Uncle Sam

I was asked to shoot a 25 year anniversary party in Gill, Colorado.  I grew up in Colorado, but I have really never heard about Gill.  It was way out in wheat fields.  This shoot was one of many that I had, in a 3 week working-tour, that lead me to a few different states this summer.  I went from Fruit Heights and Salt Lake City, Utah to Evergreen, Gill, Denver, Loveland, Fort Collins, Windsor and Longmont in Colorado; Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming; St. Petersburg, St. Pete's Beach, John's Beach, Treasure Island and Tampa Bay in Florida; and Washington DC.  This was an amazing tour of incredibly different cultures right here in our great United States of America.  I love watching people.  As I sat in airport terminals on layovers, if I wasn't working on my computer, I watched the different types of people at each gate.  Airports are great places to see so many different types of people.  The people going to Washington DC were straight and to the point.  They told you (one time) exactly what your next step was and how to get there; very straight forward from point A to point B.  Tourists stuck out like a sore thumb (I was one of them).  The natives just walked around us as we fumbled.  It was hilarious.  People going to Florida were either super stressed out (on their way to vacation) or super tan with white teeth and wearing a Hawaiian shirt (on their way back from vacation).  The people in Wyoming, usually in working clothes with calloused hard working hands and weathered faces.  Colorado is where I met Uncle Sam.  Driving out with my 2 assistants to Gill was a beautiful ride to eastern Colorado.  I resigned myself to the back seat so that I could look around.  We arrived at a beautiful house on cobblestones, set majestically in wheat fields.  The wheat was about 2 feet tall, still green.  My very laid back client told me to look around and decide what location would be good for family portraits.  I grabbed a few of the younger fellas and said, "Can ya move this couch into the field?"  They stood there for a moment contemplating my request and said, "Sure" with big smiles on their faces.  They thought it would be a neat trick to play on their mama...lol.  So, there we were, with their sofa in the middle of their wheat field.  I saw this neat old man, with his 2 younger sisters.  I said, "I am going to make you famous.  Do ya want to take a few pictures with me?"  The image above is one that I shot with him.  He turned 87 years old that month.  Him and his sisters got a hoot out of taking pictures in the field.  They giggled and smiled the whole time.  He was a great model.  I absolutely love my work; meeting new people; experiencing different cultures; and living my dream.

Portraiture Photography

I was asked to come to a beautiful venue in Evergreen, Colorado to shoot for this bride and groom.  These are their engagement portraits.  We traveled to Evergreen Lake in the Rocky Mountains at dawn.  The beautiful log cabin, where they will say their vows, sits on the lake.  When we were driving up to the venue, there were about 20 elk standing off the side of the road.  If my car window was opened, one of them would have stuck his head right in my door.  I didn't know their eyeballs were so big.  LOL.  As I took these shots, the elk were running thru the water in the background. It was pretty fascinating and peaceful.  This is going to be an amazing wedding because the bride and groom are very contemporary.  She has several tattoos that she wanted to highlight.  The next image shows her extraordinary uniqueness, as well as, her femininity.   They both have amazing eyes and eyelashes that go on for days.  I was able to capture sun bursts thru my frame.  Their body position, as it relates to the sun light allows perfect casts of the "magical hour" of light around the edges of their bodies.  They were very please with these portraits, which makes me happy.  I love that people like my work enough to compensate me for traveling across the nation to shoot for them.  It seems that I work even harder to give them custom works of art.  I am inspired by the different cultures and beauty that each of these clients bring to the table.  It is a challenge that I welcome.   

Casting for Cabela's Magazine Cover

I shot this image with the owner of Hayden Outdoors for a Cabela's Trophy Properties catalog.  I promised him that I would help him get on the cover of their magazine.  I always follow thru on my promises!  This was taken at sunrise on one of their fine properties in Longmont, Colorado.  This ranch is called the Raintree Estate.  It has 4 lakes and unbelievable fishing.  This model/actor cast his line in the water and 2 seconds later he caught a fish.  I am telling ya, really, I counted 2 seconds on several casts.  It was unbelievable.  He couldn't get these fish off the line fast enough.  On this ranch there is an island in the middle of one of the lakes.  The cool gal that lives here is an amazing artist.  My mind was flowing artistically, while I was at this location.  I mean, who could not be inspired at this beautiful ranch.  It is up for sale for 1.65 million.  No one would know that this ranch was even here, unless you had specific directions.  It is nestled away from everything.  I loved it.   This is the link to locate this property;  http://www.haydenoutdoors.com/properties/raintree-estate-seth-hayden-1650000.  The owner drove me around this property, it took quite some time.  It was great to hear her past and to be a part of her future.  Note to self:  If I want to look like a dork again, please forget my hiking shoes and bug spray when working with Cabela's.  Yes, I felt like an idiot when I was shooting a fishing set in my pretty little black shoes.  The mosquitoes feasted on every inch of my skin.  I didn't complain because I felt so"girlie".  I almost wanted to spit and do some stereotypical man things, just so I wouldn't seem so feminine.  LOL.  Just kidding; I am good in my own skin.  I just need to remember bug spray or I will get eaten alive.  Always memories to treasure.

Men's Jewlery For Fable Designs

Working with jewelers is a whole different ball park.  I love it.  They are absolute perfectionists.  I learned so much about color of the metal, angles and reflections.  I shot this image for Fable Designs.  They are an amazing grass root company that is now international; www.fabledesigns.net.  What a pleasure it is to work with them. This product work takes patients and humility.  I sure did have to swallow my pride after the third re-edit.  Didn't matter, I wanted to get it right.  I learned from every mistake.  I love perfection. 

Architectural Photography

I am finding that working in these beautiful homes makes me want one...lol.  I am working with Hayden Outdoors in Windsor, Colorado.  They are an international, fine property real estate company with Cabela's Trophy Properties.  My assistant Nate and I went into a property to shoot images.  The people who owned the property were so kind.  We moved through the house on our own while they were there.  We went to shoot the master bedroom and it was about 9pm; winter.  The lines throughout this house were gorgeous.  I decided to shoot this house, while it was dark outside, because Utah winters makes everything brown outside.  This house was very vibrant, but not overly done.  I thought if my images showed the outdoors from their windows, it would take away the livelihood on the inside of the house.  I brought a bunch of my lights, to bring the lines out even more.  I love to push light into nooks to bring dimension.  I had Nate go around a wall in the room to get out of my frame.  He ran back towards me on his tippy-toes.  Yes, it was a bit odd.  He said the owner of the house was sleeping back there.  Poor guy, didn't want to rush us.  Also, he didn't want to mess up his bed, so he just fell asleep behind the wall.  It amazes me how gracious and generous people can be.  Here is a very established, reputable man, a partner at the most prestigious law firm in his state, and he didn't want to disturb my work.  Being humble is a quality that we all have as children, but is easily forgotten as we build self confidence. Both characteristics are necessary to be successful.  Don't you think so?  I do.  There is a way to have both.  As a business owner and a pro photog, I need to make sure that my clients think I know what the heck I am doing.  My style of shooting in fun and low key.  The energy on a set always sets the tone for my clients.  I had a shoot out of state, that was very ambitious.  The person that hired me, the director of marketing of this firm, set my shoot schedule.  I hold her in the highest regard.  She worked me to the bone.  lol.  We were shooting corporate images of medical personnel.  A person came on set that sucked the life right out of the room.  She was mean and snippy and made fun of my timeless 1920 chair, that I had shipped from Chicago.  By the time I was done with her, she smiled on her own.  She was happy, but taught me a lesson.  When I walk into a room, I want to bring a sense of peace and calmness, not chaos.  (Which is kind of hard when I have my little ones with me.)  I want people to want to speak to me or look me in the eye and smile.  I understand that each one of us has the power to affect those around us.  The other day my son had an attitude; a crappy one.  He was giving me a mean look.  I told him, "You better suck that mean face right back into your head!"  He couldn't help but burst into laughter.  Love to all.  Have a memorable day.   

Living The Dream

What most people don't know is that I was blind several years ago.  My Jeep was run over by a truck driver who wasn't paying attention to a stop light.  Yep.  In a split second my life was changed.  I had major internal brain injury.  I couldn't see, my speech and reflexes were super slow.  I needed help walking for several months.  Ugh, what a mess.  My medical team tried to figure out why my vision was gone. While undergoing MRI's my docs found that I had a brain tumor.  At this moment I understood what these words truly mean, "Everything happens for a reason".  My mama said to me, "This too shall pass".  After almost a year had gone by, the docs told me that if my vision did not return in the first 6 months, it would not ever come back.  "Hmmm", I thought to myself, "they must not know me very well".  So, I decided not to wait for things to happen.  I had 2 choices.  I either was going to lay down in the dirt under a rock or take control of my future.  Plain and simple.  So, I began going to the school for the blind.  I was on the list for a seeing eye dog and I was taught to use one of those crazy white canes.  I wacked a few people with that thing.  It was awesome!  I broke nearly every water glass in my kitchen because I had no depth perception.  LOL!  I laughed about it then, too.  My docs thought a tumor extraction was the best option for me.  Several days after brain surgery, my vision came back.  I could see and smell everything so clearly.  My senses were hightened.  I spoke very slowly though.  And had to re-learn to read and write and tell time again, but I COULD SEE!  Woohoo!  Thanks to my occupational, physical and cognitive therapists, I am the person you love today...lol. 

As a national commercial - portraiture photographer, I bring my passion for sight into my work.  http://www.kaykanterphotography.com/  Who would have thought that a blind person would become a professional photographer.  I love every aspect of my work.  I love the smell of my profoto lights and the clean, quiet sound of my shutter.  I look for the clean lines and triangles in my shots.  And I dream about the Rule of Thirds.  I can sit and watch other amazing photographers work as if I was a giddy little kid.  If I could live in my beautiful downtown Salt Lake City studio, I would.  I found my nitch. 

My passion deepend when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.  I took that helpless energy and used it to serve others.  I created a charity called the For My Mama Cancer Photography Project.  http://www.formymama.org/.  We are a national group of professional photographers who serve chldren with cancer.  Because their families must endure the finacial burdens of cancer (just like my mama did), most of the time professional family portraits are last on the priority list.  At this stage in their lives these images are priceless.  Sometimes it is the last image they will ever have of their child.  I gathered a group of amazing photogs, from across the nation, to help these families.  We offer family sittings and the entire portrait set, at no charge, to theses families.  They are very grateful.  There is nothing like turning these kids into models and making them the center of attention.  We have fun with them and let them be care-free kids, again. 

My passion is photography.  I am living an unbelievable dream.  Come back and keep in touch with me.  In this blog, I will shower you with a rainbow of sunshine.  I will try to show you images that will make you feel something... anything.  I will announce the winners of contests that I hold; up-coming events, employment opps for my KKP models and staff; the crazy adventures of traveling internationally and working with actors and corporate big wigs and being the mommy of 2 of the cutest little munchkins around.  I will share stories about my advetures shooting with well known corporations; trying to get wild life shots, working with $25 million properties, infant cutie-pies and beautiful brides.  Oh the stories that my camera could tell.  Much love to all.