NEW BLOG!!

I have a new blog! Since I've had so many changes going on and things have changed SOOOO much since I started this blog years ago, I decided it's time for a fresh start. And that can be found.... HERE!

Who Says You Can't Go Back?

Well, it's true that you can never go back home and everything be exactly the same... but that doesn't keep me from returning as often as possible to my hometown of Marianna, Florida. I looooove the city and I adore my life...but especially now that I have my Ana Gray visiting with me, it's all the more wonderful to be there spending time with my family and friends.

And so I started hatching a plan a few months ago, rolling it around in my mind. And when my mother asked me if I would consider doing senior portraits for a few area seniors she knows who are wanting 'something different,' it just seemed like the perfect time to take the next steps to make it happen.

So that's exactly what I'm doing- moving my business down to Florida for a few weeks to a month every summer, offering my Senior Portrait Experience, Children's Fine Art portraits, and Unbridaled sessions. I'm considering adding Boudoir sessions, as well, but since I use lighting equipment and have a wonderful little bed & breakfast here that I work with, I'm not sure about the logistics of moving that particular product down to Florida. I'm looking into it. But in the meantime, starting this year, I'm offering a I *heart* My Hometown package for each of these products.

I think I say this more than anyone I know... but I'm SO EXCITED! :) I love my hometown and the surrounding areas, and I really am excited to be able to practice my art there for a few weeks every summer.

This isn't the only change you'll be seeing in the near future for KBO Photography... keep on the look out! And in the meantime, if you're a Class of 2011 Senior, a parents with a cute kiddo, or a past bride who wants to do something artistic and awesome, email Katie@KBOPhotography.com for more information!

And since they're pertinent and I'm happy to be able to pull them out again... some of my favorite senior portraits that just happened to be done in Marianna a couple of years ago ;) This is Caite, class of 2009:

Inspired By Adorableness :)

It's been interesting to me how my views on photography and, more specifically, what I can do within the photography field, have changed over the years.

When I first started out, there was one type of working photographer in my mind. That was a talented person with a camera who shot weddings and portraits. Then between photography school and my own research and trial and error, I found out I also REALLY enjoy art, and I love shooting models. Even better- I love shooting 'normal' women in Boudoir, Unbridaled, and most recently, Fine Art Portrait sessions, showing them how extraordinary and beautiful they truly are!

I figured out that a photography doesn't have to be done in a studio (which is good, because although I do some fashion work in-studio, I am SO much better and more inspired on location!) and I figured out I'm not cut out for a steady diet of wedding photography. Wedding photography is like ice cream for me- I really enjoy it in small amounts, but if I did it constantly, I would end up with a tummy ache...or ulcers, I suppose.

The latest HUGE life change for me has come in the package of the most adorable little model in the world whom I am constantly shooting...mostly because she's mine! :D And at 5 months, she's already growing up so fast! I want to capture it all- the expressions, the constant changes in the color of her eyes and the length of her hair (she was born with a mop of it!), everything she learns and all of her firsts... it's so rewarding and wonderful!

So it hasn't been a big jump to decide that I would love to capture that for my clients, as well- artwork of these wonderful moments in childhood. As the weather warms up, I'm looking forward to picking dates for sessions that are already scheduled, and I just can't wait! Some on Spring!!!

Where will I go from here? Who knows... but I'm sure enjoying the ride!

Some blog changes...

The more I read friends' blogs, the more I realize that what I enjoy about their blogs just as much as the awesome pictures they post (I do have some amazingly talented friends!) is that they not only talk about business, but they throw their personal lives into the mix. I think it gives me more of a insight into their lives- not just their lives as artists, but as moms, wives, friends... it's just nice to be able to feel like I know them even better from their blogs.

So in the midst of the many changes I'm making, figuring out how to become a better blogger being one of them, I'm going to do the same thing. And why not? I enjoy my life outside of my work just as much as I do my work :)

And there certainly are quite a few characters in my life!

I am the quirky, occasionally crazy, short, brunette, shoe-loving Katie.

I'm mommy to tiny, gorgeous Ana Gray who will be 5 months on the 9th and is the adorableness in my life.

I'm wife to the handsome Chris (that's Christopher when I'm frustrated ;) who is a pediatric physician. He's ornery, smart, crazy, and hilarious, and I am passionately proud of him.

I'm daughter to Scherry ('sch' pronounced like 'sherry'...not like 'school'... although I thought it might have been when I was in high school *lol*) who is simultaneously my biggest cheerleader and comedic relief when she does things like view a snow shoot where the model is very obviously wearing very little and say, "Katie, was she wearing anything else?" (No, or you would see it) "Well..." (Here I think she's going to say something about the nudity) "Wasn't she cold?" :D She's awesome.

Also always in my heart is my late father, Bob, who was simply and wonderfully an amazing man.

My best friend is my sister, Joy, a nurse who is married to a great guy named Travis. They live in Florida (where I grew up) with my puppy nephew, a dachshund named Chip.

I grew up in the Florida panhandle spending as much time as possible with my Grandmama and Papa- the best grandparents ever- and my three aunts, Loretta, Beverly, and Christie. Some of my best memories are visiting St Augustine with my aunts Loretta and Beverly in the summer and trips to Disney world and Texas with my Aunt Christie.

I had a great childhood :)

When I married my husband, I got family in West Virginia, as well- a sister, Jenny, who is my muse and great friend as well (It's a great thing to find someone who is just as creative- and possibly insane- as you are!) and my wonderful in-laws, Priscilla and Raymond.

So those are the characters :) Now you'll know who I'm talking about in the future!

And since I still think a photorapher's blog post is pretty much worthless without pics, here's some of my recent favorites of my tiny model:

Ana Gray's first 'real' food- apple sauce! Yummy!

Another Snow Shoot - With Falon :)

Well, I have to say- I've been busy and cold this winter. :D
And I am making a good attempt at being a much, much better blogger. And also at not eating the entire bag of leftover Valentine's Sweethearts... perhaps I will successful at one of those things.
To tell you the truth, I'm sort of setting myself up to fail at the other. *she says as she reaches into the giant bag of colorful and thus attractive tasty pieces of pure sugar that seems to keep finding itself within my reach*
I won't really eat the whole bag... I don't like the yellow ones, and I only eat the pink and green ones together. So I'll stop eating those when I run out of one or the other.

Anyway, anal retentive sugar heart eating aside, I actually started this blog post to tell you all about my shoot today! Falon is a model here in the Philly area and an awesome one at that! She didn't even bat an eye dressing up in a piece of black fabric and trekking through the muddy snow for my arts' sake. Our boots might not think it was worth it, but I think it was!

Snowy, Beautiful, and Oh So Unbridaled!

I've shot with the fabulous Lisa before- she's an awesome model! So when she contacted me to do an Unbridaled session with her and her vintage wedding gown, how could I turn that up? Especially when she said we could do anything I wanted to do...anything? Anything at all? Hang out next to the river after trekking through snow up to our knees? Anything? Well, AWESOME! :D
I love it when my customers say 'anything' :D

BUT, I think you will agree that it was totally worth it! We froze, we had a blast, and I got home from this shoot wondering how in the world I could ever do anything else with my life when I get to do things like this?

Lisa, you ROCK!

Jennifer and I get COLD! :D

The title...oh so true! But it was SO worth it! In a 15-minute freezing-cold shoot down in my husband's hometown in southern West Virginia, Jenny and I got some good stuff!

Jenny, dear, I can't tell you how good it was to have a crazy shoot with you again! *muah* You're absolutely, positively my favorite ;-)