if stranded on a desert island with only one choice of a store, molly undoubtedly would choose the finish line for their spiffy line of shoes & clothes :) like most girls, nicole included, shoes can be a girl’s best friend. and when asked about the best perk to her starbuck’s summer job? “all the free drinks,” she says. holllllah!

molly was the maid of honor at her sister’s wedding, so check out the shots from tara & justin’s wedding. and when she needed some senior portraits done up right, we were an email away.

still searching for the best way to view concerts, molly she says being “small” makes the process even more difficult. thinking about her predicament after my morning cuppa joe, i arrived at a perfecto solution: isn’t that what a boyfriend’s shoulders are for?

molly’s game is soccer. to add a bit of fresh. modern. fun. to her senior portrait session last night, she toted along fun stuff to show off her personality. the girl can jump and has skills to say the least!

view slideshow HERE & sign the guest book to see more images on pictage HERE.





a fun combo, packed with some kern-photo lighting style:

if you ever find yourself hunting for tickets to a sold-out red rocks concert, don't fret. the secret to getting day-of tickets is this: show up when the box office opens, generally two hours before gates open, and you stand a decent chance at purchasing tickets for seats never issued or were not released, usually because they were unused comp tickets given to the band or vips. you can buy those premium the seats for face value and don't have to grab your ankles pay service charges.

we successfully used this same tactic for monday's sold-out police & elvis costello concert. i arrived 10 minutes before the office opened, was third in line, and had no problem purchasing two tickets behind the sound board in row 16. party on!

it gets better: i asked the gal at the ticket office if photography was allowed. she said they allowed "small cameras," meaning i could bring the nikon d300 minus the vertical grip and the 85 f/1.4.

nicole & i did our usual pt cruiser tailgater, complete with fruit, crackers, cheese, and some hoegaarden belgian white beer, our favorite summer brew . the concert was the loudest red rocks show we'd ever heard. our ears were still ringing the following evening :( nicole had to some explaining to do when listening in the stethoscope at work... instead of listening to heartbeats, all she heard was ringing!!! we know, ear plugs next time.

sting made his first appearance towards the end of elvis costello's opening set.



20 years since their 1986 breakup, the police still sounded awesome and gave out so much energy.


a shot of the megatron composite featuring band members sting, andy summers, and stewart copland.


without fail, the police played all the biggest hits and two encores :)

a funny thing happened today. we went to put dash in his crate so we could go out to dinner. he went inside, and then fought his way back out before we could close the door. nicole thought he was trying to escape. instead, he walked around the corner, picked up his teddy bear in his mouth, and then willingly went straight back to his bed with no prompting whatsoever. dash, apparently, LOVES this bear. he sleeps with his bear using it as a pillow. he plays with his bear. and even more impressively.....he has yet to pull all of the stuffing out of this bear. he *loves* his bear.




on a side note, how funny would dash look with no ears at all??

when you're a wedding photographer, saturday night 'guy' time may differ from the norm. on the rare occasion during a busy wedding season, the last thing on the mind of many wedding photographers is to shoot yet another wedding. thanks to spousal permission (thanks, hon :), i joined gino last night at shara & asher's wedding in loveland.

mark twain once said, "never let school interfere with your education.' true that. while second-shooting with other photographers does not seem like education in the formal sense, it is time well-spent building confidence with the tools of our craft. real-world experience simply can't be trumped by attending workshops & coffee-shop classes, glancing at photographer's blogs, reading studio lighting books, or watching DVDs about "how to book the high-end bride." it's about perfect practice developed over years. the NBA stars we watch today spent their childhood playing hoops on the school yard. and being a photographer is no different, granted it might be difficult to play a game of pick-up wedding photographer at the local elementary school :)

a rock shot tribute to july 19:


gino lent me his nikon 60 mm f/2.8 af-s micro nikkor, a nice little lens that allowed me to shoot the above shot, handheld, sans flash at 1/15 sec, iso 1600. that is something our old 105 mm f/2.8 lens could never do.

line plays an important role in the next three shots.


asher, cooling off as nerves build.


nerves on the mind, shara peers out the porch door of the mccreery house just before the ceremony.


shara & asher wrote their own vows, which left few dry faces. at the end of the ceremony, they released butterflies in memory of her grandfather.


along for the ride, this butterfly held on to shara's dress during their recession:


shara's fake cake shmearing (she pulled back at the last second :)


humor me on this one: while the OneLight workshop held last week in boulder was full, the evening mile high photographers social offered a few lightbulb moments, inspiring this shot.


asher chose to wear his tie creatively different, which prompted this creatively different portrait :)


inspired by zack arias's mention of "going commando" using one light and one shot during the tosses, here's round 1:


round 2:


brought to you by radiopoppers, sb-600 at full power, 1/10th second of lingering twilight, and three mystery hands:

did the computer kill the creative photographer AND the darkroom?

in the next coffee-shop class, we'll discuss some of our creative editing techniques we use to build image style & branding along with some of our simple editing recipes.

part 1: we'll cover the basics of using custom actions to polish an image including custom retouching. we'll show you first hand how we work, offering tips & tricks along the way.

part 2: we'll explore the process of building your own secret recipes to help streamline workflow and create consistency. among our arsenal of creative tools, we'll show you just how we use the tools of kevin kubota and the boutwell's totally rad actions along with their latest edition, tra2, the revenge.

who: those wanting to some advanced photoshop ps3 tricks to retouching and creatively enhancing images

when: wednesday, july 23, 2008 from 5:00 - 6:30 pm

where: Ink! Coffee, 1590 little raven street in denver, 80202. for those who like to get lost explore, here's the map.

why: to teach and learn and have fun, plus an opportunity to network with other denver photographers

cost: *free,* as always.

what to bring: (optional) images on disk you'd like to whip into something special

RSVP: in the comments section of the blog below. class size limited to 8 due to the size of the coffee shop & technical nature of the material.

homework: have a look at some uber cool totally rad actions recipes made by some of the industries finest here. then, hop on over to [b]ecker's blog to see some of his photoshop friday tutorials.
____

to learn more about the kern-photo 'coffee-shop class,' click HERE.
if you are lost, call r. j. kern of kern-photo at 303.474.0983.

denver's washington park doesn't get much better during the summertime. july 12, 2008 proved no different.

thank you, thank you for allowing us to be close to you on your special day!

click here to view their slideshow.



the talented kristen samz covered the details of the day with perfection & brian kane livened the party with his contagious energy & good spirits.


to sign their guestbook and view more images, click HERE.

stepping into the studio is something we do very little of, because we love shooting outside the constraints of 4 walls. however, exploring creative possibilities afforded by the not-so-scary studio environment can invigorate the creative mind with such tools as powerful $ strobes with fast recharge, 7 foot octabanks not blowing in the wind, clean seamless backdrops, privacy, a jamming stereo, a stocked fridge, and roof protection from afternoon thunderstorms.

while we had a fabalicious time at elyse & corey's wedding, we did not get a chance to shoot their engagement session and a trash the dress session wasn't in the picture, yet. in lou, we gave a jump start to elyse's modeling portfolio with corey playing a supporting role of cab driver and gear shlepper in between reading paragraphs of his academic PA school studies. he was a good sport. both were willing to move like bendy gumby models like you wouldn't believe.

in our 4 hour session, there were lots of outfit changes, lots of posing and anti-posing, lots of locations and lighting. in addition, shannon kaple & christina "sherpa" dooley stepped up to the plate and hit back-to-back grand slams by sharing their creativity :)



less is more, especially when it comes to lighting. for all your studio lighting fanatics out there, here's the behind the scenes of the studio setup with just one light and with christina featured to the right. btw, christina is a walking encyclopedia of lighting and art direction and served as a marvelous resource and inspiration.


40s glam:



and here are a few for her modeling portfolio:

"the rock," high in the sangre de cristo mountains in colorado, marked a special place for samantha & chris on june 28, 2008. sitting at 11,000 feet and millions of years old, "the rock" serves as a sturdy foundation and everlasting metaphor of love for samantha & chris.

this special place deserved two weekends of prep to build the special aisle path for their ceremony. they wanted guests to share in the same spectacular view they loved. and it was perfect. the whole shabang event rocked, complete with heart felt toasts, a double rainbow, super yummy italian food, and even yummier cake :)

siblings played an important part of their day, as chris has 2 bros and samantha with 3 sisters. nothing like siblings to serve in the bridal party. both nicole and i had our only siblings play a special role in our weddings, and it is refreshing to see others with a similar family friendships.

this was true-on a destination mountain wedding, with folks traveling from more countries than i could count on one hand, and more states than i could count on two hands. there was even at one point while driving off the beaten road that nicole and i had our doubts, thinking "uh...we're lost" in that nervous husband-wife tone. and we looked at the "no signal" on our cellphones.... gulp. buuuut, thanks to super signage, we found our way without calling AAA or 911. whew!

and lastly, but not leastly, a special thanks goes out to drew & melissa, and little breckin, who referred us for a record of three weddings this summer! yowza!

view their slideshow by clicking HERE and sign-up to view more images on pictage HERE.



i saw these little bugs while shooting formals (left) and they reminded me of the cool coloradoesque table decor (right).


guys are so low-maintenance.... we can get ready in less than 10 minutes :)


and under 5 minutes with some help :)


i lent chris my umbrella so he wouldn't see samantha walking towards their First Look site... they didn't expect traffic along the way.


a mountain meadow set the stage for their First Look. and here's the first hug:

samantha showing herself off, thanks to the First Look. chris loved admiring her!


pinning on boutonnieres, with a sense of humor:


this little guy was on the porch where folks where getting ready. he looks as if he's smiling.


just before the ceremony:


we love kids at ceremonies!


i'm super proud of nicole's contest-worthy portrait of the flowergirl.


emotions ran deep.


chris was mighty proud to call samantha his bride with "the rock" in the background.


samantha's expression during her father's toast about "now looking forward to grandkids."


the coolest place i've ever seen a marriage license signed :)


after 2 months of drought, God brought this rainbow which only last a minute or two after their ceremony.


so i had find samantha & chris so they could see it, too. and here's proof they were there :)


the first dance:

if you are a nikonian or radiopopper user, you may appreciate my latest review, pages 18 - 21, in the nikonian's e-zine here.

that's goal #39 checked off my list of 101 photo goals in 1,001 days. a special kudos to tom boné, chief editor at nikonians, for his stellar editing. he didn't seem to mind... too much... that my text was in 'kern-photo' lower case :)

midway on road to recovery from acl surgery from a ski accident, todd still got down on bended knee for a surprise early morning proposal at lookout mountain in colorado a few weeks ago. and the good news:  she said, ‘yes’!  

amy is a fellow classmate of nicole’s in PA school, so when they found out we had a knack with the camera, an engagement session was fresh on their ‘things-to-do-list’ once back from from a rural medicine PA school rotation in the phillipines.  outside of the medical field, amy prides herself on her wedding florist talents and todd is an accomplished aerial ski coach who i’m sure would have me sucking on a pacifer if i ever attempted a mid-air stunt on my snowboard.

amy & todd will be getting married in summer 2009 in the great evergreen state of washington.  they have some wonderful plans in the works (think huge greenhouse for their ceremony), and we’d look forward to seeing firsthand how it all turns out :)

eying the sentimental, here they are on location of their first kiss, inches from where it all started :)




with too many good shots of amy’s beautiful smile to choose from, i melted my two favorites together:


yes, they're goofy:


and a "quiet" experimental portrait:


another, with a twist of fun:


suave & sophisticated while practicing the twirl:


followed up by a sun-warmed kiss:

3 years ago we tied the knot.... and i dedicate this blog entry to nicole, my wife, lover, pooper picker-upper, church goer, movie buddy, bench press spotter, cuddle bug, pie maker, 'white-trash news flash' laughing companion,  associate shooter, mother of a four-legged child (that would be dash), medical expert, spanish translater, interior decorator, travel-on-a-shoestring mate, comical parallel parker, back tickler, photo critiquer, first-degree black belt instructor, name rememberer, and i can go on and on....   i love you and cherish the thought of knowing you'll always be with me with God at our side. 

all images taken by our stellar wedding photographer, jason hayes.



ahhh.... i can vividly remember this moment.


we danced to robbi williams singing "beyond the sea"


shortly after the ceremony, outside the university of denver chapel, nicole's alma mater... i still love her dress to this day!!!


it was about 95 degrees when this was shot, but it remains of my favorite photos from our wedding day :)


mmmm... hands down the best wedding cake i've ever tasted :)

julie & jru (pronounced "drew") tied the knot on friday, june 27, 2008.  i was thankful to feel the power of spirit, love, and passion while being around julie & jru on their wedding day, which was filled with fine hand-crafted music, tears of happiness, and completed with the spirit of God. brian kane over at piano man music mixed up a Dynamic First Dance, which is one of the coolest things i’ve ever ‘heard’ during a first dance.  weeks before their wedding, julie & jru were “interviewed” separately about their engagement details (so the other know didn’t know), edited and mized in with their first dance song.  while they had their first dance they were able to hear their responses.  they captured 100% guest attention.  

you can listen entire to the entire slideshow mix by clicking HERE  (be patient while it downloads, it is a biggie, but it totally worth it :) and sign-up to view more images on pictage HERE.

here are a few favorites from their wedding day:



julie got 'stuck' while getting into her dress (next 2 photos by christina):


julie's first manicure/pedicure, done just right for her wedding day:


the first smooch after the FIrst Look:


and here they are:


julie is a talented violinist:


accepting the hot hot hot temp, we castaway our plans to head away mountainesque photos 30 minutes away and opted for some creative backdrops on walking distance from the ceremony location at timberline church in fort collins, colorado. one of the bridesmaids couldn't have agreed more by saying, "i love you!" (to the notion of not driving in construction traffic in hot weather on short time).


nicole couldn't make this one, so christina stepped right up and did some stellar work including this bridal portrait:


and this one, too:



jru just trying to relax before the ceremony, with his father and the officiant meeting in the background.


6:51 p.m. marks the minute where julie & jru relish in the newly-minted couple feeling while her girls hustle to bustle the dress in front of their reflection.


immediately after the ceremony, julie & jru entered into this room for some quite time. her dad peaking a glimpse made her excited :)


carried off in style with a 1932 chrysler (sorry, but if you look carefully you'll see the notorious PT Crusier with flames in the reflection (photo by christina)


the first dance, which was a custom song by brian kane with interviews revealing details about their engagement... sooo heartfelt :)


father-daughter dance:


a sweet finale for their dance:


jru's kiss to his mother at the end of their dance brought tears in the crowd:


the departing shot leaving their reception at the lory student center ballroom at colorado state university: