FYI - my website is completely down while my new software is installing for me to rebuild it.
Meanwhile, I'm digging through random pics to use on my new site. I ran across a photo of me at Christmas in 1978, just before my 3rd birthday. And look what I got...it's my first camera! I guess that just proves that I've always been behind the lens. :)
Yep, it has been nothing but DRAMA lately! In case you haven't heard, we had to abruptly move out of our rent house in north Edmond. My family and I have been staying in an extended stay hotel in OKC for over a month. Every thing we own is in storage other than a few needed biz files that need urgent attention. I promise that I am working as fast as possible with what I have to get everyone taken care of, but it has proven very difficult lately. Please hang in there with me while I work through all this. We are currently house-hunting, and we put in an offer on a home around I-40 & Choctaw Rd. It has beautiful acreage, so I am super excited about making a beautiful outdoor "studio" and a fabulous office area for my clients!
So in light of that, I have had to greatly restrict my sessions. Please see below for the sessions that I am accepting:
1) OpLove - only current/previous clients for predeployment or homecomings
2) Boudoir - at your location choice only. No marathons will be planned at this time. See my other website Desired Assets
3) Maternity/Newborn
4) Real estate through my secondary company OK Photo Tours.
If you have submitted an order and received a confirmation, please be assured that I have gotten it. Everything has been delayed because 1) it was sent to my old address and never forwarded to my new temporary one, or 2) I had to wait until I had a current mailing address to order it. Either way, I promise that I haven't forgotten you!!! There were several orders sent to my old address (or lost in the mail to you from there) that I have had to re-order. The hotel does not allow package or mail delivery, so I am having to send everything to a family members house to ensure delivery. If you have not received an order confirmation, please email me asap! The internet here is horrible, at best, when there is connectivity. I will go to a local internet cafe to check your order status and email you an update. **Please do not message me through my Facebook biz page! I cannot access them from my phone or tablet, so I am only able to check them every 2 weeks or so.**
So with all the updated info I mentioned above, I guess that I am ultimately asking that you to please be patient with me during this chaotic transition period. I promise to be back on track as soon as possible! Please pray for us, keep your fingers crossed, and hope for my good karma to come back to me soon. Thanks everyone & I'll talk to you soon!!!
- Ang
New Updates, Additions, Specials, & Promos...
First off, today May 1st, is the beginning of the official Military Appreciation Month. This coming Friday, May 4th, is also Military Spouse Appreciation Day. Be sure to thank these heroes (and their spouses who stand by them) for their service and sacrifices! It can be something simple like paying for their coffee at the local coffee shop or something more like paying for their family's dinner at the local restaurant. A tank of gas, a soda, or just a heartfelt handshake to say "Thank You". Our men and women in uniform, as well as their spouses, deserve the recognition!!!
And with that said, ANY member of the military - active, reserves, or retired from - is getting my own version of appreciation. Any portrait session booked for a military member in the month of May will be done 100% free of charge (LOL, that was a lot of "m"s). You don't have to be deploying or coming home from a deployment, as per the OpLove guidelines. This is my own biz offering you a gift to show my appreciation. In addition, you will receive a free sheet of wallet prints (8-poses) and 25% off anything you want to order. No purchase obligations or restrictions. :)
Next up, my Senior Rep Recruiting. I am starting to recruit my Senior Reps for 2013. If you are an upcoming senior or know anyone who is, please pass along this info! Approved Senior Reps get a free session, free prints, discounts, and credits for each referral. I'm looking for outgoing and active students. For more info and the application, please visit my Senior Rep page linked from the top or click here: http://awilkesphoto.blogspot.com/p/seniors.html
I recently had the honor of shooting an emergency homecoming session for one of our servicemen, Patrick. He was released from his deployment and brought home early, courtesy of the Red Cross' assistance, to be with his family during a very difficult time! His 10-month old daughter, Adalyn, was just diagnosed with a heart condition that will require surgery soon. He also has a beautiful wife, Kim, and a 4-yr old daughter named Sophia that has been holding down the fort while he was away. It was a last minute session that not only kept the family and myself on-call for weeks, but also another OpLove photographer to fill-in just in case I couldn't attend. Long story short of lots of dates & time changes, Patrick made it home safely to reunite with his loving family! The Patriot Riders were there as well as a few Tulsa news crews. It was so great to be there for this family & capture their photos.
Time is running out to book your Easter session. I have a few slots open for the afternoon of Saturday, March 10th. I have also opened up my schedule on Saturday, March 24th to allow for the numerous last-minute requests. This will be the last day available for Easter sessions in 2012. Space is very limited, so book your session asap!
The Easter Special is $75 and includes:
* 30-minute Mini Session at a local park or your home
* Props - big stuffed bunny, Easter eggs, Easter basket, and more (possibly a few baby chicks)
* Private online gallery for 30 days
* Custom disk of your 10 favorite digital images, fully-edited, with print rights
* 16-wallet prints with selectable photos for each
* A chance to win a FREE 5x7 ThinWrap Canvas Print (drawing held during your session)
To book your session or inquire about availability, please contact me at angela@angela-wilkes.com or call/text me at (405) 923-0290.
...and LOVE is in the air! Here are two of my "need to get caught up" sessions that were never posted on my blog.
Allow me to introduce Lacey, Jared, and little Conner. Despite just waking up from a nap and the cold yucky weather, Conner was full of smiles and energy! Jared wasn't feeling to great, but I managed to squeeze a few smiles out of him. Especially when Connor grabbed a handful of Lacey's hair. We hung out in Jones for the session, which made a great backdrop for this family. Here are a few pics from our session.
Just before New Years, I had a mid-deployment session with Amy, Jeremy, and their 2 kiddos Kayley and Kobe. They were such a fabulous family to work with. Not only did they drive down from Enid to an Edmond Park for the session, but they also agreed to be a part of a local news story about my work with OpLove. Anyone that has had a news cameraman and reporter follow them during a photo session knows that it can be...difficult at times to focus on the task at hand rather than the people following you around. I always feel like I am looking over my shoulder to see what they are doing (no butt shots, please). :)
Everyone was great! We took pics, did interviews, took pics, did interviews, and then took more pics. I brought a package of crackers, so I got to spend some alone time with Kayley and Kobe feeding the ducks while their parents were changing clothes. They are such sweet kids! When Amy & Jeremy were being interviewed, Kayley came over to give me a big hug and then looked up at me and smiled. I just about cried as my heart swelled with such happiness. I also got teary-eyed when Amy briefly cried during the interview. And watching the segment, that was the final straw for me. Tears were streaming down my face as I heard Jeremy & Amy talk about their appreciation of my dedication to my work with OpLove and my military families.
In case you missed the news segment, here is the link: Freedom 43 News. It originally aired on Freedom 43 on Dec 29, 2011. KFOR Channel 4 also re-aired the segment the following morning. I've posted a few of my fav pics from our session below:
I just finished the "Fancy! and Friends Winter Market" at the Edmond Museum. It was the first year for the show, but I thought that it seemed to go smoothly! I met several great vendors, potential clients, and got to reunite with some old neighbors that I grew up with. :) I also got to brag about OpLove and all our recent publicity! I made several new contacts in that regards. And a big CONGRATULATIONS to Joy Murphy for winning my free family photo session during the event drawing! I look forward to hearing from you about our 2012 session!!!
I met Karen, Kaleb (3 years), and Kaden (7 months) at Will Rogers Park for our latest session. I was so surprised to see how much Kaleb had grown, and I had never seen Kaden before. Although Matt, the devoted hubby & daddy, wasn't able to attend the session because he is currently serving overseas, his spirit was there with his beautiful family. Here are a few of my fav pics from our session.
In the process of my attempting to get caught up, I will post 2-3 sessions pics at a time on here. The first pics below are from Crystal, James, Macy & Callie. The girls were dressed up soooo absolutely adorable in their matching red & white dresses with blue belts. They were a blast to get pics of during the session. Macy would showing off, so Callie would play shy. Then they would switch and Callie was being the camera hog while Macy was being shy. They were definitely fun! Crystal and James were also awesome! They were up for anything, so we got some great pics. Such a loving and adorable family!!! Here are a few of my favs...
Yesterday, I spent about 6 hours with the Today Show people, Tonee (the OpLove founder), and one of my client families. The TS people and Tonee came to OKC to film a segment on Operation: Love Reunited. We did all of the filming and my client session at the Rose Gardens in Will Rogers Park. It was an absolutely awesome day that was full of emotions! We laughed, cried, and played in the park. I got some fabulous pics of my clients, which I will post a few once they are all processed. We had another OpLove photographer, Amanda Lloyd, that came up from Ft Hood, TX to get some PR pics for our org to use. She'll be sending me her pics, so I will post a few of those when I get them. Meanwhile, here are a couple of cell phone pics we took of the interviews:
I am starting a *Limited Edition* Christmas Special, for a very short amount of time!! The special includes a bulk family session (up to 12 people) PLUS 25 - 4x8 Christmas Cards/envelopes for $80. That is over 35% savings ($45 total)! Sessions can occur either in your home or in Bricktown around the OKC Christmas tree (when available).
For specific card designs, please visit this link: http://www.ezphototemplates.com/holidaycards_only.php (only applies to 4x8 and/or 5x7 flat card designs). Interested in upgrading to a 5x7 flat-card or folded card as an addition or replacement to the Christmas Special? Please contact me for pricing.
The session must be occur between Oct 22nd & Dec 4th. (taxes & shipping charges not included.) I have a very limited availability, so please contact me ASAP to book your holiday session!
Last Friday, I was featured on News 9 (CBS in OKC) for their 5pm newscast. The story was about a recent military scam, and my thoughts on the scam as an OpLove photographer. Surprisingly enough given my lack of prep time, I wasn't too bad! Click here for the link to the story: News 9 Story
The reporter, Lisa, called me about 1pm earlier that day asking about including me in the story. Of course, I jumped at the chance! The catch??? We had to film it in one hour, and it was a 20+ minute drive to the location. LOL...and to make matters worse: I was sitting on the couch, in comfy clothes, unshowered, processing session pics when she called. "Ummm, okay, sure, I can do that" was my verbal response. My mental response was more along the lines of, "Holy crap!! I'm gonna be on the news...again! I have less than 30 mins to shower, get dressed, pack my camera, get gas, and head out!"
We filmed the interview outside of the 45th Inf Museum in OKC. Lisa and the cameraman were both very nice and patient with me. I have to admit that it was a bit nerve-wracking to do such an opinionated piece about the military scam, plus OpLove, with such short notice. Luckily, they were kind enough to edit out my response regarding my thoughts on the people doing the scam as well as what should happen to them. LOL, I didn't say anything bad, just that I had no comment which could be shown on tv. :)
Oh, and we set a date/time for the Today Show interview. The story will air on Vet's Day, Nov 11th. Toe, the OpLove founder and my good friend, is flying into OKC to be a part of the interview and events. I cannot wait...I am soooo excited and nervous! Stay tuned for more specs on it!!!
I've posted several times about the Oklahoma 1st Battalion 25th Marines Weapons Company. One of the wives is an Oklahoma OpLove photographer. She has such strength to not only deal with her husband's deployment and being a single parent in his absence, but she is also photographing other military families going through the same things meanwhile!
So today, on behalf of a generous donation from Buy For Less grocery stores, I went shopping for care package items to send these guys. The items filled 4 paper sacks (so I was pleased) yet when laid it all out, it seemed so little for 17 men. Here's a pic of what I picked up today...
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