This week I had to opportunity to photograph Antioch Family Worship Center's annual youth conference, CRAVE :: experience the fullness. I was unable to attend Tuesday night's or Wednesday morning's service, however, the services I was able to attend were amazing! Below are some images from Wednesday night's service. Chris Hill was the guest speaker.
Look for my next post with images from Thursday morning's session!
How come everyone can pull off a hat but me?
Um... Beautiful!
CLICK HERE for a slideshow of this session!
I first met Shelby when she was 7 years old and going into the second grade. Now, a decade later, I find myself shooting her senior pictures! Wow! Where does the time go? When I first moved to Kansas City, Shelby's mom and step-dad graciously allowed me to live with them, and provided for me for the next 4yrs! What an amazing sacrifice! Even though our lives are separate now, I am still forever grateful for the commitment they made for me.
We decided to split Shelby's session into two separate days. For part one of this session, we chose to shoot in a couple of parks in Johnson County.
This afternoon, we did part two of her session in downtown Kansas City. Below is a quick peek of our day.
More to come!
She showed up with curlers still in her hair, but in spite of that fact, she showed up looking fabulous. If you google Kansas City Photographers, you will end up with a million results, but Christine is one in a million. We found that we both had shared a common client, and officially met each other last month at a Perfect Wedding Guide vendor luncheon. We spent almost two hours afterward chatting and sharing stories and ideas. Meeting with her felt as if I had known her for years, and it was so refreshing! I offered to do a spotlight on her and her business, and we met up again this past Tuesday. We had a blast shooting in the Crossroads district. Christine is the photographer and owner of Click Photography. I asked her to share a few tidbits about her photography. Check her out... she's amazing!
How long have you been photographing weddings? Professionally, almost 6 years. Time flies! 
What first got you interested in shooting weddings? My first wedding sparked my interest. I was fresh out of high school and a friend of mine invited me to their shotgun wedding. A few days before the wedding, he asked me if I would be their photographer. Hello, WHAT! I pleaded for him to reconsider, as I only had a 35mm manual camera, a junk flash, and NO experience. I hadn’t even seen a wedding before...how would I even know what to do. He coaxed me into agreeing because they couldn’t afford a professional or hopes of even finding one available on such short notice. I agreed...thus the beginning of my addiction. You could say it was love at first wedding.
What do you enjoy most about photographing weddings? To know that I had just provided a couple with some images that will grace their walls, shelves, albums, and memories for a very long, long time. Cheesy as it may be, I try to visualize the couple at their 50th wedding anniversary and showing off their wedding pictures. That is very comforting thought and THAT is why I enjoy weddings so much. 
What is your favorite part of the day? I have so many, but I think my favorite is the cake cutting...for two reasons. The first is me standing on the sidelines with my camera waiting and hoping for some good ol’ cake smashing. I LOVE a good food fight. Cake smeared all over the Bride & Groom’s face is an instant favorite among the photography collection. The second is because at this point in the long day of standing, squatting, knelling, climbing, or running for awesome shots, I feel I’ve burned off enough calories that I’m entitled to treat myself to a piece of wedding cake. YUM!
What type of clients do you find yourself most working with? Clients who are willing to experiment and have fun with the photography is a must... It is a treat and honor for my couples to have fun with the pictures and trust me when I ask them to do bizarre posing. But I really, truly enjoy clients who never lose sight of what the day is all about....their love, their commitment. When the Bride & Groom are enjoying their day and each other, the images have awesome impact. You can actually see their love through the image. That is photography at its best. 
What current trend in wedding photography do you most like personaly? Oh, my...just one? I would have two that are tied. Tilt-shift lens images...something so intense about having an image with only a narrow stripe along the image that is in focus. The other would have to be multi-flash images. They definitely take more time, both in front of the camera and at the computer, but how SWEET is it when I can put multiple images with moving the flash around, into ONE image. It’s like having THAT many lights on them. ...24 is the most I’ve done before...and it’s WICKED COOL!
Are there any particular suggestions you give your clients when you meet with them in regards to planning for their day?
Are you kidding?! TONS! Um, let’s see...
1: Having an Usher remind guests to turn off their ringers for ceremony (I once was forced to listen to the soundtrack to “Sex In the City” during the wedding vows).
2: DON’T forget the rings or marriage license (half an hour before a ceremony I look to the Groom for the rings for a picture...and then he immediately sprinted out of the church with a look of terror on his face. He must have done 100 mph to home and back before the wedding started).
3: Wear a bridal gown you are comfortable in (ladies, if you can’t sit or breathe in your dress, it’s not worth wearing...it will ruin the fun).
4: Bring a “comfy” pair of heels or flipflops to wear at the reception or other parts of the day (no bleeding feet on the wedding day).
5: Have ALL the men try on their complete suit and shoes before the day (I’ve had a wedding where the best man had NO pants zipper...ahhh!).
6: Print out a time line of events of list of family/friends requested for group shots and hand out either at rehearsal dinner or early wedding day
(make sure you tell your family/friends an approximate time and where they need to be for stuff).
7: Have a “Go-To” person (a pro wedding planner is one of the best insurances of a smooth wedding day, but at least a friend or sister that’s bossy, sweet, and quick thinking to get things organized would be grrrrrreeeeaaaat!).
8: Plan your reception with minimal downtime (if too much time is slow and uneventful at the reception, guests start leaving early...best to get main events out of the way within the first hour or two).
9: Fake lashes (I’m not a super-fake promoter...but I LOVE LOVE LOVE how they look on my Brides...GLAMOUR).
10: Don’t chew neon green gum during portrait time (unless you can blow a big green bubble for me to snap a pic of).
11: If the couple doesn’t see each other before the ceremony, plan for 1.5 hours before the ceremony (switching out the Bride, Groom, and some family shots), and plan for that much after the wedding (sounds like a lot...but it’s a tragedy when things run late and the picture-fun-time has to make up for it. Best to plan for more time than not enough...so make sure to plan your reception time accordingly).
12: Give your photographer a piece of wedding cake (consider this a tip for the hard work....and it will make her very very happy:)
....ok...that’s probably the major stuff right there.
Are there any other fun facts that you want my reader to know about you? While in college to be a Computer Aided Drafter, I took an Intro to Digital Photography (it was when digital cameras were just getting attention). I had a 4.0 grade point average before that class....and I failed the final. Ironic...I’m now a professional digital photographer. Hum. :) I’m only not embarrassed by that because I’ve worked very hard and never gave up. My middle name is “Determined”...or my mom would just say “Obsessed”. haha
In these last few images, Christine chose to dress in her pajamas and bring along her favorite coffee mug. Christine informed me that this is pretty much how she looks during the hours spent editing and working on products for her clients :)
CLICK HERE for a slideshow of this session!
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