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

The Gregston family portraits were taken at the Norton Museum in Shreveport, Louisiana.  The location is zoo heavily wooded that you can take photos there all day long, but the light is perfect in the mid morning and late afternoon.  I have photographed the Gregston family several times before, so I have been able to watch these kids grow up.  I’ve said this before, but it is fun to see a family once a year and watch those immediate changes that we don’t see in the day to day living with our own children.  from year to year, though, there are striking changes that occur and I enjoy seeing them.

Here are my favorite images from the Gregston family portrait shoot.

The simple things in life are enjoyed best by children.

This series makes me laugh.  I love the response she has to her brother’s kiss.

Photography by Jared Platt, Platt Photography

Location: Shreveport, Louisiana.

Slideshow Music: Mindy Gledhill, courtesy of Triple Scoop Music.

Sebastian recently turned one and it was time for his first haircut.  So, naturally Karen (his mother) called me.  I like the way Karen thinks.  She wants to record her little boy’s life with great images.  Momentous occasions, like a first haircut deserve a photo.  The difference is that most people will have one or two snap shots and Karen has a lot of really great shots that truly document the event.

So, we started at Sebastian’s home in Chandler, Arizona and got some pre-haircut child portraits of him.  In the slide show you will see, we spent some time with his toys.

And then we went to the park.  It was a toss up on the activities.  Slide on the slide, puck up dirt or pick off the bark from a tree.  Those are some pretty tough choices.

Then it was time for the big adventure.  Going to the barber shop.  This barber shop was perfect.  The nicest old men were there waiting for Sebastian (his dad is a regular there).

Needless to say, this little boy was not happy about the haircut.

The more arms and faces I got into the frame, the more frantic things look, which is perfect for the shot.

Surprisingly, Sebastian would occasionally find something entertaining and smile for a bit and forget about the barber.

“Won’t you please help me?”  This image is one of my favorites of the group, with Sebastian’s crocodile tears and his pleading lean, he makes a strong case for breaking him out of there, but alas, I continued to shoot.

I love the walls in this barber shop.  I love this barber shop.  It is straight out of the 60s.

I loved that after Sebastian was rescued by his father at the end of the haircut, he points back to the chair and the “brutes” who accosted him in the form of a haircut.

But like many things in life, we quickly forget about the pain and suffering and we get right back in the saddle.

After the haircut, we went back home to settle down and play with a few more toys but Sebastian was looking for something else.  He never found it.

I love this shot.

PHOTOGRAPHY DETAILS:

Photography by Jared Platt, Platt Photography

Music by Roy Ashen “Never” Courtesy of Triple Scoop Music

Nick & Shelby’s Wedding, Mesa Arizona from Jared Platt on Vimeo.

Nick and Shelby were married in the Mesa, Arizona LDS Temple. Some of their portraits are there on the temple grounds. Others are our near Red Mountain and then others are at their home on South Mountain where they had their wedding reception. Here are a few of my favorite images from their wedding.

This is my absolute favorite image from the wedding.  The light coming through the trees is fantastic and the couple looks perfect.  I have another shot with them kissing, but I always prefer the almost kiss to the kiss itself.  There is more anticipation in it.

Shelby’s hot rod car.  I love that she brings the hot rod to the relationship.

I love the tone on this image.  It takes an otherwise, harsh sunny day and softens it up and cools it down quite nicely.

This little flower girl was super cute throughout the entire wedding.  It’s always fun to follow the kids around.

This was a cute idea.  The kids all drew posters for the bride and groom and then shared them with the couple at the end of the night.

The boys on the roof were tasked with trowing bird seed or something like that down on the couple as they left, but they completely missed.  The best laid plans…  But I did enjoy the motion in this shot.

Photography by Jared Platt, Platt Photography
Wedding Location: Mesa, Arizona LDS Temple
Slideshow Music: Kevin Burdick, Courtesy of Triple Scoop Music

Sara and Jay’s Wedding at The Wrigley Mansion in Phoenix, Arizona from Jared Platt on Vimeo.

Sara and Jay’s were married at The Wrigley Mansion in Phoenix, Arizona.  The mansion is an old, eclectic building with hallways and doors that lead you around in circles.  Each room is a unique place to shoot.  Which meant we had a number of choices for photographing the dress.  But this room ended up winning.  I loved the portraits hanging on either side and the texture of the translucent drapes.  Generally, I dislike the plastic hangers that come with the dress, but in this case, I was happy with the hanger because the white helped to set it apart from the wood valance.  I would like to know though, why it is that a bride can spend thousands of dollars on a dress and the dress shop only gives her a lame plastic hanger?  That is ridiculous.  They know the dress will be photographed before it goes on, and yet, they give her a white plastic hanger that, in most cases, takes away from the photograph.  I carry a hanger around with me to make up for this oversight, but in this case, the plastic hanger worked in the photo, so I didn’t use my wooden one.

We were on our way up the stair case (where I am shooting from) and I saw this little archway and the light coming down the staircase.  So we had to use it because the light was perfect.

The bride’s room at the Wrigley Mansion is full of soft feminine colors.  The paintings, wall papers and drapes are perfect for a slightly desaturated photograph.  I love the layers in this photograph.  Sara looks fantastic in it, the veil is coming into the shot, the painting is framing Sara nicely, the left side of the frame, though vacant, is held together by a bride’s maid’s shoulder and hair.  I just enjoy looking at this one.

This is one of those doorways in the Wrigley Mansion that leads through a series of rooms and hallways that make you feel like you are in a game of Clue.  And, it was a perfect spot for a portrait.  It is not often that you find this much wall without it being interrupted by frames, drapes, light switches, etc.  So I used every inch of vacant wall.  Just to the right and left are elements that would spoil the shot.  It is all about the Bride.  No other distractions are allowed.

This little ring bearer was quite a show.  Here he comes down the long stairway, which serves as the beginning of the isle at the Wrigley Mansion.  But he caught sight of the cameras and all the people watching him.

So he literally walked the rest of the distance, down the stairs and down the isle with the ring pillow in front of his face to avoid the paparazzi.

The entire way!  He was not interested in the publicity!  Everyone was laughing.  You couldn’t have planned that kind of entertainment.  I think that is why we have little children walk down the isle at weddings, in hopes that we get some comic entertainment.

Because the mansion is on a mountain, there few flat spots.  Lots of stairs and hills.  But there are also a lot of trees, and because it is on it’s own knoll, you can find great shade somewhere at any point of the day.  I am always photographing, regardless of what is going on.  Whenever the bride and groom are walking, I am snapping a shot here and there and always looking for little moments like this one.  A small glance, a smile, something.  I was happy to find this one.

I am particularly fond of this shot.  My wife saw it and said, “fantastic lines!”  Yep!  That’s what I was thinking when I was shooting this series.  This is one of those images that has to be seen at the camera.  It doesn’t appear from the contact sheet as a happy accident.  You have to see the lines and square up to them, otherwise they just fall apart in the frame and while you may get an ok shot out of it, you won’t get those “fantastic lines.”  The frame dictates the effectiveness of the lines.

The Wrigley Mansion’s entry way is full of visuals.  It is a rotunda with a staircase or a balcony completely surrounding the room.  You could shoot this room again and again and get something different every time.

I loved the graphic quality of this image with half of the frame in complete white and the other half in an textured white with a few darker elements and lines.  And then, of course, the main event, the kiss, happens in the corner of the frame making it more dramatic and full of energy as it battles with the convergence of the bottom and right hand edges.

Photography by Jared Platt, Platt Photography

Wedding Venue: The Wrigley Mansion, Phoenix, Arizona