Initially, I hired and met with people to try and help me shape my vision from a collection of various images, clothing tags, fonts, etc. that I had gathered. I took that collection and I analyzed it to ask myself: what were the consistencies? From what I saw, I tried to put that vision and theme into words but what I found was time after time something was getting lost in translation. In the end, what I decided was to see what would happen if I created this vision I had myself.

I ran with three key words that I feel are who I am: simple, fun, & loving the vintage/hand crafted style. With those three (okay, maybe four) words, the brand seemed to unfold.

It started with packaging. My wife and I poured over concepts and ideas for months and landed on simplicity & hand crafted appeal. With recycled shipping paper, kraft boxes, cooking twine, stitching & self designed stamps we crafted a simple look that is covered in love and attention.

With the packaging all wrapped up (see what I did there?…packaging..wrapped up….ok, sorry..back to my story..) I came back to the place I couldn’t escape from: my online presentation. How was I going to bring this to life?! I wanted a clean, crisp color palette, the impression that I sat down and glued/taped/put it all together like a scrapbook, and I wanted people to walk away with an impression of me: easy going, relaxed, attention to detail, passionate, & someone you want to get to know more about. I feel the elements of this new site do just that.

It’s been a long journey. One that left me with triple shot white chocolate mochas in my hand some nights, but I wouldn’t be debuting this new site today if I weren’t ready to say, “BAM! Here I am!” 2011 is going to be a good year just like the rest, it’s just going to look a little different! Hope you can join me!

Details about the little-love sesh:
Book a little-love session between the dates of January 21 and Feb 5 and receive a complimentary digital image!

The package is $100 and includes 20 minutes of shooting time, a session styled and tailored for your shoot, 10-15 re-touched images in an online gallery, & one digital image for some adorable valentines day card sweetness! (*A la carte prints will also be available for purchase.)

This photo session is for children, but couples, individuals, & families are also welcome but may be subject to additional fees.

Times and dates are limited so contact us today!

Effective November 1, 2009, our prices will be going up. If you have received a 2009 price sheet from me, those prices will only be valid until October 30, 2009. This means that if you have been waiting to book your wedding, you’ve only got 17 days left to sign a contract and book your date before the prices jump up. Don’t miss out! (Any new inquiries will receive our new price list.)

2009 has been an amazing year for me. Thank you to all of the couples and families who have invited me to be a part of capturing the moments in your lives. 2010 promises to be another great year and I wouldn’t be here without you!

Today is Frenchie & Flea’s grand opening on Etsy and I am proud to brag about my wife and one her best friend’s work!  They’ve been spending months together to work on this and it totally shows!

They sell hand crafted paper goods and re*purposed treasures….here are a few:

Visit their store and if you are feeling lucky, enter to win a giveaway of Frenchie & Flea products.

1. Go to http://mycameraisbiggerthanyours.com/announcements/itdr-travel-photography-contes.html (if the images don’t show up, refresh the page…some browsers do’nt like this page)
2. Find my image and click on it, I’m entry 0070 (for most browsers, I will be on page 3)
3. Click on “vote for entry” at the bottom of the image and follow the instructions

Here are the prizes I could win (with your help)
FIRST PRIZE: The Dream Package – Web Site, Blog, and Slideshare by ITDR $750 value
SECOND PRIZE: ShootSac Camera Bag – $179.00 value
THIRD PRIZE: Totally Rad Actions Set $149.00 value
FOURTH PRIZE: PacSafe – CarrySafe100 Camera Strap $19.00

THANK YOU FOR VOTING!!

A few weeks ago, we decided to give away a couples photo session worth over $300.00. In the name of love and giving back, we wanted to share our passion and a gift that has meant a lot to us over the years. After reviewing the nominations, the judges were won over by the heart-warming story shared by Jenny:

“Travis and I have gone through some what of a hard/challenging past year. Moving to our new military-assigned base in Kansas, finding out that our first born was to be born with a severe cleft lip and palate, learning the ropes of parenting, Travis deploying when our daughter was 2 months old, Bella (our daughter) undergoing the first of three surgeries at nearly 5 months – these are some of the hurdles that we have grasped hands and jumped over. I’m not saying we didn’t trip and fall many times. There are quite too many moments I look back upon and know that my tone and attitude could have been sweeter, more submissive, more loving. Many moments where I know that whatever was happening with our baby was not either of our faults, but I seemed to blame myself and him. But, our Heavenly Father is so precious and good to us – to keep us both within His safe and loving palm, to keep our hearts turned toward Him, to allow us to love one another through hardships. I would love to have a photo shoot with my husband to document this first year of parenting, to remind us what it is like to trust fully in our Lord and love one another fully through pain.”

We look forward to meeting Travis and Jenny when they return for a visit to the Central Coast. Thank you, Jenny, for sharing your story in such an open and honest way. Thank you, Travis, for serving our country. We cannot imagine the things your family must sacrifice to protect us all!

Why are we doing this? We have been amazingly blessed in our three years of marriage that we will celebrate on February 25. So many we know and love have given to  us without question and we want to give back. Love is the greatest emotion and gift to celebrate. We want to bless the lives of a couple with our passion and with a gift that we truly appreciate: photographs.

How To Enter: Submit an email to info@christanp.com in the following format:
1. Your Name
2. Names of the couple you are nominating
3. Your relationship to the couple you are nominating
4. And lastly a short paragraph sharing why you think the couple you are nominating deserve this free one hour session worth over $300.00. (*Remember, the couple you nominate can be you and your honey!)
5. In addition to your email, leave a comment for us stating your favorite thing about love (be as creative as you want!)

Rules: The photo session must take place in the San Luis Obispo area (so if the couple you nominate lives in another city, they must be able to come to San Luis Obispo.) Photo Session must be completed by Saturday, May 2. Nominations must be submitted by Sunday, March 2. A winner will be chosen by a panel of judges (not including ourselves) and the winner will be notified by Sunday, March 9

Ashtons contribution to helping us clean up the blog

We’ve got a lot of exciting things to share and will be announcing them by the end of the week. So……hold on to your britches and I promise…..by the end of the week we will be back to our blogging selves.

Drop us a line and let us know what you think of our new look!

• A website early Jan 2009 (finally)
• New Blog with fancy slide shows, bigger images and all the stuff a geeky photographer dreams of their blog being
• Photo session give-aways
• and…..well, I guess you will have to stay tuned to find out what else

Q:How does this effect you?!
A:If you are currently going to “www.christanp.com” to get to this blog you just have to stay tuned for all the goodness to come. If you are getting here through another url, please update your bookmarks and start going to “www.christanp.com”

Q:Will you have a designated portfolio on your new site?
A:Yes, we will have a section that displays 4 different categories (Weddings, Engagements, Portraits and Children)

Q:Will you have pricing for your services?
A:Setting a specific price wouldn’t accommodate everyone’s needs so we will place a price range to help you get an idea of what a wedding or portrait session would run.

Q:I thought you said you were busy?!
A:I am…..so..BYE and Merry Christmas!