To all of my 2010-11 clients:
You may have received an email from me yesterday with incorrect billing information in it. This weekend I set up a new bookkeeping/office management software and it sent out emails before I was ready for it to! Please continue to go by the original paperwork I gave you after you signed the contract. I plan to have all the kinks worked out soon so that this doesn’t happen again!

If you have any questions at all about your payment schedule, your contract, or making payments, please contact me at any time at holly [at] hollybirchphotography [dot] com or 217-737-0971. Thanks so much for bearing with me through this software transition!

I haven’t posted too much basketball or football this year for a couple reasons. The main one is that I want to try to keep my wedding and portrait work on the forefront. Also, both teams are performing a little under expectations, and I don’t see people flocking here to see my sports photos because of it. I had to post this one though because it’s just one of those things you don’t see in every game and it’s one of the freshmen that I haven’t posted photos of yet. This was a few games ago, so I don’t remember exactly what was happening, but I believe that DJ Richardson was chasing down a loose ball got tripped up in the process. No worries–he was ok!

I’m getting a lot of calls and emails lately for dates I’m already booked in 2010 (and some dates in 2011 are already gone too!), so I wanted to post my calendar here so you can check this out prior to contacting me. A link to this calendar is also always available on my Contact page.

My friend Elizabeth asked a few weeks before Christmas if I could get a few shots of her, her mom and her sister before they add her fiance Mark to the picture next October. Mark and Elizabeth are both good friends of mine and Aaron’s so we’re very much looking forward to photographing their wedding and partying it up at the reception (they are adamant about me putting down the camera and enjoying myself once my work is done!).

It was a FREEZING afternoon between Christmas and New Year’s and I don’t know how they all 3 stayed out in the cold so long without their coats, but we got in what we could before their noses all turned too red!

I have been a total blog slacker since before the holidays!! My apologies, loyal blog readers.

Here are a couple favorites from a family session I did one cold afternoon a few days before Christmas.

I haven’t posted much of my sports work this year, but I got some pretty good shots at last night’s Illinois-Vanderbilt game, so I thought I’d share a few.
Demetri McCamey finished with 23 points and 5 assists.

Mike Tisdale had 14 points and 5 rebounds.

Mike Davis had just 4 points, but added 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Bill Cole has been putting in a lot of quality minutes coming off the bench.

McCamey attempts to take a charge, but the foul gets called on him.

I got to visit my friend Stephani and Joel a couple weekends ago, just about 8 days after their new baby Walker was born. Good thing we moved my visit from the weekend before like we originally planned! Walker was welcomed home by big sisters Miriam and Cora. You may remember them from their session last winter.
Daddy’s hands with Walker’s tiny little feet:

I was the first person to say that he looks more like Cora and Miriam. Time will tell, I suppose!


I did not Photoshop her eyes in this photo. They are just that gorgeous. I just wish she wasn’t giving me that goofy grin!

She seems so pensive here. I wonder what she’s thinking about…

They’re going to have so much fun growing up together–all three of them.

And a personal update… I am now at 20 weeks in my pregnancy! A reminder to those looking to schedule sessions next spring, I will be on photography maternity leave from March 28 through May 7 (and some days after that too, but will be working part-time).

I first met Kinnerly and Matt at the wedding expo I did in September. I was already booked on their day, but after a cancellation, I contacted Kinnerly again (thank goodness for gmail’s search function!) and they hadn’t yet booked a photographer, so it worked out perfectly! I was pleasantly surprised that they brought along 3 musical instruments with them. To quote Matt, “She got a ring, and I got a banjo.”

I can’t believe that little Max is already 6 months old! He was born on April 30 and you can see his newborn session back in this post. His big sister Lydia is soon to be 3, so we also snapped a few pictures of her. She was cracking me up with all the faces, so of course I had to make a little storyboard!



He wasn’t too crazy about the tub at first but they we let him chew on the rubber ducky for a bit and he was content once again.

A little different color treatment here:





While Max was getting changed, Lydia and I took advantage of the nice weather for a few minutes to get a few more shots of her.

Max’s mom wasn’t really needing any Christmas pictures per se, but I asked if I could use Max as a test subject for a couple shots. This supposed baby Santa hat fits NO baby’s head, so I’m in the market for a new one!

BRIDES!

Don’t miss this great event TOMORROW EVENING, Wednesday, November 4 from 4:30-7:30 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Champaign. Your Perfect Wedding Showcase will feature tons of local vendors, including Holly Birch Photography, and a fashion show. Parking is free in downtown Champaign with a free shuttle service to and from the Hilton. The fashion show will follow the expo at the Virginia Theater in downtown Champaign. The event is sponsored by the Illini Radio Group (Mix 94.5, WIXY, etc) and Star Talent Events.

Current & future brides, please be sure to stop by and say hi to Holly Birch Photography! We’ll be located in the lower level of the expo.