Going Green!

I love the earth, I love wildlife and beautiful plants. I love the oceans and the beautiful ocean life. The earth is amazing, and the life in it is truly amazing. (which is why I love capturing it!) The way everything works together is fascinating to me. It is spring and this year I realized more than ever how beautiful nature is. I realized how many people (including myself in the past) don't think twice about how we treat the earth. We enjoy it, but many of us don't take care of it and really take it for granted. I think back at the things I have done to contribute to pollution. So I thought about what I could do to help. Every little bit helps. First I thought about all the paper I use daily. I use A LOT. So I decided I could at least cut down on my use and use recycled paper for the things I must use paper for. From now on, I will send my information packets via the internet using pdf files. I will also offer incentives such as print credits to those who bring back materials I sent or gave to them if they bring them back to me. Envelopes I've used for mailing, boxes from my packaging, etc.

I am going to use recycled and organic as much as possible. In my personal life, I love burning candles, so from now on, I will use soy candles- and I must say, they smell FANTASTIC!! Paper is an extremely wasted product. Even in my day to day life, I see A LOT of paper waste. My kids bring home a lot of papers from school and even though it is imperative to their education, there are still a lot of papers that aren't necessary, or many duplicates of announcements and such since I have two kids in school. Then, of course, is the amount of junk mail I get. I'm sure I'm not the only one! Little pieces of paper I write lists on, printing that was incorrect and having to be reprinted, etc. Wow, that's a lot of paper- and this is almost daily!! Even if you don't believe in Global Warming , conservation is still VERY important. Cutting down on pollution is very important. I am looking out my window and seeing birds, squirrels and chipmunks running around in my very green yard! I want my children's children to see that too!

Here are some resources for those thinking of "going green" as well!
http://www.greenplanetpaints.com/
http://www.greenerprinter.com/
http://www.greenlinepaper.com/
http://www.americanforest.org/
Apparently all you have to do is click to this next site to help! It has Rainforest Preservation, Animal Rescues, Breast Cancer Awareness and some others.
http://www.therainforestsite.com

New Site Launching

Happy Holiday's Everyone! My fresh new site is set to launch on Monday. Hopefully everything will go smoothly and it will up and running then. Now all we have to do is get rid of this icky cold weather and get the warm spring air coming in!

News

Some of you may know that I was asked to speak at the Broadalbin High School Career Day on April 5^th to do a presentation about photography. Unfortunately it was cancelled for the time being. Hopefully I will get a chance to participate when they plan another one! Chris (my husband) and I were going to discuss my photography, and his graphics design/manipulations.

On a lighter note, I have donated a gift certificate to the Niskayuna Cooperative Nusery School. It includes the session fee and $100 credit towards prints. If you would like to donate to a good cause as well as have a session with me, this is a great thing to bid on! They have a lot of other good things offered as well. The auction will be held on April 21^st, 2007 and you can see everything offered at the auction on their website here: http://co-opauction.info/

Weddings

As you may know, I decided to start weddings this year! The response was overwhelming, so therefore I do not have any more availabilities for 2007. I took the wedding section of my website down for the time being. Everything will be back up when I get my new website up and running. If you would like to book for 2008 or later, feel free to contact me for more information.

Changes in 2007!

Will there be any for Jennifer Sawicki Photography? A few! Now is the time for change, so I decided to revamp my logo. When I began my business I drew a butterfly to incorporate into my logo. I've decided to let my little friend fly away. I guess you could use that symbolically as I say good-bye to my "starting out" days and move on to bigger and better things! There has been a lot of evolution in my website and my business in the 2006 year. I always feel like things can be "better"! There will be one more change coming soon. I am going to have a fresh new site that will remain for good- or at least for a long while!!

You may also notice changes in prices and what is offered. I assure you, that all these changes will be the last for awhile!

My Little 2 Year Old!

If you've seen my work, you've seen my daughter. I used to get so many beautiful pictures of her, but last night I tried to do a portrait session (the first in a pretty long time) and she proved to be much like the other 2 and 3 year olds I have photographed! It's a fun age, but by far a very difficult one. They are SO active. You have to be extremely quick with the camera, and they get very tired of getting their pictures taken very fast. You can not get them to do what you want them to unless THEY want to. Photographing them takes time and patience, but when they're done, they are DONE!!! Ü

My New Studio

I quickly became tired of taking portraits in my living room (and of having my office become a storage area!) so I decided to make my own studio- and now it's finished!!! I have been so busy with many different things the past month or so and hopefully now I can get back into the swing of things and concentrate on my photography.

Our New Home

The holidays are coming up- the first holiday in our new home! We bought the house at the end of January 2006. We put ALOT of work into the house in a very short amount of time. It is completely transformed. The best part about that is it is very customized to us. There isn't a whole lot I would do different if we built it ourselves! I started my business by taking portraits in my living room. Alot has happend this year. I wouldn't believe you if you told me a year ago that I'd be where I am today. I count my blessings! Ü

Steve Irwin

I was so sad to learn of his death. Chris and I used to love watching him. Normally TV star deaths don't really affect me, but his did. Not only was he a warm-hearted person, but he was so full of life and enthusiam and of course a husband and father to amazing small children. Even though he had a very risky job and mission, his death was still a huge shock. I watched his memorial service last night and although it was very sad, it was also inspiring. I had a dream last night about animals, particularly wildlife. I felt compelled this morning to donate to his memorial fund which goes to the Wildlife Warriors. If you would like to contribute, the site to go to is http://www.wildlifewarriors.org.au/

A Bit About Me & Children's Photography

Welcome to my new blog! This is a great way to get to know me a little "behind the scenes" and any news I may have to share. You may also read a bit about my little ones. For those that don't know, I have 8 year old identical twin boys and a 2 year old little girl who is the center of our universe. And by "our" I mean, me, my husband and my sons. They adore her! Photography has long been a passion of mine as well as all forms of art, but after my daughter was born in 2004, I knew that it was something I really wanted to pursue. Children's photography clicks with me most. I enjoy interacting with children so much. They have such innocence and newness to the world. They are so sweet and non-judgemental. I love capturing the times when everyone is at their most beautiful, and to me, that's while you are a child. I also love capturing the interactions between children and their parents. The love and bonds they share is so profound. I want to be able to capture those precious moments in the most beautiful way. That is why I strive and work so hard on evolving as a photographer everyday.