Meet our Assistants: Abbey, Rachel, and Luciel

Meet my assistants!!

This is Abbey, Rachel and Luciel. They helped out at this past week's editorial shoot day. They did a great job holding reflectors, running the video camera, and helping create couture dresses for some of our models.

Want to get involved? We always love having people come out and get involved. These girls are all interested in photography. They've actually job shadowed me before so when we started planning these editorial shoots, I thought who better to come hang out and lend a hand!

They were awesome and we had a lot of fun! Can't wait to have them back!!

Want to get involved and be one of our assistants? Email me at katie@kmrobinsonphotography.com and we'll see what we've got coming up!!

How to Get Your Pet to Look at the Camera

How do you get your pets to look at your camera for photos?

Well there are lots of tricks I use to get your puppy to look at my camera. Treat sometimes work but often they will come running for the food. So I’ve learned to use “fun words.”

What are fun words? They are words your pet likes that will get their attention. I use “swimming”  “car ride” and “outside” for my puppies because they always stop dead in their tracks and pay attention whenever I use those words because they love them so much. They will freeze and look right at me and usually tip their heads all sweet like and I end up with the perfect photos.

Try it. Pull a few words your dog likes and see if it works for you!

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A Little Touch Up

Worried about how you'll look in your photos? Don't stress!!
This is an incredibly zoomed in part of one of our photos. As you can see, it needed some retouching.

I make sure every photo I show my clients is retouched to perfection so they never have to feel uncomfortable if their skin is not 100% perfect the day of their session. Things come up, usually on that one day you need it to not come up...so we take care of our clients as best we can because we want them to enjoy their session and feel good about themselves.

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Girl on Fireplace: Cafe Images

Remember a few months ago when I had some of my work hanging in a local cafe? We got a lot of compliments on the images we displayed there. Well I never did put those images online. Here's one of my favorites-and their favorites:

Isn't she adorable?

Further proof that you don't have to have a person look into the camera to create a compelling photo.

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Collections: Ocean Portraits: Myckenzi and Son

Open publication - Free publishing - More birds

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Kisses+Disses: Bruises and Cuteness

Today I was sitting at my computer working when I discovered the top of my foot hurt. I looked but didn't see any bruises. Two hours later I looked down to see a massive purple, green, blue bruise on my foot. No wonder it hurt so much.

Now of course, when something is blue, I want to scream "(my hair) is blue! it's blue!" just like Kate Husdon in Bride Wars. I love that line. I will always use it.

Now the real question is, how will I survive the next week of dress shoes with a damaged foot like this? Sigh.

Nevertheless, I can still type which means....

Kisses

*My puppies. Lacey has taken to chasing shadows around the house for hours and hours everyday. Jayda has been super cuddly the last few days.

*Cell phones. They allow for fast communication. I like being able to be in touch when I need to be.

*Little kids. They always have cute things to say and funny stories to tell you.

*White sandals. It's (almost) summer...they are back and they are beautiful!

Disses

*Waiting. I don't like waiting...for information, for events, for responses, for deliveries. If I know something is coming or supposed to be coming, it drives me nuts to wait around for it. If it just got to me on time, I'd have so much more time to work on that and other things.

*Cold showers. I'm pretty sure the dishwasher used up all the hot water tonight, but I'm still trying to recover from my hypothermia.

*Driving in the rain. It's just not pleasant.

*Bruises on my foot. Not fun and actually pretty painful. I suggest you avoid bruising your foot at all costs. lol

Happy Sunday

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Guy's Week: Make Sure You Smile

Dudes, seriously, we know you want to look all cool and everything, but try smiling in a few photos.

No seriously. We know you feel weird about getting in front of the camera and being professionally photographed but we are here to make you look good.

Yes, we will get the cool not smiling shots. Yes we will get the moody, brooding shots. Yes you will look like a rockstar.

But we also want to see you smile.

Here’s the deal. Women are more drawn to photos of a guy smiling than a guy not smiling. Women connect better to happy people.

I promise, we’re going to get you some awesome smiling shots and some awesome brooding shots. You will be happy you smiled in some of them. And if you’re not, you don’t have to buy them. It doesn’t hurt to take them while you’re going. If you don’t like them, your friends and family don’t have to see them.

Smile!!

Guy's Week: How to Pose In Photos

All last week we talked about the ladies. Now it’s your turn guys! This week we have five articles on how dudes should work it in photos!

Guy posing tips are very different than girl posing tips. Girls want to look tiny and feminine. Guys want to be strong, masculine and cool. Here’s how to do that:

Rule 1.) Stand straight on to the camera. This is very masculine. You take up more space and that is exactly what we want. We want you to dominate the photo. A straight on photo makes you look physically stronger.

Rule 2.) No angles. We tell girls to creating angles with their bodies to make them look more like a model. But with guys, if you want to look like you belong on a magazine cover, you need to take up space in the photo.

Keep your arms close to your body. Now don’t super glue your elbows to your sides…that wouldn’t look good, but definitely keep it close to your body. The closer you keep your arms, the more masculine you look.

Rule 3.) Feet apart. Keep your feet about shoulder width apart. This takes up more space in the photo and makes your like more like a dude.

Rule 4.)Relax, you just have to be yourself. We see how you look and we promise we will only ask you to pose in ways that will show off your coolness. Trust us, we know what we’re doing.

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Girls Week: Hair Styling Tips

So often our hair is thought of as our crowning glory. Which is why we put so much effort into every single day. We curl, we straighten, we force it into updos, we color it, we highlight it, we show it off and work it to our advantage. So of course when it comes to our photo shoot we want our hair to look perfect.

Rule 1.) Always leave part of your hair down. Otherwise you will look like a guy. Don’t look like a guy.

This means if you put it in a bun or ponytail, be sure to leave a few pieces down to frame you face. Otherwise it will look like you have no hair.

Rule 2.) If you have a lot of hair, make sure it’s pulled away from your face so its not falling in your eyes.

I have a lot of hair. I mean Rapunzel-a lot-of-hair. It’s long and thick and always in the way. So I get this one. When I take photos I’m constantly brushing my hair away from my face because it likes to fall in the way.

Use bobbypins to pull a little bit of it back. Or pull it all over one shoulder. This lets your beautiful face shine despite of your gorgeous hair!

Rule 3.) Hair spray. More likely than not we will be outside. Use hairspray, even on an everyday hair style, to hold it where you want it because the wind will mess with you.

Rule 4.) Life can be kind of static-y. And this is okay because have I got a fix for you. When your hair decides its time to stand up on end, we can fix it. This often happens in the winter when you’re taking coats on and off. It’s not a problem. Thanks to a wonderful friend, I carry a dryer sheet in my purse with me at all times. When my hair isn’t cooperating, I run the dryer sheet over my mane and tame it real quick.

Honestly, this works like magic. You should see little kids faces in school when I show them that trick (I’m a substitute teacher too)—priceless.

Rule 5.) Don’t do something you’re not comfortable with. Make sure you’ve tried the hair style about before, you know how to move with it, you know it won’t give you a headache, you like the way it looks and it makes you feel pretty. If you are uncomfortable with it, it WILL show in your photos.

Okay, I lied. One more……Rule 6.) Make sure you have fun with it and don’t stress if it isn’t perfect. You will look stunning, I promise. I will make it happen!

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Girl Week: Make Your Outfit Work For You

I have learned something very important from looking at photos of myself: not all clothing looks good in photos and the outfits I can rock in everyday life don’t necessarily translate to superstar in photos. (please note, I'm not showing bad photos of me on my blog haha)

Here’s why:

This past fall I went to the ocean. I was going to get some stunning photos of myself. I got dressed in one of my fav outfits, one that I always got comments on. I wore jeans, a purple shirt with a long brown jacket thing over it. It was fitted in the back so it gave me a nice shape when I walked.

I went outside, gave my sister my camera, and we took photos of me (and I took photos of her, it wasn’t all about me) Then I checked her work to make sure I got some I liked. Well I was horrified. Not at her work, but the way I looked. I looked huge. I had a photo from the day before and unless I had gained 40lbs over night something was wrong.

It was my sweater jacket thing of course. Even though it was fitted in the back, it hung open in the front. It often fell open, puffed out, moved, and dangled weird in the photos. In fact there wasn’t a single photo I was happy with.

I should have chosen an outfit that closed in the front. It should have been buttoned up, belted, tied, whatever. The closer at outfit wraps around you the smaller you will look. If it is a loose outfit it will look even more baggy in photos.

Now of course I’m not saying to wear tight clothing. If you were things that are too tight it all of your flaws WILL show up and WILL look even worse. You should be wearing fitted cloth that accentuate your waist line and fit well. Nothing baggy, nothing loose, and nothing open in the front. If there’s a jacket you love like mine, belt it. Big belt, tiny belt…match it to the outfit.

I’m sad I didn’t have a belt with me. I could have saved all those photos by simply adding an accessory.

Keep your clothes close to your body to show off just how cute you are and make sure it fits well to hide any flaws. You’ll be modeling in no time!

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Girl's Week: Pose with Angles

If you look, in most pictures you will find me angled to the side, face tilted toward the camera, and I will have one (or occasionally both) hand on my hip. It’s not that I’m pretending I’m a model, it’s not that I’m trying to look “glamourous,” I just know that when I create angles I look better.

When I turn my body away from the camera and look back, I am making myself look more slender. If I stood straight in front of the camera it would be capturing my widest parts and would make me look bigger. When I turn, I control how much mass the camera sees. People are look wider if we measure from the left side to the right side then they are if we measure from belly button to center of back. Show the small angle to the camera and you’ll look tinier.

Then there’s the arm. If I left my arm straight down it becomes part of my body and makes it look wider. It’s like an extension of my waist. No woman wants to look bigger than she is. So I take one hand and put it on my hip. This creates space between my waist, and elbow. There’s that triangle of nothing in between my arms and side. This makes my waist look smaller. It defines the same of my waist and because my elbow and arm is out, it makes my waist look small. I usually hide my other arm behind my body because I’m at an angle toward the camera, but if I’m straight on to the camera, I can put both hands on my hip.

Any time you can create angles with your body the better off you’ll be. That means turning at an angle, turning your head slightly in the opposite direction, creating angles with your arms and even creating angles with your legs if you are sitting or kneeling down.

Go stand in front of your full length mirror and practice you angles. You’ll end up finding some great ones that work for you and you’ll find some that you should definitely never do again! Now you’ll know for you’re next photo session! AND you can rock the shot the next time you and your girl friends are hanging out snapping some new facebook pics!

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Girl's Week: Look Instantly Thinner

The most embarrassing thing about a photo, bar none, is when a woman sees a photo of herself and she has a thick neck or a double chin. It’s a horrifying experience for any woman. She doesn’t look like that in everyday life, but suddenly when it comes to photos it keeps happening.

Don’t worry ladies, there’s a simple fix for that!

Now listen carefully, this will sound weird and feel weird, but I promise it will work. Keep you body straight and stick your head forward, then tilt your head down slightly. That’s right, you should lean your head forward, it will feel very strange, but it works. You will feel like you look ridiculous, and if someone saw you doing it in everyday life, you would look ridiculous sticking your head out that far. But it photos, it stretches out your skin and gets your chin away from your neck.

Most people have a tendency to pull their heads back when taking a photo. This causes the skin to bunch up and give you that double chin, even though you’re super skinny.

If you stick you head out toward the camera it stretches out the skin and prevents it from doubling. This makes your entire face look skinnier.

Then simply tip you chin down a little (so we’re not staring at the broadside of your throat) and you’re good to go. You’ll look fabulous in every photo from now on if you remember to lean your head out and away from your body and tip you chin down a tiny bit.

Hello, supermodel!

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Beach Photos: Izaak

I love doing photo sessions at travel locations. By that I mean I love getting to take a trip for a photo session or a wedding. One of my favorite places to shoot photos away from my "studio locations" (the areas right outside my studio that I use frequently) is the beach. You cannot beat ocean photos!!

Meet Izaak! He is my nephew. We're not actually related in any way, shape or form, but he is the son of a dear friend of mine. I've known his mama for years!

Izaak has had it pretty rough. He was born really early. The first time I met him, he had casts on his little arms and legs. Since then he's had surgery to correct things. Poor little guy!

Now Izaak is all healed up and having a ball exploring life! He loves his mama very much and always keeps her in his line of vision while exploring and playing.

He's already quite the little ladies man. He can flirt with the best of them. His smile can make anyone melt. He's always so happy, even when he falls down and scares himself. He jumps right back up and keeps playing.

He loves playing peek-a-boo, especially around the pier on the beach! He giggled every time he popped out to see us. He was such a ham with the camera. He always knew exactly where it was and made sure it was always on him, ready to catch his radiant smiles!

Isn't he precious?!?! I have the most handsome nephew! And that ocean view...made for perfect photos! The blue water and tan sand made the colors he was wearing pop so vibrantly. You can't help by fall in love with these photos!

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Did You Know....I Can Rock the Nerd Glasses!!

Many of you know me personally. Many of you have read my bios on my facebook pages (K.M. Robinson Photography, Bridal Bestie, Top If Off! by Dazzling Diamond Designs, etc) and even though I put self portraits up on my pages from time to time, really, how much do you know about me.

I try to keep my brands as personal as possible, and yet I feel like there is always that stupid wall that is a computer screen between us. Due to my busy schedule, most of what I share with you is business related. Well, no more. I am going to do my best to let you in to my life a little bit more, so from time to time I will be posting things about me, my life, what I'm doing, etc. Maybe you'll be interested, maybe you'll be bored. Maybe you'll care and maybe you won't. But it won' be because I'm not trying to connect with you! So.....feel free to comment and interact, I love hearing from you guys...just remember to keep it nice when interacting with other fans and with me! Because I like nice people and I don't like people who aren't nice to each other ; )

To start off...let me tell you a bit about what's going on in my life right now:

I am a photographer. Right now I'm booking a lot of weddings and a lot of high school/college seniors, both of which I love photographing! This upcoming spring and sumer I want to focus a lot on working with stylized sessions. Those are amazingly fun for all involved and I can't wait to start doing more of them...especially with kids, teens and engagements.

I write a blog called Bridal Bestie which is dedicated to helping my brides and brides everywhere plan their wedding to get the best memories possible. I love it, I love my fans and I love the interaction we have as a community. We exchange ideas and support each other's plans and ideas.

For all my wedding work, I should mention that I am not married, nor am I anywhere near getting married. I just happen to love weddings, event planning, and helping people plan for special times in their life. In fact, I am starting a party/cooking blog with my little sister. It's just in the beginning stages so it's not public yet, but we're having fun getting ready for it.

I am also a kids pastor, a substitute teaching, a webdesigner and and I a lot of commercial advertising work. As you can see, I'm crazy busy. Oh, did I forget to mention I'm a crafter as well? Yep, I crochet, I create things out of felt, I sew, I paint, I do all sorts of creative things. I've currently been working on a line of photobooth props (not yet available), mobiles for baby's, and I've been working on a line of crochet designer gloves.

Oh, and of course, taking care of my puppies. Well, they're not puppies anymore...Jayda just turned two years old and Lacey is two and a half.

Here's a fun little thought to leave you on. I said I was making photobooth props...I took them to my kids church on Sunday to use in my lesson and I was using a mustache and a pair of red nerd glasses to represent two different characters in the story. The kids all agreed I looked good in the nerd glasses. Thanks kids!!

<3 Katie

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