Olivia & Morgan Slideshow

Last week, I introduced you to Olivia and Morgan, two adorable sisters. Now that I've had some time to edit through their lifestyle portrait session, I've put together a slideshow of the girls, plus a few with their mom, aunts and grandma.

Please CLICK HERE to view the slideshow!

Robin + Chris' Winter Wedding

Robin and Chris were married on Friday in a wonderful winter ceremony. They agreed to meet each other before the ceremony for the formal portraits with their families and bridal party so that we could spend some time together making some killer portraits of the two of them.


Robin was a sparkling bride who donned her grandmother's pearls.


And Chris, always a classy gentleman, serenaded his new bride at the reception with the help of his Phi Delta Theta fraternity brothers.

Thanks to Robin and Chris for inviting me to be a part of their special day. Thanks goes out also to Brett Schauf for shooting along side me as Karen played the part of maid of honor (Robin is her sister!). Be looking for more from this incredible wedding as we edit for a slideshow in the next couple of weeks!

A tale of two sisters

This morning, I spent some time with the FABULOUS Olivia, above, and her little sister, Morgan. As you can see, at 5 years old, Olivia is NOT shy. I'm told Morgan is not shy either, but ....


After some time inside, we went outside to romp in the snow a bit. I was hoping Morgan would warm up to me a bit, but even with her Aunt Erin telling her how nice I am, she was still shy.


This series MUST be titled "Grandma's Got Game" because as Olivia found out, Grandma Jama can throw an accurate snow ball!


After a little more coaxing, Morgan let me look at her while taking her picture, and I simply ADORE this photo of Morgan and Grandma!

Be sure to look for the slideshow later this week!

Also, our final wedding of 2007 is tomorrow! After we have the photos of the wedding ready, Mike and I will put together a slideshow of Heartland Photography's best of 2007! It's going to be rockin' so be sure to be on the lookout for it!

Behind the scenes

We've been busy getting artistic prints ready for our clients in time for Christmas. Above is one of our "Signature Prints." These prints are artistically enhanced and signed by the photographer. They make spectacular wall art and are a keepsake and family heirloom.


To get these to our out of town clients, there is a SERIOUS amount of bubble wrap involved.


Once they are wrapped up safe and sound, we ship them out.

Heartland Photography Slideshows on Facebook!

We are now super proud to offer our clients a new facbook application! David Jay, photographer and entrepreneur extraordinaire, developed this AMAZING application.

Thanks, DJ! You're the BEST!



If you see your slideshow, please click the "add show" and it will appear on your profile. If not, please shoot me an email and I can get you hooked up with your VERY OWN Facebook slideshow!

***NOTE: These are enlarged "screen grabs" and NOT as sharply in focus as our slideshows. Please visit to view Karen's Facebook page to see the shows.

Mother Nature

A wintry storm dropped on us this week, leaving plenty of ice and a little snow to go along with it.

Since my newspaper photojournalism days are over, I don't have to tromp through bad weather to get photographs of people —well — being miserable in the cold.

This morning, however, I was de-icing my car and couldn't help admire the beauty of the first sunshine I've seen all week. It just danced through the ice that is hanging on every tree around Hays.


But with all the beauty of the ice comes danger. In Saline County, 8,700 homes were without power and 12,000 had no power in Topeka. Homes without power reached record numbers in Oklahoma, and I'm thankful MY home is warm, merry and bright.

Now, thanks to some sunshine, the ice is starting to melt off of the trees. It's still a hazard, however, because the heavy chunks of ice are now falling OFF of the trees and into the streets, onto oncoming cars, and on top of peoples heads!

Please, be safe.

AND stay tuned ... an exciting announcement is coming later this week.

24th Annual Five State Photography Exhibition

This is the third year I've entered and had photos accepted to the Hays Arts Council's annual photographic competition. (Mine is on the top left).


The image is from my travels in Africa last year (I'm SO ready to go back! I had such an amazing experience with Jeanel).


This photo is from my experience with the Great American Cattle Drive this fall.


The top middle photos is NOT one of mine. It's "Dawn Flight" by Stephen Weaver, Colorado Springs, Colo., and I'm in LOVE with this photo. It's so abstract, yet I look at it and know EXACTLY what it is! If you're looking for a Christmas gift for your favorite photographer, this would be a good one! ;-)

The show will be up at the Hays Arts Council until Jan. 18, so if you're traveling west on I-70, it's a stop that's WELL worth it! (HERE is a map so you can find it).

Happy Graduation, Class of 2007!

Most people think of graduation in May, but a small sector of the population graduates mid-year. I had the joy of attending graduation last night, which brough back fond memories of my OWN graduation ... which was also in December.

The holiday season is a beautiful time of preparing for the new year, but for graduates, it's also a time of new beginnings.

Congratulations. class of 2007!

And be sure to leave a comment with YOUR graduation memories!

Holiday Card designs

I'm excited to show off some MORE holiday card designs!



These first two are front and back. They come on linen paper and are LOVELY!


These last two cards are photo greeting cards. They're printed on photograpic paper and come with an envelope.

Our cards are sld in packs of 24 and come complete with an envelope. All you have to do is address and mail! I also type up a little holiday greeting and slip it in to save time from hand-signing gobs of cards!

If you have had a wedding or portrait session with us this year, please drop us a line to inquire about a custom Holiday Card for you!



I'm also working on a SUPER EXCITING project. I haven't eaten or slept much this weekend because I'm SO excited! I hope to have it wrapped up by the end of December, so be sure to check back for details!

More cards are here!

It seems as if every time I turn around, UPS is dropping off a new box. The latest one contained Clare and Agnes' birth announcements!

I'm excited that we're able to offer two-sided birth announcements. These are LOVELY! And they're on linen paper, which gives them a FUN texture.

All of our cards are sold in packs of 24, with envelopes.

Stay tuned for additional holiday designs later this week!

Holiday cards are HERE!

I know I posted earlier today, but I can hardly contain my excitement. The first order of Holiday cards has arrived!!!!!!!!!

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or the New Year, we have cards to celebrate the festive season.


And, now that I've been reading Better Homes & Gardens for two years, I learned how much more festive ANYTHING looks with a little ribbon. I'm excited to package these up and send them to Darcy and Kent!

Please stay tuned this week for some more wonderful holiday card designs!

Preparing for Flourish Workshop!

In about two months, I'll hop on a plane and head to Kentucky for a FABULOUS workshop called Flourish to continue my visual education. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! My confirmation for my plane ticket came in the mail last week ... and I'm ready for Jan. 20 to be here NOW.

I've got some excellent building blocks, and I'm anticipatig that the fantastic women who are running this workshop (Angela, Kim and Kitty) will help Mike and I service all of our clients in a more fabulous way!

In advance of attending the workshop, I'm sending in a questionnaire for the Flourish Blog. I pulled a few favorite questions and post it for OUR blog readers here!

Enjoy!

Name: Karen Mikols (pronounced: Michael's)

Where do you live: Kansas

How long have you been in business: Complex question! I've been a photographer since I was 13 years old, but worked through high school, college and a few years after as a newspaper photojournalist. I started Heartland Photography in November 2005.

Show us one of your favorite images you took recently: This is Max, my best friend's adorable (and only) nephew. He has 3 sister, including new baby TWINS!


Show us an image you wish you took: UGH! This is tough because there are SO MANY in ALL SORTS of ways! I'm a BIG fan of Heather Essian's work. Two of my favorites are: THIS and THIS

From what do you draw your inspiration: Oddly enough, my own personal relationships. The sweet way my fiance treats me ends up in my photos. If a couple doesn't quite know what to do, I draw on Erik's cues and give them some direction (why don't you kiss on her neck a little? It works like a CHARM! (example below)


I'm also being more influenced by colors than I EVER was before as a news photojournalist. Perhaps that's because the color won't be awful and out of register on 50,000 newspapers... I also enjoy watching movies ... and pay close attention to the lighting, ESPECIALLY the moody lighting.

There are TONS of questions and I don't want to ramble on forever, so be sure to check the Flourish Blog to see what I have to say!

Give Thanks!

In the spirit of today's holiday, I thought I'd post a few items I'm thankful for.


— The addition of pregnancy portraiture to our portrait sessions. Pregnant mommies are simply SO beautiful! I'm in love with these portrait sessions!

— Our WONDERFUL clients, who are becoming our wonderful friends! There have been too many fun sessions we've had this year, and we're honored to document special events in your life. And I want to take a minute to say our future clients are amazing as well. As I've received contracts back for 2008 weddings, it's delightful to see a little note slipped in such as one for an upcoming June wedding: "We're SOOOOOO excited you will be photographing our wedding." That's amazingly special for us!


— The willing subjects we've had in the 2007! I think it's safe to say BOTH Mike and I have had tons of fun photographing our clients .... and their willingness to let us explore more creative portraits (and even get a little wet and wild) is super-fun.

— Having Amy on board to do our grapic work, especially our new logo! The logo helped us get an amazing direction for our new Web site. Also, Amy is starting to work more and more with our album design, and she's bringing some wonderful vision to the final product of our weddings. Thanks, Amy! You're the BEST!

— The national news we've covered this year. Kansas has seen its share of big events, from the President's visit (he visited twice, actually) to the national headlines of Greensburg. We've been honored that we've been able to document parts of both activities.


— To be engaged! Yes, that's right, one of YOUR wedding photojournalists is having a wedding of her own! I'm thankful to be going through the wedding planning process, because I'm able to connect on a much more personal level with my brides. I also have a new respect for them, especially those who are planning a wedding from long distance!

Please leave a comment to let us know what YOU'RE thankful for!

Monster photographs!

We've updated our blog to bring you super-sized photographs from our weddings and portrait sessions! The above is a favorite of ours. It's uploaded using our new method of blogging photos.



And this little fella is blogged using the old method.

See the difference?

I've gone back and "super-sized" photos from the last 10 posts to give you a better idea about how our blog will continue to look. Let us know what you think!

Robin & Chris' Engagement Album

Robin and Chris decided they wanted an engagement album with photos for the guest book at their wedding. See all the lovely white space on the right side? All of it for guest messages to the happy couple.


Our amazing graphic designer, Amy, has been hard at work creating a fine art album that will be a truly unique guest book, but also a keepsake for years to come. Aren't these pages SO COOL? The area over the hands is even for guest signatures, if needed. I can't wait to see what Amy has up her sleeve for their wedding album!

***HERE'S*** a slideshow of the album. It looks fantastic!

Please be patient!

I'm in the process of updating our blog so we can bring you BIGGER photos!

Right now, I'm missing our beautiful logo at the top, but fear not! It'll be better SOON.

And soon you'll be seeing some monster-sized photos, too.

EDIT: The blog header is fixed! I'm told I need to abandon using Safari and become exclusively a Firefox girl .... and that was the problem. SO ... This blog (and as a matter of fact, our Pictage galleries as well) are best viewed using Firefox.

The Great American Cattle Drive Slideshow!

About a month ago, I hit the hilly terrain of Ellsworth County with my friend Jeff Cooper to document the the Great American Cattle Drive. I simply marveled at the beauty of the state of Kansas. So many of my friends and clients who live elsewhere around the country or world frequently echo the stereotype: "Kansas is so flat." THAT, my friends, is because often those people don't get off of Interstate-70.

Now that I've recovered from all the fun, I've had a chance to edit through my images and put together a slideshow. So, sit back, relax and view the parts of Kansas that are NOT so flat!

Also, prints from the event are for sale from Jeff's lab and half of the print profits go to help restore the town's Signature Insurance Building. Since Jeff is producing a DVD of the event with audio and photos, I am not making my slideshow available for purchase. The DVD will be previewed at a banquet this weekend and I'll try to get a clip for the blog!

Ann & Ernie's Wedding

Saturday, Ann and Ernie were married in Hays. Ann was so cute peeking through the cry room window as everyone processed into church that I couldn't resist in making this photograph. I love how the crucifix is reflected in the window!


A quick moment between man and wife immediately following the ceremony.

As Mike has said before, it's not often that either of us get to go to a wedding as a guest and just kick back and relax. Thanks for the beautiful day, Ann and Ernie!

Happy Anniversary, Martha + Rod!

A year ago today, Karen and I set out for Plainville, where we photographed Martha and Rod's beautiful fall wedding. The weather was great and the late afternoon light was as stunning as the couple! Happy first anniversary, you guys ... here's wishing you many, many more!

Hilary's Senior Slideshow

A couple of weeks ago I introduced you to Hilary, a senior this year at Trinity Academy in Wichita. Following a fabulous session in her prom dress, she changed into a couple of casual outfits for some fun pictures back inside The Ville. The Ville is a great location to shoot, but is also quite the lighting challenge as it has very low light and no windows. Thanks to Hilary's mom, Jeretta, for being my lighting assistant during the shoot, which ended about three hours after it started. Click here to see a slideshow of Hilary's senior portraits. -Mike

Max and Gianna

After taking portraits of the twins, I spent some time in the backyard with the "big kids" — Max and Gianna. After a short romp in the leaves, we headed to the swingset where I took this photograph of Max. Isn't he adorable?


Gianna couldn't quite reach the ground from her swing, but she certainly tried! To me, this photograph is all about the effort and the "almost there" that I think a lot of kids feel. Plus we know it's hear from the cute skirt her Auntie Sarah gave her.

AND here's the slideshow of all the kiddos!

Twins! Agnes and Clare

Clare and Agnes are just angels! They are 13 days old today and are as sweet as can be! Clare (left) wiggled and kicked lots and lots, but we were able to grab a quick photo in a quiet moment.


Agnes was a trooper. She slept through our entire portrait session, which was a treat!

Johnna's Slideshow

I've been working hard all week to get Johnna's slideshow together, but it was so much fun because there are so many fantastic photos from our session! Please ***Click Here*** to view the show. Be sure to have a speedy internet connection and your sound turned UP!

Johnna's Senior Portraits

Saturday, I headed west on Interstate-70 to take Johnna's senior portraits in Colby. Johnna, her mom Jackie, and I started out at her parents' flower shop, Someplace Special Floral and Gifts. When we talked in August, I encouraged Johnna to find some "fun locations" for photos. She met and exceeded my expectations! Johnna found SO MANY excellent locations for photos, we barely had time to hit them all.


The desire to have "something different" for her senior photographs prompted Johnna to give us a call, and I'm so glad that she did! Before we met, I scouted a few locations around Colby. The carnival rides, mostly disassembled for the winter, seemed like a fun place to take a few photos. When I suggested bringing a prom dress for a high schooler's version of "Trash the Dress," Johnna was up for it, and has some beautiful photographs to show for her willingness to do something a little different.

Thanks for the fun afternoon, Johnna and Jackie!

Be sure to check back later this week for the slideshow.