Rudy Yanez from Platte City, MO and a long time spa Member was able to do a really cool shoot recently. He shot his local high school cheerleaders in the Harley Davidson Platte Plant (in the museum section). Check out a few images below and many more at his BLOG.

So this showed up in our little local newspaper - that's right the Louisburg Herald, published every single...week.

Women ‘pioneers’ of photography celebrate           
News
WRITTEN BY JESSE TRIMBLE     
WEDNESDAY, 14 OCTOBER 2009 08:00
She started a photography business in a 500-square-foot room, with her dark room in a closet and a piece of cardboard wrapped in foil as a reflector.

Fifteen years later, Sana Antisdel’s studio is booming.
The three women of Antisdel’s Photography — (from left) Kia Bondurant, her mother, Sana Antisdel and cousin Tressie Gilmore. They recently celebrated the 15th anniversary of their business. (submitted photo)

The studio, which celebrated its 15th anniversary in September, has expanded quite a bit at 104 S. Amity St.

Antisdel, a Louisburg High School graduate, is now accompanied by her daughter, Kia Bondurant and her niece, Tressie Gilmore, who are also LHS graduates. The three photographers have combined their imaginations to use settings on site and around the city. The building houses several rooms used as studios, all furnished with various props — ranging from couches to old doors and pillows. Outside, an old car sits in a gravel parking lot used for a lumber company, and an old truck looms in the distance, waiting to have the next high school senior lean up against it and flash a smile.

You could say the women of Antisdel’s are not only keeping it in the family, but also close to their roots.

“My great-grandpa had a blacksmithing shop here,” Antisdel said of her hometown. Family members also have run a grocery store in Louisburg years ago, and one became a local doctor.
In the beginning, Antisdel was a stay-at-home mom, raised horses and was introduced to photography by a good friend with a darkroom. From there, she began to study Time Life magazines. When a friend asked her what her plan was, she responded: “I’m just taking pictures because I love to take pictures.”

It was then that a business concept began to take shape.

All in the family
Bondurant began shooting pictures in 1997, and it wasn’t long before she was hooked, too. Daughter and mother joined forces and started bringing home handfuls of awards and gaining recognition, not only locally, but across the United States, Bondurant said.
“Other people weren’t doing it the way Mom was doing it,” she said. She added that for them, it was more about the people than the awards.

“You see with your eyes, but you do it from your heart,” Antisdel said of taking photos.

Now, the two agree, it seems more than half of photographers are women. But when Antisdel started out, she was in the minority. Even her techniques were considered a bit different. For example, she begins a relationship with a potential client by having an interview with them to understand what they want.

One of the questions she always asks: “What do you worry about when taking photos?”

Psychology even plays a role. “You have to know people,” Bondurant said. “We know how to make people look their best. That’s our job.”

“You have to take every individual and make them feel attractive, raise their self-esteem,” Antisdel said.

Bondurant added: “I can see it in your eyes if you don’t trust me, and if I can’t gain that trust, we won’t get the right photo.”

Gilmore came onto the scene in 2004 after taking college classes for a year and a half.

“Tressie has always been one of my muses — even when she didn’t have front teeth,” Antisdel said, laughing.

Gilmore said she thinks being photographed since she was young has given her more of an advantage as a photographer. “It gives you a chance to make people feel comfortable,” she said. Being on both sides of the camera enables her to understand what people may feel when they are photographed, she added.

A souring economy
The three women said they have definitely felt the effects of the bad economy, but that isn’t stopping them.

“We have to think about keeping our business healthy,” Bondurant said. “Since we’re constantly growing, we have to balance all of our aspects.”

Those aspects include not only being affordable for the Louisburg, Kansas City and surrounding areas, but also marketing themselves on social-networking sites like Facebook. Their Web site, www.antisdels.com, features photos of everything from babies to weddings to the most popular — soon-to-be graduates.

“We’ve really been pioneers,” Antisdel said, “the tears, the three o’clock in the mornings, to switching to digital.”

The women are excited about the future, but keeping traditions strong and making families feel comfortable are their top priorities.
“We are so grateful to our clients over the years,” Bondurant said.

Her mother added aside from Louisburg being a great place to raise a family, it’s also a great place to have a business.

Make sure to check out the spa Models fan page on Facebook - all the models have been uploaded, along with all of our 2009 winners. The finalists and winners will be posted there along with the spa Models site.