I've moved! I have a lovely new combined website/blog at www.krisallenphotography.com. Check it out and be sure to change those bookmarks!

Tacoma Wedding

Jenny and Jesse's slide show.

Christmas Wedding in Tacoma

I'm finishing up the photos from Jenny and Jesse's Christmas Wedding and I thought I'd share a few more.

Storyboards and a Wall Design

More client creations. Three fun storyboards and a wall design layout. These photos were taken last fall at Wright Park in Tacoma. I so love the vibrance of the fall colors. Click on any of the designs to see them larger.

A few more from my after Christmas session in the snow. I wish I had more opportunities for snow sessions - so fun!











And a fun 16x20 collage I've been working on this week for a client (click on it to see it larger).

Business Stuff

I'm sure I'm not the only one finding it hard to believe that is already 2009! I've been spending some time thinking about what 2009 will mean for Kris Allen Photography. Last year I photographed nearly 70 families and seven weddings. I hope to increase those numbers in 2009 with both new clients and returning ones. The biggest compliment I receive is when a client returns to me.

My pricing will remain the same for 2009. I had intended to increase my print prices in 2009, but with the state of the economy I've changed my mind.

I have a couple of exciting things in the works.

A new blog site with bigger pictures and more functionality. My plan is to combine both my blog and website - I'm tired of them living in seperate worlds. We'll see how that turns out. I'm also going to seperate my wedding website from my family and kids site.

Sometime this month I'll be asking my readers to vote for the 2008 Photo of the Year. There will be prizes for the top three photos. If your photo is in the contest, I'll let you know so you can tell all your friends and family to vote.

In February, I'll be attending the WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) Convention in Las Vegas. I'm really excited about this and I imagine I'll come home with all kinds of new product ideas.

Photography Stuff

I have a lot going on here. The big focus will be to improve my artificial lighting skills. I always prefer natural light but many times it just isn't practical in Washington. I'm hoping to attend a workshop this year as well as a lot of trial and error.

I just upgraded my photo processing software to the newest versions - Lightroom 2.2 and Photoshop CS4. A lot of the new features look great, now I just have to learn how to use them.

I purchased a macro lens, primarily for wedding details so it will be fun learning how to use that.

And because it feels funny to post without photos, here are some photos from a wedding I assisted at a couple of weeks ago.

Happy New Year

This holiday season, I (along with over 500 other photographers) participated in the Giving is Awesome cause. Giving is Awesome is about giving custom photography to someone who deserves it but can't afford it. My donation was $1000 of custom photography to one lucky family this season. The giving was the easy part as the choosing part proved to be much more difficult.

With some outside help, I finally chose my recipient yesterday, and it was very hard. I wish I could have chosen each family, but I had to limit it to one. The recipient is a father of four and grandfather of three who just celebrated his 60th birthday. He was nominated by his daughter whose tribute to her father brought tears to my eyes. His story is private, not one to be shared in such a public place but it is moving and I look forward to creating cherished portraits for this entire family.

Thank you for everyone who participated. I intend to offer a similar give away next year. I believe strongly in giving back and I donate photography services to worthy organizations all year long.

As we start 2009, I've been doing a lot of reflecting on my year in photography including putting together a compilation of my favorite photos from 2008 - another very difficult decision. I have favorite photos from every session I do and it just isn't possible to include them all in a 3 minute slide show. Click here for a slide show of the favorites of the favorites The Best of 2008. It will take a minute or so for the show to load.