Spoiled Rotten Photography Archives

Categories: Family, Life, Photography, Spoiled Rotten Photography

She Will Be Missed

As I began thinking about playing along with the 2024 Spoiled Rotten Photography Personal Projects, I knew the subjects I wanted to focus on. The bond that Savannah has with our dog, Daisy. Daisy and Savannah will both miss each other next year when Savannah heads off to college!

I came across this image on Pinterest that displayed the bond between a girl and her dog. I loved the evening golden light and the shallow depth of field.

While we didn’t catch a light filled evening, this is our backyard version with a little magic added for fun. I played around with a new to me 100 mm lens. I love the merge of the tiny pines trees that have taken over in the back of our yard, that look more like a forest.

This is the original of my favorite image, but knew it needed a little extra sparkle.

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Categories: Family, Life, Photography, Spoiled Rotten Photography

Behind the Wood Shed

If you can’t find my Father, you can usually find him behind the wood shed chopping wood for fun or clearing the next trail through the woods behind his house at Arkadelphia Acres.

For this year’s Spoiled Rotten Photography Personal Project, I knew my Father would be the perfect subject to use to mimic the inspiration piece of art I chose. While I was recently in Bentonville, Arkansas, I was able to visit the Crystal Bridges Art Museum.

While visiting Crystal Bridges Art Museum, I discovered this painting called “Tobacco Sorters.” What caught my attention was the contrast in subjects and to me it told a story of a grandfather telling his granddaughter about life or the industry in which he worked. I chose to tell a similar generational story in my image with my Father who has always chopped wood for fun and his only grandson. I wanted the lighting and finish to depict the roughness and texture of the piles of wood and my Father’s weathered skin.

I captured two images that I felt mimicked the composition and theme of the original painting. I chose to call these, “Passing the Axe” and “Behind the Wood Shed.”

My Father…

You may never knew what he is thinking or feeling, but his mind is always processing the next project and path he wants to clear. He was born to have his hands in the dirt and not much slows him down!

His example has taught his 2 daughters and 5 grandchildren how to be satisfied with the simple things in life, the value of hard work, and using the resources you have been given wisely.

I am thankful the timing of this photo project allowed me a rare opportunity to photograph my Father alone, in his element, as a tribute for Father’s Day this year.

These yearly personal photo projects have become a great way for me to tell the stories of my family’s heritage and legacy.

Do you have any portraits of your family members that tell a story for the next generation to know something about them?

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Categories: Family, Life, Spoiled Rotten Photography, Travel

Meet me at Magnolia

You can meet me at Magnolia any time!

This girl of mine is just like her Mom and enjoys a good adventure! After making arrangements to be in the Houston area to help launch the newest Spoiled Rotten Photography franchise, I knew I would have one day to explore the area. When I discovered Waco is less than 3 hours from Katy, I began scheming how I could get Sarah Beth out to Texas to join me for a day trip to Waco to experience all things Magnolia. I knew this would be a dream opportunity for her that I didn’t want to miss out on. The girls and I discovered Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Fixer Upper show in 2016 and binge watched each of their episodes, following the design trends and watching the projects that always seemed to get bigger. After watching Joanna work her magic, I began seeing an innate design and interior design ability in Sarah Beth. She has been the child that will ignore the growing mound of clothes in a corner, but will rearrange her furniture and stage the nic nacs on her shelves everyday. Of course, when I shared this idea and plan with Sarah Beth she was so excited and ready to soak it all in, even if it would be a quick trip. We found a direct flight from Bham to Houston on United Airlines. The tickets were cheap enough Jonathan could fly out with Sarah Beth cheaper than we could pay for her to be accompanied by a United staff member, and then catch the same flight back to Bham that evening. Everything aligned perfectly to make a smooth transition at the airport.

I visited The Magnolia Market and Waco area with my Mom in January 2017, but this would be Sarah Beth’s first trip to Texas. I was excited to see all the new development and projects that have been added since 2017. We just missed by a few weeks the completion of the newest expansion with church, small shops, and wiffle ball field.

Give me ALL the Fall Decor!

Given the current social distancing protocols, we had to wait some at the shops and restaurants, but nothing compared to what it probably would be in a normal year. After visiting the main Magnolia Market store we grabbed a chai latte to share at the Magnolia Press and walked through the Magnolia Home furniture store. We drove over to the Magnolia Table restaurant for lunch. With limited capacity we had to wait an hour for a table for a late lunch, but the delicious brunch/lunch menu is worth the wait! We split the Farm Breakfast and Gaines’ Family Favorite chili. They were both fantastic, and we agreed it some of the best bacon we have ever had!

With our lunch ticket they gave us the cutest little Waco passport booklet. After lunch we drove around the Castle Heights neighborhood to see the Gaines’ upcoming castle project, saw the Hillcrest Bed and Breakfast, and drove out to the original Magnolia on Bosque, which is now the sister discount store. We found a few additional treasures and souvenirs and headed back to get the rest of our passport stamps and end our afternoon with a cupcake from the Silos Bakery.

TIP: You will want to get ALL the types of cupcakes, so get 2 different kinds and share!

If you have been thinking about visiting Magnolia, you should totally do it! Grab your daughters, a few girlfriends, or your spouse and make it a weekend getaway. I promise you will leave refreshed and inspired. You can meet me at Magnolia any time!

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Categories: Life, Photography, Spoiled Rotten Photography

2020 Personal Picture Project

It is time for the 2020 Personal Picture Project! One of Spoiled Rotten Photography’s core values is excellence. One way to continually grow as a photographer is to constantly be looking for inspiration that you can incorporate into your own work through the work of artists of all mediums, nature, and the work of other photographers. It is getting outside of the style and comfort of the lighting, posing, and styling that you typically do to create a piece of art that speaks to you personally. We believe we are more than just a warm body behind a camera snapping a button of children, but rather artists who are trained to connect with the soul of a child and capture memories for parents with excellence.

2020

“Free Puppyz”

This year I was inspired by a return to simpler times depicted in Norman Rockwell style paintings. Children playing outdoors with puppies trailing at their feet. When I learned my brother and sister-in-law’s dog just had puppies, I knew they would be the perfect subjects to incorporate into a story with my nephews.

Inspiration Artwork

If you think working with children always yields a perfect image with everyone looking at the camera at just the right second, think again. For laughs I am sharing the original images that went into making this final piece of art.

2019

“Our Story in Silhouette”

I was inspired by the playful nature of sunset silhouette pictures by Jen Snyder. I wanted to simplistically tell the story of my girls in the light of this moment in time. This was a photo project that lit my girls up with excitement for helping to achieve together. Savannah has been learning to play the clarinet through middle school band and Sarah Beth is still all about tutus and dressing up along with her guinea pig, Cupcake, that she got in 2019. This image now lives on our wall as a 24×30 gallery wrapped canvas.

2018

“Fearless”

I was inspired by the simplicity and boldness of the black and white portraits created by Lisa Visser. In this image of my daughter, I wanted to capture and highlight her summer freckles.

Make sure you cast your vote for your favorite image in the 2020 Personal Picture Project by commenting on this Facebook post.

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Categories: Family, Life, Photography, Spoiled Rotten Photography

Graduation 2020

Graduation 2020 looks a lot different this year than what we have come to expect for preschool, high school, and collage graduations. Both of my girls have completed their seasons of elementary and middle school this year and will be moving on to middle and high school in the Fall.

The girls have been sad about missing fun end-of-the-year activities, special programs and award ceremonies that they should be enjoying before making the transition to a new school.

Today we grabbed my 22 year old, royal blue, high school graduation gown out of the closet and had a little fun creating images to help us remember these milestone graduations. Luckily the gown color matches our current Chelsea blue.

I have photographed a lot of preschool little graduates over the years, but these images of my girls are the ones that will make me cry as we pull them back out at the next milestone.

What is not to love about star confetti?!

We’ve been making the most of our time “Staying at Home” this Spring while celebrating birthdays, crafting, playing, baking, and homeschooling.

We are wrapping up our digital home learning this week and are looking forward to a Summer full of more memories!

The thing about new beginnings is that they require something else to end.
– Blair Waldorf

What does the end of the school year, Graduation 2020 look like for your family? Do you have any kiddos moving on to a new school in the Fall? Share with us how you are choosing to celebrate the end of the school year and any graduates at your home!

If you have a high school or collage graduate, Krispie Kreme is doing a fun promotion that your graduate can be recognized for the week of 5/18-5/24!

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Categories: Family, Life, Photography, Spoiled Rotten Photography

Easy DIY Accordion Photo Album

Mother’s Day 2020 will look a little bit different for families across the nation. Local restaurants will not be open for taking Mom out for a sit down meal. Essential shopping has shifted to online shopping to find the perfect token of your appreciation for mothers and grandmothers.

This year try using the resources you have at home to create an easy DIY accordion photo album that can easily be slipped in the mail if you are not able to gather with your mothers and grandmothers on Mother’s Day.

Materials Needed for Accordion Photo Album

2 – 12×12 pieces of cardstock (white or color of choice) or 3 – 8.5×11 pieces of cardstock
10 photos that can crop to a 4×4 square
Cover image
Paper trimmer or ruler and scissors
Glue stick or double-sided tape
Optional – colored washi tape to decorate edges, ribbon for tying book closed

Gather images that you have at home, print photos on your home printer, or send to your local 1 hour photo lab. I was able to print 4×6 images at my local Walmart 1 hour photo lab. If you have more time you can send to your favorite online photo lab.

I was excited to be able to to pull 10 of my favorite images from the family portrait session we had with Spoiled Rotten Photography on the Spring Daydream Set.

To include 10 images in your Accordion Photo Album you will need 5 – 4×8 strips of paper. Below you will see how I used a paper trimmer to cut those strips from 2 pieces of 12×12 cardstock.

Next fold each of your 4×8 strips of paper in half to create 4×4 boxes.

To put the base of your Accordion Photo Album together, lay each of the sections out, alternating the direction of the folded point.

Use a glue stick or double-sided tape to attach each individual piece to the accordion chain.

Use a glue stick or double-sided tape to attach 6 images to the front side and 4 images to the middle squares on the back side of the accordion chain. You will need to leave the first and last square to fold up to be your front and back cover.

If you have more or less than 10 images that you would like to include in your Accordion Photo Album, you can modify the number of 4×8 in. strips you add to your base. Use 4 – 4×8 in. strips for 8 images, 6 – 4×8 in. strips for 12 images and so forth.

Download the Mother’s Day cover images

Mothers Day Title Cover Download

Mothers Hold Their Children’s Hands for Awhile… Their Hearts Forever Cover Download

There is no greater love than that of a Mother Cover Download

We would love to see your finished Accordion Photo Albums! Use the hashtag #thewayhomelife and post on your social media.

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Categories: Family, Life, Photography, Spoiled Rotten Photography

Picture Project

The past 9 days I helped Spoiled Rotten Photography host the #SRPpicturePROJECT. This was a fun project we put together to share with the preschools and parents that we work with as well as our friends and anyone who wanted to join. The purpose of the project was to take one picture each day to represent what you were doing, sensing, and feeling throughout your QuaranTIME. Our generation has never experienced so much TIME spent at home with limited disruptions and obligations. Each of 9 photographs were to be placed into a grid that could be shared, printed out, and saved as a memory to this special time.

We partnered with some other AMAZING local small businesses who sponsored each day, giving away some very cool prizes! We are giving everyone until Monday, April 13 to submit their completed 9 grid to be eligible to win prizes, so you can still jump in this week and participate if you missed out last week!

I shared some of these pictures along the way on my social media, but here is the full story behind each picture.

Day 1 – Photograph something PURPLE

I love watching the purple wisteria vines pop up in the most unusual places during the month of March! We found a hidden patch to photograph the girls while it was at its peak.

Day 2 – Photograph something I SEE

I had begun seeing many women, including my mother, sewing face masks for the frontline health care workers, and had a vision for this portrait that I wanted to photograph my mother for. We Can Sew It!

Day 3 – Photograph something I SMELL

The girls and I got up early one morning to drive to a local strawberry field to buy a bunch of strawberry baskets to deliver to friends and family. I love the smell of fresh strawberries in the spring!

Day 4 – Photograph something I HEAR

Daily I hear the sound of my feet hitting the pavement in the 2 mile loop in my neighborhood. I have a favorite Pandora station that inspires my thoughts and it is this time alone with God that prompts me to take my next step.

Day 5 – Photograph something I TASTE

I recently picked up some sourdough starter from my sister and we baked our first batch of homemade sourdough bread this week. It tastes so good, and is so easy to make.

Day 6 – Photograph something I FEEL

I had all the feels as this 24×30 metallic canvas arrived on my doorstep! I took this silhouette portrait featuring my girl’s interests… clarinet and guinea pig, last summer shortly after we moved into our new house and learned of the beautiful sunsets from atop the mountain. This was a project the girls and I envisioned together and they were just as excited about the process and having this canvas printed to hang on our walls as I was.

Day 7 – Photograph something I PLAY

We have been inspired by all the sidewalk chalk drawings and messages that have flooded our newsfeed and were able to find the last box of Crayola chalk at Michaels. After creating chalk mosaics in our driveway, we got permission to leave sidewalk chalk drawings and messages on the sidewalk outside our Grandmother’s retirement apartment since they have been more isolated during this time of sheltering in place.

Day 8 – Photograph something I READ

I have been digging deeper in to my Bible to find peace, hope and direction for the here and now and what is to come.

Day 9 – Photograph something I GROW

Our time of staying home was kicked off by Sarah Beth’s garden party and we have since planted some herbs, flowers, and vegetables to watch sprout and grow and hopefully be able to enjoy the produce of in the months to come.

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Categories: Life, Photography, Spoiled Rotten Photography

High Five Friday – Kara Kellner

Meet my friend and business associate, Kara Kellner. I got to watch her adorable son, grow up in front of my camera lens at Primrose Meadowbrook. Little did Kara know when she sent her little boy to preschool in 2016, that his cap and gown portraits would tug at her heart so much that she would begin inquiring and dreaming about the opportunity to own her own piece of Spoiled Rotten Photography and be able to reproduce those same memories for families in Birmingham.

Kara and her family joined the Spoiled Rotten Photography family in 2017 and I have watched her work relentlessly to build a sustainable business for her family. That little brown-eyed, brown-headed little boy has become the #1 cheerleader and advocate for their family’s business.

At our Spoiled Rotten Photography conference in January, Kara was awarded the Purple Crown Award. The Purple Crown is awarded to the franchise owner who excels in all the SRP core values from the previous year.

Since my family moved back to Birmingham in 2019 and selling my Alpharetta SRP franchise in 2020, I have been between roles and careers. Back in December, Kara called me distraught knowing that she would need an additional photographer to make it through her Spring season, so I gladly stepped in to fill in the gaps for her wherever she needed help. It has been a pleasure working with Kara this Spring to provide beautiful portraits for the Birmingham preschool families.

Kara has built a nurturing and loving relationship with all the schools she works with locally and it is evident when I have walked into the schools and I hear the owners, directors, teachers, and parents raving about the quality she provides.

If you know of any daycares, mother’s day out programs, or preschools in the Birmingham area that aren’t currently using Spoiled Rotten Photography for their Spring and Fall Portraits, you can send me those names and referrals or reach out to Kara directly at kellners@spoiledrottenphotography.com. Kara has a goal of adding at least 3 new partner schools to her Fall schedule and I am confident she will connect with the right schools who will be blessed with amazing school pictures

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Categories: Life, Photography, Spoiled Rotten Photography

High Five Friday – Vinehouse Nursery

For today’s High Five Friday, I would like to give a shout out to Vinehouse Nursery in Alabaster, Alabama.

I had the privilege of being able to fill in as the Spoiled Rotten Photography photographer for their Spring Portraits this week.

Vinehouse Nursery is only a few years old and has organically grown each year as they add a classroom to meet the needs of their growing family of children. Depending on the age of the enrolled child, they move through 4 “Vine” themed programs – Seedlings, Sprouts, Stems, and Sunflowers. The classrooms and decor have a beautiful modern flair to reflect each of these growth stages.

From the minute I walked in the door, the owner Khiari Mcalpin, and all her staff were so friendly and super helpful. I felt like an honored guest being in their school. You could tell the children were all very well adjusted to their environment, their teachers, and other students.

Kaitlyn Mackey and I had the best time playing with all the children and capturing beautiful Spring Portraits on the new Daydream set. There should be a lot of proud parents as they receive their online galleries for viewing and ordering!

If you are looking for a clean, safe, calm, and nurturing environment for your babies in the Alabaster area, I highly recommend checking out Vinehouse Nursery! Or if you have a heart for working with children, I do believe they may be looking to hire an additional part time or full time employee.

Do you have a local business that you believe I should feature on a future High Five Friday? Send me a message and let’s chat!

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Categories: Life, Photography, Spoiled Rotten Photography

Passing the Purple Crown

Hindsight is 2020

When we are called to leave and start something new, we may not have the vision to see what it will be, but we can have faith in what it can be.

In 2013 when our family was faced with a move to Atlanta, GA I decided to put my established E. Bailey Photography custom photography business to the side to open one of the first Spoiled Rotten Photography franchises. The prior year I had met the owner of the company, Melissa Tash, and was fascinated with the business model she had created. For me this proven successful preschool/daycare/mother’s day out portrait model made perfect sense and was the opportunity I was looking for to regain my weekends and still be able to be a stay-at-home mom, doing the majority of my work while my girls were at school.

The Lord opened doors and provided the people and resources I needed to get Spoiled Rotten Photography – Alpharetta established pretty quickly.

Moving into my 3rd year, I saw the potential for adding a photographer to come alongside me as my schedule was beginning to be full. In my own might I tried to fit several people who were already photographers into this role, but it never seemed to work out. Then the Lord opened my eyes to the potential of training the photo stylist/assistant who had invested 2 years of her time with me. One of the beautiful things about the SRP model is the ability to take someone who has never used a professional camera and teach them how to achieve beautiful portraits in all settings, through an intensive in house training program.

In sending Christine through training in 2016, also came her sister Patricia who wanted to be a part of what we were doing. While I didn’t have the vision for triple capacity at that moment, what we created was a beautiful dynamic sister duo who I was able to trust to provide the quality portraits I was used to providing my schools. In the seasons that followed, I was stretched in my ability to manage employees and give up control of different aspects to effectively scale my business.

In 2019 I was given a job opportunity for the year in Birmingham, Alabama. This meant I would need to completely step away from the on-the-ground operations of my SRP business in Alpharetta. I knew my two photographers wanted to take on more work, so this would be their time to shine as I was able to pass off almost all of my portrait events for the year. We worked in harmony with each other, and thanks to our amazing new proprietary software system, I was able to manage the business remotely.

After our move was made permanent to Birmingham, we discussed the option for Christine and Patricia to aquire the Spoiled Rotten Photography – Alpharetta franchise so they could continue to nurture and grow the business beyond what I could ever do remotely. This scenario was best for all three of us.

I am excited to announce as of January 2020, Christine Mamon and Patricia Mesi are the new owners of Spoiled Rotten Photography – Alpharetta.

In releasing my own Spoiled Rotten Photography franchise, it will free up my time and allow me to assist and help with growth for new and existing Spoiled Rotten Photography franchise owners. I love business, business strategy, marketing, developing brands, and developing leaders, so I’m sure I will find plenty to keep my hands busy in the years to come.

If you have ever considered owning your own business, love children, love photography or have a teachable spirit to learn, this opportunity may be right for you to bring to your hometown. I speak with perspective owners all the time, so ask me all the questions you might have!

It was an honor to receive my Master Photographer award after our 2020 Image Competition!

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