It's been a really outstanding senior season, we've all had a great time wandering around Cass County and making great portraits. The season is winding down, but the calls are still coming in for sessions and I'm really sad to say that I probably won't be able to accommodate many more outdoor portraits. The weather is changing fast, the color is all falling to the ground, and pretty soon the holiday portraits will start. Once December hits there will be tons of opportunities for studio only senior portraits, but for now the outdoor portrait season is over.

Had a really busy weekend, several toddlers, a family portrait, and a senior. Had a blast at all of them and really captured some nice memories. Had a really good time out at Lewis Cass with Blake Cain. It's really rewarding to go out to a location you've been multiple times and pull out all the stops and create 100% unique art for someone. I'm really proud of all of my portraits, but I really enjoy being able to make something new no matter what the situation, and I think my portraits of Blake prove that. This one is my favorite from the whole day, but I've got a few more over on my Facebook page, check it out if you want to see more. Have about half a dozen seniors booked over the next couple of weeks, check back soon for more work.

Been a crazy spring, working on tons of projects and still squeezing portraits in, even the 100+ degree weather hasn't totally stopped the outdoor portraits. Not going to try to catch up with the portraits, but I will definitely try to get back to posting on a weekly basis, until then here is a nice portrait I got at the very end of Amanda's portrait session a few weeks ago. We were all done and packing it up when I saw this patch of dried up grass. Dried up doesn't always work, but in this case it's really wonderful, and this is the shot I chose for the front cover of my 2012 brochure. Have a pretty decent amount of portraits coming up in the next 30 days or so, but I'm suspecting that if the weather ever cools of that the floodgates are going to open and it's going to be back to back sessions for quite a while, so if you're considering a portrait, give us a call today and schedule your session, if you wait, you could miss out.

Zoe Indrutz

Had a nice portrait session this week with Zoe Indrutz. She started out super strong, but we pushed our luck a little bit trying a second outfit and paitence ran out fairly quickly. She did great with the first outfit though and we got tons of really cute poses to choose from. I did overhear mom say that her second outfit was a 24 month outfit and this was only her 18 month portrait so I think we'll get a second go at that outfit which is great because I really liked the scene I set up for her, I'm going to try to do the same thing when she comes back in.

Happy New Year

It's been a great winter, got all of my winter tasks completed, cleaned the studio, archived portraits from my computer and I've got all of my event scenes designed for the whole year. I have had plenty of portraits but just not enough time to get them posted to the web so here is my most recent portrait of the Winkle children. They did pretty well,you certainly cannot argue with the results. Things should be slow for at least another month or two so if you have a portrait need give me a call and we can get you into the studio whenever you like.

Senior Portrait Tips

Here are some tips for ensuring your high school graduation portraits turn out amazing!

1. Bring examples of things you'd like to try in your portraits. Magazine clippings, year books, catalogs or anything else with examples of poses, styles, or effects. We can combine these ideas with our own and create a truly unique portrait that captures your personal style.

2. Give your hair time to grown in after a cut. Don't get a fresh cut the day before your portrait session, a minimum of 5 days is needed for the cut to look natural. The same goes for tanning, don't get a fresh tan the week before your session, and definitely don't get a sun burn.

3. Makeup should be applied normally. Use a mirror as a guide, if it looks good in the mirror it will look fine for your portraits.

4. Simple, solid outfits work best, especially in the studio. More formal attire is also very common in the studio. Outdoor poses work well with jeans or khakis and simple solid shirts, especially muted colors. Blue, green, tan, and many more work better than glaringly bright colors such as white, yellow or red or anything neon.

Follow these tips and make sure to get a good night's rest and your graduation portraits will be something you'll be proud of for years to come.

Austin Foreman - Lewis Cass Class of 2012

Had an epic marathon senior session with Austin this week. Took over 450 shots over the course of just a couple of hours. We started out with some casual poses in the studio followed by some sports shots on a black background for some montages. Then we headed out to Lewis Cass to get some shots on the ball diamond and football field. Got tons of great shots, the lighting really worked with us and we finished up just as the sun went behind a big cluster of trees. Not to admit defeat, we went inside the locker room and took another dozen or so shots at his locker. Very productive day and tons of great shots to choose from, check out FB or my gallery for more samples.