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Archive: ‘Business Update’

The Part You Play…

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

I love my job! I’m so blessed to get to meet so many wonderful people and have them invite me into their lives to document their special moments and the love and growth of their families over time.

But this job is not an easy one. So often people assume that if you have a nice camera you can take professional grade photos and it’s simply not true. There is so much more that goes into truly great photographs than just having nice equipment. Really understanding your equipment and what it takes to get those genuine smiles as well as the serious faces that capture your heart in a professional photographers images.

On top of the skills that are required, there is an unlimited list of things we are doing behind the scenes. We’re doing our financial paperwork, working on marketing pieces, writing blog posts, educating others, educating ourselves, updating our websites and portfolios, retouching images, creating Facebook features, designing albums and other products, contacting clients, and so much more. And that’s just what we do for work! Many of us are also running households and in charge of making meals, cleaning house and doing laundry.

But there is one reason we keep working away. There is one thing that continues to motivate us and encourage us to keep moving forward. And that’s the love support and encouragement of our clients! Nothing makes me happier than seeing the joy on my clients faces when they receive their final products or the tears in their eyes when they view their images for the first time. It’s the little notes and emails from clients expressing how much they enjoyed their session and how thrilled they are with their products. It’s the kind reviews you post on our websites or google.

In reality, we may be running the business, but you – our loyal and supportive clients – You are the reason we are here! You are the backbone of our business. Without you we wouldn’t be able to do what we so love to do! We wouldn’t be able to continue providing you with those precious moments you will cherish for years. So thank you to all of my amazingly wonderful clients! I can’t begin to express how thankful I am to have you on my team!

Well I hope you’re having a great Wednesday and I’ll see you back here on Friday!

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Posted in Business Update, Personal | 1 Comment »

Announcing the 2013 Senior Reps for Green Tree Media Photography

Monday, April 30th, 2012

I am so excited to finally announce the 2013 Senior Reps for Green Tree Media Photography! This is our first year running an officially model program, and I’ve been anxiously awaiting the day that I would have the headshots for all these lovely young ladies and gents so I can show you the awesome group of young adults we have supporting the Green Tree Media family! So without further ado… Our senior reps are: Jessica Schuerman from St. Teresa, Colton Hart also from St. Teresa, Skyler Taylor from LSA, Jeremy Pezzelle also from LSA, Josie Santiago from Argenta-Oreana, and Alex Stupeck also from Argenta Oreana. So as you can see we have two kids representing LSA, St. Teresa, and A&O this year and I couldn’t be happier with the amazing individuals I have for my first year doing the Senior Rep Program! So here’s a peek at each senior’s headshot in the order listed above

One of the things we are focusing on in our senior campaign this year is Who You Are? Your One Word Description. So I posed the question to my seniors… What one word defines you? And here’s what they had to say!

We ended the mini session with some group shots. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get all six seniors together for these. (The end of the school year always gets so busy!) But we had fun with each group! So our first group was the LSA and St. T seniors:

And our second group was the Argenta-Oreana girls:

Well I hope you had fun getting to meet my senior reps this year! I’m so excited to be working with all of them! They are a very attractive and wonderful group of young people and I’m just tickled to death to have them supporting the business this year! Keep your eyes open for more updates as the year goes on showcasing these awesome guys and gals! Have a great Monday!

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Posted in Business Update, Senior Photos | No Comments »

Baby Step towards a Dream

Friday, April 13th, 2012

If you’ve been to my website, you may have looked around and taken a peek into what some of my dreams are. Among the list of big and small hopes there’s one dream that I’m hoping to make a reality sometime in the very near future. And that’s to be published.

I know what it’s like to see a logo I designed or a billboard I created up for the whole world to see. It’s exciting and it makes me feel really proud! Sometimes it’s easy to get down on yourself and think that you’re not as good as you should be or need to be. That you won’t succeed. I believe that getting published is one of the first ways I’ll know I’m succeeding… that I’m doing something right. To have you images on a forum or in a magazine that reaches hundreds of thousands of people – that’s an honor and an exciting thought!

Well I seem to have taken my first baby steps towards getting published this week because on Wednesday one of my sessions was featured on the ShopTalk blog. I was so excited when I found out I was going to get featured. I don’t know how much exposure I’ll get from it, but what’s awesome in my mind is that this is the first step! While this blog is more for photographers, my hope is to have my artwork show up on blogs or in magazines that cater more to my kind of clients.

If you’re interested at peeking at the feature, you can find it here: http://www.shoptalkphotography.com/2012/04/11/stephanie-gagnon/ I’d love for you to leave your thoughts or comments either over on the ShopTalk blog or here! And thank you to all my amazing clients who’ve encouraged and helped me over the years! Without you guys, I definitely wouldn’t have made it this far!

I hope you’re all having a great Friday and I’ll see back here next week! Until then, remember…

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Posted in Business Update, Personal | 2 Comments »

Green Tree Media now on Pinterest!

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

I’ve had a personal pinterest account for quite some time now and I absolutely love it! So I decided it was high time Green Tree Media had it’s own account for our clients to pull ideas and inspiration from! Currently we’re using our pinterest page to share ideas for outfits for your session needs and tips for your session as well hair and make up ideas. Here’s just a few of our pins right now:

We would love to have you follow us on pinterest if you’re interested in seeing some outfit, make up and pre-session tips! If you’ve got suggestions for what you’d like to see boards of on our pinterest page – just let us know! We’re super excited for this new web offering we have available for all our clients. So here’s the link to our pinterest page: http://www.pinterest.com/greentreemedia

Hope you all are having a wonderful week! See you back here in a couple days!

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Products: Facebook Timeline Covers

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

With the new arrival of timeline to Facebook, I decided I really wanted to help you be able to share your session photos in a fun and awesome way in your cover image. You may have noticed the update to the Green Tree Media Facebook page. I had so much fun putting together the new cover image and updating the links! If you haven’t seen it – here’s a picture or you can check it out in person at http://www.facebook.com/GreenTreeMediaPhotography

So I wanted to show you some samples of the other cover images I’ve put together to give you an idea of what you can get if you’d like your own custom designed cover image. So here’s just a few samples

So as you can see – there’s a lot of different options and styles and ways I can create your cover photo. I’m really excited about this new way of sharing pictures on Facebook and I hope you are too! If you’re interested in one – feel free to contact me through my Facebook page or via email (stephanie@greentreemediaonline.com) and we’ll get cracking on making one for you!

I hope you’re all having a wonderful Wednesday (don’t forget to enter the cheerleader raffle at St. T) and I’ll see you here on Wednesday!

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St. Teresa Cheerleader Fundraiser | Decatur, IL

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

This past Saturday we were lucky enough to get to set up our booth for another show. This one was to help the St. Teresa Cheerleaders raise money. We set our booth up very similar to at Lady Palooza with a few alterations, but we were very excited to see all the visitors, meet some new people, and chat with some familiar faces.

We snagged a couple of pics of the booth with our phones too – so here’s what it looked like if you missed it:

Of course I had to get one of my little model, Miss Angel. She got herself all prettied up for the event. Her momma put mascara on her and she got a purple streak in her hair. She was looking awfully darn grown up and did a great job representing Green Tree Media for me!

There were a bunch of other awesome booths too! There was Pampered Chef, 31, Scentsy, several jewelry booths, Tastefully Simple, Studio 7 and a massage booth (so cool). Angel was uber excited about Studio 7s glittery “tattoos” She desperately wanted a sparkly diamond. She was happy as a clam when her momma said she could get one.

The massage booth seemed to be very popular! They were giving a free massage – which is awesome! I heard nothing but good things about her massages! And they’re located in Decatur! I don’t know about you, but I think I’m going to be looking into stopping by!

Best of all – the raffle for all the free goodies is continuing on this week! There’s all kinds of wonderful things you can enter to win! Tickets are $1.00 each or $5.00 for an arms length and can be bought at the St. Teresa office. The deadline for entering is April 10th so hurry and buy your tickets ASAP! Here’s a list of some of the things you can win:

Beauty Package
- 1 hour massage from Amy’s Massage and reflexology
- Cloud 9 body scrub and body butter from Studio 7
- Warming Face mask from BeautiControl
- Pedicure Kit from Mary Kay

Accessories Package
- Hair Clips from It’s a Girl Thing
- Nail Files and coupon from Petals
- Pumpkin Marshmallow Scentsy Block
- Earrings
- Bracelet from Stella and Dot Jewelry

Food Package
- Mixing Bowl from Pampered Chef
- Marinade and Mojito Mix from Tastefully Simple

Photo Package
- Half off a photo session from Green Tree Media
- Free Tutu from Amber Freund
- Lunch Tote from 31 Gifts

Hope you’re all having a great Monday! See you back here soon! Don’t forget go support the St. Teresa Cheerleaders and but some raffle tickets!

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Posted in Business Update, Event Photography, Personal | 1 Comment »

Last Chance to Apply to Be a Senior Model!!!

Friday, March 23rd, 2012

Well it’s here! Friday, March, 23rd! And it’s your last chance to sign up to be a senior model with Green Tree Media! I just wanted to remind you why you may want to sign up for this awesome opportunity… So here it is!

1) Discount! Discount! Discount!
This is the reason mom and dad will love you being a senior model! As one of our reps, you’re going to be entitled to a pretty great discount! I don’t do discounts very often so this is a pretty big deal and only a very select few people will be selected to be models so you’re definitely not going to want to mis out on the savings!

2) Custom Tailored Session
All our seniors get custom tailored sessions, but we go the extra distance for our models. We will sit down with you and discuss some of your ideas for what you’d like to do for your session and work out a fun, new and unique way to represent you in your senior photos!

3) Celebrity Treatment Optional Add-On
You’re only a senior once and I want you to feel extra special and awesome! If you are interested in the celebrity treatment, I do have a hairdresser/make up artists who will pamper you and doll you up so you’re looking extra fine for your session. We’re still working out the details on this, but by the time we’re scheduling sessions everything should be in place.

4) Your Own Web Page and Business Cards
As a senior representative for Green Tree Media, we want you to take an active role in being a part of our business. That’s why we give all senior models a set of business cards with one of your favorite pictures on it, and a web page where you get to share a little about yourself and your senior video! Want to see what our senior model, Jackie’s page look like last year? Check her page out here: http://greentreemediaonline.com/jackiefisher

5) Help us Spread the Word!
Besides passing out your business cards, we’ll be asking you to refer your friends to Green Tree Media too! This is something we definitely need your help with too! We hope that you have so much fun with us that you’ll want your friends to come and share in the fun too! Plus, every friend you refer to us who books a session will earn you credits toward your print and product purchases!

Here’s just a peek at a few of our seniors last year:

And don’t forget at Green Tree Media – you have unlimited outfit changes, we can go to different locations, you can include cars, pets, siblings, etc and there is no additional fee!

I love doing senior sessions! I think they’re so fun and exciting, and I love meeting my seniors every year! You guys and gals inspire me! And nothing brings me more joy than to celebrate you! To capture what makes you Awesome and to help share your story with your family, friends, and the world! I can’t wait to meet you guys this year! Let’s make it a great one together!

In case you need it… the link for the online application is: http://greentreemediaphotography.wufoo.com/forms/2012-green-tree-media-senior-modelrep-form/ Don’t miss out!!!

Have an awesome Friday everybody and a great weekend!!!

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Posted in Business Update, Senior Photos | No Comments »

My First Experience with Lady Palooza

Friday, March 9th, 2012

Well it’s Friday and I’m still pumped about Lady Palooza last night – so I thought I’d share some of my thoughts on my first real experience with a booth event. I’ve only been to one show before and it was a bridal show up in Morris, IL. I was a brand spankin’ new photographer back then and I’ll be honest – I had no idea what I was supposed to do for one of these events! So it was a less than stellar or exciting thing.

This time though – I know who I am as a professional. I have a strong brand and I knew what I wanted to do… I only had three days to do it – but I definitely knew what I was trying to do! I’ll admit – I’m a little biased, but I think our booth turned out awesome! We did somethings to kind of set ourselves apart as different and hopefully peek some interest into who we are.

Most booths are set up with one 8 foot table, chairs behind for the vendors to sit in and all their products displayed on that one 8 foot table. I’ve always felt like that set up creates space… it separates the browser from the vendor and it’s not what I would call inviting. It’s usually just a jumble of products and a person hidden behind it. What I really wanted to do was create an inviting space that still showed off all my goodies.

So what we did was push our 8 foot table up against the wall, add another table to one side to create an “L” and we added two chairs to the other side to create a nice little seating area for us or the shoppers. Silly as it may sound – I proud as all get out that we were the only table that thought to do this at Lady Palooza! And if you know me – you know pink isn’t my favorite color (haha) so we covered up that bright pink table cloth with our own off white one added a green sash down the center and WALA – you’ve got Green Tree Media business colors going on. The idea I had in my head for the booth was a lot more grandios, but for putting everything together in just three days – I’m pretty pleased!

The pictures don’t do the booth justice and they were just taken with our iPhones so they’re nothing spectacular, but I just had to share our handy work with you because I’m so darned proud of it! Enjoy!

Well I hope you enjoyed the little peek at our first booth! We had fun setting it up and meeting everyone last night! I’d love to hear what you think about the booth! I always love feedback! Enjoy your Friday and the awesome weekend ahead! We’ll see you back her on Monday!

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Products: Mini Books

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

So on this Wednesday morning I thought I would release another product that we’re offering this year at Green Tree Media, and you can take a gander at these in person at Lady Palooza Thursday night.

These little Mini Books are wallet sized so they fit perfectly in your purse. (In fact, I currently have 4 of these in my purse – haha) I love how cute and tiny they are! They’re such a perfect little brag book to carry around pictures of your family or kiddo and you can even get them designed as a calendar so they’re functional too!

Of course if you’d rather have bigger pictures – you can just get one of our Mini Books as a miniature version of a picture book. They’re great for families, kids, seniors, engagements, etc. I’m just obsessed with these!

So there’s a quick peek at the new Mini Books. You can also get these in a 3×3 size. I currently don’t have any samples of them, but I’m hoping to have at least one before to long! I hope you’re all enjoying your Wednesday!

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Posted in Business Update, Products | No Comments »

Sessions + School Events + Lady Palooza = A Busy Awesome Week

Monday, March 5th, 2012

Well hello there! Happy Monday to you! Today is a busy, busy, exciting day! In fact, this whole week is going to be a crazy, busy, awesome week! And I’m giddy with glee for everything that’s in store!

Today I get to take photos for one of my favorite six year olds! Angel is six years old today! I know her momma and she are off getting their nails and hair done for an extra little pampering for the birthday girl on her big day and I know we’re going to have a lot of fun taking pictures of the sweet little lady.

Tomorrow I will be out of the office all day. It’s a big day of community service and activities at LSA tomorrow and I will be there to document all the giving and fun! So from 9 am to 3 pm I’m going to be running around like a crazy person documenting all the festivities! It’ll be a blast and I can’t wait to meet more of the kids!

Believe it or not I’ll be at LSA again on Wednesday til noon. We have chapel in the morning and then I’ll be taking pictures of some of the extra curricular organization, a couple of sports teams, and some of the faculty. So over the course of this week – I’m going to be meeting a lot LSA and I couldn’t more thrilled about it!

Thursday is my most exciting announcement! Thursday evening from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm is Lady Palooza at the Mt. Zion Convention Center, and guess who’s going to have a booth there…. That’s right Green Tree Media!!! I’m so excited to be able to be a part of this event – we’re going to have a deal going for the 4 hours during the show and possibly a give away! I’m still working out the details – but you’ll have to come on over to the show to find out! So don’t forget to mark your calendars “Lady Palooza, Mt. Zion Convention Center, 4-8pm” – I hope, hope, HOPE to see you there!

Friday is most likely going to be my wind down and prep for an anniversary session for two lovely people in Charleston on Saturday!

Just typing this I got a little tired (hahaha) – it’s going to be crazy and tons of fun and I’m so excited! I hope you all are having a wonderful Monday today! See you on Wednesday!

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