The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

The holidays are here. It hardly seems possible! The studio has been buzzing in extra high gear since the middle of July with senior portrait shoots, families, new babies, weddings... Despite this economy, we have had the best year ever at C'est La Vie! Thank you to all of our amazing customers, we appreciate your business and your referrals. We have grown a thriving, exciting business with minimal advertising! How great is that? That says a lot about our high level of customer service and client satisfaction... we are VERY proud of that! We remain one of the most affordable custom design studios in the area and, we are happy to announce that we will keep our pricing the same for the 5th straight year!

While we reflect on the past year and and our many blessings, C'est La Vie Photography is at the very top of our list. It is our dream come true! What started out as a dream has now become our reality. We are thankful for every customer that has come to us to create their important portraits. We are thankful for our beautiful family and the support they have given us while we have pursued our dream. We wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Above is a small sampling of some of our favorite images captured over the past year. Enjoy!

Where did the summer go??

We have had a spectacular summer both at the Walsh home and in our wonderful studio. We have been thrilled with the work our C'est La Vie Photography Senior Representatives have done for our studio. We have been blessed with another wonderful senior season this year! Pictured above is Maddie, one of our 2010 Senior Representatives. We had so much fun photographing Maddie... we took her to many exciting places and she ended up with so many great shots!

The most exciting time of the year is at our doorstep... fall colors will soon be adorning our trees and our schedule will be brimming with anxious families and seniors. Each year we promise ourselves that we will remember to photograph our family too... here's to crossin' our fingers that this will be the year! We would love to hang a recent 40x60 canvas behind our sofa of our family too!

NEW THIS YEAR... Portrait & Purse parties! We will come to your home and set up our mobile studio to photograph your invited friends and children. As a hostess, you will receive a substantial gift from C'est La Vie depending on the total of your party. Each mini-session will last approximately 15-20 minutes. Your guests will have the opportunity to view and select their portraits at your party and select from our wide array of portrait boutique items; purses, sterling jewelry, custom framing, custom holiday cards, coffee table books... just to name a few! If you are interested, please contact the studio at 952-226-3996. This new concept is sure to be fun! What a great way to get a head start on the holiday shopping!

We hope to see you soon! Keep smiling! :O)

New Look, the same great photography!

C'est La Vie Photography has had a make-over! We have been told by other professional photographers over the years that we should change our studio name. The name C'est La Vie came to us after a lot of thought and consideration. When choosing a name for our studio over 10 years ago we wanted something out of the ordinary as that is the kind of photography and service we provide. We wanted something that had true meaning; C'est La Vie means "that's life!" in French. We loved the ring of the name, the meaning of the name and the fact that it was different. So many photographers just go with their name and with a name like Walsh, that is pretty "normal". So after a lot more thought and valued input from our friends, family and customers, it has been decided to KEEP the name C'est La Vie Photography!

So then on to the fact that we were recently critiqued on our logo... we were told to change it... make it simple, so we did! We really love our new look. We feel it truly identifies the studio; a bit trendy, a bit cool, but classy at the same time.

So... this is our new look, for the last time! We hope you all like it!

Ahhhh... Spring!

Spring is finally here and that means a lot at the Walsh house! Baseball, senior photo shoots, baseball, photographing weddings, baseball, boating, baseball, more photo shoots and even more baseball! Our oldest son plays traveling baseball and we really enjoy watching him play!

We recently returned from the Texas School of Photography at University of Texas, a photography school for professional photographers. We studied under the best photographers in the world. We came home with new found energy, creativity and ideas for our wonderful studio.

We are also very excited about C'est La Vie Photography's Senior Models chosen to reprent the studio for the 2010 seniors. We are looking forward to the greatest year yet!

We have several unique events planned for this year; Dog (and cat) Days of Summer; a charitable event for the Last Hope and Angels of Hope calendar photo contest; a charitable event for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Watch our Blog and Facebook Page for news and information about these exciting events.

Have a fun spring... be safe. We look forward to seeing your smiling faces!

Smiles,
Greg & Shireen Walsh

We are Facebookers!

2010 Senior Model Search Continues...

Our 2010 Senior Model search continues. We select 2 juniors (2010 grads) to represent our studio as a model and ambassador. This prestigious program gives you 2 free designer model photo sessions, customized business cards, custom DVD montage of all images for use on Facebook, ipod cast, etc. We offer the highest reward program in the area for our reps when they refer a friend or student to our studio. You will also have the opportunity to receive discounts on your final prints and open house announcements. Please visit our Facebook page and become our "friend". We offer specials only available to our Facebook friends C'est La Vie Photography Seniors, leave us an email on our website, or give us a call at 952-226-3996 if you would like to be a part of this fun and exciting program.

Already 6 months old!

Bella first came to our studio as a newborn. We did some AMAZING portraits of her and her parents; some are showcased on our website. Bella is one of our "Bella Bebe" members. Bella Bebe is our baby program. This program has become one of our most popular programs. We have photographed Bella at newborn, 3, and 6 months. She will return for her 9 month and 1 year portraits and we will then wrap them all up in the end in a beautiful piece of art for her family.

Painted Portrait For 2009 MN State Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships

This is the painting I did for IGM Gymnastics, the official host of the 2009 MN & IL State Rhythmic Gymnastics Competition, to be held March 21-22nd at Lifetime Fitness in Lakeville, MN. This painting will be used in their marketing and media material. Creating paintings from portraits is such a joy of mine. These pieces of artwork are becoming very popular pieces with our clients. Whether it is a portrait created by C'est La Vie Photography, or one of your favorite images of your own, I can create a wonderful painting from any image.

Buck Hill Racing Teams

Skiing has always been such a big part of our lives. We met in Winter Park, CO, on a ski trip over 21 years ago! Imagine what a thrill it was for us to be contracted by Buck Hill to photograph all of their race teams this year. Greg literally grew up at Buck Hill. He raced there as a kid and now we enjoy going there with our children. Buck Hill is known as the best ski racing programs in the entire country. More olympic skiers have come from Buck Hill then any other! There is still some good skiing to be had there this spring!

economy, economy, economy....

The most over-used, upsetting word we hear about 100 times per day right now. Times are not fun... in fact, they are difficult. As Greg and I reflect over the past year; our accomplishments, goals, and our dreams, we realize that somethings do happen for a reason.

We have gone back and forth for several years on new studio space; something bigger, something that is over the top... better than the rest... really.. really COOL! But, our customers kept repeating, don't move, we LOVE your studio, so we have remained in our "smaller than we would like" studio. It does the job, and quite well we might add. Yeah, it could be bigger, and... oh, the things we would LOVE to have in it. But, now we are so happy that we have listened to our customers and our "budget" & remained steady in our nice studio. Our over-head is low and thus, we are able to keep our prices very affordable. While other photographers who have built their dream studios, with all of the debt that comes with it, are suffering in this economy, we have had the blessing of a wonderful growth. With our level of experience, expertise and quality, our prices remain the most affordable in the area. As my mother always says, "be careful what you wish for..." If our dreams would have come true a year or two ago and we had built our dream studio, we truly feel that we would not be enjoying the business we are today.

We truly feel that everyone deserves spectacular portraits of their family. In light of this economy, we have kept our 2008 pricing in place.

Thank you so much to our faithful and loyal customers. Each and every one of you mean the world to us! We appreciate your business!

2010 Senior Model Search Begins...

Well, it is that time of year again! Where does the time go??? We are beginning our interviews for our very popular Senior Model and Rep Program for the class of 2010. We will be choosing 2 juniors from each local high school to represent our studio. Each lucky student will receive 2 FREE glamour photo shoots; one in our studio and the other at several trendy locations. Our reps have a great time while earning rewards for referring other students to our studio.

If you are interested in being considered to rep for one of the hottest, rising studios in the south metro, please contact our studio at 952.226.3996 to set up an interview. Final selections will be made by March 25th and photo shoots will begin in April. Come see what all the buzz is about!!

Here is what one of previous reps have said about her experience:

"I liked the fact that my portraits stood out... they were so awesome and different than everybody elses. I had so much fun!" ~Kaylee Johnson, Class of 2009, Prior Lake H.S.

Baby Addison

Welcome to the world Addison! We had the joy of photographing Nick and Angie's precious baby girl, Addison. She is just beautiful. We photographed Nick and Angie's wedding last fall. It has been so fun watching this family grow as we bond with them as friends. Although they live in Watertown, MN, we are lucky that they make the trip to our studio for their portraits.

C'est La Vie has gone to the dogs...!

We also love to photograph the other important family member; THE DOGS & CATS! This beautiful portrait was turned into a stunning hand-painted, 30x40 canvas gallery wrap. C'est La Vie Photography is very well known for our unique style of pet photography. Give us a call for the perfect potrait of your pretty pooch!