I was featured this month in our local newsletter. The lady wrote a very nice article.



HK PHOTO STUDIO
Letter from the Editor
Issue 17
748 Brookline Blvd. Hours: Call for Appointment
Pittsburgh, PA 15226 Email: info@hkphotostudio.com
412-344-3323 Website: www.hkphotostudio.com

It’s a snap! Well, really, it isn’t; but that is how you will feel when you talk to Harmonie King of HK Photo Studio on Brookline Blvd. You can say that photography is in her blood. Harmonie comes from a family of photographers and is the grandchild of a woman who was an artist in many mediums, including photography.
Outside of her family influence, Harmonie has been shooting pictures for 17 years. Starting in high school and expanding to Manchester Craftsman Guild while in school, Harmonie focused first on black and white photography. She even remembers fondly making a pinhole camera with her mother. Her first real‖ camera, a Pentax K1000, sits proudly in her studio. A treasure she will always keep.
Harmonie’s career started when she worked for another photographer who really tuned her skills into what they are today. At HK Photo Studio, Harmonie welcomes clients from near and far. She shoots everything from weddings to an upcoming dog calendar whose profits will benefit Animal Friends.
All forms of photography are welcome including family portraits, children, pets, senior photos and more. A special upcoming event will be pets with Santa! The studio is open by appointment only at this time but things may change as Harmonie is introducing a new section in her studio dedicated to works of art by various artists. She described these works as useable, functional art.‖ Of course, Harmonie also offers framing and mounting to her customers as well.
As we all live in the digital era, Harmonie finds that shooting with a digital camera allows her to easily upload the pic-tures for her clients to view. They can then choose, at their leisure, which photos they want printed. After clients choose their pictures, Harmonie makes any needed adjustments to them and then her lab provides the final prints.
A favorite type of print that Harmonie uses is one that mixes black and white with splashes of color. And as I suspect of most women, Harmonie enjoys photographing weddings the most.
Being that we are now in November, things are a little relaxed at HK Photo Studio. May through October is tradition-ally their busiest time of the year. Of course though, the holidays are coming soon and who wouldn’t love to receive a picture as a gift?
-Carol Sossaman

Due to lack of time the calendar will not happen until next year.

I am turning the front of my studio into an artist market. I am having an Christmas Open House Nov 20th from 6pm-8pm & Nov 21st from 9am-4pm. It's all usable functional art. jewelry, pottery, etc.... I will be serving hot chocolate & cookies. It will be a nice way to start your Christmas shopping. The florist a couple doors down from me is having his Christmas Open House as well. He has a store full of Christmas decorations & gift items.

I am putting together a dog calendar to raise money for animal friends. I need photos of dogs to fill in some of the months. The session is free. Give me a call. 412-344-3323

The Winner is Ashley & Tommy. Here is their story.

My name is Ashley and I am recently engaged to my wonderful fiancé Tommy, whom I have been with for close to two years now.

I am a born and raised Pittsburgh native but had to relocate to Maryland a little over two years ago. Shortly after moving here I met Carrie (Tommy’s sister) in working a part time job. To my surprise Carrie was a Pittsburgh Steelers fan! We began spending Sundays watching games together and shortly Tommy began joining us for our weekly festivities, as he is a Steelers fan as well (how convenientJ!!). We began dating and found out that we had so much in common…he quickly became my other half!

The weekend of April 18, 2009, we had a trip to Pittsburgh planned to attend my Godson’s 1st birthday party. The morning of the party we decided to visit the city since it was an absolutely gorgeous day (which are so rare in Pittsburgh !). I figured I would take Tommy to ride the Duquesne Incline up to Mount Washington for his 2nd time (since the 1st time I forgot my camera, oops!). We reached Mount Washington and decided to walk down Grandview Avenue to visit some of the different lookouts of the city. We walked for quite awhile, took some photos and decided to finally head back. We got to the final lookout right before we were about to get back on the incline to go back down to the car. We took some more pictures and looked at the sights for awhile. We had been standing there so long that I asked Tommy if he was ready to leave. He said not just yet. He put his arm around me and continued looking out over the city. He was shaking and I began to suspect something was up. He grabbed my hands and started telling me how much he loved me, but to be honest, most of what he said went in one ear and out the other because I finally realized what was about to happen. He then dropped to his knee and asked me to marry him…please. I will never forget the image of him down on his knee holding my ring out to sparkle in the Pittsburgh sun that shines that bright on such a rare occasion. Of course I said yes and we are now planning our wedding to be held on October 2, 2010 in the great city of Pittsburgh where our engagement first began. It means the world to me that he “popped the question” in my hometown. He knows how much I miss it there and for such an important event in our lives to be planned there makes me the happiest girl in the world.

Everyone seems to like this $999.99 sale. Since I didn't think to put it up until the day before the actual sale. I am going to extend it until Saturday.

Digital Package with printing rights.

$999.99 Book on 9-9-09
412-344-3323

Call NOW to make your appointment for tomorrow!
www.hkphotostudio.com

I was wondering if I should maybe change the prize to $300 off package A. I only received 2 entries for the engagement story contest so far. If anyone can give me some feedback on changing the prize I would love to hear from you. info@hkphotostudio.com. I will change the prize if enough people like the one listed above better. I love weddings and want to hear your stories.

Due to the lack of entries for the engagement story contest. I am changing the prize to a 16x20 matted and framed metallic print. I am also going to change the entry date to September 30th and the winner will be picked on October 17th.

I am also offering a $30 portrait session for your family, children, or pets. Senior session not included. Limit time offer. Call today!

Hi Everyone, Become a fan of HK Photo Studio on facebook. It's hard to put everything on here and on facebook. So I put alot more on there. Check it out to be up to date on what's happening.

A lot of time and effort go into finding new clients. I would rather spend that time and effort on you. Advertising is expensive and instead of paying them I would rather pay you. I started a program awhile ago. The Rewards Program. For each referral that becomes a client I will give you $15 gift card and after you refer 3 brides, you will get a $25 gift card. Gift cards can help you pay for reprints or an album. You can also put them towards a trash the dress session or a baby session. I just got the gift cards in and they are beautiful. Don’t forget to tell them to mention your name so I know to reward you.

Breeze the Boulevard August 8th.
Brookline where my studio is located is having a huge sidewalk sale. The day starts with a 5k run & fitness walk to benefit Brookline Area Food Bank/Meals on Wheels, Brookline Recreation Programs, and Brookline Regional Catholic. There will be arts, crafts, food, sales, a silent auction, and fun. The race starts at 10 am. The sidewalk sale is from 9am-6pm. Come out and join the fun. It's for a good cause.
Here is a link for directions (http://www.hkphotostudio.com/Contact.html).
25% off frames and albums. No photo session necessary to purchase.

Calling all brides!
Tell us how your soon to be husband "Popped the Question". The most unique story will win a free boudoir session with a 10 page 5x7 album. Retouching on all the photos you pick for the album will be included. The value of this package is $400.

You can submit your story, and a picture of the happy couple, by email or send to HK Photo Studio 748 Brookline Blvd. Pgh,Pa 15226. Don't forget to include your email address and phone number on your entry. The deadline for story entry is August 31st. The winner will be picked on September 15th. The winner's story will be posted on my blog. I love engagement stories! I can't wait to hear all the great stories.

Happy Monday All. Saturday's wedding was very special to me. One of my dear friends got married. Her ceremony was outside at Celebration's in Imperial. She was so worried all day about it raining. As soon as her mom walked down the aisle it started to rain a tiny bit. The people at Celebration's were on the ball. As soon as it started they ran around and gave all the guests umbrellas. Once my friend was down the aisle it started to rain a bit harder. 5 minutes later it stopped and it was very sunny. It rained just enough to cool everyone off. After I toke them around the grounds to do some photos. About 7:00 after all the important photos were done she told me to put my camera away and join the party. We had a blast.

Saturday's wedding was beautiful. I sat at the table for dinner with the bride's dad. He was very nice. When our salads came he said that the dressing was fantastic. Here's our little tip from a smart dad. "You can always tell how good your meal is going to be by the taste of the salad dressing. So if the dressing is bad cancel your meal and run". Something to think about next time you go out to eat.

Friday night I was watching Say yes to the dress. (See I love weddings, I even watch shows about them.) Buying your dress is very important. I always knew that but didn't give it much thought. Why not have photos taken while trying on dresses? Call me about a dress trying on photo session being added to your wedding package . It can also be a way to tell what it will look like professionally photographed. I think it would be fun.

Another busy weekend. I had 2 weddings this past weekend. I am moving a bit slow today. I just received an email from one of the web sites I advertise on. They are having a contest and you can win wedding bands.
OneWed is awarding one lucky reader the ultimate prize to get in on the trend of proposing to her man- a pair of hand engraved Platinum wedding bands from jewelry designer Kirk Kara, worth approximately $5,000! Here is the web site. http://www.onewed.com/blog/savvy-scoop/2009/06/17/pop-platinum-proposal. Good Luck Ladies!

What a weekend! GO PENS!!!!!!!
Saturday I had a wedding at a local church here in Brookline. The bride & groom have a toy poodle. You would have thought it was his day. He was in all the pictures at the house. He even had his own tux. Well it was a tux shirt. Very cute. I got to work with 2 of my favorite vendors Michael Whitlinger Designs a couple doors done from me and the other was Dawn Brennan owner of DMB Videography. The reception was at the Radisson in Greentree. The food was one of the best wedding meals I have ever had. The bride and groom choose No Bad JuJu for their band. No Bad JuJu rocked the house. They had everyone up dancing. I even stayed till they were done playing. I usually leave after the garter and bouquet. I just couldn't walk away. I will post some photos as soon as I can. I am still downloading them.
Sunday I was at a wedding show at Heinz museum. It was a neat venue. I wish I had time to check it all out. I told my husband we have to go there sometime and check it out.

SOUTH HILLS VIP BRIDAL OPEN HOUSE & PASTRY TASTING
Date: Sunday, May 03, 2009
Place: THE PIE PLACE (near South Hills Village Mall)
Time: 02:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Price: FREE
Location: Norman Centre II 1775 N. Highland Road Pittsburgh, PA 15241
Contact: Jess Gombar Phone: 412.835.4410
Email: info@thepieplace.netJoin us for "The Pie Place's VIP Bridal Open House". All brides-to-be will receive a FREE goodie bag along with a copy of "Perfect Wedding Guide - Pittsburgh SPRING 2009" edition. Meet local wedding businesses. Enjoy yummy samplings of pastries from The Pie Place. All brides-to-be will have the opportunity to add their style to our "cupcake tree" by participating in a FUN Cupcake Decorating Contest! Winner receives a special gourmet treat. RSVP by April 30th. Space is limited. 412-835-4410


I won't be there personnel because of a prior photo commitment. There will be some examples of my work, brochures, and someone to answer questions you may have. I will also have something in the goody bag they are giving away.

Remembering the fallen heroes!

Happy Friday. I just found out I was voted 2009 Readers Choice from Trib Total Media and won the bronze award. It was listed in yesterday's paper. Thank you for voting for me. Have a beautiful weekend.

HAPPY SPRING! Not that it feels like it out. Soon enough. Next month is the 1 year anniversary of my new studio location being open. I will be giving 20% off a portrait session for the whole month of April. Call to make your appointment today 412-344-3323.