photographer – Kansas City Photography

Exploring Denver’s Botanical Gardens with Usagi!

April 16, 2018April 16, 2018 by Kansas City Photography, posted in Photoshoots

Hey, everyone! Tatiana here to share with you my little adventure in Denver, Colorado, this past weekend.

As many of you know, cosplay and cosplay photography are both passions of mine.

As Maid of Honor in my best friend Ashley’s wedding, I’ve been finding myself in the Denver area more often!

And in between a dress fitting and other wonderful Maid of Honor duties, I just had to book some photoshoots while I was in this scenic state! I reached out to Pirefly Cosplay, who I worked with during our on-location shoots at the anime convention NDK last year.

And I’m so happy that our pretty guardian, Michelle, was free to do some more “Sailor Moon” magic with me!

We originally planned for a casual Usagi springtime shoot, but Denver is getting a lot of the typical Missouri weather weirdness, so it was impossible to predict the cold front that happened!

Luckily, Denver’s Botanical Gardens has a vast variety of scenic backdrops with or without the flowers in full bloom!

We had so much fun recollecting scenes from our favorite “magical girl” anime, including Usagi casually waiting for her boyfriend Mamoru. But knowing our meatball head, she would have the time and location wrong!

This location couldn’t have been more perfect because the gardens have an entire Japanese plant section! It’s seriously an Otaku’s dream location — so we will have to set up an event here for this coming NDK!

We both felt some Crystal Tokyo vibes with the inner building designs.

AND DOOM TREE VINES! AAAAAHHH!!!!

The Japanese Garden area also had gorgeous crystal clear ponds and majestic mini waterfalls to create AMAZING backdrops.

Thank you SO MUCH, Michelle, for meeting me here and experiencing this beautiful location with me!

Cosplay shoots are so fun and exciting for me and I am always up for doing them!

Speaking of — I will be back in Denver this September for NDK. We will be setting up more on-location shoots during the convention!

A Day In The Life Of A Photographer – Come To Work With Me!

January 23, 2018 by Kansas City Photography, posted in Photoshoots

Hey, everyone! Tatiana here.

I thought would be nice to do a sort of “take your readers to work” sort of blog! Come with me and I will take you on a magical journey into the life of a full time photographer.

My work station is pretty glamorous, right? I usually edit photos in my living room because it’s the darkest room in the house. Although natural lighting makes for the best photos, I can’t have any glares on my laptop screen while I’m editing! So I shut the blinds and get to workin’.

Depending on the amount of shoots I have to edit, I usually spend 6-8 hours a day editing!

Factoring in potty breaks for both myself and the fur babies, of course!

And then I also have to factor in the spot stealing, which adds more time to the work day. I’m very fortunate to have such a comfortable work space, but I have to maintain a lot of self discipline to get my deadlines completed on time! So my doggos are usually in another room as they can be rather distracting.

During the slow season, I will use my office hours to network on our social media platforms, set up meetings with potential clients, and research new locations to shoot.

I never thought I would be able to visit a haunted winery for work, but that’s all part of my awesome job! This job is also so wonderful because I get to capture monumental and touching memories for my dear friends, as well as the amazing people who book with us!

During the busy season, I usually find myself away from “the office” more often. Here’s an example of a typical week:

I started off June with an elegant engagement shoot at Unity Village with Taylor and Tyler. We usually want to have the teasers and blog completed within 3 days after the shoot so our clients can see the magic as soon as possible!

During this time, I still had another engagement shoot, a 6 hour babyshower event, and Mia’s newborn shoot (shown above) to complete as well as the teasers for the most current shoot.

This is where that self discipline stuff comes in. My job depends greatly on holding myself accountable to get the photos done on time as well as producing teasers for the current client of the day.

Time management is crucial because weekdays mean the weekend is just around the corner. This particular corner in June had three photoshoots — ON THE SAME DAY!

We started off the day at good ol’ Unity to celebrate Clarissa’s graduation.

This gorgeous arced rose bush was truly a lucky wonder because the following week, it was gone! I’m always grateful for the clients who go along with my vision because there’s always a good reason I yell “quick, GET IN THE BUSH!,” which I probably learned from Christine.

After this shoot, I had just enough time to drive to West Bottoms to do another engagement shoot with Sydney and Zane.

West Bottoms is probably our second most requested location, which means I should probably do a separate blog on it soon!

Anyways, after this shoot I had an hour or so wiggle room before my next shoot — BACK AT UNITY VILLAGE!

I’m so happy I was able to meet this awesome girl, although it was due to severe weather keeping Christine in St. Louis that day. Natalie’s dance shoot was almost interrupted by that same storm! Thankfully, it started pouring once the time was up.

No matter how busy the business gets, I wouldn’t have it any other way! Life as a photographer lets me discover new places, meet new people, and most importantly it give me room to have time with my family.

I hope you enjoyed this blog! Going through these older photos has me ready for SPRING! <3

Make sure to follow Kansas City Photography on Facebook!

Following ‘Duck-Ducks’ at Bass Pro! A Special Engagement Shoot!

October 19, 2017 by Kansas City Photography, posted in Photoshoots

Oh, hi! Tatiana on the blog scene to show you this special engagement shoot for Samantha and Zachary!

Now, I say special because this engagement shoot had a plus one — or rather, 2-year-old Louella! Look at how precious she is!!!

When I met with Sam and Zach for coffee to go over our wedding packages, they wanted to make sure little Louella could be a part of their engagement photos since she is such a huge part of their lives. Of couuuurse! No one could say no to that cute, little face!

Sam and Zach chose Bass Pro Waterfall Park for their location because they really wanted to incorporate a waterfall in their photos, along with the changing leaves of the season.

Unfortunately, Bass Pro was not on the same wave length and although the weather hasn’t quite turned, the waterfall was “turned off” for the winter.

Our walk to the waterfall, however, sparked Louella’s main interest: the “duck-ducks” — which were actually geese … but she was in the right ballpark.

As soon as she saw those little aquatic birdies down in the lake, she had forsaken the rock she was so desperately clinging to the whole shoot and tried to bolt!

Luckily, her parents were on it and swooped her up, just like I was on it to capture the only smile we could get out of her!

Toddlers are hard to please, but she was overjoyed to go down to see the geese.

One day she’ll grow up and realize they’re actually kind of mean, but until then … enjoy those “duck-ducks!”

Of course when she kept trying to dive in, her Aunt, who was on standby, took Louella to the play area.

Now, back to the happy couple!

Zach chose a beautiful ring with an amethyst-like stone as the gorgeous centerpiece.

Since purple is my favorite color, it’s automatically amazing in my book!

Zach proposed to Sam on Valentine’s Day. He was going to propose when he took her out to dinner that evening, but Sam said he got too nervous and instead proposed right there in the kitchen before they left! Isn’t that adorable?!

Sam and Zach met online via “Meet Me.” We have noticed more of our clients are finding true love on the web, like our Free Engagement Shoot winners!

And we just love love! <3

Since then, they’ve created a beautiful family together and have a wonderful wedding ahead of them — which they booked through us! We’re so excited!

See you again on the big day! <3

And we send you the biggest congratulations!

Make sure to follow Kansas City Photography on Facebook!

Briana and Brian’s Rustic Engagement Shoot!

September 20, 2017September 20, 2017 by Kansas City Photography, posted in Photoshoots

When I first arrived for Briana and Brian’s engagement shoot, I was met at the door with a grandma holding a shotgun. But more on that later!

Briana and Brian were winners from our free engagement shoot when I, Tatiana, first got hired on to work for Kansas City Photography!

Briana had a vision for her photos, so she and her fiancé Brian chose some gorgeous farmland out in Buckner for their location! It was beautiful for a rustic, country setting.

The farm is actually owned by her friends family, and that friend is also named Brianna.

When I arrived, the other Brianna’s grandma came out with a shotgun. It wasn’t pointed at me or anything, but I still wasn’t sure if I should laugh at the sight, or turn around and make a run for it. I explained I was there for Briana’s engagement shoot, and the grandma was in shock.

She told me she didn’t realize her granddaughter was engaged.

I TOTALLY THOUGHT I SPILLED THE WEDDING BEANS ON ACCIDENT!

Thankfully, it was just a miscommunication (that I meant Briana and not her granddaughter Brianna) that resulted in a funny thing I could write about.

Briana wanted a sunset photoshoot. We recommend doing 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. range for sunset backgrounds because once it starts setting, it’s not gonna wait on us to get to the next location! They are also using this antler for their “Save the Date” notice. So clever!

I couldn’t get over how beautiful Briana’s makeup was and then she told me she got it done from the same woman who does some of the Kansas City Chief’s ladies makeup — Dani Jo Bell Makeup Artistry. Work that contour, girl!

Brian and Briana met as Bass Pro Shop about four years ago to the dot. Literally, their anniversary was a week ago!

He proposed in the kitchen while dancing and cooking because all his previous attempts were interrupted.

First, he tried to take Briana to the place they first kissed, then later wanted to ask on a hunting trip; but then Briana was too sick to go. Finally, he just couldn’t wait any longer and asked her — right there in the kitchen!

I couldn’t stop myself from asking Brain to get up on the silo for this shot. This farm was a photographer gold mine! It was worth the constant bug attacks, right?

I love it when I get questions like “Can I get a picture of me touching his butt?” The answer is always a resounding “YES! Touch that booty!”

Seriously, it really brings personality to the photos! Also, it’s just really funny.

Remember what I said earlier about how the sun waits for no one? Well, that was true for the last half of the shoot. Still, I worked my photographer magic, played with the recipe of the photo, and pretended something was taken in daylight — can you even tell it’s nighttime? 😉

And it wouldn’t be a photoshoot I did without a furry friend somewhere. This doggo was following me all over the farm! I think his name was Buddy.

I really wanted to take him home, but Eric would probably not be too happy.

He just wanted to wish Brian and Briana a happily ever after — as do we at Kansas City Photography!