We're Under Construction - do I need a hardhat for this?

As I sit here today I'm reminded of where I was a year ago - fumbling through what felt like a very dark and dreary journey of learning CSS via YouTube (surprisingly efficient) and piecing together what is now my SmugMug site (surprisingly more difficult than I ever expected). I'm proud of having coded and customized it myself but it's time to move on to bigger and better... blogs.

I'll be the first to admit that managing a website and a blog is tough and I've sometimes neglected the blog so I'm ready to pull up my sleeves and streamline it all with a new, vibrant web presence. Does this mean more coding? Pass the asprin. But I can do it, I've done it before and this time I have professional help (of the graphic designer variety - no straight jackets.... yet).

I'm thankful to be in a position to hire someone who knows exponentially more than I do and with her help, we broke ground yesterday on my new website which promises to be an awesome blog combined with a sharp storefront. I am so excited to be working with Barham Virtual Assistance. Melissa is a blast to work with and darn good at what she does. Can't wait to reveal the finished product. Stay tuned, my friends!

In the mean time, you can still visit and book sessions through my old site by clicking here.

See you on the flip side with a shiny new site!

Cheers galore,
Suz

Can you help us win? We've been nominated for Best Pet Photographer in Spokane!

I've been nominated as KREM's Best Pet Photographer in Spokane. Thank you to my wonderful clients, friends, family and followers for casting your votes - I'm in 4th Place and would love the honor of wining 1st place with your help! Voting ends September 18th and every vote counts so please spread the word and continue voting by clicking the link below. Keep your eyes out for some pretty great deals if I win :-)

I Heart Faces Pet Challenge

People often ask me if it's harder to photograph pets than humans and are sometimes surprised when I tell them "no!" As much as I love photographing humans, I have always gravitated towards animals and find it relaxing to be in their midst. This photo is from a recent session that I did for the Spokane Humane Society. I just can't get enough of those ears!

To view more awesome pets, head over to:

i heart faces contest ¦ beautiful eyes

Beautiful eyes are the theme this week at I heart faces. I just adore the sparkling beautiful eyes on this sweet 19 month old!

Medical Lake Toddler Session

Yesterday was a beautiful morning to chase little Emily around Medical Lake snapping photos. She was so curious about flowers and birds and had a great time chasing her red ball. Her beautiful mother was so prepared with cute props, outfit changes and snakes to keep Emily focused and happy - truly a dream client! Working with a 19th month old is a reminder that children have very medicinal and musical laughter. :-) Thanks for the laughs, Emily!

Deployment Homecoming session

First, let me apologize for the blatant blog neglect. It's partially due to laziness which is a direct result of having been swamped with work (something I am so grateful for!) so in a way I guess it's a good thing. Here is a recent glimpse of a very emotional Deployment Homecoming session. This little girl was so excited to see her daddy but broke down with the saddest tears when he got off the bus and was not able to say hello immediately. Look at that patriotic pride as she waves her flag when she sees the bus. And isn't her mother just gorgeous? Enjoy!

New Logo!

It's been a long process of revision after revision but I have finally designed and finalized my brand. I got some really good advice when I first started this business to hold off on a logo until I was sure it represented my brand - It is always harder to retrace digital steps and once you attach a logo to your name, it's hard to change it without jeopardizing the trust of your clients. So, I now officially share with you my Fresh Ginger Snaps Photography logo:

Previous versions of the text included my most favorite punctuation: {  } but I have since abandoned it as it seems to be very over-used among other photographers and is unimportant to my identity.

So who's that black dog? That's our very own Zola happily carrying a stick. I designed it using Adobe Photoshop to digitally extract a hand-drawn version of Zola as a young puppy. Of course, the collar embellishments were something I dreamed up to add character. 

There you have it. I am so pleased with the outcome and I hope you like it, too!

Spokane Humane Society Parade of Paws 2011 Giveaway winner

I had a great time being a vendor at Spokane Humane Society's Parade of Paws this year. We met so many wonderful dog lovers and their beautiful dogs regardless of the morning rain. Of course we were set up next to the Kettle Corn stand so we had to overcome the deliciously sweet smell of caramel corn all day but were rewarded with two free bags at the end of the day for overcoming such a feat. We happily accepted! I was also invited to be a photographer for SHS's fundraiser calendar so keep a look out for that which will be released by early fall. What an honor!

This year we held a giveaway for a free Fresh Ginger Snaps Photography dog photo session. With well over 900 Parade of Paws participants this year you can imagine that we had a LOT of entries!  Thank you so much to everyone who entered - we have a winner!

The lucky winners of the dog photo session giveaway are:

Gunther & Sam owned by Lindsay and Chad G.

Congratulations! I will be in touch with you shortly to schedule your session.

extreme photo makeover

I've been revisiting some of my earliest sessions from when I first kicked this business off the ground. My editing taste and skills have been evolving so much over the years that it only makes sense to give those sessions their due makeover. Here's a sample of the new and improved edits:

Deployment Reunion

What a happy evening it was for three young boys and their mother being reunited with their father after a 4 month deployment.

They hugged him so hard he could probably barely breathe. What a joyous moment.

Can't you just feel their love for one another? I was tearing up behind the scenes.

It was such an honor and a privilege to be a part of this intimate family moment.

Neyland & Zola

I can't help but post photos of my own dogs from time to time. Neyland and Zola are my little loves and are so much fun to photograph. Whenever we leave, Zola always watches under the gate and Neyland stares us down with these glowing eyes. <3

Sweet Fancy Moses

Need I say more? Meet Moses and his wonderful owner, Amanda.

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge | Pets

This week over at I Heart Faces the photo challenge is Pets.

Although I market myself as a Dog and Family Photography, I started this business as a dog photographer and that still remains my true passion so it was a tough task for me to pick just one of my many dog photos.

I chose this photo because of its raw representation of dog-ness. It was a freezing day and he's happily playing in the snow, fixated on his owner ready to throw his favorite flying squirrel. For me this is as dog as it gets. I love it and I hope you do too!

Head over to I Heart Faces to check out more pets....

Alisha & Matt

What strange weather we had yesterday! Alisha and Matt braved the rain, sleet, snow, blue skies, more snow and then a drastic drop in temperature. What troopers! Here's a sneak at our time together. Enjoy!

Pond Dogs

Anyone that has a dog who loves water knows what I mean when I say there is nothing better than watching happy dogs bound into a pond. One of our labs is crazy about chasing other dogs into the water but the idea of chasing something else like a toy eludes him. We have a snowmelt retention pond behind our house and are surrounded by neighbors with water dogs. My first love is dog photography, especially action shots so this was one of my favorite sessions so far and the first of many to come, I'm sure. The Black Lab is our boy, Neyland and the brindle is his friend, Casey. Woof!

Deployment reunion session

Am I the only one who cries my eyes out when I see the holiday surprise deployment reunions aired on local news stations? Those hit me right in the chest. My husband is in the military so empathetic reunion emotions come easily to me.

A friend of mine on base has the most adorable 11 month old girl who hadn't seen her daddy for the past 6 months and I had the chance to document their reunion at the airport. I thought for sure I'd be a sap but my camera was a great veil to hide behind and it helped that I was so focused on what I was doing.

Check it out:

I'm Back!

Hey everyone - wow it's been a while huh? So many things happening in the lives of my little family have kept me at bay from blogging but I've still been here in the background booking sessions in the quiet moments. A little recap of where I've been: At the beginning of February we rescued the most darling lab mix puppy from Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Services.
 Her name is Zola after one of our favorite bars in downtown Spokane. Potty training her has been a full time job

Our sweet little kitten, Falcon, was diagnosed with a 5cm tumor which we were told would be fatal. After days of sadness as we awaited the final pathology diagnosis, we were stunned to learn that it was benign.

 

We're finally returning to normalcy which means that I have time to book sessions, train the puppy and make family travel plans.

It's been a wild 2011 for the Holbrooks so far but I'm back and I'm ready. 

Namaste everyone!