Red K Photo - The Blog » Senior Portraits

Austin Family – McDowell Nature Preserve – Clover Family Photographer

Kelli — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 03:47:36 +0000

Shelly called Red K Photography about a month ago with a very specific request – her oldest son is heading off to college in the fall and she wanted a family photo session before he left. We chatted for a bit so I could get a feel for what she was looking for from the session and so I could learn a little more about the family. Then, just as we were about to hang up, Shelly had one more request – can we include the dog? Now, for those of you who know me well, you know exactly how I feel about this request. But Shelly and I had never met, so she had no idea how much I LOVE including pets in family shoots.

I firmly believe that having an animal involved in a shoot makes everything go smoother. (For proof check out the recent engagement shoot + pup or maternity shoot + cats). I know it sounds odd – but in reality, the reason we have pets in our lives is to help us relax, and give us unconditional love at all times. Now, if you had a source of unconditional love living in the same house as your family, wouldn’t you want to have it in a family photo shoot? I think so! Bringing a pet makes everyone more relaxed, and gives us all something to laugh at throughout the shoot. It also insures that no one looks posed! Pets are king of awesome non-posed shots, and they can really loosen up a crowd. So, without further delay, here are a few faves from the Austin shoot this past weekend out at McDowell Nature Preserve (BTW – one of my new favorite places to shoot)!

Have you ever seen a Dad look more proud to be standing between his two sons? Love it!

Did I mention that I LOVE dogs? Molly was really awesome. And in case you can’t tell, the entire family is dressed in khaki + white, including Molly.

Even the forest looks awesome in black & white…

My favorite shot of the day – Molly totally worked it out – such a poser!!

Check out the drool in this shot… Love it!

Now there’s only one thing I love more than including a pet in a shoot, and that’s having a pet that is willing to do anything for their parent! Molly (aka Louise) was such a trooper, and check out that big huge smile on her face, she’s loving it.

Brian – have an AWESOME time at college, enjoy every minute of it!

One Light Workshop – June 28, 2010 – Charlotte Portrait Photographer

Kelli — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 01:36:38 +0000

One of my business goals this year was to attend 2 workshops to enhance either technical photography knowledge or general business knowledge. One part of photography that I’ve never really had the opportunity to work with is off-camera lighting. Most of my sessions are outdoors and very candid in nature, so there’s not a lot of time to set up lighting and pose folks. But this year I’ve really gotten into shooting more events and weddings, and I wanted to be able to do some cool things in indoor environments where the lighting is usually very dim. After weeks of research I heard about a workshop from an amazing photographer down in Atlanta, Zack Arias. The workshop runs for about 16 hours straight, going until the wee hours of the morning, and it was a truly amazing experience. Zack has a way of breaking down lighting that makes it very hands-on and understandable. We had to cover lots of math (including the inverse square law!), equipment choices and basics, but we managed to knock that out and still have 1/2 the day to put everything into practice. It was AMAZING, and I can’t wait to try out some new things at my next shoot. Here are just a few of my favorites from the day….

After we got a handle on some basics, it was time to head outside and chase that beautiful sunset light! Here’s Zack setting up a shot for us…

Everybody got to take a turn posing the model, adjusting the light and tweaking camera settings. This turned out to be one of my favorite shots of the day…

After we lost the sunlight the fun continued! Technically this shot was taken using 2 lights, but it was easily the most amazing setup of the day. Our models were such troopers! Leigh must’ve stood like this squirting herself with water for about 45 minutes while the entire group took shots. SO much fun (for us, maybe not for Leigh)!

After the models left for the evening we started shooting each other and the fun continued – what an AWESOME truck we found in a nearby parking lot!

I had such a blast at this workshop and my head is still spinning from everything we learned. Unfortunately for my hubs and pups, I’m going to need lots of practice over the next few weeks.

Senior Portraits at Freedom Park – Charlotte Senior Photographer

Kelli — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:34:42 +0000

I met the Mom of this amazing senior while shooting a wedding last November. This happens a lot to photographers when you’re shooting other events – you get approached by someone that says “Hey, do you do ____?” This is typically a crap shoot – they haven’t seen your work, and don’t really know who you are, just that you were hired to shoot the event they’re attending and they are currently in the market for a photographer. But after chatting with Mom on the phone, I knew Red K Photography was a great fit for her needs. She wanted natural shots in an outdoor setting that didn’t look like the canned portraits done by the school. We decided on Freedom Park, and once I met this amazing senior I knew we’d made the right choice. She was so laid back with such a great natural smile, we could’ve stayed all day, but fortunately for her, she had to head to a lacrosse match (one of the 2 sports she plays) and then home to decide which college to attend. Like I said – amazingly awesome. Here are just a few of my favorites – enjoy!

Russell Family – June 6, 2009 – Charlotte Family Photographer

Kelli — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 02:50:58 +0000

I had a great time with the Russells this past weekend getting some family shots and senior shots of their oldest. The weather was awesome, and they had the most amazing rock in the woods near their house that provided the best staging opportunities. Congrats Megan!