Classic Gallery

Life Without Limbs - Nick Vujicic

2009-07-01T16:56:00.000-04:00

If your or anyone you know is coming to Traverse City this weekend, you are invited to join us at Bay Pointe Community Church for one of the most incredible services! Nick Vujicic gives an incredible story that will keep you in tears, while you laugh, too! Go to his web site for more details...lifewithoutlimbs.com

Services will be at 8:00 AM, 9:30 AM and 11:15 AM. Go to bponline.org for more details. Bay Pointe Community Church is located at 6880 Secor Road, Traverse City, MI 49684

Michael and I will be greeting at all services, so would love to shake a hand or give a hug!

We hope to see you there!

First 2010 Senior!

2009-06-29T16:18:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to Jamie, the first Classic Gallery 2010 senior to have her order completed and delivered!

Jamie is in Fort Jackson, South Carolina for nine weeks of boot camp for the Army National Guard! Since she will be gone until a few days before school starts, Jamie had her senior portraits taken in May. One less thing to check off her list in this very busy summer!

Best of luck to Jamie! Go get em girl!

Katie is First Runner Up!

2009-06-20T22:57:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to our Miss Heart of Michigan!
Katie LaRoche is First Runner Up for Miss Michigan!

We are so proud of you!

Katie is Top Five!

2009-06-20T22:31:00.003-04:00

Our Miss Heart of Michigan, Katie LaRoche,
is Top Five at Miss Michigan!
More to come!

GLIP is gone

2009-06-20T14:31:00.002-04:00

I hugged all of my photographer friends good bye yesterday and now I am ready to get back to a more "normal" routine. It was a great week of sharing and learning and working with the best models. The models are looking forward to seeing their images from the best photographers in the world!

The instructors say over and over that we have the best models of all! They teach at several schools all over the country and do not get the models like we provide them at GLIP. Our models come from all over. Michael's daughter and her boyfriend came from Ohio, Morgan and Wesley came from the Grand Rapids area and the others are our clients from Traverse City.

If you Facebook, ask to be my friend, then go to the GLIP sumo wrestling video. I laughed hysterically when I watched it live, then laughed all over again when I saw the video. The instructors are also great entertainers!

Back to work for me!

What a week!

2009-06-17T17:49:00.002-04:00

I keep thinking that I will slow down. It is not happening! I am going faster!!!

This week, Michael and I were in charge of obtaining models for Great Lakes Institute of Photography. It is a school for professional photographers, held at NMC, taught by the best photographers in the country. Each instructor needs models to teach the students, so we were able to provide over fifty models! It has been a busy week!

Michael is now in Muskegon for Miss Michigan, so I will finish out the week for GLIP, then I will be off to the Farmers Markets.

I have had a great time this week, but look forward to slowing down next week!

Miss Michigan

2009-06-14T11:58:00.006-04:00

Michael is in Muskegon, with our Miss Heart of Michigan,
Katie LaRoche.
Katie will participate in in Miss Michigan this week.
Each evening, there is a preliminary competition.
The pageant will be on Saturday, June 20.

Best of luck Katie!

New Star Rising Portraits

2009-06-13T17:26:00.002-04:00

Emma had a few more favorites to share.

Hope this helps in the decision making!

A Rising Star!

2009-05-27T15:22:00.003-04:00

This girl can sing!

She can compose!

She can dance!

She can pose for portraits!

Emma is multi-talented and has a great personality, too!

We really enjoyed this session with Emma. We know she will go far!

The best harpist

2009-05-27T15:01:00.008-04:00

Sylvia Norris, incredible harpist!

She played at our wedding eight years ago.

Sylvia plays beautifully and is so pretty, too!

Sylvia needed to update her portraits for a concert.

We had a great time photographing her.

This is my favorite image.

Thank you Sylvia!

Wonderful family beach portraits

2009-05-25T12:40:00.001-04:00

We photographed the most wonderful family on Saturday night!

Patty's children surprised her by coming to Traverse City for the
weekend (they live all over the country),
then scheduling a family portrait on one of her favorite beaches!

We were at Good Harbor Beach on a gorgeous evening.
The clouds were perfect, the beach was quiet and the children were so much fun!

I will post images soon.

Baths and ducks and Saskatoon berries

2009-05-20T10:53:00.002-04:00

What adventures we have had for the past three days.

On Saturday and Sunday, the studio got a bath! It looks so shiny now!

Yesterday, Michael saw a duck in the road by our driveway. He already had a broken leg, but he must have been hit by a car and he was hurt even more. He let us put him in a milk crate to rest for awhile. We thought he was beyond repair, but a few hours later, he rallied back to life. We put him in the creek and off he swam, one leg strong! It was a happy ending...

Last night, Michael picked up eight Saskatoon berry trees. If you do not know what a Saskatoon berry is, go on line and check it out! They are so interesting! Michael is so excited to become a Saskatoon berry farmer (in his spare time)!

Hello blog

2009-05-16T11:14:00.002-04:00

It's been months since I have blogged. Must be that I have been up to my eyeballs with way too many projects.

If you have driven past the studio, you will see that it is for sale. We are shopping for property, so selling the studio property will give us the down payment that is required for a larger piece of land. Once this sells, we will let everyone know where Classic Gallery (and a new venture - so exciting!) will live.

Lots of cleaning and sorting is happening here!

What, No Snow?

2009-04-06T13:01:00.002-04:00

I am shocked. No snow in Traverse City today. Downstate got slammed and we are under sunny skies. What a change from the past frigid, snowy winter. My crocuses have peeked out, so maybe they believe spring will actually come. Come spring, come!

New Kids in Town

2009-03-25T22:12:00.003-04:00

Welcome to the Richards family, the new kids in town.

They recently moved from Phoenix to chilly northern Michigan.

The children were delightful!

Big sisters were the best!

They made Henri smile a bunch!

We are glad you are here!

My favorite Spring Special portraits

2009-03-22T21:26:00.011-04:00

Contessa the bunny was wonderful with the children.

Her mother, Onica, was the best rabbit/children wrangler!

Every year, I have a few favorite portraits from our Spring Special.

This is one.

Where did Monty go?

I love the expressions on Kyle and Stella's faces!

This is another.

Ellianna shows such enthusiasm!

She shows her beautifully painted nails, too!

It was a very fun weekend!

Jacob the Adorable

2009-03-18T18:22:00.003-04:00

Six month old Jacob visited us today.

Yes, he is adorable!

He didn't mind being naked either!

He is such a happy baby, and adorable, too!

24 hours of sun and snow

2009-03-09T18:49:00.003-04:00

Last week, we were going to photograph Courtney at the State Hospital in the snow. It got really warm and muddy looking, so we were going to cancel the session. Little did we know that we would get a blizzard last night and the snow was beautiful again. The weather was warm enough (well, kind of - not summer warm, but not below zero cold!) and Courtney only turned blue near the end of the session.

We had a great time and got some great images. We took Courtney to the Silver Tree Deli to warm her up with hot chocolate and send her on her way.

Portraits with Katie - Our new Miss Heart of Michigan

2009-02-25T22:09:00.003-05:00

Today was our first official portrait session
with Miss Heart of Michigan,
Katie LaRoche.

Katie was a delight to work with.

She photographed beautifully!

We look forward to spending lots of time with Katie this year!

To see more images from the Miss Heart of Michigan scholarship pageant, go to our web site, www.missheartofmichigan.org

Congratulations to Miss Heart 2009

2009-02-15T00:03:00.004-05:00

Congratulations to Miss Katie LaRoche, our new
Miss Heart of Michigan.

She's got style, she's got class, she's got talent, she's got
a new crown.

We will show images as soon as they are completed.

We actually had Dr. Kaberle photograph the event,
so we could enjoy the show as hosts.

Happy end of Valentine's Day!

End of January

2009-01-30T17:39:00.001-05:00

It is amazing! It is the end of January and it's still snowing and very cold! This has been the coldest January in thirty years and I love it! Mom said I was insane. I am not sure if she means insane all of the time or just insane for loving winter.

As long as it stays cold, I can keep a lid on my hot flashes. I love winter! Summer is too hot for me!

Michael keeps baking wonderful things to warm up the kitchen and I get to taste test them. I love being married to a wonderful baker, who also photographs, who is also the Executive Director of Miss Heart of Michigan.

Speaking of Miss Heart, join us on February 14 for the Miss Heart of Michigan Scholarship Pageant, at the Park Place Dome. It will be great fun. We may witness the crowning of the next Miss America!

Stay warm and I will enjoy the cold.

Chris and Erica's wedding

2009-01-23T11:40:00.005-05:00

Michael and I photographed Chris and Erica's wedding in November.

I photographed Erica's senior portraits ten years ago.
Erica was a beautiful senior.
She was a stunning bride!

This is the same church where I photographed my very first wedding,
THIRTY YEARS AGO!

The children were wonderful.

We had a great time, even in the November sleeting rain, snow and cold!

The reception was so beautiful.
I was able to visit with a number of clients who were guests.
It felt like old home week.

What a wonderful couple!

Chris says this image goes in the Man Cave!

Erica cracks me up!

I feel such a great connection with Erica's family.
I photographed Erica and Michelle's senior portraits.
Michael and I photographed their family portraits on
their Lake Michigan beach,
the night before they had to leave their cottage forever.
We witnessed the most beautiful sunset ever!
God showed His glory that evening!
Their cottage and property became part of the
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.

Her parents are incredible people.
Her grandfather (my mother's "baby" doctor) delivered me,
so long ago!
I am so honored to be a part of their family events.

We wish Chris and Erica years and years of happiness!

There's One Less Mouse in My House

2009-01-16T12:02:00.000-05:00

I am so happy to report that there is one less mouse in my house. Michael the mouse catcher caught one so far.

The problem is...he is not the mouse I saw and screamed at. I have to be patient and hope Michael finds the original mouse tonight.

At least one is gone. That is good!

I know that we have more chances for mice since I feed the birds. The feeders are just off the deck, so the mice have leftovers very close to the basement. I will tolerate a few mouses here and there to keep the birds happy and fed. We have about four different kinds of woodpeckers, lots of chickadees, cardinals, mourning doves and goldfinches. They are so pretty against the snow on the trees.

Hopefully, I will have a mouse less house tonight!

There's a Mouse in My House

2009-01-14T19:07:00.000-05:00

There really is a mouse in my house. There may even be two mouses in my house. When we went home on Monday night, a mouse ran across the dining room floor! AAAHHHHH! I screamed, scared the mouse and scared Michael.

I know he is just a little critter, but I hate mouses in my house. I grew up in a one hundred year old farmhouse, so I am used to seeing them now and then, but I was hoping that this farmhouse would not be a happy home for mouses. I was wrong.

My brave husband Michael is taking control of the mouse problem. We have mouse traps everywhere. He goes on mouse patrol at night, so I do not have to.

I am still trying to figure out which little bitty hole they are entering the house in. I know it is so cold outside that they just want to have a warm place to live, but they can pick somewhere else to go!

Hopefully tonight, there will be an end to the mouse visits and there will be no more screaming.

Laurel is so much fun!

2009-01-09T21:21:00.001-05:00

When we photographed Laurel for her Christmas portrait last year, she was happy,

then we made her mad!

When we photographed Laurel for her Christmas portrait last month,
she was kind of happy,

then we made her mad!

Sometimes, it is hard to be an 18 month old.

Last year, it was teeth.

This year, it was 18 months.

Two years is going to be so much fun!

We love seeing Laurel and baby brother Gage and their parents.

We love their family!