Swingin' Dreidel

Our Christmas Card

Rapid Packaging

Greetings -

To all of you who have ordered in the past week, we are RAPIDLY assembling all of your orders today that came in over the weekend. We still have 1 final shipment coming in tomorrow.

If we have not called you today, please call our Studio at 715.425.9899 to see if your order came in while we are assembling everything.

Once we get everything put together and ready for pick up, we will call each and every one of you to let you know.

Merry Christmas to all of our Loyal & Faithful Customers

Brite Ideas - Video Blog #001

Colin - What a Look

he was such a quiet little guy but oh so sweet!

Gift Certificate Sale - Ends Dec 23

FINAL SESSIONS of 2008

It's that time of year again with all of the Holiday cheer going on that families are gathering together to get family & children portraits done.

I am here today to announce that we have only a few slots left this week for Family & Children Sessions for 2008. After that, you will need to book your Portrait Experience in 2009.

Check out our Promotions page on our newly designed website to check out the great deals that end on Friday.

Have a great Holiday Season.

Thanksgiving

I was getting ready for a family session (someone else's) and had the boys sit for a minute on my new bench. I had to laugh . . . the expressions on their faces are so THEM.

3 Master Jedi

While we were helping photograph children at this year's Abundant Life's annual Harvest Party, our 3 boys were able to play around as Master Jedi.

Here are the collages we built for them.

Vote 2008

Here is a timely word of wisdom.

"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." -- John Quincy Adams

Harvest Party

Tomorrow we will be at Abundant Life's Church in River Falls helping out with their Annual Harvest Party. This is a great time for the kids to dress up and enjoy a bountiful harvest.

Blessing over wine: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine.

Blessing over bread: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.

Blessing for Bible study: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who command us to study His Word. (Originally: who commands us to engage in the study of Torah)

Blessing over pastry (count me in): Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, creator of many kinds of food.

Blessing over fruit that grows on trees: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, creator of the fruit of the tree.

Blessing on seeing lightning or other natural wonders: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, the source of creative power.

Blessing on hearing thunder: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, whose power and might pervade the world.

Blessing on seeing the ocean: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, maker of the great sea.

Blessing on seeing the beauties of nature: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, whose world is filled with beauty.

Blessing on seeing trees in blossom: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who created lovely trees to enchant the heart. (Abridged.)

Blessing over the spice box: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, creator of all the spices.

Here are some samples from last year.

Autum Sneak Peak

We are LIVE

After a soft launch weekend, we are now LIVE with our new website. It's been WAY overdue to get the overhaul it needed.

Now, our website matches our studio's colors and designs.

to CELEBRATE the new website launch, we are offering Family Sessions 50% OFF if booked by Friday, Oct 24 at 5PM

Call now with the code MARWEB and start saving.

Website Update

Yippee !!! We are now reviewing the final proof of the new website. Once our changes are made, we will be live.

At this point, we are just a couple days away from the new site.

Keep checking the in the coming days !

Little Helpers

Last night we had a friend come out for a photo session on our farm and I had a little helper sneak in one of the photos. I still have to go through the rest of the photos but I thought I'd be a good blogger and post this one. Thanks Ginger and family for a fun time:)

UWRF Homecoming Cheer !

Our studio has been taken over with UW-River Falls Homecoming Decorations.

Here is a snapshot of the front window that was painted today.

Sneak Peak - Maternity Model Lindsey

We recently had a new Maternity Model in the Studio and the pictures turned out great !

Sneak Peak : Sweet 16

GRAND PRIZE WINNER !

We recently raffled off an Apple iPod Video Nano at the Pierce County Fair. Congratulations to Matt & Lindsey Quinn of Ellsworth.

Here is Lindsey with her new iPod (yes I know, Matt will probably be the one using it)

We still have yet to hear back from some of our other prize winners so, if you were at the fair, be waiting for a call or an email.

Claire Sneak Peak

Here is a sneak peak of Claire. She is absolutely adorable.

Finally... A new website coming

We are finally getting the final touches of our new website completed. I know that I have talked to a number o you over the past year saying "it's coming, it's coming, I just need so time to get it all wrapped up.

With the final testing and images selecting coming, our tentative launch date is Friday, Oct 3. 1 Year after the new studio opening. How amazing !

Keep reading the blog for updates

Here is a sneak peak

2009 Weddings CLOSED

It's official now. We are completely booked up for the 2009 season. We will no longer be taking any 2009 brides.

To my 2009 brides, congratulations on booking early as I we didn't expect to completely full until the earliest of the end of Oct with the Twin Cities Bridal Fair. This is so overwhelming your trust in us.

Thanks

Word 2007 Test

This is a test from MS Word 2007

Just Released: Táve Studio Manager!

To all my photographer friends, the great team at Táve Studio just officially released Táve Studio Manager. We've been using it since it's early beta when we met Adrian, Jason & Karen at WPPI and it's a wonderful product. We have our entire studio online with this and absolutely love it.


From Táve

"Along with the new release, we've unveiled our new website and opened up registration to anybody who qualifies with a 30-day free trial.

Within moments of registration, you'll have access to Táve Studio Manager and the new iPhone Access application. After the 30-day trial period, it's only $25/month! That's half the price of most of our online competitors and way less than the legacy software applications.

Best of all, we're still busy working on all sorts of exciting new features that will be released soon. Our philosophy is to release early and release often, so instead of sitting on new features for big product releases, you'll continue to see constant upgrades almost every week!"

So, here is a link to get you started on your way to keeping track of all those post it notes, scribbles, and napkins about your customers.

JOIN MY NETWORK

BLOG PRIZE CONTEST !!!

Recently, we were at the Pierce County Fair and had a drawing for a number of prizes. We gave a few iPods and a bunch of FREE Sessions.

I just got off the phone with our last of the winners and 5 people did not claim their prizes.

So, I have the following to give away on our blog :

(2) Family Relationship Sessions that include a 30 Minute Session an one of our great 8x10 Artistic Portraits.

(1) Senior Relationship Session that include a 30 Minute Session an one of our great 8x10 Artistic Portraits.

(2) Children Relationship Sessions that include a 30 Minute Session an one of our great 8x10 Artistic Portraits.

So, the FIRST 5 people to call the studio at 715.425.9899 can claim these prizes. We talked to the previous winners and asked if it was okay to give their prize away and they said it was okay.

We figure someone should win these prize. CALL 715.425.9899 NOW !

F(8) - 1 HINT #5

I was a Math major in College at the U of Mn with an emphasis on numeric patterns.

Regardless of what ANYONE tells you, Math Team IS cool !

F(8) - 1 HINT #4

F(8) - 1 HINT #3

Keeping with a Math theme here are 2 numbers in the equation.

40.366427

-105.594406

So far, everyone is stumped. I'm winning !!!!

F(8) - 1 HINT #2

8603 Ft. and the Olympics start TOMORROW !!!!

F(8) - 1 HINT #1

I'm Italian. Any takers or are you still stumped.

F(8) - 1

Today's quick blog post is a CHALLENGE.... Friday begins the 2008 Beijing Olympics and sadly I will not be there. So, what does the title mean and how does it relate to Friday's Opening Ceremonies ?

Please comment below. We'll see who gets it. Come back on Friday where I'll give hints if nobody has figured it out yet.

July Print Special End TODAY

It's that time of the year again. Our Christmas in July. This year we are offering our larger print items at a Buy 1, Get 1 FREE

That's right, all 11x14, 16x16, 16x20 , 20x20 , 20x24, and our 20x30 are all ON SALE.

Classic Images make great Christmas and Birthday gifts so enjoy the discount.

JULY SPECIAL - BUY 1, GET 1 FREE

It's that time of the year again. Our Christmas in July. This year we are offering our larger print items at a Buy 1, Get 1 FREE

That's right, all 11x14, 16x16, 16x20 , 20x20 , 20x24, and our 20x30 are all ON SALE.

You must place your order by 5:00 PM on Wed, July 30 to QUALIFY!

Classic Images make great Christmas and Birthday gifts so enjoy the discount.

Shannon + Aaron Album

Here is a small preview of the album design we did for our recent wedding of Aaron + Shannon. 

Enjoy the small taste.

Adorable

A New World Recrod !

On behalf of the Guiness Book of World Records, we would like to thanks them for our recent accomplishment in the annuals of time.

Ok... All we did was download the new Firefox Browser, but hey.. They set a new world record.

50,000 worms and no returned emails

A few days ago, I had a CISCO networking question and thought I'd call up my old friend of mine, Ted Marchand, who designed the system. After a few unanswered emails, which was odd, I thought I'd give him call.

I then learned that Ted had passed away a few years ago. That would explain why he hasn't returned any of my phone calls for the past few years. I told his old employer to take off his voicemail since I don't think he'll be getting to those any time soon. :)

So after a little searching with my trusty helper Google, I found this. 

Theodore Marchand

SAUGERTIES, N.Y. - Theodore (Ted) Marchand, of Saugerties, died Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004, at Ten Broeck Commons in Lake Katrine, N.Y.

Born on Nov. 13, 1942, in Auburn, Maine, he was the son of the late George and Beatrice Berry Marchand.

He resided in Saco, Maine, until he moved to Ten Broeck Commons. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhode Island and worked for IBM in Providence and later in Kingston, N.Y., until his retirement in 1993.

While living in Holly Hills, Woodstock, he worked for IBM and also was a property manager and an associate with Westwood Real Estates in West Hurley.

Upon his retirement from IBM, he moved to Rochester, Minn., where he taught at Rochester University and was affiliated with Cisco Computer Design Company.

He moved to Maine in 2002 and designed the computer system for the school systems in the state of Maine, under the auspices of Cisco. He was a member of IBM Quarter Century Club and served in the U.S. Air Force, stationed in Greenland during the Vietnam era.

Survivors include two sons, Todd of Kingston, N.Y., and Scott of Saugerties; a daughter, Jennifer of Shandaken, N.Y.; his former wife, Erna Bomba Marchand of Olivebridge; two brothers, Barry of Maine and Robert of Connecticut; seven grandchildren; two nieces; aunts Gerry Wheeler of Kittery, Maine, and Arlene Goold of Belleview, Fla.; and several cousins.

A sister, Karen Marchand, died in 1960.

MARCHAND - Theodore (Ted) Marchand of Saugerties, N.Y., died Nov. 16, 2004. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 27, at the Methodist Church in Minot Corner, Maine. Burial will be in Pine Grove Cemetery, Poland, Maine. Arrangements are under the direction of the Lasher Funeral Home, Woodstock, N.Y.

Rest In Peace old friend....

Name That Photo

Below this image is a place for comments. Please add your best thoughts how to Title this image. As much as I wish I posed this shot, this was LIVE action.

Red Cedar Soccer

 

Ultimate Frisbee Team Pictures

Jayden Running

Coming Soon

Heads up to all you Brite Idea blog readers. I'll be posting some pictures from last week's open house, the new studio remodel and some of our recent Senior Models later tonight (hopefully)

Senior Open House UPDATE !!

HOW COOL IS THIS !!!!!

Our good friend Lori Moran, the owner of Lori's Day Spa here in River Falls, is going to be coming to the Open House for Chair Massage and other goodies. Stay tuned for more info in the coming days as ALL of the details get finalized.

If you haven't already done so, go check out her website and get ready for some pampering.

Marcus the Model

Here are a couple quick shots from a recent shoot testing out some new equipment.

(FYI - Marcus is our 5 Year Old Son)

My First Mac Video

There is NO such thing as a perfect picture !!

As Joe Bussink taught us, "There is no such thing as a perfect picture, only perfect moments."

Here is one of my favorites from our last wedding

Young Boys at Weddings