i’ve known this beautiful mama for about three years. when we met she owned an amazing boutique at town center plaza called 3 house and we worked together on a couple of fashion shoots, including one for her life magazine. during that shoot, cassi was strictly behind the scenes so you can imagine my excitement when i heard that she was expecting and i would finally have her in front of my camera. she and her loving husband welcomed a darling baby girl on new year’s eve and i was delighted to have them at the studio for newborn photos. baby blythe was pretty alert for the first part of our shoot and even surprised us by holding up her head in this photo with daddy. i’m such a sucker for babies and their daddy’s. and this daddy is such a sucker for his baby. cassi has impeccable style and fell in love with this eco-friendly baby blanket from happy habitat by karrie kaneda so we decided to work it in on a few shots. and once we got this little lady to sleep she was soooo good to me. we were able to get quite a variety of poses to show […]
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the narcisos are a family i always look forward to working with. heidi knows just what to wear for family portraits. she always hits it out of the park with wardrobe and the kids…oh, these kids! they are so good to me. they’re some of the sweetest kids i’ve ever worked with. here are a few favorites from our recent holiday mini session. i discovered this gorgeous location at the very end of the holiday season and loved it. we’ll definitely be shooting again here next year. we are currently working on 2015 mini session dates. email us now to get on the list and we’ll notify you when the details are finalized.
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it’s no secret that i love to shoot senior portraits. it’s not just the clothes and the hair and the makeup…of course that part is fun, but what i really love is the anticipation of what’s to come for them. i love meeting these young women who are about to head out into the world to discover who they are and what they want to do with their lives. mary is such a beautiful young lady and i can’t wait to see what the future has in store for her. this series in front of the kansas city skyline is one of my favorites. mary, i wish you all the best as you finish up your senior year and head off to college. you’re a strong, wise, lovely young woman and i know you’ll do great things! mary’s hair and makeup by the super talented gina ciaccio-holmberg until next time, H
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i’m losing track of how many times i’ve worked with the mccarthy family now. having them in front of my camera is always a treat. we typically go for an urban setting for their family portraits but we decided to try out the beautiful fall colors this year and i love what we captured. not only are the mccarthys a ridiculously beautiful family, they are one of the most loving families i know. we used this next series on their christmas card and it just makes me smile. and seriously. farrah. she slays me. like a sweet little fairy in the meadow. she’s perfect. ryan and erika, you are simply amazing and so are your children. and i’m honored that you’ve chosen me to capture all these little stages in their lives. with lots of love, H
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i loved kansas city before kansas city was cool and that’s probably why i had so much fun putting this shoot together. i rounded up a collection of my favorite kansas city shirts for the january issue of her life magazine. what’s even more fun is that i got to style the whole shoot too. model harrison quinn brought his own pants and shoes and much of what model paige pelfrey is wearing came from my own closet. one of the first to make my list is raygun. i’ve been buying raygun shirts online for years and i was thrilled when they opened a brick and mortar shop here in kansas city. as a native kansas citian i find that people who don’t live here are often confused by the whole kansas city, kansas/kansas city, missouri thing. there’s no better way to sum it up than with this too much city for one state tee. next up is charlie hustle. if you haven’t heard of charlie hustle, there’s a chance you’ve been living under a rock. paul rudd proudly rocked a charlie hustle shirt when our kansas city royals were in the world series and the kc heart tank i own is a […]
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i’m sneaking in a late night blog post in honor of this lovely young lady who will celebrate a birthday tomorrow. i’ve had the honor of having her and her amazing family in front of my camera more than once and it’s been so wonderful to watch her grow up these last few years. she’s as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside and i simply love spending time and working with her. i knew we would love these before we even started shooting! that dress…so perfect for this great urban location. emma is such a natural in front of the camera and her eyes are just incredible! i love photographing horses and this session was no exception. gotta love that beautiful sunset light and the love this girl has for her horse. i wish you all the best on your birthday and in the future, emma. i have no doubt that life has great things in store for you! emma’s hair and makeup by the talented gina holmberg. we are still booking senior portraits for the class of 2015 and we’ve already started booking the class of 2016. for information or to book a session shoot us […]
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one of the things i love about shooting fashion for her life magazine is getting acquainted with all of the different boutiques in kansas city. this was the second time i’ve shot zuzu’s petals and i’ve fallen even more in love with them. owner’s melanie and linda are as sweet as can be. while i was there pulling wardrobe i couldn’t help but notice that when a customer walks in they greet them by name. they ask how their family is doing. they treat them like old friends. and if they don’t know you they go out of their way to get to know you. they’ve created such a warm, inviting atmosphere that you almost don’t want to leave. for this shoot we pulled together eight looks that i really loved. in fact, i may have bought an item or three. i bought the shorts and the wrap in the top left photo above. and i bought this great aztec tunic. i wore it throughout the summer and now i’m pairing it with jeans, leggings and even a pair of black velvet skinny pants. so many ways to wear that top! as always, we had a great crew for this […]
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i don’t always photograph senior boys but when i do they’re ridiculously photogenic. like noah. boys, THIS is how you dress for senior portraits. i always suggest wearing something casual, something on trend and most definitely something timeless. you don’t want to look back on your senior portraits and say, “what was i thinking?’ with noah’s great style i know that won’t be happening to him. or his little brother myles. talk about a future heartbreaker! did you know that for senior portrait sessions we offer a complimentary mini family or sibling session on the same day? while you’re camera ready why not have your siblings or even the whole family hop in for a few shots. this can be done at the beginning or the end of your session which makes it super quick and painless. noah, thanks for trusting me to create unique senior portraits that tell your story. you’re a bright young man with a wonderful personality (and killer style) and i can’t wait to see what the future hold for you. it’s been an incredible year for us at hocus focus. we’ve got some really exciting things happening in the year ahead and so many more […]
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so much to blog…so little time so i’ll just leave you with the beautiful senior portrait session i did with this lovely young lady. annie’s hair and makeup by the uber talented gina ciaccio-holmberg.
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fall is just around the corner and i absolutely love this time of year. the buzz of all that back to school energy…seeing everyone’s first day of school pictures on facebook and while it’s hard to imagine with the recent heat wave we’ve had, i always look forward to that feeling of the chill in the air that comes with fall. i’m already dreaming of sweaters and boots and scarves. and pumpkin. oh, the pumpkin. then that 100 degree heat index pulls me back to reality. as a photographer fall is my busiest time of year. family portraits are a staple of my fall schedule but fall is also my busiest season as a mom. rilee is in her second season of competitive softball and lucee is a cheerleader. with sports taking over our weekends my weekend availability is very limited this year because as a mom i don’t want to miss out on these moments with my kids that will pass all too quickly. that being said, we have carved out a few weekends and even a weekday for some family mini sessions. our first date is this coming monday, which is labor day so the kids are all […]
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