Kirksville

We spent the weekend at my brothers up north of Kirksville for my nephews birthday. We are back in town and back at it if you are needing me for anything. It was a great weekend full of relaxing out in the country enjoying the beautiful scenery and wild-life. I didn't even bring my laptop which is a change, but of course had my camera. The kids picked apples, went fishing, had a campfire and jumped on the trampoline. We were all tired and very dirty when we got back to civilization!

Its been a while...

Its been a while since my last post. Here's an overdue one with highlights from the week of August 5th. This was my first week of reduced number of shoots, and its helping allot. Its much easier to stay on top of everything and get back to where I have time to do much more of the custom designed things. This week started out with a friend from DNR, and then a couple of newbie little boys. They were so full of energy and fun to work with! After that was one of my oldie but goodie clients who has been several times. Her kiddos are so cooperative and really make for such an easy session! I feel like I haven't worked hard enough when I'm done with them, I can tell Courtney has a camera in front of their face allot! They are such perfect posers without even any direction at all. I also had the pleasure of working with her sisters kids the same day who were in town from St. Louis for birthday parties for the kids and found time for a session! We did some inside and then snuck off to an old barn Ive been eyeing to try out for months and I'm so glad we did, the pictures turned out incredible! Lastly was another oldie who brought in their cousins who were in from Minnesota visiting. I always love it when I get to photograph cousins from out of town, it gives me a little glimpse further into the families that is always so fun to see. The cousins enjoyed a little tea party in my backyard and made for some awesome little moments!

Week of July 30 highlights...

This is going to be a quick post as I desperately need to get back to editing and ordering, but wanted to post a quick few from July 30th week to tide you all over until I get the sessions up. Hopefully all will be up by tomorrow.

downtown urban kc shoot

These were from my last session in KC last weekend. We have been trying to actually find time to visit some friends in KC while we are up there, but it seems like we are always so busy with my family, we never get it done. So when Mel asked about me doing a photo session of her kids, it was the perfect excuse to make us find time to get up there. We left the twins at my moms and actually had an evening hanging out with only one of the kids, so it was nice! She wanted to do an urban shoot, which I have to say are starting to be my favorite!!!! It is so fun exploring the little nooks and cranny's that you normally pass by without as much as a second glance! We headed to the old freight house district and had so much fun. Since my oldest was with me, I even got to do a bunch of her to which was an added bonus. It seems like the only time I find time to do my own kids anymore is when I squeeze some in with one of my friends shoots. Here's a few from the session, and I promise Mel, the rest will be up tomorrow morning!!!

My Step-nieces Senior Session

Here are more than a few from my step-nieces senior session in KC. This was such a fun time exploring and shooting somewhere I never have before. We went to the old downtown area of Pleasant hill and it was so full of incredible locations! I loved the old-urban feel of it all. As I was shooting and editing this session I was thinking about what exactly being "photogenic" is. I truly believe every child and person is beautiful, and what people call "photogenic" is just when someone wears their beauty comfortably, close to the surface with natural self-confidence in front of the camera. Others don't have that self confidence just naturally spilling over, and as a photographer, what I love most, is coaxing my subject to wear their interior confidence a little closer to the surface. Once you can get someone to wear it closer, you can can get someone who doesn't really think they are "photogenic" to really shine through in their photos. That's what I feel happened with Josie. This session is full of incredible shots, that I think anyone would call "photogenic" yet the session didn't start off full of that confidence from the beginning. But man, when it did, what beauty came shining through! Josie-- You are a beautiful girl, don't be afraid to flash that smile, wear your smile with confidence because you really are a beautiful girl! I usually try to narrow my posts down to about 7 photos, but there were really so many good ones, it seriously was hard to even stop at ten! Hope you enjoy this little peak at your pictures!!