9 m.o. emmett and his 15 m.o. cousin victoria shared in a cousin portrait session on saturday. these two hammed it up for the camera and were an awesome treat to photograph on saturday.

emmett is the CEO of his room.


and little miss scandinavia.



and showcasing the latest fashion (folks, that's no fake backdrop... it is real snow... on april 18)


there's a cousin resemblance:


love this!


a favorite family portrait:


a mommy & me moment.


romper room time!


too cute not to post.

fitness buffs know cross-training is a great way to keep in shape, have fun, avoid burnout, and prevent injury.

in the wedding photography, "cross-training" is no really different. keeping fit comes with maintaining mental focus, quick reactions, a healthy dose of patience and a sense of humor.

i was invited to my very first "group session" of little ones celebrating the birthday of 1 y.o. abby. a bunch of moms signed up for the mini-photo session. the kids (all under the age of one) were great personal trainers. by the end of the session, i felt like my brain did 1,000 push-ups.

here's the birthday girl, abby:


9 m.o. sam hammed it up.



9 m.o. anna.


love it!


9 m.o. jackson.


the youngest of the bunch, here's 4.5 m.o. makayla:


and emmett, who was by far the easiest kid i've ever photographed:


and here's the whole gang:


if you are a photographer looking for a challenge and are up for a test of skills.... i highly recommend a mini-project like this :) as an add bonus: i enjoyed plenty of laughs while editing the photos. (techno stuff: all images shot sans flash or tripod, using a nikon d-700, and a mixture of the nikon 50mm f1.4, 85mm f/1.4, and 105mm f/2.8 vr macro lenses.)

last week i paid a visit to old friend in upstate new york on lake george. it's been ten years since i've seen bob, and little has changed.

bob jones served as my father's scoutmaster back in the day and has been friends of our family since. he's an accomplished swimmer who has trained kids who have competed in the olympics and spent time giving me tips on flip turns and the like. he's also an artist who continues creating art in his eighties. for years, he and his wife worked in tandem creating life-like wooden models of birds ranging from ducks, barn owls, hummingbirds, to eagles and falcons. he carved and she painted. and their work has garnered awards from all over the world

their creative synergy as a husband and wife team continues to inspire. not to mention he loves to talk and has the energy of a dozen third graders.



awards from all over the world.


his wordworking captivates his hands and mind. in minutes, bob carves a mouse just for me :)




he's also an "r. j."


the artist in his studio.


intricate attention to detail demands a steady hand and sharp eyes. when asked if he ever gets frustrated, he said, "nope. it's not worth it."


one of his favorite creations, a loon in her nest. bob sold the piece many years ago, then after the owner passed away, he found it for sale in an antique shop and bought it back for a fraction of what he sold it for!!! now that is return on an investment that only comes with age and good health!


nearing 87, bob lifts ten pound dumbbells first thing in the morning and before he goes to bed. he isn't afraid to show off his biceps.


and he even has an ipod and knows how to use it. on his playlist is music from his era :) and here we are:

6 m.o. maisie + andrea + ryan = a colorful family cocktail of joy with a dash of cuteness :)

wrapping up 2008 has brought back wonderful memories and has set the stage new growth in our photography and business. we couldn't have done it without the 100% trust of our clients who offered us a glimpse into their lives. between december 12 and january 1, we'll be revealing our kern-photo "best-of 2008 " awards.

and the winners are:

best portrait, male

best portrait, female

best engagement portrait

best pet portrait

best family portrait

best moment (wedding)

best wedding portrait

winning portraits exude personality, creativity, expression, and impact.

this was a very difficult category to narrow down from. originally i had 22 images nominated, and could only pick 13. sorry, ladies, 13 is the max for this year.

and the winners are...

#13. katie the bride:


#12. elyse the bride:


#11. carolyn the bride:


#10. maelee the senior:


#9. angela the bride:


#8. andi the ttd bride:


#7. molly the senior:


#6. 1 y.o. maren:


#5. crystal the bride:


#4. carrie the bride:


#3. karina the bride:


#2. kristen the ttd bride:


#1. jamie the ttd bride:

wrapping up 2008 has brought back wonderful memories and has set the stage new growth in our photography and business. we couldn't have done it without the 100% trust of our clients who offered us a glimpse into their lives. between now and january 1, we'll be revealing our kern-photo "best-of 2008 " awards.

and the categories include:

best portrait, male
best portrait, female
best engagement portrait
best moment
best family portrait
best pet portrait
best wedding portrait

winning portraits must exude personality, creativity, expression, and impact.

and here are the winners in the best portraits, male category (with a link to the original blog post & commentary):

13. nick the senior:


12. nick the groom:


11. john heisel (unpublished):


10. brian the pianist:


#9. jeff the groom


#8. kevin von qualen


#7. shawn the groom (and his brother) in the fun-booth


#6. jerry wilson


#5. owen


#4. brian martinez


#3. ryan otto


#2. the dixie trannie


#1. breckin "lungs-of-steel" myers

... unless they are as cute as 7 m.o. abigail:




photographer’s notes:

above images shot with the nikon d-700, 85mm f/1.4 d af, iso 400, f1.4, 1/500 sec. no strobes, flashes, or fancy dancy backgrounds were used, just a simple round reflector providing fill light bounced from a south facing window (located behind and camera-left of abigail).

one of my 101 goals in 1,001 days was to explore a new photographic genre and push myself beyond what i would “typically” choose to photograph. becoming a versatile photographer is important to me. while kern-photo roots in are wedding photography, the genre of “wedding photography” to us is like photojournalism, portraiture, fashion, landscape, advertising, and kid photography all blended into one. i dig the stealing appropriation of techniques from each genre into our wedding shooting style.

as a photographer, we should be able to take pictures of ANYTHING using our own creative tools and wisdom. in our industry, being the “jack of all trades, king of none” isn’t advised. however, being the “king of one and a jack of a few” can’t hurt.

pushing the depth & breadth of our skills to the maximum isn’t nearly as impossible sounding as having major league pitcher hit a home run in the world series. when pitcher joe blanton hit a home run the world series game on october 26, 2008, his homer was the first of its kind in 35 years! in fact, only 13 pitchers have hit a home run in a world series game, which accounts for less than 2 percent of all world series homers.

now, people, i’m not saying i hit a home run or anything. i’m just excited to produce something my clients want and love.

bright, cheery, colorful. that’s what i see of the slater family and one of the reasons they are up for the planets coolest families award. not to mention you get some killer fun when you blend a photographer (christina) with a wake/snow/skateboard entrepreneur (b. j.) at liberation.

christina asked me to shoot her family portraits. you bet, i told her, but under one condition: but you can’t get your images until your blog is done. and it doesn’t have to be perfect, just done. i’ve been telling her all about the benefits of blogging to the photography industry for many moons now. all she needed was a kick in the pants and some time sans kiddos to get the job done. her husband, b. j., loved the idea and set up his own blog.

armed with a camera, tripod, lighting set-up, christina has tried many times to take her family portrait using a camera timer to trigger the shot. her goal: to get at least one shot of everyone looking at the camera. wowza. not an easy feat. just as doctors need their own physician, photographers need their own photographer. and i appreciate being chosen :)

we got warmed up with some fresh. modern. fun. individual portraits starting with the dynamic duo, 4 y.o. abigail and 1.5 y.o owen.


own checks out the christmas balls while i check out his reflection.


boys are so curious.


girls can’t have enough red. i let abigail pick her background and she liked this one the best:




i can only imagine owen’s thoughts of his older sister (“she’s always on my back!”).


watching sunset.


owen liked the rock balancing on my head.



and here’s christina’s “money shot.”

recently i offered a helping hand to a few new moms who received support from the gabriel project, a faith-based support network. i applaud their decision to bring life into the world and rewarded them with a portrait session.

introducing 3 m.o. evan:


and 3.5 m.o. willa:


and 7 m.o. abigail was there to offer a helping hand, too:

in actuality, this was intended to be a family portrait session... but 3.5 y.o gage made it more about him, in a good way:) this is the third year photographing the hauptman family. each year we get better and better!!! gage was our youngest wedding guest, weighing in at 5 weeks of age. he’s now the perfect model.




what a ham!


i keep thinking... this kid has some major modeling talent. gage was a pure natural in front of the camera.


my favorite million dollar christmas card photo.


yes, those eyes have attracted a few girlfriends for gage :)


then we headed to bear creek park in lakewood for some more natural colorado landscapes at sunset.


we’ve known these two for many years in training with paragon martial arts. when outside the dojang, i still have a tough time not calling him “master hauptman” (he is a 6th degree master instructor in the american taekwondo association). and faun is a 1st degree black belt... but an honorary 9th degree black belt in the household, or so i’m told :)


gage was super curious about the off-camera flash, asking all sorts of questions about how it works. while the shot is a bit overexposed, it turned out to be a great expression showing his excitement for photography and lighting... my kind of 3.5 y.o.!


rocks & crocs. love it!


i’m not sure the world is ready for this:


ps- and if you are looking for a good realtor, look no further than bill and faun hauptman. they’ve both been super awesome, patient, and wise in helping us take advantage of this buyer’s market :) official house Christmas shopping begins tomorrow for us and we are like kids with 8 shots of espresso and a new puppy.

even though we are primarily wedding photographers, i have never turned down a family for portraits. kids are 100% addictive to be around :)

i know one day there will be little footsteps following behind me, and i know i can never have enough practice to capture those perfect moments.

without further adieu, introducing 1 y.o. masyn, 2.5 m.o. tripp, and 4 y.o. payten:



mom & dad’s turn :)


we braved the cold, a sick child, roller-coaster emotions... and still got a shot of the whole fun family:


jennifer & jerry, thank you again for allowing me to spend time with your beautiful family this week!  i had a wonderful time and totally admire your patience and love you share with your children!

after a week of digesting what was absorbed from image x ’08 workshop, i admit i need another two weeks to continue to digest.

in the french quarter of new orleans, i spent an entire workshop day with john michael cooper and a second day with jessica claire. considered among the best in the wedding photography industry, john and jessica are polar opposites in shooting style and theory. but they have one thing in common: they know how to inspire.

my brain was a sponge of new information for 72 hours, thanks in part to 25 pages of notes, hundreds of photographs, and hours of recorded videos. i savored every bit of the two point five day experience. witnessing first-hand how the industry’s best shoot, do business, and are inspired... i walked away with a confident notion of what i like to shoot, and, more importantly, why.

i also found inspiration of the limitless possibilities afforded by the camera and the creative messages that can be created and the fun in creating images. i relished every opportunity to meet new photographers, which continued the learning into the wee hours of the morning and even the plane ride home (thanks, jeff).

john encouraged us to try something different.... kristen did a wonderful job modeling without superstition.


john gave us an assignment to go out of our comfort zone. he ripped out a page in a magazine and gave it to each student. our project: use the image for inspiration in our own unique style. featured left: a scan of the paper he gave me (it lived in my pocket for a few days), right: the inspiration in the final shot.


brides with mustaches was 100% john’s idea. why? because “know one else will have mustaches today.” be different, says john.


same goes for the obama and mccain masks:


a typical bridal shot:


and a not-so-typical idea of the ‘queen of hearts,’ as modeled by kristen:


four-second exposure with light-painting via video light:


day 2: jessica claire (in foreground) with models, allison & ricky:


this is really 100% a jessica claire set-up shot... but she does a awesome job of helping clients boost confidence in front of the camera. allison & ricky met minutes before this shot was taken!


there’s nothing wrong with chimping, says one of the world’s top 10 wedding photographers:


split in groups of 10, we each had individual mini-assignments. for the next three shots of jen & ken, we were told to shoot in our “eclectic signature style”:


a bit of wide-angle drama with my favorite nikon 12-24 f/4 lens:


LOTS of photographers shooting the same couple can be challenging when attempting to create a new idea/pose/composition:


so i opted for a shift in angle and i ran upstairs to a balcony. i directed the talent to stand on top of the man-hole cover. i liked the simple yellow line and texture of the pavement.


models jamie & rick, with focus on bokeh and simple details:



offering context to a place can serve as a creative ingredient for backgrounds. however, placelessness images can be just as fun, too!


at the end of the shoot, while walking back to the hotel, i engaged in a conversation with jamie. she was interested in trying out an idea inspired by john michael cooper (father of the trash the dress phenomenon) inspired by that shot we all know by henri cartier-bresson (father of the modern photojournalism) of a man jumping over a puddle (“behind the gare saint-lazare”). here’s my set-up:


even in 1932, photographs of puddle jumpers were cliche. in 2008, this was no decision moment... just a lucky, fun, moment.


a portrait of jesh de rox:


jesh’s words will stay with me for a long time. we spoke about the joy & elation of achieving a difficult goal and the process of intentionally creating the exact same feeling of elation to other aspects of life. my next workshop will be with spent him.

on the last night, we marched through the streets in a big easy tradition with a second line brass band parade:


joe photo has as much energy & enthusiasm as a classroom of second-graders and he’s been shooting weddings for over a decade! talk about avoiding burn-out... on a night off, he still parties with a camera in hand!


dixie trannie shot at 3:30am, iso 6400, f/ 1.4. hmmm... creative portrait?


the inaugural photographer hand-wrestling competition took place bourbon street. the rules are simple. winner takes all. who cares about winning... it is all about the fun!

joe photo: 1. kern-photo: 0. and to think he’s got a decade up on me. now that’s inspiration! seriously, people, whatever happened to the testoserone-driven sport of arm wrestling? round II: wppi 2008?

part of the wonderful experience included meeting some awesome people like photographer jan garcia, our cabbie extraordinaire, photographer jeffrey neal.

introducing 2 y.o. frankie...


2 y.o. jack...


and 4 y.o. pyper...


the gang playing:


just before the shoot, i asked them about if they were to have just one image of their family... what would be. the answer: get the ENTIRE family smiling at the camera. wow. not an easy feat, but i was our super challenge to make it happen: and it did!


and our signature fresh. modern. fun. take on the gang:




just before packing up the car, we spotted a black cat on the fence...


...so they made a trip to the field...


which turned out to be a perfect field trip to watch the cat play.

17 m.o. avery had her debut photo performance with kristen & dean serving as supporting roles. every five minutes was a whole new emotion, which keeps us happily on our toes :)




kristen was looking for headshots for her wedding coordinator website, a current affair weddings & events. if you are looking for a wedding coordinator, kristen’s spirit & zip & phenomenal attention to detail make her a valuable asset to any wedding day plans

her husband, dean, had a few minutes to spare while kristen was tending to “mommy stuff,” so i grabbed a few of him. what a cute couple!


let’s not forget avery:


a few feet away:


kristen wanted a few kern-photo’s of her and dean... so we *brought* it.

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:

jayme otto's stellar writing and saavy marketing has made her an up and coming freelance writer in boulder, colorado specializing in cycling, nutrition, travel, and wellness. her most recent work has been published in velonews and rocky mountain sports. in her free time, jayme serves as a captain for a local cycling team and races frequently. talk about growth! i vividly remember her first few wobbly rides with clipless pedals. ah, but we won't tell those stories :)

she's a wonderful friend and i'm excited to see her grow creatively. she studied english in college years ago, and is just now starting to put the writing energies on the front-burner.

her husband, ryan, has the model look enough to walk the catwalk. this time, however, it was jayme's turn in front of the camera. here are a few portraits for her first pulitzer prize winning book just waiting to be written.

she's sassy:

smart:

and sincere:

thank you for your friendship over the years. we wish all the very best in your creative pursuits :)

now that both of billy's sister's are hitched, we didn't want him to feel lonely, so we shot him with his wonderful girlfriend, jessica.

after marathon backyard games of ladder ball, (similar to horseshoes, this game originated in an american campground), we made a dash to a nearby grazing pasture in south dakota for a fun mini-portrait session.

jessica & billy are good friends surrounded by the contagious bliss called love.





billy is a 100% pure goofball.


south dakotan bugs are hungry. very hungry. billy laughed it off.

desi & ryan have been married for 5 years and still share that first date fresh-in-love. we treated them to a destination portrait session in kona, hawaii. we lucked out hitting the 'good light' once in three attempts, thanks to the notorious vog.

sunset on the kona coast of hawaii, practicing those dancing moves, with God's good light:

ps- God must have known my eyes were strong, as i pretty much went blind for a minute after the shot was taken (think about putting a 300mm telescope up to your eyes and face it directly to the sun :)

desi has beautiful brown german eyes:


golf courses make for vivid backdrops... and it doesn't get much better when the course is on the edge of the hawaii coastline.


beautiful wrap-around lighting thanks to the wonders of Mother Nature!


on the last day ran through the golf course like kids, soaking up every last bit of vacation (with permission, of course :)


here's some real action while trying on a wild idea.... this was a super happy misteak taken with a 2 megapixel camera.


... by braving the waves in high spirits (with our trustry nikon d300 12 megapixel camera)


soaking in the healing waters of champagne pond, featuring mild-heated waters from volcanic steam near the coast of kapoho bay on the big island of hawaii. for those used to bathing in hot springs, you may be used to the putrid sulfur smell. good news: there's no such smell at champagne pond!

1 y.o. maren hammed it up during the bradley family portrait session this week. she's a beauty queen in the making just dying to show us what she's all about :)

view their slideshow here.



a favorite candid moment:



'there's something down there!" in 1 y.o. speak.


some real moments:


after we finished all the group family portraits, truman & nisa had shared some romantic time in a nearby open space park in louisville, colorado.


of course when i met indy, i decided we had to include him in our portrait session :) he's is a gregarious english pointer with handsome taste in dog collars :)


he can jump!

keith, angie, zack, & ben invited me to gig harbor, washington last week to dodge some raindrops and catch a glimpse of their fun family. it rained and rained (as it usually does in seattle), but we pulled out every trick in the book to avoid getting drenched, including driving where there was a clear opening in the sky a few miles away (which lasted a few minutes before the sky opened up back where we started... so it goes :).

the cold weather didn't dampen our spirits. they were perfect models in a perfect setting simply being themselves...



kinda reminds you of a drunken sailor :)


gotta dig the color coordination :)



angie & keith are such a cute couple :)


a boys' moment.



playing 'fireman':



simply magic:



a favorite family portrait. i love how the focus is off just enough to make things a bit fresh. modern. fun.

we shot melissa & drew's wedding early last summer (click here to view slideshow) and it was an honor to shoot their new new addition to their family, baby boy they named 'breckin.'

"it's the best thing that ever happened to me," melissa says.

and yes, he's named after drew's favorite place, breckenridge, colorado. now, that's our kinda baby name!

meet breckin:



we've been there before :)


he's a charmer...


a favorite moment.


the fingers are found :)


it felt so special being apart of this special time in their life. i know melissa & drew are gonna be a super-star parents.


male bonding:


i wish my walls looked kinda like this :)




lungs of steel.


yes, that would mean 'peace out.'


hands down my favorite shot from our session... melissa's hair featured in the upper left.


we've seen this before, but it is still so frickin' cute.


BUTT... we haven't seen this before :) i count over 30 wrinkles....

it's been a year since i last shot ryan otto for his maximum talent agency portfolio. we've both grown in our creative outlets and while it is fun to look back at some of our old work here, we set out to photograph in a different mentality: photograph with the end result in mind. he wanted some shots to show off his triathlete-cut physique and i wanted to learn how to best to place such a model in the best light possible. a special thanks to his wife, jayme, for assisting with lighting, outfit changes, and reminding us how time flies when you're having fun (and how 68 degrees turns into 40 when the sun goes down :)




this shot was made possible using our newly developed mini-softbox-on-a-stick technology, inspired by the strobist and macgyver.



a classic american-crew shot.


jason hayes shared a cool lighting tricks of 'skimming the light' using a giant softbox positioned perpendicular and in front of the subject. this technique creates wrap-around lighting, adding dimensionality to the subject. learning this technique meet the requirement for goal #78 on my list of 101 photo goals in 1,001 days.

here's ryan's edgy euro look (color temperature lowered for effect):


and this was ryan's all-american, well-rounded look:


these were shot with a single beauty dish positioned in the upper left and a softbox reflection for the background on the right.


and here's our favorite shot of the whole shoot:

fellow wedding videographer brian martinez was in need of some new images for his modeling portfolio. brian is currently represented by donna baldwin modeling agency in denver and does quite a bit of commercial modeling for some cool companies. he is also a brand new papa for a 6-week-old baby boy. working with professional models is something we are new at and brian's confidence and willingness to be creative sealed the deal. we shot outside in 68 degree weather with available light using one lens (you guessed it, our 85 f/1.4) for as long as we could and were very pleased with the results.


we found a dark alley and put to use a new signature mini-softbox wireless ttl light-on-a-stick (stay tuned in a later post about the complete blueprint details)


our wedding photographer, jason hayes, lent us his sweeeet studio and was also kind enough to offer a mini-class in lighting. thanks, jason!


towards the end we busted out the ringlight, which offers a unique lighting effect often used in high-impact fashion photography. here are a few of my favorite first shots using a ring-flash (which also happens to be goal #81 on my list of 101 photo goals in 1,001 days.

a bunch of photographers geeked-out today at red rocks in an event sponsored by the newly-formed innovative imagemakers. there was no cost to shoot, the high school models were great sports, and i had another wonderful opportunity to meet and greet with other fellow photographers. i recognized a few familiar faces, but for the most i felt brand spankin' new to many. in between the rapid succession to clicks at candid grins, laughter broke the ice nicely and by the end of the shoot many photographers were on a first name basis with one another. and despite the plethora of canon shooters in the portrait and wedding photography world, i enjoyed mingling with the strong nikonian presence. yes, we know, cameras are just tools but we are proud to remain on the 'dark side' :)

the game plan was simple: each team for 4-6 photographers spent about 30 minutes with each model, experimenting with new ideas, exploring new poses and locations, and just having fun. several tourist passerby's wondered if the models were famous... my reply, 'you bet!' i think these high schoolers felt like super stars and were ready for act in america's next top model.

events like this remind me why 'new school photography' is so cool. there is no such thing in photography as magic tricks, just things we haven't learned yet. and 'new school' photographers are eager to share and play nicely with others :)

here are a few of the favorites:




and here's the paparazzi in action:

the moment nicole promised me i could photograph her in her wedding dress, i was in bliss. there was no better woman to photograph than my wife in her wedding dress. the occasion was the day after my brother's wedding in grand bahama island (yesterday). after 2.5 years of marriage and lots of wedding cake (we're wedding photographers, you know), her dress fit her like i remember on our wedding day: july 2, 2005. we pulled off something special together and i'm super proud to show off all her sexyliciousness:

susen, dave, & tommy tagged-team with our previous entry clients (isabell, bill, & lilly) to meet at red rocks for a little pre-holiday p-session. susen and isabell are both sisters, so you might notice a resemblance :). tommy joined the fun to be featured along with his brother, dave. here's the trio with a subtle colorado sunset:


we went for a rock-star portrait of dave with some kern-photo tricks :)


susen featuring her snow white smile:


and a genuine moment of tommy:


here are the love bugs:


susen & dave were very cool trying out some new ideas inside this little red rock cove.


the lighting was perfect for this relaxed portrait with a post-sunset glow:

3-year-old lilly gave us a run for our money yesterday at red rocks during her family portrait session. despite the cold, we kept things moving and had tons of fun. textured backgrounds, great light, and fun subjects make our job easy:



peek-a-boo.


in colorado style:



gq bill.


we've been going after some edgier shots.... and this won our hearts :)


lilly showing off her brand new dress. i think all girls must feel this way:

i've had the pleasure of getting to know tom pehrson and his booming wedding videography buisness, peak impact productions. we recently gave him an early christmas present and photographed him, his wonderful wife tina, and their family of beautiful pooches. this evening tom wrote the following note to us:

"I just wanted to say thanks for agreeing to work with us last weekend.  It was great to see your style in action.  I got Tina to finally take a look at your blog and [she] loves your work.  Once she started looking at the photos, she went through every entry.  That's a good sign and hopefully everyone who visits your blog has the same experience.  By the time they get done, they're ready to hire you.  She says she really loves how people's eyes seem to stand out in your photos.  So, thanks again!"

then comes the hard part:

"On a sad note, we had to put Sophie down this evening.  She was a good dog, but she took a turn for the worst in the last few days and it would have been cruel for us to keep her alive with no hope of recovery.  We're really glad that we got you to capture her and thanks for working with us on such short notice."

this blog entry is dedicated to sophie.

here she is in her glory:


feel free to write your condolences in the comments section below. your comments will be great appreciated :)

here are her siblings:


dogs and fire hydrants go hand and hand.


here are the pooches with full attention on a floating knit hat:



if we had a professional videographer at our wedding, without reservations we would higher him. here's he is with his videography tool:


here's tina and tom:


and the whole gang:

katie's fiance, shawn, serves in the army and has been stationed in iraq since january. having grown up in a military family myself (r. j.), being a 'military brat' was a fact of life. my grandfather was a marine in vietnam, my father is a retired O-6 in the navy, my brother graduated from the air force academy, and my brother's fiance from west point. when we meet with a client and find out their loved one is stationed overseas, our hearts go out to them. care packages come in many forms, including home-made cookies, handwritten love notes, and pictures of loved ones. we decided to offer katie a *free* portrait session so she could send her man some love in pictures. and here she is:

ps- we are proud to offer a 10% discount on any wedding or portrait packages to active duty military personnel.

faun, bill, and little gage hired us last year for a family portrait and loved it so much they hired us again this year. family portrait sessions (p-sessions) with a 2.5 year-old ain't easy. after we snapped their 'money shot' for their buisness/family christmas card....


... we did a little fresh. modern. fun. with gage. he's not a model yet, but we'll give him a year or so and those agents WILL be calling!





we get gage's undivided attention for about .25 seconds, until this usually happens:


as our session winded down, we had a bit more creative license to experiment with strong backlighting sans flash.


then comes the funny part. moments before wrapping things up, gage spotted a cute girl in the window of a jewelry store. she is three. gage was aloof at first.


... then gradually warmed up to the idea that flirting is OK.

we love fan mail. two recent clients sent some kind words our way about their recent kern-photos. here's what the kelly sparks had to say about her family portrait:

"Kern-photo absolutely exceeded all our expectations from start to finish - all the way from helping us prepare for the session to helping us choose and order photos afterward."

"RJ really was able to capture all the emotion in little moments when we weren’t just posing for the photo but were simply enjoying being there. He got some shots of my son in the moment of discovery – his first dandelion! It was completely spontaneous and magical. RJ absolutely captured my son’s amazement and concentration on this little bit of nature… and even got my husband and I looking on in the background. It’s my favorite shot."

"I’d recommend kern-photo to absolutely anyone. We will be specifically sending a recommendation to my sister who has a wedding coming up and to ALL my “mom friends” to get amazing photos of their babies and families!"


tara & justin wrote this about their wedding photos: "Justin and I just looked at all the pictures... WE LOVE THEM!!! You captured so much of what we wanted.... thank you! They are absolutely amazing. As we looked at them, Justin said, "We are so recommending R. J. to anyone we know."  :) Thanks for AMAZING pictures!!!!"

in light of some creative reflection, i've dug back into the archives.... and i'm talking about 15 years in the archives of some of my earliest, showable work. ricker winsor, my high school art teacher and photo inspiration at charles wright academy, has been an inspiration to me. ricker lead me to think differently about photography through experimentation and through learning to embrace the 'happy mistake.' the origin of these creative moments is usually at the will of a frantic moment, mixed with the dash of creativity, and a twist of the will of GOD. this image was my first simultaneous collision of 'perfect creative moment' while completing a self-portrait assignment.

the 'mistake' was a double exposure at the end of a roll of 36 using my father's honeywell pentax slr which later became my first 'real' camera (the fisher price one doesn't count). the shutter exposed more than a frame and a half of 35mm t-max film. the double exposure was actually longer than 35mm wide in length, giving the appearance of a panoramic image. while the image certainly isn't pulitzer prize winning material, it was an important lesson which continues to inform my creative conscious.

i did not realize the importance of this image to me until about 3 years ago, when i started to get paid for my photographic creativity and began looking back at earlier work. i kept this image at the forefront of my mind during my college photography experiences, during personal work on travels, and shooting for profit at events. i realized 'happy mistakes' should supplement the creative consciousness. technically, 'creative mistakes' may be deemed by a seasoned professional as "amateurism". but here is where it gets better: rules are meant to be broken, and it is often those 'happy mistakes' which leads to a new discovery. following along with creativity, i've been able to produce some of my most original work. most often it is not the camera, or even the lens that contributed to the creative discovery, but the courage to create.

when colgate university alum buddy, alex, found his way to denver recently, we met up for a killer good time and whipped up a little portrait session to try out some new tricks. since r. j. has known alex for more than a decade and was groomsman in our wedding, he was well prepared for what we had in store. alex grew up in a small village near kiev, russia, which was a strong inspiration for our mood. he came to the u.s. when he was 13 and went on to graduate with an mba from columbia university. we met up at our favorite shooting place and dash's favorite off-leash training grounds, green mountain park in lakewood. VIEW SLIDESHOW HERE. here we go with a few of our favorites:


alex loved his new coat, which was modeled proudly.


alex's jordan impression.


with sunny blue skies to set the mood, here we are for a little self-portrait.

kelly, tony, and little hudson met up for a portrait session recently in denver. r. j. has known kelly since his gis learning met up with her gis training source years ago. kelly is a phenomenal teacher, and one of the best when it comes to gis trainining. tony is the creative brains behind the graphic design studio, ragu. CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW. and here's some of the fun that was shared with our lens:


hudson was determined to step on every railroad track plank.


kelly & tony.


the smallest wonders of the world pointed out by hudson.



the pooches deserved a candid portrait as well.



here's gis training sensei, kelly:


ultimate frisbee stud, tony:


mmmm, chicken fingers taste like chicken.

reporting live from nashville, tn: for those well acquainted with our beloved viszla dash, you may know he refuses to wear anything but colorful, handmade dog collars made by lindsay designs. well, r. j. met up with lindsay and her boyfriend, taylor, at the parthenon, a stunning full-scale replica of the classical architectural marvel. we were up for the challenge to emphasize perspective and angles, use no studio strobes, and shoot in a downpour of rain at night, uphill both ways, yada yada yada. we kept things creative, edgy, and different and had a pure blast doing so. CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW. and here's a smattering of our favorites:



check out the little streaks of rain backlit by the huge monster flood lights:


let's not forget calypso:

a tender, romantic moment:


look, ma, no photoshop! (green color created in camera by halogen lights)


we ended on a high note going for high-impact:


shadow shots are easy when you have good shadow models.



our final shot:

the levalley's invited us over to their beautiful home in fort collins for a 'p-session,' which is a blend of traditional portraiture (for those christmas cards) and our candid 'fresh. modern. fun.' kern-photo style. CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW. here's the whole gang outside (we ordered up a totally real color-cordinated sky):



it got a little chilly outside, so we warmed up on the couch:


then the motley crue came out.


there's garrett:


and marissa with her pearly whites....


and with the not-so innocent look of a troublemaker!


cole in style.


and rachel.


and brad (we'll save this one for the cover of 'time' magazine).


then we cut the kids loose for some shenanigans and a little game of hide & seek. garrett seeks a good spot under the pool table.


garrett is found!


a favorite ball.


young gun cole with his GQ look.


and a priceless moment with garrett.

the butler family won a family portrait session at a recent charity event to benefit the tinyminders school in boulder. with fundraising success, the little school was able to get central air to keep the kids cool. we shot against beautiful chautauqua park in peak color. steve is a 3rd grade teacher and kenna is a chemist.... so of course their boys are little photogenic brainiacs. here's the party of four:



trouble in about 15 years. girls, be on the lookout!


rollercoaster emotions:


kids help remind us of the simple amazement of found objects in nature.


here's the parental reaction for the next shot....


which we'll break out again at his bachelor party in about 25 years!


don't worry, be happy:

photographing professional models can be a wonderful opportunity for learning and experimenting with lighting, color, form, and composition, with the ease of working with folks that make their living in front of cameras. as part of the OSP shoot organized by THE andrew & jessica schaefer, cat & chris allowed us to spend some creative time with them. thanks again, guys! many of our brides request that bleeding-edge 'vogue' look, so we've got to keep our skills sharp so we can deliver on demand. here's a few of the favs:



the wonderful creative tools of photoshop can allow our creative visions to go from this:


to this with the right tools:

pete & diane celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary this week, we did a impromptu snapshot session to commemorate! they are some of the most patient, kind, and considerate people we know. needless to say, they had no problem 'smilin' for the camera.' and here they are:

i've know lauren since she was in middle school, so when she asked me to shoot her senior portrait session (which we call our unique 's-session'), i was totally up for it. we had a pure blast and had some great lighting and modeling assistance provided by her sweet parents, pete (uber cool 99.5 the mountain personality) and diane (saavy business guru at the vista group and kick butt taekwondo mom). lauren's eyes are one of her greatest features, so we made sure to shoot them perfectly right along with showing off her snowboard interests. CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW.

r. j. recently hung out with the beautiful smith family for a portrait session. there was so much love in all their natural smiles, it was hard to find a shot that *didn't* turn out. the girls were so energetic and fun to be around. we even got bailey the pooch to pose. here they are at home in the comfort of their own backyard.


robyn & brian

the smith girls: taya, audrey, & haley




we had so much fun on top of this little hill.


these girls are ready for the 'world's cutest smiles contest.'

in perfect kern-photo light, bella "i love raw trout" overby had her royal portrait taken in style. bella is a beautiful, lovable shar-pei + bullmastif mix who is pampered by her owners, joey & nicole overby.

seeing friendships grow over the decades is an amazing thing to witness. rj was fortunate to visit old mountain biking friend mack, his lovely wife, cindy, and ever so beautiful and growing family (mack, jr is 2 and their newest addition, audrey, is celebrating her 4 month b-day). they recent completed construction on a beautiful new home, which perfectly compliments their pacific northwest lifestyle in kingston, washington. red snapper and a cornucopia of homegrown produce made for a wonderful evening feast after our portrait session.


mack, jr is gonna kill the ladies with those eyes!


audrey setting her sights on the stars already!


while rj was setting up a portrait from a distance, little mack jr decided to have his own game of 'chase the photographer.'



mack and cindy near their 10 year anniversary and still seem so much in love.


mack pulls off the 'proud to be an american family guy' look quite well.



hi-fives & kids never get old!


audrey explores rj's fisheye lens with amazement.

Family portraits can be a pure blast, as I experienced hanging with the Wells family not to long ago. I think kids have such a natural way of being themselves, it makes us grown-ups kinda do the same.



We love natural window light!


Nothing wrong with breakin' some rules every now and then....


Huddle up for a family pow-wow and soak up the sun!


This shot reminds me of a sunny Sunday afternoon picnic in the park.

Here's a fun little shot of Alan and his sister and Mom, which was taken just outside of the surprise 50th wedding anniversary party....nothing like some quick candids!


We love this shot of the three of them!

What a colorful, fun-loving family!

Girls just being girls...

We love shadow portraits!

We love huge anniversaries! A great big congrats to Pauline & Miguel for celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary on. There was a cool surprise party thrown for them at a old school dive called the Retreat in Denver where Pauline and Miguel have played dice for many, many years! Here's Pauline, utterly surprised! Check out the slideshow by clicking here!



And there was a great crowd to surprise them!


Sharing cake, 50 years later (see original cake in photo on left).


It's inspiring to see such a couple still holding hands. That's something I think will NEVER go out of style!


Showing off a 'Hawaiian kiss.'


Pauline donning the 50 year headress!


Alan and Janet got this really cool fleece blaket printed up for them as a surprise!



What a cute couple (also pictured above):

Nothing like pure moments from musicians! KBCO hooked us up with all-access photographer's passes at this year's Kinetics Festival and we enjoyed what we saw (and heard) from there talented musicians!
See the complete Kinetics 2007 Gallery >>






Robert jammin'.


Playing eyes closed, one hand!

Denver radio DJ Pete McKay at 99.5 The Mountain offered us an opportunity to hang with 2007 award-winning Grammy band, OK Go from Washington, DC and Chicago. The guys were chill, just like their music! They are on tour right now with The Fray. They will be big soon! Check them out! >>

We have known Ryan and Jayme for several years (Ryan was a groomsman in our wedding). We decided to spend Sunday afternoon together in Denver doing a bunch of creative fun shooting. Ryan’s ‘hobby modeling’ career is turning big and it certainly shows. We had a such blast and had some great colorful areas in and around Lodo, near REI in Denver, and Coors Field. And Ryan is such a natural... he gives “Sawyer” on LOST a run for it! Look out! He might be the next big model to come out of Denver! See the ‘look’ everyone is talking about >>
 

A good buddy of mine, Alan Warner, had some good friends and family in town and wanted to fun family photos. We had a hoot of a time at the Ship's Tavern in Denver and along the 16th street Mall. Check out the gallery here.

Digging back into the 2006 archives, we decided to keep some of these favorite galleries alive. Check out our favorites portraits and wedding images from 2006.

We love it when good friends ask us to take photos for their family Christmas cards...even love it even more when we get the Christmas card with familiar faces....The Hauptman's opened their house to us and let us capture their smiles.



Little Gage loved this rock and this was the final image that made it into their Christmas card (and our hearts!).


Nothing wrong with a little runny nose...it adds to the cuteness factor big time!