I photographed the Curtin Family at The Farm in Phoenix, Arizona. Some years ago, I helped photograph Nicole and Harry’s wedding and have been in touch with them since that time. Nicole is also a photographer. I enjoy working with photographer’s. There is a trust between photographers… we appreciate the style of the other and turn them loose to do what they do best. So it was a pleasure photographing Nicole and Harry’s family.

And now, on to my favorite images from the photo shoot…

Meet the kids… all of them are cute, only one can walk and the baby boy can sit up for only a moment.

I was impressed with Nicole’s sister’s baby.  She didn’t try to eat all the leaves.  Nicole’s baby boy did.

I love this shot.It’s got beautiful color.  I am very happy with it.  For those of you who are photographers, this is accomplished with negative saturation.  Try it.  Too many people these days are pushing the color up or taking it too far down, when just a small 8% color desaturation makes things look just right.

Nicole’s little girl is doing a little twirling.  Why not, she’s in the perfect ballet outfit with those furry boots.  Right?  Too cute.  By the way Nicole, when my wife sees this post she will be coveting this outfit for our daughter.

The baby wasn’t too into smiling, and Harry looks pretty cool when he’s serious, so I thought this worked out quite nicely.  I suppose that is a mantra of mine… no smiling necessary.

Family and Children’s Photography by Jared Platt, Platt Photography

Location: The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona

Slideshow Music: Nancy Falkow, “I Wish You Love” Courtesy of Triple Scoop Music

Macey is a Senior at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona.  As with all my Seniors, I asked her what made Macey… Macey.  I got a long list of things.  This is where we always start with a Senior Portrait.  So in all of these photographs, you will see something that represents Macey.  I was thrilled to know that one of those things is photography.  Hence, the many cameras throughout the shoot.

I really enjoyed the photo shoot and I am very pleased with the images we captured.  Here are a few of my favorite images.

I am leading with this image because it is one of my favorites.  Especially the treatment of the photo.  It is a mixture of new and old, a bit vintage, but not overly so.  The outfit was perfect for it.

Macey’s sister, mother and good friend were all there for the photo shoot.  And if you are along for the photo shoot, you are going to end up part of the photo shoot in one way or another.  Macey’s sister and good friend ended up being used as “extras” in our little busy train station scene.  I think they played their parts pretty well.

This little “Baby Brownie” is one of my favorite little cameras in my wife’s collection.  I kept coming back to it throughout the photo shoot because it fits Macey so well.

But nothing could have been more perfect than the Polaroid camera that Macey brought to the shoot.  I was thrilled with it.  That little rainbow down the front was inspiring.  That is a camera that says FUN all over it.  Of course I would never want to go back to that technology, but the camera itself just keels super fun.

Macey also lovers to travel.  What photographer doesn’t love to travel.  The point of travel for a photographer is to go and photograph things in far away places and bring them home as souvenirs.  So Macey found a bunch of vintage suitcases as elements for the shoot.  As we were playing with them, I realized something about the past…  we always look back at the past with rose colored glasses.  Vintage looks so cool, but those are heavy suitcases, with no wheels and none of the modern ergonomics.  Same with the Polaroid.  Cute looking camera, wouldn’t go back to it in a million years.  I love the vintage look, but it always makes me grateful for advancement in technology.

Macey also loves to write, although I am not sure that she does most of her writing on the train tracks, but I took a little poetic license with the setting…

I love this shot.  Love it.

Macey also plays the Viola.  I have great respect for this.  I myself played the violin for many years as a child, but looked desperately for a way out of the activity as my violin teacher was a sour old woman with corns on her toes which I thought made her a witch.  Yet, I played the violin from 5 years old to about 13 years old and now I can only play a scratchy version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  So, way to go Macey for sticking it out for this long.

Having friends along at a Senior Portrait is a great way to make the experience more enjoyable and a great way to get even better photos.  Ellie and Sarah were on location with us, as I noted earlier, but this time we put them into the shot.  This was a super fun shot, and very beautiful as well.  And of course Macey looks like a million bucks.

I think the dress inspired the treatment on this photo and then I used the same treatment on earlier photos and later ones, but this photo was the inspiration being the color and tonality of all of the images surrounding it.  There was a softness to the image, a quietness, so it couldn’t have rich colors, but black and white would have been to cold for the image.  I think the tone is perfect.

The next two images were a continuation on the same soft theme of the last image.

Macey is also a runner.  This is also an amazing thing to me.  As I have chosen only to run in cases of extreme danger, and even then, I may just let whatever werewolf is chasing me just overtake me and be done with it.  But, Macey is a runner, and I was glad she brought such a colorful outfit.  I love it.  We shot this running set at sunset on a dirt road south of Chandler, Arizona.

And my favorite light of the day, the moment after sunset, arrived and we took this last shot which I love.  It is hard to decide to quit taking photos on a great photo shoot like this because each new situation you start shooting yields such great images, as a photographer, I was to just keep making great photos.  But, the photo shoot had to end sometime.

So we went back to Macey’s family’s home and finished up with a great portrait at the piano, yet another one of Macey’s talents.  She is a talented and lovely young woman and it was a pleasure to photograph her for her senior portraits.  Thanks Macey.

Senior Portrait by Jared Platt, Platt Photography

Slideshow Music by Mindy Gledhill, courtesy of Triple Scoop Music

Location: Chandler, Arizona

I love the shadows on the old garage door, we were just walking down the street when I saw these shadows.  You can’t pass up shadows like this.

The backlight on the water was fantastic, I love backlight.

Mill Avenue is a great place for portraits.  The alleyways are full of great places to photograph.  I have often just walked up and down the streets and alleyways there to find new interesting locations and back grounds.

Megan’s boots are fantastic.  Look at those things.

There is a great old train bridge over Tempe Town Lake.  It’s great for photos.  Aside from the boots and the couple, the best thing about the photo is the curving tracks.

Blake and Megan, thanks for spending the day with me.  I am looking forward to your wedding.  Congratulations!

Engagement Photography by Jared Platt, Platt Photography

Location: Mill Avenue, Tempe, Arizona

Slideshow Music: Kristin Andreassen, Courtesy of Triple Scoop Music

If you have not used Snapseed on your iPhone or iPad, you are missing out on the best mobile device photography application on the planet. The program is made by NIK Software. The biggest problem with the app was that I could only use it on my mobile device. Well, all of that has changed. Now it is available on the desktop computer on the Mac AppStore. Don’t worry, those of you who are still using the abacus-I mean a PC, it will be coming soon.

This is my second photo made with the desktop application. I love it. It feels just like the mobile app, and it also handles RAW photos.

About the photo: We went out into the pecan groves in Gilbert, Arizona with our good friend Brandt, Brandt Photography to take a family portrait. While we were there, I got this shot of the kids waiting to have their portrait taken in their winter animal hats.

Way to go NIK Software! You make great stuff.

Photography by Jared Platt, Platt Photography
Location: Gilbert, Arizona

Remember these photos from 2011?  Heather and Jeremy were married at Noah’s in Chandler, Arizona, but their wedding photos were just published on The Offbeat Bride Wedding Blog.  Congratulations again, Heather and Jeremy.  It was a pleasure photographing your wedding.

Photography by Jared Platt, Platt Photography

Location: Noahs in Chandler, Arizona