Bella Tu Photography

The "D" Family Sneak Peek | Cedar Rapids, IA Family Photographer

2010-07-19T19:24:00.000-07:00

Isn't this one of the most gorgeous families ever??? Adorable kids, good looking parents - what more could a photographer ask for?? Thank you so much for spending your evening with me, I hope you enjoy your sneak peek!

Hunter's Sneak Peek | Cedar Rapids, IA Children's Photographer

2010-07-19T17:53:00.000-07:00

Hunter was a busy, busy little guy, but hey....what else would you expect out of a 1.5yr old? I actually had a blast chasing him around and watching his curious hands explore EVERYTHING! Thanks for spending the evening with me!

Miss L's Sneak Peek | Cedar Rapids, IA Children's Photographer

2010-06-01T21:46:00.000-07:00

Miss L just turned 3 and came to me for the first time tonight. We braved the mosquitos - and let me tell you....they were BAD - and played in the clover. She showed me how a princess dances, and helped me understand that cows definitely do not say "cock-a-doodle-doo" (darn it - I always get that one wrong). She was very adorable, and I had a great time!

Please enjoy your sneak peek!

Meet L. | Cedar Rapids, IA Children's Photographer

2010-05-11T06:15:00.001-07:00

Meet L. She is incredibly adorable, with the most gorgeous big brown eyes! She has a GREAT personality, and is so much fun to talk with. She loved posing for me, and had plenty of ideas of her own. She was such a joy to photograph!! Enjoy your sneak peek....and show her family your love (via comments).

5/4 - 5/12 Contest Entries | Cedar Rapids, IA Family, Newborn, and Children's Photographer

2010-05-04T14:33:00.000-07:00

Please respond in the comments section of this post to place your entry into this week's contest! Remember to tell your friends, and if we can get more than 20 entries, I will give away TWO weekly prizes (mini-sessions) this week. Each entry counts as an entry into the grand prize drawing to take place on May 14th! Good luck!

Contest Update | Cedar Rapids, IA Family, Newborn, and Children's Photographer

2010-05-04T14:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I failed at my contest duties while on vacation, sooooo........I will be extending the contest dates, and doing one more week of entries, and a grand prize winner will be announced on May 14th. (Please scroll down a few posts for contest details)

I apologize for the mess up......let's make this last week the best one yet!!! Spread the word and let's see those entries roll in!!! If I can get more than 20 entries this week, I will give out TWO mini-sessions!

As a reminder - Nicole Hess.....our week 1 winner.....I accidentally deleted your message and don't have your phone number! Could you please call again, or send me a message/email!!! I'd love to get your mini-session set up for you!

4/3 - 4/9 Contest Winner | Cedar Rapids, IA Family, Newborn, and Children's Photographer

2010-05-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't keep up with the contest while I was on vacation - I really had every intention of doing so, but ended up being much busier than anticipated!! So, anyway....without further "ado" the winner from the 4/3 - 4/9 week is.............................

Kim Johnson!!!!

Shoot me an email Kim, and we can schedule your mini-session!

A. Turns 3! | Cedar Rapids, IA Children's Photographer

2010-05-02T20:29:00.000-07:00

I had the joy of photographing little "A." last week. She is just adorable, and so precious. I loved talking to her, and watching as her facial expressions changed. She was a little hesitant to leave Mom's side, but I think we got some great shots anyway!! Feel free to comment away, and show this family how beautiful you think their little girl is!

I have returned! | Cedar Rapids, IA Portrait Photographer

2010-04-28T20:43:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! My children and I have finally returned from vacation, and I'm just now getting caught back up on everything. I will announce winners for the most recent drawings, and a grand prize winner will be announced soon!

I appreciate your patience as I get everything organized and up to date. I might even get a few vacation pictures up :)

Contest Entries 4/3 - 4/9 | Eastern Iowa Child, Newborn, and Family Photographer

2010-04-05T16:06:00.001-07:00

Post your contest entries for this week in the comments section of this blog post!

My Baby is 10 Months Today | Cedar Rapids, IA Children's Photographer

2010-04-05T07:47:00.000-07:00

Today is my little guy's 10 month birthday, and in honor of that, I thought I'd share some recent pics of him. He truly is the happiest little guy, and we are so blessed to have him in our lives!

Jessica's Maternity Sneak Peek | Cedar Rapids, IA Maternity Photographer

2010-04-02T07:09:00.000-07:00

Jessica came yesterday with the most gorgeous baby belly! Perfectly round and beautiful! I had a blast and can't wait to meet her little guy once he's born. Please enjoy the sneak peek, and show her your love via the comment section :)

Sneak Peak of Baby Emylia | Eastern Iowa Child, Newborn, and Family Photographer

2010-03-31T16:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a sneak peak of the tiniest baby I've ever held. She is just so precious. I think I could hold her all day :) Anyway....enjoy the sneak peek and show this family your love by posting comments below!

Baby Anna Sneak Peek | Eastern Iowa Child, Newborn, and Family Photographer

2010-03-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

This is my sweet little niece Anna. She can be a little sensitive sometimes (hey, she's a girl....it's a girl's perogative, right?), so I was a little worried that all the lights flashing might make her freak out, but she did FANTASTIC. She was a little stingy with the smiles, but we snuck a few in anyway :) Enjoy!

Contest Entries 3/27 - 4/2 | Eastern Iowa Child, Newborn, and Family Photographer

2010-03-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

Post your entries into this week's contest here!

This Week's Mini Session Winner! | Eastern Iowa Child, Newborn, and Family Photographer

2010-03-27T12:15:00.001-07:00

We had 11 entries this week, and the winner of this week's free mini session is........

......Nicole Hess!!

Congratulations Nicole! Give us a call, or send us a message to set up your free mini session. We look forward to working with you! You will also be entered into the grand prize drawing at the end of April (as will all those who entered this week).

This week's contest begins TODAY! So, let's see those comments start rolling in :) Remember, you can enter once per day.

A-List | Eastern Iowa Child, Newborn, and Family Photographer

2010-03-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

We're on the A-List! What's the A-List??

The KCRG-TV9 A-List is an interactive city guide featuring promotional contests hosted by KCRG-TV9 and powered by CityVoter. The A-List profiles local businesses and allows consumers to vote for and recommend their favorites.

So, stop by and give us a vote or 2. We'd really appreciate it!

Vote Here!

Free Session Entries 3/22 - 3/26 | Eastern Iowa Child, Newborn, and Family Photographer

2010-03-22T15:47:00.001-07:00

Want to enter to win one of the free sessions?? Post your Facebook or Twitter link in the comments of this post!

Free Session!!! | Eastern Iowa Child, Newborn, and Family Photographer

2010-03-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

It's time to give away a FREE photo session! That's right, I said FREE! Why you ask? Because I feel like celebrating the new Facebook fan page. Haven't seen it yet?? Check it out here:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Cedar-Rapids-IA/Bella-Tu-Photography/101997563172592?ref=ts

Here's how to enter.....

If you Twitter, tweet this: Bella Tu Photography is giving away a FREE photo session www.bellatuphotography.blogspot.com

If you have Facebook, post this as your status: Bella Tu Photography is giving away a FREE photo session www.bellatuphotography.blogspot.com

Then, come back here and post a link (via comments) to your Facebook or Twitter account. Limit is one per day! The contest will open today, March 22nd and end on Friday, April 30th at midnight. The grand prize winner will be announced on Saturday, May 1st.

So....what are the prizes?? A weekly giveaway of a free mini session will be drawn from that week's entries, and of course, the grand prize:

A FREE session plus a $30 print credit to be used however you wish!

So....start the buzz, and get your friends involved too!

Easter/Spring Mini Sessions | Eastern Iowa Child, Newborn, and Family Photographer

2010-03-21T11:51:00.001-07:00

Bella Tu Photography will be holding Spring Mini Sessions on Saturday, March 27th!

Mini sessions are portrait sessions at a specific location that are shorter than a typical session and very laidback and fun!

Bella Tu Photography mini sessions are 25 minutes (usually only 2-3 poses) and include a free sheet of wallets. The cost is $25.

A Spring Mini Session is perfect for Easter or First Communion portraits or surprise portraits for Mother's Day or Father's Day!

The available times for booking a mini session are:

10:00 a.m.
10:45 a.m.
11:15 a.m.
break
1 p.m.
1:45 p.m.
2:15 p.m.
3:00 p.m.
3:45 p.m.

Spring mini sessions will be held in the studio.

Sessions will run according to schedule, so please be on time to make the most of your session!

Since mini sessions have such a limited time, they probably work best for babies who are sitting up or older children who can make the most of the short sessions. You might consider a full session for a very active toddler, who may take a while to warm up to the camera and unfamiliar location. However, while that is just something to keep in mind, in the end you always know what works best for your child!

Please contact me at bellatuphotography@hotmail.com or call 319.270.1419 about booking a mini session for Saturday, March 27th.

We look forward to seeing you this spring!!

Gorgeous little M.

2010-03-04T08:15:00.000-08:00

Just wanted share little M with you all.....what a gorgeous, happy, little baby!

I'm BAACCK!

2009-10-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry dear blog, for I have abandoned you for quite some time! However, I am back....and with some awesome pics to share :)

Meet Holly C. and her gorgeous family:

Guess what???

2009-02-04T13:18:00.001-08:00

New wedding pricing is DONE!!!! Please contact me for the full details!

Watch for new portrait pricing coming in the very near future!

Phone/Message Problems

2009-01-19T08:59:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone - I've been having some issues with my phone and voicemails. It's come to my attention that a few people have left messages that I never received. If you've called and left a message, but haven't heard from me, please call again, or better yet - shoot me an email!

On that note, with the chaos of the holidays, and then my darling little girl's birthday, things have been crazy to say the least. If you've emailed, or requested something and haven't heard back from me, please send me a reminder email, so I can get things finished up for you!

Thanks so much to everyone for making this such a wonderful experience for me!

Big Changes - slightly delayed

2008-12-11T09:24:00.000-08:00

Alright....so I know I said that big changes were coming on Dec. 1st. Well, obviously that date has come and gone, and no changes have been made yet :) Things got really busy with the holidays and all and I just haven't had time to finalize the new pricing structure. Please stay tuned....and know they ARE coming!

Thanks for your patience!

A year old!!

2008-12-09T11:32:00.000-08:00

Cake?? Did somebody say cake??? Just frosting for me please :)

What a cutie! Thanks so much for spending your morning with me.

Rachel & Brit

2008-11-24T07:13:00.000-08:00

I'm a little behind, so this is late, but....this wedding took place at a most BEAUTIFUL location, which gave GREAT opportunities for fun photography. Here's a couple of my favorites!! Hope you enjoy your sneak peek!

Christmas is coming!

2008-11-24T06:51:00.000-08:00

Which means.....it's time for holiday portraits! And who better to photograph than your beautiful children?? These are a few favorites from a session I did on Saturday morning. Gorgeous kids, don't you think??

Big Changes Coming!!!

2008-11-19T13:36:00.000-08:00

Everyone be on the lookout for the big changes coming in December 2008! I'm in the midst of overhauling my pricing and packages. I'm very excited about the changes and think you will be too! New prices will go into effect December 1, 2008. All sessions booked before December 1st, for after that date, will have the option of ordering from the old price list.

Excitement is in the air!

The "D" Family

2008-11-02T15:59:00.000-08:00

These boys must be the most photogenic kids EVER! What an easy session with a gorgeous family. Hope you enjoy your sneak peek!

A Gloomy Day at the Park!

2008-10-25T13:38:00.000-07:00

What great sports!! It had been raining the better part of the day, and was COLD! Yet, somehow, these children still willingly smiled and had fun. Everything was wet and gloomy, but by the looks on their faces.....you'd never know it! Thanks for hanging out with me :)

Here's a sneak peek.

Avolyn

2008-09-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

Avolyn is a senior at Kennedy this year. We had a blast walking around downtown CR for her senior pictures. She was looking for urban shots, and I was a little concerned that we may not find much to use with the aftermath of all the flooding. Thankfully, we were able to find quite a few "perfect" spots. We plan to head out for one more session before calling it done, but here's a few of my favorites from Saturday.

"Tug-the-knot" at Tug Fest 2008

2008-08-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

Tug Fest - a festival I had never heard of, let alone ever attended. Little did I know that it is a BIG deal!! Think tug of war over the Mississippi!! Iowa vs Illinois. Clear Channel Radio and KUUL 101.3 (http://www.kuul.com/) gave me the opportunity to photograph a simultaneous wedding ceremony that took place on both sides of the river (I had the IL side). I met Eric and Amber the day of the wedding and they looked fantastic. Amber was absolutely stunning and made my job so easy! The two couples competed the following day in a tug-of-war event - winner gets a honeymoon trip to Mexico. The catch? All the "tuggers" had to be "bridesmaids". So all females you ask? No! Male bridesmaids were fine - IF they wore dresses!! And guess what? Eric and Amber WON!! KUUL 101.3 has a number of pictures of that event up on their website! Go check it out!

Anyway, just thought I'd share a few of their pictures that I just love. I'm sure as I'm going through to edit I'll come up with more, but for now, here you go:

Jason & Shelly

2008-08-08T10:58:00.000-07:00

Jason is a cousin of my husband's and it was such a pleasure to be able to photograph their beautiful family (including Max, the dog). Everyone was cooperative (for the most part) - though it took some prodding, and their pictures turned out wonderful. Hope you enjoy the sneak peek!

Trash the dress

2008-07-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

It's the new rave in wedding photography, it's called "trash the dress". Not sure? Check out www.trashthedress.com . There's no rules.....

Wanna trash your dress?? Or even want to trash a new dress??? Whatever suits you. I'm on the hunt for someone who wants to "trash the dress"!! If you're even the slightest interested, please shoot me an email, give me a call, whatever!! Let's do it!

Fun, fun, fun!!

2008-07-13T08:29:00.000-07:00

That was the entire essence of this family! They were beautiful, and so much fun! With quadruplets I was fully expecting to get my workout. Turns out, they were unbelievably cooperative, and things went smoother than I could've ever imagined. I've taken a peek through their images, and just have to share a few of my favorites!

More Karly

2008-07-07T08:04:00.001-07:00

As promised - here's a few more from Karly's senior session

Karly

2008-07-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

Karly and I got together on Saturday for a post July 4th senior session. She was a very willing subject and photographed beautifully. Though she was VERY nervous about her backdrop shots I managed to get a shot that I just love (I hope she loves it too) - even if she did feel silly with a fan blowing on her :)

I'll put a few more up for a sneak peek tomorrow :)

Jessica & Troy's Wedding

2008-07-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

Jessica & Troy had a BEAUTIFUL day for a wedding! That is until it got REALLY windy :) Jessica and I started bright and early in the morning, and everything was smooth sailing from there. Thanks to Jessica & Troy for letting me such a big part of their special day!

Aaron & Molly

2008-06-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

I had the privilege of photographing Aaron & Molly's wedding this past weekend. It was beautiful wedding, and I had a lot of fun. They had a GORGEOUS reception in the Amanas and the cake centerpieces were fabulous!

Anyway, here's a little sneak peek at their day:

More Flooding

2008-06-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

As the waters of the Cedar River are finally going down, I wanted to share a few photos of the worst of the flooding. I think it is safe to say that Cedar Rapids will never be the same again. The waters have completely devastated so many homes and businesses. I can only imagine what the coming months will have in store with cleanup. I had a small amount of water in my basement and have been spending the last few days tearing up carpet and trying to reduce the stench down there!!

Anyway, here are a few pictures taken on Thursday night (as the river was approaching it's crest), if you want to see the full set of them, please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0UQrSNpS_s .

Cedar Rapids Flooding

2008-06-12T10:41:00.000-07:00

As many of you know Cedar Rapids is being completely devastated by the ever rising Cedar River. The flooding is incredible, and has rendered me speechless! I was able to take a quick trip downtown yesterday evening and snap a few pictures. The waters have risen so much since these photos, but I thought I'd share them with you. I have more up on my website (www.bellatuphotography.com) under the client section. The password is: Flood08

Misty's family

2008-06-08T15:34:00.000-07:00

Misty has the most adorable little girl, Kaylee. She has BEAUTIFUL eyes, and the longest eyelashes I've ever seen on a little girl. What a fantastic little ball of energy! Misty is also expecting her 2nd daughter in about 9 weeks!! What an exciting time for her family. You can really feel the love and excitement in that house! A few of my favorites:

Lilly

2008-06-07T17:10:00.000-07:00

Lilly is a very sweet and cautious 2 year old. She is EXCELLENT at sign language and even taught me a thing or 2. I had so much fun watching her explore the bridge at the park, and splash in the puddle that she just could not believe that Mom and Dad let her play in. Thanks for letting me be a part of your weekend Lilly. A few highlights of our session:

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Looking for senior reps!

2008-06-06T07:59:00.001-07:00

We're on the hunt for senior reps from the class of 2009. What is a senior rep? Senior reps promote Bella Tu Photography to their friends, and in turn have the opportunity to earn CASH incentives, giftcards, discounted rates, etc. You'll get rep cards with YOUR picture on them to hand out to your friends at no cost to you!

We're looking for 2 students from each of the following area high schools: Washington, Jefferson, Kennedy, Xavier, and Linn Mar.

If you think this sounds like something you'd like to do, please contact us at bellatuphotography@hotmail.com for more information.

Lizzy

2008-06-04T13:41:00.001-07:00

Lizzy just turned one and was just as cute as can be!! She was a little timid at first, but quickly warmed up and showed me her favorite toys. Here's a few of my favorites from the session:

Cutest Baby and Cutest Kid Contests

2008-06-03T10:29:00.000-07:00

Back by popular demand! We'll be taking up to 25 entries per category through June 25th. There will be one winner per category winning a free sitting (must be booked by July 14th). Winners will be announced via http://www.bellatuphotography.com/ on June 30th. It is the winner's responsibility to check the website and contact us to schedule your free session. Details on each category are listed below:

Baby - child must be between the ages of 0 and 23 months

Child - child must be between the ages of 2 and 10 years

Please be sure that the photo you submit is your own and not that of a professional photographer.

Please submit your entry, along with the child's name and age to bellatuphotography@hotmail.com. Can't wait to see all those cuties!

Baby A.

2008-06-02T08:02:00.000-07:00

What a precious little boy! Baby A. was happy to oblige all of our ridiculous requests of him. He even flashed a smile or two. I'm looking forward to watching him grow and develop through the next year. Here's a few of my favorites from his session:

Aaron & Molly

2008-05-28T13:10:00.000-07:00

Aaron and Molly are an adorable couple getting married in just 3.5 weeks!! They were a lot of fun to work with (even when they felt silly) and I'm really looking forward to their wedding!!

Welcome!

2008-05-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to start blogging and share my passion of photography with you! Feel free to leave your comments, and check back often for new photos, exciting contests, and discounts.