Senior Class Photo Sessions! Welcoming the Class of 2012!

Calling All Seniors for the Class of 2012!

To keep things affordable, I will be charging a flat rate for the photo sessions of $150 for my time and talents. After that, I’ll process the photos and allow you to pick from the ones you would like for me to process even further at $20 a photo. All photos will come with a photographers release for yearbook and printing purposes! I will travel within 30 miles of your selected location. (Anything further than that, I will charge .30 per mile, Price will be figured before travel via http://www.mapquest.com)

I will also cut your package by $35 when you book an appointment with a friend . This means you receive more of my time and more photos! Plus, you get to include the friends who’ve been with you through the thick and thin of the past four years! It allows for a great time creatively and a chance to get great photographs of you and your friends!

I will also cut $25 off your setting fee for ever friend you refer to me! 🙂 It is possible to get your senior photos for next to no cost!

Senior Photos Today

Senior photos today aren’t what they were when I was in High School *cough* ten years ago *cough! cough!*. Those crazy photos where you were looking over your shoulder, starring into space (I mean, really?) are antiquated and dated. These days senior photos are reflecting the accomplishments and personality of your soon-to-be graduates using nature, places, and color! So lets make it count. Because I honestly look back on MY OWN senior photos and think, “OMG! Really?!” And NOT in a good way.=

Location, Location, Location!

Nathaniel– I made use of our walk through downtown Royal Oak to know that Nate really liked Old movie (the Cary Grant kind) and travel. So we found an old pub that had a very distressed looking wall and I really tried to emphasize distance and a wandering traveler feel once we got to the train tracks.

Beth– She really loved color and chose to wear a beautiful blue and green top that brought out her gorgeous blue eyes! These photos were done on the Oakland University Campus right in front of the library building where there is a fountain that made for beautiful blue and green backgrounds.

To book a session (and there are limited number of times left!) please call Amanda at 248.880.1975 and please visit her website by clicking HERE!

*All photo session fees must be purchased up front before shooting begins.

Enjoy the Beautiful Weather!

Blessings,

Amanda

A Window Of Opportunity

I have been trying to take as many photos as I possibly can. I don’t want to be a hobby photographer. I want to be a photographer. Period. So when a window of opportunity comes up for me to take photos of a toddler and an infant, well, I took it!

This past Saturday I had the immense pleasure of being welcomed into the home of my friends Kevin and Shannon. Both of them were so wonderful to just let me have creative reign over whatever I wanted to do and they just went with the flow.

These are just a few of Joshua who was so giving and so sweet. I was even inaugurated in the special “Josh Bosh” club when he started to give me his toys.

And then there was Rebecca. The challenge to wait for this beautiful creation to open her eyes was well worth the wait!

It was such a beautiful day out side that we decided to shoot some family photos and of course little Josh had a blast because Dad played his favorite game… Piggy Back Riding!

Shannon asked me to give her a family portrait that emulates her current life. And this is what I came up with: A couple who are still madly in love and are able to steal a kiss while Shannon holds onto her baby and a curious Toddler dances in the background. I think all parents agree that this is the life of a mom. So many hats and mine is off to you!

Thanks so much to Kevin and Shannon for giving me a glimpse into their life!

Amanda K.

A Word for 2011

I know that nearly 1/4 of 2011 is gone and I’m not one to make resolutions on New Years because who ACTUALLY keeps those? That crazy 15lbs that I wanted to loose are still hanging around, but truth be known, a back injury has kept me from getting rid of it. So there! LOL At least my excuse is plausible and I feel less guilty about grabbing that chocolate covered Marshmallow egg. It’s one time a year! What the hay!

I’m starting a new journey of actually trying to pursue a career that is for me because it’s what I WANT to do, and I HAVE to do because I’m sick and tired of denying myself the joy of life. I’ve worked since I was 14 years old and all my jobs were to get one thing: Money. As I grew up I started to view my job(s) as a method of survival so I could pay my bills. Then my job became my crutch. I was afraid to move. Afraid to take a chance. Failure was always in my mind before it was ever in my sight. So I ignored my dreams for a while, never truly finding happiness in participating of the circle of life.

I was sort of like my cat here:

Bored with life and sick and tired of sleeping in a large empty bed with nothing to show for it.

Because I have a back injury that was on the job, it has forced me to go on a medical leave. I’m determined to make the most of the time I’ve got. It’s not the most idyllic situation, but I am determined to make it an optimistic one.

I almost picked optimism for my word of the year, but it was almost like I was looking up but giving myself an escape clause in case if things didn’t go according to plan. So my word for year is going to be GLORIOUS. Glorious makes me look for the joy even in the hard times. It gives me hope that there IS a bend around the corner and even if I don’t know what’s around it, I’ll still be okay. I want to look for the hope and joy and the bad and the ugly. For you can’t have one without the other.

So here’s to a GLORIOUS year!

Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Mandi

Beginnings

Hello! I guess passion is very much like joining an blogging AA meeting…

“Hello, my name is Amanda and I’m in love with pictures”

I guess it’s up to you if you say “Hello Amanda!” or not (I hope you do!), but let it be known, I was never in denial, I just didn’t tell anyone. So now I’m opening my mouth and placing it all on the line just to see what happens which I hope is fruitful because it’s scary as heck putting your soul out there for the world to see! Now that I’m ready to take my practices and put them to good use, I’m finding the challenge to be more than I bargained for when it comes to cutting through the massive sea of doubt. And by doubt, it’s not necessarily MY doubt, but other people’s judgment in me. Especially the ones who’ve never seen my work.

For instance, I went to Best Buy and I was looking for just a small portable lens cleaner, (I had found some of these individual pre-wrapped clothes about 2 years ago but haven’t been able to find them since,). Unable to find what I was looking for, I was forced to ask someone where the stuff actually was. I despise asking people at stores like that because there is always someone who gives me “the look”.

Its the, “You-Look-Like-An-Incompetent-Photographer” look. It’s the look that makes someone feel so inferior and small that you’d never make it on a cold day in photography hell.

Well, my trip this was no different. Normally I HATE talking about what I do because 1) they’ll try to sell me something 2) when they find out that I have all I need, they try to tell me that it’s antiquated or a piece of crap (I own an Olympus e600 and it’s only a year and a half old), or 3) they try to show off.

Well the service sales guy (we’ll call him “The Dude”) accomplished all three of the above. So when he hits #3 on the list he begins to try and convince me that on a DSLR camera the f-stop stands for the shutter speed. It’s not. It’s aperture and any self respected photo taker KNOWS that. So when I tried to tell him he was wrong, the guy got really upset and furiously tries to prove me wrong.

So the Moral of the story kids is this: Sometimes being right isn’t always the most important. I ended up letting “The Dude” go on with his bad self. (It’s nice to know that he’s not competition for business) and I walked out of the store never finding what I needed which was lens cleaner. But I sure was feeling like someone just ran me over! Even if he was wrong. I ended up going to Meijer and getting a stick cleaner that has liquid in one end, a brush on the other, and a lens cloth all under $5 and no hassle. If only all places could be like that!

On the upside, I ended up finishing my website yesterday and with good results. I hope you check it out if you’re in the Rochester Hills area (Amanda K. Photography) I’m running a great promo and I really want to expand my children portfolio. So if you have children… let me shoot them…with a camera. (Duh!)

Amanda K.