A Day at the Beach...

What an absolutely beautiful day I had with Ashley at Nickelplate Beach in Huron! Her clothing choices were perfect and this is just ONE of the incredible images we got in and around the sandy beach area. Besides this patch of wildflowers, there was a rolling meadow and of course, the Lake horizon just to name a few. Her bold color choice in this fun sundress was a great compliment to the flowers and green trees around her. Not to mention her fantastic smile which you can see when you check out more photos from the web. www.openshutter.com
Great job Ashley! ~Lori

Happy Birthday, Cooper!

I had the chance to photograph Cooper to show off just how much he's grown in the last year. I loved how he was ALL boy and just wanted to crawl and dig in the gravel and get dirty! He maintained his appearances long enough for me to get him standing up... (just the shot that his Mom wanted). Have a great One Year Birthday next week, Cooper! ~ miss Lori

EXCLUSIVE offer for Class of '09 SENIORS!

LET'S SEE WHO WANTS TO WIN A SESSION WORTH UP TO $150!!
Entrants MUST leave their full name in the comment of the blog and an email address or phone number so that we can contact you if you win. Past blog comments do not count...contest starts at 5:30pm, Thursday,July 24th and ends Sunday, July 27th at midnight. First five comments will win a set of movie tickets for the Norwalk theatre and ALL comments will be registered to win the grand prize of a Class of '09 SENIOR session worth up to $150!
Thanks for reading The Open Shutter BLOG! GOOD LUCK! ~Lori

Babies, too?

Chris is AWESOME at photographing our maternity, newborns and childrens' sessions...she is the QUEEN in this area, let me tell you! But occasionally I get the privelege of doing my fair share of this wonderful area of the business and this particular day I met a GREAT couple from Tennessee who came to town to visit their family and made an appointment for me to photograph their happy little guy, Sam. He was fun...and smaller than my average high school senior client...but I had a blast making baby noises and just being silly to someone who didn't go home and think I was weird for doing so! (That I know of.) What an honor to have someone come all that way and ask US to photograph their child. It was a pleasure! ~ Lori

It's Miah's turn!

Miah came to The Open Shutter from Sandusky and was looking for something different than what her past classmates had gotten at other studios. We originally met at our Open House so I was glad to have her back in town! A trip to Miller Gardens was just the ticket for her in her bright sundress and happy smile. We captured her with her sports favorites, too, back at the studio, but this was my top choice of the day. Way to go, Miah!

A wedding celebration! Matt & Lori Fox

I am thrilled to announce that one month ago, today, I was married in a private ceremony to my fiance of almost three years, Matt Fox. We shared the day with our five children, our family and very best friends. It was the most perfect day with blue skies, sunshine and the river at our backs in a serene and storybook setting on the banks at the historic Pioneer Mill in Tiffin. I have waited a month to post photographs in order to collect the gorgeous images from my dear friends, Cheryl, Mike & Sunny who saved the day by photographing our event at let's just say 'later than I would suggest hiring someone'! "My girls" [Wendy, Chris & Judy, from here at the studio] were there of course, to help us celebrate and a great time was had by all. Thanks to all of you who've called, written or given words of encouragement, congratulations and/or contributed to our laundry soap fund! [haha!] Enjoy the photographs....these are just a few of my favorites. ~The new Mrs. Fox~
Photographs courtesy of Stone Garden Studio, Mike Osborne Photography, and Sunny Yoesting Photography.

Hello!? Anyone there?

Just wondering, as I write these and take the time to post, if anyone is reading these? There is a comment section under each post, so if you have anything to say about YOUR session or just want to chat about another session you saw, please take a minute and leave a comment. I am trying to post daily or at the very least, weekly...so check back often and say hello. That being said, here's one from Elizabeth's session when we went to Miller Gardens. We did some fun shots downtown, too, but I really liked the relaxed, summer feeling we got from this set. Summer is the time to be photographed if you are a Class of '09 senior so give us a call if you haven't already done so. Don't procrastinate! School starts in about 7 weeks people!!

Tell YOUR story...

When Bryan came to the studio's Senior Open House, I knew right away we would have some really great sessions. He was eager to set up what he knew would tell his story...sessions about him and what was important to him. His friends, his girl[friend] and baseball - (I'll let HIM tell you what order they go in! haha) And not only we did get some awesome images, we had a great afternoon doing it. What will be YOUR story? Call me (ask for Lori) to talk about your ideas and together we can come up with something unique!

NEW backgrounds!

Want to have fun, creative senior portraits? Bring a lot of variety in your clothes. Alyssa did just that and we were able to use some of our NEW backgrounds! Clothing with longer sleeves & something black is always a good idea because that goes with just about anything that we have. Patterned clothing doesn't always look the best (especially in the studio) because as you can see, most of our backgrounds are already made with bold patterns and colors. Select a shirt color that people says looks good on you and even bring items that you would consider "out of season" (sweaters, jeans, hoodies, even your ski jacket if that is 'your thing'. I have a tip sheet on our website that will give you good ideas. Check it out and call us SOON for the best senior portraits! http://www.openshutterseniors.com/?intro=0

Portrait Safari...where do YOU want to go?!

Emily took advantage of her home in the country and scheduled what we call a Senior Portrait Safari. It is the type of session where you get to pick where you want to be photographed. It should be a place that's special to you and somewhere unique. The wheat field was just ONE of the awesome spots there around Emily's house and I will post another photograph from her session on the website under Portrait Safari when I get a chance. We used several old barns and of all things, their mailbox! Tune in next week to see what's new... until then, check out the other great ideas at www.openshutter.com.

Downtown Session is still HOT!

Nicki selected a Downtown setting for her senior portraits and was able to get a casual-grunge-kinda-feel. She was a good sport while getting all sorts of passer-by-type attention, too! We walked around the downtown Norwalk area and found a couple alleys, doorways and steps to get lots of variety. Her boyfriend Patrick was a great little "reflector-boy", too! haha Thanks, Pat!

It's Miller Garden Time for Alecia!

Another great senior session, and this time we went to Miller Landscaping to photograph in their beautiful gardens. There are so many still, unfound treasures there everywhere you turn. I could shoot there everyday (and just about do) but I'm still able to find a corner or some new area to shoot in whenever I go. Alecia was all smiles, even through the heat. Way to go, girl!

Playing catch-up!

I know, I know...it's been over a month since my last post. LOTS going on with us around here and I need to play a little catch-up and show you some of our incoming 2009 Seniors that I've recently photographed. First there was Jeremy. He is an aspiring journalist and right now is doing some things for his school newspaper. He was fun to work with and I think we got some good stuff. If you don't believe me, here's what he had to say.

"I came into the studio thinking that this session would be similar to other photo sessions: dull and uncomfortable. I was wrong! Lori is absolutely excellent at what she does. Her easy-going personality, attention to detail, and creative ideas made my senior session great. If you're looking for a studio that incorporates your personality and ideas into your senior pictures, then [The Open Shutter] is definitely the place!" Jeremy Wiedle, Norwalk High School