While in Alabama I’ve been researching every type of Album company I can find. I’ve finally settled on three great great vendors that I am very excited about. I just received my first small album with panoramic spreads and I’m thrilled about the opportunities for this style. It is a beautiful excellently crafted piece that is great for an engagment album or parent album. The pages are thick and sturdy just like a flush mount wedding album but the press printed style allows the album to be offered at a more exciting price. Sizes, however, are limited up to 8 inches square. The paper can be linen, pearl, or semi-gloss and the full page spreads are gorgeous. I am seriously digging this book!

One of the great opportunities of being down south, is the chance to attend all the workshops, seminars and photography events that I can muster in one year.  The first progam I attended was Sandy Puc’s “Bellies and Babies” Tour. Sandy is an extraordinary photographer who has been photographing children for what sounds like at least two decades. Her work is beautiful and dreamy and she provided those of us in the audience a glimpse into her techniques and workflow.

One of the areas she really worked into a science is the art of photographing a newborn. Getting great photographs of the baby or the baby with her mother can actually be fostered through a quick run of a handfull of poses.

In the past I would just sit and watch to see what would happen or I tended to wait until babies were about 3 months old. After seeing Sandy at work and incorporating her poses and techniques, I felt much more prepared for the unknowns of the newborn! For the first attempt with my new found arsenal, I enlisted the help of a local mom and her little girl, Kallyn, to do some modeling for me.  Thank you for your patience and allowing me the opportunity to photograph your beautiful baby girl!

We are living within about an hour of my childhood hometown. One of the biggest perks included with that is the opportunity to see my best friend since childhood on an almost routine basis. She recently moved back to Alabama from stints in New York and Chile and she brought with her a beautiful family! It helps that her boys are both under four and makes for a nice pow wow when we all get together with my rambunctious sons!

One of the things I love to do with the portraits I’ve taken is to create cards or portrait books. Christmas cards are my favorite and my BFF was game when I proposed the idea as a little Christmas present. We rounded up the boys in her basement and I fired away. My homemade backdrop didn’t work out as planned so we solved that problem by going black and white. I think subconciously I had the inspiration for their photos from some groovy paintings she picked up recently at a garage sale. The two paintings remind me of era of the fifties or sixties. They are dark and dimly lit and are of a matador and a lady. Our photo session tended to have a bit of that Spanish flair, especially the photos of just the husband and wife.

Quite fun!

I recently created a few new portrait books just in time for the Christmas holidays. I love, love, love portrait books. I have several — actually way too many — of my own boys and I think they are a great way to document a portrait session.

I also recently created a beautiful 10 inch square book from a photo session with two tremendously photographic kids from Anchorage. I was so excited by the results that I had to whip up a few smaller versions of my own kid’s session as a last minute gift to the grandparents. Both grandmothers actually received the same thing the previous year and loved them. (Well, that’s what they tell me. They are biased and related so you might take that with a grain of salt!)

Anyway, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a family tradition from now on because it is way too much fun to look back at their expressions and see how much they’ve grown! And the big bonus is that it’s more economical than printing out all those fun pictures individually.

I am a photographer. I love what I do. I strive to capture vibrant photographs that are classic and clean with a touch of emotion to them. I prefer an uncluttered photo and a cluttered desk. I love the finished product and agonize over the process. I am an Alaskan who recently returned from a year long stint in Alabama. I have the good fortune of photographing people in the last frontier. I would love to photograph your experience.

First time here?

Start with the galleries under the “Portfolio” tab. It’s a faster way to get to know my style and browse specific categories. For more recent weddings and sessions select the “Weddings” or “Portraits” tabs from the absolute top of the screen located in the black bar. You can readily access pricing and package information as well by choosing the “Sessions & Packages” tab. Not sure what a gallery wrap canvas, image box or portrait book is? Check out the “Portrait Pricing” dropdown also under “Sessions & Packages” for more details.

Don’t forget to drop me a note or leave a comment! It makes my day. Thank you for stopping by!

I spent an awesome three days attending the Shoot With Beckstead workshop here in Birmingham, Alabama.  What fun!  It added another realm of thinking to my composition.  Mark Lawley hosted the event and was kind enough to hook us up with two incredibly vivid locations to shoot.  

My mind is now swirling with all the new ideas and inspiration that I was able absorb from David.  David is a world renowned photographer who focuses primarily on destination weddings.  His work is brilliant.  Check it out.  www.davidbeckstead.com