playing in the snow

Got outside with my kids last night. It was getting dark…. the streetlights were kicking on…and it randomly started snowing, a lot. I always, whether I mean to or not, notice the lighting going on… and in that moment it was kind of magical.

Instead of heading in like I’d planned, I grabbed the camera for a couple of quick snowportraits (it’s a word. as of now).

Loving the new 50mm 1.4D lens I got a couple of weeks back… as well as the new camera (Nikon D810). My replacement equipment is certainly proving itself!

Fun with the Franks

Family pictures should be fun. No! Seriously! They should be FUN. Does that mean every second is fun and there is no awkwardness? Well, no, of course not… let’s not be ridiculous.

But shouldn’t there be moments of genuine laughter, moments when we LET the kids make silly faces, moments where, just for a split second, we forget why we’re there and just enjoy it?

I firmly believe that’s how it should be. It takes some work to get us there… to overcome the camera awareness, to defocus from the posing, to try to achieve spontaneity without compromising the quality of a professional photograph… but I’ll work at it, every time, and if you hire me, I promise it will be worth it.

Here’s the Franks family… dad Dustin, mom Janell, daughters Kaitlynn, Hannah, & Emma.

Merry Christmas from 9art!

 

Merry Christmas everyone… from mine to yours. 🙂

 

Back to school :: especially special specials

 

 

 

 

 

Hope your summer has gone well.

The blog has been quiet this last week, and the reason for that was a much needed vacation.  Got some family time, played around in Branson (because face it, if you live in Joplin and have toddlers, where else do you go?) and re-charged for the new season.

I know it’s still summer and still August, but I can already feel fall in the air, and I’m ready for it. I’ve got some big ideas brewing- some for personal projects that I can’t reveal yet (but oh MAN they’re going to be fun), but right now, I’m talking about ideas for our beloved families- both the ones I have the extreme pleasure to continue working with, and those just now stumbling onto 9art or just now thinking about hiring us to capture THEIR family in a new, fun, and beautiful way.

In celebration of the season- and to combat those awful school pictures you DON’T want to be your only memory of your amazing kiddos- our first back-to-school special is for the previously announced mini shoots, going on this week.  To re-cap:

SPECIAL #1 (mini shoots)

• $20 for a 15-20 minute ‘mini session’
• ages 2-16 (multiple kids welcome within that period of time)
• thursday evening, 5pm to 8pm, at Landreth park
• saturday, 10am-5pm, in the studio
• special packages available for these shoots only

Because you want pictures to remember your child at this stage that look like this….

not so much this. Yikes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SPECIAL #2:  (session disk)

FREE high resolution disk offered with purchase of  any family package, level #1 or above (sorry, we cannot apply this to the print core alone), or with any senior package at level 2 or above. Sessions must be booked & sitting fees paid by September third at latest, to qualify.

That’s pretty cut and dry, and not something we offer often, since our family session disks are generally priced at $800 or higher.

I’m excited. Hope you are too. Now book that session!

-Mark