Soul Mates - Free Mini Session and Photos

Soul Mate Minis Sessions
Have you been married fifty years or longer?  Do you know someone who has?
Wouldn't you love to have a beautiful black and white portrait of you and your loved one?
Amy Rich Photography wants to help celebrate this commitment by offering a free mini session and a free 5x7 to these soul mates! 
Have you found your soul mate but have not been together that long yet?  No problem.  For $30 you can get the same mini session and 5x7 print.   (Actual Value $80)
I will be doing the Soul Mate Sessions on Valentine's Day.  You will need to make an appointment so don't delay as I will only be opening a few slots.   Call the studio at 615-335-5529 and get on the calendar!
Be sure and "like" my page on Facebook to receive more specials and offers!

Free Halloween Shoot! No tricks! All treats!

One week from today is our annual Free Halloween Shoot!!   Bring your costumed cuties to the studio between 10-5 and receive one free 4x6 per family!!  If you bring canned goods to donate to the Wilson County Community Help Center then you will receive TWO free 4x6's. 

And YES, these are absolutely free.  While you are free to purchase additional photos it is certainly not required.  I have had several people call me to find out "the catch".  No tricks here at Amy Rich Photography Studio.  This is just a service I provide to the community as a form of giving back.  We would love to have canned good donations for the Help Center but you get a free photo regardless!

We are going to have so much fun and I hope to see all of you here!  Be sure and share this with family and friends as the more the merrier!

Be sure and "like" me on Facebook so you don't miss out on any future specials!!

The Winner Was.....

Here are some photos from the shoot I did for the Mother's Day Contest Winner!   The judges chose her story because it touched their hearts.  They also loved that the entry was hand written. 
This family won a $500 gift certificate from my studio as well as a lot of great prizes!   Be sure and enter your mom next year!

The Power of a Photograph

As I have sat here all morning watching the coverage of 9/11, I am blown away by the power of photographs. I see the crowd of the families holding up the treasured photos of the lost and I wonder about the moment the photo was taken. What were they doing? Was it a birthday party? A formal posed photo? The photos of the lost fascinate me much as the photos of the buildings destruction saddens me. One shows a terrible loss and the other shows a much loved life and the fact that they are entwined and intermingled in the tragedy of that day ten years ago speaks to me in a way I am having trouble conveying and even comprehending.

I think of the instant those photos were made. No one knowing that these people would be gone way too soon. Fathers, mothers, children and friends smilimg out at their families and now the entire world. Moments frozen in time becoming timeless

When I was in New York two weeks after 9/11 we saw all of the missing posters. Faces plastered on every surface of walls and utility poles. All of those images that were once just photos stuck in an album now pleas of help. "Here he is. He is lost. I love him. Help me find him".
Those beloved pictures became something else entirely and watching the coverage today I realize they have now become something else once again. Previously a memory of a moment, a single instance caught on film, they then became a tool, something used to help recover that person. The images are now not a memory of a moment but of an entire life. Seeing the families grasping these precious symbols in their grieving hands I look at the faces of the lost and I can hear them speaking to me. "I was here. I was important. I was loved. Do not forget". And I bow my head and make them a solemn promise, "Never. I will never forget".

Why I love my job....Reason #225

Okay, I know you are all sick of hearing this but.....I LOVE my job!  The reasons are countless but let me give you one more of them.

As most of you know, I am part of a wonderful organization called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep or NILMDTS for short.  NILMDTS is a non-profit organization of photographers that provide portraits for families experiencing the loss of a baby.  We go to the hospitals, do a professional portrait session and give them the fully edited disk at no charge.  (Look them up at http://www.nilmdts.org/ and make a donation!)  Through this organization I have met many families dealing with the worst nightmare a parent can face, the loss of a child.  They have not only lost their baby but all the hopes, dreams and expectations that you begin building the second you learn you are pregnant.  They are hurting and they are lost.  I meet them briefly, try to give them a small window of light through photographing their precious love and then I go back to my life and they are left in the wreckage of theirs.  I think about them all of the time, especially on the yearly anniversaries but I usually do not hear from them again aside of a thank you card.  Like ships passing through the night I meet these strangers, spend a small anguished moment with them at one of the most crushing moments of their life and then that is it.  As I sit here typing these memories keep flooding in of moments I have spent with these families.  I have been there when their babies drew their last breath and the doctor pronounced the time of death, I have stood humbled watching as these new mommys dress their babies for the first and the only time.  I have cried with them and I have never forgotten them.

Last HalloweenI received the call about the NILMDTS shoot.  I grabbed my camera and my helper, Heather, and headed out.  The baby's name was Kaylee, a beautiful baby girl and the second child lost to these parents.  I spent some time photographing the adorable love they had for this baby.  When I left I did not expect to hear from them again.
This past week I received an email from them.  After another baby lost in March, God blessed them with a beautiful baby boy on Christmas Eve.  I was honored when they asked me to photograph him. 
This is why I love my job.  I love the families I photograph and the relationships we form.  I love when their kids give me hugs and they share their joys with me.  I love photographing a baby and then being invited to the baby showers of the second baby soon to come.  I love hearing their stories and I love sharing my love of photography with them by chronicling their lives.

The last time I left this family they were hurting and shell shocked.  Yesterday they left my studio beaming, proud and totally smitten with their ten pound bundle of love.  Truly God is good.  And truly being able to share such joy makes this the best job in the world!

Welcome to the World Little One! 

Desperately Seeking My Babies!!

On the evening of my third son's fifteenth birthday I am sitting here confused, proud and sad. I am proud of the man my sweet, blond haired, blue eyed baby is becoming, confused by how fast it has all happened and saddened at the loss of yet another baby as he hurdles to adulthood. I am also saddened by how much I can't remember about the process. I look back through old photos and my heart skips a beat when I see certain things that are now lost forever...that look of amazement that would skitter across his face when he saw something new, those sweet blond curls now darkened and cut short. My Nicholas. Some things stand out in my mind. I remember the funny way he used to talk. Blake was the only one who could understand him and he would play interpreter for us. Nicholas would say, "boird" for "bird" and he would trill his lips when he said, "French Fries" in a way no one else in the family could quite imitate. He was always smart as a whip and we had him programming the VCR when he was three. To this day he is the go to guy for all technical questions. Nicholas has always had a calm way about him, so much so that he is often lost in the shuffle of this tumultuous household. He always just does what he is supposed to do, no arguments, no hassles.

He has always been amazingly close to his younger brother and is only now starting to pull away from Evan. And although I know this separation is normal and inevitable it pains me to see how much it is hurting Evan.
Nicholas was born six months before my father died. I found my father dead of a heart attack right before Mother's Day and I must admit it threw my life into a tailspin. I began having panic attacks and was thrown into such a deep depression that I just couldn't see my way out. Because of this I always felt like I missed out on the beginning of Nicholas' life, that I cheated him. So much of his first couple of years are lost in the darkness of those days. I spent so much time trying to forget the darkness that I let go of alot of the light as well. (Thank God for Prozac!)

I guess that is one of my true regrets. That I did not stop and savor those moments. That it seems like everything became a step toward another. Nothing was ever IN and OF itself. Hurry and get them dressed so we can eat breakfast. Hurry and eat breakfast so we can go to the store. Hurry and get through the store so we can fix lunch. Hurry, hurry, hurry! How many times have I told them to, "Hurry Up!"? Why was I always in such a hurry? Now I spend all of my time wishing I could slow it all back down.

My beautiful fair haired angel is now all grown up and ready to get his permit and seriously! I miss that baby! But you know what? Tonight I hung out with my boy. And I was in no hurry. We went and found him a new phone for his birthday and then went to dinner, just the two of us. And though he probably thought it was a normal, fairly boring evening, it was anything but to me. I was in no hurry. I sat with him and I watched him and I enjoyed him. Tonight was IN and OF itself and I was there in the moment, all of me. I love that kid. I love him inside and outside, backwards and forwards, upside down and all around. He has been a part of me for a mere fifteen years yet I love him timelessly, endlessly. I am looking forward to meeting the man he will become but I am in no hurry I think I will just try and enjoy every moment of this boy who is now fifteen.

I am no longer a photographer.....

I am no longer a photographer.

Nowadays everyone calls themselves a photographer. People no longer "take pictures". Instead everyone is a "photographer". As if my ability to add numbers (limited as it may be) qualifies me to label myself an accountant! People are getting new cameras, slapping up a website and announcing their new business to the world of Facebook. But isn't there more to it than that? Shouldn't there be? Is it all as simple as that? A camera, some business cards and a smugmug website?

I am seeing new photographers every day. And while some stand out as potentially talented and others stand out as appallingly bad, they all seem to share one thing in common....satisfaction with mediocrity. The market has become so glutted with average that the consumers can't seem to tell the difference anymore. The saddest thing is that these self proclaimed photographers know little about the art of photography and even less about the technical aspect. They think because they have a good camera they will take great photos. And they will....sometimes....Well, I can buy the most expensive top of the line scalpel but that doesn't mean I am automatically a great brain surgeon. Perhaps this seems like an extreme example but it still fits. Brain surgery takes education, practice, technical knowledge, a steady hand, dedication and years to master. Likewise, photography. We may not be saving your life but we are responsible for telling your story and that is a sacred task.

Don't misunderstand me! I do not consider myself a master photographer but you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be! And why? Because I have dedicated myself to the study of photography, both the technical and the art. Because I enter competitions all of the time in order to catch those elusive merits thereby improving my work with every competition.

Everyone starts somewhere. Everyone is at a different place on their path but it is these people who claim the name but not the work involved who are driving me to distraction and muddying the waters of the photography world.

Do you want to claim the name of "Photographer"? Then study it, learn it and live it. Earn the right. Learn white balance, posing, composition and the world of Photoshop. Learn to shoot a wedding without blowing out the dress or turning it blue. Learn lighting and how to shoot on manual 100% of the time. Get a business license, pay your taxes, join professional organizations, get your certification, take classes and go to seminars.

People are entrusting you with their memories, with their loved ones and with their legacy. At the end of their life this is what they will be leaving behind. These photos are their voices to future generations. Did you serve them well? There is NO room for mediocrity. I am tired of your brides coming to me in tears and asking if I can reshoot their bridal photos because you didn't bother learning your craft.

So, I am not longer a photographer. Apparently that word doesn't mean anything anymore. That label is no guarantee of professionalism or even of competence. I don't know what to call myself. Maybe I will buy a nice pair of scissors and call myself a clothing designer.......

Repost of 9-11 2008

September 11th




I watched the coverage this morning and remembered seven years ago when the world changed. My friend woke me up and told me that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center and we were on the phone watching that when the other plane hit. As the events unfolded throughout the day I remember how shocked and grief stricken I was. How could this be happening here? I remember how the skies were so silent because all of the planes were grounded. We live close to two airports so we see planes all of the time. You just kind of take them for granted but now there was nothing, no sounds and no jet trails. Occasionally you would see fighter jets fly by in formation and that would scare you even more and you would rush back into the house to see if something else had happened.


Two weeks after 9-11 we flew to New York. The airports had heavy security and we were apprehensive but determined not to let fear control our lives. I cannot tell you how grateful I am that we took that trip. I remember hearing the term, "hallowed ground" and knowing what it meant but not really thinking about it that much. I totally understood when we went down to the site. You could not get very close. There were fences blocking off the whole area. You could see the wreckage though and occasionally when the wind would blow your way you could smell the smell that I hope is unique only to this place for it was horrible. There were thousands of people standing there. Just looking. No one was talking. Most were crying. Thousands of people breathing in air filled with the dust of the buildings and the dead. Thousands of people and you could have heard a pin drop.


I did not take a single photo of the site. Somehow it just didn't seem right. It seemed invasive and intrusive. Instead I just stood there with my fellow Americans and grieved for our innocence, lost that day amongst so much rubble and so many dead.


We could see the huge trucks rumbling through the streets laden with their cargo of huge beams twisted beyond recognition. We stood and cheered when the firefighters or policemen would walk by. We looked at all of the memorials and read all of the flyers that were placed everywhere begging, hoping, desperate to find their loved ones.


It was the most moving experience of my life.


I am posting a photo of one of the flyers and another of a close up of a statue of a fireman. This statue was supposed to be going somewhere else but was sent to New York instead when they heard what had happened. It had become a makeshift memorial. Many put rosaries in the fireman's hand.


I just wanted to share with you my recollections of that horrible day. Never forget.


GOD BLESS AMERICA!




amy




PS... The flyer reads:


"My name is Marc and my friend Joey worked on the 105th floor of No. 1 World Trade Center. After September 11, I put his "missing" flyer all over the streets of this changed city, choosing my spots as if I were painting graffiti, looking for the best light, the easiest places to see my friend's face.


At 26th Street and Lex, next to the Armory, strangers were nice to me, saying: "Hope you find your friend." I just thanked them and kept looking for more places where Joey's smile would catch people's eyes. It felt good to be doing something, not just sitting and mourning.


Joey and I met when we were five. His mother watched us every day after school before my parents came home from work. We went to school together for 11 years, and all those years I watched him. He was the coolest guy. I felt like the dorky kid he took under his wing. He showed me a lot of things, how to look cool, how to talk to girls. His father, a Vietnam vet and a retired FDNY fire fighter, helped me learn how to ride a bike. That was the first thing his dad asked me when we hugged each other, "Can you still ride a bike, Marc?"


Joey leaves behind his beloved family, girlfriend, and friends like me, lots of us. He will never know how many lives he touched. I have cried so much that I have become empty inside. My childhood hero has been stolen from me, and I will miss him forever."

He's Just a Regular Kid with a Cool Ride...

Meet Cameron, just a regular kid with a cool ride. Cameron was diagnosed with Duchenne's when he was around five. His grandmother had taken him for an eye exam and noticed that he was getting out of the chair in a strange way. Long story short, Cameron's family discovered that he had a form of muscular dystrophy called "Duchennes".

Duchennes is inherited and affects about two out of every ten thousand people. It is a progressive degeneration of the muscle functions. You are born with it but may not be diagnosed until early childhood. It usually starts affecting the pelvis and legs first, causing inabiltiy to walk and eventually spreads to the arms and other parts of the body. Many with Duchennes inevitably experience heart and lung complications and do not normally survive past the age of thirty. There is no known cure.

Cameron can tell you all about it but would much rather play on his X-box. He is like every other boy his age. He claims school is "all right" (Cameron attends Mt. Juliet Middle) and knows all about wrestling. He is just your typical kid with a terrible disease that will cut his life short if we don't find a cure.

Here is where you can help. Please go to https://www.joinmda.org/lebanontn2010/arphotography and donate to help find a cure. I am a member of TEAM HOPE and am trying to help out Cameron and those like him. Please join me as we send kids to camp while we search for a cure!

Everyone who donates $150 will receive a FREE photography session at Amy Rich Photography Studio.

Thanks! I look forward to seeing the donations build!

amy

Maternity Session with K and J

Did you have maternity photos taken? I know that I didn't, would not have even considered it at the time of the pregnancies, but now very much wish that I had done so. It is just such a incredible time in your life. That little baby is safe and protected and you are just so excited awaiting his/her arrival. Your body is changing in drastic ways and often you may not feel at your best but it is true that there is a glow about every woman expecting a baby.

I just had a session with K and J. They not only were adorable, I was touched by how much they obviously loved each other. Every girl wants a boy to look at her the way J gazed at K. I have included a couple of photos from their session on this blog.

So if you are thinking about having maternity photos taken, I say just do it!! You don't have to hang them on your wall. You don't ever even have to look at them. But you will have them if you want them. This is one of those times that you cannot recapture. You will only have that particular precious life inside of you this one time. I wish I had photos of being pregnant with each of my children. I want them to see me when I was anticipating them and loving them even before I had ever met them. I want them to see me glowing. I want them to see what they did to my body!! lol.... I want them to know, beyond any doubt, that I was happy.

Father's Day

Father's Day is here so of course my thoughts turn to my Dad. I sure do miss that silly old man! Don't get me wrong, being his daughter was not easy. He could be tough with a capital T! But you know what, inevitably he was also right. I can still remember when my best friend and I decided to go over to the park at twilight and walk. He went nuts and started yelling about all of the men in the bushes waiting to grab us. I laughed about that for years. Until I had my own daughter. Funny how your perspective changes, huh?
I spent years avoiding his advice and I would give anything to hear it now. I used to cringe when he would sing to me, "Once in love with Amy, Always in Love with Amy" but I would trade everything I owned to hear him sing it again.
Dad died of a massive heart attack fourteen years ago. I am the one who found him and I guess it will haunt me forever. I still can't believe it has been fourteen years. Could it really be that long since I heard his voice? I miss him. I miss him alot.
On this Father's Day be sure and tell your Dad that you love him. I know he knows but I also know that he would like to hear it from you.
I am including one of my favorite shots of my son Evan with with his dad, Morris. amy

Alex turned 19

Yesterday my oldest son turned nineteen and once again I am wondering where the time has gone. I look at my son and now instead of that sweet smooth skin I see that he needs to shave. I look at his hands and see not sweet dimples but the rough hands of a man complete with tatoos. I hear not the sweet piping voice calling for his "mommy" but the deep timbre of the word "mom". The days of sweet smelling baby powder are gone, replaced by the smell of cologne. I am crazy in love with this man - child but I do wish I could go back for one day and snuggle that sweet infant in my arms, hold those precious hands, watch those precarious first steps and look into those big brown eyes that loved me like no other.
He says turning nineteen was hard. He has no idea.

Time to Think About Senior Photos!

Hey everyone! As the end of the school year rapidly approaches (whew! Can you believe that?) it is time to think ahead to the next school year when you will be a senior. That is right....it is time to book your senior photos! Most senior photos are done the summer before you start your senior year. Of course it doesn't have to be that way. I just took photos of a senior that is graduating in a month!
Interested in senior photos? Contact me for more information!
amy
615-335-5529

Time to Revamp your Professional Headshots!

Looking for a new headshot? Is yours hopelessly outdated or just not that good?
Come on over to the studio where I am running a $99 special on headshots! Let me help you put your best face forward!!

amy

Lions and Bunnies and Lambs...OH MY!

Okay, so there is not really a lion but there will definitely be some bunnies and a lamb at the studio soon!
Hop on over to the studio on March 20th for the bunny shoot or on March 27th to have your child's portrait made with a lamb. It should be alot of fun!

Having said that, let me just say that I am a city girl. I do not know a thing about lambs! I just got it in my head that portraits with lambs would be just too precious to pass up. It could turn into an utter disaster! lol.... Don't worry! The photos will be precious but my studio may become a disaster zone! I am hoping that the weather is beautiful so that I can do the Lamb portraits outside. Keep your fingers crossed!!

Hope to see all of you at one or the other. Now quit reading this blog and go out and enjoy the sunshine!!

amy

Why you should....

Hey Everyone!
I received a text from a friend of mine the other day and it really made me stop and think. It said as follows:

Four Things You Can't Recover
1) The stone after the throw
2) The word after it is said
3) The occasion after it is missed
4) The time after it is gone.

Wow! This is just so true and part of the reason that I love photography. While it does not bring the time back, it can freeze it so that you can revisit it from time to time.
I have a customer who always said how she wanted to bring her mother and have photos done of the family. I ran into her over Christmas and she started crying the minute I saw her and told me that her mother had passed away the previous week and how much she regretted the fact that she never could seem to find the time to come in for the photos.

When my first son was a newborn, he had hair that was just like my fathers. He had monk hair...you know the kind that is all around the sides but lacking on the top. I always wanted a photo made of the backs of their heads together. I never did and eighteen years later I still regret it!

Don't let this happen to you! If you have been wanting a particular photo, please, PLEASE stop what you are doing and take it now. Even if you don't come to me, just take it yourself. BUT take it!!
Of course if you want to come to me (and I highly recommend it..lol), mention this blog and receive $25 off of your print order! Now you have NO excuse at all! I will see you all soon!

In the meantime, I am including a couple of recent favorite photos.

By the way, Monday night is Southern Stars night at Chili's. Please join me at the Chili's on South Hartman Drive from 4-9. Southern S*T*A*R*S provide therapeutic and recreational horseback riding programs for individuals with special needs. If you come and see me I will give you a $25 print credit toward any future session in the next three months!! Yippee!!

See you soon!

amy

When photographers get on the other side of the camera

Hey Everyone!
Sorry it has been a while since I have written. There has been so much going on that as usual my head is spinning.
Last week I got together with two of my photographer friends, Janice and Heather, because Heather and I needed a headshot for an article about NILMDTS. (www.NILMDTS.org). Now keep in mind we are all professional photographers but obviously we have no idea how to be on the other side of the cameara. We were like three lost puppies. We kept standing there with a dumb look on our faces asking each other how to pose. Now I pose people at the studio all day long but for some reason I had NO idea how to go about posing myself. It was just so funny how totally helpless we all became. Now I know why I SHOOT the photos!
I am also including a photo from a couple of shoots that I have done recently. I know that I am WAY behind on the postings but bear with me! I am looking to hire someone and that should free up my time somewhat!
One photo is from a fairy shoot that I did with Ms. C. and another is from Baby T.'s six month shoot. I may throw in a couple more when I start uploading them.

Don't forget the Halloween Free Shoot that I am doing on Saturday, October 31st. I will be opening the studio from 10-7 for everyone to come by, grab a treat and have a free 4x6 photo taken. The photos will be available for pick up the next weekend. YES! The shoot is free and the 4x6 photo is free so please stop by and see me!

October is the month I will be teaming up with the Smile Train (www.SmileTrain.org) charity. The Smile Train raises money to help children born with cleft palates get the surgeries they need in order to lead happy productive lives. One of my customers, Andelyn, was born with a cleft palate and she has been lucky enough to have received several surgeries. It is such a worthy cause and I am going to donate $25 of every session booked in the month of October to the Smile Train. If you book during Octoberfest I will donate 100% of that session fee to the charity. I hope all of you will join me in supporting this wonderful cause.

Well, that is it for now! Thanks to all of you for listening to me ramble!
amy

TPPA

I attended the Tennessee Professional Photographer's Annual Convention this month and it was awesome. I love getting together with my fellow photographers, attending the seminars and of course spending money at the trade show...lol

I must admit I was EXTREMELY proud to win the First Place Award for Bridal Portraits with this photo entitled "Annie". I was very honored to be recognized among my all of the professional photographers in the state of Tennessee.

I also won a monetary scholarship! And you know I liked that!

Well better go! Still doing my booth at the fair!

amy

One of My Newest Shoots

Hey all!
Don't forget about my Open House this Saturday, August 1st from 4-8pm. Remember if you book a session during my Open House you will receive a $50 print credit towards that session. I am very excited about the studio. I am having the ribbon cutting on Friday! EEK! I am excited but very nervous! I have a painting donated as a door prize from Kirk Seufert who is a wonderful local artist. You can visit his website at: www.KirkSeufert.com. The great guys at Picture This have donated two $100 gift certificates!! You can visit their website at:
www.PictureThis-Gallery.com. Whoo Hoo!

On to my shoot! This girl, believe it or not, is just thirteen. I definitely think she could have a modeling career ahead of her. We went down to the railroad tracks and I found that silver box thingy. It made a perfect reflection of her. That is one of my favorite shots.

Sorry this is so short but I am exhausted! Please come and see my new studio at my Open House! I hope to see ALL of you there!
amy

Wild Girls!

Sometimes a shoot just takes on a life of it's own and this is certainly what happened when I shot these two little firecrackers! They certainly took over the studio and I loved every minute of working with them. Well, maybe I should not say "working with them" and re-phrase that to just letting them go and trying to capture the vitality of these two sisters. Between their "Air Hugs" and the little one "falling asleep" they were such fun! As most of you know I had the four boys and I had two brothers so I love getting a chance to not only be around some little girls but also enjoy watching the interaction of sisters. It certainly makes me wish I had a sister or two.
The studio is coming along nicely. I hired my sons to help with yard work this past week and so we planted flowers and cleaned up the yard. I had some lights replaced today and I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have a couple of pieces of furniture to move over there and then I will just have to tie up a few loose ends. I certainly hope you will all join me for the open house on August 1st from 4-8. Everyone that books a session at the open house will receive a $50 print credit toward the shoot!
Well, It is getting late and I am putting off designing my new business cards so I guess I had better get back to the designing.
amy