Finally, A Beautiful Fall Day - Kansas City Family Portraits

I loved photographing this family. They are returning clients, which means a lot to me; the weather had finally turned nice; the 2-year-old was amazingly easy to work with (when does that ever happen?); and it was the mom's birthday! I just love the portrait above - Lisa suggested she and their little girl both sit on Daddy - and I love the results!

I'm really enjoying these fall sessions this year - no wonder fall is the most popular time of year for family portraits. What a gorgeous backdrop the park makes. Of course, we had to work around about every other photographer in Kansas City who also happened to be in the park at the same time as us - it was a bit surreal! I'm now convinced that every third person in the metro calls themselves a photographer.

Thank you Lisa and Sam, for choosing me, again, to photograph your family - enjoy your preview.

Danae - Kansas City Senior Portraits

I had the pleasure to photograph this lovely young woman this week; both in my studio and on location. She has a great smile and a supportive family, and reminded me why I love to photograph seniors so much! You may find it unusual to see a family image among Danae's senior portraits. However, I have no problem with others joining the senior for a small part of her or his session - it makes it all the more special, I believe.

Because I'm in the process of building the senior portrait portion of Center Stage Photography, I am offering special pricing to seniors in the class of 2010. Contact me for details.

Thank you, Danae! Enjoy your preview. Your gallery will soon be ready.

Another Chilly Morning With Cute Kids - Kansas City Portrait Photographer

This October's weather has not been kind for we portrait photographers who do a lot of outdoor sessions in the fall. I photographed these two cute kids this past weekend when the temperature was about 48, and a cold wind was blowing. The sunshine sure did help, though! These cuties came for a birthday session - 4 years for the little girl and 1 year for the baby boy. They were a lot of fun. We walked pretty far into Shawnee Mission Park to find a pretty, more secluded location. I just love how the light looked that morning on the bridge. It's funny, when you become a photographer, you see light differently - I'm always noticing "pretty light" where before, in my life, it wasn't something I paid much attention to.

Anyway! Thanks, Tanya - your gallery will be ready soon.

Happy Birthday, S! - Kansas City Baby Portraits

This little sweetie has a special place in my heart. I photographed her mom and dad for a maternity session that still ranks among my favorites; she's the baby hanging in my studio on the large black and white gallery mount; we had a great 10-month session and now she's turning 1. They live in St. Joseph and with Daddy's job, scheduling can be difficult, so it was pretty gloomy (and cold!) outside for the session - but that just makes the colors all the more beautiful, I think.

Thanks, Lindsey, for being such a loyal client. That means a lot to me. Happy birthday to your baby girl.

Fire and Ice - Kansas City Portrait Photograher

I photographed this little beauty a couple of days ago. She had been sick for her "ballerina portrait" session the week prior so her mom brought her in to the studio for her make-up session and we had a great time. I even convinced her mom to let me work on a different backdrop for some, and I know she will love what she sees :)
I like to think of these as the "fire and ice" portraits. I'm sure you can figure out why. But when she came in, I told her, with her blond hair and blue eyes she reminded me of an "ice princess" but later, when she was in the fall colored tutu and in front of the warm backdrop, there was nothing cold about it!

Thanks, Jill, for bringing her in and for loving my work - I appreciate that so much!

Cold But Worth It - Kansas City Portrait Photographer

The session could have been miserable. Yesterday was so cold and dark. But when I get to photograph two little girls who love the camera, add in two wonderful and helpful and involved parents, a cute dog and an amazing environment, the session was anything but miserable. Sure it was only 40 degrees, but we all had fun and I am so looking forward to showing Shelly her gallery. Choosing ones for the blog has not been easy - I love them all! (FYI - click on the images to see them bigger/more clearly).

I have give a special compliment to the girls' dad, Clint. He's just the type of dad I like in my line of business. Instead of acting bored, or hiding out in their SUV, Clint was encouraging to the girls, drove us around all over the West Bottoms, never once looked bored, and he even carried around my antique yellow sofa.

Thank you, Shelly and Clint, for choosing me, yet again, to photograph your girls - it was a pleasure.

Sunday's Girls - Kansas City Portraits

Here's a preview for all of the families who came to the Oct. 4 portrait day at the Center Stage Studio. I saw a lot of traditional ballerinas, and then some not-so-ballerinas - all beautiful!

I did want to say that I'm so happy that so many of you brought your tweens. So many people, it seems, have portraits done of their small children, but once the kids turn 6 or so, they stop having them photographed regularly. But look at the many tween beauties I've photographed over the last couple of weeks. They absolutely love having their portraits done - much more so than the 2-year-olds - and look at them! Their beauty deserves to be photographed as well, and their personalities really shine.

Your galleries should be online by Monday. Until then, enjoy!

Friday's Ballerinas - Kansas City Portrait Studio

Here's a preview for everyone who had sessions on Friday. Such pretty girls!

Galleries for Sunday, Sept. 27's sessions are now online. All ballerina clients should receive an email from me today about that - contact me if you do not receive that email.

Also, these sessions sold out this year. We are trying to guage demand for another day of sessions this fall - most likely a Friday evening, or Sunday morning early in November. If anyone reading this would like a session this fall, please contact me to be placed on a waiting list.

Thank you!

My pretty ballerinas - Kansas City Portraits

Finally! Previews from Sunday's ballerina portrait event at my studio in Shawnee. I am really enjoying editing these images - so beautiful! I am so looking forward to hearing what you all think of your galleries. Thank you to all of you who have sessions. It is always a pleasure to create these beautiful images. We photographers have a saying - if an image is especially beautiful we called it "canvas worthy" - and I am seeing a lot of canvas worthy portraits.

Sessions for this event are now sold out - I've got about 30 children to photograph between Friday and Sunday. If you know someone who wants a session, please have them contact Laurie Wood (not me - even though our names are similar). We are considering starting a waiting list for those still wanting sessions, and if we get enough interest I will schedule another date later this month or in November. Her email address is: lauriehullwood@hotmail.com