kable and sarah + 1 – preview
Just a couple weeks ago, my family and I were at Manhattan’s City Park. It was a sunny and warm Friday evening around sunset, and there was a classic rock cover band playing at Arts in the Park. What more could I ask for?
Oh yeah: a couple of beautiful friends who wanted some family portraits!
Their little boy was not really into the whole idea of standing there while some big guy behind a camera cracked some very funny jokes that apparently went right over his almost-two-year-old head. Even though the jokes bombed, I still managed to get some great smiles out of him.
We got some absolutely gorgeous light that night.
But I think the greatest part of the session was when we ignored the “Keep Out” signs*.
There’s quite a bit more where these came from, so stay tuned!
*Don’t try this at home kids. And definitely don’t tell my mom and dad on me.
jodi – a sneak peek
On Wednesday, I drove out to the Konza Prairie and met with Jodi and her family for a portrait session. I was particularly excited about this session because Jodi and her husband, Tim, are great friends of ours. Jodi is 36 weeks along in her third pregnancy and had never done maternity portraits before but figured this was as good a time as any. Since neither Jodi nor her husband, Tim, are from Kansas, they thought it would be fun to get some portraits made out on a real Kansas prairie, so we also took a few of the whole family while we were out there.
Normally, I don’t turn images around in two days, but seriously, I’m just so excited about these, I could hardly wait. You’ll still have to wait just a bit for the rest, but don’t worry…they’re coming.
And yes, before you ask, we did drag a stuffed armchair out into the middle of the prairie.
Working it like a freakin’ model!
And my absolute favorite from the night:
ben + emily
Okay, so this one was really a long time in the making. Back in April—yes, April—I assisted Alan Honey on my second wedding. Before we got there, Alan told me that Ben and Emily were two of the nicest people I’d ever meet, and he was right. It turned out that I had already met them when they came into Alan’s studio for their engagement session, though it took us all a while to figure that out!
One of the many great things about Ben and Emily’s wedding was that it was in Wamego! Probably the only time in my life I’ll be able to walk to work. =]
Here are some of my favorite images from before the ceremony. Ben was such a nervous ball of energy waiting to see his future wife. He simply could not wait one more second to see her. The longing was evident and moving. This is Emily’s reaction as Ben opened his eyes:
Just before the ceremony, we stole Ben and Emily away and did some more relaxed portraits outside the church.
I just adore the love you can see between them in this totally candid moment:
The reception was held at the historic Columbian Theater, across the street from the church. The couple had asked to do a picture of the whole wedding party as they were crossing the street, all holding hands. Alan took it a step further:
And I just had to include this one detail shot from the reception:
Stay tuned for more incredibly delayed wedding posts, as well as the most recent weddings and a couple of family sessions I’m super excited about!
smiley little s
I can now officially announce that I have finally checked the last portrait session off my to-do list. I’m all caught up in that department…yay! Now I just have four or five weddings to get up here on the blog* and I’ll be a happy man.
Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of having one of my maternity clients come back with an adorable little bundle of joy ready for his own portraits. We were only able to squeeze in a little time together, but boy, was he cooperative.
He and his mom weren’t able to make it out during his first 10 days (really, the ideal time for newborn portraits), so instead, we did more of a 6-week portrait session. I was so amazed that, at 6 weeks, this little guy was already smiling! He really beamed a couple of them for me.
His mom brought along a teddy bear that his sister had held during some of her own baby portraits.
Just a few days after our session, my family was invited to attend his blessing at church and a lunch afterwards. Naturally, I brought my camera and managed to pick up a few more images for the family. Here’s little S with his grandpa.
I had such a hard time with these last two, trying to decide whether I liked it better in black and white or in color. In the end, I couldn’t decide, so you get both!
Keep smiling, little guy! I look forward to watching you grow. =]
*As a second shooter, all I need to do is edit out all the really bad shots and give the good ones to my boss, and that just takes me an hour or two and I’m done. Once I hand over the DVD, I don’t have to worry about processing the images for clients at all, so the pictures sit on my hard drive for weeks at a time. Don’t worry though, they’ll be up here soon!
