*Italy (spent two weeks celebrating the BIG 3-0 with my man all over Italia)

*it’s holiday season in the portrait photography business

*IT”S HOLIDAY SEASON in the PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS

I apologize, i really do, but i have spent EVERy day since my last post shooting over 40 shoots, editing, retouching, 4 portrait parties, 1 REALLY fun commercial shoot with about 15 kids, 2 weddings, designing over 30 one-of-a-kind holiday cards, driving to customers’ homes for consultations, deliveries, framing appointments….chaos.

and i have loved every minute of it, but today is literally the first time i have had a chance to sit down at my computer and do anything other than retouch, send orders for the first time in month (with the *occasional* facebook interruption).

Let me just share a very few of my favorite images from this holiday season followed later in the week by some more detailed shoots.

*a “yung” disney rap store on his way up…his career and record to release soon. We were lucky enough to be asked to photograph his promotional shots.

*three adorable little kids who filled my heart as i shot them…and shot them…and shot them…i just couldn’t stop taking their pictures b/c everything they did in front of the camera was warming the heart behind it.

*and this family…i mean, seriously!?!?! Perfect weather, perfect sky, perfect smiles, perfect red rock backdrop and THE most perfect example of What to Wear…they ROCKED it!

*another great example of What to Wear but an even better example of dang cute kids…their “look” reminded me of Our Gang…each with such a different looks, YUM!

*the HARDEST shoot of my year (the one with spots that is)

*and last for this quick little teaser, some really good “clients” who took Kirk and I out for Jalapeno Cream Cheese burgers when we were finished!

It’s been a crazy season and while i would love to admit that i have loved every minute of it, the truth is i have been too busy to even register most of it.  But i can honestly tell you that what i DO love is having met all of you … our “fans”…those of you who hear about us and check us out and trust us to run, play, tickle, yell, roll, make monkey sounds….

i photographed a couple of sisters aged about 4 and 2 a few weeks ago who were a little “less than” excited for their shoot…until we noticed blown over trees we tugged around, until we ran up and down sidewalks, until we chased other people’s dogs….it was challenging and tiring and a bit exhausting, but the reward always comes at the end….when the 2-year-old gives you a hug, the mom thanks you repeatedly and the dad shakes his head and says, “I don’t know how you do it…do you have a degree in child psychology?”

Thanks to all of you who have been with us this year…stay tuned!

Jessie

We first met Amy & Michael through a family we adore that we had photographed last holiday season and again earlier this year when their 2nd child was born….More on them later.

Amy & Michael are both pilots and met when he was her instructor (insert raised eyebrows)…nah, just kidding…they fell in love and are the most joyous couple. They are so fun to be around.

Before their wedding, we had discussed an engagement session that somehow incorporated planes or an airport….boy oh boy….i had NO IDEA that these two would come up with something as amazing as this.

I met them at the Centennial airport at a hangar owned by one of the gentlemen Michael flies for…Let me just tell you, it was large, clean and LOADED with privately-owned Cessna jets, vintage airplanes and helicopters and about 8 vintage cars (rolls royce, porsches…)  and clean, boy was it clean…Michael told me hangars should be spotless; as in, you can eat off the floor spotless…mind you, i shoot in flip flops for comfort and have a tendency to kick them off about half-way through a shoot so i can bend and maneuver myself…

oh well….as you will see as you look through these, we went with a very “pilot” inspired session. Kirk was my assistant for the shoot…it was so funny, at first he was hesitant and shy and by the end of the session he was trying to direct me and had even earned himself an invitation to the wedding.

I am in love with these images. Not only did they personalize their session, they chose to do something fun, something that means the world to them…we worked together really well also. Michael was very hesitant prior to the engagement session about having his picture taken at his client’s hangar, but really opened up to me by the end. That is EXACTLY why we offer engagement sessions for every wedding we do. It’s a great way for us to get to know the bride and groom beforehand, but more importantly, a way for them to feel comfortable with our laid-back, personal shooting style. Michael was afraid of being posed, looking silly, and had all the same concerns anyone has about having their pictures taken…but once i told him he would be doing more *kissing* than posing he found himself enjoying being a model.

see what i mean…LOTS OF KISSING…they couldn’t keep their lips off of each other.

i really love this image…it’s cozy and some of my favorite pictures of Kirk and I are the ones where we are just cuddled up, cozy, night-time…just doing what we do.

after this shoot, when we sent a few *teasers* to Amy & Michael, we heard from our client who referred us (Michael’s sister)…how jealous they were of these images and wish they had done something like this before they were married.

so…fast forward a few months down the road to their wedding…

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Shannon…..

aren’t they STUNNING?!?!?!  only to be enhanced by the natural, Colorado backdrop…

this was the first of 2 weddings we photographed this summer at the Chatfield Botanic Gardens….

I won’t lie…i LOVE this venue and it makes me very reminiscent of home/Kansas with the red farm barn, yellow lazy susans….(store that in mental file under *someday)

he simply adored her…and stared at her like this all day…

Amy was willing to do anything…one mention that i was *thinking* about her climbing up on the fence and she had hopped up there faster than i could tell her what  to do.

and her *after wedding* red shoes were just perfect….made by a company called *Michael Scott*…which just happened to be her groom’s name…

sigh….we just have the best brides…every bride we have photographed this summer has been so kind, so patient, so laid back….

a very big THANK YOU to Amy & Michael and family for including us in your very special day….

Jessie

sorry for the absence, quite a bit has changed around here.

First off, we are no longer in our studio space in Cherry Creek North and are now pursuing a space within one of our residences.

Second, we have been so busy photographing weddings and are finding that they are MUCH more consuming than we remember…it’s been about 3 years since Erin or I photographed as many weddings as we do now back in KC. I thought i would start our “re-entry” into the blog world with a portrait shoot Erin did on her own with the help of her boyfriend, Adam…yes, you read that right, Adam held the reflector and helped Erin (as you will see later, I even dragged Kirk out to assist me with a shoot as well)….it’s kind of fun to drag our boys along b/c they get to see what we do and how we do it.

This is Little A* and S*….

I love this one with Little S* and mommy…

ahhhhh…then with Daddy…

and i just love it when little kids start to learn how to clap, my nephew, Will is just learning how to do this…

Well, i just wanted to make a quick post to re-introduce ourselves back into the BLOG world after a busy summer filled with photo shoots, vacations to Key West, new roommates, planning trips to Italy, weddings, high school seniors and LOTS LOTS more….so STAY TUNED

Jessie

To this day, pink and ruffly and glittery and sparkly and princessy makes me a little nauseous.

but, Ms. A* is FOR SURE a tomboy and loves every bit of it.

i can’t think of a more darling little tomboy than THIS

she is the sweetest tomboy we know….she had this adorable little green hat and her haircut was beyond words. I don’t know why, but i love it when little girls have short hair. Maybe b/c my mom always kept my hair REALLY long and we had to hot roller it (did i hear an 80′s reference) and b/c it STILL takes me forever every day to do my hair, but short hair just really stands out to us.

it was such a perfect day…i love the contrast of the fresh Spring tulips with the snow on the ground.

check out the attitude in this image once Ms. A* warmed up to us a little.

and does it get any sweeter than this? can you imagine how many hearts she is going to break when she grows up? Boys love girls who used to be tomboys…

happy Thursday everyone….enjoy the spring weather that we FINALLY have….

thanks to the M* family for bringing A* to us….we loved photographing her and getting to see her personality evolve as the shoot went on…it’s our favorite part.

Jessie

this past weekend we were so lucky to meet the D* family. First mom called us to photograph her 4-year-old twins and then decided we would try to fit in a family session while we were at it…and i am so glad we did. Despite the chilly temperatures and a completely gray sky, we were able to truly capture what 4-year-old twins are like and how in love this whole family is.

Meet M*

those eyes could melt your heart….he was a little shy at first but all it ever really takes is a few monkey sounds from me and you get THIS look back in return.

and equally adorable E*….who is, no doubt, responsible for a large amount of the smile brought to this family. She worked the camera like she owned it.

i just love her little ruffled sleeves and her charm bracelet.

and as adorable as these two are on their own, what happened when we photographed them together was enough to melt our hearts and make the job of editing their pictures nearly impossible. To see the relationship between the two is so pure and sweet. I love in this image how M* looks like he is protecting E*….as i know he will in the years to come.

i think i could post all of the images from their shoot b/c they are all perfect, but i just love this one the best….

when we finished up in the studio with the twins, we decided to brave the chill and headed to Cheeseman Park to do some family portraits. 

i could keep posting these pictures all day….i just can’t stop grinning thinking about how easy this family and these children made our job. I don’t think i once had to stop and ask then to smile or tell them to stop doing what most 4-year-olds do. 

I hope you enjoy your teasers D* family.

Jessie

This is the brochure that will be going out to all of the area seniors.

we love it! I don’t know how long we worked on it but it was worth the wait and all of the design work that went into it.

Here are all of the packages we are going to offer for Seniors this year.

what we are most excited about is the 10 Image Brag Book we are offering to any senior who schedules their session by June 1st. They are so cool and will be a great way to get autographs from your friends or a perfect way for mom to stash her favorite 10 images in a book in her purse so she can pull them out and show anyone she wants to brag to….

We have been scouting out great locations to photograph throughout the city and have some really cool new backdrops at the studio. We love high school seniors b/c they trust us to try any idea we have and are open to just about anything.

CALL TODAY to schedule your senior portrait session.

…YEAH RIGHT, I’m thinking.

…let me know what you think of Lauren’s senior portraits.

I am just going to go ahead and let you know now that i am thinking, “are you crazy!?!?!…you are one of the most photogenic people i’ve ever photographed.”

her eyes are so blue and she has the best smile. It’s kind of a smirky smile, but it’s gorgeous.

We had so much fun running around downtown with Lauren talking about boys and gossip and posing her. It’s interesting to watch how much more comfortable seniors become in front of the camera as their session goes on. 

She told us that this was an experience she wouldn’t forget.

lauren, we hope you enjoy….

and for your friends, the first 3 friends from East High School to call us to schedule their senior portrait sessions will receive a 2-3 outfit session for FREE…HURRY…

Jessie

last night i downloaded a few Notorious BIG songs and pulled some of the lyrics out of my repertoire in order to make Cameron laugh. He either thought i was the coolest 29-year-old he knows or that i am a HUGE loser. I am going to go ahead and assume the latter of the two is as far from the truth as he knows.

Here is my FAVORITE of the day from Cameron. This was taken on the tennis courts at his high school.

when seniors bring their “stuff” we always get to incorporate the things they are passionate about…tennis rackets, cool vintage cars, ballet shoes, footballs or pom poms really personalize your senior portraits and add that much more to an already amazing experience

we went downtown with Cameron for his senior shoot and found so many cool locations. We love getting to photograph amidst the architectural details in the city. 

what a great smile and beautiful blue eyes.

same to you, Cameron…the first 3 friends of yours to call can expect a FREE senior portrait session. Consider it our way of saying thank you for helping us out.

Jessie

This morning we got to meet with Ariel and her mom, Tammy, for an amazing high school senior portrait shoot. We went around Wash Park and down to Pearl Street for some different looks.

Here is a series of 3 of my favorite images of Ariel. These image are hand-tinted and are a favorite among seniors….the colors in the flower and her necklace worked out so well together.

isn’t she gorgeous? She has the best smile and was so easy to photography. It was so interesting how we had allotted about an extra hour to shoot Ariel forgetting how easy it is to direct an 18 year old than it is the 2-year-olds we spend most of our days chasing.

and i put together quickly this collage of some of my favorites with her MANY different looks.

we had so much fun today and hope to hear from more seniors from South High School or any other. Call today to find out about the “Early Bird” special we have for 2010 seniors who can book their session for April to receive FREE wallets.

Also, because we had so much fun with Ariel, we want to give the first 3 friends of hers who call to schedule their senior portraits a FREE session with up to 4 outfits.

CALL TODAY at 303.339.0073

thanks again to Ariel and Tammy for being troopers in the blistering wind and chilly weather.

Jessie

i am fascinated by people who are artistic enough to create something like this. Sometimes i see the artwork others create and i feel so jealous…it only takes me a minute to look around our studio and all that erin and i have created to remember that we make art everyday….

Check out THIS link to a beautiful work of art. I hope it inspires you as it does me.

Jessie