November 4, 2009 by davewhitscott
This may have been the easiest session ever. Seriously. Usually with a one-year-old I’m practically standing on my head, jumping around like a monkey, singing every pre-school song I know to just keep their attention, let alone getting them to smile. But Linleigh? She loved the camera! The most pleasant, smiling, sweet girl ever – and with red hair to boot. It doesn’t get any better than this.
A mom & dad favorite. She’s wearing the christening gown of a great-grandparent. I always love the idea of bringing or wearing something meaningful for photographs. In this vintage tone there is something so timeless and precious about this photo. Sigh.
This one just makes me happy. Look at those stunning blue eyes!
Thanks, sweet Linleigh. You can come back anytime!
Posted in Baby, children | 1 Comment »
November 3, 2009 by davewhitscott
I guess the other title of this post could have been “How I Spent My Halloween with Dave’s Alter-Ego”, but since he had the cigar/weiner in his mouth all evening, I couldn’t resist. ”Dave’s Diner” was our gross-out booth/trunk at our church’s “Trunks of Treats”. And… Yay! We won first place. It’s really not that important that we won first place, only important that we beat those competitive Lalli’s. : )
Thankfully, the kids were much cuter.
We took them trick-or-treating on the square in downtown Carthage. Which, except for the incident of Ben trying to take candy away from a poor old lady who wasn’t actually handing it out… was quite fun. 
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
October 29, 2009 by davewhitscott
You know how sometimes you look at a picture of someone and say, “that’s SO them“? Well….
I had SO much fun photographing the Spinks last week. And since we haven’t been able to get our schedules together for a proofing, and it looks like it’s going to be next week – I hated to make them wait – so we had to do a little ”sneak peek”.
Greg is the new preaching minister at our church. I can’t begin to say how blessed we have already been by him and his fantastic family. They’ve only been here a matter of months, and have already thrown themselves so fully into this community. They are super-kind and crazy-fun. In my book? That’s a great combination.
What? You already recognize the guy in the red? OH! You probably saw him standing up doing “the sprinkler” at a Webb City football game. Or was it this morning at the Plaid Giraffe halloween party with a black plastic spider pressed into his forehead? (don’t worry if you missed it – we’ve got a picture). More to share from this session later!
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October 27, 2009 by davewhitscott
I looooooooove Fall. I’ll never understand those “summer people”, who like to sweat and show off any body part they don’t absolutely have to. Winter is an understandable season to love, with Christmas and hot chocolate and fireplaces. Spring too, with fresh lettuce sprouting in the garden and windows open to the fresh air. But it’s Autumn that does me in – putting on a big pot of soup, flannel sheets on the beds, pumpkins displayed on every corner… and leaves. Everywhere you look – leaves. This is the view off my front porch today. Ahhhhhhh, can’t you just smell the warm cider?
P.S. – This might be a good time to tell you that our house is for sale. Hammock negotiable. : )
Posted in Personal | Tagged fall leaves, Missouri foliage, October | 2 Comments »
October 26, 2009 by davewhitscott
It’s true. I’ve not been blogging as often as I intended. I’m sorry!!! It’s the busy time of year… and that is a really good thing when you’re in business for yourself. We’re learning about this self-employment thing as we go along, and are finding that it can be both a blessing and a little bit of a pain. But forget the pain – the biggest blessing by far is the joy of working with our awesome clients, who remind us every day why we do what we do. It’s so wonderful to know that we can help people stop time for just a little while – to capture memories they can hold in their hand. I love this pic. Such a great example of that.
We love Miss Carrie, the director of the Plaid Giraffe preschool. We’ve done photos for the preschool for several years now, (a fun-filled place we highly recommend!) as well as doing Senior pics for her son, Landon Zerkel (who, incidentally, is named after another one of our favorite clients – Landon Taylor – see his engagement photos here). Such a fun-tastic family!
More blogging to come! I’ve got two red-heads (one precious – one wild) and a gaggle of crazy-sweet families to share! Come back soon. : )
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October 20, 2009 by davewhitscott
I’m a big believer in the idea that you can’t really know what some things are like unless you experience them yourself. Kind of like when you sample your baby’s “pureed peas” before feeding it to him (and then you know why he makes that face). So this is what we did – our own family photo session. Not our typical set-the-camera-on-the-tripod-and-snap-away-with-the-remote pictures, but a trade with our photographer friends Kelly & Ronda Lawson of Images of Art. As it turns out, 1 couch + 1 chair + 1 dresser + 4 adults + 5 kids + 1 dog + 3 pizzas = lots of great pictures – and lots of fun. Thanks so much to the Lawsons. We hope you’re enjoying your pictures as much as we are ours.
We brought out props to reflect our style. This dresser is one of my favorite things in our house. I bought it all grungy and gross for $15 at a garage sale and re-did it. When it came to our own family pictures, we just wanted to create something that said something about who we are – fun – creative – prone to silliness. I’m also crazy about this color scheme – turquoise and red. Clients always ask me “what should we wear for pictures?”, and I tell them to choose 3-4 colors to use. I’d rather match, not coordinate. We are not a family of quadruplets. We are individuals, but we blend. I love how this picture is fun to look at. Your eye kind of jumps around to the pops of red. It makes me happy. And that is what a picture should do – make you feel something.
And just so you know, your kids aren’t the only ones who won’t cooperate for pictures….
So now I can empathize with all those moms who have to “take five” with their kids during a session… to console… to offer sugary bribes….
And, oh my goodness! Now I SO know what other moms go through when they have to look at themselves in pictures. I remember once upon a time when I looked decent in almost any picture. Now I’m just so thankful that I have enough Photoshop skills to edit myself into a state I can live with (and yes, I can do it for you too). I actually love this picture of David & me. He can be very sweet when his ipod is put away.
This one is my favorite. You can probably guess why. There’s just a sweetness to it – and it’s real-life for us. We do this thing in our family that we call a “peanut butter and jelly hug” (mom and dad are the bread). The kids love it, and we just thought it would be a great way to capture the feeling of our family at this time in our lives. The kids won’t be little for long. They may not always want to snuggle up with us for pictures. And I want to remember what this feels like. Right now.
Posted in Behind-the-scenes, Personal, children, family | 3 Comments »
October 13, 2009 by davewhitscott
I know. I know how you feel about having your picture taken…
but it’s Autumn. And the trees are starting to turn. And it’s beautiful.
I know you don’t see things my way.
Maybe it’s that you don’t like your smile?
Or is it just being so close to family?
You should certainly express how you feel.
You can even try to escape if you want to.
But I have the feeling that it’s going to happen whether you like it or not,
because it’s Autumn… and that’s when everyone gets their family pictures taken.
whether they like it or not.
(thanks Henry… I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much while editing! : )
Here’s your reminder folks! The leaves are turning and we’ve got about three weeks before it’s all over. We’re going to shoot all day everyday if we need to, so give us a call today to snag one of these limited slots!
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October 2, 2009 by davewhitscott
Sometimes, making someone look gorgeous in pictures requires no skill from this photographer at all. AT ALL. Taylor is a prime example.
I’m in love with this picture. I’d been looking at the latest Anthropologie catalog before I took these – totally influenced by the hazy romantic glow of it all.
I’m completely breaking my own rules for photography with this one. You really should never shoot your subject in harsh sunlight like this. Poor Taylor’s eyes were watering, but I just had to use this cool magazines-in-the-window background (notice the bra ad over her left shoulder – ha!). Love that you can see my shadow in the corner too. Very fashion magazine-ish.
I call this the J-Lo pic. Stunning!
My thanks to Taylor and Peggy for an awesome evening.
Posted in Senior, Seniors | 1 Comment »
September 28, 2009 by davewhitscott
I always say I’m willing to do anything for a great shot. What I don’t always say is that I’ll make other people do anything for a great shot. I’m usually kind to my clients, really I am. I don’t think I’ve ever asked anyone to do anything harder than say, lay down chest-first in an icy creek in their pretty white dress, or jump six feet in the air off a ledge. And those ended up being really great pictures, so they were totally worth it. But to lay down in a chigger-infested field? Have I finally asked too much?
Are you kidding me??? A family portrait like that? Worth a month of chiggers. Plus, it may have helped that I felt so bad that I gave them a free gift for their pain & suffering. I do have a heart, after all.
Posted in Behind-the-scenes, Randomness, family | Tagged chiggers, field pictures | 1 Comment »
