KeliKakesPhotography

update:

2013-02-28T23:25:00.002-05:00

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post an update! I've been waiting to take a specific picture to share some awesome news with everyone! I'm hoping I can get the picture done tomorrow so I don't have to keep it all to myself anymore!!!! I tried to do it one day and just as I set it up, it looked like it was going to rain so I brought it all back inside and the sky opened up the second I closed the door! (whew) I'm really excited and I hope you all will be too! (can you tell???)

Thank you all for being so patient! Here's an image from the Zoo last Sunday (got to love $5 day!)

Enjoy!

Lowry Park Zoo - Tampa,Florida

Photo Challenge and Surprises to come!

2013-01-17T18:17:00.000-05:00

I wanted to start this year off with a weekly photo challenge. But I have not started it yet. I decided to wait until February to do this. In the meantime I am doing research for some surprises I am planning later in the year for all of my wonderful clients! I am so excited and I really hope you all will like it!

Amazon.com Widgets

Happy New Year!

2013-01-03T21:07:00.001-05:00

Well it's that time of year! To start new and fresh! To make new goals and resolutions. Some will be kept, others will be broken. But all are little gleams of hope for the unknown.
2013 will be a wonderful year to celebrate life and all that it involves.
There will be a lot of changes happening at KeliKakesPhotography and I will be sharing all of that "NEWNESS" with you here on my blog and on facebook!


New Rose for a New Year 2013!

The first thing I will be doing is completely REVAMPING my blog so please be patient through these changes!
In the meantime... NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS! This year I have a few. Some are personal. Some are business...and even a few sort of combine the two.
1. Be IN more pictures! - Family photos, fun with the kids, even some self portraits! Looking back I realize how many missed opportunities there were! I love looking at pictures of my mom and pictures of us together. I need to do the same for myself and my children.
2. Organize and post in my BLOG more - I didn't make very many posts last year. This year will be very different! I am making a plan of ACTION.

There are more but I won't bore you with the rest of my goals/resolutions... I will leave you with a quote I saw today, although I cannot remember who said it:

"A goal without a plan is only a wish"

Here's to making wishes into COMPLETED goals!

December 2012

2012-12-22T12:23:00.001-05:00

I know I haven't posted anything in a while. I've been busy preparing for 2013!

Here's a session I did for a First Christmas/6 month old!

Little Chloey is 6 months old this month! She was so much fun to work with!

She has gotten so big! And more beautiful every time I see her!

Remembering 9-11

2012-09-11T20:54:00.000-04:00

Today is a day to remember. Many lives were lost and the world was changed. This was a day where America really came together. I am proud to be an American. I always have been and I will always be. We might feel like our country is going through a lot right now, and it is true. But we are so lucky to have what we have. We have freedom. We have houses. We have clothing. We have each other.

That's all that really matters... each other.

I shared videos today with my son of 9-11. I was very nervous about showing him at his young age (8) but I felt like he could handle it. He paid very close attention to it too. I explained to him what happened (during and the aftermath). He noticed the images of people jumping from the building and he was amazed that they could actually do that. I explained to him that they had 2 choices: jump and end it or burn. He came to the conclusion that maybe they were trying to climb down the building and just couldn't. In some cases he is correct. He gave me a big hug and asked tons of questions. He thanked me for showing him. Then he went off to his own business.
There were questions I couldn't answer. Some I don't want to know the answer to.
But in the end he has a better understanding of what it really means to be an American. To see actual video of the way everyone worked together on that tragic day. To understand what a true HERO is.

*I did not show my daughter because I'm not sure she could handle it yet*

Thank you to all of our heroes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE WILL NEVER FORGET

Congrats Tonya and Nick!

2012-09-11T01:07:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of a wonderful friend I have known since I was 17 years old! I had so much fun! Plus it was extra special to not only attend the wedding, but to have the chance to be a part of it! Tonya, I am so happy for you and Nick! Congrats!

I can't wait to show you the rest of the pictures!

Introducing the NEW Mr. and Mrs. Nick Tandy

Now on Gig Salad!

2012-08-30T08:24:00.003-04:00

This has been a big month!

2012-08-29T11:58:00.001-04:00

This month, we have had so much going on! First of all, the kids went back to school! (yay for parents) We all know what this means! Time to spend money like crazy people! Pencils, notebooks, backpacks, lunch boxes, markers, crayons, colored pencils, paper, erasers, highlighters...you name it, we've bought it! Everything times TWO in my household!! To those families who have more than 2 children: HOW DO YOU DO IT?
One thing I've found to be very handy is to always have a good printer handy! You never know when you'll need to print something out for your little one! (or not so little?) When my son was in kindergarten he had to write ten words three times each. The paper that was provided did not have enough space, so I printed my own on some card stock. His teacher LOVED it! (secretly, he did too) One good printer to use would be this HP Office jet Pro 8600. It's an All-in-One printer so you can use it for your wee one's school and for business purposes! HP Officejet Pro 8600 e-All-in-One CM749A#B1H (Google Affiliate Ad)
Last year he had a project on farms. I took the kids to a working Dairy Farm where we asked lots of questions and even got the chance to feed a calf that was only a few hours old! (ya, we go all out) When we came home I typed up what he wanted to say and printed it off for him. Then, we cut it out and pasted everything (along with photos, of course) onto a poster board. It was amazing! I wonder what this year will bring for them! 2nd and 3rd grade: Here We Come! Homework? Let's do it! Gifted? No problem. Dance class? Bring it! Chorus? Can't wait!

Now if only the kids felt the same way!

Originally, I wasn't going to post this photo. But I just can't help myself!

We've had the threat of a hurricane, tornado warnings, and last but not least MY VACATION! Yes, I said it: VACATION. Matter of fact, that's what I'm doing right now. Sitting at my laptop enjoying an iced caramel macchiato with soy milk from the big chain coffee company :) Watching the storm come in and waiting on 2:00 to pick the kids up from school. Life just doesn't get better than this, now does it?

Why I'm a photographer. This relates to my previous post.

2012-07-18T21:00:00.003-04:00

This sort of relates to my previous post. I wrote this on my Facebook page last month. (www.facebook.com/kkakesphotography) I couldn't resist re-posting it on here.

I was just sitting here reading an article that reminded me of WHY I'm a photographer.
My mother died when I was 11 years old. It's been 17 years, and the memories I have of her are fading. But the pictures are still there. I was premature and the hospital pretty much told my family to say good bye to me. My father took a lot of pictures of my mother and I in the hospital. He developed them himself and put them into a photo album. The album was given to me for my 18th birthday. This album is my favorite "memory". The pictures tell a story. It includes an image of a close up of my mother's face framed by the opening of the incubator that I was in. The look in my mother's face is one that shows pure LOVE, yet worry and exhaustion. There is another image of her sitting in a chair surrounded by the equipment that was keeping me alive. Upon viewing the album with my father, he stated that she knew how to work each and every piece of that equipment and could care for me herself when the nurses were with other patients. My favorite is the one of my mother putting me into my car seat as they are leaving the hospital with me for the first time. I was over a month old. The album continues to include some images of my first year of life.
I have been able to share this album with my own children and they were amazed to see them. You see, they never met their grandmother. These images did not just show some woman they don't know smiling at the camera. They showed HER. Her emotions, her personality, and the love that she had for me. Their mother.
I know that as a photographer, I might not be taking pictures of people in the hospital. But to just capture a person's memories of their loved ones. To show the love they have for each other. That's why I'm a photographer.

The Most Important Summer

2012-07-18T20:56:00.004-04:00

What does summer mean to you?

What childhood memories come to mind when you think of the word "summer"? For me it brings back so many memories. No school, no homework, all fun. Riding bicycles down to the corner, playing in the pool, rainbows, and spending time with friends and cousins.

From the time I first started school to the end of Elementary School, summer was all fun and games. It was where true happiness was found. When my brother and I weren't at a daycare center, we enjoyed our time at our Aunt's house, then our own home.
But for me summer doesn't only bring back happy memories. There was a summer many years ago that will never leave my mind or my heart. Eighteen years ago this month to be exact.

It was the summer of 1994. When most kids should be out playing and basking in the joys of summer, I had to learn to grow up really fast. I didn't realize it at that time, but this would be the most important summer of my entire life. I started out attending a Summer Camp at my Elementary School where I had a pet snail, but was pulled out quickly.

You see, my mother was sick.

Very sick.

It took a while for anyone to tell us the truth. Our mother just didn't want us to know. I'm not sure if she was in denial, or if it was just a mother's continuing desire to protect her children from the bad in the world. We watched as she lost her hair. A hospital bed was brought into my brother's room, he was moved into mine. She got to where she needed help walking, or doing anything really. She had her special chair she sat in. Her cane she walked with. A wheelchair. The wigs she hated so much. She had many dreams of when she got better: eating pizza, going to Disney, etc...

I remember climbing into her hospital bed with her, with the rails up so I wouldn't fall out. I had a Barbie coloring book and she would color one page while I colored the other.
Yes we played outside and I even had a chance to go to a movie theater with a friend from school. We saw the Lion King. I ended up seeing it TWICE that week! But the truth is I spent as much of that summer with her as I could.
School ended in June (I believe), I turned 11 in June. My mother passed away July 11, 1994.
Our summer was cut short. Everything after that is a complete blur. One minute it was July 11th and the next school was starting again. My dad took us on a vacation to Disney and to the beach and I do remember that, but the entire trip is hazy. We took this trip for her.

I live my life trying my hardest to give my children EVERY opportunity I possibly can. I know it's not much. But I take them everywhere and spend every weekend with them. I am constantly looking for a way I can make it even better. We never know how much time we have with our loved ones. My hope is that when they think back on "Summers with Mom", they will feel the warmth that I feel when I think of mine.

She had melanoma.......skin cancer.

Please, Dear Readers, wear sunblock any time you are outside! This doesn't mean just at the beach.

This means ANY time you are exposed to the sun!

Driving with our arm outside the car window, going to the park, going on a walk, the sun is ALWAYS there!

We may not be able to reverse the damage that has already been done, but we can try to prevent any further damage!!

Don't forget your feet too!

Trumpet Brothers

2012-07-17T20:47:00.003-04:00

Can you believe it's already this far into July??? Time flies when you're having fun!

I am sitting here watching a squirrel sitting on a perfect part of a tree in my backyard, with my brother's cat "stalking" it. The squirrel is eating something and has paused to do that "You looking at me?" pose that squirrels do best! Guess where my camera is? IN MY VAN!!! Did I bother to go get it? No. If I had, the moment would have been gone by the time I got back. Instead I sat here and enjoyed the view. The cat just chased the squirrel into the neighbor's backyard and they are having a little stare down.

This has been my whole day. I spent my lunch break listening to two older gentlemen playing their trumpets. Lost in their own worlds. One with a music stand that held not sheet music, but a photo frame. I couldn't help but wonder what was in that frame. I sat in my van and watched their expressions and behaviors. The older man would play a scale, put his trumpet in his lap, lean forward and seemed to think for a while before he started all over again. I found myself imagining what he was contemplating. Was he thinking of the days when he played in a band? Or was he thinking of a lost love?

After about 10 minutes I decided to get out of the van and walk over to where they were. I sat at some nearby benches and caught the eye of the older gentleman. I nodded "hello" and he nodded back. We smiled at each other and both went back to our own worlds. But it was killing me. I had to go talk to them. I wanted so much to learn more about them and listen to their music.
Somehow I finally got the older man to speak to me. He knew very little English. He moved fairly slowly and seemed to be full of heart and soul. He had something in his eye that told me something weighed heavy on his mind, but I didn't dare to ask.

Instead, he told me in broken English that he used to play professionally in New York and back in his country many many years ago. He pointed to the other man and said that was his brother and that he played the saxophone. I mentioned to him that I used to play the flute and the piano and he called his brother over to tell him. The brother seemed pleased with this piece of information and sat and talked with us about nothing. After a few minutes he got up and went back to his trumpet.

The older man and I continued to talk and as we did he would stop every few minutes to empty his trumpet. He would then fumble with the keys a few times. Then he would play the scale again. Up, up, up and down, down, down as LOW as he could go. Ending with very little breath.
His face showed the realization that he just can't play like he used to.
I began to wonder if this is all he could remember. I attempted to ask him if he played sheet music, but he responded pointing to his ears and making a playing motion in the air. I believe he was saying that he played by hearing.

The whole time I was talking to them I was thinking in my head what a wonderful opportunity it would be to photograph them with their instruments. I even brought up the fact that I am a photographer. I had every image I wanted lined up in my head and knew it would only take a couple minutes of their time.

BUT, I felt like that would be too much of an intrusion on these two older gentlemen. I held a respect for them and didn't want to make them uncomfortable in any way. I never looked at the frame on his music stand. That will forever be a mystery.

I ended up sitting with them and just listening to them play for another 10 minutes. One man playing a beautiful tune and the other, older, man playing the scale.

Up, up, up and down, down, down.