that sounds kind of lame, but I haven't done a giveaway before and I wasn't even sure how it worked. So now that I do, perhaps a few months from now I'll even get to do one =]

On another note, if you haven't yet, please go sign the SOPA petition with Google. I'd really like to be able to use the internet and I know everyone else would too!

I'm also looking into doing some contests. Has anyone entered into a photography contest before? I've been looking around online for some and I am finding somethings but not exactly what I was looking for.

As for tonight, I will be working on some new marketing tools and strategies. I'm trying to design a little packet of sorts to start handing out too new and potential clients. Will be posting pics soon!

Beginning of a new adventure

Well here we go! I have officially started a blog and hopefully as the weeks and months go by it'll turn out to do well. I am looking forward to a fantastic 2012 and many memories to share! Below is a picture of one of my favorite little boys (and my best friends son) Kayden. Enjoy!