Christine and Ryan’s Engagement Session | Kansas City I’m So in Love

These two adorable love birds celebrated their engagement with a Kansas City-style photo session. It was the first bitterly cold day of the season, and after enjoying such mild autumn weather up to that point, the sudden shift in temperatures solidified the KC experience for us. And they enjoyed lots of snuggles in the process. Because hypothermia is no fun.

We began our journey at the Country Club Plaza on a walking bridge where Ryan proposed to Christine. I love incorporating such meaningful locations in photo sessions, so this was a perfect place to begin. After exploring the area, looking for any place that could offer a break from the brutally chilling wind, we moved to the Crossroads Arts District to visit the recently famous “Kansas City I’m So in Love” mural on the south side of Fortuity at 19th and Baltimore. Christine and Ryan were troopers to say the least – they wore their Charlie Hustle KC t-shirts (while I was bundled in several layers and still freezing, so I can imagine they were certainly numb at this point). We took a quick walk around the block to capture some street scenes in the background, and I fell more in love with Kansas City in the process. The area we were shooting in felt alive and bright and modern, when not too long ago, it would have felt more like a ghost town. The revitalization of the Crossroads has done amazing things for the city and for people like us who love and adore it.

Congratulations to Christine and Ryan, who are so in love!

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Taylor and Taylor’s Kansas City Engagement Session

Engagement photos often involve quite a bit of direction for the couple – having one of them turn their head slightly, asking one person to snuggle up on the other, etc. So knowing that this awesome couple is comprised of two Taylors, I needed a game plan for talking to each of them separately. Taylor (the man) told me that his friends call him “T Mo.” So he shall hereby be known as T Mo.

T Mo has been featured on the blog before, as I did head shots for him a couple of years ago. He was a great subject then, but as the old saying goes, two Taylors are better than one! Maybe that’s not the exact saying, but we’ll just go with it.

I met Taylor and T Mo (and their awesome dog, Ace) at Liberty Memorial yesterday evening so we could include a variety of backgrounds for their very Kansas City engagement session. They were simply wonderful to work with. They are both genuinely kind, fun, wonderful people. I hope they had as much fun with me as I had with them. We enjoyed gorgeous fall colors, incredible views, and even a shot or two inside Union Station. Add a touch of Royals pride, and you have all you need for a perfect session!

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Year in Review: Anthem Photography’s Favorite Images of 2014

I love reflecting upon my work at the end of each year. It’s always a fun reminder of how blessed I am to have the job that I do. It’s also my distraction from all that year-end paperwork and tax crap that I despise. In 2014 I shot 24 weddings, had 85 portrait sessions, and took nearly 60,000 photos. There are thousands of images that I treasure immensely of hundreds of people I met over the last 12 months. These are among my favorite images and moments of the year…

 

 

…like the pure joy of a bridesmaid congratulating the bride moments after the ceremony:

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…this gorgeous outdoor wedding:

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…the time Captain America (and his adorable cousin) stopped by the studio:

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…bath time with my little dude:

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…this perfect downtown KC engagement session:

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…the most incredible wedding cake I’ve ever seen:

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…this dreamy engagement session that sent me home with poison ivy (still totally worth it):

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…this maternity session with two people I love and adore:

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…the tons of talent in KC for Middle of the Map Fest:

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…being able to photograph one of my all-time favorite bands:

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…no, TWO of my all-time favorite bands:

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…playing in the snow with my big guy:

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…the supermoon:

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…my absolutely adorable niece:

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…my little guy’s first birthday:

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…this awesome family:

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…THIS awesome family:

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…and THIS awesome family:

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…and every freaking awesome moment of the Switchfoot show

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…prayers over this gorgeous bride before she walked down the aisle

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…and a quiet moment between a father and daughter moments before her wedding

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…this beautiful bride walking down the aisle

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…and then sneaking away from the reception for a quick rooftop photo

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…and EVERYTHING about this perfect orchard wedding

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Thank you, my incredible clients, for allowing me into your lives to document these priceless moments and to create images that I hope you’ll treasure forever. Here’s to 2014!

 

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Excene and Tyler are Engaged

Tyler is the closest thing to a little brother that I’ve ever had. I’ve known him since he was in elementary school – ever since his sister Lacy became one of my best friends. So I have a special place in my heart for him; it makes me incredibly happy to know that he has found a wonderful, beautiful woman to share his life with. It’s been a joy getting to know Excene over the past couple of years (typically at sports bars where we watch Mizzou football games with mutual friends – a.k.a. our parents). Excene is a truly beautiful person and a wonderful fit for my honorary little brother. I loved taking these photos for them in some of the most photogenic areas of KC. And with their gorgeous dog, Armani. And his tie.

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Special thanks to my rockstar lighting assistant, Michelle Kabrick, for all her hard work – and for making sure none of us were hit by a car.  🙂

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Jane and Ron are Engaged

Hey, Old Man Winter! Thanks for toning down your angry chilliness for a second so Jane and Ron could get some fun outdoor engagement photos. I’ll admit, none of us would have survived the session without jumping into my car and blasting the heat between locations, but we had fun, and avoided frostbite, so I call that a win!jane and ron engagement-002jane and ron engagement-003jane and ron engagement-004jane and ron engagement-005jane and ron engagement-006jane and ron engagement-007jane and ron engagement-008jane and ron engagement-009 jane and ron engagement-011jane and ron engagement-012jane and ron engagement-016

Rachel and Aaron are Engaged

I’ve shot some pretty fun engagement sessions in my day. They are typically among my favorite types of sessions to photograph because I get to interact with two people in love who are on the verge of dedicating their lives to one another. It’s a great chance to get to know couples prior to their wedding and to work with them without the (often) stressful time constraints of a wedding day.

So, even with the dozens and dozens of engagement shoots I’ve loved, this one is definitely among my favorites. The bright colors and the soft, even light, the great backgrounds, the bike, and most importantly, the lovely and photogenic couple who interacted so well with one another… everything came together perfectly.

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Alexis and Jason are Engaged!

What do a laundromat, a historic business district, a gourmet hot dog restaurant, and a drive-in movie theatre have in common? This super fun engagement photo session with Alexis and Jason! We explored some non-traditional, but wonderfully photogenic areas of good old Independence on our journey to document this great couple’s engagement.

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Andria and Travis are Engaged

In honor of Andria and Travis’ engagement, we spent a nice spring morning out at Kauffman Stadium celebrating their wonderful love and the wonderful Kansas City Royals. It was every bit as fun as you may imagine, even though there was no hot dog race. By the way: Relish, although you don’t win as often as you statistically should, I will always cheer for you passionately.

This post goes out to all you loyal Royals fans (Andria and Travis first and foremost, of course), Sluggerrr, 1985, George Brett, the “Lemonade! Lemonade! Lemonade!” man, and LOVE!

A photo session for these die-hard Royals fans just wouldn’t be complete without some Fireworks Friday action!