Birthday Planning ideas and freebies!!!

Our son Trey will be turning 5 in 28 days. I am in the throws of party planning and thought I would share a few cool things I came across that would make great props for a photo shoot or a party, or both!

1. These cupcake tins. So love these. They can be used for a whole bunch of things. Great colorful prop for photos. And who doesn’t enjoy baking with the kids. Great photo opportunity.

Cups from Bake it Pretty

Cups from Bake it Pretty

2. Such a cool Super hero party plan with free invite download. Ohhhh would I love to photograph a party with this theme.  Actually if any one does do this party with all the details (and lives within 30 miles of 12309)  I will waive the sitting fee and come photograph it for FREE (if I have the date open) ! Unfortunately my son has no interest in the super hero theme so it won’t work for Trey’s party.

Picture and theme by Ambrosia Girl

Picture and theme by Ambrosia Girl

Free downloadable invite by Living Locurto

Free down loadable invite by Living Locurto

3. Great idea for a party I stumbled on on Elephantine blog, favors or wall art – using your favorite profile picture. Cool huh? These silhouettes are by Karl Johnson and were featured in Martha Stewart Weddings. Any clients who want to order one, I will send Karl your a digital copy of any profile pic from your session.

From a post by elephantine photos by Karl Johnson

From a post by elephantine photos by Karl Johnson

Isabella ~ newborn photosession sneak peek ~ Thea Coughlin albany ny photographer

This is Isabella and her beautiful parents. Can you feel the love?

It is Heather’s birthday today(Isabella’s mom),  so I just had to get a few sneak peeks up for her. More soon…

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Happy Birthday Heather!!!!

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Dana ~ theater headshots ~ Thea Coughlin Photographer Albany NY

_MG_2672-2This is the second time I have photographed Dana. She contacted me to have her head shots updated. During our session Dana told me she is most passionate about singing. When I got home her mother had sent me a link to this video. I was blown away. She is GOOD!

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_MG_2622Thanks Dana for a great session. Can’t wait to work with you again.

Art Retreats ~ Squam Art Workshops ~ New Hampshire

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For the past two years I have had the most wonderful time attending The Fall Squam Art Workshops. Imagine taking creative writing, jewelry, photography, sewing,knitting,songwriting, print making, illustration and more, from talented well known artists, while nestled in the woods overlooking a gorgeous lake.

The food is amazing, served in a large dining hall. Something for everyone, 3 times a day. Fireplaces in each cabin, housekeeping and fire set up ready to be lit each night. Yummy cozy down comforters, old fashion ice boxes, porches private docks to the lake. Man it is truly heavenly.

The creative genius behind these workshops is Elizabeth Macrelish. She has created a place where your creative spirit can be fully embraced and fed, no matter how far down you may feel it is buried.

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This year there are 5 offerings.

Spring

Wed, June 2 – Sun, June 6

The Pixie Session

Sun, August 29 – Thurs, Sept 2

Reader’s Retreat

Wed, Sept 1 – Sun, Sept 5

Fall

Wed, Sept 15 – Sun, Sept 19

Squam By The Sea

Wed, Oct 20 – Sun, Oct 24

Registration will be opening Monday February 1st so hurry up and check out the offerings! These retreats that will feed your heart and soul. If you can, treat yourself :)

Joy for Haiti ~ Myriam

Myriam, photo by Andrea Scher

Myriam, photo by Andrea Scher

My dear friend Jen, told me about Joy for Haiti ~ a mission of her friend Myriam.  Myriam was born here in the states but went to live with her family in Haiti when she was one. Her story of reconnecting to her roots and bringing hope and healing to Haiti is one of the soul touching kind. If you have a chance take a moment to visit her site.


Some fun this weekend

This weekend was pretty fun. Saturday we went to The Steamer No. 10 Theater for the first time. They were performing Charlotte’s Web. The theater was cozy and comfortable. The performance was entertaining and fun. It brought me back to going to see weekend performances at The Woodstock Playhouse. They have a lot planned for winter vacation and then in late February they are performing The Wizard of OZ. This is a great place to go with your wee ones.

Today we went to Woodland Hill Montessori for a Winter Carnival put on by The Children’s Guide of Albany NY. It was a great outing on a cold Sunday.It was our first time going to Woodland Hill. What a gorgeous school!

When we first arrived Trey didn’t want to go into the gym where all the events and tables were. He recently picked up saying ” I am not used to it” about things he is not that into. It could be a new piece of clothing, a new place or a new food.  With some coaxing he decided to check it out anyway. Trey and I both have pretty bad runny noses so we used a lot of hand sanitizer. About an hour and a half later we had to bribe him to leave.

It was a fun weekend.

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paige ~ theater headshots ~ thea coughlin photography albany ny

Many of the schools in our area require high school seniors to use the photography studio contracted by the school to get a senior portrait for the yearbook. Because of this, the market for senior pictures in the area is small. It makes me sad because as many of you know I taught high school biology for 5 years, and I just love working with teenagers.

Of course being required to use a photograph from a designated photographer for yearbook, doesn’t mean you can’t have photographs taken by another photographer, if you are looking for relaxed portraits that really showcase your personality at this wonderful time in your life. It just seems that junior year is jam packed with exams, applications, activities, college visits, car sharing. It is difficult to schedule the necessary things, never mind an extra photo session.

Because of these restrictions, the teens I do get to work with,  tend to come to me to have head shots taken for theater.

I so enjoyed working with Paige. She goes to College in Binghamton and was home for break this past week. Isn’t she gorgeous?

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by Thea

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Vlog

I have sessions to post about and some fun news , but all I managed to get posted was this short vlog.

***Excuse my eyes darting all over the place. I heard my son and his friend at the top of the stairs, and was trying to figure out what they were doing, without stopping the recording.

The little man and I are off for a visit to a friends overnight tomorrow (Wed) – but one to two new posts are coming Thursday.

by Thea

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…more lucas ~ thea coughlin baby photographer albany ny

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by Thea

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Haiti

There is much information available on how to contribute and help those in Haiti.

I have been away from the computer much of the days this week, but I did want to share with you these two lovely posts from my friends Stacie and Denise, that share some ways to help.

In addition to donating money I am sending as much positive love, thoughts and energy to all those in Haiti. What a devastating loss. My heart is heavy.

lucas ~ baby photography session ~ thea coughlin albany ny childrens photographer

This is just a teeny tiny peek at a 13 week old photography session I did Monday. This little guy was beyond cute. More to come.

I am a bit biased toward the color but mom and dad specifically requested bw images. All my photographs are presented in the ordering gallery in both color and bw so you can choose your favorite:)

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by Thea

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i heart faces best face photo contest ~ thea coughlin photography

I just found this great i heart faces blog. They have great photo challenges, photo tips and tutorials. They are celebrating their first year this week and so there are tons of fabulous contests. I thought I would enter this photo into the i heart faces contest this week.

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by Thea

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ella ~ baby photography session ~ thea coughlin albany ny photographer

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by Thea

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on my mind…Stratta

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I was introduced to Stratta on the first Christmas visiting my husbands family in Western NY. It takes just an hour to bake and is the epitome of ewy gooey goodness.

Stratta is a traditional breakfast at my in laws. It is always enjoyed on Christmas and Easter morning, as well as other special occasions. Even our 4.5 yr old loves it.

We were planning a brunch this past weekend and I decided, much to my husband and sons delight, this would be an easy menu item. You won’t believe how easy it is. Perfectly yummy for brunch on a cold winters day. Our plans changed so it ended up being breakfast for the boys. Hence the basketball pj’s:) Recipe below.

Recipe:
16 slices white bread-crust removed
1 stick softened butter
8 slices of cheddar cheese
8 slices ham
6 eggs
3 cups milk
1 cup crushed cornflakes

The night before:
Set aside half of the butter.
Use remaining butter to lightly butter both sides of bread. Using a 13×19 glass dish-lay out 8 slices of bread on bottom of pan. Cover each piece of bread with 1 slice cheddar cheese and one slice of ham. It is like you are making 8 ham and cheese sandwiches:) Now place remaining 8 slices of buttered bread on top.

Whisk together 6 eggs in a bowl. Add 3 cups of milk. Mix and then pour over the “sandwiches”. Cover with foil and refrigerate over night.

Preheat oven to 350.
Melt remaining half stick of butter. Put one cup cornflakes into a plastic baggy. Let 4.5 year old give it a few pounds to crunch the flakes a bit. Add flakes to melted butter, mix to coat. Spread corn flake mixture over top of Stratta. Bake for one hour.
Serve

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by Thea

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Newborn Photographs ~ Thea Coughlin Albany Photographer

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by Thea

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