father & son bonding at it's best. the people at car meets are the BEST part...

... with president lincoln's home in the background


in vintage style...



concours judging.


these guys look in every nook and cranny to rate how well the car reflects the original production model the day it rolled outta the factory.

the Chrysler 300 International Club's 2007 Fall meet held in Springfield, Illinois drew over 20 Chrysler letter cars... wonderful grounds for stellar father and son bonding. 'mopsy', my dad's restored chrysler 300 C won people's choice award last year (click here for gallery link), but this year we flew out to spend more time with the fine club folks. the cars were moving works of art and a delight to behold. car restorers are some of the most patient people i know. some of these guys buy a fix-er up for a few grand, jack-up the headlights, change the car and BAM.... a completely restored classic car (easier said than done). we had clean, clear lighting and sunsets for the entire meet, which made for pleasant weather and great photography opportunities. buckle-up.... here's a few of our favorites.



and a 2006 Chrysler 300 Heritage Edition for contemporaries...

so we didn't just return from hawaii, but we did just get a few moments to post some of our favorite vacation photos from our summer kauai vacation. we'll spare all the details and jump right in with our postcard snaps...

nicole searches for the all the right answers and meaning of life on the nepali coast, a rugged coastline on the western shore of the island of kauai, accessible only by foot or boat.


bamboo forest almost ate us alive!



rj wanted so bad to sample the forbidden fruits... if only he knew what it was.


even the little bugs were pretty.


showers are really cheap on the islands.


color in true kern-photo style.




on our last night we flew our $3 walmart kites, which is about as innocent as fun gets.

without liz & ryan, our dash would have been a figment of our imagination. you see, great wonderful liz introduced us to the sporty vizla breed through her pooch, penny. it wasn't too much longer when we decided to adopt from the same breeder, dobson kennels, located in brookings, south dakota. our friendship with liz and ryan dates back to college days at nicole's alma mater, university of denver. we are so fortunate to be able to shoot their engagement photos in colorado and their wedding in south dakota on the big day of 06-07-08 (a hugely popular wedding date). in warm country style, and here they are....









and to round it all out, girls just being girls...

we are starting to pick up the fine art of blogging and enjoy being inspired by perusing other photographer's blogs...otherwise called "blog stalking." we find photo blogs to be a great way to share our current work and let people know that we are real human beings behind this crazy web world. we've compiled a list of a few of our favorites. check 'em out:

1. the image is found - a fine display of fusion of family, fun, and bleeding-edge photography
2. Jessica Claire  - crisp, bright, inspiring eye from a little place called SoCal
3. [b]ecker's blog - a father of the modern day wedding photography blog
4. mike colon - a fellow nikonian and stellar wedding photographer
5. david jay - saavy biz, open source photo stud, showit mac daddy, killer marketing ideas, great
6. the boutwells - authors of our favorite totally rad actions
7. susan stripling - super polished, uber cool, wedding & fashion fusion to perfection!
8. sixpeeps - another father of the photographer's biggest marketing tool... the blog
9. jesh de rox - creative and different, canada's finest
10. the strobist - one of the best lighting resources on the web, bar none!

kern-photo enjoyed the fancy people & cars this morning to kick off the 2007 fall foliage ferrari tour (ffft07). Check out the entire gallery by clicking here. there were more than two dozen ferrari's strutting their stuff, a sure site to see for ferrari lovers.


present were old school models....


and new school...


discussing the rulz of the road.



bustin' out the whoopee cushion at the right time.



speed limit 45... a mere suggestion.

a special thanks to mike procopio for inviting kern-photo to be apart of the 2007 ferrari fall foliage tour sponsored by the rocky mountain region of the ferrari club of america. For details on our involvement, click here.

september 8 was a super special day for nicole and mark as they tied the knot in fort collins, co. we were extremely excited to be apart of their big day! we met them through our good friends joey & nicole. both nicole and mark were remarkably calm, chill, and smiley happy the entire day. the details of the day went so smooth, thanks to the wedding coordination by sunie liley at the polished fort collins country club. additional kudos go out to: ceremony officiation by blue sky church, makeup by riah at the distinctive beauty refuge of maya bleu, and music by the very talented brian kane at piano man music. here's their story through our lens...



ode to the mouse (inspired by the fine folks over at the image is found)


nicole looked stunning! 


tension builds...


the anxious father & daughter ready to exit ...


we were just as in awe.


the first kiss.


we had tons of time to photograph nicole and mark around the beautiful grounds of the fort collins country club. 


in classic kern-photo light:


nicole's personality in six shots:


now, it's mark's turn....


the beautiful toasts won hearts as tears flowed.


sometimes we feel like this, too.


the first dance:


nicole & her dad 'cut the carpet'


a send-off in style.

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.

we love, love, love fan mail. we recently received a hand-written note in the mail from Andi & Brett who tied the knot on August 24. after reading the letter, we got goosebumps and that warm, fuzzy feeling re-affirming our love for wedding photography (thanks, guys!). we thought we'd share their comments: "Brett and I couldn't be more impressed with your work yesterday! Just the preview of a few pictures really made our evening. Thanks for taking the pictures we had requested.... along with the hundreds of creative shots you came up with too! These pictures will absolutely last the rest of our lives. We are so excited to see the final products! Everyone loved you guys and they couldn't believe the quality you produced. My parents were certainly impressed too! Thanks again for everything (including the AMAZING engagement pics). You are absolutely amazing! Thanks for being there for us on such an important day in our lives :) Kindest Regards, Andi & Brett"

it's not too often that we enter photo contests, but when we do, we know we have a good chance at winning. however, the rules are a bit different for the new york institute of photography contest. since judges will only look at the highest rated images, we need your help to vote. here's how you can help: 1). go to http://contests.fotki.com/nyip/. 2). click on each of the categories (main street, faces in the crowd, pets and wildlife, and local music). 3) to find our image, sort entries by "newest entry." 4) vote on your favorite image.

here are our 4 image submissions (listed in separate categories)
("faces in the crowd" category)


("main street" category)


("pets and wildlife" category) Title: Dash, the swim coach. Description: "Dash," illustrates to "She-bee," a recent adoption from a Hungarian viszla dog rescue, that water can be fun. This was 2-year-old She-bee's first time swimming.


("local music" category) Title: U2 Tribute Band at Red Rocks, Description: U2 Tribute Band, "Under a Blood Red Sky," recreates U2's legendary 1983 "Live at Red Rocks" concert at the outdoor Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver, CO. The band creates necessary vibe needed for U2 to return on their 25th anniversary of the legendary concert.

dash, our beloved hungarian viszla, retrieves a tennis ball during the final days of summer at the scott carpenter pool in Boulder, CO. Boulder, one of the most dog friendly towns in America, allows dogs to swim in the olympic-sized pool days before the summer closing. the Viszla is among the most popular breeds which take advantage of this opportunity, along with retrievers and labs. cody & gomez, fellow dog friends, and with our good friends, jayme and ryan, seemed to enjoy this second annual festivity.


every felt like this before?

here are a few of our favorite snaps from our mini-weekend hike with dash. we are building dash's modeling portfolio for a possible cabella's catalog shoot. no promises or anything.

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.

we love vacationing in our own great state of colorado. winter park, co is one of our favorite places we enjoy ALL year long. we wonder if they'll ever change the name of the town in the summer to SUMMER PARK. ha, ha. anyrate, we made a few trips down the super alpine slide, which is kinda like a huge luge on concrete.


r. j. got clocked for 150 miles per hour when taking this shot....


nicole defies gravity on the bungee trampoline aparatus (note the head rush!).


check out those rei-catalog worthy biceps!


it is not too often we actually take a few moments to set up a mini-self family portrait. here we are inside our favorite winter park lodge, sunspot.


it is really cool to see our favorite runs in the summer without snow. now we know what we ski/board on top of. plus, we got to ride the zephyr express lift down the mountain enjoying the view of fraiser valley.