photoshoot with pets – Kansas City Photography

Should I Bring My Pet To A Photoshoot? Our Top 3 Tips!

June 21, 2017 by Kcityphotography, posted in "How To" / Tips & Tricks!

Soooo, we’re gonna cut to the chase here. The answer is a resounding “YES!”

Your pet is a part of the family, so whether it’s engagement photos or family photos, including this furry part of your family is important!

However, we have a few tips to make sure it goes smoothly.

1. Make sure to bring someone else along to help hold the leash for the shots your dog won’t be in!

We know Fido won’t be in every shot, especially for those engagement photos! So, make sure to bring along a best friend or sibling to help watch and entertain your pet until it’s their time to shine! Make sure you have a leash, many locations have a leash policy.

2. Bring treats, their favorite toys, and tucker ’em out!

I encourage the pet helper to walk your pet around during the photos (when they aren’t the star). It gets them nice and tuckered out for when it’s time for their closeup!

Also, make sure to hand us the treats and/or favorite toy! We can hold them in front of the camera, squeak them, etc. When all else fails — we usually end up barking. That usually gets their attention for a second or two.

3. Pick a location that’s not too distracting!

Sure, maybe your dream is to have engagement photos at Loose Park. And while we can definitely make that dream a reality, we would recommend against taking your dog there.

There’s a lot going on at a busy location like that — and it’s easy for pups to get distracted. No matter how good the treat in front of them is, a new smell will win out their attention every time!

We would recommend picking a quieter location — like Unity Village or Bingham-Waggoner Estate. They are both featured in our Top 10 Photoshoot Locations in KC list!

We hope you find these tips helpful!

Are you a photographer? We have a post on tips for photographing pets as well!

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This Dog Posed With An Engagement Ring On Its Nose! A Unity Village Engagement Shoot

June 15, 2017June 15, 2017 by Kcityphotography, posted in Photoshoots

We first met Tyler in January, when he called Kansas City Photography about his secret plans for a surprise proposal for his girlfriend (now fiancée), Taelor!

This was his adorable spiel to me over the phone:

“I’m planning on proposing to my girlfriend, and I want a photographer to be there to capture the moment. But, I don’t want her to know you’re there for us until after I am down on one knee.”

We chatted about when and where to meet — everything was set in place. We met at Kaw Point Park … and then this happened:

Gorgeous, right?! It has one of the best views of the Kansas City skyline.

Since their surprise proposal session was a mini shoot, Tyler & Taelor decided to bank the rest of their engagement shoot time for when it was a bit warmer outside. Liiiike this Monday! And boy, it sure was a lot warmer. So hot, in fact, everyone at the shoot joked about jumping in the fountains there!

They picked Unity Village from our list of Top 10 Photo Locations in KC. It’s full of glorious roses, but has amazing architecture as well — as you can see:

This time, they even brought their doggy, Bentley! Tatiana was thrilled, dogs are pretty much her favorite thing in the world! Miss Bentley definitely isn’t well loved, poor thing!! 😉

Also, we absolutely have to mention how well behaved she is. Tatiana was able to put Taelor’s engagement ring on Bentley’s nose! She didn’t even try to eat it! Although, they did walk around Unity Village a few laps beforehand to make sure she was nice and tuckered out.

Taelor met Tyler through her brother, Alex. They all went to UCM together. Props, Alex! You introduced your sister to her future husband. That must feel really awesome!

Taelor also has impeccable taste in clothing. Both dresses she wore were beautiful. One was lacey, with an open back similar to a wedding dress (how fitting since she’s going to be a bride soon!):

And the other was long and flowy — perfect to twirl in! Also, great practice for their first dance at their reception!

Taelor, feel free to dress us any time — your taste is amazing! Tyler was dapper himself, don’t feel left out! That yellow was a perfect choice!

We are so excited for your wedding! To see their surprise proposal shoot, click here.

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Our New Website!

April 25, 2017April 25, 2017 by Kcityphotography, posted in Photoshoots

I tried to log onto the Kansas City Photography webpage last week. I was met with an error message. I may have panicked a little, but I figured it’d be an easy fix. I reached out to my web person — but it was crickets. My face was probably equivalent to Miss Luna’s:

My bells and whistles started going off — and here’s why. This happened one other time, with the same web person. I reached out to him (the same one, I never switched) and he responded saying I needed to pay him to get it back online. I was confused as to why, and he said it was a maintenance fee, and he had to re-build it. I actually lost a potential wedding client over this — they had seen my site, loved my work, and then got concerned when my site suddenly went down.

You’d think I would have learned my lesson then … but, long story short, I stuck with him and he put the site back up (after I paid him again *grumble*), and it has been sunshine and roses since then.

Then, the error (again). And no response.

Instead of waiting around, this time I decided to go ahead and just build it myself. This way I can make changes and add photos any time I want, without having to pay every time I want an update. It was really a long time coming, I should have done it a lot sooner.

Go check it out and tell me what you think! –> http://kansas-city-photography.com

On a side note, I recently tried to get Kansas City Photography published on Wikipedia, but I need some press coverage for that to happen. They have really strict guidelines, and I meet all of them but that one. Stay tuned!

The Easter With 8 Baskets & Too Much Candy

April 19, 2017 by Kcityphotography, posted in Our Silly Family

My girls somehow managed to get 4 Easter baskets a piece this holiday. I’m not complaining, and I am grateful to those who thought about our kiddos, but I am pretty sure I have eaten about as much chocolate as I do on Halloween … you know, poison control. 😉

We woke up Sunday morning and hid Easter baskets with our cousins Caley and Ezra. Lily and Ezra are little besties, it’s so cute!

From there, we went to my grandpa’s house. Grandma Karen told me every time I went over there that she had dreamt of hosting an Easter egg hunt on their big, gorgeous yard, but had never done it — and then all the kids grew up. Good news! The kids had kids, and now she was finally able to host her egg hunt!

My two girls, Lily & Luna, were dolled up in their Easter dresses. Lily’s favorite color is purple, but pink is a close second. When they didn’t have purple, I knew it’d be ok to go with pink!

Luna’s favorite color seems to be yellow (she’s 2, so it’s hard to tell, but she gravitates toward that color and uses it a lot). My favorite color is orange, so when yellow wasn’t available …

It had started drizzling, but that certainly didn’t slow anyone down! The egg hunt was really clever — each kid was assigned a certain color of egg. This way, they all got equal!

We also made sure to get a shot of grandpa with all four of his great-grandkids!

After that, we went over to Bryan’s (my hubs) uncle’s house for his family get together. More eggs to hunt! Luna considered herself an old pro by this point. Lily also killed it at cornhole. That’s the game where you throw the bean bag into the hole on the other side of lawn. Am I making sense? Haha.

It was a great Easter weekend, I only wish it was mandatory to take Monday off, too!

Want to read more fun stories with our family? Did you know we have a pet pig?

The Crazy Schedule Of A Photographer

April 4, 2017 by Kcityphotography, posted in Our Silly Family, Photoshoots

There’s a reason I had to bring on another photographer to Kansas City Photography. My schedule, especially on weekends, is … hectic.

I am going to give you a peek into the schedule of a photographer / Scentsy lady. Here is this weekend’s lineup, which includes photoshoots in both St. Louis and Kansas City.

Friday:

– Work ( Newsy )

– Maternity Shoot (in St. Louis for Kansas City Photography)

– Mother’s Day Scentsy Party (Online, Christine’s Scent-Sational Scentsy Page)

Saturday:

– Wedding Shoot (in Kansas City for Kansas City Photography)

Sunday:

– Drop off Scentsy (Independence)

– Family Shoot (in Kansas City for Kansas City Photography)

– Meet w/woman about photo restoration (in Grandview for Kansas City Photography)

– Another Family Shoot (in Blue Springs for Kansas City Photography)

– Drive 3.5 hours home to St. Louis. Phew!

What keeps me going? I LOVE what I do. I love capturing people’s special moments, their growing families, and the day they say “I do.” There is nothing more satisfying than walking into a client’s house and seeing your pictures hanging up on their walls!

Not to mention — I have a family that supports me 100%.

Next — getting Tatiana’s schedule this booked! 🙂

Meet Christine & Her Family!

March 30, 2017March 30, 2017 by Kcityphotography, posted in Our Silly Family

I always write about my latest photoshoots, or give tips on “how to” do certain things, but I have never really delved into my fam. The day-to-day. I’m a wife and mother of two kiddos.

Not only do I own Kansas City Photography, which services both St. Louis and Kansas City, I also sell the amazing smell goods known as Scentsy. My house always smells awesome.

My two daughers, Lily and Luna, are 6 and 2. My hands are full with them alone!

We have a pet pig named Penelope (I’ve written about her), and four cats. Their names are Goblin, Shy Guy, Diego, and Marshmallow.

Luna, my 2-year-old, is currently into anything her sister loves, jumping in puddles, Paw Patrol, carrots, baths (she calls them “bubbles”), actual bubbles, Pikachu, the color yellow, snakes, and running outside.

Lily, my 6-year-old, loves Shopkins, Girl Scouts, gymnastics, taking pictures (wonder where she gets that from?), monkey bars, running, the color purple, anything art-related, her print-label maker, Scentsy, and attempting to climb trees.

Bryan, the husband, not only puts up with my ridiculous schedule that’s riddled with photoshoots and Scentsy deliveries, but also instrumentally helps out. He’s the camera holder, the battery charger, the scent-sniffer. He’s my No. 1 man. Since I did “likes” with the kids, I’m gonna do it with him, too!

Bryan loves Pokemon, DBZ, the new Zelda game on the WiiU, anime, the color green (Lily made him pick a favorite, because she said everyone has a favorite), computer engineering (he works for Cerner), computer games, and being a kick ass Dad and husband.

Guess I may as well do myself, eh? I love anime, the color orange, anything Sailor Moon related (total Sailor Moon freak right here), Mary Pickford, journalism (I work for Newsy, too!), photography (duh), Scentsy (double duh), Photoshop, the Little Mermaid, most Disney-related things, and being a momma.

One day I will tell you our proposal story — Bryan incorporated Sailor Moon into my custom made wedding ring, and the proposal itself!

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Anything you wanna know? Ask away!

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How To Do A Photoshoot With Pets

February 16, 2017September 27, 2017 by Kcityphotography, posted in "How To" / Tips & Tricks!

I was asked how to coordinate a photoshoot that involves the family pets. The number one answer: Patience. Pets don’t listen like people do.

Animals can tell if you’re stressed out. And if you’re stressed out, they’re gonna be stressed out. So, take a few deep breaths, you’ll get the shots! It just may take a little longer than you’re used to when working with non-furry companions.

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Location is important, too. If you take a pet to a super active park — they’re gonna get distracted and want to smell all the new smells, and go see all the new things.

Try to pick a quiet park, a scenic backyard (yours, the client’s, a friend’s), etc. Stay away from dog parks! Wayyy too much excitement!

And a bit off the cuff, but barking helps. I am not kidding. If the dogs aren’t looking at me … I will bark. It works!

Another great tip is to ask the pet owners to bring a few favorite toys, especially any that make noise. You can hold them above the camera and squeak them! Treats work, too!

If all else fails — let the pet run! Sometimes getting rid of that energy is the trick! And then, you can always get some nice action shots that way, too! And if kiddos are around — let them run with their pet, too!!

So, let’s summarize!

Be patient
Don’t stress
Avoid high-traffic places and dog parks
DO use quiet places, off the beaten path, or utilize your backyard or a friend’s yard
DO ask the owners to bring the pet’s fav. toys, especially any that make noise
DO let the pet run and burn off some energy if it’s needed! Maybe even play some tug of war to build trust and help wear good ol’ pup out

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