MAGGIE HOLMES Photography and Scrapbooking Blog

New Website: Maggie Holmes Design

I have a NEW WEBSITE!!!

I have been working on this for what seems like forever and am so excited that I finally get to announce it!

Maggie Holmes Design

Along with the website redesign comes a new logo, new branding, new pricing for photo shoots, new photography galleries, new scrapbooking gallery, etc etc. 

I worked with a company called Moselle on this and they have done a fabulous job! I can't even begin to describe how awesome it was to work with people that were able to design what I was envisioning and what feels totally and completely "me."

I am beyond excited and hope you will head on over there to check it out!  

To celebrate I am also doing a giveaway today! One person will receive a spot in my next Photography 101 Online Workshop.... valued at $250.00!

To enter you will need to go to my new site, check it out and then come back here to tell me what you think! Also, you can enter more than once if you share the new site with others on your blog, facebook and/or twitter. After sharing it in one or more of those places you can come back here and enter again by telling me where you shared it! I will be back later this week to draw a winner at random!

Creating Keepsakes Guest Post & Giveaway

I am a guest blogger over on the Creating Keepsakes Magazine blog this week and wanted to share it with you. It's photography related and I'm sharing tips on how tell a more interesting and dynamic story with your photographs!

Click here to read it!

I'm also hosting a GIVEAWAY for a spot in my next Beginner/Intermediate Online Photography Workshop which starts in October. (Click here for more details on the class.) To enter you have to visit the CK Blog and leave a comment on my guest post. We will announce a winner later this week. Good luck!

 

P.S. The Studio Calico giveaway is still open below so keep reading onto the next post! EDIT: The Studio Calico giveaway is now closed. Thanks for entering!

It's been a while....

I can't believe how long it's been since I have posted here.... lots going on.....

The biggest event that has happened recently is the arrival of our little

Elizabeth Kate!

She is perfect in every way and such a good baby and I have been trying to soak up every minute and enjoy each little moment with her. I absolutely love the newborn stage and I can't get enough of snuggling her! My favorite is to just sit and hold her all curled up like a little ball. This time passes much too quickly and I don't want it to be over yet! 

Needless to say I have taken hundreds of photos of her... sneaking in some more formal photo shoots amongst the day to day and the normal routine which consists of feeding her, snuggling her, changing many many diapers, doing all of her laundry, more snuggling and then repeating all over again. 

All of these were taken at the hospital. I love how fresh and new she looks! Her tiny little feet are all wrinkly and just soooo cute! Love those tiny toes! As I start to sift through the other photos I have taken since I have been home I will definitely share! Although I have to save some for a special project that I just got asked to do and I am super thrilled about!! Can't wait to share it with you eventually!! :)

All of that is on top of it being summer and having all of the kids home, taking the boys to swim team and basketball camps, taking Emily to her dance class, trying to have some fun before they go back to school, and recovering from a c-section! Talk about jumping right back into the chaos!! But it is all good chaos and I wouldn't have it any other way! I feel incredibly grateful and blessed every day that I get to be a mother! I love it!

I will try to get back on here more regularly since I do have even more photos to share now, but if I go missing for a few days, just know that I am most likely on the couch holding my little Elizabeth Kate snuggling and holding her as close and as tight as possible! :) I just can't get enough!

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In other news, I do have an ONLINE PHOTOGRAPHY CLASS starting very soon.... In fact it is just around the corner! There are a few spots left so if you want to jump in, click here to be taken to my workshops page for all of the information and to register. 

The ADVANCED PHOTOGRAPHY CLASS is also filling up very quickly so if you want to secure your spot in that one, do it now!

To all of the students that have registered already, you will be hearing from me by email a couple of days before class starts so watch for that! Can't wait to get started and to officially "meet" you all!!

Photography Workshops: New Classes Open

I have been getting lots of emails asking about when my next

Online Photography Workshops

will take place and when they will be open for registration....... Here is the info:

 

Beginner/Intermediate - July 11th - August 20th, 2011

Advanced - August 22nd - October 1st, 2011

Beginner/Intermediate - October 3rd - November 12th, 2011

This is all I will have time to squeeze in before 2011 is over.........

Here are a few things that are worthy of mentioning:

1 - If you want to take one or both of the classes, now is the time to register in order to reserve your spot. They will fill quickly and once spots are gone they are gone.

2 - The advanced class always fills up really quickly from my past beginner students and many of them like to jump right into it after taking the first class. Just mentioning that in case you are going to take the July 11th class..... you may want to register for the August Advanced now because it will most likely be full before the July class even starts.

3 - If you are going to take the October 3rd class, I will be teaching the Advanced class again in early 2012 so you shouldn't have to wait too long before being able to follow up with the other class.

Also.........

If you are looking for detailed information on my photography classes you will want to check out the links in the right column here on my workshops page.

If you are looking for some testimonials from past students you can go here.

And of course, as always, if you have any questions feel free to email me using the link underneath my photo.

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And just to spice this post up a bit, here are a few photos that I don't believe I have shared before:

LOVE the colors!! Also you gotta love it when her outfit just happens to match the location perfectly! I PROMISE I didn't plan it this time.... it was just a random day out shopping! 

And here is a foot shot with a little bit different editing....... I love her in those pink converse!

P.S. the Creative Spaces special issue magazine giveaway is still open below so if you haven't entered, you still can!!

Sweet Boy: Newborn Photography

These are from a newborn photo shoot that I did recently. He is just too sweet and I have to say that photographing him made me even more anxious to have my baby!! I simply cannot wait!!

They are only tiny like this for such a short time and it's amazing to capture it on film!!

Priceless for sure!

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Technical/Photography Info for those interested:

I used my Urban action from the Color Mix Set on these (link to my Photoshop actions is on the right).

Also I have a new beginner/intermediate photography workshop starting on Monday. There are a few spots still left if you want to hurry and jump in! This will be the last online photography class I will hold until later in the year after I have had the baby...... so if you don't want to wait until Fall, now is the time to join us. (link to the workshops page is on the right as well).

American Crafts Blog Hop & Giveaway

Hi there! I am back with another giveaway and a super fun BLOG HOP!! 

All of us designers at American Crafts thought it would be fun to do a blog hop featuring their brand new products!! We just recently received them and I have to say that I have been anxiously waiting to see it all in person!! My favorite line is Hello Sunshine so my layout consists of almost everything from that line! Rarely do I create a layout with only products from one particular product line but this time was definitely an exception to that. There are so many bright fun colors and it all mixes and matches so well (with lots of contrast like I love) so I found that I didn't even need to pull much from other lines! Made for a pretty quick layout that came together super easily!!

These photos were all on my scrapbook table, intended for separate layouts or a mini album but then when I saw them sitting there all together like this I just knew that they needed to all go on one layout. The title - "Four" - comes from this simple sentiment: "4 adorable kiddos that I love with all my heart." Of course I could go on and on in detail about each one of them but sometimes I just like to keep the journaling short and sweet and let them know that I love them.... plain and simple.

Supplies Used: Thickers: Sunrise Natural (53180), Details; Daylight (78048), Elements: Pearl Brads (85545), Ribbon: Dawn (58620), Remarks: Good Morning (42194), Hello Sunshine Paper: Gossamer (35409), Delicate (35413), Brilliance (35415), Glow (35408), Glee (35402), Remarks: Gee Golly (42192), Mix Tape: Decorative Tape (61733), Medium Jewel Brads: Baby Girl: (85292), Plastic Rose Brads: Dear Lizzy Enchanted (85522), Slick Writer: Black Fine (62001)

Now, for the fun part......... I am giving away one of my most favorite American Crafts Products:

A package of MixTape! I used it on the layout above and you can find me using it on almost all of my layouts lately! I keep it right by my table and find myself using it over and over again! And the best part is that it never seems to run out! Love that!!

To enter to win, just leave a comment here on this post. I will be back on Monday to draw a winner! Good luck!!

Next, be sure to follow along on the blog hop so you can check out all of the other layouts from the super talented and inspiring designers and you can also enter to win their giveaways too!! 

The next stop on the hop is: Mahlin Wiggur

P.S. The Stella & Dot giveaway below is still open as well so if you are just visiting for the first time be sure to scroll down to check it out!!

Also, don't forget that my next online photography workshop is now open for registration..... spots are filling quickly but there are still some left! Details are right here.

Online Photography Workshops: Updates & New Class Open

Yikes! It's been much too long since I last posted! Sorry about that!! I've caught the spring cleaning and/or nesting bug and I have been cleaning out closets lately! As you know that can suck away the time like nothing else and once you start you can't stop.... that is unless you want to live in a huge mess! :) The closets are all done now though so that feels really good! Now the kids are on Spring Break for 2 weeks so we will be enjoying the time off and hitting the swimming pool for sure!!

I have some awesome giveaways coming soon so be watching for those! The first one will be tomorrow!!

I also wanted to post an update about my online photography workshops. I've been getting lots of emails asking about upcoming class and dates, etc.

The next Beginner/Intermediate class will run from April 11th - May 21st. The link to register and all the details can be found on my workshops page here.

I am currently running an Advanced class that is now Sold Out. The next Advanced class date isn't set yet but will likely not be until later in the year.

I will be taking a small break to have the baby and then will start classes back up after that in the late Summer or early Fall. This means that if you want to take the Beg/Intermediate class sooner rather than later, you better jump in the April class and register now before it is sold out. Again you can register over on my workshops page here. The link is in the right column.

I haven't shared testimonials in a while so I thought I would share a few that I have received recently. I truly do have the best students and they send me the sweetest emails! It always means so much to hear such nice feedback and comments! Thanks you guys!!!!

I was just on the message board and wanted to thank you so much for your great feedback on my pictures!  I am loving your class so far, and even though I was a little frustrated at working in manual last week, I do love it when I get a great photo!  So worth all the struggles!!  :)  Years ago I had taken a photography class in college, (just for fun), but the book was so very dry and technical, I ended up not finishing the class (which my husband loves to tease me endlessly about!! :) Your lessons are so clear and well written, and I just love your writing style....and the message board is so neat because you can see everyone's beautiful pictures!...so, thank you for such a wonderful class! I am enjoying it very much!.................Belinda :)

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First I have to thank you for all the hard work you have put into your course.  I have been searching for some time for a course on-line that I thought would fit with my style. I happened to stumble over your website on a good friends family blog as one of. Her favourite websites.  As I opened your page I was instantly inspired by your photography. Snapping shots of infants, children and possibly maternity is something I have always thought I would enjoy doing. Not being able to shoot in manual made this a challenge.  So, I was SUPER excited to stumble across your courses. I signed up right then. your assignments have been EXACTLY what I have been looking for. Straight to the important things in lingo I can understand. I was laying in bed the other night with assignment 2 in one hand, camera in the other and my labtop on my knee and I said to my husband "mydream might come true! I already feel like I have learned so much." I am blessed to have a wonderful husband who supports my dreams 100 percent. So THANK YOU! I will definitely be signing up for the advanced course.......................Lara

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I wanted to say I learned soooo much from your class- it was a great six weeks and am sad to see it end (wondering if you are thinking of developing anymore classes??? )  The content was incredible- feedback great and I really feel like I have grown in my skills....!!! Thank you so much for everything- your insight, teaching and information was absolutely incredible!!!  I am going back to the tutorials/assignments to make sure I have all the information:)  Thank you again and good luck with everything!!!  I hope you do some more classes, I would take them in a heartbeat:).......................Rachel

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I've been meaning to email you this for months! I just wanted you to know how much I enjoyed your online classes. I took both the beginner and intermediate photography classes and they were great.

I've taken other online classes, and though I have learned a lot, I learned the most from your classes.

Thank you for sharing your hard work and your talent...............Deb

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If you have any questions about the classes, you can always email me!! Looking forward to having you in class!! Oh, and since blog posts aren't nearly as exciting without an image, here are a couple that I took up in Utah last year.

Love these two!! Tyler is super duper sweet to Emily Jane and always has been. It has been really fun to see what a special and tender love he has for her. Ever since she was tiny he would go up to her and put his head right to hers and talk really quietly and sweetly to her..... and even now he is still doing it. Now that she is older and getting more spunky she won't always let him and she will often tease him by saying "Tyler's kisses are yucky kisses." He knows she is joking but I think he still gets a little hurt by it. The other day she said out of nowhere: "Tyler I love you.... you are my best friend..... your kisses are yummy kisses, not yucky" and he lit up like I have never seen! 

Online Photography Workshop Update

Hi all! Hope you are enjoying your weekend!! Ours has been busy with the boys starting basketball and me working on layouts for CHA. There's always something going on around here to keep us busy! :)

I don't have a big post planned for today but wanted to pop in with some important workshop info.

The beginner/intermediate class that starts Jan 17th is now SOLD OUT. I'm so excited to have such a wonderful group of students to start this year out with! I have been reading all of the bio sheets as they have been coming in and it is always so fun to get to know each of you a little bit before class starts!

I sent out an email to everyone that I have registered for the class. If you registered but did not get an email, please send me an email ASAP so we can get you in the system. It could be an error on my end or could be that your paypal email (that I have for you) is different than the one you use. Also, I know that some of the registrations were purchased as Christmas gifts so in that case, the email would have gone to the person who paid for the class..... either way, I just want to make sure I get everyone all set up, so please email me if you didn't get the email! The link to email me is over on the right under my picture.

If you missed out on this class and want to get information on future classes, you can email me to be added to the wait list.

Looking forward to starting class! 

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And because a blog post is always better with some photos, here are some more from that shoot with Emily.

 

Happy Sunday! Be back soon!!

Oh, and it seems as though some of you missed the announcement in the last post. Maybe I was too discreet!! Not trying to keep my friends in the dark! Haha!! YES, we are EXPECTING.... baby #5 is coming this summer!! I have been super duper sick up until now but I am finally starting to feel better! I was definitely in survival mode for a while there! Felt bad for my kiddos and hubby because I sure didn't feel like much of a mom or wife! Just have to remember that it does eventually pass and it is worth all the sacrifice and suffering! Thanks for all of the comments here on the blog and the tweets of congrats!! Love you all and appreciate all of your support and well wishes!!! thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

 

2011 Photography Workshops!

I am super excited to announce the launch of my first 2 Online Photography Workshops for 2011! Yipppeeee!  

Beginner/Intermediate: Jan 17th - Feb 26th, 2011 $250

This is a 6 week online photography course that teaches you how to go from shooting in Auto mode to shooting in full Manual mode in just a few short weeks! Also covers things like lighting, composition and creativity! Complete class details can be found here. Commonly asked questions can be found right here.

 

Advanced: Feb 28th - April 9th, 2011 $350

This is another 6 week online photography class that is the perfect follow up to my beginner/intermediate. The beg class is all about teaching you how to get the best possible image straight out of camera. Then in the advanced we take it to the next level and learn how to edit those photos so that they will look even more magical! It also covers things like advanced lighting and when/how to use your external flash. The complete course outline can be found here. 

You are not required to take the beg/intermediate course before the advanced but I do strongly recommend it. If you are already completely comfortable shooting in manual mode and you feel like you can pretty much nail your exposure and focus most of the time, then you are welcome to jump right to the advanced course. I have also had students take the advanced first and then go back and take the beginner/intermediate after because they felt like they needed a refresher on the basics... and that is perfectly fine too!

You can REGISTER by going to my workshops page and clicking on the registration links that are listed in the right hand column. The spots have been previously opened up to my waiting list so a lot of them are already filled. The remaining spots will be filled on a first come, first serve basis. Now is the time to register if you want to guarantee your seat! 

This is the perfect gift you can give to a loved one or to YOURSELF this Christmas! :) Or you can ask someone to give it to you! I know from personal experience that there is nothing worse than spending LOTS of money on nice camera equipment (something many of us do this time of year) only to be extremely disappointed that our pictures didn't improve drastically! The missing component is education and knowledge on how to make the camera work for you! One of the main focuses of my beginner class is teaching you how to be in charge of your camera so you can get the results you want! It's so exciting!!

Here are a few TESTIMONIALS from some of my previous students:

"I just wanted you to know how much I enjoyed your online classes. I took both the beginner and intermediate photography classes and they were great.

I've taken other online classes, and though I have learned a lot, I learned the most from your classes.

Thank you for sharing your hard work and your talent. Many blessing to you and your cute family" Deb Zorn

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"I want to thank you for your class.  When it first began I was worried that I wasn't good enough, that my skills were not there. It was hard to post photos knowing that they were not my best, but I became comfortable with you and loaded the pictures I was having problems with.  You gave me such wonderful feedback and now I am able to see details in my photos that I had missed before.  Before I could tell my photo was 'off' but could not pinpoint what the problem was.  Because I couldn't tell what the problem was, I didn't know how to fix it.

Your class was such a growing experience and I was sad when the class ended.  I LOVED the last assignment.  Again it was hard to put my photos out there to the other students, but it was wonderful.  It helped me give words to my style, when before I didn't even realize I had a style!

Your encouragement made me take so many of the photos that have been swimming in the back of my head.  I finally dragged our kitchen table into the living room and took the picture of my baby girl on a fuzzy rug in the middle of the wood floor.  Thank you!  As I uploaded the photos onto my flickr account I actually did a double take.  I felt an amazing sense of pride.  I took those pictures.  And they look good.  In a few short weeks you've help me bring my talent up to the next level. 

I am so grateful." Jen

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"I wanted to say I learned soooo much from your class- it was a great six weeks and am sad to see it end (wondering if you are thinking of developing anymore classes??? )  The content was incredible- feedback great and I really feel like I have grown in my skills....!!! Thank you so much for everything- your insight, teaching and information was absolutely incredible!!!  I am going back to the tutorials/assignments to make sure I have all the information:)  Thank you again and good luck with everything!!!  I hope you do some more classes, I would take them in a heartbeat:)" Rachel Healey

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"I took your first beginner class March of last year and I've taken classes from 2 other instructors since then.  And I am SOOOOO happy and thankful to be back in your Advanced class now!  You are by far my favorite instructor.  Maybe I'm just partial because you taught me how to get the heck out of auto!!  :-)  I am forever grateful for that, but that's not it!  I really truly love your lesson writing style and class format.  I'm looking forward to watching the videos to feel like I'll get to know you a little more!!  If you ever have a level 3 class, I will be right there!!!!  For now, I'm off to bed!" Kimberly  

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"This was a fantastic class to take in order to get familiar with shooting manual and learning some tricks of the trade! I have tried a few different "self teaching" methods and using books, and the way Maggie explains things in her lessons was so much more effective! I learned so much from the class and feel so much more comfortable with my camera now - and LOVE the results I get since I've learned to shoot in manual.  I am looking forward to taking the advanced class from Maggie and learning even more!" Christiane

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On a final note from me, it is truly rewarding to go back through and read the sweet emails from my students with their feedback. I can't even express how exciting it is to see them make so much progress in such a short amount of time. Can I just say that I am blessed and truly grateful that I get to do this? It is the best!! 

Looking forward to getting started on the classes again since I have had a short break during the crazy busy holiday photography season. I am also even more excited about 2011 and these first 2 classes because my BRAND NEW WEBSITE will be launching in time for the first class! This has been a long time coming and I had to make a huge U-turn a few months back and start over with new designers/developers but since starting down this new path I am giddy with excitement about everything! Not only is the design completely ME, but the systems and functions that they are implementing are going to make my classes run soooo much more smoothly! I can't wait to start using the new site!

Looking forward to "meeting" all of my new students and "seeing" you in class!! Again, here is the link to the workshops site where you can register. 

  

MORE Than Words Can Say....

If you took my class on photography at Creative Escape earlier this year, then you will know exactly what the title of this post means and how it relates to the photos..... more on that in a minute.

I took Emily out one HOT afternoon in September for a quick little photo shoot before the boys got out of school. We are talking around 1pm and it was boiling hot! We were only out there for 15 minutes because it was literally THAT hot! I was clicking fast I tell ya and the funny thing is that somehow I got 60 photos that I LOVE in that short amount of time! I just finally had a chance to go through them and I don't know what I am going to do with all 60 photos because I want to print every single one! I think I will have to try to narrow it down to a few big prints for the house and then I think I will make a custom little photo book with all of them. Then of course I will be printing all of them to scrapbook! I am sure you will see lots of these in the months to come on my pages for Creating Keepsakes, Studio Calico and American Crafts! 

Anyway, I can't share all 60 of them in one blog post (that might be a little over indulgent anyway haha!) so I will share handfuls of them over the next few weeks. Lots of the photos are ones that take my breath away and speak to me in a way that I can't even describe to someone else. They are those photos that melt my heart and make it start pounding and make me a big ole giant mess of motherly emotions in one single instant. They are those photos that speak to me and convey "more than words can say".....

They are the photos that made me fall in love with photography in the first place. They are the photos that make me want to keep snapping away every second of every day. They are the ones that make me want to keep improving my skills so that I can continue to capture and create magic through the lens. They are the ones that make me want to share what I know and how I do it and make me thankful that I get to teach my online photography classes so I can do just that. Today I am grateful for photography and grateful for photos and grateful that I can capture these little moments so I can tuck them away to treasure forever!

Oh how I love her....... today I am grateful.....