Big Jake....

Jake is a Senior at Reagan HS. He’s only been in Texas for about 3 years (but I think plans to stay here forever), and he absolutely loves the outdoors. He’s an avid hunter and fisherman, plays guitar, trumpet and drums, and likes to spend time with friends at the beach. If I had to describe his personality, I’d say he’s simply bold. I had another one of those “small world” stories with him. He’s taking one of my former students to his prom (she goes to JM). Anyway, Jake’s mom probably had to threaten pull teeth to get him here, so I bet there was a compromise on what he had to wear. He choose a more casual look; long-sleeve shirts with jeans and boots. We started out with natural-light, first the garage, then into the studio. I have to mention, his friend Tucker, kept texting him the entire time, so M started calling him Tucker by accident (that was after she called him Patrick, after Patrick Dempsey from Gray’s Anatomy). It was pretty funny. Tucker, if you read this, Jake says you’re a “good ‘ol boy”. After a wardrobe change, we went to the hay barn, the garage wall, and then changed again and did some indoor studio stuff. Jake did well, all for the sake of mom. The images turned out great, and I think his mom will like’em. More on the site…. Enjoy…..

Simply Jess.....

Jess is a Senior from ECHS. We’ve been acquaintances for a few years now. Her mom is great friends with our Sister-in-law in Florida. I remember her coming out to my in-laws home in the summer when she was about 12 (boy, does time fly or what?). Jess is an outdoorsy, extroverted, and resilient young lady. When she first arrived she was kind of quiet, but just like our previous senior, she came alive, got excited, and left with anticipation of viewing the images. I don’t know what I’m doing lately, but it seems to be working. We went down to the creek and while driving up, M spotted the backlit field of white flowers. I noticed the interplay of shadows and highlights, so we started there. We then made it to the water area. Took some images there and came back to the studio. I have to mention that the last time I was down at the creek, I got into some poison oak. Let me tell you, I’ve had it many times in my life, but this time I swelled up like a puffer fish (that is, the areas affected – I’ll spare you the oooozing details). We got back to the studio just in time for sunset. We sat Jess against the white fence and took some more images. The weather was windy (what do you expect, this is the year of the wind here in TX). The weird thing was, it was warm when we went to the creek, but when we returned the temp. dropped pretty quickly. Hopefully, the goosebumps aren’t too visible (hehehehehe). We finished up inside. I felt this is one of those sessions that I was blessed. The images truly captured Jess’s beauty. Hope she likes ‘em. More on the site. Enjoy…..

Jackie Q....

Jackie is a Senior from JM. She's the real deal (intelligent, fashionable, and active in her school, not to mention the obivious). She’s wanting to attend Stanford University in the Fall. Most of our Seniors show up excited and full of energy. Jackie, on the other hand, showed up tired and about to fall asleep. I had the perfect cure for this situation, cold creek water. Jackie got more excited and energized as we went along. And before we finished, she was excited and full of energy (if only all my clients could be like that). We started down at the creek. This is the first time a senior actually got in the water. Of course it’s Spring, so it’s starting to warm up. As the images convey, we had a blast. We photographed in and around the creek. We found some wildflowers and a tree budding with flowery, pollen buds. We then returned to the studio, where she changed in to a multi-colored, cool top and jeans. We finished up in her royal blue prom dress. It was a fun session (which usually winds down toward the end), and Jackie made it exciting & lively the whole way through. Forgot to mention the frog nibbling on her toes in the creek (hey, if I was a frog, I’d mistaken a pretty, well-pedicured toe for scrumptious food too – hehehehe). The images turned out amazatastic. I hope she likes ‘em. More on the site…. Enjoy….

Ardently Avid Amanda....

Amanda is a teacher at a local high school here in town. She’s an only child and her parents wanted some nice portraits of her to celebrate her upcoming birthday. I don’t photograph many adult individuals, but both of her parents are cancer survivors, so taking these portraits of her took on an entirely different meaning. This session caused several problems for me…. First, I didn’t know where to put her on my web site; she’s not a senior, not a model (even though she could be), she didn’t fit in any of my categories…. Second, there were so many fantastic images I racked my brain just trying to pick a few to put on the web site (that is, when I finally figured out where to put her)… Third, and this is really not a problem for me, but her enthusiasm and excitement was contagious…. The session went so well, and so long (I kept coming up with ideas; actually she came up with the ideas, I just pushed the button on the little black box), that she probably missed her date she had scheduled that evening…ooopsie...... Sorry about that Amanda…. (I know, I know, poor me..... starving people in the world, financial crisis, violence everywhere, I know there are some people reading this feeling sorry for me and my problems now...NOT). She was so excited she brought tons of ideas and things to go with them. Her dog was hilarious, it’s like he never saw open country before…. He ran and jumped, and played, and did the typical dog stuff… he’d run off, and when we couldn’t find him, he’d come back because he was so tired of running off…. Amanda had so many cool, fashionable, outfits… We had a blast, the images turned out fantabulous, and we made a new friend…. Amanda, now that you’ve gone through the experience, remember us when your students want cool and different senior portraits (plug-plug)… You're our new offical CK liason (did I spell that right?)for RHS. Thanks again, it was one portrait session we’ll never forget…. Hope you like the images… More on the site (under people/models/acting link)….. Enjoy….

P.S. Forgot to mention the funniest part of the session, I won't get into to details, but I know Amanda is glad I was the only one taking her picture that day.... hehehehehe.....

Lauren H....

Lauren is another JM '09 senior. She's on the Dollie Dance Team. She says that she's not graceful, but every time I asked her to change her position and pose, she'd get in this elegant, feminine position. I guess her dance background is such a part of her, she does it instinctively. The session was rescheduled (due to my illness back in Feb.), and the forecast for her session wasn't promising. It had been in the 80's all week, then boom, out of no where comes this 40 degree high, rainy, blustery day. Of course we made the best of it, but let's just say, we didn't spend that much time outside (burrrrrr...) The other thing that really stands out about the session was how nincompooped (yes, my spelling of it) I must have looked. Every time I made an adjustment (tried to block the wind, put a board down, adjusted a light stand, tried to get the gel color on the light to look right, etc...) something happened. I felt befuddled. To make a long story short, I stepped on a nail (yes right through the shoe and into the foot, tetnus shots aren't too painful), had a board come crashing down (no injuries), knocked a fastener off my lightstand, and the gelled light didn't look quite right. I just laughed and thought, "they must think I'm one of the three stooges." It was like the Apple Dumpling Gang met Dumb and Dumber. Enough of my rambling... The best part of the session was the fact that the images turned out great. You'd never know any of it happened.... got that Lauren (none of it happened... you had the best time of your life...... hehehe). Hopefully, mom likes the images..... More on the CK site.... Enjoy....

Sandra and Michael's Wedding....

Sandra and Michael were married last weekend. Both graduated from TTU (get ur' guns up). Michael reminds me of Matt Bonner of the NBA Spurs (hey Michael, don't hang out after a Spurs game or you might have to sign a few autographs... hehehe). They were married in a church on the West side of San Antonio. The reception was at Pedratti's Ranch. The bridal attendants wore pink and black strapless dresses, alternating pink with black, and black with pink. The floral arrangements were stunning, all done by the bride and friends. The groomsmen were mostly from West Texas, you could tell by their accents and mannerisms. The session started with the typical groom with groomsmen and family, then bride with hers. We did the First Glance, and finished up before the ceremony with the formals of the entire bridal party. The ceremony was beautifully quick, and the family formals finished out our work at the church. Pedratti's is a Western style ranch used for receptions and the like. On the bride's cake, Sandra had put a bride and groom ornament on top. What was different about it was the bride was grabbing the groom's behind. It read "To Have and To Hold". Her creativeness didn't stop there. She had a candy table for all of the guests. It was elaborate. All different kinds of candy. The guests couldn't wait to dig in, but they had to wait on us to photograph it (sorry folks). Finally she created a slideshow of her and Michael growing up. It was a beautiful wedding, and I hope the images portray it. Congratulations Sandra and Michael. May your wedding be just the beginning of a beautiful and blessed life together.

Miss Congeniality...

If there's one word that would describe Ashley, it would have to be involved. Not only is she in the top 10% of her class (missed the top five by just a few points), but she's involved in STUCO & PALS, the JM Mascot, JM Homecoming Queen, a member of the National Honor Society, and the Manager of the Girls' Basketball team. She's outgoing, amiable, and reminds me about what's good in the world. She's decided on attending Texas A&M in the Fall, in particular, the College of Business. Our session was rescheduled, due to the predicted bad weather, so we moved it up. It was overcast and windy (you'd think we live in West Texas this year). Ashley wanted outside portraits in her coronation dress. We started inside with the vintage chair (came with the couch). The gold in the wall really complimented her purple dress. We then moved outside to the swing. Changed outfits, then high-keyed the do-it-all JM accessories. Finally, we finished up outside with her sundress. The images turned out fantabulous. More on the CK web site.... Enjoy.