Northwest Indiana Photographer, Valparaiso Photographer – Samantha Uphold Photography » Northwest Indiana Photographer, Porter County Photographer, Valparaiso Photographer, Newborn Photography, Child Photography, Family Photography, Senior Photography

Come to the *new*, *fabulous*, *fantastic* Butterfly Kisses location Tuesday night for the “Zutano my baby” kick off party.  Jennifer, the owner of Butterfly Kisses, and I have teamed up once again to bring you fashion + mini sessions!!  Zutano is one of my favorite lines of children’s clothing.  It is so well made – so durable – so colorful – and so reasonable!!  If you haven’t checked it out before, now is the time to do so.  Your purchase could qualify you for a complimentary mini session!!  Details below.

If you know you would like a 2009 session, NOW is the time to buy a gift certificate for a session fee!!  For 1 Day, you can get a full session ($175) for only $100!!  Please contact me by midnight to purchase this gift certificate!! Sale ends 1/24/08 at 12:00 a.m.  Emails would be appreciated if it is getting down to the wire.  ;)

samantha@samanthauphold.com

or 

405-5117

What an amazing day for our country. What an incredible day to be an educator. The excitement was tangible today, even in the 5th grade classroom in which I teach. I was so happy to be able to witness this extraordinary moment of American history with my current students. Knowing that this moment will be recorded in the history books read by their children is a pretty cool thing. I had my camera there to document the moment and the overall excitement. Watching 60+ 5th grade students clap and cheer at all of the right moments during President Obama’s inaugural speech was priceless. Joining them in standing and singing our national anthem, looking forward with a sense of hope and commitment to making this world better, was an incredible moment and feeling that I will never forget.

A moment in history.  

The biggest Obama fan in the 5th grade

I asked the kids to write how the felt after hearing Obama’s speech.  That was the only direction I gave.  The responses they came up with made me so proud from a teacher’s perspective -and excited from the perspective of an American.  :)

I do an activity in my class called “Song of the Week”, where we analyze figurative language in popular songs. Below is our song of the week.

The video below is for my students. They will understand why I picked this clip – so many reasons.

With ABDC!  It’s a little scary how excited I am for this new season.  Thanks to another snow, er, freezing cold day, I get to lay in bed and blog while catching up on ABDC’s season premiere { Yes, I still have to “catch” shows when they come back on.  Lame, I know! I am patiently waiting for my dvr appt to come so I can officially enter the 21st century.  Shhh…hubby doesn’t know yet – he seems to think it is “unneccessary”.  Um, yeah, I agree – it is.  Just about as unnecessaary as HD, NFL Ticket, and the hunting/fishing/speed channels that we also have.  It’s MY turn! }  If I could pick to have any other talent, dancing like this would be it!  I’m in constant awe of how dancers so flawlessly move their bodies.  Awe, I tell you, awe.  They are AWEsome.  

Anywhooooo…the girl crews are ROCKIN’ it this season!  I’m a little sad that G.O.P was eliminated.  I understand why they were, but I loved how they came from the streets of Puerto Rico and turned their hardships into such a beautiful art form.  Boxcuttahz and Dynamic Edition were so quirky and cute!  I can’t wait to see what else they come up with.  And, uh, Ringmasters?  WHAT?!?!?  My mouth was open the WHOLE time – so afraid that their shoulders were going to break.  Wow!  Then, of course, since I’m a major sap…Lil’ Mama made me cry when she started.  Yes, I just admitted to the whole cyber world that I *cried* during this show.  Go ahead, judge away…..  :)  I have a bit of a soft spot in my heart for Brooklyn, after visiting it for just a bit this summer.  My dad and I both agree, it is someplace we’d like to go back to and spend more time. We took the subway there, and stayed long enough to look around, and then walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.  I can’t wait to go back. But, I digress….

Are there any dance crews in the area?  If so, hit me up!  219.405.5117.  I NEED to photograph you!  

Best Job in the World?  Do you have it?  I feel like I have the best 2 jobs in the world – teacher and photographer.  I love my work, and I couldn’t ask for more.  However, the following website does make a woman generally in love with her professional life question whether she actually DOES have the best job in the world.  

The Best Job in The World

How would you like to get paid 100K to hang out on an island in the Great Barrier Reef?  Fo reals, y’all.  Go check it out!  Anyone can apply!  :)

Since I will most definitely be sticking around the Region – I am going to be doing a series of blog posts about local professionals that I believe in and think are just totally wonderful.  I hope to do one a week, but we’ll see how well I can keep up with interviews and photo scheduling.   I have a long list of business that I want you all to know about.  But, I’m always looking for new places to shop and support.  If you know of a local business that is wonderful -drop me a line and let me know.  I’d love to go check them out!

Stay warm!!

In case anyone noticed – Please let me apologize for writing “Jake” instead of “Jack” on the blog last night!  It was the end of a very LONG week!  That was the last thing I did before I passed out for the night.  Anyhow, I woke up this morning, checked the blog, realized my mistake, and was MORTIFIED!  But like I wrote in the last post – mom and dad are sooooo laid back.  I was cringing, expecting an email from them – but nope. Thank you for being so cool!    So – here is my “I’m sorry I called your baby the wrong name – let me make it up to you by posting this killer slideshow to hold you over till the photos come in the mail” slideshow.

To anyone that is interested in maternity/newborn photos.  I am running a special through the spring, so contact me to find out how you can get all of your digital files for a GRRRREAAAT price! 

Talk about a *dream* maternity session!  This couple is so sweet, so cute, and so laid back – they made my job SO easy!!  March cannot come soon enough, because that is when I’ll get to photograph their little man after his entrance into the world!  I already have the *perfect* newborn hat picked out for his session.  After photographing the adorable nursery, and that cute distressed sign – I knew this hat had little Jack’s name all over it the second I laid eyes on it!  You’ll just have to wait ’til March to see how cute it is on him, when he makes his modeling debut on the blog!  

Thanks for a wonderful session guys!  I’ll be in touch soon!!

To everyone else – if you are waiting for your gallery or to hear from me – I will be playing major catch up tomorrow!  Expect a call/email/visit from me!!  :)  Mini Sessions for the NILMDTS/National Model Search are booking up!  Call SOON if you want to take advantage of the awesome deal (read: super cheap – it’s for a good cause – jump on this now, because it’s for charity, people!).  Details in the post below.  Have a great weekend!  :)

To everyone who is on my email list – check your email!  You may need to check your spam folder.  I’ve been notified that sometimes my emails go there, because I send them out to a large # of people at once.  Just add “samantha@samanthauphold.com” to your address book, to ensure that my emails come through.  There is a 24 hour special that was sent out to my email list, and you are the first to know!  I’ll be announcing the news tomorrow on the blog!  

Happy 2009!!

Happy New Year, everyone!! I am SO excited about 2009 and all it has to offer. I know this sounds sooooooo silly, but I can TELL, I can FEEL it. This year is going to be great! I already have so much in store at the business end of things. There will be some changes around here – some AWESOME changes. I have a new blog that I LOVE (pstt….sign up at the top!!!)!!! I’m working on a few AMAZING website projects that will give my clients the TOP of the line in custom experience when it comes to portraiture. I have invested SO much time, effort, and $$$ to create THE experience for my clients. It is all coming together beautifully, and I seriously am SO STOKED to get it all done. I have some new products coming out that are T0.Die.For. – along with – new digital collections. Yes, in 2009 there will be ways to obtain ALL of your digital files from your session!! I want to tell your story – show you the art of your heart. I have had SO many clients take me up on the brag book – which is the print option of getting all of your images. Due to so much interest in “getting all of the files”, I’ve decided to add a few digital collections. I love it when clients want ALL of their images. That happens so often, and it tells me that I did my job right. Now, I’ll have an option for you to have ALL of them to do with as you please. The fine print is getting all worked out, but if you are interested, shoot me an email, and I’ll let you know when it is ready. I love my clients, and I think this year I have figured out how to make the experience so unique, easy, accommodating, fun, and GREEN!! Stay tuned!!

In the immediate future, I have just joined forces for ANOTHER charity project that I am flipping for. This is going to be HUGE for families that are on a budget. I know the economy STINKS. I know it’s right after the holidays. I know there are so many people that WANT great photos of their children, and for whatever reasons can’t afford a full session. I totally understand this, and that is why I am SO SO SO excited to present the next project that I am working on! Stay tuned, you’ll be informed of this VERY shortly!!!

I wish you all the best in the year to come, and I thank you for sharing this journey with me. I’ve been so blessed to meet and work with so many FANTASTIC people over the past year. I can’t wait to see you all again and meet many, many more great people!

Here is just a cool video that shows some of the most amazing photographs from this year in news. The direct link shows it better than it shows up here on the blog. There are some graphic images!