fall portrait specials, going on now!
Hey everyone out there in Internetland! I just wanted to pop in and let you know that we’re running some portrait session specials over on our Facebook page.
What’s that? You didn’t know we had one? We do. It’s here. Come on over and join the fun! We post more images of more recent work over there, so check out what we’ve been up to!
Also, while you’re there, check out the daily portrait session special. Every day this week (9/12-9/17), we’ll be offering a different discount or incentive to a limited number of sessions that book that day. Check back every morning to see the new deal and get on it! Now is the time to plan your holiday portrait session in order to get images and cards back in time to send them out.
See you over on the Book!
(and, just because posts are prettier with pictures, here’s a couple from last fall)
kelli and jay – manhattan photographer
I love my job. I get to meet all kinds of incredible people that let me into their lives for a time. There are so many different kinds of beautiful relationships that I get to share, so much love and passion that I get to witness, and so many people in love that I get to work with to create portraits for them to treasure.
Recently, I got to meet Kelli and Jay. They got married a couple of years ago, but at the time, didn’t get any engagement pictures taken. Luckily for me, they came to me to help them create some portraits of the two of them together along with their little girl.
We got together at Anneberg Park in Manhattan, KS, during spring break on a slightly chilly and fairly breezy afternoon. First, we started with Jay in uniform.
Kelli had brought along something that she wanted to use in her portraits, which is such a great idea! Who knows a couple better than themselves?
After getting a few of them together in uniform, they changed and we set off to a few different parts of the park. They also got their little girl out of the car for a couple of pictures. No worries–their little girl was fine waiting in the car. 
Everyone, meet Ada.
While Jay took Ada back to the car, Kelli and I took advantage of the time to create a few quick portraits of her.
When Jay returned, we got back to making magic happen. =]
My absolute favorite of the session. Maybe of the year so far.
I’ve always thought the playhouses in the playground would make for a good session location–so much color!
Finally, Kelli and Jay had gotten a matching set of necklaces to wear while Jay is away, and they wanted to incorporate them somehow in the shoot. Ok…done!
Jay, thank you for your service. We wish you all the best over there and a safe return! Godspeed!
jess + mike
It seems like forever ago, but I guess it was only back in November when Jess and Mike came down to Manhattan from where they’re living in Lincoln so we could make their engagement portraits.
I’ll be honest–I was nervous as the date drew closer. Here in Kansas, outdoor photo sessions in early November don’t typically have the benefit of a pleasant climate. However, as Saturday afternoon arrived, so did an incredibly nice warm front. In short, it was a gorgeous day to hang out with two gorgeous people in love.
Jess and Mike had no particular ties to Manhattan–Jess is from Wamego–so they trusted me to choose a location for our shoot. That kind of trust is one of the best things to give a photographer. =]
We went to a building in Southern Manhattan that I had been eying for a while. The grass was green, and yet the leaves were yellow and falling around the lawn. But, I imagine you didn’t come here for a description of the landscaping, right? Ok…here are the images.
Jess (it’s her birthday tomorrow, the 26th–leave her some happy birthday love!):
Mike:
There’s a huge tree in front of this building that had dropped a ton of leaves on the ground. As soon as I saw them, I knew I wanted to get a particular shot. But, to get the shot, I’d need to be up off the ground. High.
It’s a good thing I climbed a lot of trees as a kid.
Here’s the shot.
Oh, and this one too.
They were having a good time down there, so I decided to get down there with them.
Well…not with them. Just on the ground. At the same time.
You know what I mean.
Like this:
Okay…I’ll just be quiet now.
And my personal favorite of the afternoon:
Jess and Mike, I had a blast shooting with you, and I just can’t wait until June for your wedding here in Wamego!
mindy + nathan: engaged!
To those that know Mindy and Nathan, this will not come as much of a surprise, given that they just tied the knot about a week ago in a beautiful hill-top ceremony at her parents’ farm. However, not too long before the wedding, we got together for a little engagement session, knowing that there was little time between the session and the actual wedding (there was only family at the wedding–a total of 18 people).
And, incidentally, for anyone else in a similar situation, where there is not that much time for an engagement session before the wedding, when you might be tempted to just skip it and focus on the nearing nuptials, I’d recommend going ahead with the session anyways. It gives you a chance to get to know your photographer in a much more relaxed environment, to see how he or she works, and develop an amount of trust and confidence that will come back to serve you on your actual wedding day. You’ll be more relaxed with your photographer, and that will only make you look better in your wedding portraits. Trust me on this one.
So, we met on campus at Kansas State University in Manhattan and made good use of the great variety of locations available in such a small area. I’m going to try not to talk too much now because there are a bunch of images to share, so get ready for a long post!
Mindy and Nathan met in grade school. Sounds like the beginning of a great love story, doesn’t it? Really, it is.
It was so cool to see how much fun they have together. They’re unafraid of letting it show around other people, too.
Oh yeah…the dumpster thing? Their idea.
The real Nathan.
The black and white Nathan.
As we were moving from one location to another in the old stadium there on campus, a sweet, elderly couple that was walking the track passed us and commented on how nice the weather was. They then suggested we shoot right there on the track.
Ok!
After the stadium, we moved over to the new parking garage and had some fun there. Don’t worry…we looked both ways before laying down in the street.
The real fun started when we went to the top of the parking garage. It’s not finished yet, so there were a few locations that probably won’t be available in a few months when they do finish it.
And my very absolute favorite of the night, the very last image we made:
Mindy and Nathan, you guys rock! I’m so excited to have been able to create these images of your love before your wedding, and can’t wait to show you the images from your wedding! It’s coming soon…stay tuned!
an announcement and a contest!
So I’m going to be doing a show in a local gallery, and the gallery owner said I could display 15 images. Since I’m relatively unknown here in the area, it’s a great opportunity to showcase some of my personal work, but also to display the work I’ve done for some of my clients. I’ve tried and tried to select those 15 perfect images, and I’m just not getting there all by myself. I posted the images to my facebook page and petitioned help there and on twitter, and I’ve loved the response! So, I decided to open this up and make it even more fun.
I’m holding a contest! ***UPDATE*** the contest voting is closed!
I’m going to leave the voting open until Wednesday evening, March 4th, at 5 pm (Central time). At that time, I’ll count up the votes and choose my 15 images. The client whose gallery image receives the most votes will get to keep the gallery print when the display comes down! That’s right, baby: a free print! Depending on how big I print them, that could be worth something!
So, what can you do? Drum up the votes! Tell your friends, tell your co-workers, tell your family! Send them a link to the blog post and tell them to come vote! They can vote on up to 15 images to help me whittle them down.
Voting is easy: you can
- leave a comment on facebook on the pictures you want to vote for (if you’re my facebook friend),
- send me a facebook message (even those who aren’t my friend can do that, as long as you have an account) with the image numbers you’re voting for,
- send me an email (rikandesphoto at gmail dot com) with the image numbers you’re voting for,
- dm or @reply me on twitter (twitter.com/rikandes) with the image numbers you’re voting for,
- leave a comment on this post right here with the image numbers you’re voting for,
- click on the images below you want to vote for and leave a comment there,
- find me and tell me the numbers in person–just make sure I write them down!
Here’s the link to my facebook album: http://bit.ly/k9QEd
Or the link to this post: http://bit.ly/9ZWnD
Good luck, and stay tuned for a separate announcement regarding the show dates and location of the gallery!
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The fine print: I withhold the right to make the final judgment over which images get into the gallery showing. The client image *in the gallery* with the most votes will get the print.
chase + tara: engaged!
A couple weeks ago, I had the extreme pleasure of getting together with two very cool young people getting ready to tie the knot next month! I have known Chase’s family since about the time we moved here over 2 years ago, and on that Saturday, I was also lucky enough to meet the lovely lady that captured Chase’s heart, Tara.
We met on the Kansas State campus and hit a spot I’ve shot at a couple of times and then set off to find some new and very cool spots. And boy, did we ever find some!
I have the feeling this could be a bit longer than what I normally post…I’m just too excited about these. =]
Chase
and Tara
Just can’t get enough of these stairs…or that sunlight!
I wish I could take credit for this next moment, but it was all them. Every tenderness you see is all theirs. I stepped away to change a lens, told them to just hang out for a moment, and this was what I got: a perfect moment.
From here, we ventured off onto the campus more. We hit up one spot that I just love. Every time I saw it, I would think to myself how I would love to shoot someone there, and Chase and Tara worked it for me!
My absolute favoritest ones of the day:
Chase and Tara, I wish you every happiness in the world for your nuptials next month. Thanks for an incredible time!
olivia + mac
Oh boy…I am excited to be posting today. As I’ve been going down my checklist of sessions to process and post, I was really looking forward to this one. This is Olivia and Mac’s engagement session, which we shot back in mid-May at the K-State Botanical Gardens. Olivia is the brave soul that hired me to shoot her wedding before I had ever shot anything wedding-related. Since then, I’ve been assisting Alan Honey at a number of weddings, and this weekend I’ll be working for another good friend of mine, Nicole Coleman of Nicoleman Photography, second shooting for her. I still have a bunch of Alan’s weddings left to assist at this summer as well, but Olivia’s will be my first solo wedding.
As (hopefully!) every wedding photographer would tell you, their first solo wedding is probably their most terrifying, their most sleep robbing, their most nerve wracking. I’m sure mine will be the same, but after this engagement session, I am super excited to be there for them!
This, incidentally, is the best reason to get an engagement session done if you’re planning a wedding: if you and your photographer have a good relationship, that will make the day of the wedding go all that much more smoothly. It’s tough to develop that relationship, that trust, if the first time you’re in front of your photographer’s lens is the big day. An engagement session allows you to get to know each other, to discuss your style, what you’d like to see, and to allow your photographer the chance to earn your trust ahead of time.
Back to the session: I knew I was in for a great day when I got there and discovered just about the most beautiful day ever.
This is where Olivia really wanted to get married, but when she called to find out if it was available, she was told that they don’t schedule any events here during football home games. So, we planned to do her engagement pictures here, even though they said it was the same day as graduation and that the grounds would probably be full of people. We decided to risk it and go ahead with the shoot.
We hardly saw another soul the whole time we were there.
Soon after Olivia and Mac showed up, we had a great time exploring the grounds and getting comfortable with each other. And let me tell you, they wasted no time getting comfortable.
Look at how easy these two are on the eyes!
They really wanted to make sure that we were able to make use of the fountain, and who am I to say no?
We made good use of the rest of the grounds and flora as well.
We also made good use of my Polaroid.
They were such an awesome couple to work with. Here’s a few more of my favorites:
I just love the feeling of this last one:
Olivia and Mac, thanks for such an incredible session! I had a blast, and I am just jazzed about your wedding in September!
