Star Kids Modeling Contest Underway!

Beautiful, aren't they? Well, those are all the winners from last years Star Kids Modeling Contest!

Every summer the Portrait Shoppe puts on our very own modeling contest: Star Kids! This is the 6th Annual Star Kids Modeling Competition, and it's going to be awesome! Once again Images modeling agency is going to be doing our judging, and as always a portion of the proceeds from Star Kids every year goes to benefit UK Children's Hospital. Here are the basics you need to know to get you child or children entered into Star Kids:

Dates: May 1st -August 1st - Your portrait session needs to be done within this time period. *Suggestion: get it done early, because the end of July is crazy busy with people trying to cram it in!*)

Ages: 0-12 - We've added an 11 and 12 year old category this year, so you can even bring your older children in!

Categories: 0-11 mo., 12-23 mo., 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-1, 11-12. Within each age category there are 2 boy winners and 2 girl winners: one reality (traditional) winner, and one imagination (fantasy) winner.

2 Overall winners: one 0verall winner from ages 0-3, and one overall winner from ages 4-12.

How do I get started?  Just make an appointment at the Portrait Shoppe - call 859-277-6671 or schedule an appointment online.

What about scenes and outfits?  For Star Kids, there are NO RESTRICTIONS! You can wear anything and use any of our scenes - but we have to have individual images, group shots won't work.

How do you choose which image to use? We don't - YOU do. We'll help you of course, and give you suggestions, but the final decision is yours as to which image you want to submit.

What does my child get if he/she wins?  Every participant, winner or not, will get a 4x6 of the image they choose and a goodie bag full of prizes, coupons, and discounts at all participating businesses in Lexington. Typically those gift bags are worth somewhere in the vicinity of $100. The category winners will get more substantial prizes: gift certificates, dinners, etc. And the overall winners? Free registration and classes at Images Modeling Agency!

All you have to do to get started is call up the Portrait Shoppe and schedule a photo session before the end of Saturday, August 1st. 859-277-6671. But don't wait too long, or you might not be able to get a spot.

We look forward to meeting your Star Kids, and seeing them shine right here!

Easter '09

We had an AWESOME time this  past Easter! The kids all had such a great time playing with the bunnies and the lamb this year, and they all looked super-cute!



Every session was special, each child brought something unique and wonderful to the images. You can see from the few we have here that they were all so different, and so special.



Our Lamb was named Joey (we're not sure how we picked Joey, but it worked) - he was only 1 week old during the portraits! What a trooper - he lasted through every single portrait session (and the kids thought they had a hard time!). Normally we get 2 lambs, but because Easter was a little later this year, the lambing season was almost over and we were lucky to get this little guy. We were definitely sad to see him go after that weekend.



We had two bunnies this year also. Their names were Siegfried (Ziggy) and Smidge. Smidge was appropriately named because he was only a dwarf. Once during a session with him, one of our clients asked, "he's not going to get much bigger, is he?" And Shelly responded, "maybe just a smidge." Thus, the birth of the name Smidge - most of the time he rode around in the pocket of Shelly's sweatshirt! We got to enjoy them for a couple of weeks. All the kids loved them too!



The kids were amazing this year - they were well behaved, fun, energetic...just overall it was a great group of little people!

Thank you so much for making this a spectacular Easter! We would love to see you all back again next season!

We were given a special treat this particular Easter - Brian's mom Erin took a picture of the photographers with Joey the lamb! This is a picture of Brian (isn't he just adorable?!), his mom Erin, Shelly and Ryan (the two Portrait Shoppe Photographers), and Joey the star of the weekend! Thanks Brian and Erin for this cool gift!

1st Annual Paw-trait Contest - Winners!

Back in the month of February, Portrait Shoppe teamed up with Pet Suites of Lexington to host the 1st annual Paw-trait Modeling Contest. Having never done a dog modeling contest before we we're sure what to expect or how well it would be received by Lexington.

Well, we are happy to report that it was a huge success! Not only did we enjoy ourselves thoroughly, but we had a great turnout: over 20 entrants! Lots of the owners were thrilled that we did this because for some the dogs were their children, and this gave them an opportunity to celebrate the furriest members of their family. But the best part was that we all pitched in together to make a significant donation to the National Canine Cancer Foundation. Thank you for helping out!

2009 Paw-trait Winners

THANK YOU to everybody who participated in this event! We had a blast - we hope you did too. We look forward to seeing all of you next year, and we anticipate that this Paw-trait Modeling Contest will grow and grow, getting bigger, better, and furrier each year.

Where have we been all your life?!?!?!

Oh my goodness! It has been WAAAAAYYY too long since we've last updated this! For all of you readers, WE'RE SORRY!!! We love you for reading, and we're going to be doing some big updates in the next couple of weeks. Here are things to be looking forward to:

Paw-trait Contest Results

Easter (Lambs and Bunnies)

Lexington Family Magazine Camp Fair

Star Kids Modeling Contest

NEW Styles, Galleries, and Products at the Portrait Shoppe!

Check back soon! TTFN!

Helping out the UK Children's Hospital

If you have been into the UK Children's Hospital recently, chances are you've seen our work (and maybe not even known it). We were honored to be able to put up a display of our photographic artwork in their wing over the summer of '08. Well, just in a recent publication of theirs we found this page talking about that very thing!



It is a privilege for us to help out this area in our community. We are also pleased to be able to donate proceeds to the Children's Hospital every year from our big summer project: the annual StarKids Modeling Contest. To learn more about StarKids modeling contest, visit our website! (Hint: the link is over there, on your right...a little farther...down...there you go! Now - CLICK!)