Welcome back

from a crazy hot summer, Whispers fans! Whispers is breathing in some fresh air over here and it’s just wonderful!
For me, this has been the craziest summer I can remember. It started with one of the most trying times my family has ever seen, followed by a chance to swim in the love and support I got from so many of you (for which I have an extraordinary amount of gratitude – truly, when I say my prayers of thanks, you all are at the top of my list), followed by a chance to expand the Whispers’ mission with the talent and creativity of two extraordinary women.

Ready to meet these two gems? Introducing…drum roll, please….Jeni Haas and Amy Douglass!

Many of you may know Jeni Haas already since she has been part of a mentor-for-lifesaver exchange program, wherein she’s been honing her photography and I’ve been leaning on her like a crutch because she makes Whispers a better place for both me and our clients. What’s most fascinating about Jeni is her eagle-like attention to detail. Her photography shows this, and I’m continually awed by how she can use her creativity to highlight new and fascinating aspects in the kids she works with – she particularly loves the 3-feet-from-the-street crowd and newborns. The families she’s worked with love Jeni…but I will always get to be president of her fan club. It’s in the contract.

Amy Douglass is a new gift at our party. She is quite simply one of the most gifted photographers I have ever seen, and I knew her by reputation long before I was lucky enough to get the chance to work with her. Although she is excellent with newborns and school-age kids, her high school senior photography is what made me fall out of my seat (don’t worry – I was totally fine once she agreed to work with me). What’s most interesting about Amy is her eye for combining up-to-the-minute trends that define a senior year with the timeless qualities that define the seniors themselves. It’s really a magical combination. When Amy and I finally met for lunch, it was like we’d known each other all our lives. I think our clients will also agree that she fits right in.

if you were wondering- YES they made me wear make up and yes I kept touching it… LOL

In addition to new people, we also have some new offerings. We’ve had a lot of requests for shorter, simpler, lower-cost sessions that we’ve answered with Spotlight Sessions. These are typically 30-minute sessions that give clients a chance to test something new. They’ll typically (but not always) have a theme that you can try without a huge commitment of time and money – angels, cowboys, or explorers might be some examples. Feel free to make suggestions – some of our best ideas come from our clients! Your session and images will have the same quality as a more expensive, expanded session but they’ll be offered less expensively because of a new, efficient, online-only ordering system.

Ordering for Spotlight Sessions is done entirely online with a limited menu (mostly standard-size Luster prints and single-image canvases – the most popular items). A special discount will be offered for orders completed within 48 hours of being posted and the entire ordering window will last two weeks. You can do your ordering with no pressure and have plenty of time to call all your relatives for their orders. We love trying new things!

We have some new products, too! For those who love texture and depth and lovely things to look at, we have some great new photo papers. Listen to these: German etching, fine linen, photo rag, pearl, bamboo, and sugar cane. There’s even one called torchon…it’s one of my personal favorites. We still offer some of the best canvases around and have been doing some great new designs that you might want to try.  Of course there are always the old faithful luster prints for those who can’t let the classics go (we understand). We just have so much to see – your ordering session will be a feast for the senses!

Ok, so that’s what new…

Before you get all worried that we’re going big time, let me assure you that Whispers will ALWAYS be a small boutique photography studio. The best images are created when the photographer knows a family well, and that just doesn’t happen with revolving door sessions.

Of course there will be lots of shops who give you 10 minutes of time and cut-rate service, barely do any work on the images, quickly show you 10 proofs, threaten you that they’ll be destroyed if you don’t order them, then wave you toward the door. Once upon a time, I was a customer of these places….Whispers will NEVER do that to our clients. We love getting to know the families who trust us enough to capture their special memories. Clients often become our friends. That just doesn’t happen in 30 seconds or less, which can be exactly how much useful time a photographer has to take pictures of a stressed-out kid in one of these shotgun sessions.

Plus, we’d miss out on some of the most magical moments that happen in our day. In almost every session there is a moment where the subjects, either the kids or their parents (maybe both), give a gift. They look at something or someone and BAM! We get a hearty laugh or smirky grin captured and saved forever. It’s something that anyone who knows them would recognize, but is so often missed in rushed or formal sessions. Ok, I’m getting a little sentimental…let’s just say that this job always gives us delightful moments when we take the time to let them happen. We’ll never stop doing that.

Now that we’ve had this time to recharge our batteries, let me just tell you how energized we are – we can’t wait to show you all the new things we have going on. Stop by the studio or give us a call to see!