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 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
by Amy | May 18, 2015 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
I am very excited to be sharing a super special session with you this evening. Meet Jay, Anne and Ada. Aren’t they just gorgeous?! {The answer is, YES!}
Anne and Jay will be getting married in just a few short weeks. Last week we got together to take some family photos and engagement photos before the big event. I had a great time getting to know this precious family. And boy, did Ada make my job easy–she is so beautiful and smiley! {You know how I love a baby that doesn’t insist on giving me dirty looks.}
Without further ado–here are a few of my favorite image from their session.
Like I said, this was an incredible session–with perfect weather! I am so excited for these two to see the finished product…and even more excited {and honored} to be shooting their wedding next month.
Amy
by Amy | May 15, 2015 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
On Mother’s Day I had the fine privilege of setting up what I like to think of as a “gorilla-style” photo booth at church. There was a little advertising, but mostly the greeters just steered people into our pastor’s office, where I had a {very cute} photo booth set up. Photos were free. Anyone mother could have a photo taken with anyone she chose. As you can see from this sampling…we had quite a few takers.
I had a fabulous time with these back-to-back snap shots. Each and every mother is so very dear. Let me tell you about a few of my favorite moments.
One mother requested to, “…keep our feet out of the photo–he’s [her son] got his snow boots on…it’s been that kind of morning.”
A three-year-old girl was convinced it was someone’s birthday. She told me, “Happy birthday!” Her mother corrected her, explaining that it was a different kind of holiday. Then, when I’d gotten their photo she requested cake…still convinced it was a birthday. “We’ll work on it. She just really loves cake,” the mother said.
“It’ll only take a second. It’s Mother’s Day. Humor me.” This sort of sentiment was uttered to grown sons and husbands. And they did…humor their mother.
Appropriately, the Sunday message was about mothers and how a mother’s love is a very good earthly example of God’s unconditional, never ending, always eager, tender, compassionate, best-interest-in-mind, love for all of His creation.
Mothers are amazing. And we are lucky to have them. Period. End of story.
Thanks to everyone who took a moment to smile for the camera last week! Those of you who requested digital copies will get them tomorrow. If you requested an 8×10″ print, you can pick it up on Sunday morning.
xo
Amy
by Amy | Apr 27, 2015 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
Meet the Peterman family. As you can see they are adorable. Annnnd….they are expecting a baby! I can only hope that they had a fraction of the fun during their family maternity session that I had shooting it. In my opinion, any session that includes singing “Everything is Awesome” from the Lego Movie is top notch.
I am thrilled for this precious family and the excitement of new life that is coming their way shortly! Thank you so much for choosing me and trusting me to capture the art of this moment.
xo
Amy
