All of these sweet little lives, I've touched this year.

Every time I sit down to process a newborn shoot I can't help but to wonder who they will grow to be. I am so looking forward to meeting many new little ones in 2012.
 Best wishes for the new year,
Taylor

1. Seeing my little cousins' faces as they told Santa what they wanted for Christmas...

2. Seeing Jamie's face when she unwrapped a box full of beer..

3.Participating in the ugly sweater contest...
(photo credit to my mom)

My Uncle Paul won. His prize was a handmade ornament by the one-and-only miss Carly Poe.

4. Watching Mara fall absolutely in love with a stuffed cat. Reminds me of myself when I was her age...

5. Seeing my mom's reaction when she unwrapped her ipad 2...

Okay, so I guess my favorite "gifts" are really just memories. But those are the best kind of gifts, right? 
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.
Smiles and lots of love, Taylor
PS- Wish me luck tomorrow. I am getting my wisdom teeth removed:/

Booking for 2012 has OFFICIALLY begun.
 As I am sure many of you know, I will be off to college in Fall of 2012. That means that I will be having a very busy year! Which means that I will not be able to cram my weeks full of sessions, which means that my schedule will fill up very fast, which means that YOU need to contact me ASAP to get your session scheduled! So click the "Contact" tab at the top of the page, and shoot me an email!:) 
***As a side not, I would also like to remind everyone that due to the distend and time involved with weddings, I will no longer be shooting them in the 2012 year- unless I have spoke with you beforehand. I apologize for this inconvenience. Trust me, it is absolutely KILLING me that I have to turn down all of these weddings!***

Smiles and lots of love, Taylor

I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel as a finalize my 2011 photo year. I'm not quite sure if I want to go screaming towards it or approach it shyly but either way, it is coming.  I don't know if I'm ready for a few weeks off from sessions, but I am DEFINITELY looking forward to doing some projects that I haven't yet had time to start.  And! I will still be blogging over my break, so keep in touch!
Here are a few from a session I just finished processing.  I posted a couple of sweet Austin earlier, but here are a few more that I couldn't resist posting.  Austin's parents decided to do a Lifestyle "Studio" Session, meaning that I packed up my stuff and headed to their home.  I love these types of newborn sessions because they capture memories of the new baby in the home, but they also capture those timeless studio shots. Enjoy!

Such a gorgeous family! Have a WONDERFUL week everyone!
Smiles and lots of love, Taylor

I recently had the pleasure of photographing the youngest Beaston! The last time I photographed this little miss, she was just a newborn. It is quite amazing seeing little ones hit their milestones. Although, Kamryn has such long hair- I would never guess that she is only 6 months old. She looks more like a 1 year old to me! However, I would guess that she is Lexi's little sis. Photogenic genes DEFINITELY run in this family. Kamryn thought the camera shutter was the funniest and most intriguing sound ever. I wish all little ones thought so!

Ahh, this has been a stressful week (and it's only Wednesday...). I've been up past obscene hours every night this week finalizing Christmas card orders and sessions and weddings and exam reviews, only to climb into bed counting the things I need to finish the next day, while feeling extremely unaccomplished.  How is it that a person can wake up at 6, go to school till 2:45, work from 3pm-1am (whether that means missing dinner or not), and still feel unaccomplished? It's bad.  I know it's bad.  When people start becoming just "people" to me- that's how I know it's bad. When I feel like I haven't really had a real conversation with my boyfriend, or best friend, or sister in days... probably because I haven't. That's how I know it's bad.
But...
Thank goodness for my mom, who stayed up with me last night helping me fix the "baked goods plate" that all NHS member must do while I mourned over the loss (no exaggeration) of my failed red velvet cake balls, and then, convincing me that the mismatched chocolate plate was really pretty and yummy looking (even though deep down, I knew it wasn't, but I believed her anyway). She knows how to cure my obsessive perfectionism-even when I am in tears-possibly because she's a perfectionist herself.
Thank goodness for my brother, who gave me the one of the best pieces of advice I've heard : "Just chill out for two seconds."
Thank goodness for my dad for reminding simply that life goes on.
And THANK GOODNESS for my blog for being here for me to vent to. Whether anyone reads my long rants, or not. And I seriously give you credit if you stuck it out through the whole thing!
Smiles and lots of love, Taylor

I am no longer feelin' blue because I just decided to completely start over with the FB page idea. Please click on the Facebook tab at the top and "like" my page. When I reach 100 likes I will give out a free New Years session to a random liker! Thank you!!!

I finally did it. I finally made my Facebook page into an "official" business page. Although I should be happy, I am feeling a little like I've just been broken up with. You see, the only reason why I wanted to change it into a true page so badly was because I wanted to be able to change my profile name to "Taylor Elchert Photography". Unfortunately, Facebook does not allow you to do that if you have over 100 likes. I have 823, so I missed the mark by a little. I'm pretty sad about it because since I made the new page, I lost all of the photos I previously had. It's also strange because I can no longer have private messages with clients. At least I don't think I can... I'm still figuring this out. If anyone has any tips on the whole "page" thing, PLEASE fill me in. I'll get the hang of it eventually.
Even though I am feeling blue, looking at these photos of Laila Rose cheer me up instantly. Laura might just kill me for posting this one below since Laila's hair is a mess. I, however, LOVE it. Note to self: save for "happy" project! ;)

There is a link to my Facebook page at the top of my website. Hmm, it will take a little getting used to, but that's with all new things!
Smiles and lots of love, Taylor

I am seriously starting to feel the hustle and bustle of the season... I had 4 sessions this weekend: 2 with adorable newborns, and 2 with a couple of my favorite redheads. I will be working my butt off this week to get cards ordered! Anyway, here is a recap of my weekend!

Friday, a cute little man named Gage came to the studio. He may look familiar because I've photographed him twice before! He is way too much fun to take photos of- such a ham!

Saturday began with a Christmas party with my boyfriend's family. You can't go wrong with good food and good company! I left a little early to get up to Sandusky to photograph this sweet little guy named Austin. He was a joy to work with, and his parents were as well!

Sunday, a sweet little miss came to my studio. Baby Norah is a photographer's dream with her thick dark hair, and gorgeous creamy skin...

Later on Sunday, I went out to miss Laila's house. We had a ton of fun playing and eating cookies. More of my sweet red-headed cousin will be up tomorrow (Sure, I'll admit it. I'm a little partial). :)

I am so in love with the one above of Laila Rose. She is getting so big so fast. Time, please slow down!
Smiles and lots of love, Taylor

During a Kiwanis meeting today, a lady that I did not know came up to me and asked, "You MUST be an Elchert, right?". I smiled and said yes. I answer this question so frequently and it never fails to make me smile, inside and out. 
Another thing that I am quite proud of happened to me by complete accident. To get some inspiration for the last of my Christmas sessions, I googled for some photography blogs with Christmasy sessions that I could read and hopefully get inspired. Look who is #5! "Taylor ELCHERT Photography". I've never been so pleasantly surprised!

Here are a few shots from a Christmas Session I did with my little cousins. After all, what Elchert wouldn't be proud to be related to such cutie pies?!

Smiles and lots of love, Taylor

I simply cannot get over how photogenic this family is. I have photographed Alli quite a few times (she's appears in my page header with my logo!), but never the entire family as a whole. So it's obvious why their session couldn't come fast enough. Alli, Ryan, and their parents are such naturals in front of the camera. As the session came to a close, Alli said, "I have an idea! Let's start all over!". My heart skipped. LOVE her.

And the session ended silly, just as it should:

Ahh, sometimes I really do wish I could start all over. Maybe start over the day, or the weekend, or even my entire school experience. Okay, yeah, I've been feeling a lot of "I'm not ready to leave my parents and my sister and my dogs and go to college" lately.
Have a wonderful week everyone. I promise to try to start posting more often!
Smiles and lots of love, Taylor