RACHAEL EARL » PHOTOGRAPHY: Lifestyle Portraiture and Wedding Photography

Jaime has to be one of the cutest pregnant ladies I’ve gotten to photograph-it literally looks like she had a basketball for breakfast. She wanted an industrial look for her maternity photos, which I was all about, so we headed downtown yesterday in the August heat and we survived! Here are a few from yesterday:

He will be the only child at least for a while

She had this shirt custom made for her by Vivid Rose Clothing! Love it!

Drag queen Jackie O? Your guess is as good as ours…

Fact: Every summer, I question why I live in Arizona as I am bathing in sweat and shooting in 109 degrees. I suppose the winters make up for it though…hurry up, winter!

It’s that time again! The best time of year because it is the time for giving. I truly love Christmas for the giving aspect, finding the perfect gift for those special people in your life. I know that this has been a particularly tough year for a lot of people out there, which is why I want to give back to you, those of you who visit my blog (even though the postings have been scarce this year!), so that you will have a gift for yourself or to give this Christmas!

Post a comment up on my blog on this post about what you are looking forward to most in the coming year and how you plan to make 2011 the best year ever, and you will be entered into a random drawing for a family session gift card to either keep for yourself, or give to someone you love! It’s that easy.

**Winner (or recipient of gift card) must live in the Phoenix area, or be visiting the area during 2011. Number will be drawn at random by the generator at Random.org on December 22, 2010 at 8:00 pm Arizona Time, so you have until then to post up your comment. Session must take place in 2011. Gift card will be mailed to you on December 23, 2010, so provide your address promptly once you have won!**

And since there are only SEVEN more days until Christmas (!) I thought I would post up an adorable family of SEVEN!

PS-I am officially BOOKED until the new year! Thank you to all of the fun, fabulous, adorable, beautiful, silly, crazy people I was able to photograph in 2010!!!

I LOVE winter. Not just for the cool temperatures and the fantastic holiday season, but for the chance I get to catch up with the wonderful families that I get to work with over the years. I truly love seeing and photographing each and every single one of them! And not dying of heat stroke while doing it

*Dear Blog, I am sorry you have been neglected, but it’s either you or my children and well…they’re waaaay cuter than you are. Sorry. Here are photos from a bunch of sessions that I hope to blog VERY soon.

Looking for something fun to give as a gift, but have no ideas? How about a portrait session? I just got my brand new shipment of gift certificates in, which are redeemable for a free portrait session of your recipient’s choice. Give that special someone something they will remember!

Email me for more info!

* LABOR DAY SPECIAL: THIS weekend, gift certificates can be purchased at $25 off the regular price, which makes them $125!

It’s hot. Like, REALLY hot. So what better time to do a short, fun, casual session?

What: 1/2 Hour Mini Sessions for $75
(includes ONE digital file emailed to you, option to purchase a disk from the session)
Who: Groups up to 5 people
Where: Your choice of one of 4 locations in Gilbert, Arizona
When: During the month of August, in the evening time
Why: Because it’s really freaking hot

Email me for information or to book your August mini session today!

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with some photos of little Charlotte, who we’ve been cuddling over here for almost a month now!

Starting next week, I will be back to work for portrait sessions. If you or your family would like to schedule a session, please email me. I will begin shooting weddings again in October. If you would like to schedule a meeting with me to discuss your upcoming 2010 or 2011 wedding, please email me as well! Thank you!

Also, I have to give a HUGE thank you to my friend, Jamie Burnett for this ADORABLE onesie that has been hanging over my computer for months…

And also my friends, Jason and Anna Ball for THIS adorably HILARIOUS onesie!!! And don’t forget to check out their blog for some super cute (if I do say so myself) pregnancy and hospital pics of yours truly!

Okay, in honor of me literally having a baby ANY DAY NOW (come on, baby-you can come any time!), I decided to have a NESTING sale on my favorite product-CANVASES!

From now until the end of the month (June 30th), ALL sizes of gallery wrapped canvases are 50% off! So get your nesting instincts going (I am for sure!) and get those orders in! Email for pricing and details!

To get your mind going on some ideas, I thought I would share some canvases I have hanging in my own home. WARNING: Canvases are are a known addictive substance. It’s hard to buy just one. You’ve been warned.

These are in my front room/meeting area-the photo and my logo are both printed on canvas:

These two hang in my girls’ new room! (Remember that nesting instinct? Yeah…it’s in full force lately…)

Last but not least, this is my FAVORITE one! This hangs over our bed, and it’s the dialogue we have with our kids nearly every single day, “I love you. I love you too. I love you more. I love you even more than that. I love you the best.” I know, I know…it’s not a picture, but canvases don’t have to be! Fact: I also work as a freelance graphic designer. Ask me about pricing for custom designing a unique canvas for you!

So get those orders in soon because this is the best sale of the year! AND cheer on this baby because I’m tired of having contractions and carrying around a watermelon everywhere I go!

Gallery wrapped canvases are on sale until WEDNESDAY at midnight, so I’m passing the savings onto you! Enjoy 20% off any size gallery wrapped canvas this week. Email for retail sales pricing and fabulously fun options. Happy Spring!

*Sale applies to canvases printed from sessions photographed by My Camera Loves You only.*

Last month, the innovative Tie Chair was featured in three magazines! I am so proud that my images were chosen to be in the articles as well! If you haven’t checked out this product, you absolutely MUST-it is the most amazing product for travel and home use with an infant and toddler, and is so cost effective! It is sold throughout Arizona, nationwide and also in Canada and Australia, so pick yours up today, or buy one for a friend!
LDS Living Magazine, Nov/Dec 2009:

Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine, Nov 2009:

Birth of a Mother Magazine, Oct/Nov 2009:

It is exciting to see my images in print, and I am so happy for this amazing product to be getting such great and widespread recognition!!!
You can still buy them on www.babysteals.com today at a discounted rate, but act quick!!! (And check out my little baby Brooklyn on it, too!!!)

Since Christmas is the season of giving, I decided to give you a secret tidbit of information, which is that the Earl family will be growing by one come July! The 4th of July to be exact! And while I will spare you a picture of my fat ever-growing belly, here is a photo with a depiction of how I feel right now, as taken in the State Fair mirror:

I’m at the awkward-is she pregnant or just getting fat-stage at the moment, which stage is second only to the-did she have her baby or is it still in there-stage in awfulness. BUT we are feeling so blessed and grateful to add to our family. We have the best, most wonderful little girls we could ever hope for, and would love to add another girl or a boy to our family.

Here are some random tidbits of oh-so-interesting information:

1. I have been lucky to not have morning sickness, but not so lucky to have crazy night sickness instead. I crave bean and cheese burritos and chips and salsa ALL the time (thankfully, I live close to Mexico, and we have an abundance), and despise ketchup and syrup to no end. Also, any form of meat is fantastic, especially Texas Roadhouse ribs. So, if you need a gift idea for Christmas…I’m just sayin’…

2. If the baby is born on the 4th, we probably won’t name him/her after our founding fathers, although we do love our country. George Washington Earl just isn’t a good thing. We have names picked out, but they’re not set in stone yet, in case you have some ideas

3. We won’t be finding out what we’re having-we’ve actually NEVER found out with any of our kids! It’s fun and a great surprise in the hospital.

4. Both of our girls were born at least 2 weeks early. If the baby is born 2 weeks early, it will be born on my birthday, which is also Father’s Day this year, which would be awesome! Also, Dan hates to wait, so I hope that this little guy or girl follows the trend!

So there you have it! You can stop wondering if I’ve simply eaten a few too many holiday treats this season…well…I probably am guilty of that, too