I start a new career in a week, so let’s get in one last Portrait Party before my schedule gets too busy!  Don’t worry, this isn’t the very last day to book me for a session, just most likely the last time I’ll be offering any specials.  From now on I’m available on weekends only, just a few appointments per month, so you’ll need to book further in advance then usual.

Next Sunday, March 10th, 9am – 4pm, you can book a 30-minute private portrait session for $125. I have all kinds of fun props that have been stored up all winter, let’s bring them out and play!  I’ll post approximately 30 images in your online gallery, where you can order prints and digital files.  I can take up to 8 appointments, and you can use them for any type of session you like, baby, children, families, etc.  You can message me here or call/text 661-400-0867.  First come, first served!

Wow, what a session!  I knew the Mud Puddle Mini Sessions would be something fun and different, but honestly, this was SO much more fun than I imagined.  I’ve had this business for 13 years now, and it’s not often I get the joy of discovering something totally new for myself.  This first session was like an early birthday present to myself and another reminder of why I love my job so dang much.

I discovered something today while creating my mud puddle in preparation for the first session… making a mud hole is not as easy as you think it would be.  There are many unforeseen factors at play, like consistency, debris, and depth.  Instead of just aiming my hose at some dirt, like I thought I would, I found myself out there with a rake, mucking and shaping and sculpting.  It’s an art form.  Not one I think will catch on, but still.  Good to know I have some experience in case it does.

My first brave souls for this weekend’s Mud Puddle special were Mom and her two kids, I’ll call them Boy and Girl.  Mom and Girl were timid about entering the muddy water at first, but Boy… boy oh boy.  It was all we could do to contain him until we were ready to totally embrace the mud.  We started off simple, just stand there in the puddle for me guys, arms around each other… there we go.  Then I used Boy’s barely controlled excitement to get Mom and Girl to give it up and just get muddy already.  I told Boy on the count of three to jump as hard as he could and splash them.

This started the ball rolling just fine, and before long mud was being splashed and kicked and flung and smeared and wallowed in.  Talk about an exercise in letting go, both for Mom and for me.  Just when we thought we were wrapping it up, the hose came out to start cleaning up, and this started a whole new phase to the session.

I loved it.  Thank you, thank you, wonderful Mom, Girl,and Boy, for embracing the idea and running with it.  You kinda made me want to jump in there too…

Two more days left of this special, and I have two spots left, one on Saturday August 11 and one on Sunday August 12.  If you want to get in on this before it’s gone, email me or call/text me.  You won’t regret it.

autumn.rain90@gmail.com 661-400-0867

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Let’s hear you say that 5 times fast.

At the end of the school year, I threw a party for my kids and their friends.  Water balloon play evolved into mud play, as my dirt front yard slowly flooded with a river of water and made copius amounts of mud.  The kids had an amazing time doing something we almost never let them do… get filthy.  This is one of the shots I grabbed that day, just to give you an idea.  Months before that, one of my favorite clients suggested how much fun a mud photo session would be, and I QUITE agree.

I’ve got just the right spot for it, a nice little area in front of a wall and big ‘ol tree, both just dripping with ivy.  Right in front of it is a great little patch of dirt, just begging for some water to make some magic.

I can imagine kids dressed in jeans and tank tops, with bare tootsies for mud to nestle between.  Or maybe dressed in clean pressed white “good clothes”, splattered in mud to Grandma’s horror.

Oooo, or maybe the whole family dressed in white, like that fantasticaly (hmm, don’t think that’s a word, oh well) hilarious episode of Modern Family, “Family Portrait”, where the surprise of the sprinklers coming on finally caused them to give up on the impossible pursuit of the Perfect Family Portrait, and they just let loose, creating probably one of the coolest family portraits I can imagine.

So…

This weekend, from Friday, August 10th to Sunday, August 12th, I’ll be hosting special Muddy Puddles Mini Sessions.  Here’s the deets:

• - Sessions are 20-30 minutes long, from 4:30-7:30pm on August 10th, 11th, and 12th
• - Session fee is $50 per family and includes the session time only
• - We can shoot just the kids or a family session, your choice
• - I’ll be shooting in black and white, because it’s just cooler for something like this
• - A couple of weeks later, you’ll recieve a link to view 10-15 images from your session
• - You can order prints or digital files online, prices available on my website under “details”
• - The price for a CD or download of all the final images is $200
• - A 10% Early Order Discount is available for orders placed within 2 days of proof publishing
• - If your kid HATES the mud thing when you get here, I’ll shoot a standard outdoor session, clean and mud-free
• - I will have soap and water, big metal washtubs, and paper towels for cleaning up, and trash bags to take home your muddy clothes

This is going to be SO much fun, and a way to capture your kids being kids.  Bring them dressed up, or in jeans and t-shirts, or bring the whole family to squish those toes in the mud for a family portrait you’ll NEVER forget!

Email, message, call, text, or singing telegram me if you want to grab one of these sessions!  This is the only time I’ll host these until next year, so come on, let’s get dirty!!

“The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.” – e.e. cummings

So, I was looking over my calendar, planning specials and themed sessions for the rest of this year, and I realized I have just SIX weekends between now and December available for shooting child and family portraits for holiday cards and gifts.  I don’t typically shoot more than three full sessions in a day, so this means my sessions this year are going to be quite limited.  Before I start scheduling my specials and mini-sessions, I wanted to make sure you all have an opportunity to put your private, regular sessions on my calendar.

If you would like to have a full one-hour private session this year, to be delivered in time for custom holiday cards or gifts, now is the time to select your day and time.  Below is a list of available time slots and the price of the session.

Due to the limited number of full private sessions available, I am taking $50 deposits at the time of booking, payable by Paypal, check, or cash.  These deposits are fully refundable with a 72-hour notice.  In order to book your session, reply to this email with the day and time and type of session you would like, and we will arrange for your deposit.

If you’d rather wait and see what specials and themed sessions I’m going to have, you are of course welcome to do so.  This year I’m bringing back Santa Sessions, Tutu Cuties, and Facebook Profile specials, and I’m introducing a few new ones, like the School Picture Do-Over, All About Me, Halloween Costume Pumpkin Patch, Me & My Pet, and my favorite new one… Mission Impossible, where I step up to the plate and dare you to bring in your tough-to-photograph child, and you only pay if I succeed.

There will be only one Beach special this year, with 20-minute mini-sessions for $75, on Sunday, October 21st.  I’ll post details later.  All other Beach Sessions will be full private apointments and are available ONLY on the days indicated below.

Once people have had a chance to book their private sessions, I will use the remaining days to host specials, Portrait Parties, and themed sessions.  I’ll be posting details here and on Facebook, but subscribers to my newsletter always get first notice, so be sure to subscribe!  (The button is up there… it says newsletter.)

Prices

• Studio Session – $200
• Outdoor Session on the Ranch – $200
• At Your House – $250
• Beach Session – $325 (or book back to back with a friend and pay $225 each)

Schedule

August

Saturday the 11th

• Beach (Carpinteria) – 9:30am ONLY
• Outdoor – 5:30pm or 6:30pm

Sunday the 12th

• Studio – 9am to 3pm
• SPECIAL: Mud Puddle Mini-Session  (details here)

Thursday the 16th

• Studio – anytime
• Outdoor – 5:00 or 6:00pm

September

Thursday the 6th & Friday the 7th

• Studio – anytime
• Outdoor – 4:30 or 5:30pm

Saturday the 8th & Sunday the 9th

• Studio – anytime
• Outdoor – 5:30pm only

Thursday the 20th & Friday the 21st

• Studio – anytime
• Outdoor – 4:30 or 5:30pm

Saturday the 22nd

• Studio – anytime
• Outdoor – 4:30 or 5:30pm

Sunday the 23rd

• Beach (Playa Del Rey), schedule TBA

October

Thursday the 11th

• Studio – anytime
• Outdoor – 4:00 or 5:00pm

Thursday the 18th & Friday the 19th

• Studio – anytime
• Outdoor – 4:00 or 5:00pm

Saturday the 20th

• Studio – anytime
• Outdoor – 4:00 or 5:00pm

Sunday the 21st

• Beach Mini Session, (Malibu), schedule TBA

November

Thursday the 15th & Friday the 16th

• Studio – anytime
• Outdoor – 2:30 or 3:30pm

Saturday the 17th

• Studio – anytime
• Outdoor – 2:30 or 3:30pm

Sunday the 18th

• Beach (Carpinteria), schedule TBA

Saturday the 24th & Sunday the 25th

• Studio – anytime
• Outdoor – 2:30 or 3:30pm

December

Thursday the 13th & Friday the 14th

• Studio – anytime
• Outdoor – 2:30 or 3:30pm

Saturday the 15th & Sunday the 16th

• Studio – anytime
• Outdoor – 2:30 or 3:30pm

Life changes means big changes for my business.  This year brings divorce and a new home, but please, no condolences or awkwardness, I’m just as fine as can be, honest. But since I’m no longer Autumn Hull, I can’t exactly go around with Autumn Hull Photography as my business name anymore.  After giving it some thought, I decided to go with the full first name my ex-hippie parents gave me, Autumn Rain.  It’s a nice name, even though it took me all of my childhood to get behind it.  As a pre-teen I longed for a nice normal name like Stephanie or Kelly.  Even though I never really used the full Autumn Rain, I eventually came to like my unusual name.  And it fits, I’m an unusual person lol.  For instance, I’m an almost 40-year old woman who uses “lol” in her blog post.  Unusual? Immature? Tomato tomahto.

As I was saying, I chose Autumn Rain Photography as my new business name, and I decided the new name called for a new logo, new website, a whole new start.  A few months ago I moved to a quaint old house on a gorgeous 20 acre ranch, with room enough to use a bedroom as my new indoor studio.  So  now I’ve got a fantastic new studio that’s temperature controlled (yay no more hot/cold garage!!) as well as an almost unlimited variety of beautiful outdoor places to shoot right outside my door.  Autumn Rain is a happy photographer.

To all my past clients, I can’t wait to have you come try out the new space!  All my fun props and tutus are all out on display where we can see them and use them, and if you book a session an hour before sunset, we can make some magic.  To all my yet-to-be clients, what are you waiting for?  Come on!  Let’s play!  To all my photographer-to-be friends, I have a FANTASTIC new space for workshops, so I’ll be starting that up again really soon… keep your eyes peeled!

It’s a brand new day, which is a line from Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, one of my all time favorite favorites by the ever-amazing Joss Whedon and starring Neil Patrick Harris.  Magical combo. You should really watch it, it’s great.  Dr. Horrible\’s Sing Along Blog

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