Lamar Studios Photography » Family

Arizona Mountain Biker | Senior Pictures

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:02:17 +0000

I love it when people have a passion for some sport or hobby. It makes it fun to photograph when they are eager to share that passion with me so I can capture some notion of them. Nick is one of the top mountain bikers in Arizona in his class. We shot everything near my Agritopia studio since I didn’t know he was bringing his bike and gear. It would be fun to go on location some day and get some action shots too.

These are a few of the ones I like.

Share on Facebook

Bass Playing Senior | Gilbert Photographer

admin — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:29:56 +0000

When Cody walked in the door with his bass, I thought, what are we going to do with that huge thing. I had never had a bass in the studio before so I had him get it out of the case and then I had an idea for what to do with that huge thing. I love the beauty of the wood in string instruments and wanted to show it off but this photo was about Cody and how music is part of his life.

Cody and his dad were so easy going and helpful and went along with my ideas even though they had no idea what the end photograph might end like. I think we (the team at Lamar Studios, Cody and his dad) got some great images that they can enjoy and share for years to come.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Share on Facebook

Fun Senior Shoot | Outdoor Photography

admin — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 02:33:47 +0000

It was hot outside but living in the Phoenix area I expected that. What I didn’t expect was how much variety we would get out of just one outfit. Sometimes it’s hard for me to visualize what I want from a shoot but Gabrielle and her mom brought in some layouts from another shoot that they had seen. The layouts gave me a starting place but I have to make it my own and it’s also hard to duplicate what someone else has done and where is the creativity in that. I also worried that Gabrielle might not be able to pull off the look we were after but she was like a pro. I was impressed how she could get the right look without a lot of direction.

It is so rewarding to see the results of what can happen when it all comes together in a photo shoot. I love shooting the seniors.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Share on Facebook

Water Babies | Gilbert Arizona Photographer

admin — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 20:02:29 +0000

My girls love to play in the water. My wife caught a few shots of the girls with the camera I got her for Mother’s Day. Those girls love water, dirt, rocks and fancy shoes. I am so blessed by them in so many ways.

Share on Facebook

Agritopia Garden | Gilbert Photographer

admin — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 01:23:56 +0000

This Saturday I went with Bethany and our two girls to our local coffee shop, wisely named The Coffee Shop. I love being able to walk through our beautiful neighborhood and getting my favorite coffee and seeing my neighbors. After a while we strolled over to the Agritopia Garden to look at all the community garden plots. It’s really lot of fun to grow your own vegetables so I am told. We don’t have our spot in the community garden yet but hope to have one soon.

The thing I love about our Agritopia community is that I see so many of our friends and neighbors when I go for a walk or get a cup of joe at The Coffee Shop. We also like going to Joe’s Farm Grill as well when we get a chance but with two small girls we need to keep moving.

Any way I can’t wait to get our little garden spot so my girls can go digging and play in the dirt. They sure do like dirt. While walking back to our house we saw a man who was picking carrots and gave a few to the girls. They loved it and when we got back home we washed the carrots and the girls ate them. Here are a few pictures of us wandering through the garden area. It really is the simple things in life that are so special to me.

Share on Facebook

Playing With Swords | Senior Pictures Chandler

admin — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:22:35 +0000

When Ricky came in for senior pictures he brought a few changes of clothes and seemed like any average seventeen year old boy. In some ways he was a normal teenager, but when I started talking with him and asking about what he likes doing, he said he was into fencing. Yeah, that’s right, with swords.

How cool is that, swords. That was every boy’s dream growing up. We would make a sword out of anything. So here was this guy in my studio who is competes in sword fights and he didn’t want to bring his sword fighting gear because he thought it was weird or something like that.

We kept talking and I told him I thought it was the coolest and I wanted him to come back so I could make some great shots of him in his fencing gear. I told him it was for me and I had some ideas and would he do it for me if not for himself.

He came back and we did a bunch of shots and I’ve posted a few that I like. When he and his family ordered his senior pictures the majority of them were from the fencing shoot.

Rod Stewart sang “Every picture tells a story” which is true but I often find that when I know someone’s story it leads to a picture. When I take the time to find out even a little bit about someone I am usually blessed and go away richer for it. Thanks to Ricky for sharing a little bit of who he is I had more fun shooting and got some cool images for both of us.

Share on Facebook

Corey’s Senior Pictures | Gilbert Photography

admin — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:21:37 +0000

I love photographing high school seniors and Corey is no exception. I could tell when he came in that this was not what he would choose to do with his free time. He was really nice and very polite but like a lot of high school boys didn’t relish the idea of getting his picture taken.

I came to find out that he likes being behind the camera and is a cinematographer and likes shooting and editing. After I found out that we had something in common, we started talking shop and I was asking him all about his passion. Although I like cinema, I don’t know that much about editing so Corey shared his experience with me.

As we talked, I was able to shoot a more confident Corey and got some great natural shots of him. Once I heard he was into video I knew there was a shot I wanted to get. I’m glad he brought his camera because it helped me tell a story. I envisioned a sort of backlit slightly mysterious photograph leaving a lot the interpretation up to the viewer. Only after we finished shooting and I was prepping the images for viewing did I get the idea for the “cinema verite” poster. It just seemed to fit and had a very sixties look.

I am often inspired by the seniors who come in and are open to sharing a little bit of their lives with me. It always helps me in my photography and I love learning what they are into.

Share on Facebook

Meredith’s Senior Pictures | Senior Portraits Queen Creek

admin — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:09:27 +0000

Today my wife is visiting with one of her favorite friends, which reminded me of the senior pictures we did of her daughter Meredith. Although she graduated a while ago and is at college now I wanted to write about her.

Meredith loves horses and would work at a stable just to have the privilege of riding and taking care of the horses. When we set up her photo shoot we wanted to tell a story of her and her love for those magnificent animals.

We wanted to do the shoot on location and ended up in a great place even if it had some limitations. As you may know, it’s not always easy finding greenery and barns in the Phoenix area. I am always amazed by what we can pull off with the right lenses and equipment to make it look like there is so much more there than really is.

This photo shoot was truly a team effort all the way from the actual photography to the right clothing to the people getting the horses to look the right way. My wife had the idea for the shot of Meredith swinging while the horse grazes in the background. I am so jealous of those mid west photographers who have lots of greenery and room to photograph but we made it work and that’s what great shoots are all about.

All in all I was really glad we could pull it off with everyone’s help. Thanks to Meredith, Bethany, Frank, Sandy, Linda, Jerome and whoever else was there. You all helped capture that special time in her life.

Share on Facebook

Christmas pictures of the kids | Gilbert Photographer

admin — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 18:46:27 +0000

I love taking photographs of my kids. They are just amazing to me and never cease to make me laugh.

One of the things I love about photography is getting a snapshot of that special moment in time. I love spending time with them and enjoying the things they do that are unique to them. The great thing about capturing those moments is that when I look at the photos it helps me think about all things they were doing at that time of their life.

I am looking forward to Christmas this year since they both are into it. I am trying not to spoil them too much. Sophia will be three next month and Lilly is 20 months. Time flies when you’re having fun.

Have a Merry Christmas, I know I will.

Share on Facebook

Festive Fall Photographs | Children’s Photographer AZ

admin — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 19:22:52 +0000

Here are a few of the photographs from our Pumpkin Patch Pics event. My little girl is the cute cowgirl.
I had a really great time with our Pumpkin Patch photographs this year. This was the best fall set I think I have ever seen except for Mother Nature in New England. There were so many great costumes. I am always surprised at how many different costumes there are and how creative people are.

We photographed a duck and some turkeys and a few princesses, a cowgirl, a clown and few ninjas. There were more but you’ll have to look at our facebook page to see all of them.

I always enjoy photographing the kids in their costumes. It seems like Halloween is as much or more for the parents. Being a parent myself I confess that I enjoy seeing my little girls all dressed up. Often the children are struggling to walk in their costumes with out falling down or they are trying to pull the hat or head off.

All in all it was a success, although I would like to see more people next year. Next year will be even better.

Share on Facebook