With a jug of Starbucks Bold and a double batch of chocolate chip cookies courtesy of my wife, I was ready to go Sunday morning as the crew at Last Tangle Salon, Lora Wade Artistry and Rachel from Nuance Boutique continually pumped out model after model.  Never a dull moment.

With all of my recent travel, preparations for a new addition to the family and my degree of personal selectivity I’m still editing files but here’s a sneak peek for anyone who hasn’t been to my facebook page in a while.  Angela, (top image, below) has got to be my favorite model of the 30 or so I’ve shot with over the past two years.  Her images rock!  Maybe it’s because she different, and different reigns supreme.

If you’re looking at these photos wishing you could have something just like them…contact me.  You wouldn’t believe what I can do with something as simple as a plain wall in even the smallest of spaces.  A match.com profile full of professional photos!  Now there’s a way to kick off the spring for all of you singletons.  I’ll even bring the cookies.

Today turned out to be a great day.  A mid morning shoot with Angela, a great lunch with Alissa at KU Med and when I got home, our awesome neighbors brought us a mason jar of homemade hot chocolate mix and marshmallows (yes, those were homemade too.)  A killer combination; with Angela’s vibrant red hair and Nikon’s new 85mm f/1.4 G lens I’d picked up a few days ago I had high expectations from the start.

Normally a modeling shoot involves a fair amount of editing, but not Angela’s.  I’ve done such minimal amounts of editing on these it’s not even funny.  Fair skin is some of the best to work with in Adobe Photoshop for this very reason.  Actually, I don’t get to crazy with my editing unless I have too.  My style has always been clean and classic with a few modern techniques thrown in the mix.  As I review my earlier works I’m quick to identify my editing mistakes.  One of the biggest turn-offs I see quite frequently is where photographers over-edit the eyes.  Listen…eyes are NOT supposed to look like Joe Biden’s teeth.  If you go back back in the archives you might find a few where I’ve gone overboard.  Then again, maybe you wouldn’t notice since the untrained eye is in fact, untrained.  I’ve got a couple of tutorials I plan to do over the winter with eyes being one of them.

In case you didn’t know, Angela takes stunning photographs!

I think this session is going to officially put 2010 in the books.  It’s been a great year.  Thank you to all of my clients, models and photographers with whom I’ve met and worked with, it’s been a pleasure.  Be safe this holiday season and Merry Christmas.

This past Sunday I met up with the family who won my photo session from June’s silent auction.  I met Matt, Julia and their two children Drake and Marshall at Shawnee Mission Park to take some family photos.  Good thing I decided to take a look at the sunrise/sunset calendar prior to scheduling their session as Sunday was Daylight Savings Time; sundown=5:12PM!  How I wish the long days of summer would come back.  With Thanksgiving just around the corner, winter will be here before we know it and their session was likely my last outdoor session for the year.  The winter months for photographers are slow, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  My camera will get a much needed vacation to Nikon to be cleaned and I can start preparing my marketing tools for the spring senior rush.  Here are a couple photos from Sunday.

I had initially intended to blog this wedding over a week ago but a trip to Seattle and an unexpected inability to walk has set me back a few days.   Now, on to the good stuff..

First and foremost, a big “thank you” to Sarah Dickerson for inviting me to be her second shooter for the day!  She was alot of fun to work with! If you’d like to see the main post for this wedding, click here.  Brandon and Maiya, after nearly 15 years of being together, have made it official.  Saturday marked their beautiful wedding which (for me) started in Fairway, KS to get some shots of the guys getting ready.  Of all of the weddings I’ve photographed or been a part of, guys never like having their pictures taken.  They were good sports about it and we actually had quite a few good laughs along the way.  After a wonderful ceremony at the Prince of Peace Church, it was off to Harling’s Bar in Westport. (I feel guilty placing both of those places in the same sentence…yikes.) The urban decay, collectique junk scattered about and the scent of many spilled drinks all add to the atmosphere of Harling’s.  If you know the place, you know exactly how much of a dive it really is, but nonetheless very very cool to photograph and we did get some unique shots.  The elegance of Maiya’s wedding dress contrasted so well in there, it was unbelievable.  After a few drinks, it was off to the Crossroads for a few more photos.   After all of the liquid courage at Harling’s one of the groomsmen took a headfirst dive straight into the pavement…yes I was there to capture it all, so be sure to check it out below.  Once 6pm rolled around we had to get the wedding party to the Town Pavilion to finish up the evening with a little dinner and dancing.  Before I wrap this up, I thought I’d share one fun fact from the evening from a couple who had been married for 57 years.  They were asked their secret to a successful marriage and genuinely responded with; “When you start to argue….just take off your clothes and get in bed.”  Again, thank you Sarah and congratulations to Brandon & Maiya.

4 AM came fast this past Saturday morning as Dale and I made our way to the Kansas City Power and Light (after coffee at Quick Trip) to volunteer as one of four official photographers assisting Atherton Photography for Kansas City’s 2nd Annual Tour de BBQ.  With almost 2,000 riders participating, they toured across Kansas City on either the 61, 30 or 15 mile routes, stopping at Kansas City’s top BBQ pits for sampling of some of KC’s best BBQ.  Proceeds from the day went directly to support the fight against cancer through the Kansas City Livestrong Army.  Since the majority of my experiences have been with landscape, portrait and wedding photography, photographing cyclists moving at 15-20 miles per hour wasn’t as simple as one might think.  At least not if you want the end result to be somewhat interesting.

After the race, Jason, Jeni, Dale (fellow KC portrait / wedding photographers) and I met up for some BBQ and a few cold ones on behalf of Boulevard Brewing Co….nothing beats the wheat!  Oh yah, and Smashmouth put on a show at KC Live! Overall it was a fun day for a great cause and I look forward to doing it again next year.  All of the photos can be seen here.  Everyone did an awesome job capturing the day, lets hope we’re able to raise some money to kick cancer’s ass!

Oh, and Jackstack…I’m coming back to see you, that smoked sausage was hot!

Seemingly enough I think everyone reading this has known, or knows someone in their life who has suffered from cancer.  Last year alone, there were 25,000 folks in Kansas City who were diagnosed with cancer. To help raise money in the fight against cancer, the LIVESTRONG Army of Kansas City, an organization inspired by the Lance Armstrong Foundation is hosting the 2nd Annual Tour de BBQ.  In July of this year, Tour de BBQ lead photographer Jason Atherton asked if I’d be interested in volunteering my time to assist in photographing the event.  I find it personally rewarding to volunteer my talent to help raise money for such a great cause.

Tonight I met over dinner with KC photographers Jason, Dale Foshe and Jeni Friend at Kona Grill to iron out all of the details.  The entire day looks like it’s going to be a blast and I’m really looking forward to it.

With an expected 1500 cyclists this year, the 15, 30 and 60 mile routes stop at some of KC’s top BBQ joints, including Smoke Stack, Hayward’s, Jack Stack, Gates and Oklahoma Joe’s.  Afterwards, Gen X 99.7 FM kicks off the entertainment at KC Power and Light with food, beverages and a live concert which is free and open to the public.   Don’t let the fall slip away, grab a light coat and come out to support a great cause.

Look for updates this fall!

Speaking of fall, I’ve still got some availability if you’re looking for a wedding photographer or to have your senior pictures taken ahead of the spring rush.  Also as a reminder to the seniors of class 2011, my referral program will earn you a quick $50 cash.  Contact me for information or to see if your date is still available.