{new blog!}

Come check out my new blog!
Update your bookmarks and Favorites because I won't be posting here any more!
Come on over here.... http://frecklefacephotography.ca

Thanks for looking!
~Carol

{next up...}

Babies, babies, babies!!
Need I say more??

Sorry I made you wait the WHOLE weekend for this sneak peek "A"!! Wait til you see the pics of "T&B"!! Saving them for the gallery!

Thanks for looking!
~Carol~

{sneak peek baby!} -winnipeg baby photographer

So with this newborn girl (3 in a row) I end my run of boys.

As does this family!!

After 4 boys they finally welcome a beautiful little girl to round out the family!

I spent most of my time with this baby girl but we did try to get a sibling shot.

For any photographers reading this, we all know how difficult it is to get it,but you gotta try and these boys were a dream!!

Really, I have never met such a well behaved group of brothers! Now I'm sure they have their moments, as any mom would be quick to point out and one had to go have some quiet time at one point. But this mother was so patient and calm, it almost made me wish we had tried for more children...almost!!

If you are waiting on a gallery I am working away as we speak to get the last of them finished.

I'll be posting snaek peeks today to tide you over!

Thanks for looking!

~Carol~

{news & mine}

I will be out the "office" for the next few days and will return any e-mails or inquiries on Sunday. For all my American visitors, Happy Thanksgiving!! I am off to take advantage of their amazing Black Friday Sales! Although our dollar is not as great as it was this summer!

And since I have to post a picture, it is a photography blog after all..
But first, the back story...
My youngest,"I" has beautiful curly hair. I love it! Well her, not so much! One night while I was lying down with her before bed she said, in her saddest, most pitiful voice, "Mama, (yes I'm a mama, not mommy, not mom, but mama!) I want to have straight hair like everyone else in my family."
Just about broke my heart. So, of course I had to pull out my straightener the next day to give her straight hair.
She looks so much older this way, that I said I would never do it again!! But I'm sure I will, she loved it so much!

Thanks for looking!

~Carol

{late sneak peek!}

Here's a long overdue sneak peek!
I'm a bit behind on pretty much everything these days!
I'm up to my eyeballs in editing and card design. So if you are waiting for anything, galleries, cards, orders... thank you so much for being patient!!
I will get to everyone as quickly as I can!!

On to the peek!!
You can imagine my glee when I poked my head into the car and spotted this cutie!!
I love deep brown eyes!!! And this boy sure has 'em!

Sorry for the wait "A", it'll be worth it!!!

Thanks for looking!

~Carol~

{perception vs. reality...a sneak peek}

Now, the perception in this first picture would probably be; beautiful couple, in love (they are having a baby!) dotting husband whispering sweet nothings in his glowing wife's ear. The expression on her face might say, "that's my man"...

REALITY:

While the first part is all true, the sweet nothings?? Probably went something like this...."Is this almost over?? Do I really have to be in these pictures? You know I hate getting pictures taken, right??"

I know her expression really says, "Do you SEE what I have to put up with??"

Sorry "A & T" just had to tease you a bit!! They were great and although "T" really doesn't like to get his picture taken, he did everything I asked him too with a smile. Just you wait, "T", until the newborn shoot!

"A" has been on bed rest for weeks now, as she'd been having preterm labour and delivered her first baby 10 weeks early! So we kept it real and hung out in the bedroom, where her an "M" spend lots of their day.

Little "M" is almost 3 now and is waiting for her new baby...

Thanks for looking!

~Carol~

{what is the matter with me??}

2 posts in one day??

Don't I have anything better to do?

Yes, actually, I have editing to do, orders to place, orders to package, storyboards to design, dishes to do, floors to wash and don't even get me started on the laundry!

But I had to come give you the heads up about some changes going on in the new year!

#1: Session fees are going up. In the new year, session fees will be $100-$150 depending on the type of session you choose.

Types of sessions are: Simple session, Newborn & Maternity session, Senior(graduate) session, Storybook session, family session.

#2: I will be offering digital files and digital collections!

#3: New and cool products to go with collections!

I will post more about the collections and details about digital files and products, but I am still working on it and what to have all my T's crossed before I give out too much information!

I haven't posted alot of images lately so here are a few of my kiddos playing in the first snowfall!

Thanks for looking!

~Carol~

{brown eyed girl}

I'm finally undigging myself from the holiday session rush! And holiday card orders are starting to come in!

Just a reminder if you would like holiday cards, the deadline for press printed cards is Tuesday November 18th. These take up to 2 weeks to come in so they need a bit more time. For the photopaper cards the last day to order is Tuesday Dec.2nd and they should be to you by that weekend.

I also have gift certificates available for anyone wanting to give the gift of portraits this Christmas!

On to the sneak peek!
This little peanut is not a stranger to me or my camera! This family was one of the first clients I ever photographed, and was pumped to see them again! Little "J" was pretty serious the first 2 times we met but this weekend she was all smiles!! I love her eyes, they are so brown and just sparkle!

As I write this post there is sleet hitting the window and a weather warning in effect. Hard to believe these pictures were taken just 5 days ago. This was probably the last nice day of the year.

Your gallery will be ready this weekend!

Thanks for looking!

~Carol~

{workin' woman wednesday...and a sneak peek}

Owning your own business is hard. It's also fun and exciting and rewarding, but hard. You need all the help you can get. And that includes from other business owners. We can help each other so much!! And I want to help you! So I'm starting a regular feature called Workin' Woman Wednesday. If you are a business owner in Winnipeg/Manitoba and have a product or service that would benefit or be of interest to children or families, I would love to profile you here!
My intent is to interview a woman owned business once a week about their businesses and have a link to their site on the right. Now we all know about good intentions, right?? I may(will) miss here and there, but will try to be consistent!!

Interested?? Here's what you need to do...
E-mail me ccswaitk@mts.net and I'll send you the interview questions.
Send me a picture of yourself...don't have one?? Well I happened to be a photographer ;) and if I have enough interest will plan a mini session (free of charge!!) in December to capture some great pics of you!
Then, when it's your turn, your intereview will be posted!

To start, I'm going to go first!

Name:Carol Swaitkewich

AKA:mmmm, nothing! I've never had a nickname! My neighbours tried to give me one a few weeks ago, but, let's just say it didn't stick!

Hails from: right here in Winnipeg, Man. I did live in B.C. for a few years as a child, and now live in LaSalle, Man.

Name of your business: Freckle Face Photography

When was your business born? October 2007 I did my first "real" shoot, my website went live January 2008.

Why did you start your business? What inspires you? I consider myself a creative person and had been looking for something I could do once my children were in school that was creative. For some reason photography didn't occur to be as a business idea until fairly recently, even though I have always been "into" photography. My children of course are a huge inspiration to me and my business. When you capture an image of a child that gives the parents goosebumps, you know you have found your calling. I've had many jobs but had never felt like it was what I was supposed to do. I feel pretty lucky because I know not everyone finds that.

What does you business offer? Quality, custom portraiture of your children and family. Capturing real life, freckles and all!

Where do you see your business in the future? Doing exactly what I do right now! But maybe a litle more efficiently! Let's just say I'm not the most organized girl around! I also plan on expanding my product line over the next little while to offer cool stuff to my clients! I would really love to have a natural light studio one day! That's in the 5 year plan!!

How do you balance work/family? This is a trick question!! I don't have a good answer which is why I'm asking it!! I need help in this area!! How do you do it???

Now for a few "fun" questions...

Skills: Getting 3 children ready for school and out the door in the morning in 1/2 an hour.

Challenges: Doing above skill without yelling,lol!

Chips or chocolate? I have to pick one?????

Secret weapon: Mini M&M's. A toddler will do anything for those!

Enemies/pet peeves: People who cel phone and drive, people who do dumb things to get on America's Funniest Home Videos.

Can't live without: My family, caffeine, my camera and the internet.

Heroes: All Moms,especially mine, (hi mom!!) my hubby (even though he never reads my blog, phfftttt!!!!)

Little known fact: I'll have to get back to you on that one... I'm not really that interesting!!

There you have it!! These will be the questions you have to answer.

Now for the picture! I'm also including a image of me and my hubby.He wouldn't like this but because he never reads this he'll never know!! We don't have anything but snapshots of us, usually he's taking the picture of us with one hand, since we were married. Definitely something we should do on a regular basis. Thanks Rosie for taking them!

Now for the sneak peek! it was SO cold the morning of this shoot but this little peanut was awesome!! She was super busy and after just learning to walk couldn't be slowed down! Your gallery will be ready soon "H" family! Enjoy your sneak peek!

Thanks for looking!

~Carol~

{my baby...}

...isn't a baby anymore.

"I" just turned 4 at the beginning of October.

I took her out yesterday to do a late birthday shoot. It's still October so I'm not THAT late!!

These are some of my favorite pictures to date. They are totally different than anything I've done and I wouldn't consider them my style, but I LOVE them. The last one is going somewhere, not yet sure where, in my home, HUGE!

This one takes my breath away...Thanks for looking!

~Carol

{friends & neighbours... part 3}

This next sneak peek is for 2 great families!

First the "H" family...

This couple were the first neighbours we met when we were building our house and we were so happy to have such nice people living across from us!

They are now 2 members bigger since we first met them! You wouldn't recogniser her, but baby "J" was featured in a blog post this past summer.

Big sister "M".

Next up is the "C" family!

Mom "E" is a friend of mine from a mom's group and this is the 2nd time I've photographed them. I love working with them because "E" "gets me". They like unposed, unscripted, real and I love that!

This time I turned the camera on them as a couple instead of just as parents and I am thrilled with what we got!! I {heart} sunflare!!These aren't even my favs!!

Both of your galleries will be ready this week!

Thanks for looking!

~Carol~