As many of you know, in April I was married to the most incredible man and love of my life, Scott Newton. We have had an amazing first three months of marriage, kicked off with a once in a lifetime trip…a honeymoon in Hawaii! We feel beyond blessed to have found each other and are so excited to be on this adventure through life together.

As with most newlywed couples Scott and I have been doing a lot of talking about our hopes and our dreams for our marriage and for our family. The big thing we keep coming back to time after time is what direction we would like my photography business to take. We have been mulling over the idea of moving the studio into our home within the next year or two, mainly so I can be more available to Aly, Scott’s 7 year old daughter, and the children we plan on having over the next few years. Many things, several of which are out of my control, have popped up over the past two weeks and have sped this decision up rather quickly!

I’m excited to announce that I will be moving Nicole Isaacson Photography to our home! I’ve had an incredible two years at 927 North Main and absolutely adore the space I have created. I will definitely miss the building and the exposure, but I believe that in life there are seasons and I’m heading into a new, very colorful and exciting one!

My lease will expire at the end of July, so I have LOTS of preparing to do. Last night we ordered flooring, selected paint colors and finalized the fabric for curtains for my office and gallery space. The studio will be in our garage and that project will start once the move from the Main Street location is finished and I’m settled in the office. (For the rest of the summer or until we get the studio space finished all sessions will be on-location only. Seniors…if you book a package and would like to have indoor and outdoor photos, we can make up your studio portion at a later date.) Along with the move will come lots of new and fresh ideas. I’m going to be launching a new website and logo as well as restructuring things on the business end of thing. Each year I’ve been in business I learn and grow. I started out of college from the ground up and have taught myself a lot over the years. I’m looking forward to implementing a lot of changes to better serve my customers as well as simplify my life. So, even though the Main Street location will close, I am definitely still in business and hope to keep growing every year like I have done in the past!

My close family and friends know that I am a very structured person. I don’t go into any decision lightly, whether it is as small as where to go on vacation or as big as this decision about the business has been. I have spent hours analyzing every last detail and believe we have made the best decision for our family. This change is very exciting for me yet at the same time a very scary one. Isn’t there an old saying that taking risks in can lead to good things? I’m sure that it will be true for us! I have a deep sense of peace and I’m looking forward to getting settled into my new location very soon.

I want thank everyone…my husband, family, friends, fellow business owners and a few clients who are near and dear to me that lent an ear for my analyzing mind over the past few weeks! I appreciate each one of you more than you could ever know and thank you for your valuable insights.

I hope everyone is as excited as I am! Keep an eye out in the weeks to come for blog posts about the renovations, specials and the launch of the new logo & website. May God bless you!

A few months back I found out that the company I used for my wedding albums had gone out of business.  I was pretty bummed, but only for a few days.  I am SO excited about the new company I have found!  They are similar and price and quality, but they have a lot more options that are super groovy.  (Yes…the word “groovy” is in my everyday vocabulary.)  There are a ton of awesome options of cover materials, from traditional to modern and bold!  They also offer several different cameo options so every album can be a complete reflection of your own style.  Here is a recent one from Mandy & Brian’s wedding I shot on Fort Myers Beach last year.  Enjoy!

The albums come shipped in a durable black box for storage (which why would you use that anyways…display your album!!).  When you open the box you see this pretty little bow that makes me happy!

OOOOOOOHHH!!!!  I got so excited when I opened this for the first time!

This is a metal strip cameo.  It is not on photo paper people…it’s on metal!

Full spread and lay flat pages.

You can see here how seamless the double spreads are.

One of my favorite pages from the album.  Such a great wedding and I love that they have such a beautiful keepsake to remind them of how awesome their wedding was!

To help kick off the summer I’m offering a senior portrait special. *Book your session for the months of June or July and receive a free 8×10 and a free sheet of wallets.  This special is worth $50 so don’t miss out! Call 815-878-6406 to book your session today! (See below for more details)

*Offer must be mentioned at time of booking to receive free 8×10 and free sheet of wallets.  Orders must be placed within 30 days of gallery being launched online.  If order is placed after the 30 day time period the offer is void.  Minimum print order is required.  Offer is only for senior portrait sessions booked and photographed in the months of June and July 2010.

Kelly and Jamie were married on March 27, 2010 and the day was absolutely beautiful!  The sun was shining and it was a bit cool, but perfect for March weather.  The wedding ceremony was at the First Lutheran Church in Princeton and their reception was at Senica’s Oak Ridge in LaSalle.  I’ve chosen a few pictures to share (I’d love to share the whole wedding, but that’s not possible!) of the bride, groom and bridal party for part one.  I’ll post part two of the ceremony and wedding soon.  Congrats Kelly and Jamie!  Love you guys!

Stunning!

Hotties!

Beautiful flowers from Flowers by Julia in Princeton.

Noah is my first baby planner!  I am so excited to document his first year of life.  Here are a few of my favorites from his newborn session (he was about three weeks here I think).  Isn’t he adorable?

This is one of my favorite…so simple and he is so bright eyed!

Such proud parents!

I usually try something new at every shoot.  This was my new background setup and I think it turned out great.  I also LOVE using the natural light in the studio…isn’t it pretty?

It’s that time of year again!  I can imagine how excited the senior class of 2010 must be with only a few months left in their high school careers.  With plans getting underway for celebrations I wanted to remind all my 2010 Seniors that you still have time to order custom graduation announcements and party invites.  No two designs are alike!  Please contact the studio before Friday, April 30th if you are interested in having me design your invites.  There are several types and sizes of invites available to fit every budget out there.  Please call the studio at 815-878-6406 or contact me using the contact page on this blog.  Here are a few of my favorites from last year’s senior class.  Congrats to all the graduating seniors!

Kiyrra’s mommy is one of my assistants for weddings and when she called to see if I would be up for photographing her one year old tear into a cake I was more than willing!  We had a great time watching her and I think she may be on a sugar high for a week.  I’ve seen other photographers offer a one year special like this and I’m definately adding this type of package to my studio.  I think I could watch kids do this all day every day and never tire of it!  Thanks, Stefanie, for bring her in and a special thanks to big brother for helping me out with getting Kiyrra to smile!

Look at those beautiful eyes!

The calm before the storm!

It’s been so long since I have blogged!  I’ve been thinking about what to post for the past two days and I had no idea where to begin.  So much has happened in my personal and proffesional life over the past few months that it would take forever to go back and catch up.  So, I decided to start with a fun post…VACATION!!

Last month my sister, cousin, a few friends and I went to the Riviera Maya in Mexico.  It was a much needed vacation and I was looking forward to it since my last beach vacation a year ago.  We had a blast!  The weather was beautiful…almost every day was in the 80’s and we had no rain at all.  We went on two “adventure” trips which included snorkeling, cliff jumping, zip lining, and much more.  There was also a lot of lazy days by the beach & the pool soaking up the sun and relaxing.  There were so many pools at this resort!  My favorite was the saltwater pool that you can see in the collage below (top left).  Beautiful!  We also ate a ton of food, but the resort was so big that I’m sure we walked all the calories off!  I’m ready for my trip already…hope one happens soon.  My sister is going back this summer with another friend and I’m so jealous!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures!  One of these days maybe we can wear tank tops here in Illinois again.  Sure seems like a long winter!

This was one of the spots we went snorkeling.  Unfortunately it was very windy so we had a hard time seeing a whole lot of fish, but it was still a blast!

We also snorkeling in a cave and it was VERY COLD!  Our tour guide for the day was Jesus and he was a funny, funny man.  Apparently the average age for these trips is a bit older than we were so he was pretty excited to have a group of young people to hang out with for the day.  We were named Charlie’s Angels and I think we fit it pretty well don’t you?

Tubing down a river under the mangroves.  So cool (except for the part of having to wear life jackets all day)!

This year has been amazing!  With the opening of the new studio I have been busier than I could have ever imagined.  I feel so blessed to have the clients that I do and I thank each one of you for trusting me to photograph your milestones and once in a lifetime events.  The relationships I have formed with you are priceless to me and I look forward to helping to create more memories as your lives grow and change. I can hardly believe it’s December 5th already!  Christmas is just 20 short days away and I have hardly even begun to shop or decorate.  The decorating may actually just have to take a one year hiatus and return bigger and badder then ever in the Holiday Season of 2010!

With all that said I do have to say that I am very ready for some time to breathe and get back to a somewhat normal lifestyle once this busy Christmas season is over.  I have put my relationships with friends, family and God on the back burner since September and hopefully, with some much needed changes to my studio workflow and organization, that will never happen again!  I will be taking a few months “off” in the beginning of 2010 to take a vacation, organize my studio (well, it is organized, but I am an organization freak so I must do this over and over again!), work on getting a better system for my workflow and many, many other awesome things.  I do say “off” in a very loose way as I will still be working and will take a very limited number of portrait sessions.  If you are pregnant, have a newborn or would like a session that just can’t happen any other time please contact me.  I don’t want to let that pass me by!

In January I will be celebrating my last birthday that starts with the number 2!  Yikes, 30 is almost here.  Where did the careless days of summer and pigtails go?!  I am a dreamer and always have a millon and one ideas going through my head, but I also have a bad habit of letting time slip by way too fast.  I have decided to make a list of the top 30 things I want to do or accomplish before I am 30 and I will be sharing that with you folks in early January.  I feel if I share it on here I may be more likely to finish those goals since I will have so many people to hold me accountable!  Keep an eye out for this…I am excited myself to see what I come up with.

If you are patiently (and thank your for being so patient!) awaiting your wedding proofs, album design, or print order I will be getting those to you very quickly!  I am hoping to have all print orders finished and ready to pick up by Monday, December 21.  I will call you as soon as they arrive.   If you are waiting on a Wedding Album design from me it will be done in early January.  And finally if I had the amazing opportunity to photograph your wedding I will be in touch when they are done which should be very soon.

The blog posts have been very few and far between, but I have TONS of great shoots to post in the new year so I hope to have you back to check it out soon.  If I don’t post before then, I hope everyone has a blessed Christmas and a safe and happy New Year.

Much love,

Nicole

This Friday, November 6th, I will be having my Grand Opening celebration with an Open House from 4:00-8:00 p.m. at my new location - 927 North Main Street in Princeton, Illinois.   The Open House will take place during Princeton’s North End Annual Wine Walk.  Many shops on the North End will be open late so be sure to stop in to see their new holiday merchandise and sample their treats and drinks!   I will be serving several different salsa’s (mango salsa is my favorite!) and sangria’s as well as a few sweet treats.  I’m also very excited to have The Friendship Band - Joe Nowak and Bob Cmolik - coming to perform acoustic guitar music and sing us some songs.  Joe is an awesome guitar player so don’t miss out!  As an added bonus you can sign up for a chance to win free stuff and who doesn’t like free stuff?!  Grab a friend and stop in to say hello!  I look forward to seeing you there!