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May 04 2010

Treehouse Fun :: Spring Mini-Theme Session

“I don’t want to leave!” shouted four-year Cole as he climbed up the ladder to explore the tree house once again. Inside he colored on the chalkboard and peeked out of the windows to play hide-and-seek. Four-year-old, Haddon, and his two-year brother, Hayes, brought their swords to defend the tree house against the bad guys. 10-month-old Salem wore her beautiful bright pink tutu and marveled at the bub-bus (bubbles). And 5-year-old Hudson jumped on the swing soaring to new acrobatic heights while attempting some upside-down moves. Children ran, families laughed, and we had a blast taking photos on a beautiful, breezy Sunday afternoon!

Our first Mini-Theme Session of 2010 was a success! 17 kids came out to play and have their photos taken at our “Tree House Studio” in Franklin, TN. The tree house was built and graciously lent to us by Rob and Kirsten Howard. Kayla designed the “set” complete with a homemade flag. She did a beautiful job of coordinating colors of turquoise, reds & yellows to enhance the spring-adventure theme. Along with Kayla and myself, Amy Phipps and Kendall Parsons helped shade, block the wind, reflect the sun, made the kids laugh and blew bubbles. Thank you team!

SOO… Here are just a few of my favorite photos of the day… there were SOOO many! For those families that participated, please share your galleries with your friends and families so they can see more of your fun photos! Thank you to everyone that came out – we all had so much fun!

AND  – We will be hosting these mini-theme sessions quarterly. The Summer Mini-Theme Session will be Sunday June 25, 4:00 –7:30 PM; our theme: “Balloons, Bubbles & Bathing Suits.” Bathing suits are optional – but I thought it might be fun to get a few photos of kids in their cute bathing suits. As usual, I’ll capture both candid and traditional pictures while we have lots of fun! The cost is $100, which includes a 30-minutes mini-session, an online 25-photo proof gallery, 3 high-resolution digital images (your choice) and a product promotion discount (TBA). To register for a mini-session, email me at amelia@ameliajmoore.com.

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May 02 2010

Franklin High :: Senior Photo Session

Well, I’ll attempt it, my favorite memory while working in High School youth ministry for almost ten years was toileting papering homes! The excitement, the adventure, the laughs! And don’t worry, my house was toilet-papered a few times too. Aside from the crazy-stuff, it was an honor to pour into the lives of young men and women and watch them grow. (A few of those young people are my best friends today.) High School is a time for students to connect, explore, wrestle and develop confidence in their unique personalities. But High School must end, encouraging students towards the next steps in life. It is an honor now to be involved in young lives through photography – to capture the unique personalities of these young men and women at the end of this life’s chapter.

So in honor of graduation season, I wanted to highlight one of my senior sessions for the Class of 2010. Meet Matthew Edwards! These are some of my favorite photos from his session. We ventured out (and into) to the barns at the Park At Harlingsdale Farm. Matthew was willing to do whatever we wanted – including climbing into these “weeds”. This was Kayla’s idea and we were all a little hesitant at first. But this is now one of my favorite spots to shoot! The turquoise door behind him is a subtle gorgeous compliment to his stunning eyes! And from the opposite direction, I love the sun shinning behind him. And this is a great example of the “frame-within-a-frame” composition.

We ventured into one of the barns. Kayla picked the red shirt for him to wear in here due to the low light. The red shirt “popped” great against the interior shadows. Matthew’s family chose this image for color metallic print and it is stunning!

Matthew brought several of his guitars, so we used those as props throughout the session. The family purchased a large print of this black & white shot for their “Black and White Wall.” I love the authentic moment of Matthew hanging out on a front porch playing his guitar.

Matthew, thank you for sharing an afternoon with us! We so enjoyed our time with you. Good luck in your life’s adventures.

Senior Photos are so fun for me. I love to get a mix of creative and traditional shots. I also offer Custom Senior Graduation Announcement Cards like this sample below which include your photos. This is one of many custom designs.  I am now booking Senior Sessions for the Class of 2011. Check out the details under Booking Info/ Photo Sessions/ Seniors above or contact me at amelia@ameliajmoore.com.

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Apr 28 2010

Jumping In :: A Day at the Kids Club

Last weekend I had the opportunity to leave my neck of the woods to join Fellowship Bible Church’s young adult group, Inversion, Front Porch Ministry & The Salvation Arm in East Nashville for their seasonal Kids Club event. It was a blast! The young adults from Fellowship Bible Church lead the morning children’s programs and then hosted a huge picnic for all the kids in the area. So along with some other FBC photo club folks, we joined the party with our cameras. It’s always fun to shoot in situations like this because it’ sooo unpredictable and I learn a lot. First, I shot in a very dimly lit worship center. (I didn’t like any of those photos, so I am not posting them) Second I ventured over the kids rooms. The first classroom below was a large white room with florescent lights and a HUGE mirror on one wall. (maybe for dance classes?) Now… under florescent lights, things have a tendency to photograph green- YUCK! So if you have the capabilities to change your “white balance”, switch it to florescent and your camera will automatically compensate for this awful color. I’ve been trying to get better at using my expodisc which “finds” the correct white balance. It seemed to do pretty well! I still “warmed” up the photos here a little in post production. It was fun to try to capture the kids working, singing and interacting. I’ve been trying to get better at photojournalism – there’s always a tough balance between wanting to be a “fly on the wall” and obviously getting in their faces with a camera. So I tried hard to connect with the kids at the same time encouraging them to still participate in class.

Then I found the teenage boys’ class. I love the shots I got in class, but that class was tough! The boys liked having a gal in class, but at the same time acted a little too cool for photos. Look at this red wall! I love it, but usually red produces energetic (and aggressive) behavior, so I thought it was ironic that someone picked this classroom for the boys…

After class, I followed the boys to the gym where they played basketball. I’ve never had the opportunity to shoot on the court – so that was fun. Sport-shooting in low light situations is extremely difficult! You have to think about lighting, composition, and motion in a matter of a split second (1/500th of a second to be exact). I only got a few good shots – the guys were fun:

Then I welcomed the outdoors – ahhh… it was gorgeous day. There was football, frisbee, hot dogs… and a bounce-house/ mountain-thing. I “jumped” in and attempted shooting while the kids bounced through… so I should really say I attempted holding my camera and not getting stomped on. I captured a FEW good shots… and my friend Vince got this shoot of me shooting.

It was a great day! Front Porch is a grass-roots ministry loving and leading “at-risk” kids by daily living life with them. Husband and wife “team” Michelle & Thom have a genuine heart to allow God to use them in this community. It was a privilege to witness theirs and Inversion Fellowship’s relationship with the community. Check out the Front Porch Ministry or the Inversion site for more ways to be involved.

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Apr 21 2010

Trendy Tuesday :: Finding Fashion in Personal Treasures

I’ve asked creative gal & stylist  Kayla  Penzien, to guest write a new feature on the site: “Trendy Tuesdays.”  Kayla will be sharing style & creative insight as it may relate in preparing for your photo session, but also to life in general. She has been my art friend for a number of years; in addition to assisting me during shoots, she also helps to plan session concepts and wardrobe consulting. So come back for regular features from Kayla! Today’s post is about finding fashion in personal treasures:

I love finding little treasures; shiny buttons, shells, bottle caps, mix-matched jewelry pieces, thing-a-ma-gigs.  And even better … Love the adventure of finding a new home for a my little treasure.

Amelia gave me a little box of all these little treasures.  My eye was immediately drawn to this awesome old round white piece. I think that it was the base to a wall attachment (well, that is what my mom thinks).  I loved the character of it, the delicate pattern, the chipping paint, the rich brass color.  I felt like it had a story behind it. I wanted to showcase it and felt it would be an interesting accessory.  I have a beautiful gold chain from my great grandma that I added it too.  Now I have a new necklace, a new look and it goes with everything! Keep your eyes open for shiny little treasures that can add a fashion statement. Or sort through your jewelry case or drawers for treasures that need a new life. They are all around you. Pieces like this make a fun accessory for a photo shoot because it adds a subtle hint of interest. We featured this piece in Ericha’s college senior portraits. I layered dark colors behind the necklace to draw a little attention to the piece. We casually begun building on the circle theme: the sequence tank top, bracelets and circle gems on the ring. Amelia position Ericha in front of the dandelions to mimic the motif.

The other necklaces are from the GAP … for $5.00.  Who knew that GAP has cool jewelry?  I would not have paid $20.00 for a brass beaded necklace, but for $5.00 – any of us can do that. And a shopping tip:  keep your eye open for great deals, cheap deals. Always keep a list of your top 3 needs in the back of your mind so you can be on the look out! Amelia found this white piece feature here at the TN State Fairgrounds Flea Market. We LOVE to hunt for treasures at the flea market!

(Kayla’s Photo above was taken by Kerri Crutchfield. Thank you Kerri!)

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