Studio Easter/Spring Sessions

I had about 2 weeks of Easter studio sessions before non essential businesses in WV were forced to close our doors.  Do not worry, I will still be offering these for at least one month when I am allowed to reopen so you will not miss out on getting your little ones portrait captured in their Easter outfit they wore into your living room that day lol.

If you would like to be added to my scheduling list please send me an email at agreerphotography@yahoo.com.  I can’t wait to get back into the studio and see all my sweet littles!

Stay Home and Practice Social Distancing so I (& many others) can get back to work ASAP!!!

Can I go back to early March?

Well Hello!  Yes I am still around and I am shocked when I logged in here and saw that it really had only been a year since I last blogged!  Seriously thought it was longer than that.  If you can say something about my blog style, I am consistent with being inconsistent in blogging.  I mean I have always been told “blog for business” “if you don’t blog you won’t reach your customers” well obviously I have not been blogging and still thankfully have a steady business.  Or should say HAD a steady business until March 24th when the governor shut us down for being “non-essential.”

While truly I am loving this time at home.  I have cleaned out closets, the garage,  and sold things we no longer needed, I think we all need our busy lifestyles back.  My daughter misses her friends, school and gymnastics.  My son is missing his last 1/2 of 8th grade, he is most sad about his last season of track.  I miss watching my kids compete, I absolutely love watching them challenge themselves and seeing the pride in their smiles when they do better than they anticipate.  I miss my husband having a “normal” work week.  I miss photography.  I miss my all my AGP babies and little ones!  More on what we all miss later on another blog.  Yes I plan to do more blogging since I am caught up on editing for the first time in what seems like forever.

Can I go back to early March?  Pretty Please?  Can I go back to that facial room at His & Hers with Stephanie discussing all this Corona Virus stuff and telling her “Hey I am not going to worry until Reg worries because he literally never worries about anything unless its a stopped skyliner at Disney or an airplane ride.”  So we go on, she’s doing all her magic stuff to my face to hopefully make me look younger and well rested and we are talking about her upcoming Disney girls trip.  She shares a love for Disney just like I do, perhaps hers is possibly bigger.  She is an “Epcot Mom” and I am a “Magic Kingdom Mom.”  Don’t know what those are, look them up lol.  We were saying “Oh Disney NEVER closes, ever for hurricanes, you’ll be fine to go, just wash your hands.”  She finishes her magic, my face feels soft like a baby butt and I go back to the studio.

Disclaimer:  Her facial room is a lot more relaxing looking than this, this was just the only photo of it on hand right now since she is closed down also.  Book one with her, try it for yourself!  #beautybybatton (Stephanie Batton @ His & Hers Day Spa) 

Welp 3 hours after saying “I won’t worry til he worries” all hell broke loose!!   He calls, saying call your Dad tell him to stay home, the kids need out of school and it needs closed, you can’t take the girls out of the hotel this weekend for Alee’s birthday trip, it’s going to get bad quickly and no one is prepared.  Talk about panicking, again my husband again never worries,  so I was like “oh Crap here we go!”   For petes sake, I was at lunch a week prior with my bff and we were laughing at Corona memes and now we are buckling down and feeling the need to buy a toilet paper!

Text Stephanie like “ummm ya remember what I said this morning,  now it’s time to worry.” Call parents and tell them to stay home.  Go to the school ask about how absences will work if there is an impending pandemic coming and they don’t close.  Figure out how to pull off a great birthday weekend for your 10 year old since you shouldn’t be in public.  Stay calm on the outside because you can’t pass your fears onto your kids, but on the inside you are crumbling because of all of these unknowns.

Do you remember the time when you realized all of this was a lot more serious than you initially were thinking?

Cover photo is of my view each morning.  Don’t diss “ohhh she has a Christmas tree up!” Listen, my  big momma 12 foot is gone and packed away, this is a little pencil tree that only has my antique ornaments on it and it makes me smile.

Throwing a pic of Disney from February in here because I love it and miss is so much!  See ya real soon!

Blog 4

 

Sparkle & Shine!!!

It’s time to experience the joy and fun of childhood with a glitter mini session!!  These sessions are so much fun!!  Kids love them because they are unscripted, not really a posed session, just dancing and tossing glitter around!!!

These are only offered for a limited time!!!  Book your session now for March 1st, 2nd, and 3rd!!   Packages range from $40 to $110.  There is a $40 retainer due at the time of booking with your contract to secure your spot and that is then deducted off of the package you choose that day.

Due to the nature of glitter, these are recommended for ages 3 and up unless you think your under 3 year old can follow directions to not get it in their eye or eat it lol

To schedule please email agreerphotography@yahoo.com!

 

Guys! Still need a Gift? Couples Mini Sessions!

Happy Valentines Day!!  I hope everyone has a wonderful day.  The day doesn’t have to be celebrated with a spouse, bg/gf, etc.  You can celebrate the day just by offering a smile to someone, paying it forward, or spreading kindness.

Do you still need a gift for your sweetheart???  I love flowers, candy and yummy food as much as the next girl, but ya know what I am treasuring most lately?  Pictures I have with my husband from our fall session!  While we snap quick pics here and there occasionally, having professional portraits is so important.  Not just for decor in our home, but someday our kids are going to appreciate having photos of their parents together.

Guys!  Get your girls a couples mini photo session!! Girls schedule it and tell him you have your gift taken care of!

I am offering couples mini sessions on Saturday February 23rd from 3-5 in the afternoon.   The investment is $95 with a $35 retainer due at the time of booking and the remaining $60 due at the session.  Your session will include a 15 minute outdoor session and the downloadable edited images with a print release.  To schedule please text/call 304-638-5275 or email agreerphotography@yahoo.com.

Here are some of my favorites from my session last Novemeber with Cameron and Callie!  Scroll below to hear from Callie about their session.

 

“My boyfriend and I were temporarily living in West Virginia and I wanted to get pictures taken so we could send out Christmas cards. My sister had previously used Amanda to take my niece’s pictures and a few of or whole family and they turned out so beautiful and my niece looked so angelic. So we went ahead with Amanda for our couples pictures. We’d never had professional pictures together before, and Amanda made us feel super comfortable. On top of that, she did a great job capturing our relationship. We love to laugh and have fun with each other and that really came out in all the pictures. She gave us some general direction which helped, but also knew how to get us to just be ourselves and snapped the perfect shots without us even noticing. Even though it was freezing outside and we worked fast, we ended up with so many great pictures…too many pictures to decide on, so we ended up with all of them from our session.”  – Callie

Vintorini Fresh 48

Highlighting my love for Fresh 48s again with a throwback to the Vintorini Family!  They are so fun and so genuinely sweet & kind!  I adore them!!!  Sarah is so down to earth, real, & honest about motherhood!  She is open and honest about all of the everyday trials and tribulations moms go through.  I love chatting with her!

I have included some of my favorites from her session below, as well as Sarah’s own words on her Fresh 48 experience with me!  They also ended up booking a Baby to Birthday package too!

Watch my blog on Monday for a big sale on my Fresh 48’s!!!

“I likely would not have considered scheduling a Fresh 48 Session if it were not for the gentle nudging from my dear friend. I had no interest in a maternity session so my friend kept asking me to consider a Fresh 48 instead.  I have to admit, the thought of professional pictures right after giving birth did not initially appeal to me, but after looking at the numerous samples my friend kept sending me, I slowly became interested. I was about to give birth to my second baby, my 10-year-old daughter was about to become a first-time big sister and our family would be welcoming the first grandson. We were all completely overjoyed and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to capture those first moments.  Even though the session was not at the top of my priority list initially, it ended up being such a blessing. It may sound silly, but knowing that I had the session scheduled made the entire birth experience so much more relaxed for me.  As a mom, I always have this nagging stress of trying to capture the “perfect picture” so I often feel distracted. Knowing that Amanda would be at the hospital soon allowed me to really live in the moment and leave the “perfect picture” stress for her. I cannot help but get tears when I look back on those precious pictures. It was a defining moment in our family and we have beautiful, genuine and raw pictures capturing it all.” ~ Sarah

 

2019 Jr Miss Sweetheart

All things Valentine this week!!  Do you love or hate Valentines day?  I don’t hate it, but it’s not my favorite either.  I love the traditions we have on Valentines day, like Red Lobster take out and getting our kids their special candy they love.

Miss Bella entered and won her very first pageant a couple weeks ago!!  She is the 2019 Jr Miss Sweetheart!! Bella and her mom came in for a headshot session after her morning win to capture the memory of the day and to grab some professional headshots for upcoming pageant entries.

Here are some of my favorites from her session…

Feedback from Bella’s mom on their session with me… “When I found out I needed to have pageant headshots taken, I didn’t hesitate to contact Amanda Greer photography. Amanda has taken pictures of my daughters in the past, and they have always turned out amazing. Amanda sent me some examples of other headshots she has taken, and I knew I had to have her take the ones for my daughter. I already had high expectations for our session walking in, but WOW, did she blow those expectations out of the water!!! Amanda immediately made my daughter feel relaxed with her personality and worked WITH my daughter instead of trying to make her do poses that she was uncomfortable with. The session was fun and a wonderful experience! The photographs turned out better than I could have ever imagined. My daughter looks absolutely amazing in EVERY SINGLE ONE! I could not have imagined that she would look that stunning!!! I could not have asked for a better experience or better results than I had with Amanda Greer Photography!!! I would recommend using her business time and time again and to everyone I know. My daughter now has headshots that I am proud to submit for her pageants!”

 

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Throwback to my First Birth/Fresh 48…

Well in the internet world it’s “Throwback Thursday” so I am throwing it back to my first birth/fresh 48 session with The Murray Family.  Actually in this case it would be a “Fresh 8 hours.” 😁 The Murray’s have been clients of mine since we welcomed Miss Tatum Olivia into the world that fall day.  We went into this day hoping and praying for me to be allowed into the OR with them but the nurse that day was not having it at all, and believe me it was not without begging!!!  So I waited right by the elevator door so I could capture that first moment when her Daddy brought her to the nursery.  I will never ever forget the nervousness of Todd waiting to go down to the OR & the giant smile of pride and excitement Big Brother Jake had when he first saw his baby sister!

Look through these highlights from the day and then take a moment to read Stefani’s thoughts on her session below…

“I have two children that are 6 years apart in age. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I often thought about the delivery of my son six years before, and the one thing that always stuck out in my mind was how I wished I didn’t have to worry about taking pictures that day, or making sure someone was taking pictures while I was in the recovery room from my C-section, or that I don’t really have any pictures of the first moments I met Jake after returning from the recovery room.
We knew I would be having another C-section with our daughter, so I talked with my husband and we decided to have the day documented in a way that it caused no stress to us, and we could focus on bringing our daughter in the world.
 
I had seen a couple of my friends post pictures they had taken with Amanda, and they were all so cute. I knew she was a momma herself, so I had faith that she would understand where we were coming from with our requests. We met up with her one day and we learned that not only was she a parent herself, but also has a history as nurse, so she was 100% comfortable being in the operating room with us, if the doctor would allow it! I left that day feeling so excited and relieved knowing our documented memories of that day were in good hands.
 
We communicated several times leading up to Tatum’s birth, and discussed what would happen if I went into labor before my scheduled operation date. Thankfully that didn’t happen! Amanda arrived at the hospital shortly after we were taken into our prep room, met our families, and started snapping. We already knew that my doctor wouldn’t allow her in the operating room, but she tried until the time they wheeled me off to convince them! She sat with my husband while they waited for the nurses to bring him to the O.R. – and reassured him that they didn’t forget about him when it was taking a while for nurse to retrieve him. She was waiting by the elevator when my husband came off with our daughter. Every moment that I missed (our family in the waiting room, Tatum’s first bath, holding her daddy’s finger for the first time, my son’s adoration, as well as our family’s’ – ALL of it) was caught on camera, thanks to her.
 
What I appreciated the most about this experience was when I was brought back to our hospital room. I had a less than desirable first stage of recovery with Tatum, and I was a mess. She helped calm me down and when they finally had me settled and Tatum was brought to our room, my husband and I were able to just relax and absorb the entire moment without having to stop to capture it. That is something I will always be thankful for. The same continued as we brought in my son to spend time alone with us, and then the rest of our family. The entire experience was so beautiful – and we now have those memories forever.
 
Of course, our families took some pictures of the day as well, and sure, that could have been enough. But when she sent me the picture file of our delivery day, I cried so many tears of joy because that was exactly what I wanted. Hiring Amanda for this day is a decision I will never regret – what we received from her is priceless!” ~ Stefani 
Are you ready to get your Birth or Fresh 48 scheduled yet?????

Belly to Baby

Did you know that I offer many different packaging options for my Mommas to Be?  At AGP you can choose from some different packaging options that give you some savings by securing sessions for the first year of your new little blessings life.

The bundles are Belly to Baby and Baby to Birthday.  Belly to Baby includes the following sessions…  Maternity, Newborn, Sitter (6-7’ish months) & First Birthday.  Baby to Birthday includes… Newborn, Sitter, & First Birthday.   In both bundles the Newborn can be switched for a Fresh 48 Hospital Session or a Fresh 48 can be added on for 25% off.

The Williams Family was one of late ’17 to late ’18 Belly to Baby clients.  We shot their Belly and Sitter Session at her brothers beautiful farm, Newborn was in the studio and for Wyatt’s First Birthday I went to their own family farm to capture him with his dog Cowboy and playing in the rocks.

I asked Brittany for some feedback on her Belly to Baby Package…  “Honestly I wouldn’t change a thing! It took the stress out of worrying about scheduling and paying for pictures after having baby considering they were furthest from my mind. Lol. And I think the price was reasonable ! What I loved the most was convenience and of course the outcome which was amazing ! And the next time around lord willing I’d love to do the fresh 48 because I didn’t know how much work a newborn session was. Plus add into that recovery from a c section. I think it would’ve been easier at the hospital.”

I will be blogging about Fresh 48’s and more Newborn specials so stay tuned!!!  Fresh 48’s are on Sale through February!!!

Here are some highlights from our sessions together…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Last of 2018 & First of 2019 Newborn

My last newborn of 2018 was also my first newborn of 2019!!  Why both you ask… Because he is a Griesacker brother and Griesacker brothers do not care for photo sessions at all!  Christopher preferred to be held by his momma over having his photo taken so it took 2 sessions.

The Griesacker Family has been a client of mine for a while.  Three years today actually!  Thank you Facebook time hop for reminding of middle brother Dallas’s newborn shot on this day.

No matter the challenge these sweet boys throw at me each session I love it!  We have had family sessions where I shave run and chased them outside, studio sessions where I have just captured lifestyle type photos of them playing with toys and Santa sessions where the only photo we could get is of Dallas standing at the door and Joseph on the floor both ready to leave.  I tend to overshoot their sessions to catch that one shot that will make their momma cry because she thinks we aren’t getting anything.

Tiny little Christopher gave me some tough faces to show his disgust with taking photos but then gave a couple sweet faces for his momma to cherish too.

Enjoy some highlights below and click here Christopher Newborn to view his full session.

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Where have I been?!?!!?

Okay so here I am, hanging my head down in embarrassment that it has been one year AND four months since my last blog!!!!

Where on earth have I been you ask…

Well a not long after that last blog my son started middle school, my mamaw was diagnosed with dementia, and I went in to the busy fall season with a lot of extra life stressors so I kept thinking in the back of my mind I would get back to blogging another day.  I just needed to keep my head above water and keep my business running.  Well day turned into month and now into a YEAR +!!!  My son has come to love middle school, my mamaw is stable and my business is thriving!

I want to try my best to keep up with a blog in 2019 on hopefully a semi-regular basis.   I will bring to you some sessions I have shot since my last blog, stories of life with a teenager & pre-teen, and so on.

2019 for Amanda Greer Photography is going to bring some new changes, session themes, and some fun sales!  I am excited to take on 2019 and make this the best year for my family and my clients!

What would you like to see on my blog?  What would you like to see offered at the AGP studio in 2019?  Comment below or send me a note at agreerphotography@yahoo.com

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