by Jaron | Nov 8, 2011 | Family, Newborn
Big thanks to baby Wyatt’s mom Britney for entrusting me with the honor of photographing her newborn. This was my first newborn shoot that I have done, but I knew from the moment she asked me to shoot it that she had complete trust in what I could do. That is so huge to me. As a photographer, knowing I have that kind of trust gives me complete freedom to do the best job possible, and lets me focus on creativity instead of worrying about other things. I love knowing that my clients are my friends, not just people I do work for. Thank you Britney.
Moving on. Little Wyatt was an adorable baby. Even though the house felt like an oven and he had just been fed, he refused to sleep for the first half of the shoot, but he still let us take some great pictures of him. I guess he wanted to be awake for his first modeling job 🙂 The new big sister, Kennedy, was super helpful and adorable too. I couldn’t help but get some ridiculously cute shots of her too.
I loved the wall over his crib. It definitely inspired my prayer for Wyatt:
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
(Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV)
Does putting a baby on a shelf make sense? No.
Is it so cute it’s insane? YES! haha
You gotta love a family that bleeds blue! This is how we roll in Kentucky. This little Wildcat was definitely the most comfortable when wearing blue.
It was crazy! In the picture below, Wyatt actually started yelling “GOOOOOO CATS!”… not really, but that would be great right?
It was time for Wyatt to take a little break and get some food, so Kennedy tried to sneak off into her room…
Luckily me and her dad decided to follow her 🙂
Then Dave tackled her from her little bed jumping activity and they had a little tickle fight. That’s like catnip to a photographer. Turning the cute up to 11! (yes, that was a Spinal Tap reference in a newborn shoot blog post haha)
Dave loves those kids like crazy. He has definitely been blessed.
So, before heading to this shoot, knowing that Dave and Britney were huge UK fans, I figured I’d try and express that for them by bringing some colorful ESPN magazines as an awesome background to accent the awesome UK outfit they had for Wyatt. It couldn’t have turned out better!
I’d say that was a touchdown shoot… Wyatt agrees! 🙂 IT’S GOOD!!!!
by Jaron | Nov 3, 2011 | Engagement
What I loved about this shoot, is that after looking over the pictures I found that John is only looking at the camera in a few pictures. In all the rest, his eyes are locked on Jennifer. He is captivated by her. I love that. He’s captivated by everything about her. Every time I look at their pictures, I can’t help but see an incredible image of Christ’s love for us as his bride, and be overwhelmed by the fact that he is so intently and perfectly captivated by his church. He is captivated in deep and abiding love for us that we are drawn right back to him, just as Jennifer is with John. She see’s his adoration and love and knows in the most incredible way that she is safe and secure.
We started out in a small barn at keeneland, snagging sweet intimate shots with some pretty epic soft light spilling in. They were so natural together.
Prepare yourself for what is below…
Pretty incredible right? That was just the first 10 minutes of shooting, I knew I was in for some great stuff right about then.
I love when I get a picture in my head before a shoot, and it turns out exactly like I envisioned it (below)… but better 🙂
After I got way more than I expected at Keeneland, we went over to the Kentucky Horse Park for some classic Kentucky portraits with a few of the hairy friends that our state is so well known for.
The horse below may have slobbered on Jennifer just a little, but it’s just his way of saying hello. She’s the one who asked for horses. LOL
Then we went off to one of my favorite places. Hillenmeyer Nurseries old building makes for some great shots with cool color, texture, and depth. A little of the old gives the new some interesting flavor.
John really wasn’t that shocked by the ring… he knows he did a good job 😉 ^^^^
by Jaron | Oct 18, 2011 | Engagement
WOW! This shoot was PERFECT. The weather, colors, couple, and everything was perfect. Brittany and andy were so laid back and willing to have sweet, intimate moments, as well as being more than ready to be absolutely ridiculous on cue :). I wanted to try a lot of new and interesting things, and B+A were on board for all of it, no matter how long it took.
The two met while working for Teach For America in Indiana, so clearly they have amazing hearts and LOVE people. Those are the kinds of clients I love to be around. Being able to feed off of that kind of energy makes my job easy as pie.
They wanted some classic Ky pictures and a taste of the University of Kentucky, so we took care of that as well as fitting in some other detours along the way, including some fun shots outside the famous Kentucky Theater. Enjoy!
While it may seem at first glance like an odd place to shoot, this warehouse made for some interesting backgrounds and textures I’m sure to use again soon in the future.
Then off to the good Ol’ U of K. Being an alumni myself, getting to shoot on campus was a pleasure. Brittany was the Vice President of the Student Body in her college days, so this campus holds a large place in her heart.
This is kinda like biting a gold coin to test it’s quality right? 🙂
Once the sun got to the right place, we stepped out in front of the classic Memorial Hall.
Even though it was getting a bit late, Brittany and Andy humored me and let me take them downtown for one last set of shots. I’m so glad they did, because these are definitely some of my favorite shots.
by Jaron | Oct 13, 2011 | Life
I know this has little to do with photography, weddings, or portraits in general. In the end however, all of my photography is about people. Every so often I am left in awe of people, and specifically the way God uses people. This is one of those moments.
This afternoon I arrived at the Hilton in downtown Lexington, and received an unexpected blessing. The event I was shooting was for The Sanders-Brown Center on Aging (SBCoA) at UK. This event was to honor some very special people. The awards given out were known as the Dr. William R. Markesbery Senior Star Awards, and are given to those who exemplify graceful aging by remaining engaged in an active lifestyle.
It was a wonderful event, in which the great T.G. Shuck announced the honorees, and they, with help, made their way up to slowly and gracefully accept their awards. One woman had a powerful impact on me. As she slowly and painfully made her way up to the front to accept her award, T.G. announced one amazing feat after another. This woman was Ms. Lenora Kelly Olds, he informed us. She, being 88 years old, has for 25 years (almost my entire lifespan) directed “Fun Time with Lenora” on thursdays at an Owenton assisted living facility where she is as old as most of the residents. She also led the way, on her scooter, in several Relay for Life Survivor Walks. As her late husband, James, would say, “She kept the wheels hot traveling the roads for her volunteer work.”
All the others just walked up, took a picture and exited back to their tables. Ms. Lenora Kelly Olds simply stepped up with a big smile, and said only one thing.
“I’ll keep doin’ it as long as the Lord will let me.”
Then she humbly sat down with her pastor and her family and went on with her day. Thank you Ms. Lenora, I will too.
by Jaron | Oct 12, 2011 | Family
Last week I got the opportunity to test out a site that I have had on my mind for the past several weeks, and the Harris Family trusted me enough to check it out. I had the pleasure of shooting their wedding earlier this year, so I they knew I may ask for something somewhat out of the box, but any family that hears a photographer ask them to take some portraits in a deli/grocery store would be a little skeptical haha. I made sure to get the classic great pictures that every family loves over at Gratz Park, but then we took a short hike down to Shorty’s, right in the heart of downtown Lexington. I’ll let you all decide how that turned out. 🙂
The store is remarkably clean, crisp, and well organized, but to top it off it has a huge bank vault in the back of the store that made a cool frame for some fun shots.
Every kid needs some wisdom on produce… Just like my dad taught me 🙂
Gratz Park is always a classic place. You can’t go wrong.
These 2 were so awesome at this shoot. They started into modeling mode from the second we started. I couldn’t have asked for better kids to shoot.
As a special request from Mr. Rhodney Harris, we got a couple fun shots with his newest toy, the mustang convertible. It’s a part of the family too right?
And to finish off the shoot, we made sure to get some great shots of the happy couple. Only been married a few months, but they clearly love being together and I look forward to seeing them grow in love and unity for a long, long, long, long time.
