My friend and mentor, Sue Bryce, is one of the most celebrated photographers of our time. She has created an online community that serves as an educational and inspirational platform for photographers worldwide. Studio Tours is a video series she has created for her website, where she showcases some of her students' studios. I was thrilled when she recently asked to feature AJK Images in Dallas. If you have been following me for long or have read back into my older blog posts, the Creative Live event I posted about in 2015 is when I first met Sue and where this all began.
If you are a photographer looking to grow your craft, your business, and your life, I cannot recommend Sue Bryce Education more highly. Please enjoy the studio tour below, and click here to contact me for more information about scheduling your own photo shoot. And Sue, thank you again, from the bottom of my heart for making this such an unforgettable experience.
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When people ask me what I do, I tell them how I create magazine-style photo shoots for everyday people. What exactly is a "magazine-style" photo shoot? From the moment you book, I start helping you prepare for the most incredible photo shoot of your life. Before your Shoot Hands-down, the most common initial concern is, "What am I going to WEAR?!" I've got you covered (no pun intended). First, we'll meet via Facetime to go through your current clothes and see what we'll want to use. We'll also go over some inspirational photos and examples of things that you may want to consider borrowing, renting, or buying before the shoot. Additionally, I have acquired a collection of dresses and outfits that I keep at the studio that we can use. I've got everything from sleek and simple, to dreamy princess. Along with your clothing, from skincare to accessories, I provide you with valuable instructions to make sure you feel 100% prepared to look and feel your best the day of your photo shoot. The Day of Your Shoot Prepare to feel pampered! My team styles your hair, provides airbrush makeup (grooming for the guys), and creates a memorable day that celebrates YOU! Sessions take place in our studio, on location somewhere, or both. You don't need to worry about preparing poses or anything, the entire experience is fully-guided. In fact, posing all body types is my speciality. I use fashion-inspired lighting, posing, and styling that creates magazine-worthy images of you. I even have a collection of custom hand-painted canvas backdrops, created by the same artist who paints backdrops for photography legends like Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair. After Your Shoot 1-2 weeks after your shoot, we'll invite you back to the studio for your Portrait Reveal. This is where we showcase your retouched images for you to make your selection. I LOVE PORTRAIT REVEALS. Oftentimes when clients see their images for the first time, it can be emotional, empowering, and truly life-changing. I want you to help you to fall in love with yourself, and show you sides of yourself that you may have lost touch with, forgotten about, or maybe have never met before. Watch this video for a behind-the-scenes peek into what your own magazine-style photo shoot could be like! When Jordan's parents placed her in dance at age three, they had no idea they were putting her on a career path. At age 14, Jordan knew that she wanted to pursue ballet for a living. She now practices 30-40 hours per week, and completed high school online. Jordan was offered academic scholarships at TCU, OU, and Pepperdine, but is choosing to pursue her dream to dance professionally with a ballet company. Before leaving for college, we had the opportunity to help her create some incredible portraits in our Dallas photography studio. Meeting her and her family and spending time with them during the shoot was such a joy. We even found a few beautiful, vintage dresses from my Resale Diva Finds to incorporate into her shoot. Here are just a few of the images from her session, I hope you enjoy. I wanted to finish up with some really soft and delicate portraits. We wrapped her hair with a piece of tulle fabric, and I even put a small piece of tulle in front of my camera lens to gently soften everything. Seriously, such a fun session. I love how you can see her grace flowing all the way through her fingertips. Jordan plans on spending her second summer with Ballet West in Utah, as well as Oklahoma City Ballet, both on full scholarships. To dedicate the required hours of practice, she is completing her college classes online.
Jordan is such a great example of how if you pour your heart and soul into something, you can really make any of your wildest dreams come true. If you are interested in your own photo shoot experience with me, I would love to answer your questions and hear how you dream of being photographed. Click here to get in touch. As a Portrait Photographer, I've dreamed of owning an Oliphant backdrop for years. I would look at images created by Annie Leibovits, Sue Bryce, and other masters in the photography industry, and admire the character that these backdrops added to their images. What is an "Oliphant backdrop" and why are they so special? Every one of these canvas backdrops is hand-painted by request, giving each drop a unique life of its own. Compared to a solid background, these works of art contain depth and texture, bringing a beautiful, subtle essence to photographs. "Oliphant" comes from Sarah Oliphant, the woman/artist/genius behind each and every backdrop. I was fortunate enough to have her paint my first canvas drop about a year ago, which was a warm gray (seen in the two portraits below). I consider it one of the most beautiful things in my studio and I can see me still using it for years and years to come. You might be thinking, "Wouldn't you get tired of using the same backdrop over and over?". By changing the distance between my subject, light, and the backdrop, I am able to significantly change how dark or light it looks. Also, I actually like that the backdrop's texture and tone can be seen as a common thread throughout a lot of my work. So no, I actually kind of love it the more I shoot on it! In fact, I love it so much, I contacted Sarah last month to have her create a second one for me, this time with a mix of golds and greens. I happened to be traveling to New York City the same time that my drop was supposed to be finished, so she invited me down to her studio to say hello and check it out in person. I asked to get a photo with Sarah, and she suggested we sprawl out on my new backdrop- what a fun way to break it in! She still had the colors and everything out for my drop, I love the greens and golds. When I'm shooting on it, I will be able to pull cool or warm tones into the image, making it really versatile. I felt like her student as she was walking me through her workflow and techniques- a lot more goes into one of these backdrops than you'd probably imagine! Visiting the studio and meeting Sarah was one of the highlights of my year. I just hung my new backdrop in the studio and I can't wait to shoot on it. Keep an eye on my Instagram and galleries and you'll start seeing this beautiful green/gold backdrop debut in my images!
Ok, Reagan isn't a mermaid, but you would have thought she was if you happened to see her taking her Senior Portraits in Dallas at White Rock Lake! She put on a beautiful green dress and hopped right in at the end of her session. Spending the evening with Reagan was a treat, as we got so many amazing images and had a lot of fun doing it. The above photo was actually taken in the back AC unit room of the studio, I just love the lighting, her pose, the dress, everything! I love the (below) dancing shots and timeless glam photos we took, equally as much! If you are a high school senior in Dallas, Frisco, Plano, Mesquite, McKinney, Allen, Highland Park, Arlington, Fort Worth, or surrounding DFW areas, I would love to invite you down to my studio to see what we're all about. Click on the button below to get your questions answered and get the Senior Portraits you've always dreamed of.
Killian is a male model, who, after spending a lot of time in Dallas, decided to make the transition back to the east coast. Before saying farewell to Dallas, he asked me to get him so photos to update his modeling portfolio. I thought I would give you some insight into the way I view and use light during a studio portrait session like this. For the above image, I wanted soft light pouring down on him from above, creating a lot of mood and contrast. I absolutely love this look, it's probably my favorite from his shoot. For the next two images, we wanted something a little bit more high-fashion. Since teal and magenta are opposite colors, I decided it would be a neat alternative way to create some interest and contrast. For the next photo, by using a background close to the same tone as his shirt, we created a warm, cohesive look. The soft, window-like light was created by one of my favorite new lighting modifiers, an Elinchrom 7' Octabank (it's ginormous). This last photo was taken by using a very small reflector on my light, which makes the shadows crisp and punchy. This lighting setup mimics sunlight. There is a lot more to creating a great portrait than just lighting, but it's fun to be able to alter the mood and tone of the entire image by controlling the light and shadows. Whether you are a model or just want to celebrate yourself with awesome portraits, I would love to hear more about how you dream of being photographed. This country-inspired photoshoot for Morgan was so much fun, and it brought me back to the days when I would visit my grandparents on their dairy farm in Missouri. Morgan has grown up on a Texas farm and has been involved in her school's FFA program for several years. Above, you'll see Morgan with her most recent FFA project, Sasha! You probably noticed the beautiful, vintage couch, which totally sets the mood. This was compliments of Coral Lane, a local vintage furniture boutique. The two owners were actually previous teachers of Morgan's, they rock! We wanted to finish her shoot with more of a free-spirited vibe, so we let her hair down and changed into this tulle dress that I actually created! This was my first attempt at sewing together a piece for a photo shoot and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out! I would love to talk with you about how you dream of being photographed!
Chantel's mother contacted me because she needed some photos for her daughter's modeling portfolio. I can't say enough good things about this girl. She was sweet, very intelligent, and an absolute blast to photograph. I hope you enjoy a few of the favorites from her photo shoot. BEST of luck to you, Chantel, on your upcoming Disney auditions! You will be great!
Are you interested in booking your kids head shots in Dallas? For those of you who aren't from Dallas, Texas, it's literally been spring for about 2 weeks now. All of the spring bulbs are in full bloom and the trees are green! I know the groundhog didn't see his shadow and all, but I feel like it's still a little early! (I'm not complaining) For this awesome Dallas photo shoot with Julianne, we teamed up with a local Dallas clothing boutique to create several really neat looks. I've been embracing natural light more lately. I used to almost have a sense of pride that I would regularly use off-camera flash, but as I have learned to understand and manipulate natural light, it's totally opened my eyes to how I capture light on my subjects.
Maddie and Shannon are two of the most incredible people I know. I've known these two for awhile now and I was absolutely thrilled when they asked me to be their wedding photographer! The wedding took place at a picturesque ranch located near Dallas, Texas. Maddie just received an early wedding present the day before her big day, meet Dexter. This is one of my favorite shots, ever! Dexter decided to take his turn down the aisle in the middle of their ceremony. He's even got his own little bowtie. Just about the time they thought their wedding couldn't get anymore perfect, a HELICOPTER swooped down from above and landed right in the field as their exit vehicle (a surprise wedding gift!) This was an epic ending to a fairytale kind of day, I was so happy for these two! I got married about a month before this, so the excitement of my own wedding still lingered, and was rekindled watching these two celebrate their love. That's one of the things I love about being a wedding photographer, is I feel like I am somewhat helping my couples celebrate their love over and over again, long after the wedding. If you are getting married and you're looking for a wedding photographer in Dallas, I would absolutely love to treat you to coffee and chat. If you live outside of DFW and would like me as your wedding photographer, I travel all over, and would love to talk with you about your special day. Follow us on Instagram @andrew_knowles and like us on our Facebook page!
About a month ago, CreatliveLive started a photo contest, and the winner was to receive an all-paid trip to the Photo Week 2015 CreativeLive studios in Seattle. What is Photo Week? It's 5 days of live education from world-class photographers and professionals. Well, thanks to so many of you voting on my photo, I actually WON! I got to spend this past week meeting and learning from some of my photography idols in downtown Seattle, Washington. Part of my prize was getting to have my images critiqued by the one and only, Sue Bryce. I have been a huge fan of her work for a long time, and have watched hours upon hours of her video classes. Sitting down with her in person and getting her personal advice was one of those moments in life I will never forget, it was surreal! As if that wasn't enough to make my entire week, the next day during Peter Hurley's class, I was invited up to be his example head shot. If you aren't familiar with CreativeLive, the entire thing is broadcast live around the world...no pressure! Here are some screen shots from that, Peter said he's going to send me the actual files, which I'll post on here when I get them! This is our class for Lindsay Adler (purple), the incredibly creative fashion photographer from New York! I can't wait to try some of the new techniques she invented! Despite all of the hours of technical lessons about photography this past week, my biggest take-away was being forced to really evaluate why I shoot, and not just how I shoot. My passion for people is why I love shooting portraits, and every single time someone steps in front of my camera, I'm given a huge opportunity. That is my chance to engage with you, make you forget about my camera, and capture moments and images that empower you as an individual.
Along with all of the amazing information and inspiration I was given, I made a lot of great friends. Hopefully I will be back up at the CreativeLive studios in the future, who knows, maybe one day I will be teaching my own live class! One of my favorite things about Family Portraits is that I get to help create something that will increase in value to the family members as the years pass. Later on down the road in life, we realize that those few leftover family photos we have can be our most prized possessions. It's such an honor when a family asks me to be their Family Photographer for multiple sessions. Monica, Justin, and Jaxon feel like family now, I love getting to watch Jaxon grow! These first few images are from their maternity session in Dallas, about a month before Jaxon was born. We were able to get him in the studio within a couple of days after delivery, so he was nice and fresh. If you wait too long to have you newborn photographed, they start developing their muscles and are much less "moldable". While both of their Family Portrait sessions were really fun, their most recent one was a special treat. He's got a huge personality and plenty of energy to support it :). So much fun! He is a giggler and a little cheeseball, so he was practically smiling the entire shoot. It's so neat for me to get to continue to be a part of families' lives through photography. These are photos that I hope Jaxon, and his kids, look back on and can really cherish. I recently created a Family Style Guide (PDF), and look who made the cover! This inspirational and educational guide is available now at no cost when you book your Family Portraits. If you're interested in getting your Family Portraits in Dallas, or have any questions or comments, please contact me for a quick response. I would love to chat!
Brad and Jason are two of the sweetest guys I've had the honor of working with. They actually had a ceremony in Colorado with a few friends (since same sex marriage in Dallas wasn't legal at the time), and they wanted to have something at home in Dallas for all of their friends and family to attend. They were looking for a same sex wedding photographer in Dallas, someone who shared in their love and celebration. I couldn't have been more thrilled when they asked me to photograph it for them. Brad coaches at Cheer Athletics, so a bunch of his cheerleading family were there to show support. Their daughter Harlow is the cutest thing ever. During the ceremony she peeked around out of her flower girl wagon, she couldn't wait to see her daddies! Little does most of the crowd know that Brad and a huge group of his staff have prepared a dance routine that "interrupts" the mother/son dance. People, this was seriously a site to be seen. At first just a few guys join in, then it becomes a FULL BLOWN production. (The choreographer is an amazing individual, who actually choreographed Bring it On). Jason was brought out and featured as "Bruno Mars". The dance progressed into the Lion King's "Circle of Life" where they ended this incredible production making a circle around Brad and Jason, while they held baby Harlow up like Simba. We 100% support same sex marriage. If you're looking for a same sex wedding photographer in Dallas, we would love to talk about your big day! Click here to get in touch, I would love to treat you to coffee or lunch and talk about your ideas and expectations. Until then, make sure and watch the video of this epic celebration of love. The guy in the gray shirt and pink bowtie is mine :). I love helping current and aspiring models build their portfolios. I modeled all through middle and high school, so I've had the opportunity to be on both sides of the lens. We wanted to achieve a high-fashion look for some of the photos, so I chose a harder light source, which creates that defined shadow under her jawline and behind her (above). Compared to using a soft light (below), where the shadows are smooth and subtle. After we finished up in the studio we headed out to explore downtown Dallas. We spent about 3 hours together, so we planned it to get shots in daylight, at sunset, and at night to give us a good variety. I can't go on enough about how much fun I had with Liz and her mom shooting these photos! I am seriously so fortunate to end up with such amazing clients.
If you're needing to building your modeling portfolio in Dallas or need modeling head shots in Dallas, give me a buzz and I would love to get you taken care of. I recently had the joy of working with Peyton for her Senior Portraits! We got a lot of really fun looks and some behind the scenes action, so I thought it would be fun to share it with you. The entire shoot was comedically windy, we just embraced it and tried not to let her fly away. Every High School Senior that I get the opportunity to work with is really involved in the entire process. We meet to discuss outfits, locations, concepts, and make sure that they feel 100% prepared for their shoot. The above photo was on a rooftop, and it literally took 2 men to hold down my light to keep it from blowing away. This shoot was one of the first times getting to put my new lighting system, Profoto B1s, into action. They are wireless, don't require a battery pack, power cord, or anything except a light stand. They open up a lot of creative doors by allowing me to quickly adjust my lighting and create setups that otherwise wouldn't be possible. It started getting really cloudy right at sunset, but I knew for the flag photos we wanted it to have a warm, dreamy feel. So we made our own sun! The bright light on the right is one of my lights with a warming gel on it. Then magically, for the shots below, the sun actually fought through the clouds and gave us a brilliant sunset over White Rock Lake. I love starting Senior Portrait sessions at a time that allows us to get shots during the daylight, sunset, and night. For these last photos, I can't even begin to explain how much fun we all had. These were taken in a reflection pool, where the water is only about 1/2" deep. The blue cloud behind her is a heavy-duty colored smoke bomb! We tried two different times, and each one lasted 90 seconds each. For some reason the 90 second windows of smoke gave us all such a rush, haha! Below are a few more from the first try, when the smoke started eating her up. I hope you enjoyed some of these images, I know we had a lot of fun creating them! If you are interested in booking your Senior Portraits with us, click here to get details.
Make sure and follow us on Instagram and Like Us on Facebook! We recently got to shoot with a local DFW personal trainer, Tim McComsey. He is amazing at what he does. For this, we brought the studio to him, so we could include any of the equipment in the gym we wanted. By hanging a white piece of seamless paper we were able to get a clean, edgy look. He owns TRYM Fit, a healthy approach to getting ripped and feeling great. Like many small businesses in Dallas, he wanted great photos to represent his brand. I don't care if you're selling makeup or mansions, when you have professional images representing you and your company, your clients view you as professional. Dallas Fitness Photography, Behind The Scenes- Robert GloryWhen you use iPhone shots and outdated images for your online profiles and marketing material, you're selling yourself short. Show off your best side and get professional photos that appeal to your clients. We are super active on Instagram, so make sure you are following us! @andrew_knowles
When Chris contacted me about capturing his proposal to Mak, I was so excited! Mak coaches cheerleading at Cheer Athletics and he popped the question during one of her team's practices. You might recognize Mak from her 4 years as a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader! After the proposal they invited me to be their wedding photographer, I was so thrilled! These two share that electric kind of love that everybody can admire. Once it got a little closer to their big day, Mak was ready to shoot her bridals! We decided that Whiterock Lake in Dallas was where we wanted to shoot, and it couldn't have turned out any better! Mom and sis joined us, which made for a really fun evening. We started shooting really close to sunset to give us a little drama, which also gave us some cool night shots. As a photographer, the hardest part about shooting bridal portraits is the fact the I can't share them until after the wedding! It ended up being a beautiful day, full of amazing people, all gathered to celebrate these lovebirds.
Taylor contacted me to do her bridal portraits in Dallas at the beginning of summer, because she was actually going to Venice to get married a few months following. What a dreamy location to tie the knot! She wanted her bridals to be classic and timeless, with an old-time Hollywood flair. We decided to shoot at The Mansion At Turtle Creek, which ended up being the perfect Dallas location. This hotel oozes luxury, and we were excited to find spiraling staircases, plenty of arches and columns, and a lot of other really awesome architectural features. All of that was just a stage for the true star, the beautiful Taylor. I don't think her dress could have been any more perfect for the style and look she was going for (Vera Wang). Notice how flawless her makeup is, especially her eyes. Each lash is individually lengthened and filled, and the makeup is applied with an airbrush. These services are available for not only bridal sessions in Dallas, but also Senior Portraits, Engagement Photos, any photos where you want to look polished and perfect. One of the hardest parts about taking bridals is having to wait to share the final results! We can't risk the groom seeing any of the photos before the wedding day, so these shots are actually several weeks old. I was originally trained in the darkroom, exclusively with black and white. I oftentimes find myself shooting in color nowadays, but enjoy revisiting the classic black and white approach. I recommend anyone trying to improve their photography try and take some of your color images and convert them to black and white. This will help you quickly notice areas that could use improvement (exposure, shadows, etc.) that may not have been as obvious when viewing the image in color.
If you are looking for a bridal photographer in Dallas or a wedding photographer in Dallas, please visit our Wedding section of our site for information about our complete wedding photography services in DFW. Do you follow us on Instagram? You should be! We post sneak peaks and behind the scenes shots from recent photos, just follow @andrew_knowles We've made some exciting new changes to our Senior Portraits experience! First, we now include professional airbrush makeup and hairstyling with your shoot. We are also branching out our Senior Portrait photos and info to our sister website. All of our Senior Portrait information, galleries, etc. can be found at www.dallas-senior-portraits.com or by clicking "Senior Portraits" from the Services tab up top. You will find updated galleries, information about how Senior Portraits with AJK Images work, and a lot more!
If you're looking for something edgy and different, and want more information about booking a session please click below to contact me
Congratulations to Brenna and Alec on their engagement! The two of them are currently nested in Oklahoma, but traveled down to Dallas, TX for their engagement shoot. She used to compete with the Cheer Athletics Wildcats, and was excited to be back in the Dallas area. We started out in Deep Ellum, full of weathered brick and colorful graffiti murals. They brought a bunch of outfits to choose from- I always explain to couples that it's better to have too many options than wish you had brought something after it is too late. Brenna and Alec did great! Engagement session are so much fun, and such a great time for the couple to get a feel for being in front of the camera. As they quickly realized, for a lot of the shots it's like I wasn't even there.
I think that engagement sessions are so great that I shoot them free of charge for every couple who books their wedding with me. It gets them excited, gets their friends excited, and is just an overall great experience. Along with the session I also include a big 16x20 print for them to display at the reception. This recent newborn session in Dallas was done at the family's home. This is a great alternative to taking newborn photos in the studio because the baby feels more comfortable, and everything you need will be easily at hand. Using some clever tricks, like placing a heating pad underneath the blanket, we made her as comfy as possible. She was brought home on Christmas day, so they wanted something to always remind them of the little gift she is. Dad is an Allen firefighter, so we got to use some of his gear in the session! I love incorporating special props into the shots that hold meaning and are relatable to the family. If you or someone you know if expecting, we offer Maternity and Newborn photo sessions in Dallas and surrounding areas. Click here for more info!
Payton wanted to show off her love of dance and fashion for her senior portraits. In the above photo the cloud of color surrounding her is not photoshopped, it's actually the result of Payton throwing handfuls of cooking flour while she leaped! (The color came from the two side lights, one blue, one pink.) She wanted some variety in her senior pictures, so we went to two different locations. We spent about an hour in downtown Dallas and an hour taking her senior pictures in Highland Park, which gave us plenty of time to get a ton of looks. There's never any limit to the number of locations or the number of outfits when shooting your senior portraits with AJK Images. We also encourage you to invite family or friends in for a few shots, no extra cost! We are nearly completely booked for 2013 but we are currently booking for spring 2014 senior picture sessions. If you live in Highland Park or anywhere else in the DFW, get senior pictures that show off the true you.
View more examples and pricing here! Get edgy, fashion-inspired senior portraits with AJK Images.Samantha is a 2014 senior and wanted her senior portraits in Dallas to reflect the urban vibe of Deep Ellum. It's one of my favorite spots in town. When I'm in the area I usually show up extra early so I can swing by Mokah Coffee Bar and get one of their delicious coffee drinks before we begin. Graffiti, rust, peeling paint, we found it all! The colors and textures add so much character her senior pictures. We timed her photo shoot to where we could catch the beautiful "golden hour" before sunset, and also get some fun night shots after the sunset. She invited her boyfriend of 2 years to join her in a few of the shots, which I love! Families, friends, significant others, your puppy, anyone is invited to step in for a few shots during you Senior Portrait session at no additional cost. Meet Clarissa! She wanted to do her senior portraits in Garland and wanted something fun and unique. We started off pretty "normally", but little did she know what I had in store for her...(muahaha) We wandered around getting various shots and then we ended up at this creek. When I asked her if she wanted to get in, she didn't hesitate! I rolled up my shorts, waded in with her, and got some really fun photos. For all of my photo shoots I bring portable power and studio lights. For this session I shot a strobe through a 22" parabolic reflector (aka "beauty dish") with a white diffusion sock. I'm obsessed with the quality of light that this baby produces. Soft, but contrasty light like this is what gives my photos their "pop"! Plus having such powerful light at my disposal opens up a lot of doors for cool photos that wouldn't be possible with natural light or reflectors. Are you looking for UNIQUE senior portraits in Garland? Whether you are in Garland, Dallas, or Fiji, I would be honored to take your senior portraits. Click for more examples and info!
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