Well, after spending all Christmas day in bed with the stomach flu and another day recovering, I’m almost back to normal. Luckily I still got to partake in some of the family celebrations before getting sick. Since I’m a few days behind posting last week’s photo, and no one wants to see Christmas photos a week later, you get a two-for-one today.
Last weekend, despite the dreary and foggy weather, I had a great time photographing this family just in time for the holidays. I loved how laid back they were, just letting me capture a slice of their life while they got to be themselves.
After living near Kansas City my entire life, I finally took time to photograph the famous Country Club Plaza holiday lights. I had planned to take photos Friday evening after watching the Christmas Carol nearby, but some much-needed rain put a damper on my plans. Saturday evening I made a point to go back to the Plaza, taking photos in several locations. Here are just a couple of shots. I’ll have a few Plaza prints for sale in a few months as a Relay For Life fundraiser.
I had a great time at all three of the holiday portrait sessions I did over the last couple of weeks, but I definitely think there are some keepers from this family photo shoot! We went to the Rivermarket area of downtown Kansas City, which offers a wide variety of settings, from parks, to urban, to everything in between. And Sophia is one of the cutest, most mature babies I’ve ever met!
This Sunday I took family portraits for some of my favorite people: my cousin, her husband, and their five kids. And I now have a favorite place to shoot portraits … Parkville, MO. I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the town, but the huge park, river, quaint downtown, railroad tracks, and beautiful Park University all make great backdrops.
On Saturday I had the pleasure of photographing one of the sweetest families I’ve worked with. The seven-year-old and four-year-old were full of smiles and adventure, so we had a great time running around the park before sunset.
One of the few times I have to just go out and shoot photos is during my lunch break, which doesn’t lend itself to the best light, but I make do. Here’s a shot from my photo walk on Wednesday.
And don’t forget about my holiday portrait special!
The leaves are turning, the weather is cooling off … it’s already time to start thinking about holiday portraits. If you like to send out holiday photo cards or have a family portrait tradition, check out my holiday portrait special. I’m offering Kansas City area family portrait sessions up to one hour for just $49. Included in the cost are five high-resolution images to print to your heart’s content. Or buy the entire CD for $39. Offer expires 10/31/12 and must be redeemed by 11/18/12. Please allow two weeks to receive final edited photos.
Last week my extended family attended Purple Light – a vigil to honor & remember loved ones who have faced pancreatic cancer. The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network hosts the event to raise awareness about pancreatic cancer and how desperately funding is needed for research to learn more about the deadly disease. Survival rates are the lowest among all cancers and haven’t improved over the last 40 years.
On Saturday morning my husband and three of our friends ran in the Kansas City Zoo Run – a 4-mile run to benefit the Sumatran Tigers. After running 4 miles, we got free tickets to the zoo, so we walked about 4 more miles looking at all the animals. Even though I don’t have kids, I love going to the zoo because 1) I love animals, and 2) there are great photographic opportunities. My photo tip about zoos is to use the largest aperture (smallest number) you can, so the fences in the foreground are blurry and less of a distraction.
Thanks to the TV series Meerkat Manor, I bring you a photo of one of my favorite animals.
