jackson – six months and nine faces…

have I mentioned how much I love shooting this age? so fun. don’t miss the raised eyebrow in the bottom left-hand corner.

more cuteness from jackson in a bit.

Add comment October 13th, 2009

2009 Calendar is Closed

I have had a wave of emails in the past two weeks that have filled the rest of my 2009 calendar. Circumstances caused me to cut my September sessions by one-quarter, so I am sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

I have left myself a small amount of wiggle room to work with some regular clients that are not on the calendar yet.

So, although I can not take on any new clients for 2009, if you booked a session with me in fall of 2008 or spring of 2009 and would like to see if I can work you in this fall, please send me an email. I’ve left one spot open in late September, one spot in the third week of October, and I could take one session in November that would not need prints or cards for Christmas.

I didn’t want to just shut down the calendar without giving some kind of heads up to existing clients, so please let me know if you would like to fill one of these spots.

I so appreciate all of your kind words and business – I’m looking forward to working with you all this fall and helping you get ready for the holidays!

Thanks!
Kaydee

Add comment August 5th, 2009

a split-tone series…

What is split-tone, you ask?
Okay, you didn’t ask and I’m no expert, but if you’re interested in a way simplified explanation…
(if not just skip to the next image – you are free to go)
just for a quick reference…
in the darkroom…
on a silver print…

Where a sepia-tone is a wash of one color toner, a brown toner that after a bleaching process washes white highlights into a creamy yellow and black shadows into a warm brown – split-toning is a wash of two color toners. One example would be to take your already sepia-toned print and give it a blue toner bath. Through the process, your highlights stay creamy yellow, but your shadows take on a blue tint.

What you’ll see here is the digitized version of that. If you have basic photo editing software, you can try this process out on your own images. Just search the interwebs for split-tone tutorials.

about this session – this is gavin and his family – here he is practicing his new talent of walking while mom and dad look on…

this shoot was done at the birmingham botanical gardens. you can overlook the lack of flowers, we just needed a comfortable green space to meet half-way and it served it’s purpose.

these guitar shots are a treat for me because they are a first – is “play the guitar” on the list?

look at this face! he is so captivated by daddy’s playing…

and now…we do a little dance…

and finally, big smiles with mommy…

In my experience, split-toning either really works or it’s really doesn’t and I never know exactly when it will and wont. I just try it out occasionally and on these I really liked it. Is it because so many of the original colors are blue, yellow, and green? hmmm…

*on a side note – I deleted those last two posts to avoid any confusion. I’m back on the grid.

Add comment July 23rd, 2009

i love a six month session…

..right when a baby is coming into their personality and they seem to have an endless supply of facial expressions – it’s so much fun to photograph. look how much jack has changed! we did his six month shoot as his grandmother’s home in hampton cove and as soon as I walked in the door he was ready to go.

i think i could fill an entire 20 page album with the series above – i just kept shooting and he changed expressions every frame!

below – mom said, “i love the smile where his entire face scrunches up”…all i can say is how could you not – it’s just so stinkin’ cute, I can’t stop looking at it…

“waaaahhhhh”

doing custom portraits is similar to bird-watching in that you have a wish-list of shots that you would love to capture for your portfolio, but you never know when you’ll get lucky. i’ve wanted this shot for a long time…

toes, fingers, whatever – those teeth are comin’ in and he needed a little relief…

finally, i love this one too – it would look great on canvas and the expression is priceless.

I’m so tickled for mom, getting so many different looks from Jack. He gave me everything he had in the first 30 minutes of our session and then he was ready for a nap. So, mom and I had this conversation that I thought I would pass along to you.

Time varies so much from session to session. With Jack we shot for around 2 1/2 hours for his newborn (that’s average for newborn shoots), around 2 hours for his 3 months, and around 45 minutes for his 6 months. With this session, I knew after 30 minutes with Jack that I had more than I needed to complete the job. But, I didn’t want mom thinking that she wasn’t getting 100% from me if I left 30 minutes after I arrived. She said, “If you were to say that you got what you wanted after 15 minutes, I say call it – I trust you.” That’s such a wonderful complement.

This is why I charge one session fee for any amount of time – from 45 minutes to 3 hours. Every job is different. So, know that if you book a session with me it’s guaranteed. There is no risk involved because I will allow as much time as necessary to complete your shoot or if like Jack here, I can say, “that’s a wrap!” after 30 minutes you can rest assured your gallery will be as full and varied as anyone else.

Add comment June 30th, 2009

50th wedding anniversary family portrait…

Three families from Kentucky, one from Oklahoma, and one from Ohio all converged on the newly renovated Guntersville State Park Lodge to celebrate this handsome couple’s 50th wedding anniversary this June.

I had such a nice morning getting to meet your family and I hope you had a wonderful stay in Alabama celebrating 50 years together. Congratulations!

I should have added “have a family reunion” to the “things to do” list.

*special thanks goes to lance for helping me with my kitchen portrait stools.

Add comment June 29th, 2009

liked this one in vintage…

some images really lend themselves to a vintage look while others don’t – i liked how this one turned out, so i wanted to share…although with this look you lose the aqua color of the chair…hmmm. tough call.

Add comment June 27th, 2009

meet my cousins-in-law, once removed…right?

livia and luke live in a beautiful home in boaz, alabama with a backyard view of green pastures…loved this little moment…

here, luke has not quite warmed up to me yet, but i still love the look on his face here as he contemplates climbing into the chair all by himself…

this was in the grass, waiting to dart between your legs, trip you up and into a cow pie…naughty kitty…

she’s thinking about how to answer a question about banana flavored popsicles…nice call to mom on the blue chair…

if i can come away with shots like these next two from every shoot then I’m 100% satisfied…

big, natural smiles that make you smile just by lookin’ at ‘em…

another big smile, from luke in his cute orange suit..

now normally, i would stop here for the sneak peek ’cause you got what you came for…or so you think. livia may have given me two of the funniest shots i’ve ever taken and you must see them. this is the set-up shot, so you know what you’re lookin’ at…her prized ‘goldfish in a bag’…

i asked her to pull the bag up in front of her eyes. she did. i love her.

…now for the second shot.

it ranks up there with this shot of britton, my nephew, doing his best impression of me. all i can say is if this is what i look like while i’m shooting, it’s a good thing i wasn’t trying to win jon over from behind the camera…

here it is – it makes me laugh, i love it…

Add comment June 25th, 2009

go berry pickin’ – check!

but before we get to that, a little side-by-side comparison. six months on the left and two years on the right…where does the time go?

okay, so the berry pickin’ – here is what we were after…well, specifically the big one at the top. i snapped this shot really quickly and didn’t realize i was capturing the entire life cycle of the strawberry here…

“nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see…” - name it for a free sheet of wallets

right, so with this one, you have to notice how delicately she is holding the basket – i don’t know why it tickles me so much, it just does…and so we begin the search…

ooo, looks like a good one, we’ll see if it passes inspection…

…and yes! it’s a keeper!…and so is she…

getting ready…

oh my gracious, what a face – the sweetness of strawberries straight off the vine can catch you off guard at first, but she wasn’t done by far. we were just getting started…

and finally, i LOVE this one. look at this intense expression. i feel like she’s thinking, “what are you doing? can’t you see we have work to do here? there are berries to be picked!”

I specialize in portraits that tell a story and your story can be anything, but I’m so glad I finally got to do a shoot like this and I look forward to more in the future.

I encourage you to take your children to the local u-pick farm or into a family member’s garden and let them experience fresh food from the vine. Twenty-seven years old before I had my first garden fresh strawberry…it’s a shame, that’s all I can say. Now, watermelon…well, that’s a different story…

And while you’re at it, take your camera!

One more thing, this shoot is the perfect example of what you’ve heard not to do for portraits. Bright, mid-day sun, no shade, so what…my sessions are based around what’s best for you and it just so happens that Hannah was ready to go at 12:30, so we did. 7:00am, 10:00am, 2:00pm, 6:00pm, and everything in between can be considered. If your kids get up with the sun, so will I. If they really get going at around 4:00 in the afternoon, that’s perfect too. The point I’m trying to make is this, I don’t put limits on my sessions because that’s what keeps it interesting. They are 100% custom to you. So, where do you want to go and when?

Add comment June 25th, 2009

where have i been?

no, i haven’t been asleep all this time…but butch has…

here’s the short version…

• spent first week in june rescheduling shoots for second / third weeks in june
• things happen…weather, sickness…weather
• filled orders and other non-blog worthy back-end business stuff
• half dozen dvd slide shows to make and my computer wouldn’t burn ‘em
• spent three whole days troubleshooting
• had my in-house IT guy ask if i’d tried another brand of DVD
• of course I had, it’s only the second thing you try after another of the same brand.
• walked casually back into my office and burned another brand of dvd
• cursed my in-house IT guy for always being right
• started shooting for the month of june
• had a long weekend with said IT guy to celebrate 8 years of him always being right
• with picky, dvd eating computer in hand, i fell down the stairs…on our anniversary
• the computer is fine
• so am i
• more shooting
• Happy Father’s Day!

Now…onto the sneak peeks!

Add comment June 22nd, 2009

with cole, we got a little bit of everything…

this baby boy lives in madison and I had a great time hangin’ out with him and his family at home for this shoot…

pre-yawn…

we’ve got a lot going on in this one sneaky peek, so it seems like the perfect opportunity to talk about how we can work together to make portraits for you that suit your personal taste and style. for example, the image above is shot in a style that I am personally leaning towards right now – you’ll see it everywhere in my work.

the image below – just baby in black and white on black – is shot in a style that I was working with since day one of newborn portraits and still enjoy today…it’s simple and beautiful…

look at those cheekies!

mom requested this image specifically – never hesitate to talk to me in detail about what drew you to my work and any expectations that you have – I’ll do my best to help you achieve a similar look and feel…if baby doesn’t want to sleep we may not get this shot, but you get the idea…

these are some of my personal favorites. the most natural of scenes, mostly baby, plus a hint of mom…

and when baby is in a particularly good mood, we can try something silly or fun, anything we can come up with…cole’s nursery has a monkey theme, so this was the obvious choice…

point of story – if you book a newborn session with me or any session for that matter – don’t be afraid to say, “hey, you know that picture you took of the kid with the thing at the place?”

you’ll be one step closer to shouting, “that’s exactly what I wanted!” and I’ll be one step closer to a job well done.

Add comment May 22nd, 2009