Sneak Peek: Baby Session!

How's this for some cuteness?!? This adorable little 7 month old, Sebastian, is the first grandbaby of a very cool woman - the CNM who attended the birth my own child!
So, feeling a little bit of full-circle coming around, I felt honored to capture some special moments of her with her special little guy (and Grandpa) as well as some new family portraits - Mom with her gorgeous long hair, proud Daddy and the little guy himself.

Sebastian was so cute during the shoot, crawling around and pulling himself up. He was fascinated by the grass outside and spent a lot of time exploring that new texture.

For those of you with new babies, around seven months is a wonderful time to get a portrait taken... the baby can usually sit up, is interested in lots of things, smiles and looks incredibly cute!

Sneak Peek: Engagement Session!

Matt and Tiffanie are a wonderful couple who are getting married in July. (Yup, I will have the honor of photographing the nuptials also :-) ) We shot these engagement photos in an hour-long session one beautiful Sunday morning. It was so sweet to see how in love these two are, and capture these moments between them!

The prints are actually going to be used in their wedding reception as a unique backdrop behind their cake table... they are mounting the images to a summery white garden lattice and I thought that was such a creative idea I wanted to share it with everyone out there in cyberspace. (Since I'll be shooting the wedding, you can be sure I will post a pic of it, too! ;-) )

Decorating with photographs is a great idea, not only for a wedding but also within your home as well. Nothing quite expresses who you and your family are as well as collections of beautiful photographs. Be sure to check back and see a sneak peek of Tiffanie and Matt's wedding later this summer!

Be Striking. What does that mean?

I haven't done a personal philosophy post in a while, but I wanted to share this true story that has led me to embrace what it means to Be Striking.

My best friend from high school, Jessica, is absolutely beautiful inside and out. Of course, being beautiful on the inside was what made us BFFs, because she was always there for me, laughed with me, cried with me, got crazy with me (but kept me from going TOO crazy iykwim) :-)

But Jess was also a hottie. Really cute figure, fantastic glossy thick hair and - pay attention- lovely full lips that are just made for bright red lipstick. Angelina Jolie ain't got nuthin' on my friend Jess.

Now here's the thing... I cannot wear red lipstick to save my life. Seriously.

Oh, how I wanted to wear red lipstick the way Jess did! When Jess wore red lipstick, she looked polished and sexy and sophisticated. When I wore red lipstick, I just looked ridiculous and slightly creepy, like Heath Ledger's Joker.

I tried all the different shades but it didn't matter - red lipstick just looks awful on me. I was rather depressed about this until one day out of the blue Jess said to me, "Oh, I wish I could do that glowing natural look the way you do! When I try to do that, I just end up looking pale and washed out."

BOING! And that's when it dawned on me - all the time I'd been wishing I could wear red lipstick, Jessica was wishing that she could do natural. Neither style is 'better' than the other - we both had plenty of dates and boyfriends. When we went out clubbing, we had no shortage of guys wanting to dance with us.

So the moral of this story is to embrace who you are and how you look. Don't try to copy someone else's style, especially for your pictures. Find your own look, dress that way and do your makeup in a way that makes you feel like your most beautiful incredible self.

If you do that, I absolutely guarantee that you will truly...

Be Striking!

Sneak Peek: Dostals' Family Portrait!

It's been busy both personally and professionally here at Striking Photography! School ended for my children and summer activities began, my youngest had his birthday, and I've had several shoots over the last couple weeks. Hasn't left me much time for blogging! Happily, I am back to it and have fabulous sneak peeks of the sessions I've been shooting! Shooting this family portrait out in the beautiful gardens of the Arboretum last week was a real treat. The day dawned warm but cloudy, which actually is wonderful, flattering shooting light.

This shoot was a birthday gift for Joan from her family. (Hint-hint dear readers: most moms would totally dig a family portrait as a gift!) Sometimes family portraits can be a drag (we still did get up a bit on the early side - 8:30am for you later birds *wink*) but we just had fun wandering around the gardens and capturing poses wherever the mood seemed to fit!

No stress and no stiff awkward poses - one of the reasons I enjoy family shoots is that there are so many opportunities to capture genuine interaction between all the family members. My philosophy is that there definitely is a time and place for more 'formal' poses, but there is an equally important place for more candid and fun shots as well. I like to mix it up! :-)

The timing of our session ended perfectly too - not more than 5 minutes after we wrapped the shoot and said our goodbyes, the rain started POURING! Beautiful work, Dostal Family! :-)

If you are interested in having your family's portraits taken, feel free to call Striking Photography at 913.602.8061 or visit our website: http://www.strikingphotography.org/!

Hope to see you soon!

Senior Special - Get your wallets for FREE!

Welcome, Class of 2010!

In honor of your new senior status, Striking is running its 2010 Senior Special from now until August 31st, 2009.

Refer your friends to Striking Photography, and if they book a session*, you'll receive 16 wallets for FREE - your choice of pose!

And to show my appreciation for those who go above and beyond, get five of your friends to book and you not only get the free wallets, but a truly striking ;-) FREE 12x24 storyboard collage - makes an awesome display at your graduation party!

Striking Photography offers a wide range of packages that can suit any budget, so contact me today at 913.602.8061, or via the website: http://www.strikingphotography.org/.

*booking a session requires a nonrefundable 50% deposit to hold your date

Scenes from Sanibel

I went on a destination shoot last weekend and it was WONDERFUL! Sanibel Island, FL is simply gorgeous. The beach is literally covered with thousands of beautiful sea shells. The island itself has no restaurant chains (no Mickey D's, Taco Bell, etc.) and so every single place I ate was divine. If you are ever visiting Sanibel, cruise on over the causeway to the neighboring island of Captiva, and eat at the Bubble Room. Their famous 'Bubble Bread' is scrumptious! I seriously have dreams about this bread, that's how good it was! LOL

Of course, when I'm in a beautiful location such as that, I also make some time to take a few scenic landscapes :-)








Sitting on the beach basking in the sun was just what I needed to recharge...I'm ready for summer!

An Unstuffy Corporate Headshot :-)

This corporate headshot session went great! Who says 'corporate' has to mean 'stuffy'! I've worked with Anne before (shot her beautiful wedding last fall), and had a wonderful time, so I was so pleased that we teamed up again to create her new business portrait.


Anne is a lawyer (see her firm here) and she needed to update her headshot because she is going to be featured as one of a panel of experts in a fantastic Kansas City business women's publication called flourish.


Flourish is specifically geared towards savvy business women on the edge, which definitely describes Anne. I was reading the recent issue and really enjoyed it because it has lots of useful content, as opposed to just ads.

Be sure to pick up your own issue of flourish later this summer to see Anne's new headshot in print, and to read her excellent advice as she answers questions from readers!