Platinum!

I rarely blog about anything but my portrait photography business, but today something really exciting happened and I just can't help but share. My portrait studio space is located inside a wonderful dance studio in Shawnee called the Academy of the Arts, and the owner of that studio is my business partner, Tonya Ebner. My 9-year-old daughter has danced there for 6 years.

Tonya has a small but dedicated and fun group of girls who perform on her competitive dance team (including my daughter and her two girls). They all work very hard, and have so much fun together. Today was the girls' first dance competition and their production number - which consists of the entire team (except for a few tiny ones) won a Platinum award! That is the highest award they can win and they do not come around very often. They also won First Overall among the Junior Large Groups - about 20 of them. And, the coaches of that team - Krystin Quilty Sanford, and Carly Prenger, won a special choreography award. It's a really interesting routine, called "Nightmare Mix," of different dance styles, including my favorite - haunted ballerinas(!) -- all performed to a mix of scary songs.

What an exciting day for our team, and our coaches (and us parents, too!), and such a fun way to start out our competition season. We are all so proud of our girls!

March Madness - The Final Eight!

OK, so we have our own little version of March Madness going on here on the Center Stage Photography blog. But substitute ballerinas for basketballs! Who will come out on top? We'll find out in a week! Here's the last poll from my Aspire ballerinas. This poll has slightly different voting restrictions, just to keep things as fair as possible, as I know some people go a bit crazy racking up the votes :) - one vote per IP address this time.

Vote for your favorite ballerina portrait - the lucky little winner gets the sweetest gift - a tiny little set of Moo cards. They are soooo cute, and very fun to hand out to friends and family, or to hand out at birthday parties, etc. (Only ordered portraits get printed on the Moos).

Thanks to the hundreds - perhaps thousands - of you who have visited my blog over the last month - it's been fun hosting the contest for you.

By the way - April is starting to get booked. Outdoor portraits during this time are especially popular, as it's so beautiful when the trees are blooming. If you want an outdoor session in April, please contact me soon to ensure you get an appointment. I am also taking May appointments at this time.

OK - on with the voting!

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.
Sorry about how hard the poll results are to read! I didn't realize it would be that way. But I'm afraid to change it now for fear it will reset the poll.... so I guess we'll just live with it.

Urban Ballerina

I had the pleasure to photograph this beauty this weekend. I've been wanting to get out of the studio and do something hip and urban, and finally got my chance. This teen lives in another state, but had heard of my work with dancers, and while here visiting family for Easter, wanted to have portraits done. It was a lot of fun driving around Kansas City looking for neat locations, and fun to do portraits in the bright sunshine while snow was falling!

Thanks, Colleen, for bringing your beautiful dancer to me to photograph this weekend. I had a great time. Your proofs will be ready in about a week.

Six pounds of sweetness

I had the privilege to photograph this precious little 10-day-old baby girl this evening. I love to photograph these new little human beings - fresh out of the womb, still all curled up and oh so sleepy. She was just so warm, and soft, and tiny - just perfection!

Thank you so much, Lina and Ryan, for trusting me with this most precious of portrait sessions. Enjoy your preview!

Little Angel

Sometimes, you just know that you've got "the shot." When this little 6-month-old looked at me, with angel wings on, and I clicked the shutter, I just knew. I had captured the shot - isn't she darling? I have a love affair with 6-month-old babies, and today's little sweetie didn't do a single thing to change my mind. She smiled, she cooed, she flirted with Daddy. Oh how fun her session was!

Sibyl and Christian - thank you so much for bringing your little angel today for portraits - it was a special session for me. I will have your proofs ready for you soon - but until then, enjoy!

Sweet girl - sweet backdrop

I have been wanting this one particular backdrop for some time, but I'm beginning to feel like the Imelda Marcos of backdrops so I've been trying to resist it. But, about a month ago I did end up buying it, and I am so happy to have had a pretty little girl to photograph on it this evening.

This backdrop is called "Sweet Apple" -- oh how I love it's wine-colored beauty! It will work great not only for ballerina portraits, but also senior portraits, maternity portraits, baby portraits - really, anything! If you like what you see and have a session booked with me, feel free to ask for it.

Isn't this little cutie-pie a perfect first subject for my new backdrop? She's in my studio often and is getting to be a real pro at having her portraits taken.

Thanks, Shelly, for bringing her in - you know how much I love to see her in my studio!

(some monitors make the pictures look pixilated - if that's the case for you, just click on the portrait to see it better).

Ballerina Event - final info

Some last notes about the Aspire ballerina portrait event:

1. If you are planning to purchase custom products such as portrait bags, couture line portrait tile necklaces, canvas prints, etc., - I will archive all ordered prints until April 9. My portrait bags have been especially popular with moms lately - they would make a great Mother's Day gift. Each purse is truly one-of-a-kind. If you would like your custom product to arrive by Mother's Day, please order no later than March 22.

2. If you missed the ballerina portrait event, or have friends who would like to sign up for one, please note that I have one at the Academy of the Arts-Shawnee studio -- a two-weekend/three-day event in late September and early October; and I will be back at the Academy of the Arts-Aspire studio next January or February

3. Also, private ballerina portrait sessions may be scheduled - I have about 30 tutus in a rainbow of colors, a few princess dresses, lots of tiaras and bouquets; and soon I will also have a few petticoats for you to choose from as well. Outdoor ballerina/petticoat sessions are also available.

Contact me via email at: lori@centerstagephotography.net