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.

Pet Food UK

Got a message from a buddy asking if I could plug his new pet food store in the UK. Pet Supermarket has everything for your pets, they've got all the top brands including Royal Canin, Burns Dog Food, James Wellbeloved, Iams Dog Food, and Hills Science Plan. If you're a pet lover in the UK check them out and send him some business!

Scott and Sarah Shepler

Did a double portrait session for Scott and Sarah Shepler this week. Turned out really nice, for some reason Scott didn't like that the lights were out in the studio and he was just generally not into the whole process, so we sort of took it slow and worked with him, then after probably 20 minutes of playing with toys and talking about pictures, he jumped up on the chair we had and started posing like a little pro. I've never seen anything quite like that, it must be fascinating to hear what's going on inside little one's heads.

Kokomo Shopper!

Ok, this is cool! Just found this site, hasn't even launched yet, called Kokomo Shopper that is planning on having over 500 coupons from local merchants. They launch August 15th and I for one cannot wait to use it. In today's economy saving money is almost as good as earning it, so coupons can go a long long way. Check it out, it's going to be an amazing resource.

Down Week!

Got a bit of a slow week this week to recover from the fair last week. I have a lot of tasks to get caught up on including some phone calls I need to return and some orders that need to be placed. Then I'll be using the rest of the week to work on some designs that are in the queue. Next week I'll be fully rested and ready to tackle the sessions that I booked at the fair.

2011 4H Fair

I had an absolute blast last week at the 4H fair. I got to talk shop with all of the my other photographer friends and I got to answer questions about my work with several hundred customers. Over 300 people entered my drawing to win $25 gift certificates. I selected 10 winners and they are as follows:

Meghan Schroder
Tina Spencer
Della Livesay
Jessica Spradling
Jeff Fording
Kevin Vasquez
Amanda Birkenstaff
Amber Maggart
Vicki Miller
Jaime Zaragoza

Thanks a million Cass County, I will see a lot of you in the coming months for portraits, everyone else I'll see you next year.

Sculpture Trails in Solsberry Indiana

Just found the website of an awesome outdoor museum here in Indiana, Sculpture Trails. They have over 60 large scale sculptures deep in a hilly forest. All through the month of July they will be featuring sculptors working at casting new works. They even have after dark exhibitions which sounds amazing! You can also carve your own work and cast it yourself to take home. What an awesome way to spend a summer day.

Busy weekend.

Had a super busy weekend with multiple portraits on each day, did a super super large family portrait in the studio and this really nice gift portrait for an upcoming anniversary. Add in a couple of babies and you've got yourself a weekend. Check out my facebook page or gallery to see more of our samples from the last couple of days.

Coupon Site

Just started using this new coupon site for portrait deals. Local Pinch has deals for all sorts of local businesses from Yoga Studios to Closet Organizing Companies. My current deal is a studio portrait session with no sitting fee and a $50 gift certificate for just $25. Buy it right on Local Pinch's website and then give me a call to schedule your session. Don't forget to check out the other deals when you're done.

Kelsey and Michael Miller Wedding

Had a great time last weekend with Kelsey and Michael. I especially loved the tuxes and the bright colors everywhere, it really made their portraits pop. Check out the rest of their pictures in my gallery or on facebook. I'll be starting the design work on their coffee table book here pretty soon so stay tuned for that, I am very excited about that, there is nothing that gets the creative juices flowing better than designing a digital wedding album.

Tanner Prentice, LHS, Class of 2011

Here is the final Grad Show for Tanner Prentice. Make sure to check out the third section, it's quite good.

Kristie Wright School of Dance 2011 Recital

Had a great time watching the dress rehearsal last night. Took about 1700 shots which are available for purchase on my Proofing Site. I will be at the first performance tonight getting shots backstage and of the dancers from the sides of the stage. I'm going to spend all day working on cutting up the formal portraits from last week so I can get them back to Amii no later than Monday.

Laura and Brent Engagement Session

Had an awesome time on my first outdoor portrait session of the year. The weather was amazing and we took our time strolling from spot to spot getting lots of different poses. They got lots of really great shots, more are posted on my facebook page, but this one of them kissing around a tree was my favorite from the day and I just had to share it here on my blog.

Jewelry?

Was researching jewelry photography on the web today and found Jody Coyote. Not only is the photography really excellent, but the jewelry is amazing. There seem to be a million people making jewelry now adays and it always looks like the same old stuff, but Jody Coyote is really unique. Check it out!

Kristie Wright School of Dance

Had another awesome time photographing the dancers from Kristie Wright School of Dance in their recital costumes. It was a long day, took over 400 portraits, but there really were no snags at all, the day hummed along beautifully. Working on edits now, will probably take me 3 or 4 days to get everything ready for print, then it should be about 2 weeks after that.

Amazing document repository!

Needed to find the manual for my camera today to look something up and found an amazing site called PDF Stack. They seemed to have every imaginable document you could think of. I found the manual for my camera, then found almost every manual for every other camera I've ever owned. I found the manual for my current studio lights and also the older ones I used to use. Very impressive assortment of documents. I highly recommend checking this out, super handy resource.