Beltrami Studios Rutland

Wait! Come Back!

2010-03-17T14:31:00.000-04:00

What a blast. Little Steven came into the studio rarin' to go! His older brother Jacob had been in at about this same age a couple of years ago and was just a calm, cool and collected sort of kid.We captured beautiful, calm, quiet poses of him. His mom Lauren warned me that things would be a little different with Steven. She was right. Steven is high octane and we did have to chase him down a few times. Hilarious...at least for me, but it was his parents who ran after him haha. He settled in, though, and we did capture some really beautiful images. What eyes he has! And of course this image of him sitting backwards in the chair is "so him." Funny.

97 Pound Five-Month-Old

2010-03-10T17:29:00.000-05:00

So when was the last time you saw a 97 pound five-month-old?

Gertrude is a five month old mastiff puppy - not done growing - who wanted to be photographed with her best friend, 50-something-pound, 8-year-old *human,* Gabriella.

Actually, it was Gabriella's grandparents, Kathy and Dom, and I who cooked up the ballerina idea...they live right near the studio and stopped in because
they had seen our huge Children's Modeling Contest banner outside. Our chat turned into a brainstorm and the idea was hatched...photograph Gabriella, a tiny ballerina with their gigantic family pet.

In my ignorance I thought this was a great idea - I hadn't seen the dog but I'd heard that mastiffs were 'big' dogs. Then the day before the session, Gertrude dragged Kathy in and in a whirlwind of fur and saliva, Gertrude licked everything in the studio including me and a customer I was helping.

As Gertrude dragged Kathy out the door and I heard a distant, "see you tomorrow!" I admit I had a pang of doubt.

Boy was I wrong - Kathy had sewed Gertrude a beautiful tutu to match Gabriella's! Brilliant! And Gertrude was an angel after she settled in and gave the place a good sniffing.

And may I just say that little Gabriella was perfect? She loves to pose and was so very patient with Gertrude. Pose after pose after pose...she maintained her composure and really made it easy for me to capture lots of great images...it was very hard choosing a favorite.....

A Little Girl's Loose Grip On Her Piggy Bank

2010-03-06T10:39:00.000-05:00

Ebe has such a big heart. At a tender 5 1/2 years old, she heard that Rutland has an International Aid Organization called Pure Water For The World (you can read more about them here and here) and she wanted to do her part. So she went into her piggy bank and totaled up the money she had been saving. $65.33. Pretty good for tooth fairies and only five birthdays!

Here's the story pulled from Pure Water's blog:

Here is a story that touched our hearts.

From the Tooth Fairy to Haiti: A Young Vermonter’s Act of Love

On Thursday afternoon, the Pure Water for the World staff in Rutland received a visit from a young girl.

Five year old Ebe Fernandez had learned of PWW’s work in Haiti and the urgent need for clean water following Tuesday’s earthquake. She made a decision that belies her young age when she asked her parents, Phil and Erin Fernandez of Rutland, if she could donate her tooth fairy money and other savings to PWW. She arrived at the PWW office with $65.33 in a small plastic bag and proudly presented her gift to PWW’s Executive Director, Carolyn Meub. Moved to tears by the generosity of this young donor, Meub expressed her gratitude for the overwhelming generosity of the friends of PWW during this unprecedented effort to continue bringing clean water to Haiti.

Pure, unadulterated, non-self-seeking kindness from a 5 year old with a piggy bank. We could all learn something from little Ebe........

Plus, she was a delight to photograph...she had a blast 'striking a pose' and was full of smiles and silliness. She made my day....

We are still taking appointments to raise funds for Pure Water's Haitian Earthquake relief efforts. Please call me at 802-773-8480 and be a part of it!!

Family Plan Friends

2010-03-03T10:22:00.000-05:00

I started photographing the Maseroni's as part of our 'Family Plan' when the girls were only about 4 and 6 years old...and look at them now! Quite the grown up ladies and what a gorgeous family. We have photographed them in cowboy hats, outside in the snow, with the new puppy, casual, formal, in basketball jerseys...the works!

Incredibly, they somehow had not yet made it into our beautiful "White Room" here at the studio. So when I saw the nice blues, I knew it would be a great color contrast to the coffee colored trim in the White Room. I love the look of the 'blown out' windows in the year's image. I'm still itching to get up to their property to capture them with their horses...maybe this will be the the year!

Your Family Portrait Can Benefit Haiti!!

2010-01-29T15:08:00.000-05:00

Beltrami's is happy to announce
that we are partnering with
Pure Water for the World, an international aid organization (that just happens to be run by Rutland's own Carolyn Meub) to raise $$ for Haitian relief.

Here's the scoop:

**Have your family's portrait created by Beltrami's in the months of February or March.

**Donate as much as you want for your session fee (we usually charge $150 for a Family Portrait Session)...we're asking for a $25 minimum but, really, let's dig deeper than that, right?

**100% of your session fee goes to Pure Water for the World!
Plus, you can get discounts when you order prints and even frames.

Call 802-773-8480 to schedule your family's appointment.

Expires on World Water Day, March 22.

**$1200 gets a water purification set up for 200 children in Haiti. How many kids do you think we can help?!

Check out PWW's website here.

Here is PWW's Facebook...become a fan!

Here's our Facebook...become a fan!

Here's our website.

One more thing: Another kind of 'aftershock' of the Haiti earthquake is disease, and disease spreads easiest through bad sanitation and dirty drinking water. Many more people in Haiti will die without the help that Pure Water is and will provide. Please tell your friends about this so we can raise as much $$ as possible to send relief to our Haitian neighbors!!

Thanks so much!!

-Chris

Children's Modeling Call!

2010-01-21T14:41:00.000-05:00

Time again for our most popular special! The Children's Modeling Contest is back and we are excited for your kids to come in for some adorable portraits and a chance to win $1000! Call Chris for details: 802-773-8480.

2009-07-14T09:33:00.000-04:00

So one of our own GOT MARRIED this weekend! Some of you may remember Anna Dundas, who worked here at the studio for several years through high school (before moving to Florida for college). Well, she found a boy and married him. Just like that.

Well, not really. Actually, she had known him and his family from a very young age! So the lovers had known each other since they were kids, but not like that, if you know what I mean.

Turns out the lucky guy was none other than my nephew Greg Karabensch from Florida. So our own Anna (I've known her and her family since she was 7 or something...) has now married into my family! So we don't have to 'lose' her after all!

The happy couple was stunning and their smiles were just beaming all day long....God bless them as they head off into wedded bliss!

The Gorgeous Gallery Wrap

2009-06-18T19:24:00.001-04:00

Ok, this item is a real WOW. It's called a Gallery Wrap and this is just a guess-timate, but I'd say a good half of our clients for the first half of this year have walked out the door with a Gallery Wrap.

This beautiful wall display item is unique. We create stunning images of your family or child (or whatever!) and custom design a collage of the images. The collage is then printed direct-to-canvas and stretched onto a painter's stretcher frame. The imagery itself can be 'wrapped' around the edges of the stretcher frame to give the whole presentation a more 3-D feel as it hangs on your wall. Plus: needs no frame!

What a way to decorate your home!

Our Best-Kept Secret?

2009-06-18T19:12:00.000-04:00

So we have a secret that probably shouldn't be so secret: Beltrami's does commercial and advertising photography too! Sure, we're known all over as the area's premier portrait photography studio...but did you know that we also create amazing images for local (and not so local) commercial companies? A partial client list includes such companies as Rutland Regional Medical Center, IDX, General Dynamics, Carris Reels, Omya, the Mountain Top Inn, Velco and Central Vermont Public Service.

Here's a video to showcase some of our work:

Wedding Vid

2009-02-27T10:27:00.000-05:00

Wedding are of course a total blast. Where else can I go where people are all dressed up and happy to see me...and smile whenever they look at me?

Twin Time

2009-02-26T19:28:00.000-05:00

Ok, there aren't eight of them or anything, but I'll tell you, two at once is still a handful! The Ecklers brought in their 9 month old twins Madison and Zachary and I just had a great time with them. These little ones were an absolute delight. Usually, kids this age have a very limited time that they will 'last' in front of the camera. Not so for Madison and Zachary. We just laughed and these two just hung out together and climbed on eachother and SMILED for the camera continuously! What a hoot.

(By the way, we captured these images in our 'Camera Room B,' also known as 'the White Room.' It's a beautiful window-light-only camera room here in our studios. We're located in an 1865 Victorian...you can see some of the beautiful woodwork in the background.)

A Valentine's Wedding

2009-02-26T16:34:00.000-05:00

Erica and Nate entered wedded bliss on Valentine's day....about 2 weeks ago now. Can I just say that they were just a stunning couple? Nate stayed calm, cool and collected and Erica was radiant of course.

I photographed Erica's high school senior photos, as well as her sisters' and brother's, and also created a beautiful family portrait a few years ago. And now she's married. I'm sure I'm quoting their parents when I say, "where do the years go?!" What was especially cool was seeing, at the house on the BIG DAY, Erica's parents' wedding album which had been photographed by Bill Bartlett back in 19?? Bill's studio was purchased by Chris Beltrami back in the 80's. So we see this continuum of photography in the Bove family...

Thanks so much to the Bove's and Mahany's for allowing me to be a part of that great day!

House Fire

2009-02-25T22:31:00.000-05:00

Kevin and Calista called the other day to make a portrait appointment for their son, Carter. They had recently lost everything in a house fire. Yet here they were, amazingly, just a short while later to create new portraits of their son. Actually, I feel quite honored to photograph Carter...creating all new photographic memories for their family. And what resilience this family has...bouncing back after their tragedy!

Senior Vid

2009-02-24T19:53:00.001-05:00

Senior Vid

2009-02-24T19:50:00.000-05:00

Here is a video of images from the Class of 2009. We had such a great time photographing everyone. Thanks to each of you for giving me the privelege of creating your high school portraits...unforgettable!

2009-02-21T11:06:00.001-05:00

Wow, ok, here's Beltrami Rutland's Blog....at last! We've been super-busy getting things set for our Children's Portrait Contest...and gearing up for wedding season...and redecorating the whole camera room for the class of 2010 seniors who we will photograph in the summer...and finally creating our BLOG....!!!! February is a great month for gearing up!