Photography Kansas City | Glow Imagery's Blog

Kind Words from One of Our Brides

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:26:58 +0000

We had the pleasure of chatting recently with Jamie Dickey, a bride of ours from October 2011. It was an amazing wedding with so much romance and emotions! We couldn’t help but marvel at just how much Jamie had accomplished in such a short time! She let us record some of our conversation to share with you in this video!

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Jimmy & Molly: a Kansas City wedding at St. Peters

admin — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:04:55 +0000

We look forward to each and every wedding with great excitement. But there was something about Molly and Jimmy’s wedding which we were especially excited about. Maybe it was just the couple or maybe it was their tremendous enthusiasm for working with us that had us all worked up. To paraphrase Bill Murray from “Ghostbusters”: their wedding came, it saw and it kicked butt.

The best part wasn’t the gorgeous photographs, the best part wasn’t the reveal with Molly and Jimmy, it wasn’t the all-out fun and celebration that was their reception. The best part was the joy, humor, love and friendship that was everywhere at this wedding!

Doing the premiere showing at our studio for Molly and Jimmy a couple of weeks after the wedding was as much fun as the wedding day itself. “This is the best part of the entire thing!” Molly said after seeing all of her images huge across our 106-inch viewing screen at our studio. The laughter, ooohs and ahhhs were constant as they viewing their wedding volume first draft and the more than 600 image selections for the very first time. I love how being there with the couple the first time they see their images is a wonderful look into their experience and what they were feeling during those moments of the wedding day.

“I wanted to kiss you soooo bad!” Jimmy confessed to his new wife after seeing the images of their reveal in the courtyard of St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Kansas City, Mo.

The DJ at this wedding was Encore Elite Entertainment. Other noteworthy vendors include Bella Flora who did Molly’s flowers and Affordable Catering who provided the cake and delicious dinner.

Great, great job you two! We are so happy for you! Enjoy the images…

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The Elmores - a family portrait

admin — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:30:20 +0000

The Elmores are good friends and neighbors of Chris Cummins’ sister. Like a lot of families these days, the Elmores have had many portraits done at a lot of places.

When we first talked with Sara, the family’s mom, about their family portraits, she expressed her anxiety over how her kids may act and tolerate having their portraits made. It’s not uncommon for moms, when first talking with us, to express to us their fears about how difficult their children may be during a portrait session. They’re convinced their kids won’t behave, they won’t sit still and will be a total test for our patience and skills. Sometimes the kids are a challenge, but much more often than not we find ways to help the kids become excited and willing participant in the photography. A little psychology and genuine fun is all that is needed. Often it is as simple as letting the kids be themselves and not feel overly managed, posed and guided. Kids know instantly if something doesn’t feel genuine and they hate it. Expecially when they are being told to not be genuine.

Above all we are patient and kind with children. This is one of our unique factors that we know separate us from the usual photography studio. In the end, Max and Sydney were angels and a dream to work with. (This is usually the case!)

It cracks me up how our clients and us develop the spontaneous nicknames for the images we are looking at during the viewing and ordering sessions. Regardless if it is a wedding, family, senior or baby portraits, certain images earn certain names. There’s an image called “marilyn monroe,” “grandma’s,” “gangsta,” etc. It really is funny! In the case of the Elmores, the youngest, Max, gave us his “blue steel” expression. You’ll see it below!

We love our work! Great job Elmores!!

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Check Out Our New Video!

admin — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 15:31:06 +0000

After a lot of hard work we have finally finished our first promotional video. We love providing beautiful images for our clients and wanted the video to express this passion. After all, it’s hard to get to know about the people behind a photography studio just by looking at their website. We hope you enjoy watching it half as much as we enjoyed making it!

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Chenda & Joel: A wedding in Independence, Mo.

admin — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:08:59 +0000

At first Chenda and Joel seem to be an unusual pairing. Chenda is a recent immigrant from Cambodia, to hear her story is to hear an example of amazing courage and heart. Joel is a former offensive lineman from rural northeast Missouri he’s one of those people you know has never had a trouble making a friend the instant you talk with him. She’s tiny. He’s a big guy.

But what was instantly clear was their strong sense of faith.

Boy, are these two a pair! We were lucky that Joel and Chenda wanted so much of what my studio does. This meant we were going to do a couple of different photography sessions in the year leading up to the wedding. That also meant I was going to be getting to know this couple and Joel’s parents doing all this beautiful photography. What a treat!

It’s been said that we often seek a partner in life that is like our parent… sometimes we recognize that choice, other time it is done unconsciously. What became clearer and clearer to me is how alike Chenda is with Joel’s mom Judith. The two women are both task masters, strong willed and leaders. The love and acceptance Joel’s family has lauded on Chenda is inspiring because nearly all of Chenda’s family is in Cambodia where emigration rules are very strict. They took her in with such complete love, that Chenda was calling Judith “mom.”

The thing about faith and love that I hope I never stop being amazed by is its ability to inspire us to see the world in a new way and to make us humble enough to forget our boundaries and see all of life’s incredible possibilities. Enjoy!

Chris Cummins

chief photographic artist - Glow Imagery

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Heather & Jordan: a wedding at Meadowview Gardens

admin — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:45:21 +0000

What a great couple. Some couples you just know you have to work with them very early in the phone conversation. It isn’t about if they can work with us, it is how. This is a huge compliment considering how many really wonderful photographers there are for couples to choose from in this day and age!

The part of this wedding I will always remember is the complete beauty of it. Meadowview Gardens is one of the few locations I know of in Kansas City that is completely and solely designed to help couples enjoy the most romantic and beautiful weddings. It serves no other purpose.

I often tell people that I approach wedding photography not as creating “wedding photographs” but creating family photographs on your wedding day.” That was ESPECIALLY fun with this wedding! The pride, joy and love everyone showed for the couple was everywhere and we love how the photography celebrates these relationships.

Meadowview even does a fireworks display at the end of the evening. The groom was especially excited about this. We boys never grow up, do we? If it blows up and makes a big boom, we love it, young and old alike.

This was so much fun. What a beautiful day that will always make me smile!

Chris Cummins

chief photographic artist - Glow Imagery

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Which One Of These Amazing Portrait Locations Will Touch Your Heart?

admin — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 23:24:39 +0000

Glow Imagery has been creating award winning family portraits
for 8 years and we’re just getting going! No one takes more time
and care in the creation of your family portraits and it shows.

What makes Glow Imagery so different is we want to capture the individual relationships and freeze those in amazing images that speak to your heart every day you see them hanging in your home. We believe your family’s photography should be more to you than just an image on Facebook that your friends comment on for a few hours and then ignore.

We’ve already photographed MANY families this year and our calendar is
filling up fast as we approach the holiday season. Book by October 7th
and save as much as 65%!

You Must LOVE Your Portraits - GUARANTEED-Or You Don’t Pay!

Our fall times are already booking up fast, so if you’re thinking of having a
beautiful family portrait created this fall, don’t hesitate to visit one of the
links below and find out more about our exciting sale. Or call us at (816) 550-8830.

Deadline: October 7th, 5pm-Then The Phones Close, Sorry!

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A wedding at A Frog Prince in Harrisonville

admin — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:01:05 +0000

What a couple! I love it when people aren’t afraid to get a little silly and inject their personality into things. This is exactly what Fletcher and Christina did throughout the whole day.

As all of us know, this summer has been a roaster. I thought last summer’s weddings were hot but this summer’s weather just would not give any couple a break! Even though Christina and Fletcher tied the knot the second weekend in June, it felt like mid July. But this couple and their families would not be fazed. Everyone rallied to the cause and made an extraordinary celebration of this couple’s union!

Be it heat, rain, snow or perfect weather, Glow Imagery is passionate about being prepared. We love it when the unexpected happens because more often than not we have seen it before. One of the unique things which separates us from all the other photographers in the area is our experience. Photography has been Glow Imagery’s consuming passion for twenty years. The typical wedding photographer these days does not have but a couple of years of professional experience… often even less. Just suppose you trusted your images to someone who is prepared, patient, professional and unfazed whatever surprised your wedding holds. How much would that be worth to you?

Remember, no matter how well planned the wedding… there’s always unexpected things that happen. The professionals you surround yourself with on your wedding day make all the difference between the unexpected being a crisis or being a glitch.

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A Wedding at The Eldridge Hotel in Lawrence

admin — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 22:57:45 +0000

It always makes me a little nervous when I first talk with a potential client and I learn that they are a photographer themselves. My experience is it often means either we create the very best of connections and the photography becomes effortless or on other occasions we just don’t connect. In those I have to tip my hat and gently explain how I may not be the best photographer for them. In Laura and Ryan’s case (Laura is the “lens” in the relationship) it was beautiful music.

By the way, Laura’s a very good photographer.

This couple has a very strong love for Frank Sinatra. By the end of the night I was looking for Dean and Sammy. It’s not hard to understand why, at one point after watching the groom’s father singing along with all of the DJ’s Sinatra tracks.

“I’m guessing you’re a Sinatra fan?” I asked.
“I love Frank.” Ryan’s dad said and then he gave me a huge grin.

How about that heat? My advice to anyone planning a mid-summer wedding in this neck of the woods is just two words: be flexible. The weather is a wedding guest you have to contend with whether you invite it or not. It was another scorcher outside, we had wonderful plans to work in a nearby park and photograph the couple next to a door that had the digits from their wedding date on the door. The heat was unbearable, too much for the park work and a big ugly gate blocked the couple’s digits. No worries. We found our way through a cupcake store on Massachusetts Avenue into the narrowest alleyway. That tiny three foot space is where we made the couple’s absolute favorites from the whole day.

It was not comfortable to be in the oppressive heat for this couple so we worked quickly. The bride and groom were total champs. No one said being awesome was easy, but these two made it look like it was. Just like Frank would have done it.

I want to provide a quick note of thanks to wedding coordinator Jayme Lawlor of Behind the Scenes KC for all of her help throughout the wedding day. She’s a star folks. So give her a ring.

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A Bridal Session At Kauffman Memorial Gardens

admin — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:14:41 +0000

I’ve been dying to share the images from this session with everyone. This bride just had her wedding (yesterday to be exact) and I was sworn to secrecy with these images until after the wedding. For those of you who know, these bridal sessions we do are usually a part of our Parents Pride gift books that are such an amazing surprise gift for your parents. Of course surprises require secrecy. I have to tell you, being in on the big secret surprise is a total blast! Especially when the surprise will touch your parents heart in a way they could never expect.

It’s so wonderful to produce amazing images by itself. But to use these emotional and heart touching images in a way that honors and celebrates the people we love is something sublime.

The bride, Chenda, originally hails from Cambodia. She’s marrying Joel, a northwest Missouri country boy. It’s an unusual pairing but after spending the past year with them I can truthfully say the pair are amazing! We’ll feature more about them in a future wedding post. But now I just have to share with you these beautiful images we made a Kauffman Memorial Gardens.

For those of you who have seen our Parents Pride. We took these images and made a Parents Pride for Chenda’s mother who lives in Cambodia. The personal message from Chenda for her mom was written in Cambodian. Isn’t that cool? Chenda and Joel will be going to visit Cambodia this Winter. What I would give to be there to see her mother’s face when she sees it next Spring. Wow!

I. Love. My. Work.