A Day to Ponder

So, this day has been pretty unexpectedly crazy. Last night my cell phone buttons quit working and I was only able to receive calls. I couldn't find numbers, check voicemail, or dial out. I was getting really frustrated cause you always want control of calling someone or having their phone numbers available. I spent the day looking for another phone and finally found a great deal but just after I bought the phone I received a call from my friend Crystal... she was at the hospital and her brother, Mason, had just committed suicide. I couldn't believe it! Crystal has been through so much and now this. It was crazy for me to think that a broken cell phone is something to get upset over. I picked her up from the hospital to take her to get something to eat. I listened to her and spoke very little cause I have NO IDEA of what that must feel like. I could just tell her that I was sorry and I prayed for her and her family. He is currently on life support for family to come up and see him but he isn't going to make it. I just don't understand things sometimes. I love Jesus so much and I put all my faith in him but I confess that I often get confused. Life is just a mystery and I don't think we are suppose to understand it but to have our faith be challenged with things like this can be overwhelming sometimes. I just hope and pray that Crystal and her family can find some good in all this. If you think of it, please say a prayer for her and her family. May God bless you all today! -Kevin

p.s. You can send Crystal words of encouragement by clicking here and sending her a message through myspace.

The Knot arrived today

The newest addition of the Knot Magazine in Kansas City, Missouri arrived today. This is the first time I have advertised in the Knot so I am anxious to see what kind of results I get from my ad. It is a beautiful full-page ad on page 73.

Networking with friends at Panera

I always enjoy meeting new people in the wedding industry. The last week I had the pleasure of meeting with some new and old friends at Panera Bread. I met up with John Jordan of Jordan Photography and Peter Chung of Kairos Moments. John is a great photographer out of Overland Park and he just started focusing on weddings. We are hoping to shoot some weddings together in the near future. Peter does amazing wedding videos. I have never seen anything like his videos. His style is something that you would watch over and over. He is great at editing out the boring footage that you have to fast forward through on most wedding videos. We enjoyed coffee while talking about our businesses and sharing ideas. I love building relationships with other talented wedding vendors.



Today, I met with my friend Sara Tafoya at Panera. She just graduated and has her own photography business. We met at Hallmark where we worked in the photography studios together. She is an awesome Christian woman and a great photographer too. She assisted me in a wedding that is going to be featured in the upcoming KC Weddings Magazine. As you can see I am a little bit taller then her:) Good to see you again Sara!

Grill Nest

So we have this grill on our back porch and it is getting warm enough outside that it is about time to start using it. We went to open the grill one day and there was this huge bird's nest in there. We were amazed! I took the nest and relocated it (without touching the eggs:) so that the eggs could hatch and we could grill and everyone would be happy. Well, a week went by and we still hadn't used the grill but we went outside and what do you think we saw when we opened the grill this time? This little bird is relentless! Enjoy the photos. NO BIRDS WERE HURT IN THE POSTING OF THIS BLOG!

Hanging out at Lake Hillsdale

I took some time to relax and get my mind off of work this last Sunday and went to the lake with some friends. We went to Lake Hillsdale that is about 30 minutes from where I live. We had three jet skis and spent the afternoon riding, telling stories and hanging out. Here are a couple of pics from the lake. Thanks Erik for inviting me out and thanks Mike for taking these pics. We will have to get some pics with you next time.
Tom, Crystal, Jon, Erik, Christy and Kevin
Kevin, Jon and Erik hanging out in the water

Kristen and Jason White Wedding

On occasion I have an open date and I will shoot a wedding for another photographer. This was the case this last weekend when I was asked to shoot Kristen and Jason White's Wedding. I photographed their wedding at St. Therese Parish in Kansas City. They met at college in Missouri and Jason is now a chemical engineer at Burns and McDonnell. They were such a fun couple and I had a great time with everyone at the wedding. The light outside was beautiful so we shot most of the photos outside. The reception was at the Holiday Inn in Overland Park. The lobby had some amazing lighting and I used it to get some great shots of the couple. These are some of my favorites.

Amy on the Plaza

When I am not shooting weddings I like to have fun with fashion and advertising photography. I started off pursuing fashion photography before I became a wedding photographer. I had the pleasure of photographing my friend Amy a few weeks ago for her portfolio. She is so beautiful and despite having a rough day we were still able to land some pretty good photos. Here are a couple of the images that we got on a beautiful day down on the Kansas City Plaza. If you would like to see more of my fashion and commercial photography you can visit my other site at www.kevinkeithphotography.com

Clay and Amy McCalmon Wedding

Amy and Clay's wedding was on April 28th here in Kansas City. I met Clay and Amy at church last year. They are a great couple and I was honored when they asked me to be their photographer. Amy was just glowing on her wedding day and it made the photography easy and fun for me. We took the wedding party to the beautiful Loos Park just down the street from the Marriot where they were having their wedding. The sky was a beautiful blue and filled with just the right amount of clouds to make all photos look great. I had so much fun with this wedding and I am sure you will see it in the photos. Amy and Clay are such a beautiful couple that it was so hard for me to pick out which shots to share wtih you. They all turned out so amazing! Here are just a few to share and you can view more of Clay and Amy's wedding photos at Pictage.

Pictage Chicago

I just returned from Chicago and it was an awesome time with friends and the Pictage community. I hung out with some amazing photographers. It is so great to be surrounded by people that have the same goals as you and to feed off of each other. The Pictage Conference was at the Crowne Plaza Hotel next to the O'Hare airport. We were there for two days to listen to many photographers share key points in their business success, networking, and most importantly...FUN.

Some of the greatest wedding photographers were speaking at the conference and I wanted to share a few of them with you because these photographers are the influence that helps me make Kevin Keith Photography what it is.

Mike Colon is a wedding photographer icon from California. He shoots high-end weddings along with fashion work for top wedding designers. He does a lot of work for Grace Ormonde and has only been shooting weddings for 7 years. I had the pleasure of meeting Mike at a lecture when I went to Brooks Institute of Photography.

David Jay is a super cool guy that works out of Santa Barbara, California. He has such a fun personality and has mastered the art of workflow in our industry. This gives DJ more time to spend with people and less time at the computer.

Me Ra Koh, where do I start... what an amazing woman! I met Me Ra in the food line at the conference when she came up and just started saying "hey" to everyone. I was a little intimidated cause I knew who she was so I was silent until she looked directly at me and said "hey". It was like a Seinfeld episode and we all just laughed. Me Ra has such a great story. She has gone through a lot to get to where she is now. She started off as a hobbiest photographer and used the medium as a way of helping her heal from some things in her past. In less then 5 years Me Ra has become a leading wedding photographer in the industry. She has such a heart for women and people. Me Ra has an electric personality and I just had so much fun talking to her.

Bauman Photography (Jerad Bauman and Bronson Pate) are great guys that have built up their business in San Diego in a short time. Jerad is the owner and a great photographer that understands how to treat people. It takes a lot of trust to be a photographer and hand over part of your work to someone else. Our photography is who we are! Jerad helped encourage that trusting the 'right' people is not a bad thing. I enjoyed getting to know Bronson at lunch too. Bronson and Jerad have known each other since grade school and they are both great men of faith.

The greatest thing about all these photographers is the care they have for their families and people. I find that more encouraging then their photography (and their photography is amazing). I would like to think that people would mention that about me before they talk about how great my work is. Have a great weekend!

The 3rd Coast

I am still in Chicago for the Pictage Conference. There are so many amazing wedding photographers here and I love it. Can't wait for tomorrow. I went with two of my best friends to a great little coffee shop cafe in the heart of Chicago tonight. The coffee shop is The 3rd Coast. It has a smooth atmosphere with good food. There is also some art to be appreciated. Tonight I saw portraits that were made from chewed bubble gum stuck to plywood then sealed with latex. These were amazing art pieces. I literally thought they were paintings until I saw the tag on one of them. Stay tuned cause I will be sharing more about the Pictage Conference after tomorrow.

Family photos of Janak, Tamara, and baby Peyton in Chicago

It was a beautiful Saturday in Chicago. The clouds covered the sky and the sun behind them created a beautiful soft light that is perfect for family photos. My best friend, Janak, brought me up to Chicago this weekend to take photos with his family and his newborn baby boy, Peyton. We went to a nice park nearby that had a lot of green open space. As you can see from the photos, I like to get in close so you won't see a lot of the park in these images. We actually had to take timeout a couple of times to let the disc golfers play through and for an unexpected diaper change.

I am so proud of Janak and Tamara. They are so excited to have their first child and it is really cool to see one of your best high school friends become a daddy. We had a lot of fun shooting the photos today. Janak's family was in town too and we got photographs of baby Peyton with his grandparents, aunt, and uncle. My other best friend from high school, Jeremy, was with me to help out too. He is also a great photographer and I have to give him credit for helping me get some of the amazing shots that we got today. Here are some of my favorites from today.

Sylvie Bug

This is a photo I took of my best friends daughter, Sylvie, in Chicago. I was playing around with her in the morning and landed this shot with the beautiful light that comes through the window in the morning. I was in the right place at the right time and I just love those kind of shots.

Deseri and Luis Wedding : Going to Chicago

I am going to Chicago today to photograph family photos for my friend Janak, his wife Tamara, and their new baby boy Peyton. It is exciting to be able to give them their first family photos. I also get to see some other friends while I am there and I am going to a Pictage Conference on May 8th-9th.

I wanted to share some photos from Deseri and Luis' Wedding that I shot on April 21st in Sugar Creek, Missouri. It was an outdoor wedding and I really enjoyed shooting it. Deseri and Luis met about a year ago and they love to go salsa dancing. It was fun to see them, and all their guests, on the dance floor. I went to college with Deseri so I knew a lot of her friends at the wedding. It was great to catch up with people that I hadn't seen in a long while. Here are some of my favorite photos from the wedding. Have a great weekend!

Mandy from Event Studio

I had the pleasure of meeting with Mandy Phalen from Event Studio in Leawood last week. Mandy's fun personality and hard work make her one of the best wedding planners in Kansas City. We sat and had coffee while we got to know a little about each other and the work we do. I really enjoyed Mandy cause she asked me a lot of questions about myself and really took time to get to know me. You can tell she has a gift for caring for others. She is an amazing genuine lady. I also got to see photos of her precious daughter.

UPDATED WEBSITE

It has been a busy April for me. I have just updated my website. I now have more links and a direct link to my blog. I hope you will visit often because I am looking forward to sharing the projects that I have been working on with everyone. I did two awesome weddings in April that I am going to share some images of. Stay tuned to see them. I am off to Chicago next week to see my friends new baby and take their first family photos. How exciting is that! I will share those photos when I return. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!