Happy Birthday Ansel Adams

Here you go ... here's an interview with the man himself ...

Sometimes your clients ...

Sometimes your clients are just ... cool. They're younger than me and more creative and much, much more relaxed than I was at their age.

In walks Gretchen with her little boy Josef-Henri. Gretchen is married to a French chef, she's learning how to live in the midwest as a new mother and she LOVES photography. She has brought Josef-Henri into the studio a few times to record his milestones. I photographed him the first time just after he was born in his own, new room. Gretchen loves photography but, really, she loves life and she loves recording it.

So I'm not surprised to find out that Gretchen has a blog. It's witty and charming and has great photography. It's about Josef-Henri. It's about life. Like I said, sometimes your clients are just ... cool.

Her blog is www.gretchenmurvine.tumblr.com

Growing up on the border of Canada we used to bundle up and stand in the back yard watching the Northern Lights for so long that I'd get bored. What I remember was that they were glorious and they moved. My mother told me that was as close to Heaven as you could get.

I haven't seen them since.

And then this came across my computer. It would be nice to see Heaven one more time ...

The Studio Has Gone Green!

Green Toys, organic lolli pops, backdrops made in the USA and the cutest little kids in the whole wide world. It all goes hand in hand and it just makes sense.

Today was the last photo shoot of the season and the kids loved playing with the toys from Green Toys. Made from recycled milk jugs and made in the USA. They were busy for a long time and every once in awhile they looked up at me and I got the perfect shot. Everyone was happy ... all at the same time.

Well, most of the time.

Green Toys are available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon & The Land of Nod.

So Many Little Kids In The Studio ... You'd Think It Was Christmas Time!

$50 for $150 Gift Certificate Available Till December 24th!

Yup, this is true. What a nice thing to find on your special holiday. A $150 gift certificate for $50!

This is the perfect gift for someone who loves photography. Black & white, color, casual, formal, prints or digital images ... it's all up to you. The certificate has a 6 month life, may be used for children only, and is for photography in the most adorable boutique studio in Barrington. We have a brand new collection of the coolest backdrops and we'll have specials that run all during the spring. We use an online studio to show your photographs so there's no pressure and we're always here to help if you need us.

This deal is available till December 24th and may be used after January 1st.

This deal has a limit, so when it's over it's time to wrap your presents!

Please email or call if you are interested. susan@susanmcconnellphotography.com or 847-528-2044.

Happy Holidays!

Cyber Monday Special!

On Cyber Monday you can get any gift certificate for l/2 off.

Yup, this is real.

The fine print is simple: Photography for little kids only and in our studio with our fancy, new backdrops.

We'll be offering this to the first three who get to us first. Email only, because we'll be on the computer! susan@susanmcconnellphotography.com

Calling All Preschoolers

The studio is in need of some fabulous preschoolers dressed in their funkiest and ready to ham it up for the camera. Payment in digital images and you are free to do anything you wish with them. The first 10 are in. Just send an email to susan@susanmcconnellphotography.com. This is going to be fun! (The dates and times are Thursday, November 10 and Thursday, November 17 from 11:30 till 4:30.)

www.mybionicboyfriend.com

A lot of blog energy has been directed the one and only blog that reports from the sidelines of training to swim the English Channel ... www.mybionicboyfriend.com

Check it out ... and stay tuned!

The Black Dog

The Black Dog is a restaurant in Vineyard Haven on Martha's Vineyard and it is a really fun place to hang out. The trick is this ... you ask for a table by the window and you let the kids play around outside on the little beach by the harbor and you drink your byob wine and watch them and talk about them. Some things never change. They wave at the ferry and they pet the little black dog puppies. Then the begging starts. This year, I just might give in.

The United Nations and Nike

This image was created for the United Nations and Nike as they support The Girl Effect. (www.girleffect.org) It's all about educating and empowering young girls across the globe. The shoot included twelve girls at the age of twelve amongst a flock of sheep. The goal is to raise money to give a flock of sheep to families in underpriviledged countries in return for their promise to educate their daughters. This is my daughter, Ashley, who is about to be 12 on New Year's Eve. As I am writing this she is sitting next to me at the kitchen table while she works on her fractions and decimals.

Bataille Academie of The Danse

Adorable Bataille dancers gathering christmas flowers line the dining room walls at Wool Street, our favorite restaurant in town.

Taking photographs for Bataille is my most fun job. On this day there were four little four year olds dancing and running around but when the flowers came out they couldn't stop holding and playing with them.

The result? Take a look at Wool Street.

Chicago and The Olympics, Almost

Having lived in Lake Placid in 1980 and in Los Angeles in 1984 I was looking forward to all that the Olympics would have brought to Chicago. I've been liking Chicago more and more and sometimes now I get up early in the morning and drive down to the city when it's all quiet and still sleeping and take photographs of the architecture.

Like this one, Chicago's Magical Fruit.

More images of Chicago are exhibited at Musée Fine Art Gallery & Market.

www.museemarket.com

Oh How We Love Meg

Family Camp at Camp Edwards 2009

Meg and her 3rd heroic open water swim to Buck Island.
Against all odds.
And we have it on film.
We love you Meg!

Walter Cronkite on Martha's Vineyard

Image by Alexander McConnell

On this day the boys and I hung out in Chicago. We walked through Millennium Park, visited a charming Italian restaurant and walked the newly beautified Chicago riverfront. Gordy (that's his nickname, he's formally named Alexander) was behind the camera.

The Studio has been chosen to create an exhibit for Wellness Place

The Studio has been chosen to create a photography exhibit entitled

"Sole Impressions, A Walk With Cancer"

The exhibit will benefit

Wellness Place, cancer education and support

http://www.wellnessplace.org/

One of Our Favorites ... Moving Away

Christine (shown here with her daughter, Zoe) and her family are some of the studio's favorite clients. Christine and her children are beautiful and full of spunk. Wherever Christine goes people fall in love with her. Best of everything to you Christine!

"Wanna Play?" Model Search

"Wanna Play?" Model Search

The "Wanna Play?" model search is on. Bring your props, bring your ideas and let's push the limit. Flowers, dress up, anything! We're looking for new faces so join in the fun!

Kat's Birthday Weekend in California

Kat's Birthday Weekend in California

One evening in Chicago, long ago, at the Drake Hotel my brother, Robert, married this beautiful girl from Wisconsin named Kathryn Siegler. And we've all lived exceedingly happily ever after. Kat is a professional artist and has been focusing on photorealism. www.kathrynsiegler.com On this weekend, her birthday weekend, we celebrated in Calistoga, which is at the north end of Napa County. These photographs were taken at a pretty little cafe that is a sister restaurant to the famous Mustard's Grill, after we had visited Cakebread and Grgich Vineyards. Hence, the silliness.

What you don't see in these pictures is the most perfect ruby ring that Robert presented to her on the evening that we arrived in California, much to Kathryn's surprise.

Dog Fish Bar

The "Dog Fish Bar" Story

My good friend, Kelly, has requested the Dog Fish Bar story. I'm embarrassed to say that for years I actually thought that Dog Fish Bar was an establishment located out on a sand bar off of Martha's Vineyard. I thought I had been missing something important and it bothered me that I had never been out there. I imagined a tiki hut with blue cocktails and the swankiest people hanging out there. Good looking, tan guys with fishing poles. Every year I would say, "I have got to get myself out to that bar." So last summer I got a marine map and put the boys in the boat and said, "Boys, take your mother to Dog Fish Bar." It was a l-o-n-g ride and Dog Fish Bar is probably closer to the State of Massachusetts than it is to Martha's Vineyard.

Dog Fish Bar ended up being a very shallow sand bar where dog fish swim. (You don't want to see a dog fish. They scared me so much I couldn't even take their picture.) No tiki huts, no blue cocktails, no good looking, tan guys. Simply the most beautiful, pristine sand bar in the middle of nowhere.

Julie's Senior Picture!


Julie's senior picture was taken just the other day with her mom's vintage store as the backdrop. Julie, a fan of vintage clothes, was voted "best dressed" in her senior class at Barrington High School. (That's a secret.) This fall she's off to The University of Illinois to major in Environmental Science.

Happy Birthday Billy!

Billy turns 17, today, March 23rd. How did I get this shot already, on March 22nd? ..... When Billy was little he would fuss and fuss all day long because he just couldn't wait for dinner to open his presents. Eventually his birthday presents came to be opened at breakfast. But this year, on the year that he turns 17, we took all of the anxiety away and we just celebrated a whole day early. Billy's best present? XBOX 360. (Billy is one of the best things that ever happened to me, so we'll be celebrating all day. And yes, I'll make another cake tomorrow!)

Oh I Love You

Oh I love you took place during a commercial photo shoot on a sunny, wintery afternoon. The out takes were keepers.

Annie's Baby

Annie's Baby

This baby belongs to my friend, Annie. She is her 3rd little girl and I have photographed them all. They live behind us and, when the weather is nice, I get to see them running around all the time. I love having three little girls living in the house behind me.

Embarking On A New Project For Hospice

Embarking On A New Project For Hospice

Hospice of Northeastern Illinois will open a new hospice home in September of this year and the studio as been chosen to participate in an exclusive photography project. I volunteer for this group and I take all of their photographs used for marketing and public relations. These are the most difficult photographs I ever take.

Billy, is that a cigar?

Billy, is that a cigar?

We were on the boston whaler for the afternoon on Martha's Vineyard and Billy was the pilot. Easing behind the wheel he pulled out one of his father's Cuban cigars and I quietly watched him prepare it, light it and smoke it. Just like his father. "Billy, a cigar?" "Mom, I've been smoking these since I was 14."

Eileen Belongs to Meg

Eileen Belongs to Meg

I found Meg on the bulletin board at our church and she instantly became our babysitter. I immediately felt comfortable walking out the door and Meg immediately became a big part of our lives. Meg and her family all sang "Come on Eileen" in the delivery room while Eileen was being born and while Meg thinks that Eileen belongs to her the truth is that we all love Eileen so much that we feel she is ours. The real truth is that we all belong to Meg and Eileen.

This photograph was taken at Camp Edwards' Family Camp over Labor Day 2008 where we have been going together since way before Eileen was born.

Helping Out Green Toys

Helping Out Green Toys

My brother, Robert, started http://www.greentoys.com/ and he needed some photographs of kids playing with his products. So I rounded up the little ones in the neighborhood and gave him some great images to use.

Green Toys may be found in every fine toy store as well as Target and Toys R Us. They're created from recycled plastic milk jugs, they're compostable, and they're made in the United States. Even the packaging is recyclable. Their latest toy is not a fire engine or a garbage truck. It's a recycling truck.

Sharon and Gracie Kissing

Sharon and Gracie Kissing

Gracie the Golden Retriever belongs to my friend Kathleen and last night when I got in Kathleen's car Gracie showed up from the back seat and kissed me. That's exactly what happened when my other friend, Sharon, jumped into Kathleen's pool this summer. Except you can't drown in a car.

Kelly on Martha's Vineyard

Kelly on Martha's Vineyard

This is my friend from high school, Kelly Hazelton. Except now she's Kelly Gordon because she married a big stud from the class before us and his name was Ronnie Gordon. Now it's "Mr. Kelly Gordon to you." We're all from Massena, New York. I lived there for twenty years and I've never been to New York City. Whatever. Kelly and Ronnie come to Martha's Vineyard every summer, driving all the way, and we all hang out on the beach and drink wine. The guys smoke cigars. We laugh our heads off. I think they're the coolest people I know. No, they are the coolest people I know.
-+*

Just a fun Martha's Vineyard picture

Just a fun Martha's Vineyard picture of my kids.

Art Buchwald

Art Buchwald, I loved him

OK, this isn't in color, as promised. But you can imagine the summer garden of the Harbor Side Hotel on Martha's Vineyard and the most fabulous event of the summer hosted by Art Buchwald. The Possible Dreams Auction which benefits Martha's Vineyard Community Services. I have received a back stage pass to this event to the envy of every photographer there, from the New York Times to Getty Images, simply because I volunteer for them and I give them my images to use in their marketing and public relations.

This photograph was taken the summer before Art got really sick and then, to the surprise of all of us, he made one more appearance. That next summer he came on stage and said that he was on his way to heaven and he told them that he had to make one more stop ... Martha's Vineyard. I met with him at his house after that last event, with my good friend Jan Hatchard. We watched an old war movie for a little bit and he showed me my photographs in his living room. I loved seeing him that one last time.

Erica Gets Married In a Tiara

Erica Gets Married in a Tiara

Erica's wedding seemed a little tame until the sun started to go down and all of the women started smoking cigars, including Erica. She happily allowed me to take this beautiful photograph of her which now hangs in her living room as a testament to her fun loving attitude. Note: You should see her other photographs!