Izaak and Abby - Kid portraits Missouri

Tonight I had a shoot with these two cute kids. They were funny, lively and packed full of energy. I'm going to dedicate my life to bottling that energy.

When I'm not so tired.

Meet Frannie

Meet Miss Frannie.

She's a lil' nugget.

FYI, we call a nugget a tiny little mouse poo around these parts. So I guess it's just how you look at it :)

Frannie is also my best friend's littlest one. aka SURPRISE! :) Frannie is VERY GOOD at saying "No" in her cute little mouse voice. At least it's cute the first 327 times.

These pics were Frannie's 2 year photos, and a b-day gift to Stacy (she's a 4th of July baby). It's also a thank you for not letting my cats die while we were on vacation.

As you see, I'm a "come as you are" type of photographer. If they'll sit and smile, then YAY. If they don't, then that's ok too. I want to capture what your kids look like right now, the way they are, not the way we wish they were. ;)

Frannie has the cutest curly hair. I wish I had curly hair. Or straight hair. Nope, I have fuzzy hair.

Fuzzy hair sucks.

We had to resort to some game playing to get Frannie to play along. She's not a fan of the camera.


Where's your ear?

Where's your nose?

Where's your tongue?

Where's your belly button?
Wait. They call it a donut hole.. or something like that. I can't remember!

The verdict is still out on kids. Somedays I love the idea, and some days I run screaming around the room, then I see pics like these and I get over it.

Meet Kooper - this little toe headed blond

Meet Kooper.

He's a little toe-head blond, and also the great-nephew of one of my high school BFFs. Honestly, I'm 100% sure that had nothing to do with it, but you know, I can never let one of those references go.

I had intended on sharing some photos from Kristin and Jake's wedding, and have a ton done, but I'm not finished yet even tho I worked on it ALL DAY LONG. (this one is kicking my rear!) so I thought I'd take a break from it, share some cute baby pics instead and finish up tomorrow... I hope or I might have to shoot myself.

This image really brought out my incredible blond roots. You see, I had to literally write Kooper, FIVE TIMES before I got it right. I think his mom thought I was a dork... because I WAS! I swear Tara I'm usually not quite so special as I was that morning, but the K totally threw me off.

Kooper's dad is a cop, as is his grandpa, and as was his great grandpa. We drove up to the sheriff's department and took photos outside by the brick walls.

Did I ever tell you that I used to spend the night at the jail? No really. Kooper's Aunt Shellie's family (the sheriff) used to live upstairs from the Sheriff's Dept. We'd spend the night and play in the jail if it was empty... or make a point of passing the jail door if it wasn't (a taunt I suppose lol.. woohoo.. I'm free you're not! neener)

Anyway, back to Kooper... he makes that super cute "OMG!" look every time he sees a truck. This is a boy's boy right here.

And to prove it, here's Kooper playing with a rock. Rocks and balls make this kid happy. Oh... and trucks.

Shortly after this photo, he decided to store it in the only pocket he had. His diaper. I say it's better than finding earthworms and hot wheels in there, don't you agree?

More photos of Kooper soon, but in the meantime I'm off to bed with more pics to share tomorrow. I hope, or you're allowed to string me up.

Tips for Momtographers - try a new perspective

As a reward, for not driving me crazy for at least an hour, we all went out and had a little fun at the park. OK, so I also went to let them burn off energy, which never seems to work, but when they argue outside, it's so much easier to handle than when they are arguing inside.

I went with a second mission in mind. To document the "event" but at the same time, see it with a different set of eyes, a new angle on a classic situation. Coming home, I thought this would be a good lesson for moms out there. A little less classic "swings or slide" shots and a little more "capture this moment" shots.

After reviewing my photos, I realized that the main theme of my photos ended up being "a new perspective". Seeing the same old things, but seeing them in a new way that can add a little excitement to your memories.

Find a frame. Look for nooks and crannies, places that you can see your subject at a different angle, or in a "frame". Don't be ashamed to make a funny face or vulgar noises to get a genuine smile.

Sometimes your subject isn't your subject. You don't always have to shoot your subject directly. Capturing this shadow tells the entire story itself, without ever seeing the child herself.

Take second stage. Let your subject, be the secondary part of the story. Showing a little detail with someone in the background, still reminds you that they were there at the moment, but shows a little detail that you might forget otherwise.

Look at your scene from an entirely new angle. With this shot, I just sat the camera in the grass, pointed it in the general direction and started shooting. I'm not scared to lay in the grass (despite the fact that I'm allergic to it - itching's worth a great shot) just to get a cool pic. Lay on your back, shoot straight up, shoot straight down, get in close or give your camera a little tilt.

Freeze time. Look at the settings on the top or the back of your camera. See that little running man? He's the one that will help you freeze a scene and capture a minute instant in time. This one is especially good for wiggly children and pets (unless you have a lazy cat like mine, then you can do time lapse and nothing will happen)

Find supporting details. Watch close, are there things around you that help tell the story? They don't have to have a person in them ALL the time to tell the complete story.

Capture the true moments. I won't say that I never set up a posed shot, or that I ask someone to turn and smile at the camera, because I DO ALL THE TIME, but a cheesy grin will NEVER tell the true emotion felt at any moment in time. Stand back, and just wait, be focused and ready, and when the moment comes, snap fast.






My three favorite tips:
1. Fill the frame with your subject. That means you'll probably need to get up, and walk 5 or 20 steps closer. Nothing says boring photo more than just a snapshot in the general direction where you can't see what's going on more than just who was there.

2. Remember, your camera can take vertical shots too. It's true. Try it. :p I grit my teeth to let a stranger take a photo of me. Everyone holds up the camera, and snap. Analyze your scene and make sure that what you want to capture wouldn't look better in a vertical. Hey, it's digital (well most of us anyway), what's it going to hurt if you try both ways?

3. Stop making your kids say cheese. It's a crying shame. And while you're at it, don't even make them look at the camera all the time. By doing so, you only capture who was there, you never will capture the emotion of the moment.

I read this once:

"I heard a really sad story. The kids were in the backyard playing football together, playing nicely and not fighting. Mom wanted to capture the moment. Dad yelled 'Come over here, your mom wants to take your picture.'"

The end.

Laura's Session - Missouri Maternity photographer

I shared earlier, some photos of Laura's maternity session. I have finished editing, and wanted to share some of my favs from the day!

I love this photo, even tho it's slightly off focus. It has awesome sunflare, a sillhouette and a genuine smile from Laura.

Go Laura.

Laura is kinda conservative straight laced. {that's ok, we like that too} I badly wanted her pic with her mustang and asked Laura to give me something a little on the "hot mamma" side. I'm fairly impressed. I can tell you for sure that when I was 7.5 months pregnant, I was not balancing myself on heels up against my mustang.

To be fair, she put her slippers back on as soon as we got in the car. LOL.

P.S. - Laura, you and I need to ditch the men and the kids for a weekend and have a Thelma and Louise. We'll take your car. I'll drive. LOL.

Some old school pics

While digging for a small plain photo album, I found these pics in an older album that I had. I forgot that I had stuck them in there:



Probably circa 2002. I can't quite remember what year, but I do know that the barn is now a John Deere dealership in Maryville. LOL. The soybeans around the barn were all dry, and it was so perfect. I bought these overalls on the internet and had our own little "shoot"

Seth {now 19} I think would be around 11-12, which would make Tanner around 7. I feel old.


This is probably one of my favorite pics of all time. I told Tanner to look down, and for set to bend over and tell Tanner a secret.

All these were taken with film, Sometimes I really miss film, I do think that they are less work in the end, and when you do it right, they just look better than digital.

I've been searching for this pic for about 2 years! I knew I had it, but couldn't find it. I found the negatives the other day, but couldn't tell which pic it was. I'm planning on getting a big 20 x 30 gallery wrap canvas to hang in my house of this pic. I *love* it.