Bye bye!

I finally have my own customized blog, thanks to my wonderful husband! :) Don't come back here as I will not be blogging here again! See you there. :) MJW

Why do photographers charge so much?

So many people wonder how photographers can charge the money they do when they can print it themselves so cheap. I read this article a long time ago, but was recently reminded about it and thought it time to blog about. Please go to this link and take a moment to read, I promise you'll get all your questions answered! :) MJW

What do you do on a windy day?

You fly a kite, what else?! I got these kites while I was in Iowa at a conference, and hadn't had a chance to use them yet. My older 2 kids have never flown a kite before, but I think they got the hang of it pretty quickly! Getting these pictures was harder than it looks...you try chasing down kids that are running in circles, ha! MJW

A little news

Remember a little while ago I was telling you about some exciting news? Well, one of those things i'm excited to say is that you can now see my work displayed at Vintage Chic in Fayettville! This is an awesome children's store filled with custom bedding, one of a kind furniture and fun colors! Thank you to Julie Anderson for teaming up with me on this display! MJW

Mark your calendars!

We are doing 'Let's Get Wet' sessions this June at Tanyard Creek! This is so much fun for kids who like to get down and dirty! :) We will start out with some beautiful portraits of your children at Tanyard's awesome waterfall, and venture down the creek where the fun begins! Bring dry clothing and some water shoes for your kiddo's. I will only be taking a limited number of these sessions, so don't wait to call. Also, I will be gone on vacation starting....NOW until monday morning, so won't be answering any emails or calls until I get back. Have a great weekend everybody! MJW

one, two, three, four?

Here is a look at a recent session I had out at Tanyard Creek. I have known this family for several years now, and can't believe they just had number four!! Dad is in the Airforce (thank you for your service btw) and they are living in OKC now...we miss you guys here! Hope you enjoy your sneak peek, it was good to see you all again. :)

MJW

don't panic, mom and dad were just outside the frame! (i'm not THAT crazy!)

a four week old polka dot princess, dad is SO out numbered!

For my parents...

This post is for my parents, who are...lets just say my mom doesn't get on the computer much. ha ha! We went out to Tanyard Creek today and walked around..and IN the water! I was really surprised by 'A' because I never thought she'd get her pretty little feet in that creek water! The baby wasn't interested in anything but holding onto daddy though! Here are a few from today of your 2 older grandkids, hope your having fun in VT.! Love you guys :) MJW

New logo

MJW Photography has a new logo, woohoo! I just love the simplicity of this logo, not to mention that retro color! :) Thank you to Tina Wood with Piece of Cake Designs for working to get the perfect logo. Let me know what you guys this about the new design, i'd love to hear from you! MJW

Exciting times

I have been so blessed, especially lately! MJW Photography has got several things in the making that I am so excited to announce...soon! I hate to leave you in suspense, but stay tuned in and i'll be announcing news in the coming week(s). Thank you to all you wonderful clients, without you I wouldn't be here! MJW

My son the spy

Every so often I get the pleasure of reading my first grader's journal from school. Usually it says things like 'I love my mom because she buys me things.' or 'I am so excited to go on vacation with my family this summer.', but today I read this. Now, any of you that have boys would not be surprised by this, but I just had to laugh! My favorite part is where he doesn't believe his dad and I know he's 'spying' around when he's in 'trubule'. Hmm, I was wondering what those noises were coming from behind the couch, ha! Have a great weekend everyone, it's going to be beautiful out there! MJW

Father's Day Mini Sessions!

Father's Day is just around the corner, so don't forget to honor that hard working father in your life with a gift that only gets better with age! Your 30 minute mini session will include:

• 10x13
• (2)8x10
• (4)5x7
• a hard cover brag book with your favorite 20 prints!

Retail Value: $240 Promotional Price: $175 All sessions must be completed and orders placed no later than May 30th to guarantee delivery in time for Father's Day. Pictures can be of your children, or with that father in their life. (we also welcome photos with grandpa too!)

If you missed out on our Mother's Day session don't fret, a gift certificate is a great idea for all you procrastinators out there! (I'm with you procrastinators!)

Sneak Peak

What a great time I had taking pictures of these guys! A perfectly happy 6 week old baby boy, and his very independent big brother 'K'.

Traci, look what we got! :)

MJW

Project Childhood

In honor of those fleeting years called childhood I am offering a FREE session to a child(ren) that normally might not be able to afford one. Here are the guidelines:

• Must be for a family's child(ren).
• Must be done by May 5th

If you know a family or are that family in need send me an email. Because there is only ONE slot available this offer will be given to the first one who responds..so don't put it off! In addition to the free session I will also provide the family a free portrait from their childs session. The $50 session fee will be donated (by MJW Photography) to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Milestones

I can't believe our baby is NINE months old! Time just seems to pass by so quickly, I can hardly believe it. I just got in this awesome hipster hat and babylegs...so of course I had to try them out! Photographers, if you are looking for some high quality unique items check out Design Revolution.

Two kids & a puppy

This is 'T' and her little brother 'N'...oh, and there new puppy! I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids or the puppy. I forgot just how playful pups are...and how fast they can be! :) Here's a few from their session.

Til next time MJW

M & M

These two kiddo's are some of the cutest i've ever seen! Big sister 'M' was such a big helper to her little brother 'M', even if he didn't want to cooperate with us, ha! Mom, I had a blast with your family...so much fun. :) (click on the image to see it larger.)

I know this was a mother's day session, but this was just too precious to pass up!

Local happenings

Grand Opening! Bentonville finally has a Chick-fil-A, woohoo. For those of you not familiar with this franchise it's really good. :) This is the only fast food joint i'll eat at, and for us parents of young ones it's the only place that i'll let my kids go into their playroom. (it is always nice and clean!)

So we've had a lot of rain lately, and although i'm sure we really needed it i'm ready for some sunshine! Here are a few pictures of our flooding. (This is really a parking lot by the lake) (this drain is usually empty!)

(here is part of the walking trail that goes around our lake)

(oops, where'd the path go?)

(I don't think the seat is supposed to be IN the water! Even the ducks are confused.)

(can't tell where the land is supposed to be and where the water starts!)

Have a great weekend everybody!

MJW

Sneak Peek

This is 'R'. Today this little cutie reminded me that girls are sugar and spice...as long as we get it our own way! (ha!) We started off inside with lots of giggles...

but than we had a melt down...

so mom and I decided that a change of view was needed. 'R' really enjoyed going for a walk outside with mom, she even found some dandilions!

I just couldn't resist posting this cheerio shot! :)

MJW

Des Moine, Iowa

I had the great opportunity to attend a 2 day seminar in Des Moine this past weekend put on by the Rocky Mountain School of Photography. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot! Tim Cooper walked us through CS3, along with Doug Johnson. Tony Rizzuto talked about lense size and sports in motion. At the end of the last day we all had the chance to have some of our work critiqued, which was intimidating, but SOO imperative to continued improvement. While I was in town I also had the opportunity to meet one of my favorite photographers, Lori Nordstrom. Every year Lori does her 'little angels' calander which benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, so of course I took my littlest to get 'shot'! Lori, it was fun! :) Here are some shots from around town.

'look mom, there's a plane!'

This is what I felt like the day after!

KC's BBQ, a very good place to eat if your ever in downtown, Des Moines

Another fine establishment in downtown. This was very close to the convention center, great food!

Happy Easter!

We had (or should I say are having) a very relaxing Easter day. As soon as we got home from service the kiddos got out all their new stuff from their baskets like a kid in the candy store! I think were going to go out to the park later and have some family fun. Yesterday I got the bright idea to paint our bedroom, including the ceiling. I am sooo sore, but it looks great so it was well worth the work! This picture my dear husband shot, he keeps getting better! (but thank goodness for cropping in photoshop, ha!)

First day of spring!

There is nothing i'd rather be doing on the first day of spring than photographing children! Check out these cuties!

This one has got more skills than me, ha!

Spring is here, don't put off your portraits another day. They grow up so fast!

MJW

New website is live!

That's right, it's finally done! (although were sure to find a few bugs here and there for a week or two). Go check out my new site and let me know what you think. Starting in April you'll be able to find my ad in NWA Kid Directory, so check it out! With all this beautiful spring-like weather this weekend I hope everyone has gotten out with their kids to enjoy it! (of course i'm just recovering from the flu so I didn't have such a great weekend!) Don't forget to start making your spring appointments now! :)

Back from Thailand!

Well, I got home very late sunday night after about 40 straight hours of traveling! Thailand is 13 hours ahead of us, so you can imagine the jetlag! I tried sooo hard to stay awake monday, but was unable to. My arms were like jell-o and i ended up waking for the day at 1am tuesday! Thailand was a really great experience and i'm so glad I got to go. They call Thailand a 'hedonistic paradise', if that tells you a little bit about it! It was really hard not to stare at all the people and the lack of clothing or undergarments! Anyway, here are some pictures from my trip. I know there are a lot, but I couldn't narrow it down! p.s. the new website is almost done. :)

This sign was at the Hard Rock Cafe entrance in Pattaya, Thailand!

Jomtien Beach, Pattaya.

I took this from the top floor of the hotel. It looks out to our pool and the ocean.

This was really cool, I couldn't believe they didn't cinge their hair!! :)

Part of the silk making process

This picture just says so much about Thailand and their people.

Can anyone guess what this was?? It was a bathroom!

Meet Tony, a two year old, thumb sucking gibon.

They generally speak the language better than they spell it! :)

We are so spoiled in the states. We need to thank God everyday for what we have. These are homes..and they aren't the worst ones either. The elephant tour!

Hello from Thailand!

Leaving on a jumbo jet!

Well, it's almost here...my trip to Thailand. I'm so excited, but starting to get a little nervous about that 24 hour flight! (gosh i hope the seats are comfy) I have nothing packed yet, but i'm working on the laundry..which is endless in this house! Most of the time I will be working, but some of us girls do have an elephant tour scheduled that i'm sure is going to give me plenty of photo opportunities! I've been told that the Thai people are not real big on time, so who knows how long/short we'll be on these huge, smelly beasts! :0 I'll be sure to post pics of beautiful Thailand, especially the beach when I get back! My new and improved website should go live when I return, so be sure to check it out! Goodbye winter, hello summer!! :)

Warm January days..

The last few days here have been so nice outside that I decided to take my kids yearly pictures. Somehow I find that taking a picture of them all together proves difficult, yet taking others seems easy! I am already getting antsy for the spring weather, I am working on several different things that I'm excited about. Keep reading...

My list of things to do...

These are in no particular order. If you think you can help me accomplish any of my goals email me!

• Travel to Africa (go on a real safari, and live to tell about it)
• Get a new camera lense
• Buy a new Ibook...sweet!
• Take our family pictures without going insane!
• Go to Imaging USA
• Travel to Venice, Italy
• Photograph a session at a old barn, or a newer one. Anyone have a good location?
• Photograph a live birth, volunteers? contact me!
• Do a session with a really fun[ny] engaged couple!

I'm sure there is a lot more, but these were on my mind. :) ~MJW My good friend and her husband, aren't they cute?! :)

My First blog

Well one of my new years resolutions was to start a blog for not only my business but my family as well, so here goes! My dad is going to laugh when he sees this because I told him I hate to have to sign up for things like this...oh well dad! :)I thought it appropriate to start off the new year with pictures from my Christmas vacation at my folks, hope you enjoy. I'm going to try to update often, but no promises. :)