Have you ever met a true friend who you knew you were destined to meet?  That is what Diane is to me.  She had seen a lot of my bellydance photos on the internet and wanted to hire me and we had been chatting over the internet for quite some time now.  Every time we talked we discovered more and more about eachother and how alike we were so we knew we were going to have a great shoot!  She is also a photographer so for her to ask me to take her pictures was a real honor.  She told me about a park that she frequents called Kraft Azalea Park in Winter Park.  When I got there I had no idea what to expect and it was spectacular!  The architecture in this quaint little park was nothing short of amazing!  There were Greek columns and benches and wooden docks pearing out over the water.  It was perfect for portraits, I could not have asked for anything better.  There was bright green moss all over the ground and Spanish moss in every tree for great ambiance.  We got some great shots and talked the whole time about how we never met eachother sooner.  I can tell her and I are going to be great friends! 

Shamsi of Bayou Shimmy has become such a good friend.  It is funny we actually met on Facebook through our mutual friend Mychele and the rest is history.  We talked about me coming there to do a photo-shoot for her and the girls and it finally came to fruition after months of planning!  We all decided on Audobon Park as the location for the shoot and it was quite the place indeed!  My great friends Lacey and Alex of Florida Tribal Dance came with me because they had never been there before.  Lacey also performed in “Gothla” out in California and had a great new gothic themed costume that we wanted to photograph in the French Quarter and another of her “regular” costumes to shoot at the park.  It was the perfect place for her!  We had such a great time with Shamsi and her girls at the park on Saturday, even with an ant infestation on the feet of one girl and Lacey getting her toe stepped on by a small horse!  It was quite an interesting day to say the least.  The backdrop of this park was incredible, the architecture, the greenery, everything…even the wind was loving us that day!  All of the girls brought some kind of silk, either a veil, fabric, veil fans, or wings…so the weather was perfect for it.  Shamsi was worried about the rain forcast and I told her not to stress, we would make it work…and it did…no rain, it even was a little cooler than usual, but it rained in other parts of the city so the Gods were smiling down on us for sure!  After a long day of shooting and a great lunch with Shamsi and Shelly, we headed back to the hotel, freshened up, took naps and then went out again for a night on the town.  We just walked around the city for a while so Lacey and Alex could get aquainted and take it all in.  It can be overwhelming for someone who has never been there before.  Street performers, great smelling food on every corner, Bourbon street…need I say more?

Sunday we got up and Lacey got ready in her goth costume so we could go walk in the quarter.  Since they had never been to NOLA before I had to take them to Café Du Monde for some hot fresh beignets for breakfast and then we went on a tour of the cemetery.  Because if you have never been to NOLA before there are two definite musts….and that is beignets and cemetaries.  After we were done scouting out the cemetery, we ventured off into the quarter for pictures.  We found some great backdrops for her costume and it could not have been more perfect….well…it could have been cooler, it was sweltering HOT!  But Lacey pulled through and we got some out of this world shots out of it!  She loves texture, as do I, and what more perfect place than the land of chipped paint, old rusty gates, and cobblestone streets?  We had scouted out a few places the day before and one was this incredible looking house on St. Peters Street that was covered in vines and plants, obviously very old, with wrought iron gates in front.  I know, if you have been to NOLA, what house doesn’t look like that…but this one definitely stood out as you can see from the pictures. 

After we couldn’t stand the heat any longer and felt like we had a ton of images, we headed back to the hotel.  But we had forgotten one thing…there was this great piece of architecture right across the street from our hotel, The Ambassador!  Apparently it was left over from the 1984 World’s Fair and it was just too great to pass up.  I talked Lacey into doing a few more shots, and I am so glad that we did!  It was just incredible!  You could not see all of the water features from our room so it was a pleasant surprise when we turned around the archway at the entrance.

We had a great time over this short-lived weekend and I hope that we can do it again soon!  If you are ever in New Orleans or the Baton Rouge area please stop by Shamsi’s studio at Bayou Shimmy and tell her hello!!!

www.bayoushimmy.com

www.ambassadorneworleans.com

www.floridatribaldance.com

The 2009 Orlando Fringe Festival was quite the experience!  I went for 6 days photographing different stage performances, shows, candids, and everything else!  I worked with another photographer who was really great, Dixie Lee.  We worked so well together and that is really hard to find in the photography community, so I think we have a great friendship started! 

I volunteered for the event and it was well worth the while and the gas money, the people I met, the shows I experienced, everything was just awesome! 

We even took our dog Dizzi one afternoon and she wore a t-shirt with all of the Fringe buttons on it and everyone just loved her and wanted their pictures with her.  She is definately the new mascot and is thinking of starting her own blog for the Fringe next year!  LOL.

One of my favorite shows was “7(x1) Samurai” with David Gaines.  I got to photograph and experience the show and it was nothing short of incredible.  After posting some of the images on Facebook I received an email from David Gaines, the star of the show and this is a copy of the post that I made there:

Why I do what I do…

As I woke up this morning exhausted from another night of shooting at Fringe and amazed at all of the great shows I had seen thus far, but wondering if all of my volunteer work would one day pay off...I opened up my email to find the following from the performer of "7 (x1) Samurai", an incredible show I saw the night before. I posted a few of his pictures and this is the response he sent....reminds me why I do what I do.......

"Kristen –

I just saw your shots from my “7 (x1) Samurai” show, and I must say they are excellent! You have a great eye for composition, and you caught some of the best shots I’ve seen of the show!

You are certainly welcome back to my show anytime. It’s funny. In the shower this morning I was just wondering if it would be possible to capture a sense of the movement and the mask in one shot. I was thinking of some complex multiple-exposure with sequential flashes - to achieve that kind of thing you often see with dance photography of multiple images connected by a blur of movement flowing into a final pose…

But many of your photos captured the sense of movement just by your skillful choice of the right moment to click the shutter. Bravo. You have a gift and a talent for what you do.

Thank you for bringing it to bear on my show as its subject.

Sincerely,
David "

Another of my favorite shows that we were waiting for after seeing the “preview” was “The Karate Guy”.  Michael Marinaccio played the part of Daniel, 25 years after winning the karate tournament.  I got some awesome shots of this performance as well. You just have to see the show!

Another absolute favorite was “Elegies: for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens”.  My great friend Marcie was in the show so I had to see it.  I didn’t know anything about it really until I went to photograph it.  John DiDonna, the director, did the most incredible job with this performance!  If it is any consolation, they sold out every single show but one!  The night that I was there to photograph they were supposed to be on an outside stage and it was pouring down rain so it was moved into an interior room with no professional lighting or anything, and still the cast did an amazing job!

And another great favorite was “Department of Angels”.  The two performers in this were just INCREDIBLE!  I would describe it as a very Charlie Chaplin style of performance, lots of loud movements and facial expressions….and no dialogue.  You can get a lot by the photographs, see for yourself!

And yet another favorite was “Wanderlust”.  Martin Dockery interpreted his 5 month journey through Africa on stage and it was just hilarious.  He was such a great performer and had so much stage presence…..and I believe he earned the “Fringe Crush” award……yes ladies I think he is taken!

Other shows that I saw and photographed but could not always stay for the entire show were "Burlesque Unzipped", "The Mayor of Orange Avenue", "PuppetSlam", and "The Lighter Side of Suicide". The lLighter Side of Suicide was put on by my good friends Don and Pam Canavan.  Their son was in the play as well.  I could only stay for about 15 minutes so I was a little dissappointed I was in a hurry but heard it was a great show!

Everyone was so awesome and I can't wait to do it again next year!

www.orlandofringe.org

www.dixieleephotography.com

www.davidgainesperformance.com

http://karateguytheplay.com

www.myspace.com/checkerboardpro

www.schaveandreilly.com

www.martindockery.com

I was so excited when Omaris from Hip Expressions called me and asked if I would come to St. Petersburg to photograph her and Angelina.  They dance at Acropolis in Clearwater, a Greek restaurant with great ambiance.  I went over on Thursday and we did portraits at the restaurant since there was such a beautiful backdrop there.  It is right on a lake and they had greek statues all over.  The trees, the lighting, the wind, everything was perfect.  The restaurant is adjacent to an office building so we actually used the atrium of the building for some inside shots as well.  It was so cute how Angelina was emailing me telling me that she was never very comfortable in front of the camera and that she was worried about getting good shots.  I kept telling her not to worry that I would be there to help her pose and give her direction.  Omaris told her not to worry too as her and I have shot many times together before.  As we were shooting Angelina starting saying, “oh my god, I can’t believe you got that pose!  How did you do that?”, I told her it is all about having the right photographer =)  We worked great together and got some great shots inside and outside.  After we were done shooting, the girls treated me to some amazing Greek food.  I had some yummy greek salad with chicken which I will NEVER turn down!!  The food at Acropolis is amazing, you should all go there!!!!

I stayed the night in St. Pete at my friend Kim’s house (she is also part of Hip Expressions) and we got up early on Friday so she could take me to her school for a facial as she is studying to be an esthetician.  It was great and very relaxing.  Afterwards she took me to this great Italian market called “Mazzaro’s”.  She knew I would appreciate it since I had just been to Italy and of course I would be very critical…LOL…  I walked in saying “I am going to be very judgemental since I was just there, so don’t take offense…”….but little did I know, it was like being back in Roma.  OMG.  This place was awesome!  One room filled with fresh cheeses, one room with wine, one room with fresh cut meats, and the large room with a coffee bar and fresh cappachino, a bakery, a deli counter…..need I say more??  Basically…you MUST go there when you are in St. Pete.  Even the gelato as very good, and I will forever be critical about that since ice cream will NEVER be the same after the gelato in Roma!

After my fabulous day getting a facial and enjoying some homemade lasagna and a basket full of italian groceries at Mazarro’s we headed back to Kim’s apartment for some rest before we went to Acropolis in Clearwater for Omaris and Angelina’s show that I was going to photograph.  We headed out to the show and got there in time for some fabulous greek salad and bread with homemade feta dip that was to DIE for!  The girls started the show and there were napkins flying everywhere, plates breaking on the floor….it was a riot!  It went by so quickly and I was sweating since my flash was not working properly AGAIN.  I wish I could afford a new one!  I am so sick of it.  I ended up having to use my on-camera flash in an emergency which is a serious no-no in professional photography…but I had to do what I had to do.  Anyway, I still got some great shots of the girls even though I was a little dissappointed I didn’t get more, but we had a great time!  The food was great, and the company!  They even got Kim to dance on a chair…I have pictures…he he he.  Until next time my girls!!!!!!  See you in June!

Love K

www.omarisdancer.com

www.hip-expressions.com

www.HipnoticMovements.com

www.mazzarosmarket.com

www.acropolisclearwater.com

 

Sandy and Mark are such an awesome couple!  I first met Sandy at a model shoot back in January and we hit it off right away.  Come to find out she was engaged and looking for a photographer and she just so happened to find one =)  he he he.  We decided to meet at Pointe Orlando for their pictures and to sit and talk about the wedding details since I just came back from Italy.  Sandy wasn’t sure if they wanted to do their pictures that day because Mark got a haircut and apparently cut it too short…lol.  But we talked them into it and ended up having a great time!  Our favorite pictures are the ones of the shadows on the wall…we were just walking past and the sun was setting and there was this huge beautiful plain wall that had the shadows of the lamp posts on them.  So I told them to stand back until I could see them under the posts and we got some very creative shots.  They are so much fun together and very entertaining.  And one of the few couples who understands my husband and I’s level of scarcasm…..it was great!  I can’t wait to photograph their wedding in March of next year and continue to hang out with them!  Love you guys!

Love K

 

Christine's class

So after going to Christine’s class a couple of weeks ago I had to go back and see these little angels.  This time I wanted to bring my hubby with me since they affected me so much.  We went for Cinco de Mayo and I had to take more pictures.  There were a couple of other students there that I didn’t have the chance to meet last time so now I got to see everyone =)  Shane (my hubby) had so much fun with Jaime, my little sweetheart.  They sat at the table and drew together, Shane drew him a teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.  They were so sweet.  I can’t wait to visit these little ones again and see other people affected by them.  I am working on some fundraising to help get them some new toys and educational items for the new school year!  If you would like to help out please let me know!

Love K

 

Lara is a dear friend and she is also the makeup artist on the majority of my shoots and has been to ALL of the pin-up shoots either participating or as my makeup artist in tow.  She had so much fun at all of them that she decided to host her own!  We had such a fabulous time!  She is also a great italian cook (she was studying to be a pastry chef for a while) and I called her the week before her party and said….”ummm, are you by any chance making some pizza bread for the party???”.  She said she “might” and when I walked in the door on the day of the shoot….what did I smell???  Mmmm freash baked pizza bread….yummy in my tummy.  Food and shooting always go well together!  The girls that came were so sweet and nice and all new to me.  But they had seen Lara’s pictures from the first Sweetheart Sessions and decided they wanted some of their own.  We broke everyone from being shy and had a great time as we always do!  It is so fun to see the shy ones come in and say “I am not sure” and in the end they are telling the other girls how to do a pin-up pose!  It makes everything so worth while to me!  I can’t wait to see them all again and of course have some more of Lara’s pizza bread…..mmmmmmmmm

Love you girls!

Love K