Friday fun: Crying on Santa's lap

lyrabellacqua/flickr

I have been drafted to photograph the children on Santa's lap for our local Holiday Boutique to support the Sunnyside Gardens Park on Sunday. Stop by if you'd like to avoid the creepy mall Santa and bored photogra-elves.  

Sunnyside Gardens Park Holiday Boutique

Phipps Social Hall 

51-01 39th Avenue

Sunnyside, NY 11104

Sunday December 6th

Open 10-4, Santa from 11-3

So I don't know why these are so funny to me, but they are. Enjoy!

Nathan T. Baker/flickr

 

daveynin/flickr

Of course, like everything in the world ever, there's a website dedicated to children crying on Santa's lap if you'd like to see more. I really love this vintage one Darth Vader posted.

Courtesy of ScreamingSanta.com

Let's hope the children this weekend will have a better time with our Santa. Or if not, that the photos are as funny as these.

December promotion: Give one session, get one 50% off

Why is Connor so happy? He finished his holiday shopping on kristinburnsbabyphoto.com - KB

Everyone loved the special offer for Black Friday so much I've decided to extend it through December. I'd like to think it's solely due to their love of my photography, but I'm sure skipping the malls and finishing their holiday shopping in one fell swoop is a big plus too!

In addition to giving The Little Dozen (a series of 12 mini-sessions for the first year of a baby's life) you can now purchase gift certificates for individual photo sessions. To celebrate, when you purchase a session to give, you receive 50% off a session for your own baby or child!

Personalized & packaged to give - how easy is that?

Bonus: book your family's session for a day during December or January and you'll also receive a FREE 8x10 portrait for yourself and one for the gift-getter. Check out the site for pricing and my portfolio.

Inspiration Wednesday: Meaningful gifts, week 1

Checking out the grubby hands on their way - Kristin Burns

When I first mentioned the Queens Zoo to my husband, who grew up in Flushing, he seemed to remember they had some squirrels and maybe a dog. Ha! Luckily either his memory is bad or the zoo has vastly improved from his childhood.

We have visited the zoo with our daughter and my parents. Walking from enclosure to enclosure, it's a nice little circle with lots of trees and places to rest along the way. I loved watching the sea lions swimming & pumas lazily checking us out. But the real star is the petting zoo.

Curious sheep - Kristin Burns

The staff couldn't be friendlier. I'm hoping to check it out again this year now that my daughter is walking and can terrorize follow the animals better. I love that she can begin learning about the right way to treat animals and how important taking care of our planet is to all living creatures.

Zoos can get pretty crowded in NYC during the summer, but the Queens Zoo is open year-round. This month it looks like they are giving the bears presents every weekend. How cute is that?

Andean bears get Holiday Gifts - Suzanne Bolduc ©WCS

Why not give a zoo membership to the animal lovers on your gift list too? The annual membership includes admission to the Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, Central Park, Prospect Park, and Queens Zoos. A family of four can have membership for as low as $120 - a lovely gift that gives back to conservation and wildlife.

December goals & review of bizarre November

Hmm, where to find a skating dress? - Kristin Burns

Hooray! November is over & December is finally here. Peppermint lattes, gift shopping and Baby It's Cold Outside on repeat. Plus it's time to post my goals on Modish Biz Tips for a brand spanking new month.

First a look back at my November goals:
1. Pick new local business to host Mini-sessions - done, shoot at Claret 12/19
2. Schedule Boston shoot for early December - didn't happen due to more NYC bookings, considering Boxing Day though
3. Autism photo shoot - moved to 12/8
4. Compile email mailing list - not really, mainly using Facebook & Twitter
5. Spread word about holiday cards - done 
6. Seek out more photo editing and producing work- technically yes, I did seek

I'll say it, November was kinda weird. I've never had more interest in my photography and yet experienced my first drop in photo shoots and orders. Luckily December is already almost completely booked with shoots and I hope more and more photo print orders. I'm looking forward to a few days of mini-sessions where I can meet even more new families.

On to December!

1. Really enjoy the holiday season with my friends and family
2. Have fun at the chaotic, busy but rewarding days of shoots - be they in-home, mini-sessions or, gasp, Santa
3. Purchase/order/make thoughtful gifts for my favorite people
4. Taxes!
5. Reach out to people I admire for more support & ideas

Wishing everyone reading this a lovely & peaceful holiday season and a productive New Year!