Christina McCall Photography | Athens Canton Kaufman and Tyler Texas Family, Children, and Senior Portraiture Photography

Yesterday I opened my email inbox to find the subject line “you are AWESOME!!!!!!!” from Lydia — yes, she used seven exclamation points in just the subject line After reading her email, I was ready to cry (good tears I assure you!) … after battling a two-day migraine and everything else I have to wrap up at my day job and with client orders before my (much needed) vacation, her email was exactly what I needed to make my day end on a positive note

I asked her if I could share her email with all of you — and she gave the thumbs up:

Dear Christina….
 
I received the most amazing package in the mail today. WOW!!!  I was SO excited as I opened it, and my excitement only got bigger as I found the beautifully wrapped package of goodies.  I LOVE everything!!  Where to start…  First, the way everything is presented and packaged is SO impressive, I love your style!!  I am a detail person .  The prints are great – so perfect.  I can’t wait to put them in frames.  And the bonus mini wallets are so fun!  The biggest surprise are the business cards!!  I can’t get over how great they are – those little cards make me smile every time I look at them!  Thanks…  And I keep looking over and over the CD of images.  *sigh*.  Oh!!  You put your new watermark on my images!!!! YAY – I love it!       And, and, and… I could keep going on and on!!  I have to majorly compliment on your new advertising materials, they’re so amazing.  I keep looking over them…. details, details!!  I would steal your look if I could .  And is that really ME on your main flyer?!  wow…. way too great!!!
I can’t wait to get started on my own new advertising materials!!  And just *maybe* a website….  I’m kind of scared to dive into that, but I know it will be exciting!!
 
Christina, I can not thank you enough for all this!!  Finding your blog has to be the best thing I’ve happened upon in a long time!  Your talent is incredible, personalty is awesome and the presentation of your art is without flaw!!  I am so grateful for this opportunity, and am SO happy with all my images!!  Thank you, a hundred time over !!!!!
 
Well, I will definitely keep in touch.  And you can be sure I’ll continue visiting your blog quite often.  I have a list of websites I visit regularly (typically while I’m waiting for some other website to load…  and your’s in in the top!
You have a wonderful vacation – I’m sure it’s well needed!!
 
Gods richest blessings on your life.  and I don’t think I have enough exclamation points in this email!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Love, 
 
Lydia Covey, Harpist

… for the curious, here’s a photo of the ‘final product’ … this is how I package shipped orders (I’ll feature the packaging for an in-person delivery after I return from vacation) … some clients get the teal paper featured, others get the jade paper I also have a large stockpile of!

(Please excuse the image quality — it was hastly taken with my point & shoot camera!)

The cards I created for her … these are the mock ups, not photographs of the final product!

This mock up doesn’t give justice to the real thing — these ‘cosmo cards’ are printed on luxe stipple cardstock … I just love the texture! I’m quite tempted to replace all the new business cards I just purchased with some printed on this paper instead!

Sidenote: As of June 1, 2009, Reflections of Life Photography was renamed Christina McCall Photography. We apologize for any confusion this may cause.

After a week of server moving, template quirks, and a revamped portfolio section that will (hopefully) be live on the site by the middle of next week, I’m finally able to post again!

Recently I was contacted by a new directory site catering to expectant and new mothers requesting us to join their maternity and baby photography directory on their site, which has a variety of great information as well as  a forum and informative articles. Our directory listing went live earlier this week. Afterwards, I shared the site information with both Miss B’s and Noah’s moms. Yesterday afternoon, Noah’s mom — Melody, the expectant mother currently featured in the banner above — left reviews for both her and Noah’s sessions. With her permission, she’s allowing me to share them here as well so potential clients can receive an insight to what a session with Christina McCall Photography (formerly Reflections of Life Photography) is like …

With that, here’s Melody’s point of view from her maternity session …

I was one hot mamma!

Christina did a fabulous shoot for me when I was 8 months along. I had never been on a “maternity” shoot and really had no idea what to expect. Christina made it all so easy and more importantly FUN! She and her assistant drove me all over the city to some really cool places to shoot pics. I was leaning against funky brick walls, walking down railroad tracks, posing on park benches and having a wonderful time being such a ham! She is so creative and knows all of the best places to go to take pics. And did I mention this gal takes LOTS of photos?! At first, I thought she was a taking a lot of pictures, but I was so glad when I got the proofs. With there being so many photos, there were definitely some I fell in LOVE with. And not only were the pics great, I actually looked good in them. When you are 8 months pregnant, you are past the point of feeling “cute”, so kudos to Christina for finding my best angles and smile and capturing it at the right moment.

If you are debating on whether or not to get maternity portraits, GET THEM! I didn’t with my first baby, and I regret it. I have enjoyed going back and looking at the pictures she took. It kinda’ makes me want to be pregnant again!

… and her point of view from Noah’s portrait session back in January …

Fussy Baby – Beautiful Pics

Christina and her assistant Robby came to our house to do a photo session for our baby who was 8 months at the time. Our baby, Noah, is a happy baby, but is the very solemn and observant type. He does break out in crazy laughter and giggles on occasion but is usually just silently watching every little thing going on. The day Christina and Robby came to our house, he was not feeling well and was not in a particularly great mood. I had almost called Christina and canceled our appointment that morning.

She and Robby showed up with tons of cute backdrops and the most adorable props for the photos. I got Noah’s outfits lined up, and we began. There were myself, my husband, Christina and Robby all in my son’s room with him trying to get him to smile. It was crazy madness, and Noah just sat there staring at all of us as if we were from another planet. After an hour, I was beginning to melt and thought there was no way that these pics would be any good. Christina, however, didn’t seem phased and she just kept on taking pics as if Noah was the most cooperative baby she had ever shot. She was cool, calm and completely unaffected by Noah’s not smiling, constant fussing and repeated crawling away from the backgrounds she had set up for him. I was impressed at her composure.

Well when I got the proofs a few days later, I almost fell out of my chair. They were PHENOMENAL!!! There were smiles captured that I never saw and photos that captured his curious face, his mischievous face and his sweet, solemn face. I would much rather have photos of all his different sides than of him smiling in every photo. Christina and Robby captured the real Noah, and what initially seemed to be a failure photo session turned out to be the best photo session he has ever had. I am using Reflections of Life Photography for all of our family’s portraiture needs in the future. ROLP rocks!!!!

Thanks so much for your kind words Melody! Both Robby and I look forward to capturing your entire family for the years to come

And — to make up for the lack of photos this week — here’s a behind the scenes shot from Melody’s maternity session and the final image:

Sidenote: As of June 1, 2009, Reflections of Life Photography was renamed Christina McCall Photography. We apologize for any confusion this may cause.