- I'm Back! -

I know...I know...it's been awhile since I've posted! :/ But...I'm back!!! :D It was a busy-busy summer with my own family! So, although I haven't really done anything with clients over the last few months, I have done a TON of picture taking of our own FUN summer adventures! Now that our kiddos are all back to school, I'm playing catch-up with family blog posts from the summer { trying to catch family & friends up on all the happenings in the Stiern house }, while also gearing up for CSP Fall & Winter Sessions! Fall & Winter sessions are open and are filling fast! Thank you again to those who have booked early. For those who are still thinking about pictures...I still have 3 sessions open, as you will see below. Although a few months are now filled and closed, please feel free to still contact me and I can place you on a waiting list...just in case someone cancels. Sometimes the best laid plans change...especially with kiddos and busy lives! It does happen from time-to-time and I have in the past been able to fit people into those canceled sessions, that weren't expecting it.

Fall & Winter Sessions:
September - OPENINGS -1
October - CLOSED
November - CLOSED
December - OPENINGS -2

I am once again looking forward to meeting and spending time with new and returning clients this Fall & Winter! Without all of you Carmen Stiern Photography would not be possible! Thank you for continuing this journey with me...it continues to be so amazing and wonderful! Not to mention, I just LOVE meeting such awesome people along the way! So, as I always say..."What fun is a post without pictures!" ;) Below are a few pics of some new additions to "The Stiern Family"! YES, we finally got chickens and the kids are having so much FUN with them! :D The last picture I have posted...I feel so fortunate to have! We suddenly and unexpectedly had to put our 11 year old female Lab down, a few weeks ago. It was a very-very sad day for us all, but we feel comfort in that she didn't suffer and was able to pass peacefully at home in loving arms...with us { her family } all around her! Kinda weird...I had just taken her pics about a month and a half ago. Not sure why I did, but one day I was compelled to and I am soooo glad I did, since we were shocked by her very sudden turn in health, over a 24 hour period, a month after I had.




Our Girl...Our "Katie" or as we all called her...Our "Katie Bug"!

- 2010 Has Come To An End -

"WOW" I can't believe that this is the last day of 2010...where has the the year gone?!?!? It has been a busy year for CSP, especially this Fall & Winter! As I look back on 2010 and this journey that I am enjoying { very much } into photography...I feel so grateful and very fortunate to have been able to have captured so many wonderful moments, that will never be forgotten. I thank you all { my amazing clients & my wonderful family }, because without you all...CSP would not be possible!

As I talk about on the CSP Blog, on the FAQ page, to keep a "healthy balance" between: Photography, my "real" full-time job as a Firefighter/Paramedic and the most important...Family; I limit the number of sessions I do each month. I know there were several of you that I was not able to work with this past year, because my sessions filled up fast. I am so sorry for that, but look forward to working with you in 2011! Just remember, if you have something special you want pictures for...contact me, so I can save a session for you! I have already booked a few families for, not only Spring 2011...but, { believe it or not } also Fall 2011!

On another note, this past year, I was hoping { yes, that was very ambitious of me to keep a full photography schedule, along with everything else in my life too } that I would be able to finish the Carmen Stiern Photography website and have it launched by the end of the year! hehehe :) As I said "very ambitious"! Although the hardest part is done { finding and designing my website }, I am still loading pic's and doing final touches! I am not going to put a finish date to it, but I promise...it will be up soon! ;) In the meantime, stay connected to the blog, for all the latest things with CSP! Again, I thank you all for an awesome 2010 and from our family to yours...we hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and we wish you all a HAPPY, HEALTHY and SAFE 2011!

As I always say..."What fun is a post without pictures"! So for the last post of 2010...here are a few pic's of our munchkins from this past Fall! I am always taking pictures of our kiddos, as they are my most "very" favorite, but also most "very" difficult subjects to work with! :)' Of course, because they always have a camera pointed at them. Can you blame me?...I want to capture every moment of their lives! It really hit me hard this time, while editing their pic's...that they are growing up sooo fast. Ok...now seriously, they really need to stop...we aren't ready for them to grow up! :)

- Fall & Winter Sessions -

Fall & Winter sessions are open and have filled up fast! I am thrilled and very excited for the sessions coming up over the next 4 months! Thank you to those who have booked early! I still have 2 sessions open...as you will see below. Although a few months are now filled and closed, please feel free to still contact me and I can place you on a waiting list...just in case someone cancels. Sometimes the best laid plans change...especially with kiddos and busy lives! It does happen from time-to-time and I have in the past been able to fit people into those canceled sessions, that weren't expecting it.

Fall & Winter Sessions:
September - CLOSED
October - CLOSED
November - CLOSED
December - 2 OPENINGS

I am looking forward to meeting and spending time with new and returning clients this Fall & Winter! Without all of you Carmen Stiern Photography would not be possible! Thank you for taking this journey with me...it has been amazing so far and wonderful meeting such awesome people along the way! Below are a few { Fall } pictures from the Stiern family garden, to get you all in the mood for FALL ! Besides...what fun is a post without pictures! ;)

- Welcome To The "New" CSP Blog! -

I am so excited to announce the "New" Carmen Stiern Photograpghy logo and blog! This has been a very long...but exciting process. Starting with the design of my new logo, then building the blog and future CSP website around the new logo...was quite a project! :) I hope that the blog will be a place for you all to stay connected and follow the new and exciting things that are happening with CSP. I was so fortunate to have wonderful people to help me with the design. My logo was designed by Bryce (Sealed Designs), who is the husband to a friend of mine, and the CSP Blog had it's redesign done by a wonderful and very patient person...Summer (Designs by Summer). It is very exciting to finish this "BIG" project up right before the start of the New Year! So when you get a chance...check the new CSP Blog out!

- Welcome To 2009 -

Well the year has started out very busy! I have had several "picture projects" on the table, including tackling the BIG switch to MAC. My wonderful husband, who has been listening to me talk about wanting to make this change...forever, surprised me at Christmas and bought us a Mac. This was a total surprise...and a good one at that! We had done the research and talked to the Apple guys together, to figure out what the next step was that I needed to take for my growing photography projects; he had me thinking that we would do this jump in the first part of the year...he got me! :) So needless to say I have been a busy girl switching all my photography projects over and learning a new system and programs. I LOVE it so far! I have a few new projects that I hope to have on the blog soon. Please check back in or subscribe to stay updated...I have some neat changes, that I am very excited about, coming in the "New Year". Thanks and I wish you all a happy and healthy 2009!

- The Beginning -

Wow...this is the start of a very exciting chapter in my life. To tell you a little about me, I am the wife of an awesome husband and the mother of three adorable children. We have a very busy household, like most young families...but we LOVE it, and we try to enjoy every crazy minute...all together...the five of us!

I never imagined that I would enjoy photography as much as I have over the past year and a half...and it all started by chance. My stepfather gave me and my husband our first camera, a 35mm Canon Rebel, for Christmas the first year we were married. We used it over the next four years, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Then one day about two years ago, while up in our youngest son's room, something hit me...and that is where it all began.

As usual, we had just finished another routine diaper change after morning nap, but something was different that day. I had Gabriel (our youngest son) up on the changing table to dress him. While I was looking through the baskets below him for a shirt, I caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye...he was sitting there playing with his toes. The natural morning light shining through the window on him was so beautiful that I just had to pause. Looking at him brought a smile to my face, along with a warmth in my heart that every mother has felt...a moment in time that I didn't want to forget. I wanted to have and hold that moment always. So I grabbed the camera, and proceeded to play and have fun. I think I tried every mode and function it had, not really knowing what the heck I was doing, or how the pictures would come out. By the time I was done, I had shot two rolls of film. I am not sure why that day was different, something just hit me...I was hooked!

I love when we have those moments in time, whether with family or friends, when everything seems to just stop...for just a second and that feeling hits you...bringing a smile to your face and warmth to your heart. I wanted to share this with you all, so you would know how my love for photography began. Below is one of the pictures I took that morning. It wasn't with the digital Canon I have now, so I had to scan this one in...but it is still one of my favorites, and always will be, because this was the start of it all! I hope you will stay in contact with me through my blog, and watch as I learn and grow as a photographer. Thank you, and I look forward to what is yet to come.