NEW BLOG IS LAUNCHED!

Savant Photography now has a bigger and better blog.  Click here to see it!  The URL will be changed soon, so when you type in www.leslieannkitten.com next week, it will take you to the new blog.

Be sure to bookmark us, or better yet, just save us as your homepage to keep up to date on what's happening!

Hire B&J Lawns!

I just wanted to let all of my blog readers know about some awesome guys that are trying to put themselves through college. They own B&J Lawns and do a great job. They are professional, polite and ready to work hard.

If you need someone to mow your lawn, weed eat or anything else, please, call these guys first. I think that we need to help support those that are trying their hardest and working to achieve what they want.

They will come to your house and quite your lawn and have all of the work done in a hurry!

They offer:
Free Estimates
Leaf and trash clean up
Mowing and edging
Year round service

Brandon Northcut - 806.543.8008
James Sikes- 806.535.0005

Tell them Leslie sent you!

Oh No!

We are having technical issues with the computer that holds our e-mail which means that we cannot check our e-mail right now. Because of this, our e-mail box is full, so you will not be able to reach us via e-mail until the problem is solved.

Our awesome technician from Kitten Computers should be here this afternoon to fix the problem. They are also the ones who custom build our latest and greatest computer, so if you are having any computer issues or have computer needs, call them!

Better Business Bureau

We are now a member of the Better Business Bureau!



You can get more information at http://www.bbb.org/

Closing for Next Week!

Savant Photography offices will be closed next week. Although Christi will be working everyday, we will not be seeing clients for design consultations or sessions. Christi will be returning phone calls and all e-mails will be answered when I get back to the office.

We will reopen on Tuesday, February 24th at 10 am. Thanks for your patience during the next week.

I hate posting without a picture, and I have been hounded about Georgia June updates, so here are a few images of her with some of my favorite people! Piyavan's friend took these on his camera and was nice enough to send them to me!
Sukalakamala family - I miss you!

Poll Glitch

So, there has been a glitch with the Cutest Couple Poll. Per poll, you can only vote once, but I want people to vote once a day! So, I will redo the poll every morning so that you can vote. I will start the poll with the date, so you will know that you are voting on the right day. This way you can vote for your favorite couple once a day!

Also, as you come to vote for your favorite couple, be sure to bookmark the page and to add yourself as a follower. You can follow me by clicking the "follow" button at the bottom of the right hand column. Right now I have 9 followers and I want to have many more that that! I love to know where the people that read my blog are from. I saw a Doole, Texas as one of the hits. Who lives in Doole and how did you find my site?

Keep voting!

Follow Me!

Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know that we are open again after the Christmas Holidays. Thank you all so much for being patient and letting me spend time with my family. I am very grateful to all of you!

I want to see who follows my blog. Click on the box in the right had column to follow this blog. Followers rock, so make my day today.

Also, there is going to be a great giveaway this month! I am giving away the digital negatives of one 2008 wedding and one wedding from past years. We are going to give away the 2008 wedding in January. Nominate your favorite couple from 2008 this week. Voting will start next week. Whoever gets the most votes by the end of the contest gets a shiny CD with all of their digital wedding files! So, brides and grooms, nominate yourself, friends, nominate your newly married friend and everyone tell anyone you know to visit the Savant Photography blog to vote daily!

Turn in those nominations pronto!

The End of an Era

Something very sad happened right before Georgia's first Christmas. My grandmother went to join her husband in heaven. It is very sad, as I am sure most of you know and it just feels like a part of my life is gone with her.

I have decided to spend this time with my family. Therefore, Savant Photography will be closed until January 4. I will be checking my voicemail, but will not be near my calendar or my e-mail for a while.

We will be taking her back to our home town, Ruidoso, New Mexico.

Say a prayer for my family, but before you do that, be sure to give a kiss to all of those that are close to you! What a blessed life we lead when we have people that we love.

Guess what I'm doing today?

I have been hired and given a floor pass to photograph the Texas Tech Graduate School's graduation ceremony. Normally, this might seem boring to you, however, today, the guest speaker is none other than John McCain. I don't care if you share my political views or not, that is pretty darn cool that I get to photograph him up close and personal. My goal is to have my picture taken with him, so we will see how that goes. I am super excited and will keep you all updated!

Merry Christmas to me!

Time is Running Out!

If you would like to place a Christmas order for jewelry, purses, accessories or Forbeyon Albums, time is running out. Call me on Monday to schedule a time to get your order in.

Guys - if you need a quick and easy gift that your mom, spouse or child will love, this would be it!

Girls - Don't worry, I have stuff for the guys in your life as well.

On another note, I have six items that need to be monogrammed. Anyone know of a good person to call?

A Little Update

Georgia and her playgroup went to the pumpkin patch yesterday to take pictures. Here is one of my favorites. These are also doubling as her 7 month portraits. More to come!

Other notes of interest:

*We moved! I love our new house and hopefully I will get a picture up soon.

*Our old home is now my studio. That's right folks, I leave my house to go to work. Office hours are Tuesday through Friday 10-5 and any other time by appointment only. We are going to try this out for a while to see if I want to keep working in my home or stay in a different location.

*Halloween Day - Bring yourself and your children to the studio in costume and get a free mini session. The prints will be available to purchase at the time of the session. Yes, college students and adults are also welcome.

*Life is backing up, but I promise as soon as I get the studio and the house in order, blogging will be back to normal.

*BE A FOLLOWER - follow my blog publicly by clicking the button on the right. I love to see who has been here.

*I still love comments. Please post your comments. Again, I just love to know what you think of my posts and where you all are from.

Oh! Mother Board!

My old computer finally shut its eyes and went to sleep forever. Don't worry, that is not the computer with any pictures on it (although those are backed up a few times), but it is the computer with my calendar and e-mail. As soon as I get a new computer, I can take all of my files from the old one and keep using them. However, for the time being, I have no e-mail or calendar. If you have an appointment with me this week, please call and confirm everything so that we don't get our signals crossed.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call me, as that will be my only mode of communication.

Thanks!

My Stress Relief

How can you not love life when you wake up to a smile like that?

I know that there are so many of you that are waiting for your images to be blogged and posted online. Please don't think that I have forgotten about you.

Whitney and Adam, you are next.

It takes a long time to edit all of the images and it is very easy to get behind when you have so many weddings in a row.

Please don't think that I am making excuses! Just know that I am on my computer editing away.

Here are a few of sweet Georgia. These were taken while I was waiting for a client in a park. These pictures are especially for Aunt Angie, who is walking across Europe as we speak. I am so jealous and living vicariously through her blog.

See Aunt Angie, she loves her new shirt!

I Won the Special President's Trophy!

I can't believe it! It is my first time to ever enter and I won the Special President's Trophy! There were so many great entries from all over the South that I didn't even consider that I would win! How exciting! The image is titled "Beer Run".

This is the same Texas Professional Photographers Association competition that I told you about below. Winning my first merit was enough and this just takes the cake!

I would love to hear your comments!

My First Merit!

Unlike a plumber or a CPA, photography is not a licenced profession. Anyone can pick up a camera and say that they are a professional, even if they don't know what an aperture does or what the correct ratios are.

There are certain things that a photographer can do to set himself above the rest and give the clients peace of mind. The first thing that they can do is get certified. Just like an accountant, we have a test that will make us a "CPA." Again, it is not required, but if your photographer has passed it, then they really know what they are doing.

We also have degrees. The first is a master's and then the next level is a craftsman. There are many things that you have to do to get the degree and it usually takes 7 to 10 years to complete one of them. Among other things, you have to enter prints in certain competitions and they get scored by a panel of the best judges in Texas, the Southwest or Nationally (depending on which competition). Each print that scores an 80 or above gets a merit. It is very easy to enter 4 prints and not get a single merit during that competition.

Just recently I decided that I should enter and try to work towards these goal. So last night I came back from Kerrville where I entered for the first time. I also came back with my first merit! I am so excited. This is the print that merited. It is an image of a senior, Kamron, that I took in April. Now I am addicted and ready to enter the next one!

I will be in my office all day today replying to e-mails and phone calls that I recieved while I was gone. The work never ends!

Getting Married?

Then you want to see the latest Newsletter! If you do not currently get the monthy edition of our newsletter, please e-mail me at leslie@savantphotography. Include your name and e-mail address and I will put you on the list for sales, newletters and breaking news.

You can opt out anytime you want and the newsletter is completely free!

Calling All Models!

It is that time again! I am teaching photography at Tech and we are in need of some models.

If you are willing to brave a class full of photographers in exchange for some great images, e-mail me at leslie@savantphotography.com by 2:00 Friday afternoon.

E-mail Woes

If you are worried about not hearing from me, don't be!

I cannot send out e-mails. We have not diagnosed the problem yet, but we are trying to fix it as soon as possible.

I am still able to recieve e-mails, so feel free to keep contacting me. Hopefully I will be up and running in the next few days!

Playing Catch Up

Although I am on maternity leave, I am trying to keep up with e-mails and phone calls. Just so you know, I am only through the e-mails that I received before March 13th.

I am responding as quickly as I can, but I want to also give each one of you the attention that you deserve.

If you have not received a response, I thank you for your patience as I am moving as quickly as possible.

If you are wanting an appointment in April, don't worry, I will make sure that everyone that has already e-mailed me gets a spot.

Here is another picture of the small little bundle that has taken me from my clients.

Again, thank you all for being so kind and letting me spend this precious time with my family.

She is Here!

Today is Georgia's one week birthday and I am just now posting pictures. I will post more later, but something is wrong with blogger and it won't let me upload any more.

Georgia is doing great and loves being home. She is already developing quite the personality! She is perfect!