Enterprise, AL Family & Children's Photographer | Cotton Field Family Portrait Sessions
I discovered the most gorgeous cotton fields and of course, my first thought was I have to take lots of pictures there! The field is still looking quite beautiful, so hurry and book your session and take advantage of mother nature's backdrop! Here are a few of my favorite cotton field portraits!
Enterprise, Alabama Birthday Party Photographer | Tucker is Five!!
Today, we celebrated Tucker's fifth birthday! His party was held at the new basketball gym in Daleville. He had a bounce house, face painting, relay races, and lots of room to run and play. A lot of family and friends attended and we couldn't be happier. Tucker had such a wonderful time and has been playing with all of his new toys for hours! Thank you all who were able to attend. It means so much to Tucker and I. Thanks again!
Enterprise, Alabama Photographer | My Precious Boy is Almost Five!!
My little angel is almost five!! I couldn't ask for a more precious, sweet, caring, funny, giving, and silly boy to call my own. God has blessed our family beyond measure and he is the light of my life. :) Every year when his birthday comes around we are reminded with how fortunate we are to have a healthy and happy boy.
A week before his third birthday, we were busy planning his "Cars" birthday party. He was so excited and so were we. It was a Thursday evening and I was getting him ready for his bath when I noticed he had little purple "freckles" all over his body. I grabbed him from the bath and saw that blood was coming from his mouth! I opened his mouth to see blood pouring from his gums. He was bleeding heavily!
I quickly dressed him and we rushed to the ER. The nurses rushed him back and I could see panic on their faces. His blood was drawn and when the results were back, his platelet count was extremely low. A normal count is over 100,000 and his was 2,000! His pediatrician sent him by ambulance to the Children's Hospital in Birmingham. We were all worried sick and sleep deprived. His doctors were unsure of his diagnosis, but had narrowed down the possibilities, one of them being Leukemia. We prayed, cried, and lost many nights of sleep. More tests were run and Tucker was moved from the intensive care unit to the Oncology and Hematology unit.
We were surrounded by precious little children without any hair and fighting for their lives. It all seemed unreal! We were just planning his birthday party and living a normal life when it now felt like our world was crashing down around us. The doctors said that he might have a blood disorder called, ITP and they would know more after giving him a blood treatment that would keep his body from destroying its own platelets. If this didn't help, they would try once more. If there still wasn't any success, then Leukemia was more likely what we were facing. After the first treatment, his platelet count didn't change. We were devastated. I will never forget hearing the doctor share that news with us. We felt defeated.
Our precious angel had been through so much, more than most adults have ever experienced. He had to be connected to an IV and blood was drawn every few hours. The medication he was given made him very sick and he threw up a lot. He had been bleeding internally and freely bleeding from his gums. We couldn't even brush his teeth or he would bleed profusely from his mouth. So, he had to have one more treatment to help his body stop attacking its own platelets. Then the nurse came to draw blood one more time to check to see if the treatment had worked. I held that blood in my hands, while tears flowed like a river, I prayed that God would heal my little angel. The nurse began to cry and pray with me.
I still to this day can't think about it without crying. The next day, the doctor came to his room with results in hand. He said Tucker's platelet count was on the rise and that ITP was the condition he had! He shared with us that 95% of young patients never have another issue with it in their lives. We all jumped up and down, cried tears of joy, and hugged each other. I was so happy, but I felt heartbroken for the parents whose children weren't so lucky. For the moms who had been in the hospital for months with their babies. We were there for 5 days, but it felt like an eternity. When Tucker was released from the hospital, I cried like a baby leaving the Oncology, Hematology unit. I will never forget the feelings I felt. I thanked the good Lord for healing my baby!
We came home on his birthday and had a small party at our house with family. His birthday meant more than just cake and presents. We were blessed to have a healthy little boy and to be at home sleeping in our own bed. His third birthday changed our lives forever. This is why every single birthday with my boy means so much to me. I'm so thankful for each day I am blessed with him. He brings joy and light to everyone he meets. He is so smart, outgoing, and caring. Here is to a hundred more birthdays for my precious boy! This fourth year has been amazing! I love you! :)
A week before his third birthday, we were busy planning his "Cars" birthday party. He was so excited and so were we. It was a Thursday evening and I was getting him ready for his bath when I noticed he had little purple "freckles" all over his body. I grabbed him from the bath and saw that blood was coming from his mouth! I opened his mouth to see blood pouring from his gums. He was bleeding heavily!
I quickly dressed him and we rushed to the ER. The nurses rushed him back and I could see panic on their faces. His blood was drawn and when the results were back, his platelet count was extremely low. A normal count is over 100,000 and his was 2,000! His pediatrician sent him by ambulance to the Children's Hospital in Birmingham. We were all worried sick and sleep deprived. His doctors were unsure of his diagnosis, but had narrowed down the possibilities, one of them being Leukemia. We prayed, cried, and lost many nights of sleep. More tests were run and Tucker was moved from the intensive care unit to the Oncology and Hematology unit.
We were surrounded by precious little children without any hair and fighting for their lives. It all seemed unreal! We were just planning his birthday party and living a normal life when it now felt like our world was crashing down around us. The doctors said that he might have a blood disorder called, ITP and they would know more after giving him a blood treatment that would keep his body from destroying its own platelets. If this didn't help, they would try once more. If there still wasn't any success, then Leukemia was more likely what we were facing. After the first treatment, his platelet count didn't change. We were devastated. I will never forget hearing the doctor share that news with us. We felt defeated.
Our precious angel had been through so much, more than most adults have ever experienced. He had to be connected to an IV and blood was drawn every few hours. The medication he was given made him very sick and he threw up a lot. He had been bleeding internally and freely bleeding from his gums. We couldn't even brush his teeth or he would bleed profusely from his mouth. So, he had to have one more treatment to help his body stop attacking its own platelets. Then the nurse came to draw blood one more time to check to see if the treatment had worked. I held that blood in my hands, while tears flowed like a river, I prayed that God would heal my little angel. The nurse began to cry and pray with me.
I still to this day can't think about it without crying. The next day, the doctor came to his room with results in hand. He said Tucker's platelet count was on the rise and that ITP was the condition he had! He shared with us that 95% of young patients never have another issue with it in their lives. We all jumped up and down, cried tears of joy, and hugged each other. I was so happy, but I felt heartbroken for the parents whose children weren't so lucky. For the moms who had been in the hospital for months with their babies. We were there for 5 days, but it felt like an eternity. When Tucker was released from the hospital, I cried like a baby leaving the Oncology, Hematology unit. I will never forget the feelings I felt. I thanked the good Lord for healing my baby!
We came home on his birthday and had a small party at our house with family. His birthday meant more than just cake and presents. We were blessed to have a healthy little boy and to be at home sleeping in our own bed. His third birthday changed our lives forever. This is why every single birthday with my boy means so much to me. I'm so thankful for each day I am blessed with him. He brings joy and light to everyone he meets. He is so smart, outgoing, and caring. Here is to a hundred more birthdays for my precious boy! This fourth year has been amazing! I love you! :)
Enterprise, AL Family Photographer | Maasen Family Session
This portrait session took place in the heart of downtown Enterprise, Alabama at the depot. When families book their session they always have the option to choose what type of location they prefer. They can choose a place of their own or I can give them a list of locations with portraits taken at each of them as a reference.
This particular family made my job a piece of cake! Their son, who is almost 3, was amazed by the train and train tracks. I was sure not to let anyone on the tracks or train for everyone's safety. ;) The weather was beautiful and thankfully there weren't as many gnats as there have been on hotter days during the summer. I'm loving this cooler weather!
The fall is everyone's favorite time to book their portrait sessions, so don't wait until it's too late to book your family's session!
This particular family made my job a piece of cake! Their son, who is almost 3, was amazed by the train and train tracks. I was sure not to let anyone on the tracks or train for everyone's safety. ;) The weather was beautiful and thankfully there weren't as many gnats as there have been on hotter days during the summer. I'm loving this cooler weather!
The fall is everyone's favorite time to book their portrait sessions, so don't wait until it's too late to book your family's session!
Enterprise, Alabama Family Photographer | Custom Photography
First of all, I cannot express how much I adore my job and I believe the quote, "If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life." Sometimes, I myself, don't realize how much hard work each and every session is. I'm sure clients and potential clients know I work hard, but they might be like me and not really realize how much time and effort custom photographers put into every single portrait session.
I have a minimum purchase requirement, not to include the session fee, of $200. Potential clients ask."Do I have to spend that minimum?" or "Why is there a minimum purchase requirement?" I always explain that it's my policy because that is the minimum that I can afford to work for per session. That explanation is a very short version of what I decided to blog about tonight. This post has been one that I have planned for a while and I am happy to finally share it with everyone.
So, how much time do I put into each session? When you see that the session fee is $100 and includes an hour of shooting time, you may think I'm making $100 per hour. I wish! After a client books a session, I normally spend an hour of time communicating with my client prior to our session via email, telephone calls, and in person. This time is spent answering any of their questions, deciding on when and where to have their session, delivering their welcome packet, and having contracts and forms signed. The day of the session, I spend another hour planning the session, packing all of the equipment and props I will need, and driving to the location. Then the shoot will typically last an hour. Once the session is over, I will spend another hour driving home, unloading equipment and props, transferring files to my computer, and backing up my files on an external hard drive. After that is completed, I will spend an average of 8 hours choosing the best 20-25 images to edit, editing each of them, creating a file for the client on my computer, saving all of the new images, and backing up my computer once again.
The next step is to showcase the client's gallery either in an online gallery or in person ordering session. Both of these require at least another hour of my time. Once the client places their order, I will re-size every portrait to the appropriate size and place the order with my professional print lab. When the client's order arrives, I package all of it in beautiful boxes and bags with ribbons, tissue paper, and stickers and write a heartfelt thank you note to include with their order. :) Then the order is hand delivered by me. A couple of days later, I call my client once more to ensure they received everything and are completely satisfied. Now, I might not be getting paid what you may have thought when you first looked over my price list.
Like I said, I adore my job, but I work extremely hard for the income I make. I spend an average of 15 hours of my time working with each client. My time is just as valuable as the next person who has a full-time career and I cannot work for free. The time I spend working is precious time away from my family. I do this in order to provide for them. Now, I hope people who read this will have a better understanding of why I charge what I do. If I didn't have the minimum order requirement, after cost of the goods sold and taxes, I would be making less than minimum wage!
The goal of this post was to explain the hard work and time it takes to create these beautiful memories for you. I wouldn't want any other job in the world, but it is a job. My priority is to provide for my precious family. Thank you for reading this post because it really means so much to me!
<3 Casey
I have a minimum purchase requirement, not to include the session fee, of $200. Potential clients ask."Do I have to spend that minimum?" or "Why is there a minimum purchase requirement?" I always explain that it's my policy because that is the minimum that I can afford to work for per session. That explanation is a very short version of what I decided to blog about tonight. This post has been one that I have planned for a while and I am happy to finally share it with everyone.
So, how much time do I put into each session? When you see that the session fee is $100 and includes an hour of shooting time, you may think I'm making $100 per hour. I wish! After a client books a session, I normally spend an hour of time communicating with my client prior to our session via email, telephone calls, and in person. This time is spent answering any of their questions, deciding on when and where to have their session, delivering their welcome packet, and having contracts and forms signed. The day of the session, I spend another hour planning the session, packing all of the equipment and props I will need, and driving to the location. Then the shoot will typically last an hour. Once the session is over, I will spend another hour driving home, unloading equipment and props, transferring files to my computer, and backing up my files on an external hard drive. After that is completed, I will spend an average of 8 hours choosing the best 20-25 images to edit, editing each of them, creating a file for the client on my computer, saving all of the new images, and backing up my computer once again.
The next step is to showcase the client's gallery either in an online gallery or in person ordering session. Both of these require at least another hour of my time. Once the client places their order, I will re-size every portrait to the appropriate size and place the order with my professional print lab. When the client's order arrives, I package all of it in beautiful boxes and bags with ribbons, tissue paper, and stickers and write a heartfelt thank you note to include with their order. :) Then the order is hand delivered by me. A couple of days later, I call my client once more to ensure they received everything and are completely satisfied. Now, I might not be getting paid what you may have thought when you first looked over my price list.
Like I said, I adore my job, but I work extremely hard for the income I make. I spend an average of 15 hours of my time working with each client. My time is just as valuable as the next person who has a full-time career and I cannot work for free. The time I spend working is precious time away from my family. I do this in order to provide for them. Now, I hope people who read this will have a better understanding of why I charge what I do. If I didn't have the minimum order requirement, after cost of the goods sold and taxes, I would be making less than minimum wage!
The goal of this post was to explain the hard work and time it takes to create these beautiful memories for you. I wouldn't want any other job in the world, but it is a job. My priority is to provide for my precious family. Thank you for reading this post because it really means so much to me!
<3 Casey
Baby Girl | Casey Kelley Photography | Enterprise, Alabama Newborn Photographer
This family came to see me just a little while ago for big sister's 2 year-old portraits, mom's maternity portraits, and now portraits for the new little girl they just welcomed into their family. I have been friends with this mom, Hannah, for many years. She is so sweet and I'm so happy that she has chosen me to document such important events in their lives! She sure loves having her family's pictures taken and really values professional photography. :)
They didn't know the gender of this baby because they wanted to wait and be surprised. I couldn't wait to find out! Hannah was sure to send me a text after she delivered her sweet baby girl. I know I will see them again soon for milestone portraits or Christmas card photos! I can't wait! :)
They didn't know the gender of this baby because they wanted to wait and be surprised. I couldn't wait to find out! Hannah was sure to send me a text after she delivered her sweet baby girl. I know I will see them again soon for milestone portraits or Christmas card photos! I can't wait! :)
Enterprise, Alabama Family Photographer | Full Gallery
When you hear photographers say that your session fee includes a gallery of 20 fully edited images, you might now know what to expect. I always choose the best of the best to include in each client's gallery and every image is frame-worthy. That is my job and I want to make sure that each client is in LOVE with every single photo. I want to make it difficult to decide and for you to want every single one of them! I thought I would show a recent session and what their gallery looks like. This gives my potential clients an idea of what a full session will include. This was an 8-month old's portrait session and I included some of the entire family as well. :)
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