Cyber Monday Gift Certificate Sale!

CYBER MONDAY SALE! Don't wait any longer to save your old memories, books, scrapbooks and photo albums AND give the gift of creating new memories with your family too.  Buy any gift certificate over $200 and save $25 OR buy any gift certificate under $200 and save $10.

Cyndi Shattuck Photography has expanded photography services including photo album restoration, professional bookbinding, book collection consultations, photo and document scanning, photo and document conservation, self publishing help, and more.

Check out the new website at www.archive-my-memories.com.



Unlimited gift certificates can be purchased. Offer good through November 29th, 2011 - midnight.

Order gift certificates by phone 917.612.2657 or email cyndi@cyndishattuck.com

Fall Photos in the Park - $275!

This is probably the most popular promotion I do each year. Fall in New York City is always my favorite season and I love getting the chance to spend some extra time in Central Park too.  Have your family, child or engagement portraits done now for holiday cards! It really is the perfect time to have your photos taken in Central Park.

We are scheduling sessions for most weekends in September and October.

Each portrait session is 45 minutes with unlimited exposures.  The price includes a DVD of your images, all images in color and black-and-white, a personal website of your images, and a softcover proof book.

Read More on Trya Banks Website!

I was interviewed by one of Tyra Bank's staff writer for Tyra's website "Type F" a few weeks ago and the article just posted. It's really a fun piece and they gave me an entire paragraph in the story. Read more about how to prepare for your engagement photos (or really any outdoor shoot).

The full list of what I suggest to prepare for your photo shoot can be found on my website under the "prep" tab or read a partial listing below:

LADIES
– If you wear a black or navy shirt, please wear a black bra too. White or off-white bras often show through dark colored shirts when photographed.
– Please get a manicure the day before your shoot. Hands are often photographed.
– You should wear a LOT more makeup than they usually would wear. Please use a lot of foundation too and bring extra lipstick and powder.
– Please wear a clear deodorant if you are going to wear a sleeveless shirt.

GENTLEMEN
– Gentlemen, please use a good hand cream the evening before AND the day of your shoot. Think about getting a “nailpolish-free” professional manicure too.
– Please trim eyebrows, nose hair and ear hair within 24 hours before your photo shoot.
– Please wear a lot of antiperspirant/powder and a tee-shirt under your shirt to absorb perspiration.

NOTES FOR EVERYONE
– Do NOT wear perfume or cologne the day of your photo shoot.
– Please wear sunscreen and wear or bring insect repellent to the shoot.
– Do not drink alcohol for at least 24-48 hours before your photo shoot.
– Everyone should try and get a good night’s sleep the evening before your shoot.
– Drink lots of water for 24-72 hours before and eat something right before your shoot.
– Please brush your teeth and floss before your shoot.

Makeup for Men?

Do I really need makeup for my portrait? This is probably the most often asked question when we do professional portraits for men. The answer is YES! Makeup for men does cost less than makeup for women (what's new--have you been to a dry cleaner recently?), it does smooth out your skin tone, cover up a little bit of beard shadow, and helps you look as bright and alert as your female colleagues in their portraits.

Sounds better and better, right?

A good makeup artist like Andrea Kooharian, or Sharon Becker, will make your makeup look completely natural and match your foundation perfectly to your skin tone. Sharon did the makeup for the portrait of the gentleman above. Andrea did the makeup for the gentleman in the portrait below.

I also include retouching with every portrait package, so between the makeup and some retouching, the men who come to us for a portrait look wonderful. Dark circles are lightened, facial stubble reduced, wrinkles are reduced (but not removed), and bumps are eliminated.

Read below for my clothing and preparation tips for men:

1. For BUSINESS portraits: please avoid wearing a white shirt. Cream, tan, pink, gray are all better.

2. Absolutely no stripes less than 1 inch apart on clothing. These stripes when photographed, especially for web use, create something called a moiré pattern, which is almost like an optical illusion or swirl patterns. Pinstripes are usually fine because they are far enough apart.

3. No really small, fine patterns either such as gingham check or hounds tooth! The same problem will occur (see #2). Bold prints and stripes at least 1” apart are usually fine.

4. Please avoid wearing any cologne or perfume on the day of your shoot. Please refrain from alcohol for 48 - 72 hours before your shoot, and no smoking!

5. Try and get a good night’s sleep (8 hours or more) the evening before your shoot. Drink lots of water for 48 - 72 hours and eat something before your shoot.

6. Bring a toothbrush and toothpaste in a small bag. Eat a snack or meal before your shoot too!

Prep for Professional Makeup & Looking Your Best

GENTLEMEN: If you get red or bumpy from shaving think about shaving late the evening before to keep irritation down.

-- Please be sure to apply a lip balm, under eye moisturizer and a face moisturizer before you arrive.

-- Please use a good hand cream the days before your shoot and wear to your shoot as well. Consider getting a “nail-polish free” manicure the day before or the day of your shoot. Hands often show in photos.

-- Please trim or tweeze eyebrows, ears, nose hair and do any other facial “manscaping” you can!

-- Please wear a lot of antiperspirant/powder and a tee-shirt under your shirt to absorb wetness. Also please bring an extra shirt in case you perspire through the first shirt and you aren’t wearing a blazer.

-- Bring extra clothing and ties to your shoot so we can decide which one will photograph best.

A Valentine's Day Gift That Will Last Forever

Give your Valentine a gift that will last forever...buy your Valentine a photo session for Valentine's Day! Each gift certificate is good for a one hour photo session in your home or Central Park. The photo session also includes a personal website of your images and a DVD of your images OR a hard cover proof book, $300. Gift certificates come personalized and packaged in beautiful silver envelopes. Additional transportation costs may apply outside of Manhattan. This price does not include sales tax.

Holiday Card Design HELP!

Happy December! A lot of my clients have been asking me how to create holiday cards with their images. I am always happy to offer design services for the time-pressed or not-so-tech-savvy clients out there, but thought I should offer this as well to all.

I've been using iPhoto services for cards for awhile now and love the ease of the software for my clients. The printing quality has been wonderful too, as well as the price! I used iPhoto to design thank you cards from pictures from my wedding!

One additional tip: To write on the iPhoto cards purchase some Ultra Fine Point Sharpie markers.

There are a lot of other really cool companies out there too for holiday cards. Below are a few of my favorites:
Moo- http://us.moo.com/products/holiday-cards.html
Tiny Prints - http://www.tinyprints.com/
Wedding Paper Divas - http://www.weddingpaperdivas.com/
Minted - http://www.minted.com/
Forever Fiances - http://www.foreverfiances.com/category_s/160.htm
Simple Card - http://www.simplecard.com/?cid=mp_com_homepage_simplecard
Paper Culture - http://www.paperculture.com/

Instructions for Designing and Ordering iPhoto Cards

1) Open up iPhoto and import the picture(s) you would like to use in your card from the folder on your DVD or desktop. You need 300 dpi images (high res jpgs) for printed cards. You can import photos by clicking on them and dragging them into the main iPhoto screen or go to the iPhoto "File" menu > select "Import to library…" and select your images.

2) Once your photos are imported, click on the “Photos” icon on the list on the left of your screen under the “Events” icon. Scroll and find your newly imported photos. If they are not all in the same section or “album” please click and drag them all into the same album/section.

3) Hold down the shift key and click on all of the photos in your album. You will need to select all of the photos you would like to use. All of the photos in your album will now be highlighted with a border.

4) Now click on the icon labeled "Card" in the center of the bottom of your screen, next to the "Calendar" button. A new menu showing different card designs will pop up.

5) Choose a design from the list on the left and click on a card design too. Once you have made your selection, click on the blue “Choose” button in the lower right corner.

6) Your card will automatically load with images! Voila! You can make additional design changes now by selecting the front or inside of your card and then clicking on the "Design" button at the bottom of the screen. Make changes to the color, theme or orientation with the additional buttons at the bottom of your screen too.

7) You can adjust the image size and the placement of the images by clicking on each image. A slider pops up so you can zoom in or out of each selected image. If you want to move images around, just click and drag them into another image box.

8) Type any text you would like in the text areas. To change the color, size and font, click on the "Edit" menu at the top of your screen > select "Font". A font menu will pop up. Make sure you highlight the text before you make changes to the text.

9) Once you are happy with the design of your card click on the “Buy Card” button in the lower right corner of your screen. Don't forget to double check spelling!

10) Order cards and make yourself a cup of hot chocolate!

Happy card-making!

FREE Engagement Photo Day! Join us on Saturday, May 22nd!

A few of the other wedding photographers I know also organize a FREE engagement photo day in NYC. I thought it was a great idea and I wanted to extend this offer to my clients this year too.

Please forward this link out to any newly engaged couples still looking for the right wedding photographer too!

This day is specially designed for newly engaged couples who still haven't found the photographer to match their personal style for their wedding. This 30 MINUTE FREE engagement photo session gives us a chance to know each other better, you can see how I work, and this day gives you a chance for you to begin to get comfortable in front of a camera (before your big day filled with lots and lots of pictures).

You will leave your private photo session with beautiful pictures for your friends and family, full usage rights to your images for photo prints, social networking, and your wedding website.
After the photo session a DVD of images will be available for you with both color and black-and-white images for you to choose from.

One couple will win a FREE PHOTO GUESTBOOK for their wedding!

During your photo session you will also have the additional assistance of a professional makeup artist, Sue Perez, who will be there for touch-ups and styling.

Please note: This day may fill up quickly and there is a chance that not everyone will get an appointment! If you are interested in joining us, please email us by MAY 15th, 10AM at cyndi@cyndishattuck.com with the following information:

-- Your full names
-- Email addresses & mobile phone numbers
-- Your wedding date and location
-- A few sentences about how you met and your wedding plans

Looking forward to meeting you and seeing your new sparkly bling!