I picked up my first digital camera when my oldest daughter was born, and instantly, I was hooked. I am mostly self-taught with a few courses, seminars, and workshops thrown in for good measure. My home is filled with photographs of my three kids, and I feel so fortunate to be able to help other families do the same.
Click HERE to go to the website.
The bravest people I know are parents who have more than 3 kids. This is baby number 4 for this beautiful family. Rounding out the ratio; 2 boys, and now 2 girls. How perfect is that?!
This little sweetie was an awesome sleeper. She was so tiny, and an absolute pleasure.
To stop myself from starting another blog, please excuse me while I blog here about something that has absolutely nothing to do with Photography.
My husband and I returned last night from a 4 day trip to Toronto. We used every single airmile we’ve collected since 2001 (plus some) to get there, begged and pleaded with friends and relatives to watch the kids for us, and it was all to see Oprah! Again.
She was in Toronto on Monday, for 2 shows. The early show was recorded and will be shown on OWN in a couple weeks, and the late show, which we were at, was live. Well, the last 2 hours were. The show was 5 hours long. The first 3 hours was for Oprah’s guests. Deepak Chopra, Iyanla Vanzant, Tony Robbins and Bishop TD Jakes, all took turns doing their presentations of inspiration and goodness. But first, before I get to all the GOOD stuff, let me get this out of the way…
This was a very poorly planned event. What should have been a very positive experience, has left me a little jaded and disappointed. I understand that my expectations may have been set a little too high, after our last Oprah experience, but I have to vent a little.
8500 people were at each show, and there was no assigned seating. To put this in perspective; the Garth Brooks’ concert at the Saddledome in July will be for 15,000 people. So imagine if you will, more than half of the people that are in the Saddledome for a concert, in a huge room, with no assigned seating. There were different sections of seats – premium, and general admission. But the majority of the seats were general admission, which meant lining up for seats on a first come, first served basis (at $160 a ticket – this is an absurd procedure). So, we lined up. At noon. For a 4pm show.
The doors were supposed to open at 3:15, but it was after 4 when they did. The line up was insane. Again, there were 8500 people at the event, most of which had general admission tickets, so most were in the line. Around 3pm, I started feeling sorry for the people that were showing up then, who didn’t realize this was how it was going to work. That quickly changed when we began to realize how many people were trying to sneak into the line up. We only saw 2 police officers, and a couple security guards, and the women who had been waiting in line as long as us, and longer, were understandably very upset at what was happening. Finally some fences were brought in, but it was tense, and there was yelling. After standing for more than 4 hours, the excitement and anticipation, mixed with all this negativity and tension – I was shaking.
Then the doors opened. We were met by the Metro Convention Center’s staff and security guards (oh there they were!) – yelling “DO NOT RUN!”, so we followed (quickly) the swarm of women into the convention center, down about 3 sets of escalators (I can’t remember – it was chaos), and into the room. It was huge. It was chaotic. Everyone wanted the best seats possible, and were running and yelling. Mike and I just grabbed the first seats we saw in the general admission area. We were, at best guess, in row 70. Which was not great. Until I looked behind me. There were at least another 100 rows behind me. There were a bunch of huge TV screens so we could see what was going on, which was good, but in the end left me thinking I could have just watched it from home. For free. It cost us more than $2000 to attend this event, with travel fees, hotel, etc.
BUT.
Would I do it again? Absolutely. (I would pay for premium seats next time though!!)
The guests were all incredible.
The show was opened by Brett Wilson. One of my favourite Canadians! (Who, by the way, has a really cool website – check it out!). The MC was Jessica Holmes, who did the funniest Celine Dion impression ever.
Deepak Chopra – so deep I have to watch again grasp all he said. Not the most lively of presenters, but every word that comes out of his mouth is full of DEEP insight.
Iyanla Vanzant -way more inspiring than I ever thought, although she’s very, very kooky.
Tony Robbins – absolutely incredible and Mike & I may start stalking him. Have just added going to one of his workshops to my bucket list. One complaint is that almost all of what he said during his 1/2 hour presentation, he said on the Lifeclass show he did a few weeks ago. But it’s good stuff, so it was good to have it reiterated.
Bishop TD Jakes – also amazing. If you get a chance to watch the Lifeclass show with just him – ‘Living with Purpose‘ (was on last week)…do it.
And then Oprah came out. And this happened.
That’s me doing the ugly cry.
This is the moment that made it all worth it. Being in the same room with Oprah, again. Me, her, and 8499 other people.
This is the show that we were at, which was about Forgiveness. So now, after venting, I will re-watch the show, and forgive the event planners, and forgive myself for my high expectations, and then I will be left with gratitude for being able to experience this. Because that’s what life is all about…experiences!
I splurged awhile ago and bought a patterned background. It was purchased on a whim. I’ve always been a black, grey or white background kind of photographer, so this was a risk. When it came, I did some quick mini sessions to try it out.
The verdict? Meh. I still prefer the solid backgrounds because I think this one takes away from the cute faces in front of it. Having said that, I’m going to keep it. I think it might be nice for some headshots. And I’d still like to practice some more, once my studio is back in operation.
While I have you here, there’s some stuff in the works for the next little while.
On April 28th, I’m teaching another SLR Camera Class. See the deets here. There’s still spots left!
In May, I will be available for outdoor shoots. I have 2 spots available in Calgary, and 2 in Sylvan Lake. Email right away to reserve your session.
AND! Watch the FB page next week for a Pinterest contest announcement!
PS – the Hubby and I are going to see Oprah in Toronto in 11 days! I’m like a groupie now! Can’t believe all of that Oprah stuff was almost a year ago. Time flies.
You know what always surprises me? How babies go from this:
to this, in a year:
Baby O is a neighbour, and a reminder just how fast time goes. Another reminder is how his Momma and I meant to have coffee while she was on Mat leave, and before we both new it, she was back to work! Time flies!
Baby R came to see me at the end of January. He was less than a week old, but looked like a 3 month old. He was a 10 pounder, but slept like a champ during our shoot.
In the fall, most my business is family portraits…understandably. It seems that this time of year is ‘Headshot season’. I am getting tons of inquiries for headshots and professional portraits, so I thought I’d put all the info in a blog post!
Headshots are easy. If you come to the studio, it usually takes 15-20 minutes. I can have the images up on the blog within 24 hours, and when you chose them, I can email them right to you; often resulting in a 48 hour (or less) turnaround.
If you have an entire office or group of people that need professional portraits, I can come to you. In very little space (often a boardroom will work) I can set up my equipment and can tskr portrsitd for up to 50 people in less than 3 hours. Turnaround for larger groups is 5-7 days.
If less than 5 images are purchased, I email them to you immediately. For 6 or more images, you will receive a disk.
Prices for headshots can be seen here.
I am teaching my fourth ‘Get Off Auto’ DSLR Course on April 28, 2012. If you recently got a new SLR camera, this is exactly what you need.
All the basics of photography – you will learn Aperture, Shutter Speed & ISO, and how to take better pics of your kids. You will leave with all the literature, and I will even teach you my biggest ‘Ah ha moment’ with photography…the one, simple trick that helps put it all together. The course is designed to be quick, I only teach you what you need to know to take your camera off the auto setting and get amazing results.
Please share this post (under image). We need 8 students to have it happen!
Email me to register! shannonhiltonphotography@gmail.com
Looking back to last year, some of the most fun I had at shoots were the Grads that I did. And it got me thinking.
Seniors Photography is huge in the states. Not the over 65 crowd, but the High School Seniors. It’s never taken off in Canada, and I’m not sure why. I know that now, as a 34 year old, I would LOVE some awesome portraits of myself when I was in High School. All I have are the year book photos, the photos that my Mom took with me saying “cheese” and a bunch from my graduation day – with my boyfriend at the time – again, taken by my Mom.
So, I’m offering this:
Teen & Grad Photography
I’m not talking about formal graduation day photos ONLY – I’m talking about a one on one photo session – of you in your coolest outfit, or your everyday jeans, just being you. An hour (or more) of just you behind the camera, showing your silly self, your serious self, your diva self…whatever you want.
We’ll hang out in Fish Creek, or a deserted barn, or in Inglewood, or anywhere you want.
The best part? You are going to love your pictures! And you’re going to tell your friends (and they’ll see your pictures on Facebook), and then they’ll book too. And if you (or your pictures) refer 8 other Teens/Grads to me – you get a brand new iPad2*.
Don’t know 8 people? How about a $25 Chinook Center Gift Card for every ONE referral?
The deets (that’s my cool talk so all you teenagers will know how hip I am):
Basic Package – $300 - gets you a 1 hour photo session. From this session you get to pick 4 digital files with photo enhancements and digital retouching (that pimple on your forehead? Gone.) You can do whatever you want with these files, post them on Facebook, make prints, email them to Grandma, whatever! That’s a value of $440. (Additional prints and files can be purchased as well – my prices are here).
Glam Package – $800 – You’ll get your hair done, then meet me for 2 hour photo session with up to two outfit changes. With this package you receive 10 digital files and one 11×14 print (with photo enhancements and digital retouching.) Value of $970.
BFF Package – $900 – You’ll both get your hair done, then meet me for a 2 hour photo session. I’ll get some shots of you together, and individually, and you can change your outfits twice. You will both be able to pick 5 digital images, plus an 11×14 each (with photo enhancements and digital retouching). Value of $1240.
PLUS – if you purchase any of the above packages, I’ll come do a graduation shoot on the day of your grad for free. (Upon availability, 2012 only. Book fast – I’m only one person!)
Teen & Grad shoots are meant to be outdoor shoots – so they will be weather dependent. There will be no refunds for hair styling, but rainchecks for the photo shoot can be given. *In order to be eligible for the iPad, you must “Like” Shannon Hilton Photography on Facebook and tag the page on your images. You must also be alright with me using your images in my promotional materials on-line & in print. The referrals’ shoots must take place within 2012.
Mary and I went to high school together. I still can’t believe we’re all grown up with kids! We were pregnant together with our youngest kids (I was going to post a picture of us showing off our bellies, but it’s horrific – me…not her!!), and they are 4 days apart.
Anyway, her daughter has the most amazing hair, and her son has the sweetest smile (& personality to match!)
Check them out:
I’ve had several people ask me about the bucket list tree my family did on New Years Eve, so here’s a picture!
It’s simply a bucket, with some sticks in it. We hung pieces of paper on it, with our ‘Bucket List’ items on it. The kids got into the fun too. There’s things like “Read more chapter books” (Abby, 8), and “Go camping” (Bella, 5). Most of them are trips that Mike and I want to go on, and things like “Develop Basement” (yes, that STILL hasn’t happened), etc. We are huge believers in ‘Thoughts Become Things”, and the Law of Attraction. I always have a vision board on the go, and this was a fun way of creating a visual for the whole family.
When we complete something, we’ll either leave it on, if we want to do it again, or replace it with a new goal.