Kevin Barre Photography Blog

STEPHANIE & TANNER

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:08:18 PDT

These are a few images from Stephanie & Tanner's Engagement session. Cute couple and crazy fun to shoot with! The ones of them on the foot bridge were so funny to shoot. They're 100 feet away from me with rush hour interstate traffic buzzing below them (including lots of honking from onlookers!). I'm trying to tell them which way to turn, etc., and they CAN'T HEAR ME. So I'm making all kinds of weird hand gestures, trying to get them to do what I need them to do, and I sit down for a better angle—right in a puddle!

Nice.

But the shots turned out great.

New Album Sample

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:18:29 PST

I just ordered a new album sample from CoutureBook. If you aren't familiar with these books, they're super cool press-printed art books. I like to think of them as the anti-wedding album wedding album. They look absolutely fantastic. Each one is a hand-made piece of art.

The one featured here is the Soho style from the New York line. This album comes with a printed cover with a Japanese silk linen spine and a matching linen slipcase. I ordered it in red, which looks freakin' cool!

The recent style-du-jour for wedding albums has been overwrought designs with lots of images per page, mainly (I think) in an effort to get more images per page to keep the costs down to the consumer. I've always thought those designs were a little trendy, and I wondered how well they would stand up over time. The last thing I want is for my clients to have albums that look really out of date after a few years.

The answer—of course—is to go with fewer images per page, and add more pages. To keep the prices from getting out of hand, I cut the cost of each page IN HALF. So now my clients can get double the number of pages for the same cost. This means BIGGER images in a simple, clean design that looks more like the fine art books you see in the photography section of your local bookstore. Something more like a piece of art, which is what I'm really striving for anyway.

Have a look at the whole book design here, and if you like, check out the CoutureBook website. They have a super-cool video that shows the whole process of how the books are created.

Gallery Wrap Special!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:27:43 PST

To highlight one of our coolest new products, I'm giving away a free 16"x 20" canvas Gallery Wrap to every client who books a wedding with us at the Modern Package level or higher during the month of February. If the package you book already includes a Gallery Wrap, you will receive a $300 Services Credit instead.

These images are really cool! The image is printed directly on canvas, coated with a protective varnish, and then stretched over a wooden frame. They're ready to hang. No framing needed.

Everyone who sees these comments on how fantastic they look. They really do look like paintings. The one below is 36" x 54".

Jack

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:48:33 PDT

I meant to post these images a few days ago, but the weekend was kinda busy. On October 9, my son Jack turned 10. The time sure flies. Way to go big guy!

By the way, I remember my own 10th birthday in 1980. My dad took me to see the Christopher Reeves version of Superman in the theatre (only the wealthy had home video at that point). When I told my sister that the other night, she said I was "old." Well, duh!

Allison & Yi's Engagement Images

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:37:49 PDT

Today we have another set of favorites from a recent Engagement Session, this time featuring Allison & Yi.

Sarah & Austin

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:49:08 PDT

These are some of the pics from Sarah and Austin's wedding at St. Mary's Episcopal and the Brooks Museum of Art in Memphis. The flowers and decorations at the reception were by Southern Event Planners.

Jordan

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:37:57 PDT

This gorgeous woman is the highly intelligent, funny, caring, dependable, thoughtful, independent, and loving woman I married four years ago yesterday.

I love her more today than even the day we were married.

I'm biased, of course, but DAMN she's a hottie!

Katie & Greg

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:37:05 PDT

These are some of my favorites from a recent engagement session I shot with Katie & Greg. Their wedding is coming up in a few weeks at the Brooks Museum of Art.

Before and After Images

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:09:02 PDT

In the post about Cathy & Kav's wedding below there is an image of the happy couple leaving the church in a beautiful vintage Packard. This image is perfect for illustrating the options we have available for retouching of images. While some of this (to a lighter degree) is included with every image we deliver in the form of finished prints and albums, the more advanced retouching you see here is also available at a very reasonable extra cost.

Cathy & Kav

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:14:14 PDT

About a year ago (or so) I shot a rehearsal dinner for a couple in Sewanee, TN. The groom's family hired me based on a recommendation from a family member, but the bride's family had already hired another photographer to shoot the wedding. When it was all said and done, they were happier with my pictures from the rehearsal dinner than they were with the other photographer's pictures from the wedding. Apparently they liked me enough to recommend me to Cathy & Kav.

Here are a few images from their recent wedding. You can see the whole gallery here if you like.

Meredith & Donnie

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:00:00 PDT

Meredith & Donnie finally tied the knot! You may remember their engagement images from a while back, but these are from the recently added proof pages of their wedding.

The ceremony and reception were at Le Pavillon in Memphis. Check out all of the images from the wedding here.

The image above is of the crazy beautiful Katie Maxwell, who was Meredith's Maid of Honor. She was also the MoH in Jordan's and My wedding.

Wendy & John

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:52:14 PDT

These are some of my favorite images from Wendy & John's recent wedding at Le Pavillon in Memphis. As you can tell from the pics, these two are really in love, and were kissin' and huggin' all night long.

Le Pavillon is a cool little wedding location, with gorgeous light and—best of all—climate control inside when it's hot outside.

You can see the entire wedding here.

Robin & Peter

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:31:29 PDT

These images are from Robin & Peter's recent weddings in Marion, Arkansas. Some of you may recognize the Groom as Peter Edmiston of AM 560 Memphis, where he co-hosts the Morning Rush each weekday from 6-8 a.m.

This was the first wedding I ever went to where they did karaoke. Peter and groomsman Will Askew did a surprisingly good (and thoroughly disturbing) rendition of "Afternoon Delight." Incredibly fun!

Beach Specials!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:45:06 PDT

We only have a few slots left open for our $99 Beach Portrait Special. If you plan to be in the Destin/Sandestin/Seagrove Beach/Seacrest/Orange Beach/Rosemary Beach/Seaside area during the week of July 19 - 26, call us ASAP. These sessions are filling up fast. These can be family sessions or engagements!

Samantha James

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:03:01 PDT

I have always had eclectic music tastes. I listen to a lot of jazz, 70s, 80s, a little bit of 90s. I'm not a fan of country, and yet I love bluegrass. I think it has something to do with the purity of the music.

Lately I find that mostly I listen to "chill." If you're unfamiliar, chill is basically adult contemporary for the 21st century.

I was listening to a little internet radio this morning, which is how I usually listen these days—I can't deal with the commercials on regular radio. I had never heard of Samantha James before, but trust me, I'm paying attention now. Her voice is so unbelievable and pure. Listen to a little of it here:

The album, Rise, is an ambient-trance-chill mixture of incredible tracks. My favorite at the moment is Send It Out To The Universe, but I may change my mind, there are so many good tracks.

Abby & Carey

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:42:57 PDT

These are from Abby & Carey's Engagement Session. We started out at their house, shooting some more traditional images for posting an engagement announcement in the paper. Then we loaded their dogs in my truck and headed off for an extended session downtown. The doggies were awesome, and the images didn't turn out too bad either. See the entire session on my site here.

KB Photo Around Memphis

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:21:01 PDT

I do a bunch of work during the year for the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. They're my charity of choice, and I never charge them for it. A real bummer is that I was checking with my tax guy and he says that I can't even deduct the work as a charitable deduction on my taxes. That sorta stinks, but whatever, I like the people there.

So the other day I was dropping by a disc of the latest images I had shot for them and take a look at what I saw on the front of the museum.

Look a little closer at the picture in the bottom right hand corner.

Oh, yeah, baby!

Laura & Evan

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:23:33 PDT

These are of Laura & Evan from my latest Engagement Session in Memphis. Aren't they cute? You can check out the whole session here.

Published Again

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:20:16 PDT

Some more of my images have been published in an international magazine.

A few months ago I shot some images for a friend, who happens to own EgglestonWorks. Their newest speaker line, the Nine, received a glowing review in the April/May 2008 issue of The Absolute Sound. These things are freakin' beautiful (and they sound even better)! Too bad I can't afford them, 'cause they sure would look and sound good in my TV room. (Are you listening, Jim?)

The only bad part: they didn't give me a photo credit. Losers.

Sara & David

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:21:57 PDT

These are pics from Sara and David's wedding at the Memphis Botanic Gardens, with the reception at the Train Station in downtown Memphis. We had to dodge the rain to get the outdoor pics, but I think they turned out great. What a fun couple!

Have a look at the whole set here.

To the MOON!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Wed, 14 May 2008 20:21:34 PDT

I believe I have mentioned here before that I'm a bit of a nut about the American Space Program. Everything about it fascinates me, and whenever the chance to see any real space memorabilia up close has presented itself, I have always taken the opportunity. My kids are also fascinated by the stuff, so for Spring Break this year, Jordan and I took Sarah and Jack to the rocket center in Hunstville, Alabama.

When you get to Huntsville, it's pretty hard to miss the full scale mockup of the Saturn V rocket on display at the entrance to the center. Standing as tall as a 36 story building, you can see it from virtually anywhere in the area.

They have a new building at the center that was just dedicated in January of 2008. It houses the original test version of the Saturn V. It never actually flew, but instead was the source vehicle for all of the engine, transport, and assembly tests.

While we were there, we took in a 3D movie about Mars. Here's Sarah sporting her 3D glasses.

There's also a Zero Gravity ride outside by the rockets. You strap in and are hurled upward, feeling zero-g for a couple of seconds on the way back down. Unfortunately Jack didn't quite make the height requirement, so he hung out while the rest of us took off.

There were a number of flown items from each of the Apollo moon missions, including this flight suit worn by John Young while inside the Lunar Module on the surface of the moon. John Young is my personal hero. Here are a few of the things he did in his lengthy NASA career.

He flew on the first manned flight of the Gemini spacecraft with Gus Grissom aboard Gemini 3.
Flying again as Commander of Gemini 10, the mission was the first dual rendezvous with two Agena Target Vehicles.
He first went to the Moon aboard Apollo 10, flying the Command Module solo - the first person to do so in lunar orbit.
He flew to the Moon again as Commander of Apollo 16 and was the ninth man to set foot on the Moon.
He is listed in the Guiness Book of World records as setting a speed record for travel on the surface of the Moon with the lunar rover (11.2 mph!)
He was again Commander on the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle.
He flew the Space Shuttle again on the very first Spacelab mission, also making him the first man to fly in space six times, and is the only man to have commanded Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle missions.
He worked for NASA for 42 years and retired on December 31, 2004 at the age of 74.

This is one of the modified Hasselblad cameras used during the Apollo 11 mission, the first time man set foot on the Moon.

These are plaster casts of Neil Armstrong's hands, taken to make custom gloves to be worn on the surface of the Moon.

This is the Command Module "Snoopy" in which John Young, Ken Mattingly, and Charlie Duke rode to the Moon.

Here's Sarah trying her hand in the original Apollo command module simulator.

Jack shows us the shuttle Pathfinder, which was the first Space Shuttle mockup used for construction and transportation testing. It never actually flew, and is in fact hollow. The fuel tank, however, is the very first shuttle fuel tank constructed, used for all of the static launch tests of the shuttle system. The lower two engines on the back end of Pathfinder are the actual engines that flew on the maiden voyage of Columbia, the very first Space Shuttle flight. The booster rockets are inert mockups.

Defection to the Dark Side?

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Wed, 14 May 2008 20:22:14 PDT

I did it. I made the switch. After being a die-hard Nikon guy for 25 years I made the leap today and switched to Canon.

Earlier this week I purchased a whole 40D setup, but the cameras actually got here today. First impressions: It's really different from my Nikon stuff. That and HOLY CRAP this thing is fast and silent! Perfection in a wedding camera.

Of course, here are the very first images shot with it. The girls were out playing in the yard, so I shot them.

This is Emma. She's the lady. At six, she'd not the oldest, but we've had her the longest. She is definitely the queen bee.

This one is Zoe. She's the puppy, and don't you forget it. She's nine months old and eats EVERYTHING. If she can't find anything to eat she will attempt to eat one of the other dogs. I am only slightly kidding here.

Lastly, we have Victoria, or as I like to call her “Mrs. Victoria Graybeard."

We adopted Victoria from the Humane Society in October. She had lived there for over a year and I didn't think she needed to do that anymore. It may be because I saved her, but she never leaves my side. Ever. Oh, except when I pull out the camera. She seems to be terrified of my cameras, no matter how small they are.

Presidential Politics

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 08:00:02 PST

Who's it going to be in November?

I think that Barack Obama and John McCain will end up being the final candidates for their parties, so I have left off the others who are currently running for the nominations.

I feel pretty strongly about Presidential Politics. But I haven't quite decided if I will share my feelings here just yet. So many people take politics WAY too seriously. Not that it isn't a serious topic. In fact I think it is a topic of grave importance, that's why I am writing about it here. I just worry at this point that if I were to express my political beliefs here, that it might somehow negatively affect my business. I would really hate for someone to choose another photographer because I didn't share the same political beliefs as them. I'm really doing this, more than anything else, to get a pulse on the beliefs of my clients.

So, who will it be? Take the poll below. Your response is COMPLETELY ANONYMOUS. Neither I or anyone else will see who responds below.

Amy and Ben's Engagement Session

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:23:33 PDT

Who says you can't shoot an Engagement Session in December? Well, maybe me. Amy and Ben's session was delayed twice due to rain, but we finally got it done. What a cute couple! They also booked me for the coveted 06-07-08 date this year. It seems like EVERYONE wants that date.

Well too bad, they got it first.

Payment Options

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barre) — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:25:55 PDT

My usual policy with regard to payment is that 50% of the order total (before tax) is due as a retainer fee at the time a contract is signed. Recently I started offering a new payment option that is turning out to be much more popular than I anticipated. I set up a payment plan for those who want to pay for their package with a credit card. We can now divide the total cost of a package up into any number of automatic equal payments, on the first of each month. Here's an example:

If your wedding is on November 29, and you want to purchase our Modern Package, the total cost is $3168.25 (with tax). The Retainer Fee, if paid by a check would be $1450, due with the signed contract. The balance of $1718.25 would be due two weeks before the wedding date. Under the new optional payment plan, a credit card payment of only $288.02 would be due with the signed contract. Then each month on the 1st, between now and November, an additional payment of $288.02 would automatically be charged to your credit card.

This option is great for those who are on a tight budget, or for those who really just don't want to have to remember to make their final payment. Of course, we will gladly take full payment at any time, but I figured this would be a convenient option for our clients, and a number of them have already opted for it. Let me know what you think.