Family Portrait session with Kirsten and Kids

I recently had the opportunity to do a family portrait session with my friend Kirsten and her kids.  Her children came in 2 bunches with the older 2 being 20 and 15, and the younger 2 being 6 and 4.  Kirsten says that she hadn't had pictures taken of her children since her 15 year old was about 4, so it was cool that she asked me to photograph her family and update the family photos.  We lucked out on the weather and had one of the last fairly warm afternoons of the season to work with, and it wasn't even raining.  Kirsten has given me permission to share some of my favorites here, so I hope you also enjoy the images.  I'm going to take this opportunity to also plug my photographic services and say that I am currently running an environmental portrait session package for only $100.  If you're like Kirsten and need some updated images of yourself and/or your rugrats, drop me a message at tyler@tjkphotography.com.

A Boy And His Colors, or How to Ruin A Pair Of Dolce & Gabbana Jeans in the Name of Creating Art

I had the opportunity to do another session with my friend Manuel this week and he has graciously given me permission to share the final images here on my blog.  This is the first time I have done a shoot with paint like this, and I have to say that I might have to do a nudes series in the same conceptual style. 

Manuel brought the basic concept for the shoot to me to execute as well as the paints and drop cloths.  I brought my camera and a willingness to risk painted footprints running between my attic and the bathroom.  Our friend Niki helped out with the shoot and seemed to really enjoy dripping the cold paint all over Manuel.  Of course, Manuel said that he might just have a new fetish after having the paint dripped all over him. 

At any rate, we did have a great time doing the shoot and managed to keep my house relatively paint-free while doing it. 

As always, I hope you enjoy the images!

Tyler

Pocket Nudes Issue #4 Now Available!!

Pocket Nudes Issue #4 Katy T Virginia May 2, 2007 by Photography by Tyler Keeler | Make Your Own Book

Pocket Nudes Issue #3, Symmetry in the Desert, Candace and Amber, NOW AVAILABLE!!!

Pocket Nudes Issue #3 Symmetry in the Desert Candace and Amber September 27, 2006 by Photography by Tyler Keeler | Make Your Own Book

Twilight Polo 2010 by Photography by Tyler Keeler | Make Your Own Book

Pocket Nudes Issue #2 Carly Underwater June 29, 2007 by Photography by Tyler Keeler | Make Your Own Book

Pocket Nudes Issue #1 Amanda and Elisabeth June 4, 2007 by Photography by Tyler Keeler | Make Your Own Book

The Whole Ox

My friends Derek and Amanda have just (on Sept 1st) opened their new business in Marshall, VA.  It is called, as the title of this blog suggests, "The Whole Ox", and they are a boutique butcher shop.  Derek is the butcher and chef, and Amanda is the front of house and jack of all other trades involved in operating a small business.  Their shop is located inside the IGA supermarket in Marshall and they have taken over all of the meat/butcher responsibilities for the store.  They are passionate and vocal advocates of local, organically raised livestock, and strive to carry the best possible products at competitive prices.  I had the opportunity to pop in and check on them on their 2nd morning of operation and take a few photos to help promote their business.  If you do not understand that our meat comes from an animal, or if images of preparing an animal for consumption by those of us who are omnivores might disturb you, stick to the first few images.

Amanda explaining their superior product to a new customer.

And now, here comes the meat!

To say "thanks" Derek gave me a gift of one of these Culotte steaks, which I promptly took home and put under the broiler.  Magnifique!

Amanda stocks their first plate of free-range, cage-free, organic chickens:

OK kids, here is where meat comes from:

 The couple that filets together, stays together.  Sorry, I couldn't resist.

So, join me in congratulating Amanda and Derek on the birth of their brand new small business!  I wish you all the best success and prosperity!

Not long for this world

After a period of several months where 95% of the photographs I have taken were related to equestrian activities, I finally had the opportunity to do a fine art nude shoot last night with Rebecca.  I wanted to use moonlight for the shoot.  Sunday night was a perfect moon night because even though the moon was just a little more than half waxing, there was not a single cloud in the sky and things were bright and beautiful.  But, we were shooting last night, and of course there were a series of thunderstorms that rolled through early in the evening with residual cloudiness afterwords.  That meant that I had to turn to an alternative light source, in this case my 4 C-cell Maglight to be able to work.  We went to a local cemetery that is older and therefore has a variety of interesting headstones and monuments to provide locations for the shoot.  Rebecca was spot on with her posing during exposures of up to 30 seconds (in spite of being nibbled upon rather liberally by the local insect population), and we made a variety of images that included light painting, movement, and later in the shoot the moon actually peeked out for a few minutes so that we could do some moonlit images.  Working with slow exposure times means that the pace of shooting is much slower, and we only created 70 images in about 2 hours, but quality always beats out sheer quantity.  To my mind the images we created evoke a feeling of transience, and the dichotomy between the stillness of the resting place of so many who are gone from this world and the life and beauty of Rebecca is striking.  I am hoping to be able to shoot again during the full moon on Friday, but as always we are subject to the whims of time and nature.  In the mean time, I hope you enjoy the  images, and as always, prints are available.