South Lyon Senior Portrait Photographer | 2014 Senior Rep Nicole

Meet Nicole.  She is one of my 2014 senior reps and will be a graduate of Novi High School.  Her main interests are in basketball.  She has been playing the sport since she was 6 years old and is shooting guard on the varsity team.  When Nicole is not playing with her own teammates, she referees for the Novi Parks and Rec youth teams.  She loves being able to share her passion for the sport with the next generation of players.  As for future plans, Nicole plans on attending college with the hopes of becoming an early elementary school teacher.  

My session with Nicole was fantastic!  We shot at multiple locations, each better than the previous location.  And she was such a trooper about all of the clothing changes...and there were a LOT!  Nicole was game for anything - from posing in public open spaces to "breaking into" the local high school football field, then trampling around tall fields during peek tick season (none were found on us!) and even sitting on a beach filled with by-products of geese.  There was nothing she was not willing to do.

I loved working with Nicole and wish her all the best during her senior year.

 If you are a 2014 senior and are interested in booking your senior portraits with Carsten Photography, please contact me via email {at} amy@carstenphotography.com or by phone {at} 248.491.8388.

2013 Holiday Card Catalog

The new 2013 Holiday Card Catalog is here!  You can now peruse all of this years card templates in this e-magazine.  Picking out your holiday cards could not get any easier than this.

Last year, clients kept telling me about how many compliments they received on their custom holiday cards.  I would even have people come up to me asking, "Did you do {insert name} holiday cards? They were great!" One client even won, the "Best Christmas Card" award within their group of friends.  So I am very excited to be offering an amazing selection this year.

This year I am offering 12 new sets with 4 different options in each set - that's 48 different cards to choose from!  All cards are sized to 5x7, are printed front and back on linen card stock and include your choice of white or parchment envelopes.  Cards come in sets of 25 and cost $43 per set.

This year, I am also offering coordinating return address labels.  These labels are the perfect way to dress up your envelopes and they coordinate with your card selection.  Labels come in sets of 50 and are $15 per set.

You can find samples of last year's templates by clicking here.

I hope you enjoy looking through my 2013 Holiday Card Catalog.  If you would like to order your own custom holiday cards or have any questions about these templates, please contact me at amy@carstenphotography.com or 248.491.8388.

Happy Holidays!
   Link issuu.com/carstenphotography/docs/2013_holiday_card_catalog?e=9359107/4894685

South Lyon Photographer | 2013 Holiday Minis

With Fall right around the corner, it's that time of the year to start thinking about family pictures and holiday cards {Gasp! Not Christmas already!}. Back to school and fall activities often proceed thoughts of the holidays, but they are here before we know it.  Be one step ahead of the game and take advantage of this special offer!

This year I am offering Holiday Minis.  For $150, you get a 30 minute professional portrait session, up to 5 poses, {1} 8x10 and {2} 5x7 professional prints and 25 custom Holiday Cards.

All holiday cards are sized to 5x7, are printed front and back on linen card stock and include your choice of white or parchment envelopes.  You can see some samples of my 2012 Holiday Card Collection by clicking here.  This year, I have 12 new card sets available - and they are pretty amazing!

This offer is vaild for mini sessions scheduled on 9/28/2013 through 10/19/2013.  Availability is limited, so call 248.491.8388 or email amy@carstenphotography.com to book your appointment today!

South Lyon Senior Portrait Photographer | 2014 Senior Jared

I would like to welcome 2014 South Lyon High Senior Jared to the blog!

When I first met with Jared we talked about his life - his job, interests, future plans.  Once he mentioned music, our conversation went from pictures to all the different bands and music genres we both love.  Want to get me talking nonstop, just bring up music and I can go all night - as if not talking is really a problem I have  :)

20 minutes later, we got back on to the topic of Jared's senior session.  When I asked him if there was a specific location he had in mind, Jared's first response was, "How about Ann Arbor?"  I had not shot a session in the University of Michigan town yet, but I had been wanting to for a while.  So of course I was completely on board!

On the day of Jared's session, we just walked around downtown Ann Arbor and found so many places to photograph at. A few of those locations were the Ann Arbor Graffiti Alley, The Nickels Arcade and University of Michigan Campus.  We even got to witness a public yelling match between two people! I'm not going to lie, it was pretty entertaining and Jared cracked some huge smiles during that time, which made for some great shots.  We wrapped up the session with some fine dining at 5 Guys Burgers & Fries.  

I had a lot of fun with Jared and am so happy he wanted to have his session in Ann Arbor.  I hope Jared has a great senior year!

If you are a 2014 senior and are interested in booking your portrait session with Carsten Photography, please contact me via email {at} amy@carstenphotography.com or by phone {at} 248.491.8388.

South Lyon Senior Portrait Photographer | 2014 Senior Rep Tyler

Meet Tyler.  He is one of my 2014 Senior reps and will be a graduate of Farmington High School.  Tyler is on the Varsity Tennis Team at FHS and is a member of The National Honor Society.  He also is active in the BPA (Business Professionals of America) club.  One of Tyler's favorite things to do is play guitar - acoustic and electric.  Tyler is also very active in his church, Our Lady of Sorrows.  He is a member of the Holy Family Youth Group and will be on their leadership team next year.  Although he is unsure as to which university he will be attending, Tyler does plan on getting his degree in computer science.    

Tyler's shoot was a lot of fun!  He was willing to do a lot of things, including hanging from an exposed beam!  I'm not going to lie, that one scared me a little.  I did get a sampling of Tyler's musical abilities when he played a little Green Day on his acoustic for me - he's pretty good on the strings!  I really enjoyed working with Tyler and wish him the best for his senior year.

If you are going to be a 2014 senior and are interested in booking your senior portraits with Carsten Photography, please contact me via email {at} amy@carstenphotography.com or by phone {at} 248.491.8388. 

South Lyon Portrait Photographer | Ballet, Dance and Other Things

I have had the privilege of getting to work with Emma on a couple of projects this summer.  She is one {1} of nine {9} contestants for the 2013 Miss Farmington Pageant.  It was through my work with the pageant, that Emma came to me for a more personal shoot.  Not only is she competing for the crown and title of Miss Farmington, Emma is also highly involved in competitive dance.    

I have to say, this was one of my favorite shoots to date.  I loved capturing her jumps, croisé derrière, and other varying dance poses.  Emma truly makes dance look effortless when it is, in fact, the exact opposite.

Here is a sampling of some of the many images I captured of Emma - some dance and some portrait.  Be sure to let Emma know what you think of her portraits in the comment section below.

South Lyon Portrait Photographer | 2013 Miss Farmington Pageant

Monday, I got to hang with the fabulous Miss Farmington 2013 Pageant contestants and take their group shots for this years program.  This year, nine {9} contestants will be competing for the crown at the Farmington Civic Theater on Wednesday, July 17th.  With this many lovely and talented girls, it's sure to be a difficult decision for the judges.

After working with the girls, I had a one-on-one shoot with the Miss Farmington 2012 reigning queen, Elena Pavlicas.  Elena will be featured on the cover of this year's pageant program and this session was all about creating that perfect cover image.  Elena has definitely clocked a lot of hours in front of a camera, because she made our shoot effortless.  

Here are a few of the images I took from both sessions.  Be sure to show your support for these girls in the comment section below!

South Lyon Children's Photographer | J & L

I got to work with two of the cutest kiddos last week.  This brother and sister duo were not camera shy and occasionally hammed it up!  I love capturing kids at this stage.  They are just so stinking adorable and fun to be with - J & L were no exception.  These two had me smiling the whole time (shouldn't it be the other way around?).  I look forward to capturing their many precious stages of life.