It’s been 3 years since my website has been remodeled, so in keeping up with new technology, I’ve got a new website in the works. The new design, which will be ipad friendly, and much easier to navigate. I’m rolling out the new Portrait site first along with my new commercial site. The wedding site & new blog will be coming in April 2011. Simply visit www.michaelallenphotography.com to see the menu of my websites. Here’s a sneek peak of one of the pages. 

Michael Allen Photography Home

Just a few weeks ago the new 2011 issue of Southern Bride Magazine hit the newsstands. I’m so excited to show you some of the images that made the “World Chic Couture” fashion spread in this post. I shot well over 1500 images, and these were some that I narrowed down for the spread, I also included a few that were not featured, as they only had room for so many images in the spreads.

Working with a magazine with such a huge reputation as one of the leading bridal publications in the South is an honor. On a typical fashion shoot for the magazine, we will be working with a very large crew of hairstylists, makeup artists, dress designers, jewelers, set designers, and the editors of the magazine. We start early in the day and shoot late until the evening, and some shoots go into a second day. Visit www.southernbride.com to see some of these photos in the new issue. I also created a short film from the recent photo shoot with the creative team at Southern Bride Magazine in Memphis,Tennessee, The feature spread of the 2011 spring & summer issue offers readers a glimpse of chic bridal couture from Paris, London, Shang Hi, and Greece to Morrocco and other world couture influences, The magazine spread and the short film feature some of the most current, modern dresses for 2011. Our beautiful models offer a glimpse to brides to be on how these dresses will look, as well as breaking from traditional styles by seeing what brides are wearing across the globe.

The team at www.filmindesign.com comprised of Michael Allen at www.michaelallenphotography.com and Brian Crain at www.bkcphoto.com offer their amazing professional photography and HD cinema film to capture a look behind the scenes of the shoot. Special thanks to www.southernbride.com for producing and coordinating the project, selecting the models and styles of the shoot. Kathryn Ballard was the artistic director along with editors Lynn Walker, Sherra Meyers, and Lindsay Wolfe. The design team at www.estonsalon.com created the hairfashions using www.aveda.com haircare products for the shoot, along with an amazing team of professionals from www.sephora.com, www.mednikow.com, www.brilliantearth.com, www.christosbridal.com, www.JLMCouture.com, www.Martinaliana.com, www.cherylkingcouture.com, www.DGAmodels.com, and www.thepalladiogroup.com who all helped make this shoot possible.

For more films from Michael Allen, visit www.filmindesign.com, and be sure to visit www.southernbride.com to get the magazine. For the photographers out there, I used some custom presets in Lightroom 3 to create split tones to make the looks for the blog post. I hope you enjoy seeing the photos!

Here’s a sneak peak of Sarah & Jody’s wedding at the Carahills Wedding Chapel in West Tennessee. For this post I used a full selection of B&W toned images to show the elegance of their beautiful day and to portray the artistic side of this beautiful wedding. They had all their family and friends present to celebrate their wedding day on a beautiful, clear blue skied morning just a couple of days after Thanksgiving. Earlier this year I photographed Sarah & Jody’s engagement photos which you can find in an earlier post on the blog. Be sure to visit my wedding blog to see more of my wedding photography at Michael Allen Photography Weddings and…….. Congratulations Sarah & Jody!

When I’m not traveling around the country on shoots, I’m back in the studio working on daily portrait sessions. I love working with families, and especially children. Some photographers shy away from kids sessions, but I love catching kids having fun. Most children have not learned some of our adult habits of posing like a they are at their senior prom. I’m not sure why, but some adults are just not comfortable being themselves in front of a camera. I’m the same way, when someone takes my photo, or I’m in a portrait session and I’m in front of the camera, I go bonkers and end up looking like a goofball.

Anyway. Here are just a few from one of my latest Holiday Sessions. I stay pretty well booked for these, so if you want to schedule with me, you will want to call at least a month in advance. Heres just a few from one of my November sessions, I really love to make these sessions different from the typical studio. In this session I went with one of my favorite portrait lenses mixing available light with just a little studio fill flash to get a very beautiful, natural look combined with a studio look at the same time. I intentionally kept a shallow depth of field and kept just one point in focus. Sometimes I bring in some props, but most of the time I like to keep it simple and really draw you into the subject and create a very artistic styled portrait. I love the way these two children reacted to my quest to catch them in their innocence.

[Michael Allen Photography] Senior Portrait Sessions-

Here are a few of my favorites from Anna’s session – We took Anna out on a photo adventure, starting with a Rural Session- Very early in the morning…..then we went exploring the Downtown Art District and discovered some fun and interesting places. Anna’s session reminds me of a classic all American girl! We ended up at Sun Studios for a few images with the influence of Elvis Presley to wrap up the morning session.

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!