Most of the time when we imagine a nice portrait we see a smiling face, but sometimes the most beautiful portraits are a naturally contemplative expression. Of course we love to see our clients laughing and smiling, but it is also good when we capture the elements of a person when they are simply content. Baby Brynn is a great example of this! She had the cutest little outfits and the most innocently natural expressions today! Of course we captured the smiles as well...so we thought we'd share a little bit of both. We just love her and her mommy (and Aunt Denise too!)




One of our Senior Models came in today with his Mini-me! Jakob and his little brother Isaiah are too cute for words in these portraits that capture an adorable brotherhood. They may sneer at them now, but we are certain a few years down the road they will cherish the captured memory of their childhood!

Every day seems to bring another fun story or two (or three or ten) into our lives!

We started today off with a super nice surprise from one of our recent 2010 Seniors!! Jaimie brought us little goody bags and personalized cards thanking us for her session, and wishing us a happy Boss's Day and an early happy Halloween! HOW SWEET!!! Under the pic of our goodies are some modeling portraits we took of Jaimie for an upcoming ad. THANKS Jaimie!! =) And to all the bosses out there: Happy Bosses Day to you!!




The first session of today was an amaaaaaaazing twin baby session! These little ones have been through quite a bit in the first three months. They are more precious than words can explain, and we were so blessed to have had the opportunity to take their very first professional portraits! We could have taken pictures of them all day (but they had to get to the doctor, and cousin Jenny probably needed a break)!!


Out to Shields we went after that for another awesome session with one of our faaaaaaaaaaaavorite babies...Miss Maggie Mae (as Chris calls her)!! She was adorable as always, and she has definitely found her little legs to be helpful in her running endeavors...lol (...and her outfit was super cute by the way)!! Maggie is preparing for a baby brother to be born in just a few weeks!! Her mommy and daddy are excited, and captured the beauty of the late stages of pregnancy with maternity portraits! Mom is looking stunning!! (Dad too of course). And we can't wait to take the baby's newborn portraits!



People often ask us if we have children...our answer: We have a LOT of children. We see them every few months...we play with them a bit, get caught up on their lives, take their portraits, and then they go home at the end of their session. Sounds funny-might have even made you laugh-but it's true! Each and every child that we photograph, we do so as if they were our own and therefore we take temporary ownership of them while they are here...so yeah...we have lots of children!! Here are a couple more we have recently loved every minute of photographing (Baby Georgia and Baby Andre)!



We are truly fortunate to do what we do! We cherish every session, every client, and every day!

Fun Day!

Today was a fun day of editing, retouching, ordering, marketing, creative thinking...yup...there was lots of commotion in the production room today from Ketchup and Mustard (aka Stef and Chris)!

In the late afternoon we took a break from all of that to meet with some of our awesome clients!!

First, we learned about some REALLY interesting ways to capture your families heritage, and some creative things to do with old family pictures (how fun)!!!!

After that, Lindsey and Caleb came in for some fun portraits...they are the all-American adorable cheerleader/football player couple!! They are so super cute! (go ahead and saw awwwwwwwwww at the pic below!!)

It's raining cats and dogs!!!!

It actually IS...at the "Raining Cats and Dogs" store in Frankenmuth! Twice a year we visit our furry friends (and our human ones too) at the fun and pet-friendly boutique-style shop in the heart of the little Bavarian town, to take their portraits! Here are a few from our last visit...so much fun as always!!

A great way to enjoy a great fall day! Beautiful families, lovely couples, adorable doggies, precious babies...and the feeling and color of a fall day in MI! We got to enjoy all of that while photographing old friends, and new ones alike!! There are so many wonderful things we could say about our sessions yesterday...but this time we are going to just let the portraits do the talking!!









A great way to enjoy a great fall day! Beautiful families, lovely couples, adorable doggies, precious babies...and the feeling and color of fall...what a life!!

Had a ton of fun with Chrystal and Jaimie yesterday!!

We started the day off by sorting through what we're pretty sure was Jaimie's ENTIRE closet...lol. Once we figured out what 'fits' they were gonna rock, we assisted with some hair styling and makeup application...and then we were ready for the sessions to begin!

We had a lot to fit into a little time so we might have ran a pink light on accident, went a few mph's over the suggested speed, borrowed a parking lot to avoid a light, and forgot to use that blinky light to switch lanes, but we landed where we needed to be and got the girls to the bus for their volleyball game RIGHT on time...no lives were jeopardized of course.

We still have a few shots to finish up (these girls have crazy schedules between school, work, and volleyball), but here are a couple of our favs so far...

Jesika and Brandon

A beautiful day, a stunning bride, a handsome groom, and an amazing celebration!

Jesika and Brandon tied the knot, and we were lucky to have celebrated the day with them!

The ceremony took place at Bethlehem Lutheran, with a fun-filled celebration to follow at The Temple.

Here are just a couple of the many shots from the day...

What a DOLL! This little girl is one of the most photogenic 4 year olds we have ever worked with! We're pretty sure she's secretly a model for Gap Children's clothing, but she's just not the type to brag. She and her beautiful family did a fabulous job posing pretty for Fall Family Portraits! It ended up being a perfect day to find colorful leaves, throw them in the air, and smile pretty for the camera among the beauty Mother Nature provides in this wonderful season known as fall!

Falling Into Hillier Studio

This is such a fun time of year...colorful leaves, pumpkins, cornstalks, wheat fields...and the perfect weather for Fall Family Portraits! We officially kicked off the promotion Sunday evening ...and what an adorably perfect family to start things off!!! We went on an adventure through the waterfall to the 'castle', and then down to the river to chase the ducks! The three little ones were all super photogenic, and a charm to work with (so were their mommy and daddy)! Here are just a few of the memories we captured from thier experience!

Ties and Tutus Tuesdays...NOW thru November!

One of our most adorable promotional debuts...TIES AND TUTUS!

You saw our little model 'Evy' in her tutu a couple weeks ago, and yesterday was the first official day of the promotion!

Normandy (6 months, tutu) and Warren (14 months, tie) are both such precious little babies! This is an absolute fun way to accentuate the innocence and adorable features of babies of all ages! We LOVE this promotion, and we hope you do too...see you next Tuesday!

hmmmmmmmmmm....???

We photograph to capture memories.
We photograph to create memories.
We photograph to document events.
We photograph to create art.
We photograph for entertainment.
And sometimes, in the middle of it all...we photograph so we can ask you all "what in the world is this?'

ANY IDEAS!?!?

It was at the train yard in Saginaw, and we thought it was a banana tree...rationality kicked in though and we remembered that we do not live in a warm enough climate for "wild banana trees"
So....WHAT IS IT!!?

OMG!!

Let us share the story of Mathew's Train Yard Senior Portraits...

We went 'exploring' to some new territory and what an exploration it was! First of all...HOW COOL was the train station!?! It was WAAAY COOL! We could totally imagine it in its Hay Day, adorned with people dressed in fancy hats with white gloves, and ties with top hats...a simpler and more exquisite time in history!

It was far from that today! We enjoyed it for completely different reasons. We appreciated the edginess and rough appearance that told the story of the life the train station has seen over a century...the transition from a booming economic time to a deficit far from the imagination of the travelers in the 1800's. It was cool, sad, and scary all at the same time...if our mothers new we were down there we would be in trouble (hopefully this is one blog they don't read)!! =)

There were bums, banana trees, and a fierce dog that charged at us unexpectedly as we admired the architecture of the building a little too closely. Back to the banana tree...so that's not was it was, but that's what it looked like. We will be posting that pic in search of the answer, but first here are a few of Mathew's Senior Portraits from the train station...

Cameron, the Camera Man

Meet Cameron, our new Camera Man (hahahahah...Cameron...CAMERA man...get it!?!? lol)

He is...well was... our new intern. He started today at about 1:59pm and threw his back out at about 2:01pm. Not quite sure what the problem was (something about the equipment size in ratio to his size). Anyway...it was fun while it lasted.

Currently looking for a new intern (endurance test will be required). =)

Now is the PERFECT time to refresh the decor in your home with some new framed portraits or art! Why is it the PERFECT time you ask? Because we are having a FALL FRAME SALE! Our frames are already close to wholesale pricing, and we have decided to put them on sale even more. We are celebrating two big things 1. FALL and 2. The DEBUT of DIVINE REDZINE!

What is DIVINE REDEZINE some of you have asked...here's the scoop...

We have decided that working until 3am was not enough for us..we want MORE! So...yes we have started another amazing project! Our inner artists (pronounced with a French accent, of course) have once again brought excitement to our lives. In addition to photography being on the top of our list of passions in life is another artistic opportunity...interior design!!

Divine Redezine is an Interior Design Studio that specializes in 'redesign', and offers services ranging from 'redecorating' to 'business image consulting', 'home staging' and 'contract design work'! It is the latest and greatest division of Hillier Studio, and will be making it's full debut THIS month!

The marriage of the two companies will be divine, as Hillier Studio strives to not only make your portrait experience memorable but to also provide you with masterful pieces of art! We have all kinds of creative ideas on how and where to display your portraits, and what frames will suit your portrait AND your home. We are stoked that we will be able to offer 'decor consulting' so that your portrait style matches your home style...after all, don't you want your portraits to 'fit in' when you take them home!?!!

The anticipation of the debut is exciting to us, and we hope you'll find it just as awesome! Watch for more details regarding DIVINE REDEZINE coming soon!!

Soooooo...Late Night Blog...you should all know what that means by now (insanity has set in)!

Well as always...got lots to do...got little time!

We did manage, however, to sneak in a stop to the Halloween store today to get our COSTUMES for Halloween Portrait Nights at the studios!! We've been wearing them for the past 4 or 5 hours...we just can't get enough...lol. We're red and yellow and are used a lot more in the summer than the winter - can you guess!!?!?!?!? (scroll down for a pic compliments of our office boy, Roberto...hehe) Thanks to Geofferey (Jeff) for helping us pick out our fab costumes! (P.S. Don't judge our desks...we're BUSY)!



Tomorrow is our BIG golf outing that we sponsor for GSAHA!!! We train all year for this...we have been especially focusing on our backstroke and execution so that the calibration of the sphere is calculated at the most apt speed for a successful HOLE-IN-ONE BABY!! OOOHHHHH YEAH! We're gonna dominate the course...so all you other teams...step aside!! (no LOL's here...we mean BIZ) =)

Back to work...no rest for Ketchup and Mustard this time of year! Peas Out (we say 'peas' instead of peace because they sit right next to us in the fridge).