Memphis Photographers, Memphis Photography, Memphis High School Senior Portraits, Memphis Tennessee, July 29, 2010. Michael Allen Photography

“Rock Star” Senior High Portrait Sessions are the lastest craze sweeping the country for photographers. The demand is huge, with hundreds of thousands of students that want to break away from the same old photos that schools have been throwing at them for the past decades. In this HD video, you can see a few photographs from Anna’s session shot on Beale Street, Main Street, and Sun Studios. Students love these sessions, and love getting huge wall canvas prints, personalized coffee table albums, Senior High Announcement Cards, Thank You notes, and portfolio boxes filled with some amazing photographs! And, you are watching the hottest new trend, custom music videos, just like this one, for students!

Here are a few photos from a recent session from some of my clients, Cassidy and Kian. They just had a brand new baby boy, who was just 10 days old in this session. This little guy was just as cute as he could be, and like most newbies, he just wanted to sleep, eat, and use his diaper. One of the important things while photographing newborns is to keep them wrapped and warm. For the images where he has nothing on, well, we shot those very quickly and made sure he was comfy and warm. I also love creating some very unique, and artistic images. For this session I had a very old copper tray that I’ve had for several years for decor in my lake cottage. I won’t tell you my secret for making babies comfortable in objects like these however. I brought it in for this session, and came up with several photo tint styles that can be used for a beautiful wall portrait in the babies nursery. I encourage my clients to find or buy something like this as a keepsake, something that they can remember over the years. An over sized wall portrait with these images is imaginative, and very artistic. Special thanks to Cassidy and Kian for allowing me the honor of photographing their new son!

I love it when I get a call from a client who used me for their wedding. It is the greatest compliment that I can get. Sarah & Michael were married a couple of years ago, I got to know them pretty well, along with Sarah’s mom. When a photographer gets a call to photograph a wedding, it is a great honor. To be handed the responsibility to photograph a couple for their wedding is more than just an assignment to me, it is a chance to give them my God given talents, and capture some very special moments in their lives. For their maternity session, I probably shot well over 100 images, lots of pretty belly photos that moms love, but for this post I chose just one image. (plus Sarah was a little shy about me posting her belly all over the screen) This one said it all for me. Sarah & Michael in love, bringing a new family member into this world, it doesn’t get any better than this. They are so excited, and just crazy for each other. My best wishes to to Sarah & Michael, and their new soon to be son, Joshua! They are residing in Memphis, where Michael serves our city as a police officer. I’m glad to know him and happy that guys like this help take care our our community!

Each year I photograph a lot of high end weddings all across the South. Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to work with a lot of magazines across the country and overseas. For the past few years I’ve been working as an editorial photographer for Southern Bride Magazine located here in the Southeastern US. Here is a spread that I photographed for the 2010 Issue which is on news stands now. One of the keys to being a successful photographer is the ability to offer a wide range of photography specialties, one of which is wedding photography, which compliments my lifestyle portrait sessions that I offer for my clients in my portrait studio here in Memphis Tennessee.

Here is the pages from the spread in this issue. The theme was “Back to Nature” set in a beautiful rainforest in the Lichterman Nature Reserve, offering Brides a look at summer fashions made with all natural “green” fabrics. I also get the opportunity to work with one of the best hairstylists in the country. Janice Allen at www.estonsalon.com created all the styles for the shoot, and works with magazines all over the country, she also happens to be my wife, so I can brag on her talents!

Here is a new short film to introduce you to “Michael Allen Photography”. In this film you’ll get to see some behind the scenes images of the style I offer to my clients. I offer a specialized style of portrait photography that people love. Based in Memphis Tennessee, the studio offers maternity sessions, newborn and baby photography, as well as toddlers, families and groups, and some “Rockin” Senior High School Portraits.

My photography is a fresh, modern style with an artistic edge. I offer lifestyle photography, this style captures my clients in a natural, fun and creative way. In the past few years lifestyle photography has taken over the market, replacing the old style portraits of the past with a fresh, new approach to portrait photography. The studio offers a full range of framed wall prints, gallery art canvases, full wall mosaics, custom coffee table books and albums, online A La Carte ordering, black & white, sepia and aging art styles custom designed to fit any home style. In this short film you will see a sample of my photography style and a look inside my world of photography for kids!

Welcome to Michael Allen Photography’s portrait website. ….this is my new Lifestyle Portrait website dedicated to my continually growing portrait photography business for children, families, and teens. I offer lifestyle portraiture with my own artistic style that many of my clients have grown to love over the years. I’m well known in wedding photography circles, and continue to work avidly with brides photographing their weddings, if you would like more information about my wedding photography, please visit my wedding website at www.michaelallenphotography.com

I hope you enjoy some of my many images that will be seen on this site. I’m based in Memphis, Tn. When I’m not out traveling around the country or photographing a high end wedding, I really enjoy working in my portrait studio. I have 2 small studios, and I work at clients home locations as well. My first post shown here is a session with one of my daughters, who is just as sweet as she looks. I thought it would be nice to start off this new website with some images from one of her recent sessions. If you would like to schedule as session, please call me a 901-489-5237 or email the studio through the contact tab above. I only offer limited sessions each week, so I suggest scheduling at least a month ahead of time.

I encourage my clients to schedule a session every year, so you can watch your child grow, and give them a chance to develop their personality in front of a camera. Lifestyle portraiture is very different from the typical studio sessions in an average photo studio. In my lifestyle studio sessions, I like to spend a little more time with the kids, and let them have some fun, you don’t get that opportunity in a fast paced studio that only gives you 5 or so images to choose from. It is well worth investing in a Lifestyle Portrait session that offers a full portfolio of your child with each portrait session. I typically offer over 75 to 100 proofs for a session with several outfit changes, and if time allows, an outdoor session and a studio session on the same visit. I also offer hand painted backdrops, and a variety of  furniture pieces to add to the look of the studio set, and my signature style of photography. I also offer just a few simple packages, with online web viewing with a la carte purchasing, as well as custom canvas prints, custom framing, and custom photo coffee book designs in fine leather.

I hope you enjoy my new portrait website {or web blog}, if you would like to see more of my photography, please visit
www.michaelallenphotography.blogspot.com to see my current wedding photography blog. Also, please visit my commercial photography site at www.IndesignCreative.com to see even more of my photography work

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Shannon and Peter came out to the lake for their session in the fall to enjoy the beautiful color changes of the season. Having a studio on a 30 acre lake offers some spectacular views and lots of natural settings. We have a 3 mile walking trail with lots of secluded places to enjoy and get away from the fast track of city life. I love the outdoors, and spend as much time outside as I can. Whenever I schedule a family session, I like to suggest shooting a portrait session by the lake. Just about anytime of the year is good, but fall offers some beautiful colors. For their session with the son, I wanted to capture some fun expressions, and offer a real lifestyle session with the beauty of the forest and the lake as the backdrop. Here are a few images from their session.

Jana gave me a call a couple of years back to photograph her new baby. Bella came into the studio with the cutest little smile and just loved every minute of the session. I used my natural light style with a large window for fill, and my large softbox for the key light, and just a little bit of backlight for the background. I love adding black and white to a session, but Bella looked so good with the blue tones, pinks and whites, that I wanted to keep those soft pastels as the styling for the session.

I love photographing detail for weddings and editorial shoots, so I took the same approach with Bella with her shoes and tiny hands. Also using my macro lens I was able to get that depth and softness along with sharpness, having a great lens with perfect glass makes a huge difference in photography.  I also love creating art pieces that have some unique style, for Bella’s creation I wanted to show a baby in bloom, growing like a beautiful flower. Here are a few of my favorite images from the session.

Several years ago a couple of very good friends announced their wedding engagement. I’m sure they had plans to one day have children, as most couples do. We share many friends with them, and they mean a lot to me and my wife Janice. As the years passed by, we all knew that an announcement would come one day. Sure enough, Mary Jo and Matt now have a beautiful baby girl, Molly. It is so cool to watch them as the first of their young family begins to grow up. As you can see from these images, she is a little doll, full of joy and constantly playing in her wonderful world of make believe. For Molly my approach was to capture some very simple, lifestyle images. I wanted to focus closely on her, and tell her story with my camera lens. As the session unfolded, Molly was quickly enjoying her time with me in the studio. I must say that I really love these images of her. I know there were lots of images in the session that Mary Jo and Matt consider very special, but these few seemed to capture the essence of this little girls world. She had some toys, and a few props, and a few outfit changes, but I chose these for the blog because of there simplicity. Thanks Mary Jo and Matt, capturing these photographs of Molly made my day!

One of the things I offer my maternity clients for their newborn baby is custom announcement cards. I use the fine art card stock from several fine art printing companies that I’ve used over the past several years. The hot new card that I love is the metallic paper stock. It is very luxurious and comes in either a pearl finish or gloss metallic. I create custom designs using a few of your favorite images, and select graphic embellishments and fonts that make a statement! I can use some of your favorite color choices and create a card that fits your lifestyle. Here is an example of a card I created for a great client when her baby was born. Fine art announcement card prices can be found on my a’ la carte pricing page right on the main page of this blogsite. I can usually get quick turnaround, but I suggest planning ahead for a 30 day window to shoot your images, create a design, get a proof, and then final delivery.

The cards come is flat style front and back, or a folding card with a blank interior page for handwritten notes. You can add these fine art cards to your maternity or newborn session and have them ready to mail within a few weeks, I take care of all the details, you spend time at home with your new baby! Matching envelopes included!