Holiday Portrait Gifts and Snow

Ahh, it is finally here! This is the weekend that the PEGGY MORSCH life photography Elf can kick back and have a little fun! FedEx Santa has made his last delivery of custom portraits and the Chief Elf has them nicely packaged for her clients to take home to their loved ones. What could be better than watching all the smiles that form on their faces or listening to the "Oh, these are beautiful," words that they exclaim?

Well, OK, maybe a little snow would make it all seem a little more like Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa, but the meteorologists sent that weather pattern a bit more East. The Elf should just be happy that she doesn't have to shovel 20" of snow! See, there's always something to be grateful for, especially during the Holidays.

So even if there's no snow on the ground on our side of Milwaukee, I have my photographic memories of other years, where kids were out having fun in the snow in my neighborhood. So as client after client comes to get their beautiful portraits, the Chief Elf gets a nice feeling knowing that the gift of memories will live on in these portraits for years to come.

Santa's Helper

'Tis the season for family and friends to receive the gift that lives on long after Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanza has passed! That's the gift of warm, family memories that glow brightly in our minds, when we view family photographs.

Being a photographer, I've been delegated by my family to keep our family's old images. With my Dad gone from our presence, I delight in seeing images of him, and photos of my 3 grandparents that I never knew. Mom tells me I was either in utero or too young to remember them. Thank God for photos!

It's always fun to see who looks like who in a photo! The most fun I have is watching the looks on the teenagers faces when they look at photos of when they were kids! Their parents will say cute things about them and they'll blush. Middle age folks remember back to all the fun they had at those younger ages and older folks will often comment about how good they looked back then. My mom does a little cringe when she sees this image of herself on the beach, but all my siblings think it's a great photo of her. (I look a like like her, don't I?!)

At Christmas, my father would bring out the slide projector and I'd sit upon his lap, helping him work the machine to show our extended family of grandma, aunts and uncles and cousins, all his old images from family reunions, past holidays and snapshots. Everyone would howl at the image of my mom and her 3 sisters! They they were, 4 young mothers, sitting on the grayish-green, textured couch, with 3 out of 4 of them wearing cat eye glasses! That straight-on-the-camera bulb flash made them look like they were in a police line-up! It still giggle just thinking about it. What a classic shot!

So as "Santa's Helper" delivers these prized possessions to all the familes that have trusted me with capturing their family's images this year, this 'elf' knows the power of the memories that will come to your family for years to come!

What A Photo Can Say

A few weeks ago, I photographed another participant for my book project, Dogs & Their Women. Paula and her 13 year old
Terrier mix, were stopped on day while on their usual 4 mile walk in Oconomowoc by another women who told her about my project to help raise money for rescues dogs. I don't know who that women was, but a deep sense of gratitude is coming your way, because my time with Paula and Samantha left an impression with me!

During our walk through a nearby cemetery, it was obvious just how bonded these two are. Sam would look up to her during the walk and when they were closer together, their comfort with each other was similar to a couple of many years of marriage!

Samantha was her own dog, however. That became obvious both before and after our walk. Sam, with her stylish Ozaukee Humane Society scarf around her neck, sat in the sunbeam. Paula and I were talking when I looked to see her sitting there with that calm/assertive look on her face. It was as if she owned the place!

At that moment, I felt a connection to Sam. She just exuded a calm confidence. When I look at this image I see old images of great leaders like Chief Joseph, Abe Lincoln and Indira Ghandi. There's that same calm/confidence that made people follow them.

So when Paula told me that Sam would look up to her on their walks, I began to wonder if Sam was just making sure that Paula was following the true leader, Samantha.