Jamie's Senior Session

Yesterday I had a great time venturing out to Tonganoxie High School to meet up with Jamie and his mom Regina for Jamie's senior portrait session. Jamie is in both basketball and football so the school was a great location and even better, we had the place to ourselves. I had fun getting shots of him in the empty hallways and on the bleachers out by the field.

After graduation next spring Jamie is going to college to become a chef and with my husband being a chef we had a great topic to talk about & Jamie loosened up in front of the camera after no time at all. So, despite Jamie's first words to me of "I hate having my picture taken" I think we got some great shots of him! :o)

Out on the track

On the empty bleachers In the quiet hallways Out on the court

I think this shot is my personal fave. We found a much needed shady spot for this one. At 9am it was already really hot outside!

His class ring

Hug a tree!

It's Earth Day! So, go recycle something, plant a tree or find some way to conserve, reduce or reuse and help one little step at a time to give something back to the Earth--we *kinda* need her! ;o) So be extra nice to the Earth today!

I found this great picture that honors Spring-time but since it's just now starting to look & feel like Spring around here I thought it was appropriate on Earth Day too.

For more of the scoop on how this photograph was made, follow THIS!

New Travel Promotion

I love to travel. And don't get to do it nearly often enough. So in the spirit of approaching springtime and this terrible case of spring fever I have lately I am offering a new and very limited promotion for all weddings that require me to travel to you from my spot here in Kansas City, MO. In the States, out of the States--I'm there wherever you are!

So, here's the scoop:

I am looking to break into the international wedding market but would love to travel anywhere for your wedding. That, in a nutshell, is why I'm offering this very limited promotion.

Book your wedding by the last day of March (that's 3.31.2008), regardless of your actual wedding date (as long as it's in 2008 or 2009) and you will get in on this special discount. Wait until April 1st, and well.... you know what they call people on that day. ;o)

Here are the 3 levels of the deal to make things simple:

1. If you're getting married anywhere in Kansas or Missouri, there will be no travel fees at all.

2. If you're getting married anywhere in any of the other states in the continental US, my travel fees will be reduced by 75%! That's huge! Regular travel rates are $2.00 a mile. This temporary reduction brings it down to just 50 cents a mile!

3. If you're planning a wedding anywhere outside the continental US, just pay my travel costs and I'll shoot your wedding for free! This will include full wedding day coverage, online gallery of fully edited images, all images on disk, plus a "trash the dress" session the day after the wedding.
Long live Springtime and the start of all things new!

I'm on this jet plane, coming to you:

The Opfer Family

For this fun little family session I ventured up to north Kansas City to the Opfer family's lovely home in the suburbs. We spent some time outdoors in the chilly morning air for these shots in their cute backyard.

We attempted family shots with their adorable and playful dog Tanner, but he was just waaaay too excited to be outside! We couldn't contain him! :o)

Hope - Oct 13th

This is Hope, one of the Cutest Kid Contest winners from last Summer's Kid's Fest. You can see why she won! She was so mellow & well behaved, adorable and she loved wearing her Halloween costume a little early for these pictures at Loose Park on Saturday the 13th. What a delight! The flowers were still blooming in the rose garden which made for a perfect setting for a little fairy.

This could go on one of those "kids say the darndest things" kind of shows: After a mid-session clothing change, with her fairy costume came a magic wand. I told her she could make a wish & wave her wand. She studied her wand very intently & began waving & shaking it furiously. Then Hope looked at me & said, quite matter-of-factly, "The wishes won't come out!"

Even fairies get broken wings...

Bubbles!!

On the steps in the rose garden

A balancing act

We finished up our session with a game of Peek-a-boo!

Andy + Lynnell's Bio Pics

Before I got so busy getting ready for the Kids Fest, my good friend Lynnell Hayes (friend's since 7th grade!) and her husband Andy and I got together to swap photography for each other's bio pics as we both have our own photography businesses. They are in the process of putting up a new site and needed pics of themselves and I have never put a pic up of myself on my own site either. It took all summer to get together as they are from Columbia MO, but we finally did it and here's what I got of them!

They are such a great couple and this little photo safari around Kansas City was long overdue. We had so much fun swapping ideas and working off each other's styles. We left saying to each other, "We should have done this a long time ago!" :o) Why we didn't is a mystery!

To get a look at what they took of me, check out their sister blog post here: http://www.hayesphoto.blogspot.com/.

On the grounds of the Nelson Atkins Museum of Fine Art...

At the Liberty Memorial...

On the Country Club Plaza... I love this Spanish tile!

My personal favorite! ;o)

Perspective shots

Working with other photographers, they know just how to pose. ;o) Andy's got the model look down!

Spur of the moment shots at Latte Land...

This spot on the Plaza was so windy but also really pretty. It has great blue tile and I just love the colors! Aren't they cute together?!! :o)

Cassie's Maternity

Yesterday I had the pleasure of doing Cassie's maternity shoot. Her mother hired me to do these & insisted to Cassie that she get them done (Cassie's a bit camera shy & was hesitant) because her mom knows she'll really value them after the little one arrives. Those nine months go so fast, relatively speaking, and it's a time a mother comes to cherish as her little one grows up.

Cassie's due in early September. She hardly looks it! Her little belly is so cute (and no stretch marks--now I'm just jealous!), I couldn't decide which belly shot I liked best. So, here are my faves. I can't wait to do the newborn pics!