Maternity Leave

 ~image by and courtesy of Kati Dimoff of http://kdimoffphotography.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by my blog!  I am excited to announce that I will be on maternity leave for the birth of my first baby from December 2012 through February 2013.  

I plan to be back to work part time in March 2013 and full time in April 2013. 

I am accepting newborn sessions for due dates of March 22nd or later and maternity sessions for due dates in late April.  If you're unsure, please feel free to reach out and we will see if your timing works.

Thank you to all my clients who have been so supportive this year as I worked while getting more and more pregnant!  I appreciate all the offers of help, snacks, and water and all the willing partners who schlepped heavy gear for me, and helped me get up out of the sand on the beach. 

I look forward to seeing all of you again in 2013.

Best,
Martha

UPDATE: Mini-Maternity Sessions

UPDATE:
The mini-maternity sessions have been going so well that I've decided to do them every quarter or even every couple of months!  New dates are always being added and more will be coming in the late summer and early fall.

Dates for the NEXT mini-maternity sessions are:
Tuesday, August 14th
(Monday, August 13th as rain date)
There are a limited number of sessions available so please book as soon as possible!

In these tough times, many Seattle families are forced to choose between a newborn portrait session and a maternity portrait session.  While I always think the newborn portrait session is the right place to invest professional photography if you can only choose one, it also breaks my heart that many women will never have the opportunity for amazing portraits of their pregnancies.

So in 2012, I am going to try something new.  I am offering quarterly mini-maternity sessions.  There will only be one date per quarter, for women who are due during that time period.  The portraits sessions will only be about 30 minutes long and will take place at Seattle's Golden Gardens park in Ballard.  The mini-maternity session will be $300 and includes a $200 print credit.  It's enough to make sure you have a few treasured family heirloom portraits from this amazing but fleeting time in your life.

Who is eligible?
Any woman due within a few weeks of the session. (Artist's discretion, please call to see if you are in the right time-frame)

Call the studio to see if a mini-maternity portrait session will work for you.  No one should have to miss out on having beautiful, natural, maternity portraits.

*Restrictions: woman and her partner only, no pets or other young children can be included due to time constraints, one outfit only, limited times and sessions.

Article About M. Larson Photography

This week, my friend and colleague Bob McGowan at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography (where I completed my training in photography) wrote an Alumni Feature about me, my small business in Ballard, and my newborn and maternity portrait work. 

The article is aimed at other photographers and prospective students at the school but all the images used are mine, including the self-portrait head shot (and boy, that was not easy to take!)

To read the article, click here for the RMSP blog .

Check out the article on the RMSP blog!

Best of 2011 Contest is ON!

Last year, I had a Best of 2010 contest on my M. Larson Photography Facebook Page and it was such a hit that I decided to do it every year.  This year's contest begins now and runs through February 10th!

Also, I would like to say a huge "Thank you!" to all of my clients, past and present, even though every session can't make it into the contest.  You and your kids made my year so much fun and so rewarding.  Thank you! I am very proud of all my portraits which are so special to each and every one of my families.

It's always hard to choose just a few (29) out of the thousands of images I take every year.  Sometimes, my favorite images from a session aren't the same as my clients' favorite images.  So this one is just for me - artist's choice - and I have my reasons for picking each one!  Usually, I choose things on the artsier end of the spectrum.

Looking through them will give you a good glimpse of what I was really digging in 2011.  There were more bright colors this year and lots of fun bigger kids as well.  Toddlers are always enjoyable to photograph and really keep me on my toes!

If you'd like to see all the images, or participate, head on over to the Facebook Page, become a fan, and "Like" your favorite images.

1. ‘Like’ M. Larson Photography

The pictures are up on Facebook and ready for your votes. Already a fan? Awesome! Not yet? Get on it! You have to ‘Like' M. Larson Photography in order to vote. Go here and click ‘Like’ at the top of the page.

2. Like the image you want to win.

You can do whatever you want to get votes for your favorite image. Tell friends, tell family, tell complete strangers to vote for that picture. You can tag people. You can leave comments. You can do whatever it takes to make sure your chosen picture(s) wins.

3. Get your votes in by 5 PM on February 10th, 2012 PST

This is simple. The image from each category with the most ‘likes’ will be made into an awesome 20x30” canvas print and delivered by the artist.