Summer Mini Sessions {Midlothian Child Photographer, Richmond Children's Photographer}

Hello!

It's {Life Love Lens} Wednesday......and I have a few announcements. :)

First of all, if you follow my facebook page, you may have noticed that I announced my summer {kids only} mini sessions last week. They are just for the kiddos and are priced at $65 for the first child, then $50 for each additional child that is booked back to back. So, call your sister-in-law and your BFF and get those mini sessions scheduled! I will be doing them at my home studio (indoor OR outdoor) and at the lake around the corner from my house. If you are in Williamsburg and would like to do mini sessions there, just get some friends together. If you have at least 5 kids to book back to back, I will make the trip over! :) 

Can you believe that summer is almost here??!!

I know you are booking your summer travel.......do our vacay's overlap?? If they do, call me, we can set up a session on the BEACH!!

Last opportunity for fun this summer with me.... ;)

Host a Portrait Party!

I am still looking for my FIRST official booking. 

You will get a FREE 16x20 gallery wrapped canvas!

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great day!

~Kerry

A Lego Star Wars Birthday Party {Richmond Family Photographer}

Last week my baby turned 6 (sniffle, sniffle.) He requested a Lego Star Wars the Clone Wars party.....yes, he was THAT specific about the theme. I tried to talk him into doing something easy at Pump It Up, but unfortunately that was not good enough for him.

So, I totally put it off to the last minute, then went Pinterest CRAZY!!

We had:

Vader-ade (gatorade) 

Yoda Soda (Sprite)

Wookie Cookies (assorted cookies)

Hans Rolos (rolos, obviously!)

Ewok Treats (Teddy Grahams)

Galactic Grapes (green grapes)

Popped Clones (popped corn)

I also made the kids these tee shirts (cell phone pic), thanks to this Pin here. :) I imported the file into Photoshop and changed the colors, then printed them out on iron-on transfer paper and just ironed them on to the shirt. That seemed much easier than the stencil and paint method!

See it on instagram here.

Matt and I made the lego light saber's out of pool noodles, duct tape and electrical tape. They were super easy and provided a take-home gift and a great way for them to run off the mounds of sugar that they consumed while at my house! ;)

Insta is here.

I didn't end up planning too much, because I knew they would have their own ideas of what was fun.... They played wii, ping-pong, football, light sabers, legos and anything else they could get their hands on. Overall, it was a fun day! ;)

Thanks for helping us celebrate Cal's 6th birthday!!

And,

Thanks for stopping by. If you are interested in the pdf files of the party signage, shoot me an email, I'm happy to share!!

~Kerry

Peyton | 5 Days New {Richmond Newborn Photographer, Richmond Family Photographer}

Good Morning!

A few days ago I blogged the M Family maternity session and I promised to follow up with Miss Peyton's newborn shoot.....so here she is!

She was like a tiny baby model at 5 days new. :)

Thanks M Family for entrusting this special time to me and my lens!

<3 <3 <3

Welcome to the world Baby Peyton!

~Kerry

Life Love Lens Wednesday | A Follow Up & A Storytelling Session {Midlothian Child Photographer, Richmond Children's Photographer}

Well, hello there!

Remember last {Life Love Lens} Wednesday, when I showed you my favorite iPhone-ography apps and tools? Well, I finally got my act together and am getting my instagram collage printed! Here is what I put together. :) It is like a tiny scrapbook of our year! <3 <3 <3

I realized while I was putting this together that I have very few shots of my oldest, Matt, on my phone. I know it's because he is the least fond of the camera and has the lowest tolerance for my shenanigans when it comes to taking pictures. So, I decided to go ahead and do what I have been thinking about for a while now......a Storytelling Session with him. 

Matt is an amazing kid (and I am totally not just saying that because he is MY kid!;)) He is kind and thoughtful and very, very smart! He LOVES to read and is really into the Harry Potter series now (he is on the 5th book.) I didn't want to get too "theme-y" with Harry Potter, but I did want to capture him in his element. And the bonus: he could read while we shoot!! LOL So that is what sold him on the idea and off we went......to the front yard. I got out some of his cooler looking books (minus the jackets, which he was slightly annoyed by, I think), laid out a quilt and plopped him down. I did make him move a few times and get in different positions, but he was a good sport about it. :) About 30 minutes later, this is what we got.....

Probably my favorite one....sigh... :)

He thought this was hysterical!! ;)

So, that's my boy.

If you would like to set up a Storytelling Session for your little (or big) one, let me know. We can make it about anything they are into; baseball, ballet, chess, a specific book, or even a lemonade stand! It's all about them, and even the "not so fond of photo" kids will have fun!! :)

Thanks for stopping by! 

~Kerry

Big Brother and Belly! {Richmond Maternity Photographer}

I can't tell you enough how much I loved working with this family!! 

This is before Miss Peyton arrived.... the 'after' will be coming to the blog soon...

Thanks M Family!!

xoxo,

Kerry

Life Love Lens Wednesday | My Favorite iPhone-ography Apps {Richmond Photographer}

Hello again!

This week I want to talk about cell phone snap shots. If you are like me, you have your phone (whether it be an iPhone, android or other) with you at all times, but not always your "real" camera. So we end up taking most of our day-to-day snap shots on them. But I am guessing that most of you (like me) rarely upload those pictures to your computer and/or actually get them printed, am I right??!! 

So, first I want to show you some of my favorite photo editing and sharing apps and then I want to talk about printing!

I did buy the pro camera app for my iPhone ($4.99), but to be honest, I hardly ever use it. The regular camera app is easy and pretty accurate and I don't get bogged down by getting everything technically right and miss the moment. So, splurge on it if you want to get fancy sometimes and have some more options for customization, but don't bother if you don't want to be bothered. ;)

My absolute favorite editing app is called PicTapGo. It does cost $1.99 but is totally worth it! You can edit clean with lightening and brightening actions and then dial them back. You can also add some artistic and fun looks too and they aren't too overwhelming. I love that you can give them as much of the filter as you want AND you can save your "recipes" that you use often. You can also crop your shot in the app and upload to my other favorite app Instagram. :) Instagram is fun for sharing - do you Insta? If so, follow me at @kbsphoto and I would LOVE to follow you back!! :) OK, so back on topic....I once read someone who was writing about Instagram and called it "the app that takes a picture and then smears butter all over it" and I kinda agree. The filters for editing are too heavy handed and often make the shot look worse. Maybe that's my photographer's eye, but it kinda bugs me. The one thing I love in Instagram (besides the sharing portion of it) is the little raindrop looking tool. It will blur out the edges of your shot (either in a circle or in a line.) You can adjust the size and type of blurring, and it just adds a fun little final punch!

I do have some other editing apps like Pixlromatic and Snapseed, which are both very good, I just don't use them much since I found PicTapGo.

 

So now that you have a great shot that you edited to look fabulous are you just going to keep it on your phone forever?? Make sure you are backing them up to the cloud or directly to your computer every now and then. Then go through them and pick some to print!! You can even send pics to print directly from your phone using the Mpix app. Mpix is the sister company to the pro lab I use most often, and I always recommend them to my clients who buy digital files. They rock!! :) 

You can also create some fun Instagram collages with Persnickety Prints. I have yet to use them, but it is on my list to create one of these awesome collages!!

So, there you go. My favorite iPhone-ography apps and printing options!! Check 'em out, connect with me on Instagram, and GET THOSE PICTURES PRINTED!! :)

Thanks for stopping by!!

~Kerry

My Girl at the River | Take 2! {Midlothian Child Photographer, Richmond Photographer}

I hope you are okay with another Ryann post. 

If you have been following my blog for a bit you may have noticed that I have been switching back and forth between a few types of photo formats. I can't decide which I like better, as the larger collages tend to look more sleek, but they will not display as big as I would like. The smaller sets of images are nice and big, but take longer to make and sometimes feel chopped up. The larger collages also look better on Pinterest (feel free to Pin away!;)) so I am leaning towards them.

Anyway, here is the same set of images as the last post (just a lot less of them) in the other format. What do you think? Larger and choppier (yes, that is totally a word) or smaller and sleeker??

Feel free to comment below. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Let me know which format you like better, I'd love to get your thoughts. :)

If you can't leave a comment on the blog, feel free to leave one on my Facebook page.

~Kerry

Location Scouting | Pony Pasture {Richmond Child Photographer}

We have been in Richmond for almost 2 years....and I have been meaning to get to the famous Pony Pasture ever since!! Well, I finally got my favorite little model and ran out there last night just before sunset. I am so in love with these quick little snappy shots I got of my girl!!

This was my hubby's favorite <3

 She just turned 8, so she wanted to put 8 fingers up! LOL

OK, so my conclusion on the location.....it is beautiful for individual or couple shots (seniors, engagements, maternity etc.) but it would not be ideal for family shots or young kids.

Speaking of seniors.....I am looking for a few seniors who would like to get some (non cap and gown type) senior photos. Give me a call or drop me an email if you are interested! :)

~Kerry

Mother's Day Specials! {Richmond Family Photographer}

 Hurry In! Offer ends March 12, 2013.

~Kerry