Kansas City Headshots: Photographers Kristen and Jeni June 1, 2009

Last week, I met up with two photographers who wanted new head shots! Kristen and Jeni responded to take advantage of my portrait special to benefit HOBY, and I was excited to meet them in person after they’ve been so sweet to follow my blog and leave nice comments. So, blog readers, I’d love to introduce you to Kristen Murphy and Jeni Friend (click on their names to check out their sites).

They’re starting to shoot weddings together this year, so we took some photos of them together for their future website. Here they are! :)

We also did individual head shots for each them, since they do operate separately (plus, what girl shouldn’t have a bunch of photos of herself looking so super cute?). :) First up, Kristen, who rocks a Nikon (that’s my girl!):

She also has the best smile… I’m a little jealous of her dimples! She told me she wishes her son would’ve inherited those, too!

And next up, Jeni… who looks great with her Canon and red heels!

She looks awesome both in front of and behind the lens! :)

Kristen and Jeni, thank you so much for being so super sweet. :) It was awesome to meet you both in person and capture some photos for you to help you grow your businesses! If I can ever help you out, you know how to reach me! :) Keep chasing after what you love to do. 

Kansas City Senior Photos on the Plaza: Sara, Liberty High School April 30, 2009

I don’t even know where to begin talking about Miss Sara. In the short amount of time I got to spend with her, I discovered that she’s not only beautiful, but fun, smart, kind and into photography… how much better can she get? :) She was absolutely a joy to photograph, and we had a lot of fun hanging out on the Plaza for her senior portrait session.

Doesn’t she take the most beautiful headshots?

Sara brought a few really fun outfits for her session. The best part about senior sessions is that they’re a great time to really showcase your personality — so wear fun colors, patterns, accessorize with things that show off who you are at this fun stage in life! Sara’s three outfits were all super cute:

I love these shots in front of a store window — the pattern looks so cute with her white sundress:

Beautiful black and whites… just stunning!

Another fun store window, this time in front of Anthropologie. It took all the willpower I could muster to not sneak in there for a little intermission. :)

Some more super cute shots (seriously, can she get any cuter?):

I love how Sara can totally handle the “serious” stare and a fun laughing expression:

Sara had one request — a photo laying down with her hair all spread out. This is my fun and carefree take on that shot:

And, one more to leave you with — this may be my favorite… I don’t know… she’s so pretty in all of them!

Sara, big congratulations on your graduation. I was definitely serious when I said we should get together before you head off to college to talk about photography and learn how to use the manual settings on your camera. Call me! :)

For Sara’s family and friends, click here to sign her online guestbook. You’ll automatically be notified when all of the photos are ready to be viewed!

Photographer Hang-out time with Sarah Jeanne Hill February 28, 2009

Today I got to have lunch and meet in person the lovely Miss Sarah Jeanne Hill, a photographer in Manhattan, Kansas, who is starting her career as a wedding and portrait photographer. Sarah is well on her way to having an awesome business with a great portfolio! She has been doing absolutely everything the right way — learning, learning, learning! She’s been shadowing our friend Chris Hsieh with La Brisa Photography since early last fall, and Sarah’s starting to shoot weddings for herself this summer! I was very excited to have some time to hang out with Sarah, share some of the things I’ve learned in my own journey, and encourage her to keep doing what she’s doing! :)

After a delicious breakfast-for-lunch, we headed back to my house to let my poor husband in (who I had mistakenly locked out of the house… oops!), and it turned into a great time to really show Sarah hands-on all of the things we had chatted about over our biscuits and gravy. :)

I was explaining to her how Adobe Photoshop Lightroom transformed my editing process, cut the turnaround time way down (meaning my clients get to see their photos faster — who doesn’t love that?!), and how easy it is to use. To demonstrate this editing tool and to show her a little bit of my post-processing workflow, we did an impromptu less-than-5-minutes portrait shoot in my office. 

Sarah looks just gorgeous for me asking her to get in front of my camera spur of the moment. :) So, Sarah, Lightroom makes the process easier, but YOU make the photos awesome!

And, some black and white processing:

My favorite… you can see her fun personality in this one! :)

Sarah, best wishes with your journey in photography! You are headed for such great things! :) 

Check out Sarah Jeanne’s blog and leave her an encouraging note! :)

Family Portraits at Loose Park December 8, 2008

Ericka contacted me about doing a family portrait shoot a few weeks ago — while she was still deployed in Kosovo with the Army National Guard. She knew she’d be coming home for a few weeks for leave in December, and wanted to make sure we could fit in a session! Of course, I said yes! :)

So, after a day of painting and preparing our new house for the big move-in, I rushed over to Loose Park to meet up with Ericka and her mom, brother and two adorable nieces! I’m so glad I got to meet all of them and capture some fun photos of the family!

Check out Ericka’s super cute nieces!

I love this one of Ericka and her youngest niece, whose nickname is Ziggy:

The whole group — I love how all of the girls are wearing purple! So pretty!

We also took the time to do some portraits of Ericka by herself. How great does she look?!

Ericka, thanks for getting in touch with me — I’m so glad we were able to fit in a session! Enjoy your time at home, and we’ll be praying for a safe return from your deployment! I’m excited for you to see all of the images from the session (including more adorable ones of the girls and some beautiful ones of you!!). Click here to pre-register your family and friends for the online gallery.