Trick or Treat!!

Well guys, it's that time of year again. Fall! Which means, cool weather, apple picking, snugly sweaters and best of all.... HALLOWEEN!! We are so excited this year. The studio is beginning to look like a art gallery straight out of a haunted house! We cant wait to see all of you at our Halloween open house on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012 from 12-6pm! So get your costumes on, your faces painted, and run on over here for a special treat from us!

          

Class of 2013!

Senior season this year has really been awesome! We have been blessed with a great group of kids. They all had tons of cool ideas. Boxing, guitars, swimming, their creativity was endless! Here are just a few of the awesome images from our class of 2013!

Good luck to all of you this year and every year after! We wish you the best of luck in everything you do!

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go."  -Dr. Seuss

Rachel's Fairwell Favs!

Hey guys, this will be my last piece of official Perfect Image business. As I prepare to walk out these doors for the last time, I wanted to give a little shout out to my favorites of 2012. Since we were terrible at continuing our monthly image contests, we will get back into the habit of it with this post with lots of winners!

The following images are my favorites from the past six months at PIP.

 Consider them the contest winners of 2012. Everyone from this post has a special prize waiting for them at Perfect Image to say congratulations!

Introducing, Rachel's Fairwell Favs: 

Although these images are in no particular order, Heather Lavinder's little sailor is probably top of my list. Everything about this image is perfect to me. I love the outfit, the scene, the one eye, and the little smirk.

One of my recent 2013 senior, Abigail, had this amazing dress that made for beautiful images! I love how sweet and pretty this image turned out!

Oh my gosh, how cute are they?! Their mother, Meghan, knows how much I love that her kids look like a teeny tiny couple :)

The Haire Boys have this image that makes me smile. I love the natural pose and expressions, especially from the toothlessness in the middle.

This was shot just the other day, and I just love, love, love the face! So happy that he caught a big one :)

Melissa Horton's baby boy blew me away with this one! There was only ONE image we got before Mason threw the hat off, but there was no need to fight him to get it back on! It's the perfect Indiana Jones/Safari Hunter portrait!

Dawww the Marks kids! I love their mother Lori, and I love this image! This one is my favorite from our April Fool's Set this year, because of their expressions, but also because they brought in their stuffed animals to be involved in the image too! Come on-- the elephant with the duct tape-- cute!

Last but not least, the Thinnes family chose this image the other day and I think it's so beautiful! As far as casual senior portrait is concerned, this is an amazing image of a gorgeous girl!

Tomato Festival 2012!

Hanover Tomato Festival 2012

Well, despite the rain off and on, the Tomato Festival seemed to be a big success for us this year. Our booth looked great, if I do say so myself, and we had tons of traffic whenever there was sunshine.  We were visited by a bunch of our favorite clients, and we booked sessions with about 15 brand new clients. Can't wait to get to know them like I've gotten to know all of you guys!See if you can spot yourself in our booth!

Way cool dog visitor!

Joan and Meredith!!

Kellum Krew that Brad and I stalked around the park :)

Meet our spokesmodels: Jacqueline & Andrea

Our first ever twin spokesmodels, Andrea and Jacqueline Shaia come to us repping Deep Run!  With their differences and similarities, the Shaia girls came in ready to show off their personalities. Both of them being avid horseback riders, the riding portraits in the barn scene were a must. It was great to see how even with the same backgrounds and outfits, they brought such differences to their own images. Among their differences, Jacqueline attends Hermitage high school part time, as well, to study to be a vet, while Andrea really enjoys being a part of Deep Run's chorus. Both girls, and their mom, brought in such positive attitudes and were so sweet as we chose their images; especially considering it took double the amount of time  :)  

Deep Run Grads! Be on the look out for the Shaia girls as they continue to hand out promo material that will save you tons of money on your senior portraits!

Rachel's Wedding

I have gotten to know a lot of you all pretty well over my last two years at Perfect Image- and Susan thought I should update you a little on my personal life. Not to act excited or anything but: 4 DAYS UNTIL MY WEDDING!

As many of you know, and kindly ask about often, Brad and I are getting married in Lexington in four days! Of course Susan will be our photographer and we will post TONS of pictures when it's all said and done.

Our wedding is outdoors at a beautiful mountain estate and we couldn't be more excited! After the wedding, we are honeymooning on an island hopping cruise leaving from Puerto Rico, and Susan will h ave to hold down the fort all by herself :)  Can't wait to tell you all about it and come back as a new married woman. Thank you so much for all your kind words and encouragement!

Meet our spokesmodels: Molly!

I'd like for everyone to meet one of our spokesmodels from Deep Run: Molly McCoig!! Now Molly and her mom are very special models to me, because my family has known Molly's family for many many years. As the dance world in Richmond runs pretty small, my sister and Molly used to dance on the same competition troupe! As you can see, many years later, Molly is still quite the beautiful ballerina! Molly loves being involved in dance and photography and she also plays the violin! In addition to her sports and hobbies, Molly does to St. Michael's Catholic Church where she is very involved in the music and youth ministry!

Deep Run 2013 grads- be on the look out for Molly as she will be giving out HUGE discount coupons in the near future!

Meet our spokesmodels: Jessica!

I'd like for everyone to meet our spokesmodel from Atlee, Jessica Fairly! Jessica and her family were a delight to have in the studio! Jessica is a very sweet, girl who excels in school and apparently in sports too, as she is a part of the field hockey team, soccer team, and the marching band. She loves animals and the outdoors and especially loves water sports. In addition to sports and school, Jessica is very involved in community service and mission trips that have allowed her to travel to many parts of the country. If that wasn't enough, Jessica is involved in TONS of clubs at school and is a piano teacher for elementary school kids! This girl never stops moving, it seems, and we are proud to have her as one of our models!

Atlee 2013 grads- be on the look out for Jessica as she will be giving out HUGE discount coupons in the near future!

Meet our Spokesmodels: SARA!

I'd like for everyone to meet our spokesmodel from Hanover, Sara Shaw. First up to be photographed this season, Sara brought a wide range of personality to the table! Very involved in academia, Sara is an avid reader and writer. I won't even begin to go into her extensive list of clubs that she plays leadership roles in, because you would be reading for a while! In addition to leading these clubs, she is Design Editor of the yearbook (a position close to my heart), Editor-in-Cheif of the newspaper, and is involved in an impressive number of charitable groups around town.

Sara, her mom, and her sheepdog puppy Holly, graced our studio for their senior portraits recently, and we are happy to have them! Their images turned out beautifully!

Hanover 2013 grads- be on the look out for Sara as she will be giving out HUGE discount coupons in the near future!

Know any other high school seniors that might like to model for us?? Send them to our application and they might just wind up getting the big discounts and fame that Sara did :)

www.pipva.com

Preparing for PUDDLES!

April Showers bring BIG SAVINGS! From April 13th-28th, come on it for our new quickset with a showery theme! We are taking spring shower themed photos at a HUGE discount! 

Perfect for any age- grab your rainboots, your favorite umbrella, or a little rain bonnet for your babies, and we will create some amazing portraits together! If you plan on going modern- bring in those polka-dotted boots! Or go classic with a white dress and we use our white parasol! Any drizzly theme will do!

We are also planning some amazing silhouette images with your kids, their boots, and their umbrellas! Don't miss it!

Community Involvment: The 10k!

Ok so I finally did it! I always thought all those people out there running in marathons were crazy! But my fiance, Brad, always loved running. With recent injuries he hasn't been able to run in a year or two but he really wanted to walk the Ukrops Monument Avenue 10k. We have both lived in Richmond forever and have never done it, so with some probing from Brad, we decided to do it.

So here are some photos to share our Monument Ave 10k experience with the Perfect Image world!

Did any of you run the 10k? Wanna share your photos!?

Meet the Bunnies!

Well, Easter is in full swing yet again. Which means Perfect Image is greeted with three new baby bunnies! Meet the crew here!!

Peter is so far the most active! He's the one we have to carefully watch so he doesn't jump off the high columns to his demise! Patches pretty much just sleeps... and Priscilla is a little particular and just does whatever the surrounding bunnies do!

They are all very excited to meet you- so make sure you have your quicket appointments booked!! (Click the bunnnies photos to make them bigger and see all their bunny glory!)

Welcome Baby Leah!

Perfect Image would like to welcome to the world baby Leah Nicole!

Born on February 14, little Leah is the Valentine's baby of William and Amy Silva.

Remember that all new mothers receive a free newborn session and 25 free birth announcements from Perfect Image as long as their newborn is less than 30 days old! 

Our gift to new mothers.

Become a Spokesmodel!

Are you a 2013 high school graduate? Do you have any family, friends, or neighbors who have 2013 grads in their household? This spokesmodel program can save them HUNDREDS on their senior portraits!!

Apply at www.pipva.com  on the "Senior Spokesmodels" tab!!

Announcing: The Royal Courtyard!

It's here! The 2012 Easter Quickset is an amazing scene outside a castle. With a name like "The Royal Courtyard," you know the kids will have fun at this one, and your results will be beautiful! Thanks to the Marks Family for being our fabulous models!

The Royal Courtyard is available for quicksets (free 15 minute sessions) between March 30 and April 7th!  And don't worry- THE BUNNIES ARE COMING! There are already several slots taken on the Saturdays, even before the announcement of the dates- so please... call quickly! Add the Royal Courtyard to a custom session until March 14- but without the bunnies!

Welcome Baby Spencer!

Perfect Image would like to welcome to the world baby Spencer Alexandra Leeth!

Born on January 11, 2012, Spencer is actually the daughter of my high school English teacher. We were happy to be able to provide Lindsey and John Leeth with some beautiful portraits of their new daughter.

Remember that all new mothers receive a free newborn session and 25 free birth announcements from Perfect Image as long as their newborn is less than 30 days old! 

Our gift to new mothers.

And the winners are...

It's time to announce our December Winners!! We chose two winners this month- a winner from December in general and a winner from our Winter Quickset! 

December Contest Winner

Our first winner, left, is precious Hayley, the baby girl of John and Chrissy Coates. Hayley has been chosen as our favorite image from December 2011 for obvious cuteness reasons! I loved this image the moment I saw it and am so glad the rest of the team agreed! Congrats John and Chrissy!

Quickset Contest Winner

The second winner, right, is our winner for our Winter Quickset: The Train Station! Daphne Rice always brings in Anthony for our Christmas quicksets but was especially excited this year because of Anthony's love of trains! We love this image and how much it tells a story and we are proud to call it our favorite from the Winter Quickset!

We are so thankful for our clients and can't wait to pick an "Image of the Month," every month from now on! Because of our slow start, be on the lookout for the January image of the month soon, and then we will resume a more regular schedule!

Both of these winners will receive a fabulous prize sometime next week! Tune in to see what it is! Please comment and let us know what you think of our winners!

PPA Convention

Beautiful Cathedral in New Orleans

We thought it would be fitting to begin our blog with some stories from our recent educational journey to the PPA Convention. This year's Professional Photographers of America Convention was held in New Orleans, Louisiana.
  

Besides the beautiful weather (70 degrees in January!) and taking in the culture of the city, we spent our time taking class after class learning how to improve our business, our photography, and our attitude. Learning from the nation's top photographers and speakers, we absorbed so many great ideas and are inspired to kick off 2012 with some fantastic images!

Trade Show of Vendors

Amazing walk along the Mississippi River

Famous Cajun restaurant where we had lunch

 After classes in the morning, we would tour the galleries of the contest winners and visit the booths of thousands of new products and companies! We visited our favorite vendors who help make our business possible, and made some new friends at new companies.  Another round of classes in the evenings and we were able to come up with some awesome new techniques we can't wait to show you!

Mark Ruffalo and I !!

Two other exciting things happened throughout our time in New Orleans.

1- We had a celebrity run in!! Walking down the street we accidentally stumbled onto a street a film crew was prepping to shoot on. As I turned to say something to Susan, I was shocked to find that walking in step with me just inches away was Mark Ruffalo! Don't know who that is? Click his name and learn but don't feel bad- Susan had no clue either. But I recognized him instanly from one of my old favs- 13 going on 30! I was a little awkward but quickly asked him for a photo and he said sure. We had a quick chat before Susan questioned "who on earth was that!?"

It was awesome.

Susan won a Samsung Galaxy Tab!

2- Every day one of our favorite vendors, StudioPlus, did raffle drawings for tablets! I always wanted to make sure that after my class I sprinted there to get a ticket.. I was determined to win! Twice in a row I was ONE number away. It was killing me, I needed to win the tablet! Susan, not knowing what a tablet was, got a ticket too and stood next to me only to have HER NUMBER called in the last drawing! She won my tablet!! She was so excited, but don't be fooled by my smile in the picture- I was pretty ticked...

After five days of training and inspiration from the best, we can't wait to share what we've come up with!!

Get to know us!

Meet Susan!

Susan Cecil is our Master photographer. Susan as been in business for over 20 years. Discovering her love for photography at age 12, Susan not only has been able to live her dream, but has built a lucrative career in family photography. In 1986, the name of Perfect Image Photography was chosen to serve as a constant reminder of her purpose. Over 20 years later, she is still striving to create the best possible images for her clients each and every day. 

Susan has been honored with many awards, such as South East Photography Association's Best Portrait of a Child in 2002 (the BEST in 13 states!),a  Fuji Masterpiece Award, Professional Photographer of the Year in 2007, and six Virginia Professional Photography Association's Best Portraits of an Animal Awards. In addition, Susan has two Professional Photography Association Loan Prints. Susan says "the best award is earning the admiration of my clients, and the greatest award is having fun doing it!"

Meet TD!

TD is our Resident photographer. He is an award winning, published photographer in Richmond, VA. TD graduated from the Hallmark Institute of Photography in 2012. He has done work for Syke Va, Richmond Fashion Week, and the United Way.