I had a great portrait session with Madilyn recently.  She was a little shy at first, but we got beyond that and were having fun and getting great pictures in no time.  She really enjoyed the flower and Mom being silly behind me.

I believe that to really succeed in children’s portraiture you have to become a kid again.  Meeting them on their own level makes them forget about the camera.  When you stop to take time to listen to what they need (like a break) it helps to bring down any walls, and you’ll get more time and better expressions because the children are having fun.  And after all the pictures are about them, not me.

It seems lately that I’ve been shooting quite a few infant portraits.  These are of Aiden who is now almost three months old.  The image above and below this text were taken a month apart, and the development at this age is readily apparent in the images.  He is now very active and has many more facial expressions than he did before.  And that proves to be one of the challenges of infant portraiture, catching them when they are awake, in a good mood and at their best.  Those moments don’t always last too long so when you know you’ve got a keeper it’s extra special.

I met Brittany and Daniel through a mutual friend during the Perfect Wedding Guide’s Great Diamond Dash Bridal Show in February.  We waited for warmer weather and then met in Old Town Albuquerque for a beautiful portrait session.

Brittany and Daniel chose the location because it was the scene of their first date.  We started off in the gazebo in the old city square before moving to small courtyards nearby.  Our first surprise came when Daniel brought out his guitar.  We listened while he played and I photographed them enjoying being with each other.  We wandered around the side streets and back courtyards before retuning to the gazebo for the final surprise of the evening, a light sabre duel between Brittany and Daniel.

During the Tanoan Bridal Show last November, Rachael won a free engagement session.  After waiting for the weather to cooperate, Rachael, Stefan and I met at Supper Rock Park, in Albuquerque, for their portraits.

Rachael and Stefan were great to work with.  They laughed and teased each other throughout the shoot and were both great in front of the camera. In addition they chose a great location that means a lot to them.  Picking a location that is meaningful to the couple adds so much to the images, as you can tell from these pictures.

Besides working with the massive rock hill, arbor, and playground space we used the motorcycle Stefan brought as a backdrop for some really outstanding images.

I was recently inspired to rework the look of the Kingsley Images website.  While it will look a bit different, the new design will improve functionality, while maintaining the simple feel and look current site.  The navigation will be similar, but we will offer more information on the subsequent pages (i.e. more detail on the plans and pricing)  This will make the site more useful and give you the information you need at your fingertips. The picture is a mock-up I’m working on for the direction I want the site to take.  It’s not finished yet, so if you’d like to pass along your thoughts on the concept feel free to let me know by commenting on the post.  Thanks!

I’ve been looking through some old photographs lately because my father and I have officially launched Big Rock Puzzles.  I found this one squirreled away in a folder from 2006 or 2007 when I went to a family reunion in central Colorado.  I had forgotten that I’d taken it, and while I had a few different shots, liked this one because of the arch in the neck and the open mouth.

Here are some of Breanne’s pictures from the senior portrait session she shared with her sister, Becca.  Breanne was awesome to work with.  Like her sister we started out by the piano before moving outside with the viola.  While the setting was similar to her sister’s I think we made some images that really fit her personality.  A stop in the ally between Second and Third Street in downtown Grand Island made a for a shot by a brick wall that came out nicely.  We rounded out Breanne’s session by getting portraits of her with Ebony, her dog, who was a little reluctant.

A couple of weeks ago I was back in Grand Island for several senior portrait shoots.  The biggest day was shooting Becca and Breann Preisendorf.  They are twins and were awesome during the whole day. I’m going to separate the shoots for the blog and start with Becca today.

Becca was great to work with.  We started off exploring the instruments she plays.  First off was the piano at her home.  We worked on emphasizing the lines of the instrument and trying to to be too literal.  Then we went outside for shots with her violin before coming back inside to cool off and do some more shots with the instrument inside.  Then it was off to downtown Grand Island with her guitar.  Exploring the alleys really worked well for those shots.  Lastly we had to get some shots of Becca with ‘The Panda,’ her car.

Two weeks ago I ducked back to Nebraska for a busy week of  photography.  First on the docket was Brandon Pfeifer.  Brandon was great to work with and we wandered around Grand Island and the area all morning for his shoot.  We started out at the Vet’s Home before being chased away by mosquitoes the size of ravens.  We stopped by Eagle Scout Park before finding a wheat field south of town.  We finished up with finding many different opportunities in downtown in the alleys.

Overall a great day of shooting with a great subject.  I think we were really able to capture Brandon’s personality throughout the shoot.

I’ve been wanting to blog about this image for quite some time, but couldn’t until it was published. Dalton Sealey was named The Independent’s Boys Athlete of the Year. During his senior year he hoisted state championship trophies for St. Cecilia in football, basketball and track. It was the third straight time for the basketball trophy, by the way. Heck of an athlete and a really nice guy.

I didn’t quite know how to photograph Dalton. Traditionally we try to incorporate all the sports in which the athlete of the year participates. We want to try and show how talented they are overall, not just one side of them. A basketball and football were easy props for those sports, but what about track? Shoes around the neck? Been there, done that. It was then that I started thinking about the starting position for sprints and how similar it was to the three-point stance in football. I had my pose.

The lighting was a different story. I wanted the background to go dark, so that meant controlling the spill. I also had to light the basketball which would be far away from the main light (which was on the ground on the left pointing up). An umbrella pointing down worked for that. Then for good measure I tossed in a small flash on the left to help light that side from a different angle and fill in some shadows. I tossed a reflector on the right, but I don’t think it added a whole lot.

Dalton was great to work with. He bought into the idea and got in and out of the pose several times while we tweaked it all. In ten minutes or so we were done shooting and had captured an image that merged who Dalton is, with the vision I had for the image.