Category Archives: Portraits

Chicago {Kansas City Performance Photography}

Once upon a time, I was a drama geek.  No kidding.  My husband still teases me about it to this day.  My sophomore year of high school I got cast in my first murder mystery.  I had a total of six lines and I died before the second act.  It was enough to get me hooked.  I had been dancing for years so I was already in love with performing, but acting was a whole different game.  You got the opportunity to be a completely different person, and for anyone else who can sympathize with being an awkward teenager, that was very appealing.  I jumped into every show I could manage and took any opportunity to be on stage even if it was only for a second or two.  Fast forward a few years and the opportunity to perform like that is much more difficult to manage with life and a family, but I still look for any way to be involved especially if I can bring a camera.  When my old dance company, Danson, the student run group at Idaho State University, approached me about a s special project they were doing, I immediately jumped on board.  Chicago was going to be a collaboration between Danson and the Old Town Actor Studios.  They wanted to garner as much community support as possible which meant they would need some publicity photos and I knew the perfect location.   We started out with a solo studio shoot with the gorgeous and oh so talented Lindsay and then brought the entire cast together in the Historic Hotel Yellowstone for the group pictures.  It was such a pleasure to be a part of this wonderful project.  Enjoy!

The amazing poster that Kendall designed.

Baby Rafe {Kansas City Newborn Photography}

Two weeks ago we had the delightful opportunity to travel to our hometown of Pocatello, Idaho to spend Kendall’s spring break (I know spring break in February.  Who’s idea was that?)  visiting family, soaking in the long missed Lava Hot Springs, eating at our favorite Mexican Restaurant (sorry KC, but you got nothing on real west Mexican Food), and catching up with a few old friends.  One of my oldest and best friends decided to go and have a baby while I was gone, so of course I had to see this adorable little guy and I couldn’t resist snapping a few pictures.  Back in my studio days, I would have hauled out flooring, backdrops, tons of props and baskets, and we would have spent hours coaxing brand new babies into milk comas and patiently posing these tiny bundles to achieve a perfect shot of a perfect baby.  With the relocation of my family and the loss of our gorgeous old town studio space, I have been forced to rethink my style on quite a few things.  Since I literally don’t have another inch of storage in my apartment for said backdrops and floor setups, I have had to be a bit more creative and lean towards a more casual and raw style for shooting newborns.   Rafe was no exception.  We literally only had about 45 minutes total before I was due to meet my family, so there simply wasn’t time for coaxing and elaborate set-ups.  It does help that this little guy has big gorgeous eyes and loved the sound of the camera click.  All it took was one adorable little baby, some beautiful natural light, a killer telephoto lens, and we managed to capture this guy in a way that makes you feel like you are really seeing who he is.  No elaborate set needed.

One Amazing Journey

Not long after meeting Michaela we found out that they would be expecting a beautiful baby girl and so the journey began.  It started with one beautiful couple and a bump…

A very radiant bump…

A few hours of waiting and some serious pain…

all for the arrival of one perfect little girl…

and an even more radiant mommy…

Only to realize that this little beauty is going to be one serious heartbreaker.

A Very Special Christmas Gift

Right after we moved to Kansas City I was talking to my mother-in-law and she mentioned how much she loved getting pictures of her grandchildren.  It reminded me of a very special book I saw at a trade show a few months ago.  The album was an ABC book of a small boy, photographed beautifully and illustrating many of the boys favorite activities and his personality.  I decided we would need o make one of our very own books and send it home for the grandparents for Christmas.  What I didn’t realize at the time was how much work this kind of a project was going to take and how uncooperative  my little bundle of energy could be.  My goal for the project, aside from having a very special gift for Christmas, was to photograph each page like a photographer and not like a mom.  No snapshots and each picture had to be lit and edited properly  to make the album as perfect and professional as possible.  Of course a few pages ended up being snapshots of our family, but I realized that sometimes those truly are the most beautifully captured moments.  I was amazed at how much inspiration came about from just carrying my camera around with me.  For example, one day Haven and I went for a walk to explore downtown KC a bit better.  We stumbled upon YJ’s snack bar down at 17th St and since our day was a bit chilly, we decided to stop and get a hot chocolate.  After one sip of the incredible foamy goodness, Haven started giggling because he had foam left on his lip.  I had originally planned something completely different, but milk mustache was too perfect!  I can’t tell you the weird looks we got as I tried over and over again to get Haven to hold still at the exact moment he had a good mustache.  People must have thought I was crazy.  Without further ado, a glance into my life and one absolutely perfect little boy.

P.S. I was in such a rush to get the album printed and sent out in time for Christmas, that I missed printing my own.  As soon as I get one I promise to post pictures of what the actual album looks like.