Morgan's Senior Portraits

We had a nice long studio only senior session last night and we worked in a lot of new props I've acquired over the last couple of months, and we used a couple of older props in interesting new ways. We got some really outstanding shots, but this one blows me away. You can bet you will see this shot again, most likely printed up as a 16x20 and hung up at my studio.

Kyle's Senior Portraits

I hope this isn't the last outdoor senior portrait I take this year, but with the way the weather is going I'm thinking this might be it. If that's the case though, what a way to end the season. We nailed the exact right time for perfect fall colors and every single pose was just perfect. I was really really happy about how everything came together.

Britney's Senior Portraits

After a really fun session down at the dam we spent a couple of hours in the studio doing some really nice casual shots. We also spent some time in her cheerleading and Berryette outfits, and got some really cool shots. I'm working on a montage for her, I'll get that posted as soon as I finish it.

This is a portrait session for the record books. We hiked down to the dam, spent about 15 minutes taking 38 portaits, and then hiked back to our cars. You get in, you get the shots, you get out, that's they way to do it. We tried 2 different poses, one with the dam as the backdrop and one with this pool, and they both turned out really nice, but the kids' expressions in this shot are perfect. Aside from there being so much green in the background as opposed to the beautiful fall color present everywhere else, you just can't ask for a better family portrait.

Levi Kamden 3 weeks old

Here is little Levi. We had a really fun session with him. He was awake a lot more than you would expect from a 3 week old. We stuffed him into all sorts of little sacks and made him do all of these really cute things. This is a really excellent shot of him though, his toes sticking through the bag are really great. This one is getting printed up nice and big to hang up down at the studio.

LAA 2009 Photography Competition Winners

Best in Show: John Troxler Bleeding Heart
Judges Choice #1: John Troxler Bleeding Heart
Judges Choice #2: Deb Saine Red Rose
Creative Imaging Award: David Bowles Contemplation
Virgina Lewis Award: Kaylee Ervin Skylight

Advanced
Landscape/Architecture
1st John Troxler Cloudy Reflection
2nd Ann Weigand Just Another Indiana Icon
3rd Ann Weigand In the Desert
4th Wallace Dibble Long Way Home

Nature
1st John Troxler Bleeding Heart
2nd Jack Burger Lupines
3rd Jeremy Ashcraft Adult Swim
4th David Bowles Contemplation

Open
1st Ann Weigand A Simple View
2nd Jeremy Ashcraft Frontier Christmas
3rd Don Hershberger See-Through Still Life
4th Don Hershberger Aftermath

People
1st John Troxler Trackside with Andrew
2nd Dale L Sullivan Spanish Fiesta

Amateur
Landscape/Architecture
1st Beth Johns One Room School House on Walton Road
2nd Jud Barr What's Beyond
3rd Philip Reismiller Springmill Sunrise
4th Marta Ulrich Deutsch Garden

Nature
1st Deb Saine Red Rose
2nd Phillip Reismiller Rose Breasted Grosbeak
3rd Judi Barr Patterns in Ice
4th Harriet Murdock Rincon The Elegant Egret

Open
1st Donald Weikle '48 Buick at Vera Mae's
2nd Judi Barr Rusting Red
3rd Donald Weikle Lights!
4th Phillip Reismiller Into the Wild Blue Yonder

People
1st Marta Ulrich Grace
2nd Carla Baker Cousins
3rd Clint Andrew Brown Eros
4th Marta Ulrich Carter

Youth

Open
1st Natalia Martin Flowers
2nd Rachel Sims Mexico Beach
3rd Kaylee Ervin Roller Coaster at Sunset
4th Joseph Shafer Karly and the Horse

Little Children's Ministry

Had a great day photographing everyone at Little Children's Ministry yesterday. Everyone did really really well, there were a few children last time that were quite shy that did a complete 180, and smile as big as they could. That was really great to see, and aside from the fact that a full 50% of the kids had runny noses the pictures turned out great. Don't worry parents, the runny noses will be taken care of in your enlargements, it just means a little bit more work for me.

LAA 2009 Photography Show

Ok, the show has been hung, it looks amazing. There is some really awesome work this year. I have a couple of favorites that I saw while hanging, but it's anyone's guess how the judging will go. The judges are both arriving today, Angie at 10am, and John and 2pm. They'll get me their scores and I'll punch them in tonight, so we'll be able to start working on the documentation for the show tomorrow and of course writing the checks!

I also wanted to announce the Photography Show Facebook page. We'll be able to post pictures of the winners, talk about the winning images, and keep track of important dates. This will also be a great way to keep people updated on rule changes as there are probably going to be some major changes in 2010.

So if you're interested in the LAA's annual photography show, click the link and become a fan:

LAA Photography Show Facebook

Facebook Fans

Thanks a ton to all of my fans over on Facebook. I'm up to 36 fans in a week. That's not too bad at all. I think all of my new customers from last week signed up which is just awesome. I'm loving the feedback that I'm getting on my work and the updates I'm giving. Based on this reaction I'm going to keep it going, but I have no plans for stopping this blog any time soon. They both seem to serve their purpose. If you want to become my fan on Facebook just click the link and hit the "Become Fan" button at the top.

Facebook

2009 Wedding Highlights

Here are some of my favorite shots from my 2009 weddings. It was a really great year, I had more fun this year than any other year since I started. I met a lot of really great couples and I hope they'll be customers for life, especially once the little ones start arriving. Congratulations to all of my 2009 newlyweds!

Teresa and Chris' Wedding

I hate to always mention the weather in conjunction with my work, so I'll keep it short this time. The weather was gorgeous! This was a Saturday for the record books, the only thing better than working on a day like that is not working on a day like that. The wedding itself was very nice and both sides of the wedding party was a lot of fun. I had a really good time and I could tell everyone else was having a blast. The reception was a riot, the DJ was playing a custom playlist hand picked by the groom, tons of classic 70's pop, Glenn Campbell and Gordon Lightfoot to name a few. I'm not sure if it was the playlist or what, but the dance floor was filled the whole night. Everyone from flower girls on up to grandmothers was out on the floor rocking it. That's the best thing to see at a reception, it's very disappointing when no one dances and it can make a wonderful day end on sort of a flat note. I also need to mention, I've never been to Culver Cove before, and this place was amazing. It's a bit of a drive, but totally worth it, I wish more couples from this area would use that facility for their receptions. Congratulations you guys, I wish you all the best.

Free Wallets!

Got your attention didn't I. I'm very excited to announce the introduction of Free Wallet prints. If you choose, you may order up to 10 sheets of wallets from your order and get them absolutely free. The catch? Of course there is a catch, I will include my logo on the front of all free wallets. These wallets will serve as promotional pieces for me, getting my name out to your family and friends. These wallets are available to all of my current high school seniors, they're already turned on in your online proofing store, just select the images you want and add them to your cart. I'll add them to your order and you can hand them out at school. You save money and I get a little bit of added publicity. Win/win!

Justin's Portraits

Justin gave us some trouble this weekend now that he is fully mobile he is a hard little guy to keep in front of the camera. We tried all of the regular tricks and nothing kept in up there, well, the duct tape worked, but it made him mad and his face got all red. Of course the adults ultimately won, we got plenty of really cute shots of him, it just took a little bit longer than normal. Next time we need to figure out how to properly motivate him, chocolate perhaps? No, probably cold hard cash...

Facebook Page

Ok, I finally did it. I set up a Facebook page for the studio. This should be an interesting experiment if nothing else. Check it out at:

Face Book Page

Add yourself as a fan, the more the merrier!

Liz's Senior Portraits

We had a really great session last night for Liz's senior portraits. We got a really good variety of shots in just 2 locations. We started at her church and got some really nice shots in front of the stone work and cross at the front of the sanctuary. Then we swung over to the high school where she posed on the long Logansport High School sign. We drove around to the little cabin and then eventually walked into the Berry Patch. We did stay a little too long at the High School because by the time we go to the railroad bridge, the sun was completely behind the trees. I think in most cases the extra darkness would have been an issue, but the moodiness really worked for these shots. Liz's choice of top, the vintage guitar, and her expressions really worked well with the darkness, it gave these shots a really edgy feel. I even like the single strand of hair across her eye in this shot.

2009 LAA Photography Show

The LAA's annual Photography Show is fast approaching. Photographs will be received on Friday October 2nd from 11:30am to 5:30pm and Saturday October 3rd from 9am until noon. We are very lucky to have two excellent judges this year, John Parker of Weddings by Parker and Angie Turnpaugh from the Pharos Tribune. I hope everyone is planning on entering,it's always a good time at the reception talking to the other photographers in the area.

Busy Week

This has been a really busy week. Had a photo shoot every night except Friday and I spent all day Friday placing enlargement orders. I think this is the last portrait that needed to be uploaded to the gallery. Super cute Scott's 3 month portrait. We were chugging along very nicely, mom brought 3 outfits and we were ready to put on the second one when he fell fast asleep. We ended up scratching outfit 2, and moving straight on to outfit 3 which as luck would have it was pajamas. So that worked out pretty well.

New purchase option

I'm very excited to now be offering single pose packages. If you are needing several units of the same pose you can order one of 3 packages and save 10, 20, or 30%. You still get to choose the sizes you want, you can mix and match whatever works best for you, so if you need 5 8x10's you can save 20%, if you need 5 sheets of wallets, and 5 sheets of 5x7's you can save 30%. It's a really great feature and you can mix and match these packages into your order anyway you want, and if you just don't want to buy several prints of the same pose just order the units ala carte, my normal volume discounts still apply so either way you can save on the order that fits your needs exactly.

The packages themselves are Small, which includes 3 units of your choice for $30, Medium which includes 5 for $45, and Large which is the best value with 10 units of your choice for only $80.

If you have any questions about these great new packages don't hesitate to email me, I'd love to go over it in more detail with anyone who is interested.

Jordyn's Senior Portraits Part 2

We had much better luck with the weather for our outdoor session last night. We spent around an hour out at the golf course and aside from a couple of errant golf balls it went really well. We got some really nice shots including this one up in a really funky pine tree. There were of course issues with sap, I think Jordyn got it on her shirt and pants, and after I touched a branch I couldn't put my camera down, but it was well worth it to get such great shots.

Kelley's Senior Portraits

We had a great time doing Kelley's Senior Portraits last night. We started out at a family friend's house where we posed in and around her gardens. It was a long drive, but well worth it because this was a photographer's dream. Tons of color, lots of depth, plants at all heights, low, middle and high. The only problem was the mosquitoes. They were thick, at one point there were so many on my lens that I couldn't hold my camera up. Unfortunately, Kelly got bit a couple of times so it's going to mean a bit more Photoshop, but that's also worth it for the gorgeous gardens we got to photograph in.