creativecasey

Spikes Family: an evolution ~ Casey Wright Photography

2014-06-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

One of the things that I love the most about being a photographer is having the opportunity to watch families evolve and grow and this family is no exception. I've witnessed an evolution of life and have been lucky to be able to capture it through pictures. I've loved getting to know this sweet family and I always look forward to snapping their sweet glow every time! The pictures below are posted in reverse chronological order...

Here are a few of my favorites from our recent session...love their smiles!

{Spikes Family | 2014}

Here are a few of my faves from our 2013 family session..
{Spikes Family | 2013}

Here are a few of my favorites from our 2012 family session...

{Spikes Family | 2012}

Thank you for visiting my blog - if you would like to find out more about my photography business, feel free to click here and you will be redirected to my photography website.

Have a lovely day!

2013 Maple Leaf Festival ~

2013-10-26T20:00:00.006-05:00

One of the best parts of living in the midwest is experiencing all of the seasons. My favorite season just happens to be the Fall when we see all of the trees turn to beautiful shades of red, orange, and yellow. In my town, that typically happens during the third full week of October - and that is when my town puts itself on the map. On Maple Leaf Festival weekend we go from a town with 3,500 people to a town of about 35,000 people - which is just craziness! Although most of the people who are from Baldwin end up leaving all of the madness, we manage to embrace it and celebrate.

This year, we took in the parade...the carnival games...the booths...the rides... here's a peak at one of the biggest events of the weekend - she tackled the big slide all...by...herself :)....

She also rode the strawberry spin with daddy...

Luckily our home is within walking distance from the festival....

One of the best parts is getting to spend time with friends and family...

One of the worst parts is getting swindled by the carneys...anything to make this girl smile :)

My favorite part is spending time with my family...

and making memories - love them!

Happy Fall, everyone!!!

Storey Family + Casey Wright Photography

2013-10-23T21:07:00.000-05:00

Happy Wednesday, Everyone! I have another fun session to share with everyone of an adorable family and wonderful friends. I know I say this all of the time - but it really it is wonderful to be able to take pictures of my friends. I love being able to capture their sweet family moments on camera and to be able to catch up while taking pictures.

I have known this lovely family since my days in athletics and I'm so happy to be able to call them friends. It's even more fun that our daughters go to the same pre-school - Love it!!!

Here are a few of my favorite pics that I took over the past year of this sweet family...

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Flory Family + Casey Wright Photography

2013-10-22T21:01:00.004-05:00

Happy Tuesday, Everyone! With the cooler weather on it's way, I got an urge to share some of my favorite pics that I've taken over the past year. I absolutely love this sweet family!

It's always fun to take pictures of friends that you have known for a long time. It's even more fun when you find that your paths in life cross over more than once :). From Allen County to Baldwin City, our paths continue to cross and I am so thankful!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our session...

Have a Happy Tuesday, Everyone!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."

2013-07-22T08:30:00.000-05:00

Every few months, the power of this quote finds it's way into my life. This weekend, I was fortunate enough to be reminded of how the actions of one person can have such a significant effect in the lives of others and how positive behavior can be contagious.

It all started because of a project I am working on for my classroom. Because this project requires some heavy duty tools, I decided to go to my local Home Depot to make my life a little easier. My goal was to take my purchased milk crate into Home Depot to ask if they could help me to cut the wood for the seat. One of the technicians directed me to the man working the jig saw used for these types of projects. After explaining my project to him, we quickly went to work: measuring, measuring, and cutting (because, unlike my process, he actually did measure twice and cut once).

During this time, we made small talk... he asked me what the project was for... I told him I was making them for my classroom and that I was very thankful that he was able to help me, because I am NOT GOOD at these types of things. He mentioned that he has been working a lot of hours to keep up with the workload (not in a complaining way, but in a thankful way), and that the previous day, he managed to work a 13 hour day. I couldn't help but feel bad for how much he was working and started feeling silly for having him work on my little project...

After the man finished cutting the wood for me, he told me he would carry it up to the front. I was very thankful for the help and while we walked up to the cashier he said, "I've got this one..." I didn't know what he meant at first and so I said, "Ya, I'm so glad you were able to figure this project out for me, thank you so much for your help..." At that point, the cashier was ready for us and he put my cut wood on the counter and told the cashier, "I've go this one..."

At this point, I realized what was going on and I was sort of in shock....

This man that worked 13 hours the previous day and who had already, at this point, had easily worked another 6 hours and probably was going to work another 6 more hours, was paying for my project.

Once I finally put it all together, I stammered: "Thank you so much, but you have been so kind already, I can pay for the wood..." The cashier then turned to him and said, "Well, if you are buying, how about putting some of my materials on your tab too," (jokingly). He then turned to me the cashier and said, "I would if you were a school teacher." She laughed and said, "oh," then turned to him and said "that will be $36.89." I once again told him there was no need to pay and he told me that he just wanted to do it for me. He then pulled out his own money and paid for the wood he cut for me.

I was shocked...

I then reached out my hand to shake his and asked him what his name was. He told me that his name was John and I told him how much I appreciated his act of kindness...he then smiled and walked away.

By this point, I was teary eyed, and simply amazed that someone would do something so kind for me.

me.

Since this weekend, I have told everyone who would listen about this amazing man named John. John at Home Depot. John at Home Depot who spent his own money to pay for a project for a teacher. John at Home Depot who spent his own money to pay for a project for a teacher after working 19 hours in a 30 hour time frame.

Wow....I mean...Wow....

Out of this experience, I have determined that:

1. There is a lot of goodness in the world.
2. People do appreciate teachers..
3. Kindness is contagious...

So my wish for today is for everyone to choose to "be the change."

Be kind... Show graciousness... Help one another... Share the love...

Ahhh Summertime + Go Royals!

2013-05-29T08:30:00.000-05:00

For the first time in twelve years, I am enjoying a lovely summer vacation...ahhhhh.....

But wait, let me back it up and get you all caught up on the past 8 weeks...

Here's a quick recap:

I finished up my second student teaching placement
I applied for what seemed like a million jobs
I had several interviews
I graduated with my M.Ed
I accepted a 1st grade position at a local district
I have spent the past couple of weeks playing catch up

And now here we are... I can say without a doubt that I have dearly missed my summer vacations. Not only is it a time to regroup and catch up, it is a great opportunity for me to spend valuable time with my little one, which is one of the great perks of being a teacher... Just knowing that I will get to spend all of my summers with her just makes my heart happy!

Although we have many activities that we love to do in the summer, one of the big things we tend to do is go to at least one Royals game during the summer. I realized last week that I neglected to post the following picture from our outing last summer.

I'm sure many of you who live in my local area share the same Royals sentiment...every year, there is hope that the Royals will be great and have another season like the 1985 season... they win a few great games in the beginning of the year and we all get excited... and then they begin the sad but expected downward spiral to the bottom of the league. So before that happens, I just want to celebrate the fact that the Royals are still doing pretty well in the league and to hang onto the hope of an above .500 season.

Go Royals!!

DD 2012 + Day 13

2013-04-13T11:30:00.000-05:00

Watching Christmas movies during the holiday season just might be one of our favorite things about the season. We have a plethora of movies to fit the mood and feel of the holidays and we look for any and every reason to bring out the movies when we can. So by the time December rolls around, we are more than ready to watch some of our favorite classics.

This spread is really just about enjoying the moments of the season as a family and about making our lists and checking them twice... Because it would just be sad to me to not have every little detail taken care of :). I know... I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist... and that's okay! Here's a closer look at the details...

I hope everyone has had a splendid start to their weekend! Cheers!

Lewis Family + Casey Wright Photography

2013-04-12T11:00:00.000-05:00

I had the great opportunity of taking pictures of this sweet family in the fall. I was fortunate to have worked in athletics with this sweet mommy, so when she asked me to take pictures of her adorable family, I was very happy!

Here are a few of my favorites from our session...

I love getting to take pictures of all of these sweet families! Happy Friday, everyone!

Wells Family + Casey Wright Photography, Lawrence, KS

2013-04-11T11:30:00.000-05:00

I've had the lovely opportunity of taking pictures of this fellow Baker University graduate and her family for the past two years. I just love this year's photos and how the navy colors play against the winter backdrop. I also love the dramatic looking clouds that rolled in the day we took these pictures.

I just love taking photos of this sweet family... Here are a few of my favorites...

They are so adorable! Have a happy Thursday, everyone!

DD 2013 + Day 12

2013-04-10T11:30:00.000-05:00

Today's post is a quick shot of my day 12 of December Daily. I love how this spread came together with all of the fun pops of color. Making cookies is definitely one of our favorite activities during Christmas time. We also love racing out to the mailbox to see if we received any new mail or cards... Here's a closer look at the pictures and theme...

Have a Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Emert Family + Casey Wright Photography, Lawrence, KS

2013-04-09T11:30:00.000-05:00

It's so fun to get an opportunity to take pictures of big families. This sweet family contacted me to do a large group photo for Christmas presents. I love the idea of capturing large families because these sweet people with have genuine keepsakes of the entire family for years to come... I'm thinking that I'm going to try and put something like this together for our family in the near future...

As for this session, we ended up with lovely weather and beautiful pictures... here are a few of my favorites...

If you are thinking that you may want to do something like this with your family in the fall, give me a shout. I think make great Christmas presents and priceless keepsakes... Have a great day!

Krapcha Couple + Casey Wright Photography, Lawrence, KS

2013-04-08T11:30:00.000-05:00

I love taking pictures of couples!! I had the lovely opportunity of being able to take anniversary pictures of this lovely couple up on the KU campus recently. I love the idea of taking anniversary pictures because you really have a great opportunity of celebrating marriage and capturing the love between people. I also think anniversary pictures are great because, let's face it, how many good pictures do you really get of you and your partner? I have very few... :(

So I was really excited to get to capture some great moments between these two love birds :) Here are several of my favorites...

Happy Monday, everyone!

DD 2012 + Day 11

2013-04-06T11:00:00.000-05:00

I know, I said I was going to have this project done about a million years ago, but the good news is that I am officially done with it, I just have the lovely job of actually sharing. And let me tell you, it feels good to have it done.

I'm also happy to say that I have managed to stay up to date with my Project Life 2013 project and I only have about a month left of 2012 to finish. Whew!

With that being said, I will totally understand if you want to ignore my December Daily posts, but for posterity's sake, I'm sharing! So without further ado... here's a look at my Day 11...

I'm excited to be sharing more bloggy goodness these days... Getting closer to having my teaching certificate and I can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel! Happy Saturday, everyone!

Temple Family + Casey Wright Photography, Lawrence, KS

2013-04-05T11:00:00.000-05:00

It really is a treat, to have the opportunity to take pictures of a fellow photographer. It's also fun to photograph really adorable families! And it's even more fun when they are super sweet and easy to work with, too!

One of the best things about photographing someone who is a photographer is that they know exactly what you mean when you start talking about the light and where to stand and how to stand. And the added bonus is that her hubby and little one are used to having their pictures taken, so asking them to put on a smile was super easy :)...

Here are a few of my favorites from this session...

They have to be one of the cutest families I have taken pictures of to date!! Happy Friday, my friends!

Thornton Family + Casey Wright Photography, Lawrence, KS

2013-04-04T22:36:00.003-05:00

Happy Spring, everyone! I'm so glad that the nice weather is finally back!

Today, I'm sharing a quick look at a fun session I had in the fall with my lovely friends. I'm so happy that we picked one of the best times and locations in Lawrence to take these pictures. The yellow leaves were just POPPING with color in the background!

Here is a look at a few of my favorites...

Such an adorable (and sweet) family! Happy Thursday, everyone!

Happy Valentine's Day + Kiddo Friendly Projects

2013-02-14T00:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentines Day, everyone! Today, I'm sharing a fun Valentine's Day project that my daughter and I put together for her fellow pre-schoolers...here's a look at what we've been up to...

Making these Valentines has been quick, easy, and a fun way to do arts and crafts to celebrate this fun day! In order to get started, here's a closer look at what you will need... First, you will need butterfly die cuts. Of course, you could cut these out on your own, but I found a pack of 48 pre-cut at Michaels for $2.99. I'm not sure about you, but that's a little price to pay to not have to cut all of these out!

Next, we picked up these fun Valentine's Day pencils in the dollar section at Target - 12 for a $1 :).

Then, you will need googlee eyes and we found these fun different colored ones at Michael's at 48 for $2.99...

Of course, what kid's craft project would be complete without adding fun colored pipe cleaners?!?!

Some lovely foam hearts... I bought a big bag of foam hearts at Hobby Lobby for $5.99 and when you use your 40% off coupon, that's even better!

Other items you will need that are not shown...glue dots, scissors, and a black marker :)

Now for the fun part!!!

1. Fold the butterfly in half and cut two 1 inch slits in the middle... And if you have a little one helping you, then simply show them how to fold them in half and draw two half inch lines as guides for them to cut. After about five of them, they will have the hang of it and can make the lines and cuts on their own.

2. Next, cut the pipe cleaners into smaller sections and then take two small pieces and adhere them to the back of the butterfly with a glue dot...

3. Next, slide the pencil in through the back of the butterfly... You may want to add a piece of tape to secure the pencil to the butterfly...

4. Add the eyes, smile, and foam stickers and you are all finished... Estimated time of completion for each butterfly is about a minute...

5. Then let your little one sign their name on the back :)

Here's a quick look at all of the butterflies that PJ put together all by herself :)

And here's my box of love bugs :)

In total, we ended up putting together about 75 of these little love bugs - it was a fun project and I LOVED that Peyton was able to put these together all by herself - and the best part was that she LOVED making them AND giving them :).

Have an amazing Valentine's Day, everyone! Hope you have a lot of fun hanging out with all of your "love bugs." :)

December Daily 2012 + Day 10

2013-02-08T23:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Friday, everyone! Like many other people, I a have been feeling under the weather. And when I say 'under the weather' I mean that I haven't wanted to leave my bed and barely have the energy to walk across the living room to pick up the remote. I'm not quite sure what in the world I caught, but it's been brutal. And normally, when I have a day off for sickness, I end up spending just a a little bit of time hanging out in my craft room. But sadly, I did not... I was miserable... but, the good news is that I'm feeling better and spending some time blogging now :).

Today, I am sharing day 10 of my December Daily. The focus of this day was sharing our Christmas Cards for 2012. Luckily, I have a few great photography contacts and one of them was willing to exchange work with me, so we finally have some good family pictures :).

Here's a closer look at the spread...

And page one...

And page two...

Fun times... More to share :) Stay tuned!!!

Peterson Family + Casey Wright Photography, Lawrence, KS

2013-02-07T22:32:00.001-06:00

Happy Thursday everyone! I'm happy to share some fun pictures I took during the holiday season during one of my mini sessions. And let me just say - I HEART MINI SESSIONS! It seems like the perfect balance of time and resources and the little ones seem to do perfectly during the 30 minute time period. And when you get to take pictures of your friends and their families it just makes it even more fun!

Here are a few of my favorites...

I had a lot of fun using the fun blue background with the retro baubles :).

If you want to find out more about Casey Wright Photography - click here or on my logo below to be redirected to my website:

Thanks for stopping by! Have a happy day!

Family Fun Projects + Ice Melt...it's science

2013-02-01T07:30:00.000-06:00

I am always looking for something fun and inexpensive to do with Peyton. And as many of you know, Friday tends to be our Funday... This Friday is no exception. Today's post gives you a fun and inexpensive way to make science fun...so you can make something that looks like this...

Your little one will also have fun learning about how salt raises the temperature of ice... Here's what you are going to need... First, some kind of plastic or cardboard to freeze the ice in... I had just finished my soy milk, so it worked perfectly; just be sure to rinse it out before filling it with water and freezing it. We actually just set ours outside because it was so cold, but you could just as easily put it in the freezer...

After it freezes, simply peel off the cardboard...

Then place it in a large container so that as it melts, the water can stay in the base...then let your little one explore... brrr!

While they are exploring the ice, gather up this...

And this (salt - I used sea-salt because it's more course)...

Then let your little one go to town by adding salt and food coloring... As you will notice, the salt changes the texture of the ice due to the melting and as they add food coloring, you can see exactly where the ice has melted...

This is about five minutes in....

10 minutes in...

15 minutes in... Isn't this cool! I love science!

Peyton had such a fun time making this and learning how ice melts... And for me, well I just think it looks pretty, so here are some fun pics...

Thanks for stopping by everyone! Let me know if you should have any questions! Happy Friday!

Adorable Cooper + Casey Wright Photography, Lawrence, KS

2013-01-31T07:30:00.000-06:00

Today's post is about another super sweet family that I've been fortunate enough to photograph throughout the year... This family is super sweet and I love taking their pictures!

I remember the first time they came to my studio for maternity pictures. It was at this point that I realized that I needed to not use the stands for my backdrops... that I should, in fact, actually suspend them from the ceiling... wondering why? Because Dave used to play basketball for the University of Kansas and he is approaching 7 feet tall... There might be nothing worse than asking a tall man and his pregnant (and tall) wife to kneel down so that I can take their pictures (on a hard wood floor)...- eek! They were awesome though and they went with it...Needless to say, I don't make them do that anymore :)...

Anywho, for this session, we went up to Baker's campus to switch it up just a little bit. Cooper was pretty mobile at this point, so it was nice to take him up to an area where he could roam around a bit...

Here are some of my favorite shots from the day...

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you all have a great day!

December Daily 2012 + Day 9

2013-01-30T07:30:00.000-06:00

I know what you are thinking...Why is this crazy person still posting stuff from December?!? But maybe, just maybe, some of you are still working on finishing up your December Daily, so I'm pretty much banking on that... I'm still working through the days and I'm actually caught up through Day 18. However, in an effort to make life simple, I'm deciding to post just one day at a time...

Here is a look at the Day 9 spread...

This day had two main themes - our good friend, Chippy, the elf and Peyton's extraordinary feat of winning a thousand tickets at Dave and Busters... that's right, folks, I said a thousand tickets!

feel free to read about the story here by clicking on the pictures...

Fun times! Stay tuned for more fun, soon!

Rockin' Haakon + Casey Wright Photography, Lawrence, KS

2013-01-29T07:30:00.000-06:00

I love working with this family! They have the most fun and cute ideas to incorporate props to reflect their family style. This time, the props were near and dear to my heart, because ever since I can remember really liking music, I have LOVED Pearl Jam. In fact, Jake and I are actually on one of their DVD videos when Eddie Vedder sang solo "Dead Man Walking." We were only about 7 rows back and although you can't really see our faces clear as day (thank you f-stop), I know it's us because I was wearing one of the cool keyhole PJ shirts at the concert.

Anywho, I love that the Pitzer's incorporated the "grunge" style into the pics - it made for a really fun shoot... although by the end of it, Haakon was ready to be done with the rocker shoot!

That's a rockstar for you though, right!?!? Here are some of my favorites from this session...

You can't see it in these pics, but under the flannel, Juli and Sean are wearing vintage Pearl Jam!

Keep on Rockin' in the Free World!!

Project Life 2013 + Week 2

2013-01-28T07:30:00.000-06:00

I know I say this every time I share, but I heart this project! It's just a simple and special way to document the everyday moments of life! Having a photo printer at home helps, but I've done my fair share of printing online to get the photos into the book. In fact, I have about 8 weeks worth organized to help me finish up 2012. Luckily, during the Christmas break, I was able to get caught up with 2012 until November, so that makes me happy!

Today, I am sharing week 2 of my project... We had a TON of birthday parties going on this week. We should have had one more for my dad, but between my schedule and my older (much older) sister's schedule, sometimes it's difficult to find a time when we can all get together... So we had to postpone...hopefully we can get that back on the calendar soon!!! Here is a look at the full spread...

Most of the pictures are of PJ this week, but they also include her hanging out at one of three parties this week...

Also, I added a 5x7 page to show off her cool art work for the week...

Around here, we have a lot of parties at the Gymnastics Academy and this girl lives the big rope and jumping in the foam pit! Too bad we lost one of her special lady bug socks! She is still sad about that!

Thanks for stopping and checking out my Project Life - I have a lot to share this week, so be sure to come back and check out the fun!

Getting back to the swing of things + Casey Wright Photography

2013-01-27T22:52:00.004-06:00

With all of the change that has been going on in my life (student teaching, no longer working at KU and being away from PJ all day), it was nice to get the camera out and to hang out in my studio taking pictures.

I truly love it and look forward to every opportunity that I can get to do it. Because so much is changing around me, it feels good to do something that I know and that I enjoy. I also love working with and meeting new families and this time was no exception...

I photographed a sweet little one year old and her beautiful and kind family. I can't wait to share those pictures!

I love to try something new each time I get my camera out and this time, I experimented with my 55mm in combination with my studio lights. My goal was to find the perfect balance of aperature + shutter speed + studio light using this specific lens.

I am happy to say I found the balance...

These days, life is all about balance and the quest to keep all of the balls in play... Hopefully, I don't have to sacrifice too much sleep to do it! Have a good night all!

Cummins Family + Casey Wright Photography, Lawrence, KS

2013-01-23T12:04:00.000-06:00

Happy Wednesday everyone! Life has been crazy and busy for me this week... I'm super excited to officially start my professional semester of student teaching, but adjusting to full time work has created a bit of a time challenge. But really, that's the way I love life to be, so ya... Exciting stuff!

Today, I am excited to share a few pictures from a recent photo session with this adorable family that I have been lucky enough to photograph over the course of the past year... Here is a look at a few of my favorites...

Thanks for stopping by! Check back soon for a look at week 2 of project life - 2013, my finished 2012 book and the final pages of my December Daily album - yay!!!!