by Amy | Jul 7, 2015 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
When Denise first emailed me to inquire about a photo session for her three sons, she used the words “fun” and “playful” to describe the feeling she wanted to communicate. I am so glad those are the adjectives she chose, because had she said, “posed” and “traditional,” I don’t think I could have delivered on that promise.
I’ve found that the best photos are those that match the personality of the subjects. Serious people take really nice serious photos. Zany people can pull off wacky poses. It’s all about knowing yourself, and as a photographer, knowing your audience. Denise knows her audience very well. Her sons are very sweet and very handsome–but two out of the three have a hard time sitting still. {I’ll give you one guess as to who’s who.} So instead of sitting and posing, we played and ran around and laughed…and the younger two did a little whomping on their {dazzlingly patient} older brother. All in all, I think we had fun {at least I did} and hopefully the two little ones were worn out by the end of it all.
I’m pretty much in love with this series of images. It’s all fun and games to the middle child–meanwhile the well meaning youngest just giggles.
While the boys were laying on the blanket the little ones were pretending to sneeze–then laughing wildly. I still don’t quite understand why it was so funny. To me the funniest part was that one would go, “Ahh, Ahhh, ahh…” then roll over toward toward Jordan {big brother} and let out a spit-shooting “CHOO!” Then they’d laugh again and roll around, occasionally giving Jordan a solid hit on the head…or kick to the belly.
The moral of the story is, I love people with personality–and I love parents that are eager to let that personality show in photos. That’s the Art of the Moment. I’m sure as time goes on, they’ll learn to sit still–and stop hitting–and smile on command–and stop pretending that they just “fell asleep” with closed eyes and gaping mouth when Mom requests that they look at the camera {yes, that was happening}–but I think these things are precious and worth remembering. Unabashed childhood and confidence to be a full fledged goof ball on picture day are fleeting. I think it’s a stage of life worth freezing and keeping forever.
by Amy | Jul 6, 2015 | Blog, The Art of Art
Hemingway once wrote, “The earth laughs in flowers.” That might be true…but a few weeks ago the earth was laughing with flowers, butterflies, rainbows, ice cream cones and a few basketballs…or at least that’s what our community chalk mural was filled with.
A few weeks ago I was the featured artist at Minot’s Arts in the Park series–from the arts council. And…in an effort to draw a bigger {maybe younger} crowd I decided to create an interactive sidewalk chalk mural. 1.) Because I love side walk chalk–and all chalk, really. 2.) Because I really like to think up ways to get the community involved in art. And…3.) Because I get nervous being “featured” at anything–I’d rather make up some activity and trick others into hanging out with me. Yes, I’m really that awkward and creepy.
I put this flyer out on the web just a few days before the event {it was a last minute decision.} And I was so impressed at how kind people in town were to share it. Minot really is hungry for fun things to do…so folks are eager to share and spread the word.
And I think it paid off. We did have a bigger and younger crowd. I started with this blank canvas…and if I did it all over again, I’d bring a broom to sweep up the goose poop and dirt before I started drawing. {I touched a lot of goose poop with my bare hands that night…} Before the concert I drew in the quote and outlined a few flowers. When folks arrived, I encouraged them to color in an outline or draw flowers–since that was the theme–but I don’t like to be bossy, so really there were no rules.
I was hoping we’d get more people who stopped in and contributed a flower or two–and some did–but I was just as content with the solid stream of kiddos and teens who stayed and colored with me the whole night. Some even stayed after the band had packed up and gone home.
In the end, I think it came out pretty well. Colorful, joyful, summery. If the earth laughs in flowers, I honestly believe sidewalks smile in chalk.
Amy
by Amy | Jun 30, 2015 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
Hey everybody–it’s time for you to meet the Winningham family. This is a very special session for me to be showing off to you…because it’s the first session I shot with my beautiful, brand new camera. Yes, that’s right–it was time for an {early} upgrade. My other camera took a dive at the very end of Ethan’s session and it turned out to be super expensive to fix. Bummer. But–the upside is that I LOVE my new camera.
This sweet family was kind enough to move their session date while we waited for my new model to arrive. {I’m telling you, they are a great bunch!} And after the waiting and schedule shifting we ended up with a gorgeous day. Even the wind and mosquitoes behaved {very unusual} while we shot these fresh family photos.
I’m super stoked about how these images are turning out–and this is only a small sampling of a few of my favorites. I’ll be busy the next few days finishing up and getting the whole shabang loaded onto a flash drive. So–if you are a Winningham, be on the lookout for your photos to arrive in about a week.
If you aren’t a Winningham–keep watching the blog here. I’ve got two awesome seniors, a wedding, and a quirky group of brothers soon to appear–AND–I’ll finally get around to showing off the progress we are making in the basement. I know, I know…it’s been far too long since we’ve done a project together. I’ll show you how our dungeon is shaping up next week.
Amy
by Amy | Jun 24, 2015 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
This is Ethan. You might see a family resemblance between him and his brother Andrew–class of 2015. Ethan is officially the first senior of the season. I am simply in disbelief that we are looking at 2016 seniors! I’m mean, that’s crazy–right?!
He is smart and kind and extremely wise for a soon-to-be-senior in high school. As you might have guessed, I know Ethan outside of portrait sessions. Getting to know him over the last three years has been such an honor…and getting to capture his senior portraits was the icing on the cake. We had a great time and awesome weather for shooting these golden hour senior portraits–with creamy light that was just right.
One of my very favorite parts of Ethan’s session was shooting some musical images in Minot State’s Anne Nicole Nelson Hall. He is a very talented musician, and it was amazing to hear him play some classical jams on such a beautiful instrument in such a beautiful space.
As usual, I’m so flattered that Ethan trusted me to capture this important milestone! {Seniors portraits are my absolute favorite!!…sorry babies and brides!}
PS–Come over to the Amy Allender Facebook page to vote for one of Ethan’s images. If at least 40 people chime in with an opinion, he’ll get a free 8×10″ print of the favorite!
by Amy | Jun 11, 2015 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
On Memorial Day I popped in my latest audio book and headed to Kenmare–a small community about an hour away from Minot to shoot some very special family portraits. Okay, in my opinion, all family portraits are very special. But this was a particularly special morning because it was a family reunion of sorts. Not the kind with T-shirts and organized activities…something more casual. A gathering of extended family, together in one place, photos included. But, since our language doesn’t have a good word for that kind of gathering, I’ll just call it a “reunion.”
I love shooting extended families. There is so much variety packed in to a short amount of time. It’s like shooting back to back micro sessions. Each individual family got a few photos, a photo with Grandma and Grandpa, then–of course–we tackled a photo of all the kids and the whole, big group. What fun! And we couldn’t have asked for a prettier morning, or a prettier property so shoot on! I simply adore the North Dakota countryside.
Now, as you look through these images you might notice something. Out of 13 cousins there is one one female. That means I was photographing lots of boys. Young boys. Now, I don’t think it takes a professional photographer to guess which gender is more willing to sit still in front of the camera. You guessed it: not boys. So with 12 of them running every direction and asking {once or twice} “When are we gonna be done?” “Are we doing more pictures?” It goes without saying that we had our hands full.
However, I’m nothing if not tenacious. So we wrangled, I told a few terrible jokes, and everyone looked lovely. I’d even go so far as to say a couple of them might have actually had fun…or at very least, they discovered that picture day isn’t as bad as they originally thought it might be.
It’s wacky. And I like it.
Then, at the very end I did a few individual shots of the kiddos belonging to the family who arranged for me to come. What handsome guys! {Don’t you just love the photo with the rooster?!}
Thank you to all of these lovely families who trusted me to capture this fun get together! Your images are nearly done. Feel free to share, post and tag yourselves!
Amy
by Amy | Jun 8, 2015 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting the Anderson Family farm. The country setting, hot sun and cool morning breeze made this session feel idyllic. I loved capturing this family just as they are, in a place that they feel comfortable and playful. It was a morning filled with fences, lilacs, grass, and the promise of Popsicles for children who smile for “just a couple more.” I am so blessed and flattered that they chose me to freeze these special moments in time.
by Amy | Jun 3, 2015 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
It’s safe to say that photo season is in fully swing up here in Practically Canada. I’ve got two rural family sessions on the desktop to be edited and a month chock full of fun families, seniors and babies yet to be photographed. All that, plus a basement remodel and living in limbo as we wait for details on a possible summer move…things are exciting around here to say the least.
And speaking of exciting–I know the Forehand duo is very excited to be expanding into a Forehand trio in a few more weeks! It took several good tries for us to finally get this session completed–thanks to unexpected work schedules and unexpected North Dakota weather–but in the end, we had a nearly perfect evening that yielded gorgeous results. Take a look…I think you’ll see what I mean.
My favorite thing about this session is all the very “real” moments I was able to capture. I did a little posing, but mostly these two were just being themselves. These close hugs and adorable giggles are all theirs–not mine…because as a photographer, I’ve found that saying, “Okay, you hug her, you look at him, now laugh, but make it look real, and keep being adorable…” generally doesn’t get anything close to cute, or natural. These two are genuine, fun, and happy–I’m so glad that their photos really convey that.
Thank you so much for choosing me to capture this precious and miraculous season in your lives. I am so very honored! Your flash drive is going in the mail tonight!!
xo
Amy
by Amy | May 21, 2015 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
Being a photographer, I see all kinds of kids. I like them all. But some of them don’t seem to like me so much. Or, at least they don’t love that big black, boxy thing I hold up in front of my face every time I tell them to “Smile, pumpkin!” Sometimes I get kids who practically shoot darts out of their eyes, others look skeptical–giving me a “stranger danger vibe.” Like, why is this stranger so insistent that I smile? She hasn’t earned my smiles. She’s not even funny.
Then there are other kids. Like Kaylin. They politely smile at my jokes, and giggle giddily at their parents tickling. When the black, boxy thing comes up–the smile goes on. Like I said, I like all kids–but kids like Kaylin make my job easy. {Just look at that precious face!} Photographing her family last week was a pure joy. They are simply a stunning clan. Tonight I’m showing off a few of my favorites from our day in the park together.
One of my favorite things about our session was that Jay had a specific shot in his mind. “The Shoe Shot.” I didn’t really understand what he was talking about until the very end when the whole family changed shoes…into matching Jordans. Seriously. How cool is that?!!
{Doesn’t this make you want a pair?!}
Thanks for choosing me to capture these precious family moments. According to the post office, your flash drive should arrive this weekend!
Amy
