Here’s an example of a package I just finished wrapping for another soon-to-be client!

If you’re too far away for me to deliver or you to pick up the package before Christmas, I can still email you gift certificate you can print and present.

Gift certificates can be for any denomination, though I always recommend a certificate for my Simplicity Session; the $95- value of the session can be applied by the recipient to any other session or product I offer as well, or redeemed as a quick photography session including the image file for the client’s favorite image and two desk prints (8×10 and smaller) of that image.

Should you choose a gift of $200 or more, you and the recipient both qualify for my referral policy as well — in other words, your $200 gift becomes $250 AND you have a $50 credit as well.

For more information, or to verify for updates, please see my referrals and gifts page!  And Merry Christmas / Happy Hanukkah during this exceptional year when the two overlap!

- Danie Smallwood, Bethesda MD child and engagement photographer

The cover is printed with metallic finish to really bring it to life; the interior pages all have a UV coating to give them just a little extra strength.You can see how thick these pages are, right?  They’re thick and sturdy the way a child’s board book would be, but a little more elegant. There are different options for the cover, but I like the covers with photos all the way around, so the album itself can be displayed as art in your home.

This is the album that comes with the “Day in the Life” session.

Here, however, I can, at long last, show you the results of my “A Morning in School” project.  The goal? As with all lifestyle sessions, I wanted to create a series of images that captured the details of a typical morning in preschool.  Beautiful portraits are wonderful, but when I think about what I, as a mother, really want to look back at when my children are grown, I’ve realized that it’s the little things we do every single day that I’ll want to remember the most.  So my idea was to capture those details, and hand them to my client in a beautiful custom-designed album.

I think the pictures will largely speak for themselves!  Images of the album to come soon!

Stay tuned for images of the album — they don’t do it justice, but you’ll get a little glimpse.

I’m trying to write less so I have time to show more, but just have to add — this next image stole my heart as I was editing.  Just as I opened this image, the soundtrack to “August Rush” started playing on my computer, opening with the words,  ”I believe in music the way that some people believe in fairy tales.”  Ummm…how appropriate for this image!  You can just feel the soundtrack that is running through this child’s mind!

- Danie Smallwood, family photographer