Kimla Life Imagery

Where has the time gone...

2011-09-04T12:02:00.000-05:00

I made a promise to keep this blog rolling and now I find myself months down the road with nothing posted. I think FaceBook has replaced my blogging and that seems sad, but that is the place where most of my friends are found.

Nevertheless, this is still therapeutic and hopefully I will become more diligent about posting.

Several years ago, I decided to become a professional photographer and one of my first models was certainly a reason to continue to perfect my craft. The very first shot I took of her became one my best ever shots. This one, also, is in my top ten.

Over the years we have continued to work together and she always answers my request for a model so I may tests lights, sets, ideas, etc. Never asks for anything in return and works her heart out. I try to compensate, but truly, I get the better part of the deal when I have the privilege to document such a wonderful person.

I am working on an idea for Breast Cancer Awareness and wanted it to be effective for younger women. Seems we tend to believe cancer is prejudice towards older women and the fact is, it is just plain ruthless.

So, Felicia and I shot this in an attempt to produce the ad:

You see, a younger woman may have to wear a more modern hairpiece or urbanesque clothing to deal with the disease and treatment so I hope this would help deliver the message more eloquently than a pink ribbon.

Here are a couple more:

We'll have to wait for the final product, but I believe we will be able to produce something worthwhile.

And, while I had her in the studio, I wanted to finish some shots for her book. That will be her gift for all of her hard work and she will be able to use it for future modeling opportunities.

I wish her all the best as she continues her education and aspirations of becoming an actress. Thank you, Felicia - you have really made my work fun.

Mrs. Clark's Husband Owes Me Jewelry

2011-03-16T11:58:00.000-05:00

Life is so surprising. Who knew when I met this beautiful teenager she would one day be a colleague, inspiration, and dear friend. We never dreamed we'd be working in the same industry even though we both had the same passion.

Yesterday I was privileged to document her beauty and hopefully help others see her courage, confidence, strength, and determination. She's a young mother, about-to-graduate-college student, wife, and new business owner. Whew! Makes me tired just typing that!

Her lovely smile, warm heart, and sweet personality makes her a joy to be around!

Monthly Style Inspirations

2011-03-16T11:40:00.000-05:00

I love these ideas! Sometimes we get stuck in what to wear and how to keep the family in the same area of color or complimentary colors so the composition will be more balanced. I think this is helpful and will post updates.

It Should Never Stop!

2011-03-07T14:07:00.000-06:00

I just finished another class and it was phenomenal. For a small fee, I spent over seven hours with some of my industry's leaders. Sandy Puc is probably the best known photographer guru that built her business from her kitchen to a 10,000+ sf studio with 40 employees. Jerry Ghionis has been named one of the top five wedding photographers in the world. And they, just like so many photographers, were excited to share some of their secrets and tools. I am forever grateful.

Why? Because today I am better than I was yesterday and extremely better than a year ago. How? I've pursued any and all the information I could, practiced what I've learned and hopefully, shared what has been beneficial. There are no options if I want to be the best.

I remember in high school just dying to be a part of Future Teachers of America. Man, that looked like so much fun and teaching had to be a really important career. Photography was such a passion but my practicality, and limited knowledge, prevented me from pursuing it until I ran out of options. Plus, I was told I was not "teacher" material. I didn't have the grades and probably the talent. How sad. I will stand firm that "they" were wrong. Here's why.

I may not of had the skills to repeat the academic course information that I was supposed to have learned. Of course, that probably included studying - not memorizing - and believe me, that just didn't happen unless it was something I was super intrigued by. No one understood I saw things differently. Literally. Sometimes, like majic, there would be a word that just didn't fit, but hey, I wasn't the author so I guess it meant that I wasn't smart enough to understand what the author was conveying. Later, I discovered I have dyslexia or as we refer to it "aixelsyd".

Through the years, when I was desperate to learn or understand something, I developed tools, tricks, and techniques to help me learn and man, have I been learning.

BTW: Where is the book for parenting? I seem to have not received mine with my children. Now, I believe the Bible has excellent instructions for living one's life, but I needed specifics on potty training, entertaining a sick child, and when to loosen the reigns on a teenager. I noticed there wasn't a day that I hadn't had the necessity to teach them something. Wait! I wasn't teacher material, right? So how could I have taught them anything? Hmmmmm.

Then there was that wonderful time as a Youth Minister and those lessons were vital. Probably the only time some of them would ever hear how much God loved them and where to find answers to their questions. Again, no book to tell me. Yet, 56 students are still as important to me today as they were during the application lessons where earth, water, wind, and laughter brought home the message that life was messy, bountiful, refreshing, and entertaining.

I have studied - without anyone pushing - for the past year to be certified as a Professional Photographer (CPP). Long before I saw the support forum I was doing everything I could to gain the confidence and respect to know my craft and be the best I could be. Maybe not Ghionis or Puc big, but Kimla big.

The first time I took the test, I missed by two points! Crushing yet comforting. I knew why I had failed. I took my time, answered all the questions I was certain of and marked the ones that needed more thought. When I had gone through all 100, I started back on each one I had marked. Finished with just over 20 minutes to spare. I mean this was important.

As I walked up to the proctor, they reviewed my info and then came the devastation, "You didn't answer these three." They were on the bottom of the left half of the answer sheet. I quickly grabbed a new answer sheet and made a mad dash to "re-answer". I had to review each question again, and reconcile the answer sheet. Time ran out when I had 20 questions to go. Turned it in and was grateful for the results that I missed by two! This gave me the confidence to re-test and use a new technique to ensure I am answering correctly. Dang "Aixelsyd".

I am not stupid. Ignorant only because I haven't been exposed to all the information, but not stupid. That just cuts away at self-esteem. Do all you can to know all you can about anything you do. Whether it is parenting, a profession, or a passion. Then, do what you can for who you can when you can. I promise life will be so much sweeter.

We were experimenting with dramatic stobe lighting. She's an actress and about to go to college to pursue her dream.

Here is a recent photo of a wonderful friend that I have been working with for the past year.

This is the first photo I ever took of her:

		"It's the pursuit that makes being better fun."
We used natural light only and Photoshop. We both needed portfolio material.

BLOG Spring Break Special!

2011-02-23T15:35:00.000-06:00

Ahhhhh!!!! Can you feel it?

Just for blog followers! Spring Break is almost here and so are the Bluebonnets! We are going to offer mini-sessions for the month of March! We just love this time of year and feel like celebrating so be sure to book yours today since sessions and time are limited.

They do smell sweet!

The Spring Break Special includes prints, mini-accordians, and one wardrobe style. You can't pass this up - it really is a time worth remembering for years to come. And it's only available through this blog!!

They just

bring out

the joy in

us. I have
had the privilege of seeing these gorgeous flowers every year of my life and have never been disappointed in the photos we've captured. After all, the commercial says, "Everything's better with Bluebonnet on it!"

A New Year begins...

2011-02-18T15:26:00.000-06:00

Wow! Can hardly believe a new year is already started. We've been busy reviewing last year's work in order to prepare for this year's work.

We focused on what separates us from others, so we worked on updating our logo, sites and, of course, our press products. We've found some exciting new products that are both gorgeous and unique. We've enrolled in more continuing education, forums, and networking groups.

What we've learned through this process is we are committed to offering you a wonderful experience. We want you to know you are important and matter to us so we are developing our workflow centered on customer service being supreme.

We are excited for new campaigns, products and becoming more involved in our community. We want every Senior to have a portrait for graduation; we want every Woman to find her "beauty" - especially if trauma has hidden it; we want every important moment in Your life to be documented as a lifetime treasure; and we want to have a variety of options for purchase, display, and archiving.

We will be offering wedding portraiture this year and that is really exciting to us. In the past we've had to turn down offers because we just weren't ready and wouldn't take the risk of ruining that special event.

One young woman is pursuing her dream of becoming queen and we were honored to be a part of the process. We did her initial interview where we do facial & physical studies; discover her interests and goals; and set the time-line. We researched to see what others had presented and then designed the set and lighting to compliment her and her wardrobe, selected poses that would meet the criteria yet be unique; and finally created art that she will have for years to come.

She's Already A Winner

Then...we had fun!! She was so willing to try new things and her shining personality just made work so much fun.

Yep - She has a Big Heart


Cowgirls R Keeewwwll

Sure hope you have as much fun as we do with our profession, and we look forward to the opportunities of this new year. Let's rock it because we believe in "Keeping Light Interesting!"

Baby Belly

2010-05-27T15:37:00.001-05:00

Baby Belly, originally uploaded by Kimla Life Imagery.

Sweet Baby Avery, it will take a lifetime for you to know how much your parents love you. They look forward to meeting you.

Technology has the word NO in it

2010-05-27T11:38:00.000-05:00

I bet way back at the time people were able to switch to electricity for convenience no one ever realized all that would come with it. It hasn't really been that long ago. My grandfather was one of the first members of a rural coop and my mother remembers being so excited to have electricity in her home.

Me? I remember when computers were on tv as giant machines that were extremely temperamental. Hmmm...not much has changed. I will say that switching to a MacBook Pro has made my workflow much more efficient. It works extremely well with my IPhone and I can see a productivity increase in a relatively short time.

In today's technological atmosphere, it seems we users hate the word no. It probably is the reason behind all of the development. Do you want to wait until you are home to answer the phone? NO! Get your mail? NO! Watch your favorite show or listen to your favorite music? NO! Yet, we overlook the word "no" in technology.

It can't be the answer to everything. I just spent one hour trying to organize a more efficient way to communicate my photography activity by choosing one place to upload then have it automatically feed to all my social sites - Facebook, this blog, & Twitter. I don't want it to feed my website since that must be done personally. Aha. That's when it hit me.

While I love all the interaction I get from the social media technology, the convenience of having massive information at my fingertips, and the ability to be easily entertained while waiting somewhere, I do miss the actual voice, the handwritten note or recipe, the sweet hug from a long, lost friend.

Technology can't replace you or your touch. When I do my postings, texting, or updating, I must remember to include the part that technology can't. If you feel I omit this, please - advise. How you do it is a wide open variety of ways and I have tried to be accessible through all.

Now, back to the shutter...

Unique or YOUnique?

2010-05-22T22:33:00.000-05:00

How many times do you feel like the "odd" one? Me - often. Even from birth, my parents insisted I be different. Later, I claimed unique. Nature is a great way to see the importance of being unique.

As a portrait photographer, my hobby is nature photography. If I can't portray humans and their beauty, I turn my trusty "Big Daddy" Nikon D700 towards those that do not require a model release but demand you capture their fleeting beauty.

Texas roads in the springtime are a magnificent display of this fleeting beauty. If you've never driven them from late March to early May you just haven't lived. As far as you can see and drive, the colors abound. Looking a bit closer, I found some uniqueness hidden amongst them.

In early March, everything turns blue. The pastures appear to be carpeted in the outrageous Bluebonnet. But what if it isn't blue? I found these white ones on the side of the road. People must find them very attractive and instead of letting them "seed out" they had been picked the next day. Sad. Now, we have to hope there are dormant seeds for next year.

A couple of weeks later, the fields begin to turn coral and out pops the Indian Paintbrush. Now these are striking in themselves, but I found two of their unique treasures this year.

The pink and the yellow paintbrushes were so awesome to find. A large group of the coral is spectacular, but I found a message starting to emerge. Be different. Be unique. Stand out.

By the end of April we are getting so anxious for the third most popular tradition that it's hard to wait for those wild and crazy Indian Blankets. The treat? How about this one that refused the tradition of a dab of yellow on the ends with large amounts of the red/orange in the center. Oh no, this one has it's own idea - be unique. Can you spot it? Easier to notice isn't it.

Keep in mind, I've seen bluebonnets every spring for every year of my life and I have only seen the white bluebonnets once, and had never seen the pink or lemon paintbrushes. That's a bit unique.

All of this comes at a time when I am starting a new business where literally everyone can do my job. Technology has made it extremely easy and affordable for nearly everyone to do photography. I am thrilled. But, if it's to be my profession I must be different, unique, odd. I have to offer something treasurable that no one else can. But doesn't most businesses? I'd hate to own a major franchise where I could not be different or unique.

Guess this depends on your perspective, but for me, it will be an adventure to showcase my uniqueness in a way others appreciate and find treasurable. This is so exciting and I hope you enjoy these examples, but more importantly, look for the unique. Be confident as the odd one in a group. Show your beauty as no one else can. Offer something treasurable by being you.

Hmmm...unique or Younique?

What's Hot Hot Hot

2010-05-20T15:44:00.000-05:00

Each day I arise with the question - who's turn is it? I get so excited just looking for the opportunity to share something unique with everyone else. Isn't it great that blogs are a wonderful tool to do just that.

This sweet lady is at a very special time in her life and I feel so privileged to help document it for her

Her vitality for life and her pregnancy is unavoidable and such a joy to be able make that stand still in time. This is her first & very unexpected. She just glows and is passionate about the impending birth of her daughter.

Now, this lady is one hot mama and talk about an incredible shoot. She has a love for life and where she's at in hers.

Either one is at an important moment in their life and this is a reminder to document those moments. It will mean so much to someone one day, especially you.

Hot off the Press...

2010-02-19T10:34:00.003-06:00

Kimla Life Imagery, LLC is now officially open for business! Love the new company and it's mission. We're innovative, intriguing, & involved. We believe in the "win/win" opportunity and all the goodness it brings. We also believe you'll be able to easily tell the difference and we look forward to working with those who find our style matches their dreams.
Product catalogs will be available in mid-March so be sure and sign up for the mailing list. We've worked hard to find unique & creative ways to enjoy these timeless treasures.
Our marketing plan is finalized and soon you'll be the benefactor of many opportunities and we are super excited to share them.
Now, back to the meeting so we can get this mission underway. (P.S. Be sure to find us on Facebook - Kimla Life Imagery. Twitter was tricky and the address is http://twitter.com/kimlalifeimager)

First one...

2010-02-16T11:59:00.000-06:00

Love this sweet angel. She's already the winner in our book. Fun, vivacious, strong, and ambitious.