Lifestyle Family Portraits Contest

I'm sure I'm not the only one itching for spring around here, so I thought a look back at last year's beautiful warm sessions would be nice. And we're going to have a little contest! The family session with the most votes by March 14th will receive either a 16x20 canvas wrap or an accordion book. (Winner chooses the prize as well as the photo(s) used.) 

How to Vote:

Leave a comment below telling us the name of the family AND what you love most about the photo you're voting for. "The ____ family's photo is the best because ________."

You must include both of these things or your vote will not count. Please note that some of my clients share the same first name, so the family's last name must be used! One vote per Facebook account. Voting ends at midnight Friday March 14. Winners will be announced as soon as votes can be validated and counted.

Thank you for your support of CGP! I'm very excited to see what 2014 will bring!

Update: (3/17) - The contest has ended and the winner has been contacted via email. Congrats to the Bylsma Family!

The Headlee Family

The Surface Family

The Wright Family

The Varner Family

The Christensen Family

The McElhiney Family

The Joyner/Janisch Family

The Moulton Family

The Bylsma Family 

 The Messer Family

The Jaspers Family

The Miranda Family 

Dreaming of having images like this of your family?

Contact me now to learn more!

Big Dreams for Caitlin Gerres Photography

I don’t think I would ever classify myself as a dreamer. I think I’m a little too realistic for that. Sure, I can fill my Pinterest boards with dream wedding, dream home, and dream hair photos, but I know that’s not my life. And honestly, if I got all of those things, I know they wouldn't make me happy.

Because as much as I don’t live like it sometimes, I know THINGS don’t make people happy.

So I haven’t spent much time dreaming big for my photography business. Shoot, right now dreaming big sounds like booking a full summer of 20ish weddings and hiring the same 2nd shooter for all of them. And then finishing the season with a relaxing beach vacation. That’s what dreaming big is to me.

But I don’t think that’s really all that big. I think that’s a year or two away for me. Obviously it’s a little hard to project that, but my business is definitely headed that direction.

So let’s dream bigger. Let’s dream so big that I know there will be failure in at least some of these areas. Failure is scary. The fear of failure is why I dream small. Why I dream manageable. I beat myself up inside if I don’t accomplish the goals that I set for myself. Which is partially why my personal and business goals for 2014 are NOT measurable. (How’s that for breaking the rules!) So I don’t want to focus on these items as being goals for myself, not even big hairy audacious goals. Let’s just call them  BHADs, big hairy audacious dreams.

BHAD #1 – Have a shoot featured on Every Last Detail, one of my favorite wedding blogs.

BHAD #2 – Shoot someone’s proposal, engagement session, wedding, and maternity session.

BHAD #3 – Shoot an engagement session in NYC… at Christmas… with snow on the ground.

BHAD #4 – Attend WPPI and the Pursuit 31 Conference… in the same year.

BHAD #5 – Shoot a destination wedding in the Caribbean.