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Red Hat Calendar Project November

I am currently working on a project to create a 2009 calendar for my Mother In Law’s Red Hat group. And for those who are not familiar with “Red Hatters”, they are those vibrant and sassy women over 50 that often assemble publically in groups in their unmistakable and hard to ignore bright red hats and bright purple garb.


My MIL is the Queen of her chapter (an incredibly awesome Queen too if I may add.) And being her Daughter In Law I have been rounded up as a member, and since I am under 50 I am considered a Pink Hatter and I must wear lavendar garb. (I know, I know just hideous!) But I truly love the company of these silly ladies and I enjoy helping out where I can.

So anyways, I was approached by my MIL to do a calendar for her group and I just thought it was an awesome and fun idea. We did October’s shoot already, which I will dig out and post later but here are photos from the November shoot.
So the ladies here have been best friends for a long time. We chose to do an outdoor shoot to get a “November” feel with the fallen leaves and remnants of the autmn hues.

The location here is Wagner’s Park located right down the road. There is a beautiful forest lined trail which is actually an old railroad bed. This old bridge which you see pictured is part of the bed.

For those interested in doing a shoot at this location, I would not charge extra for it since it is so close to my studio. Unless it would be required to bring a bunch of extra equipment with me.

To see additional photos from this shoot you can visit the following link
http://www.gracelightnerphotography.com/galleries/redhat/redhatnovember.html

Regina & Jason’s Engagement Portraits

This adorable young couple wanted some simple engagement portraits done for announcements and to have for their upcoming wedding. Both were not particular about the portrait style so I tried a variety of poses and styles from classic, romantic, modern, sweet and shots that had them interact so as to catch some facets of their natural personalities.

I love this shot, it is sweet with a touch of humor to it.

Can you believe Regina almost always keeps her hair up in a ponytail? She has gorgeous blonde hair which I wanted to play up by adding a little bit of wind. I asked her to gaze off towards the light and the combination of her beautiful strong gaze, slightly windswept hair and the embrace between the couple makes her look like a goddess. I love this shot.

I wanted to create some romance and evoke emotion by “recreating” the proposal. I focused on the ring and chose to blur out everything else to replay the moment when Jason proposed to Gina and the dizzying excitement that must have been shared as she accepted and the ring was slid onto her finger.


To view more images from Regina & Jason’s Engagement portraits you can view them here http://www.gracelightnerphotography.com/galleries/rothrock/ginajason.html

Rothrock Family Portraits

The Rothrocks and I had a super easy and quick portrait session that produced some great portraits full of life and personality. They wanted some clean and classic family portraits made with some black and white images.

I used high key lighting to create a bright white background which pops the Rothrocks right out of the image.

I love Angie’s hair, it looks so awesome in the black & white and sepia color conversions.

Silly interaction between son and parents were encouraged and the results were just magnificent. Beautiful portraits for a beautiful and wonderful family. And little James did incredibly awesome as well as big James!

Cantando Family Outdoor Shoot

Okay things have been busy for a while but it is finally starting to slow down just enough for me to finally get some blogging done.

One of the shoots from November turned out some incredible outdoor pictures. The Cantando Family, which was a gorgeous family that consisted of a beautiful couple with their handsome young sons, wanted to get their yearly family portraits done. They requested a lot of candid shot as well as some posed shots in an outdoor setting. They also wanted several in black and white to mix it up.

So I took them to a gorgeous field across the street (owned by Mr & Mrs Norbeck) that boasted an incredible view and a lot of open space for the family to stroll and the children to play. And as a huge bonus, there was old and rustic farm equipment parked around the field that just BEGGED to be photographed. So of course I obliged.
Here are just a few of my favorite shots of the lovely family.

Since it was close to Christmas I added a few poinsettias on the side as a subtle holiday touch.

The kids were adorable and they did so well.

Holiday Set Samples

My husband convinced me that as far as Holiday and Christmas portraits go, people want and expect a nice set. (Is that true?) I am not big into props and sets but figured that I should at least offer a set for those who may prefer one for their portraits. I ended up creating 3 sets and I got to say, I really really like them A LOT! I think they are well balanced sets with not too little, not too much. When I walk into the studio and the tree is all lit up I really start to feel all Christmassy inside. =)

And be sure to visit the Holiday 2007 page for additional details on a discounted Holiday Package that has been put together.

The “models” below are my Husband & Business Manager Scott and our little girl. We did a very quick test shoot so I could hurry and get some flyers made and samples put up.

“Classic Holiday Eve”

This set is simple and classic and works well for adults and families.


“Gifts & Baubles”

This set works well for children. They can play with the shatter proof “Baubles”. Gaze delightfully at the beautifully wrapped gifts.

By removing some extra “Baubles” and adding a seating area, it also makes for an elegant set for a family and adults.

“Gifts & Baubles”

Aww isn’t she cute?

And what is a “Bauble”? That is what my husband asked… They are the balls DUH!;)

“Snowman Social”

These cute little snowmen look like they are really made of snow! This set is perfect for kids and families and can be done with or without the snowman for a Winter Wonderland feel.