The Beauty of Dance - Marquette

Oh.my.goodness. What can I say about these portraits? Absolutely breathtaking, thanks to the fabulous Marquette "Marky" Shannon who I was lucky enough to photograph today. I am so loving these dance sessions, and hope you are enjoying seeing them. Marky's entire session, as well as Gwen's and Allison's, can be seen on my web site. Go to my site, click on "Portrait Site," and then "Dance Sessions." I have special pricing and collections available to dancers. If you want a session for yourself, please contact me.

Marky - here you go! I can't wait to show you more.

The Beauty of Dance - Allison

Today the wonderful Allison Kaut graced my studio for a dancer session. Allison dances for Kacico Dance - Kansas City's only full-time professional contemporary dance company. She also teaches at the Academy of the Arts, and elsewhere. I've begun to offer these dance sessions, because the dramatic lighting I've become known for seems to be a natural fit for the beauty and drama of dancers. If you are interested in a session of your own, please contact me - I have special collections and pricing for dancers - professional dancers as well as younger dancers.

Allison - it was so difficult to choose some portraits for your preview because so many of them are simply lovely - but here they are. Your gallery will be ready in a few days.

(Click on this one to see it bigger!)

Happy birthday to my little man

Five years ago at about the time I am writing this blog entry, I gave birth to my sweet baby boy, Connor. I can remember it all so clearly. The moment I first touched him; the suspicious look on his face (I'm not joking!); the way my daughter fell in love as soon as she saw her baby brother (whom she immediately named "Poopy Moo"); the lightening in the sky the moment the midwife told my waiting mom and sister that Connor had been born; having to get out of bed during the night a few hours later to nudge my husband because his loud snoring was keeping me awake; seeing my dad cry the next morning at the sight of my 4-year-old daughter holding her tiny brother for the first time.

Five years has passed since that amazing night. I wanted to make his 5th birthday extra special for Connor. He's my little fish, and so we appropriately took him (and Sissy) to Oceans of Fun for the day. We were there for 6 hours; and on the way home, he told us it had been the best day of his life. Oh how I love my little man!

I photographed him this evening with his birthday cupcakes from a local bakery - a momentous occasion in itself, as this is his first birthday cake after he outgrew his (at one time life-threatening) egg allergy - meaning, he didn't have to eat an eggless cake baked by me this year. It was a wonderful day and I'm sad to see it coming to an end!

Happy 5th birthday, Connor. Mommy loves you so much.


Five years ago...

Happy 8th Birthday!

This pretty little thing graced my studio yesterday evening for her birthday portrait session. She loved being photographed last night and you should have seen the sad look in her face when I told her we had taken enough photos and the session was over. Awwww! Lucky for her that her mom is one of my best clients so she won't have to wait long before it's portrait time again (family session, that is!)

This little girl has two sisters and a brother and they all get "Birthday Club" sessions every year. My Birthday Club sessions offer a way for you to avoid those stressful chain portrait stores and still have all the benefits that custom photography can offer. Why stress about those rushed sessions, and be disappointed in the results, when you can come to me instead? One important note: because of the discount involved, these sessions are offered only to those who have been to me for portraits before - it's a special perk I offer those who love and are loyal to The Lori Style! =)

If you want more information about my Birthday Club sessions, please send me an email - I would love to hear from you.

Senior Portraits - Brett

This handsome guy is Brett, one of my senior reps at Mill Valley High School in western Shawnee. Brett is proof that all the cool kids come to Center Stage Photography! =)

You will see more of Brett's senior portraits at a later date, but I wanted to show off some of the portraits I've already taken of him. If any of you attend Mill Valley, see Brett for one of his rep cards for my studio - there's a special discount on the card for you to use when you book your appointment.

Statuesque Maternity

I photographed this six-foot beauty today for her maternity session. Holly has no idea how truly beautiful she is - but the camera sure loves her, don't you think?

I really enjoy pre-natal sessions - there's something so beautifully mysterious about pregnancy. I am so lucky to be able to document this incredible time in women's lives.

Thank you, Holly, for trusting me with your maternity portraits. Your gallery will be ready soon.
She wanted some portraits with her son - isn't he a cutie?

Senior Portraits-Elaine

I photographed Elaine today for the studio portion of her senior portrait session; and soon we will have an outdoor photographic adventure at some of her favorite places. Elaine was at first a little shy but it didn't take her long to warm up to the whole thing - by the end I thought I might have to place a call to Tyra Banks and tell her I've found someone for her modeling show =)

I think of this session as "The many faces of Elaine" because one minute she can look all-American-girl and the next minute sophisticated and chic.

Here's a sneak peak for you, Elaine - I'm looking forward to taking you and that fabulous prom dress of yours out to the pasture for some sunset portraits (among others).

(remember, if a portrait looks pixelated, just click on it to see it better -
Blogger sometimes does strange things to images).

Full session available for viewing

I have added Gwen's full session to my web site so that you can see these images. I love what is called "low key" lighting - lots of shadows, emotional, dramatic - and use it all of the time for my maternity and newborn portrait sessions. I've been wanting to try out this type of lighting for a dance session and Gwen gave me the chance to experiment. Goodness do I love the results. I cannot wait to do this again - I envision this type of session for teen-aged and adult dancers. If you are interested, please contact me.

To see Gwen's entire session go to:
www.centerstagephotography.net
Click on Portrait Site
Click on Dancer Portraits
Click on Gwen
Enjoy!