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.

for a girl who would rather don a helmet on an all-terrain vehicle than a dress, maelee surely rocked it up during her funtastic senior portrait session. within three whopping hours of photo action, photo ingredients included some pretty kern-photo light, edgy lightpainting, sand & water fun, and then topped off some ghetto graffitti flare. ‘variety is the spice of life’ was the anthem of this session garnished with our fresh. fun. modern. perspectives :)

view maelee’s slideshow HERE. be sure to sign the guest book & see more images on pictage HERE.



another anti-senior portrait, captured as is, with no color-correction or special effects:


a variation with additional creativity:



maelee wanted her atv part of her senior portrait, so we found some authentic denver graffitt and cross-light it with two off-camera strobes (filtered with a special kern-photo 25 cent snoot to reduce light spread).


maelee issued at top notch photography school assignment inspired from a michael jordan shot we all know (palming the basketball in one hand). she really liked the “knowledge is power” graffitti in the background with the moon, but getting both in the same shot was the challenge because of the sheer angles. however... where there is a will, there is ALWAYS a way. and since the client is the supreme boss, we managed to climb up a 12-foot storage container (yes, a waiver was signed) and shot this at f/8. to pull in the ambiant light, a shutter speed of 1/15 second was used along with some flash flavor thanks to our nikon sb-600 flash i-ttl minus 1 stop at iso 800. to capture the wide angle, our nikon 12-24 f/4 lens served as the perspective on our nikon d300. no tripod or lightstand was used, mainly because we had to work fast, or go home.



a variation on the above shot with a different angle and some mild post-processing. the same single off-camera sb-600 was wirelessly triggered and shot through a mini-soft box handheld by videographer guru brian martinez, who also experimented with some steady-cam hd video during our shoot. stay tuned in his video which will offer behind-the-scenes action of how we ride.

nick has yet to defy gravity, but one day he may engineer the precise superpower technology to give mortals the power to float. away from his summer reading adventures (we all know how that goes :), nick enjoys restoration of his classic ford mustang which he hopes to complete in two months. he plans to pursue engineering in college and no doubt he’ll excel. nick is nicole’s cousin so that makes him my cousin... in law?

anyrate, this anti-senior portrait drew laughs from our family during his sister’s birthday celebration this evening:



to please the traditional crowd & yearbook staff, here are a few casual headshots:


and we wrapped up with some stylish shots to please his girlfriend :)

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: