Heather Rivlin Photography -

The studio is officially closed!

Well now that felt odd actually typing that out....the studio is officially closed, albeit temporarily, because as of today, I am on maternity leave!

I have decided to take some time to nurture my own newborn son, due this September, and also spend some quality family time.  Although maternity leave is typically a year, I will be reopening the studio April 1, 2008 for sessions, and will be taking session bookings as of March 1, 2008, one month before the reopening.

Please note that date in your calendars and be sure to contact me early should you want one of the first sessions once the studio reopens.

There is a good chance I will be relocating the studio come April, so stay tuned for that exciting news once a suitable location is found and arranged!  I am excited for what our new "home" will look like!

If you need to contact me during the maternity leave, please do not call, as the studio line will not be answered and voicemails will not be retrieved.  Instead, please contact me via email.

I will not be replying to emails about:

1. Scheduling a session
2. Inquiring about studio products and services
3. Purchasing gift certificates

I will however be able to respond to emails from clients who are interested in placing reprint orders or those individuals seeking a photographer to capture their child's images through the "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" program.

Given the volume of emails that I receive, I simply need to reply only to those listed above. All others, please re-contact me again after April 1st!

All the best for a healthy and happy few months, and I will continue to update the blog!

Watch Me Grow Sessions to be Discontinued

They were immensely popular....and so why discontinue them, you ask?

With all of the clients taking part in these sessions, all of my Watch Me Grow clients snag up almost all available sessions throughout the year, leaving very few for the client who only wishes one session every now and again.  As a result, since there is only ONE of me, I had to make the decision to phase out this session plan.

You can still book three separate sessions, if you wish, over the course of a year, and many clients still do, but the sessions will be considered individual sessions, booked and paid for separately.

Don't get me wrong...I still love seeing you several times throughout the year and watching those kids grow....but we need to leave some room for others to have a chance too, don't we? ;)

Gift Certificates being phased out

Just a quick update as I am making some changes to the offerings of the studio, and will be phasing out gift certificate purchases starting immediately.

This simply means that I will no longer be selling gift certificates, but I will certainly honor those which were purchased - of course!

The reason for this change is simple.  Gift certificates are very convenient for the buyer of the gift certificate, and make a quick, easy and thoughtful way to provide your friends and family with something meaningful.  However, for the recipient, custom photography may not be ideal, especially if the selected photographer's style does not match the recipient's taste, or if the recipient's budget does not permit them the luxury of being able to purchase prints from their session.  In this way, a gift intended to be a cherished memory can become burdensome.

Custom photography is a very personal choice, and we each have our own taste for what we artistically appreciate.  Therefore, gifts which provide art to a recipient are very difficult to gauge, and hence I have decided to no longer offer gift certificates towards studio services.

There will be more changes to the studio offerings over the next few months including new album offerings, memory books and art books, and I will update the blog to reflect these changes as they occur!

Email issues have been resolved!

The email appears to be working again for the addresses on the heatherrivlin.com server.

info@heatherrivlin.com

and

heather@heatherrivlin.com

are both functioning and receiving emails.

Since I have no way to retrieve messages sent over the past week which bounced back, please feel free to resend!

Thank you for your patience!  Email away!!

Email is down...

It has been brought to my attention that my email is down.  I am looking into it, and should be back up shortly.  Thank you to those who let me know, and feel free to call if you have anything pressing!

I will update when the email situation has been fixed.  My IT guy is looking into it :)

Look who wants my job!! Should I be worried? :)

So many little girls strive to be her....and now she wants to be me! 

I thought this was too cute to pass up!  I might have to buy one for the studio - call her my assistant or something!

Glad to know that what I do is something the most envied "woman" wants to do too :)

Obtaining reprints during my absence

If your session images are set to expire from archive during my maternity leave, or if you simply wish to order reprints from your session images while the studio is closed, please know that you can place an order at anytime by email, and I will confirm  back to you receipt of your request.

The only thing I need to let you know is that I will not be able to guarantee the same turnaround time whilst on maternity leave, that I currently have.  Because my lab works with a quota, and because my printing volumes will be lower while I am not currently "open for business", I may have to group orders together in order to meet the minimum quota for them to print.  This simply means that it will likely take 2-3 weeks instead of 1-2.

Please note that I will NOT be checking voicemails during my maternity leave, and this will be included in the outgoing voice greeting.  I will, however, be checking emails regularly, and responding to all order requests. 

Please do not email me asking to book a session for my April return.  I will not be starting the booking process until March 1, 2008!

Maternity leave!

As many of you know, I am taking maternity leave from September 1 to April 1, 2008.

The studio will be closing August 31st, and all orders must be picked up by then, lest you wait a really long time to get your cherished images back in your hands!  Please make an appointment to collect your images, once you've received notification that they are ready!

Final orders were taken up until August 15th, in order to have them back and returned by August 31st.  I will let you know when your items are back, and we can schedule a pick up!

Sessions were completed July31st, as I was no longer able to conduct sessions beyond this time.  Third pregnancies are really tough on the body!  I was no longer able to chase, run, bend, lay flat, and change backdrops with the same speed and agility as  before!  It really is a striking difference!  Thank you to those who came to those last sessions with a dose of understanding for my "condition" - I appreciate it!