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!