Some wonderfully generous photographers have banded together and are holding an auction to benefit Thirst Relief International, a charity that helps provide fresh drinking water to areas that need help. Learn more about Thirst Relief here. If you are a photographer and you want to bid (but if you outbid me on my faves, I’ll be mad!!!) visit the auction site and click on the Thirst Relief banner.

These *superstars* of photography are auctioning off private mentoring sessions, a one-on-one chance to learn from the best in the biz. I am bidding up a storm!! I hope I win a bunch, I couldn’t imagine a better way to expand my photography and business knowlegde, while helping an incredible charity at the same time! Last year I was away from my computer at the end, so I didn’t *win* any of my favorites and I was very sad ~~sniff~~

This year, I am in it to winit!!
Want to know who I’m bidding on?? Most of the photog are wedding *rockstars*, and we all know I don’t shoot weddings - but there is still so much to learn from them!

Okay, right now I am WINNING these auctions!

Gary Fong Gary’s blog Gary shot my wedding back in 1999!! He was honestly the reason I became a photographer - I just loved how much joy and passion he felt and I wanted to be that fulfilled!! He has since gone on to become one of the MOST RESPECTED and ADMIRED photographers ever, plus he’s a business and marketing genius.I love love love my job - and I have him to thank for inspiring me! Last year his mentoring session went for almost $7000 ~~gulp~~ so I’m not confident I’m going to WIN, but I’m trying!

Laura Novak Laura’s site Laura is a great wedding AND portrait photographer - and she is the owner ofStrategy Avenue a business resource site for photographers. I’m always looking for ways to improve my own business, and I know that sitting down with LAura would be immensly helpful to me!

Becker Becker’s blog So Cal wedding photographer and marketing genius. I’m loving his daily videos on the [ b ] schoolI **KNOW** a 90 minute seesion with [ b ] would yield all kinds of cool new ideas (and maybe even improve my poker skills :)

I’m a little crazy today! I’m in the lead for Jeff & Julia Woods, Vicki Taufer, and Sarah Petty, all very successful, very amazing portrait shooters! Yay for me!

Wish me luck!!!!

ah. Time to stop being a blog-slacker.

Let’s take a brief jump back in time to last month :) Lily is one of my favorite little girls, she is always such a bundle of energy, full of silliness and just a lot of fun! Now she has taken on a new role, that of big sister!! This was my first time to meet Sara - and in addition to being beautiful she was just a happy little pumpkin…..

Alrighty, not a traditional portrait, but very much a *sign of the times* right now especially here in Southern California!

Los Angeles children’s photographer, Los Angeles baby photographer, LA baby photographer

I don’t know what they are putting in the water in Vegas - but ALL the future mommies I am fortunate enough to photograph are just amazingly beautiful!!! Meet Heather - she is just as sweet as she is pretty…. (okay, okay, Mark is pretty darned cute too!)…but who stole my heart???? Their big lovable pretty-girl Carrera - she was such a love sponge!!!

Las Vegas meternity photographer, Las Vegas baby photographer, Las Vegas children’s photographer

Gosh I just love these girls! I’ve been shooting Jordan since she was 10 months old - her eyes are to die for - this is my second time to shoot her little sis Alex, and boy, has she grown! Last tim eshe was such a wee little thing - now she’s a gorgeous smiley munchkin! I didn’t really see the *family resemblance* between big and little until we went outside -then Alex looked up at me with those baby blues and I was brought right back to her sister at her age. They are the *incredible eyes* family (Mommy’s got ‘em too!)

Santa Clarita children’s photography, Valencia photographer, Valencia family photography, Santa Clarita baby photos

This is my third time to shoot this sweet girl - and she just gets cuter and cuter and more and more fun! Not only is she adorable, but she has *loads* of personality. It was just a joy to watch her at the beach - she has such an adventurous little spirit…this first photo is my current *all time favorite*….

Pacific Paliseades photographer, Pacific Palisades children’s photography, Malibu photographer, Malibu kids photography

Awwwww - I met Erick and his peeps last week in beautiful Manhattan Beach - we had such a fun session! He is SUCH a handsome little man - and we all had the best time! I **love** sessions where everyone is relaxed and just having a good ol’ time - Erick had some of the CUTEST expressions!

manhattan beach photographer, south bay photographer, photography beach sessions, Manhattan Beach children’s photographer

haha - okay, i don’t mean *oldest* as in OLD (she’s only a month older than me!), I mean we’ve been friends FOREVER, or 1300/52ths (joke) She recently bought the COOLEST farmhouse outside of Houston - we had a great time catching up! Here’s just a few - can’t wait to do more on my next trip to TX!

How stinkin’ cute is are her kids? Matthew is a junior this year and Aidan is just the most adorable two year old ever! Look at those big brown eyes! I’ll be headed back to Houston in April and hope I can catch a few of her oldest son!

Just one photo from Texas - then over the next few days I’ll be a blog-posting, catch up kiind of girl and show off some of these beautiful families I’ve been shooting!

Meanwhile, if you have tried to cantact me and I have not responded - PLEASE CALL!

back soon….

Hello - if you have emailed me since October 22 I have NOT received it. I am on vacation in Texas until the 30th, and my email has apparently been down almost the whole time. *some* emails have made it through, but randomly, like 2 or 3 per day. I have NO IDEA why some are making it through while others haven’t :( We’ve been testing it and apparently they are not bouncing back as *undeliverable* to the sender either. So, if you have emailed me - I am not ignoring you! Please either call me at areo code 661 number 803-6465 or email me at my personal email of jenwilson2525 AT sbcglobal.net . I will try to resolve this problem on the 30th, sorry if I have inconvienced anyone :(

If you are a client who has attempted to order, I have not received it (except Lauren, I got yours!) I’ll contact everyone on Tuesday….

jen

You know how you feel when you LOVE something SO much? That’s how my little Ali-bug feels about pink puppy - and I feel like the worst mommy in the world - because somehow, somewhere, pink puppy has been lost. it’s been nearly three weeks now, and not a day goes by that Ali doesn’t ask about her…”mommy? you find pink puppy?” as her eyes well up with tears…I KNOW this is trivial - I KNOW that there are much more important things out there to be dealt with - but I love my baby girl and want her to be happy - so I’m going to TRY to leverage the *power of the internet* to bring pink puppy home.

MISSING: one slightly tattered, well-loved stuffed puppy dog. fur white, nose pink, ears pink. Pink puppy was a Target Valentine’s puppy (why, oh why couldn’t Ali have fallen in love wiith some GUND who could be replaced year round at ToysRUs??) I KNOW someone out there has this puppy sitting on a bookshelf. (not OUR pink puppy, but an identical one) I’ve scoured through listings on eBay, I’ve retraced our steps a hundred times - now I’m asking for your help. There will be some sort of fabulous prize to the person who helps me find pink puppy!! PLease forward this blogpost on to any moms you know! Someone out there can help!

A random sampling of pink puppy photos so you can identify her..

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Thank you SO SO SO much if you can help!

jen :)

Wow - hard to believe it is September already!! Time to start thinking about Christmas - and you know what Grandma would love most, dontcha? Why, yes, of course, an updated photo of little Janie ( or Charlie, or Sam - you get the idea!) I learned a few lessons last year about the CRAZINESS of the holiday season and have made some plans this year to keep everything running smoothly! Also - the introduction of a *limited* amount of mini-sessions? So - on to the info….

Dates to remember:

11/10 last session with promised Christmas delivery
11/20 all regular Christmas orders must be placed by this date
12/02 holiday open house (more on this later!!) all orders ordered in November will be available for pick up
12/03 all orders NOT picked up at holiday open house will be shipped

Q? Will I still be able to order after November 20th?
A - Yes, but there will be *rush* fees involved :(

Q? Should I book my session now?
A - YES! I am amazed at how quickly the calendar is getting full! ANd, I promised my family I wouldn’t over-extend myself (well, not TOO much anyway) this year

Q? What is a mini-session?
A- I’m SO glad you asked! A mini-session is a great way to capture fabulous individual photos of each of your children! Then, time permitting, we will move on to *sibling together* and *family* shots. It is NOT a substitute for a *real* family session - we just will not have the time to capture the unique personality of your family here - but we will be able to make some great portraits. All mini-sessions will have some sort of charitable donation required - we like to do good deeds!

Q? How do I book a full session?
A - Call me! Immeditaly, if not sooner! Or email jenATjenniferwilsonphotoDOTcom

Q? How do I book a mini-session?
A- I will be sending out an email to my existing clients next week - existing clients will have first *dibs* on the mini slots. If you would like to be placed on a list, please email me and I will contact you ASAP if I have spaces left!

Q? I have a gazillion friends that think you are just the bestest photographer in the whole world! Is it possible for me to *host* a mini-session so that I can show you off as a *fabulous find*?
A - Awwww, you are so sweet (okay, its late and I’m flattering myself!) Yes, it is possible to become a fabulous hostess-with-the-mostest of a minisession event. Call me for more info (and to find out *what’s in in for you!*)

Q? Do you sell Christmas cards?
A- Do I!!! I have so many cute designs to choose from this year! I will *mock up* a couple from each session, you are able to order from those or request a custom design (small design fee for custom cards)

Ahhh - yesterday was so nice - Jake & I had a *mommy & jake ALONE* date - we braved the Labor Day weekend crowds and headed for Hermosa Beach. The Fiesta de la Artes is a huge fair held there Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. Jake suffers from *photographers child* syndrome - so I was told in no uncertain terms to leave my big camera at home. Fortunatly, he doesn’t have a problem with the point and shoot - I have the Canon SD800 and it rocks! Okay - a few from our *date-day* - other photographers probably see this as much as I do - this is *the hand*

So, I did what all good moms do - I bribed him -it worked for 5 seconds…

we bought a ton of tickets - but used them all on this - who needs variety when you have a fun slide???

a little wall-walking - i played with this one trying to get that 70s feel…

of course, we ended up going into the water - WITH our clothes on (unprepared mom!) now, normally i would have 17 different changes of clothes shoved in the back of my car - but not this time….we were quite *soggy* on our way home…

what a beautiful day…i love my jake :)