MY PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

The Past, the Present, and the Future

Portrait style photography here in Nashville, up on a mountain, or down on a beach truly incorporates poses and post production work. Sometimes you are photographing a single person, sometimes a huge family, and sometimes all their pets. Lighting is usually consistent at this type of sessions, the location is stable, it really is about you and the subject of your picture; it can be a boudoir session in a studio, a large family out in a park, or senior photos in an urban setting. Knowing how to pose your subject makes or breaks a portrait style photograph.

Families & Children

Girl dancing in field at Lair of the Bear park in Morrison Co.

Families

Posing families for photos can be really interesting. I love huge group shots because I love posing huge groups. The largest posed photo group I ever did was a bride and groom and their 36 member bridal party. Families, anywhere from 2 to 20, I can handle. This photo session really is about posing; having family members with different heights standing at different angles, arms positioned appropriately, heads turned correctly. It feels weird and awkward, but looks great to the camera.

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Infants & Children

This can be awesome or it can be a nightmare. When photographing kids, you instantly learn what attention span is all about. Posing definitely becomes secondary to facial expressions here. Kids playing on a jungle gym, or at a creek, or even in a studio works, the facial expressions and eyes are the most important aspect. I have fun with kids and never get trapped behind the camera. I will be clicking away while I am hanging on the monkey bars with them.

With babies, photo sessions are a breeze. They ALWAYS look good; eyes open, eyes shut, laughing, drooling, sleeping, crying, you just can’t go wrong. My biggest issues when working with infants is more about the safety of the child. I never let the parents wonder away from the baby’s side. In all honesty, I use the parents for posing and propping the child.

Mom and daughter dressed in pink by Bear lake in Rocky Mountain National Park

Family of 4 dressed in red holding umbrellas

Family of seven posing for photos by stream just North of Morrison, CO

Dad holding son up in his arms and family of three posing by the lake

mom and daughter looking in mirror, family of three poising in the snow

Parents kissing children under the mistletoe

baby reading with mom and dad and baby on safari

Mom and three children dressed in red and blue in Cherry Creek Reservoir.

children playing with ball and climbing outside

Baby pushing pumpkin cart at Maize in the City, Thornton, CO

Maternity

Maternity

The only photos I know of that rival love between two people at a wedding is the maternity session. There is something miraculous when you take a photo of a mother and the unborn child in her swollen belly. I enjoy all types of photography (and I have done some pretty cool stuff – worked with lions and tigers, celebrities, and professional models), but there is something special about maternity photos. Catching that glow of an expectant mother in a snow covered forest or having the father finger paint on his wife’s belly is always beautiful. Posing, being creative, and a lot of balancing acts (spelling out names on blocks on a curved tummy comes to mind) are used in a maternity session. Posing an expectant mother can also be a tad tricky.

Maternity photo of mother in red dress in the snow at Fox Run Park, Black Forest, CO

Pregnant woman in red dress by tree, pregnant mom holding baby clothes

black and white image of pregnant belly with a blue ribbon tied around it

Pregnant mom with stuffed animal, pregnant mom with daughter

Pregnant mom in photo studio laying down with blocks spelling baby's name

Pregnant belly with child's name spelled out in blocks

maternity in black and white and pregnant mom with father in the background

mother's and father's hands making a heart on a pregnant belly

Portraiture

Senior Graduation Photos

Graduation! This is a personal accomplishment in someone’s life – you want to make it special. Themes & locations can really make these photo session personal. It can be anything from hunting in the woods, swimming in a pool, sitting in a locker room, playing in a creek, catching a football, to standing on a horse in the Sand Dunes. Sometimes the post production of these photos can really help set the mood; if you want them dark and moody, light and natural, fantasy, rough, etc. I have been using Adobe Photoshop for editing images since before it had numbers and I photograph everything in RAW so it is even more manageable when it comes to editing. Let me know what your son or daughter wants and lets see if we can knock it out of the park!

Beautiful blond female wearing a black hat posing by wood wall, male in camo with rifle

senior portrait of female laying in the grass wearing jeans and white top

male and female teens posing by a car in front of Denver, CO skyline

Young female in jean jacket and jean shorts standing next to white construction girder in Opryland hotel, Nashville, TN

Young female lounging on a rock by a stream in Morrison, CO

young male baseball player catching a grounder, prom couple posed in front of tree with white blossoms.

Young male in white hoodie standing in alley

Black and white image of prom couple, young female leaning against tree with fall leaves

Young female in short dress standing in grassy field

Senior portrait of male sitting on wooden fence by a lake in Fountain, CO

Young female in jeans and grey shirt, sitting on side walk by the Pedestrian bridge in Nashville, TN

High school senior on pitcher's mound, pitching a baseball wearing blue jersey

High school senior female wearing white top and jean skirt, kneeling in stream, Murfreesboro, TN

High school prom photo of group of 13 males and females, outside in Parker, CO

High school senior portrait of blond female wearing black top and jeans posing on cement stairs in Denver, CO

Individual Portraits & Head shots

Male acrobat performing on a pier at Club med in the Turks & Caicos islands

This is all about you! Individual photos for whatever reason. Some people feel empowered after a photo shoot. Some people want to remember how they look 40 years down the road. Some people just want to have fun! This is the chance to be something special…a mermaid maybe. This is the chance to take sexy photos for that special someone! This is the chance to show off the body you have been working on for the last year. I love personal portrait sessions. I get to meet people, find out what they really want. We get to use their personal skills; acrobatics, playing an instrument, dancing, animal handling, body building, fire breathing, whatever it is we can have some fun with it!

Adult female in black dress posing in white hallway, adult male posing in sunglasses

Adult female in stripped dress kneeling in upturned boat at Sinking Creek Farms, Murfreesboro, TN.

Adult male in suit posing on metal stairs outside

Adult female in flower print dress laying on wooden dock at Long Hunters State Park, Hermitage, TN

adult female in white winter outfit holding a snowflake in studio

Adult female in long pink evening gown standing next to a silver porsche downtown Denver

Adult female in stripped dres standing next to a massage bed with hot stones

female mermaid with green bra and tail, with blue back light and mist, sitting at edge of pool in Mt. Princeton Hot Springs, CO

Adult male in suit playing baby grand piano in studio

adult female in old fashion blue swimsuit leaning against rock in Red Rocks Park, CO

adult female in red dress and sunglasses on roof in Denver CO

Cowgirl back lit by the sun holding cowboy hat at 17 Mile Farm, Parker, CO

adult female standing in field with fall leaves, adult male in tuxedo standing downtown Denver

Rachel Burns doing Lunges with wieghts at the gym

Boudoir Photography

Boudoir Photography (aka Sensual Photography)

Boudoir photography is a style of imagery that features romance and intimacy. It is a very suggestive style of photography, not explicit like nude or fine art. The subjects can be fully dressed, partially dressed, or implied nude – whatever the client is comfort with. Most (but not all) boudoir photo sessions are of women, sometimes a sexy bridal boudoir photo for a husband to be, sometimes to celebrate a milestone, or a bachelorette party. I have had clients who have gone through a break up or divorce and want to feel empowered, and yes, sexy photos can be empowering.

As a professional photographer of thirty years, I have photographed hundreds of men and women, I am very discreet and very professional, and I will make you laugh and feel very comfortable. By the time you leave the studio, you will be all smiles and thrilled with the images.

In addition to single subjects, be it man or woman, I sometimes photograph couples. They want to capture those intimate moments. They want to SEE the passionate image that they feel for each other. A lot of couples do boudoir sessions or one may be photographed and the other gets to watch, just playing out a fantasy.