Deanna Cathcart Photography Blog

We're still phat!

On the very day my baby phat contest winner's mother came in to view her images I found a message on my answering machine. "Are you still looking for a phat baby, I have a 27 pound 7 month old." The caller said. Well I was done with the contest - but a 27 pound 7 month old! Who could pass that up! Sight unseen I told her to bring that baby in and met Graeme who is proof that Phat is beautiful, baby!

What else is new this week. Babies! July must have been a slow month here in Dodge because I have bellies and new babies coming in like crazy this month! I have started a new baby plan and it is insane. I only have room for one more new baby in April, two spots left open for May and have already started booking for July!!!! That with no advertising! I'll try and get some more information on the website about the new baby plan in the next day or two. In the meantime here's a new one from yesterday:

I photographed this beautiful boy yesterday, Graeme this morning, another brand spanking new baby is coming in this evening and a belly on Friday. OMG don't drink the water while you are here!!!

Remember all you soon to be moms out there that we are giving away a free maternity session & 8x10 this month. You can find more information simply by scrolling down and reading the last blog post.

Well that's it for updates until I get the new baby info on the website.

Later all,

D.

April Contests!!

You might as well know now that all my contests are going to be running about a month ahead of any upcoming event. WHY?? Because I want to put the images on the website during that event. Confused yet? For instance I am going to run a Mother's Day contest - NOW - this month - because the winner will be coming in the week of Mother's day to have their session so I can have Mother's day images on my website.(Check out Hailey, the Phat February winner on the splash page of my website!)

So now you want to know what the contest is right?

Well the winner will get a FREE maternity session and a FREE 8x10 of their session.

Here are the rules:

You must be an expecting mother.
Your belly must be bigger then your breasts - you need to look like you have a belly.
You can NOT be due before May 10th - I need to have time to photograph that belly!!!
You need to be able to have a session done the week of May 10th - or within a short time after.
NOW the part  you will actually be judged on:
You must email me a love letter to your unborn child. Let that baby know what it means for you to be their mommy. Your hopes and dreams. Whatever you want, however you want, to express your love to your unborn child.
Letters need to be emailed to info@dcartphoto.com subject line "Mother's Day Contest". All letters are due by April 30th.

Remember if you are not expecting - email your friends that are! If they win maybe they will name the baby after you. ;p

One last thing - our inspiration image.

Winter Fairies Sneak Peak

The Winter Fairy set was a huge hit again this year. Here is a little peak at all the fun that was had at the studio after it's winter wonderland transformation.


 

Phat February Contest!

Who has the phatist baby in town?

 Rolly polly thighs, dimpled elbows, squishy cheeks - lets face it fat babies are CUTE! For the month of February we will be looking for the fattest 6-9 month baby. Winner will get a free photo session and a free 8x10. So start counting those thigh rolls and send you photo entries to info@dcartphoto.com

Show us your baby phat!

*Winners must be available for a March photo session.*

Updates!

I bet you all are wondering what happened to me! Well no surgery - yet - it still may happen - and I'm still sick - but hopeful. The mass on my CT was NOT cancer TG! Just very, very bad Crohn's. My options were surgery with a permanent colostomy bag - or try a new, restricted access drug called Tysabri. I'm going the drug rout for now, but am waiting for Fort Dodge to get special training on giving the medication to Crohn's patients. That's why I'm still sick because as of yet nothing has changed, so I'm still keeping a low profile work wise.

And look who grew up while I was in Rochester! Notice anything missing?

That's right Miss Chloe lost her teeth. My baby is turning into a big girl.

I'm planning "Winter Fairies" a little late this year. I was thinking of doing them over spring break. I should have two doses of my medication in my system by then and am hopeful it will be working for me. I'll probably send out an email for those of you on my email list next week with the exact dates and also be posting here with some images from past sessions. If your not sure if your on my email news list just drop me a line at info@dcartphoto.com and I'll be sure your added!

I hope you all had a great holiday! I have lots of new things planned here at the studio as soon as I know those meds are going to work I'll be posting here like a crazy lady - so keep watching!

Studio Closed

The studio will be closed all next week while I once again visit Mayo clinic in Rochester. Those of you needing to get a hold of me I plan on still checking email so try that first. If  you call and my husband answers - don't talk to him!!! He is not supposed to answer the phone but he sometimes does anyway. Then three weeks later I find a message to call someone upstairs, in the house, buried under the mail! He will be calling people as orders come in so those of you needing to pick things up can set something up with him when he calls you.

There is a chance that I will require surgery while I am in Rochester this time. If this is the case then the studio will be closed until after the first of the year - with the exception of new babies and any babies currently doing their 0-12 mos photos with me. All other sessions will need to be scheduled after the 1st. I'm keeping my fingers crossed this is not the case though!

It has been a new baby bananza here in the studio the last few weeks. I LOVE photographing new babies! Here is a peek at a few I photographed in the last two weeks.

 
 

 You can see more of these cuties on the website. 

Keep warm, have a great holiday and I'll let you all know what's going on when I get back!

 - Deanna

 

Inspiration and Imagination

I know I should be sharing up coming business things like Christmas theme sets and fall photo specials, but instead I want to share a feel good story of inspiration.

My 9 year old daughter Maddie, as many of you know has Tourette's Syndrome. Last week she got up in front of her whole class and gave a speech about TS. She told them all why she moves so much and sometimes makes noise, she told them why she has to leave the room sometimes and how she would like it if they didn't always ask her where she had been when she got back. She told them about the time at the park when kids were making fun of her for her tics and how that made her feel.

When Maddie got home from school that day she was so excited she could hardly wait for me to get off the phone, I apologize again to the client I was talking to. LOL Anyway two girls from Maddie's class had come up to her at recess and apologized to her. They told her they had not been very friendly this year to her because they thought that Maddie was being snotty and rolling her eyes at them. After Maddie explained to the class what tics were and that one of her tics was eye rolling they realized that she had just been ticing - and it was not directed at them.

My dad shared this story with his youth ministry class for a lesson on perception. Maddie has never been teased in school for her tics, most kids didn't know she had them until she told them. She is popular a popular and has a lot of friends. If she looked at these two girls while they were doing something, smiled and a tic made her eyes roll - does that turn her smile into a sneer? Because her eyes rolled while she was looking at the girls she was perceived as snotty - when in fact she had no control at all over what her eyes were doing.  Food for thought...

Because of Maddie's story my dad received an anonymous prayer request for another child with TS that is having a hard time at the high school. Maddie's story educated her classmates and a room full of high school kids. I'm sharing it here and hoping it continues to educate people on TS and tolerance for all people that are different from us.

That was the inspiration - now for some imagination. How about a field of dreams - a bed in a grass field, or dress up in the woods... A few shots from my girls fall photos shoot.

I love school aged kids!

I have had a TON of fantastic session in the last few weeks that I need to post! I guess I'll Just have to start posting more so I can show you all the fun great things I have been doing. From little black books for the army wives (I won't actually show you those LOL) to puppies for the publishing company. But one of my all time favorite type of sessions will always be photographing school aged children.

It could just be that it is something I hardly ever get to do. Once the kids hit school the yearly school photo becomes good enough for many families. It is sad because just as the kids are old enough to really start taking to cool places and having fun with their photos - they start having school mug shots - ummm I mean photos. LOL So it is a real treat to photograph those children who's parents still want those photos that take your breath away, even though their children old enough to go to school.

With that said I give you Clair and Cooper Fleming. Six year old twins that I took to one of those places I am exclusively allowed to photograph at. Not the type of place I would take a small child but perfect for a child that can take a little direction.  Beautiful children, beautiful location, what more could a photographer ask for...

BTW I am not even half done proofing out this session so you may see more of these two in the next couple of days. If not here they will for sure be on the website as I get it updated!

 

Who wants to trade?

I'm always open for a good trade - how about you?

Right now I am looking for someone to tutor Maddie for the rest of the summer. She needs help with reading, spelling, penmanship, and a little bit of math in the multiplication and division area. I thought I would trade a high school senior for senior photos but if there are any teachers out there that want to tutor over their summer that would work to. The only requirement for this is it has to be a girl - sorry guys - Maddie just doesn't work as well with guys.

I am also looking for awesome locations. So if you have an awesome location and want photos I will trade for exclusive photo use of it. This means I may bring clients to that location for sessions. It also means that if other photographers in the area find the location and try and use it you will need to ask them to stop. I'm tired of finding awesome locations only to find them on some other photographers website a few months later.

So that is my trades for now. You can drop me a line at info@dcartphoto.com if you are interested.

My photo for the week - beings we talked about awesome locations....

When the Lord gives you rain

Make mud pies!

Kids and dogs know how to make the best out of every situation don't they. :) I hope the rest of you are staying dry these past few weeks.

I was told I needed to give you all an update. :)  We did get Maddie into the doctor in Saint Paul and he confirmed that she does have Tourette's Syndrome.  He started her on very low dose of some pretty nasty medication called Haloperidol.  It can have some bad side effects - that's why they start so low. So far we haven't really seen any changes tic wise. She even developed a new tic a week after starting the drug. She also has co-morbid disorders with the TS the worst of these being the rage attacks. They might be getting better - although every time I think that one erupts - so I am still on the fence as to whether the medication is helping or not.

Hope you all are off to a good summer! Next week I have some trades to make so keep your eye on this blog!