Kevin's Blog

Brian and Lindsay's Wedding!!

Yesterday, I had another great wedding!  Brian and Lindsay got married at Stonebriar Country Club(One of my FAVORITE Places!) and everything turned out wonderfully!  These guys looked amazing and all of their family and friends were so much fun to work with!

Susan Moore at Stonebriar is simply one of the absolute best at what she does and we had no worries all day long as she took care of us and everyone else!  The Flowers were done by Sahana Floral Design and it was such a joy to see Judy again as she really does a GREAT job!!  The gorgeous cakes were done by Romano's and the evening's entertainment was provided by Austin DJ Barrington Miles.  It was my first time working with Barrington and he was absolutely wonderful!

Lindsay and Brian were a referral from Bridget and Gibran whose wedding I shot a few months ago!  It was fun to see so many familiar faces all night!

Here are a few fun shots that Andrew, Paul, and myself were able to get of the whole day...

Lindsay had a very cool dress!

Lindsay touching up her lips...

The BEAUTIFUL flowers provided by Sahana Floral Design!

I decided to have a little artistic fun with Lindsay's bouquet...

The girls helping Lindsay get the dress on...

I love this shot of Lindsay's Grandmother and Mom pinning the garter(Mom's) and  handkerchief(Grandma's) on...

A dramatic shot in the bridal room..
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Since the wedding is over, I thought I would post a couple of my favorite shots from Lindsay's bridal session...

A more dramatic one...

Brian and his guys...

And the gorgeous girls!

And another...

Lindsay and her dad are all smiles walking down the aisle...

Brian got a bit emotional seeing Lindsay for the first time...

OK, this is one reason why I ALWAYS use a team approach when shooting weddings!  Here is the kiss after the ceremony and here is how my team and I covered it from 3 different angles...

I got an email this week asking how I pose my family formals.  Well, here you go...

A cool shot of the wedding party afterwards...

I REALLY love these next two as I added a bit of texture since we had a white sky and desaturated the colors a bit to add to the mood of the photo.

And another...

I love Lindsay's look here...

Along the winding path...

These really neat purple trees surrounded the ceremony, so I wanted to make sure to use them as a backdrop for some shots!  Here is one...

Love in an elevator...

The cakes...

The centerpieces...

And table setting...

The first dance...

A fun moment during the cake cutting...

The rings...

Barrington and his assistant had the party going all night!   Lindsay doing the Limbo!

They HAD to know they would make the blog!

The last dance of the evening...

And a GREAT sparkler exit!

Congratulations again guys!  I will have the rest of the wedding online in a few weeks.  Have a GREAT time in Hawaii!

Aveion and Danielle's Star-Studded Wedding!!

As you guys know, I had an AMAZING week, so what better way to top it off than with the fabulous wedding of Detroit Lions Running Back Aveion Cason and his beautiful fiance Danielle's wedding!  The wedding took place in Arlington and Karmen with KP WeddingDesigns was on hand to make sure that everything ran smoothly!  Both families were great to work with and I had such a great time taking photos all day long! 

Karmen also did a great job with all of the decor as the place looked great!  Lumen Event Lighting provided the reception lighting and Elvision provided the videography.  The beautiful cakes were provided by The Cake Guys.

OK on to the photos...

One of the pew arrangements Karmen made...

And a cool shot of the programs laid out...

I LOVE this detail shot of Danielle's bouquet with the dress in the background!

And a closeup of Danielle's gorgeous dress!

I just had to take this one of Alijah as he is so adorable!

Aveion getting ready...

Aveion enjoying a laugh with his guys.

And a moment alone right before the ceremony...

The kids were excited about someone's arrival!

Karmen helps Danielle get into her dress...

A cool shot of the dress getting zipped up...

Danielle and her Grandfather walking down the aisle...

The Kiss!

Walking out after the ceremony...

All of the gorgeous girls!

A cool shot of Aveion and his guys!(Photographing athletes is soo much fun as they all know how to pose naturally!)

The wedding party...

A romantic KJ styled shot...

And a more traditional one...

Under the veil...

One of my FAVES for sure!

Some reception details...

The Rings!

The reception entrance...

The first dance...

Just a fun shot!

DJ Mike Garrett kept the dance floor packed all night!

Dallas Cowboys center, Andre Gurode, presented Danielle with this cool Pink bottle of Armand de Brignac!(This is also my drink of choice for those of you looking to buy me a gift for my birthday.)=)

I had some fun with Aveion's best man, Rams running back Steven Jackson!  (Steven, your NIKE commercial is still one of my all-time favorites!!)

Here's me with both Aveion and Danielle at the end of the night...

And one in front of the Rolls Royce...

Congratulations again guys!   It has been great working with you guys and getting to meet your wonderful friends and family!  I look forward to our continuing friendship down the road as well!  I should have the rest of the wedding photos online in a few weeks.   Have a great time in Turks and Caicos!

I WON!!!! MY WPPI Wrapup!!

WOW, what a whirlwind week it has been for me in Las Vegas!!  It all started out when I arrived and found out that one of my images was the COVER SHOT for the WPPI Show Guide!!  Here it is...

For those of you who do not know what WPPI is, it is simply the biggest photography competition and convention in the world for wedding and portrait photographers.  The competition is by far the toughest anywhere in the world as the talent across the globe is simply amazing!  I think that over 12,500 photographers from all over the world attended this week.  It is also where the latest and greatest photography products are introduced so it is always fun playing around with new gadgets and seeing all of the new albums, etc...

I had the opportunity to judge the album and print competition on Saturday and Sunday and I must say the quality of work being produced around the world is just STUNNING!   I wrapped up Saturday night by hosting our annual party at Bellagio with Alycia!  It was such a Fun time and we are still getting complements on it!  We even had Elvis show up and sing a few songs for everyone!!  It was really great to spend time with all of our old friends again as well as meet a ton of new ones!

The next couple of days were filled with speaking engagements!  First was my SOLD OUT Masterclass where I had a great time sharing with everyone and getting to meet and know some great folks!  Here is a group shot that we took at the end of the class....

I also spoke in in the WHCC booth for a couple of days and it was a lot of fun!   Here is one of me in action...

OK, so that brings us to the big Awards ceremony on Wednesday night(The whole scene is very OSCAR  like with a gala dinner served before the big awards are announced.  One of the categories I entered(Wedding Details) comes up and they announced the third place winner and then the second place winner, and then..............my name as the FIRST PLACE WINNER!!!  We all went crazy!!  It was all a blur going onstage to get the award, but I am soo excited as to be first place in the whole world just boggles my mind!!  Here is the print that won...

As if I wasn't on cloud nine then, the animal/pet portrait category came up and it was deja vu all over again!  I couldn't believe that my LION photo won!!(I knew it scored well, but had no idea it actually won!)  Here is the shot...

And here are the awards which I WILL proudly display to all who come by my place!!

It was an awesome trip to Vegas and I want to thank all of my wonderful students and friends who helped make the week  so much fun!   Now, I am back to work and am working on albums as I type!  Aveion and Danielle's wedding is tomorrow, so I'll be back soon!

Kevin

WPPI Studio of the Month!!!

WOW!!!  I was just notified that I received the WPPI Studio of the month today!!  I am so honored as they literally pick from photographers ALL over the world!!!  I also think that I may be the first photographer to get named studio of the month TWICE!!!(I also got it in 2004!)  OK, I am on cloud nine as I am soo excited!!  Thanks again to all of my wonderful clients who give me the freedom and time to create great images for them!

Here is the link to the article for those that want to read it!

KJ named WPPI Studio of the Month!!

Kevin

Before and After Shots

I get emails like the following all of the time from folks wanting to know how I get my images to "pop" and my "colors" so beautiful, so I thought I would show some before and after shots and discuss them here.

"Your images are some of the most beautiful that I have EVER seen.  How do you do it?".....Sean in Michigan

"Can you show a few shots straight out of the camera compared to the final image?  I am amazed at your photos and I bet your clients LOVE you."..... Doreen in Ohio

"OK, what is your secret?  My images never look like yours!  Any tips you can share?"..... Cindy in Texas

" I have been a photographer for 18 years and I have seen your work published all over and I always know which images are yours!  You have a special gift and I'd love to get any advice you can give me so that my images can look half as good!" ........... Bob in California

I think these emails bring out a GREAT point in that a lot of what I do as an artist comes "AFTER" the photo has been taken!  I think it is VERY important to start with an well lit, properly exposed image, so that in post processing, it is easy to manipulate and bring out the best in each image.  I honestly believe that my clients realize the value of my retouched images versus those straight out of the camera and I love them for that!

OK, with that said, here are a few examples...

I like to underexpose my images in camera just a bit to ensure that I do not blow out any highlights. I think that when shooting digitally, this is a MUST!

Straight out of camera....

THE FINAL IMAGE

I really wanted to add some texture to this image and give the moment a darker moodier feel to it, so I desaturated the colors and converted it to sepia with my "Dark Sepia" outdoor action and then I added a texture on top of the image and blended it in to make this photo one of my favorites from the session.

Straight out of the camera...

Once again, I underexposed on purpose so that not to lose any background detail.  I then bumped up the contrast in the image to bring out the colors and then smoothed out the skin just a bit.

THE FINAL IMAGE

Straight out of the camera...



Similar to the first example, I underexposed to keep detail in the background buildings.

THE FINAL IMAGE



I upped the contrast a bit and then overlayed a texture to really give the image a nostalgic feel!

Ok, one more for now...

Straight out of camera....

I really like the initial image as their expressions really make the shot.  They are thrilled to be married and it shows!

THE FINAL IMAGE



Here was my vision for the final image as I wanted the emotion to really come out.  I desaturated the color upped the brightness a bit so that the focus is really on them and their connection.  I really love the result!

If you guys like seeing these, let me know and I'll make sure to post a lot more down the road!!

I'm off to Las Vegas for a couple weeks for the big WPPI Convention!

Thanks to everyone that signed up early for my SOLD OUT Class that I will be giving!!  I will also be judging the print competition as well as making a few surprise appearances, so I'll be sure to blog about them and post tons of photos!!

Thanks!

Kevin

   

Restaurant Review - PRIME Steakhouse - Bellagio, Las Vegas

The next review is the wonderful PRIME Steakhouse at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.  This is a FABULOUS steakhouse that has become VERY popular among both the locals and the tourists.  The food and service is simply first class(I would expect nothing less from a Bellagio Restaurant).  The steaks we had were so tender and full of flavor that I simply cannot wait to go back!  Not to mention, the view is stunning!  As you would figure, reservations are a must, but you can usually walk in if you are willing to eat right as they open around 5pmish.

Just make sure you ask for a table with a fountain view!  It's also a great place to people watch as it's not unusual to see celebrities dining right next to you.  We were very pleased with everything and will definitely be returning!

So on my restaurant scale, I'd rate PRIME a solid 9 out of 10!!