Kansas City: Women's Forum

There were 27 women invited to visit H&H Color Lab in Kansas City for a women's photography forum. All were bright and talented with a lot to share. There were 5 speakers that were asked to share their specialties. Karen was chosen as one of those speakers.

This is Ginger - our customer service rep - who were refer to as our H&H angel! We love her!



This is one of the owners - Shirley Haub. Karen really respects Shirley and Wayne in the way that they run their business. They are both very attentive people and take time to listen to what their customers need. We feel like H&H is a great partner in making our quality products.



Karen presented an hour long program on Thursday morning about our special promotions and creative ideas.



Thursday afternoon, the ladies toured the Nelson Art Gallery in the Plaza.



The ladies separated into teams and were given words to interpret into an image around the grounds of the Nelson Art Gallery. Here's a few of the girls searching for the perfect angle.



This image symbolized rhythm.



And then they photographed an engagement session on location at the Nelson Art Gallery as well. Here are a couple of our favorites...

The Women's Forum was such a great experience. Karen brought home a lot of new ideas and new friendships with some very inspiring people.

Kristen & Barry at Sunset Beach, NC

Karen photographed Kristen and Barry at Sunset Beach, NC, last week. Karen will be photographing their wedding in September of this year. So, this was a unique situation for them to be photographed together before the wedding, but Kristen is a photographer is Virginia so photography is one of her priorities! Actually, Karen was very honored that she asked her to photograph their wedding, out of all the photographers that she knows in Virginia and North Carolina!





Barry is a fire fighter so he will wear his uniform for their big day, which only add "spice" to this already gorgeous couple!

Is she absolutely beautiful or what?! Those eyes are captivating.

All the stars were in line for this image. How cool is this?

Both Kristen and Barry have a son from previous marriages, so they were a part of the session as well. These four make the perfect little family!

And this is one of our favorites! Here's Kristen's dad, Alan, with one of the boys. He might regret this one when he's older.

This was an amazing session. Every image was incredible. It was so hard to narrow down to just these for the blog. Imagine how many wedding images they will have!!!

Thanks Kristen for choosing us to capture your special day!

Cincinnati Trip

A couple of weeks ago, Karen and Buddy flew to Cincinnati to celebrate Buddy's birthday. He's a lifelong fan of the Reds, so this is their annual trip!



And he was a happy birthday boy too! (Note that the sign behind him says REDS WIN!)



The guys made it to several games during their trip, but the ladies managed to only suffer through two!

Rodgers Family - Sunset Beach, NC

We photographed the Rodgers family this past Monday evening at Sunset Beach, NC. The Rodgers have only been coming to our studio since last November, but it seems as though everyone's personalities just "clicked" instantly. They're family now and we always look forward to seeing them!

Yesterday we received the sweetest thank you card and we wanted to share it with you!

Karen & Renda,

Just had to say thanks so much for our awesome beach session! We know the images will be incredible. We cannot tell you all how much we cherish your work. It is more than a portrait but a moment, a memory in our lives preserved forever. Thank you for blessing our lives with that and your joy for what you do!

Angela, Doug, Brenna & Quin Rodgers

Here are a few of our favorites from their beach session...





(personal favorite!)

Thank you for all your kindness Angela & Doug! We look forward to seeing you soon and we can't wait to show you ALL of your fabulous images!

Safe Kids Cabarrus: Camp Ready Kids

Safe Kids had a two day event - Camp Ready Kids 2009. Each day, Safe Kids hosted a group of 45 children.

Kyle Kiziah talked to the kids about emergency response. William even got to try on the neck brace.

Franklin helped the kids get the perfect fit for a bike helmet during the bike rodeo. The kids went inside to watch a movie on bike safety and learned about the K-9 units and Stranger Danger programs.

After the movie, the kids eat popsicles to cool off and decorated their group pictures as memories to take home.

William posed with Dee, one of the leaders, for a picture with his decorated group picture.

Hollifield-Myers Wedding

Tyler Hollifield and Jason Myers became husband and wife on Saturday, June 20th. Karen and Renda were there to capture it all!

Renda attended the bridal luncheon on Friday, where the ladies had a blast, as you can see!



Here are the girls showing off their "rocks."



Then Saturday morning, Karen met the girls at Solace - a salon in Afton Village- where they got their hair, makeup and nails done!



Tyler and her dad, Randy, have the father-daughter relationship every girl should have. This image speaks for their unconditional love.



And Jason has those same traits as Randy. His compassion and love make him a perfect match for Tyler.



Tyler and Jason were one of those couples that you could see their feelings for one another on their faces, which leads to stunning images with tons of emotion - a photographer's dream wedding couple!

Other than the heat of the day, we can't imagine a wedding day being any more perfect. A gorgeous bride, a handsome groom, a wonderful family, a fun wedding party, and a gorgeous venue. What more would we ask for?

Again, we couldn't narrow down for the blog, so you get a video of our favorites.... Enjoy!

Tyler and Jason's wedding day images will be available online on Saturday, July 25th. They will be online for viewing and ordering until August 22nd. You can access those by entering myers (all lowercase) as your password under client images.

Ferguson-Tweardy Wedding

This past weekend was wedding bliss at IP! We had two beautiful brides, two perfect grooms, and two couples who are TRULY in love! The only thing we might have changed.... would be the 100 degree weather! (Exaggeration.... It was only 97 degrees.)

We had to share this image just for humor! The best man and a groomsman fanning the groom...



Tara photographed Kathleen Ferguson and Brad Tweardy's wedding on Saturday, with the assistance of Rhonda Lester - a great friend and photographer. Kathleen and Brad tied the knot at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Concord - a BEAUTIFUL location!



Their reception was held at The Speedway Club at Lowe's Motor Speedway. And it had just as many photographic opportunities as well! The wedding took place at 2pm in the afternoon, so there was plenty of light and time for Tara and Rhonda to play with the newlyweds.



Of course, the fabulous Chelish Moore made both venues incredible. Their bright colored accents gave the wedding a spring feel.



And then... Tara's favorite image of the day...

It has truly been a pleasure working with the Ferguson and Tweardy families. Both families are such great people and gave the wedding such a calm, light atmosphere. Kathleen and Brad are lucky to have such great people in their lives; We are lucky to have been a part of their special day. It's an honor!

And... we couldn't narrow down enough to share just a few, so here's a video of our favorites. Enjoy!

Kathleen and Brad's wedding day images will be online on Saturday, July 25th and will be available for viewing and order through August 22nd. You can access those by entering tweardy (all lowercase) as your password under client images. We look forward to sharing all the images with you!

Kansas City: Women's Forum

This is a crazy week for IP! Karen and Renda left for the beach Monday around noon. They had beach sessions Monday evening and tonight. After their beach session tonight, they'll head back to Kannapolis. Karen has to repack and fly out of Charlotte at 6am tomorrow morning to Kansas City. But it's worth the craziness because it was an honor to be invited!

H&H Color lab has been IP's color lab of choice for about 12 years now. The owners and employees of H&H are family at this point! Wayne and Shirley Haub, owners of H&H, had the brilliant idea of putting together a women's forum, where they invite about 25 successful female photographers to gather and brainstorm and learn together. If this isn't a great idea, then I don't know what is! They asked Karen to share tips on IP's special promotions and exclusive portrait sessions. The women will share their best images, their best "pratices," and their best ideas with one another.

Karen will be home Friday, full of ideas and inspiration. We'll have lots to share with you. Stay tuned!

The "Other Children"

As you probably know, we held our "Other Children" promotion in April. We offered 30 minute portrait sessions in exchange for a bag of dog food. After the promotion ended, we donated the dog food to the Cabarrus County Humane Society.

We believe pets are part of the family too! They should be either in the family portrait or framed right beside it! We hear stories all the time of people that cherish the last image they have of their pets when something unexpected happens. And the others that say they regret not having those images to hang onto.

That was one of our main purposes in having this promotion... to show they are your "other children." Or for people like us, they are our only children!

Here are our favorite images from each pet portrait session. These are the images that have been sent to Dr. Bingham at South Ridge Veterinary Hospital. He will have the final Say-So on who deserves the $100 PetSmart Gift Card!

Leave us a comment with your opinion. We'll see if Dr. Bingham agrees with you!

We'll announce the winner as soon as Dr. Bingham gives the final word!