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!

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.

Several years ago Audrey and Reid ran off to some island to get married. When they came back, they commissioned me to photograph their wedding reception that summer. {Another one of my wedding couples} In the past few years they began a family. They have 2 really cute baby boys, and as you will see in this post, we captured some very classic and timeless images of the family. I usually suggest a nice bright day session so we can take advantage of my giant window with natural light, but in this session Audrey and Reid wanted something in classic black and white. With this in mind I scheduled a night session, which worked out better for them with work, school and two boys. {I’m glad it worked out that way, because it gave me a chance to use a new softbox I had just purchased.} I used a simple black backdrop with the main softbox as a dramatic key light. I wanted a classic hollywood look, but with a bit more drama and mystery to really draw you into the photographs. {On Another note: when I created a wedding slideshow for them for the wedding reception, Audrey had this really cool photo of her posing with Drew Barrymore, to this day, she still won’t tell me the story behind that photograph. I’m kind of a Drew Barrymore fan, along with a million other guys on the planet. I wish I knew the facts about this mystery photo.} Anyway, back to their family session. Here are some of their portraits from their session. These are some of my favorites from the session…the first one…..the third one…and the last one….but maybe they are all my favorites!

The fall in the old town square in Collierville offers some beautiful backdrops for family portrait sessions. For this session, the cousins all gathered for a fun time in the park near the old train station. The kids were having a great time playing in the park. I love to catch kids being kids. They all climbed on top of the old park bench and made my job easy. {Well, kind of easy. Catching moments like these really does require lightning fast response by the photographer, or the kids simply run on to the next moment in the park, they don’t sit still long} The emphasis of this shoot was to get some family group portraits along with along with lots of photographs of the kids having fun together. Even though there were some fall and holiday colors in the park, the first image just reminded me of what could be an old photo, so I simply aged the image and let the highlights blow out a bit. Their faces tell the story. I’ve known most of the family for many years, as they are good friends and clients of my wife. I love the opportunity to photograph families and offer them memories for generations to come.

Jamie is a hairdresser who works on my wife’s team at the salon. She and her husband Nick have become a fun part of our salon family which we have grown to love so much over the past few years. Jamie asked me about a year ago if I could photograph her family at the park for a special gift for her parents anniversary, and of course I said definitely. I shoot lots of group portraits for weddings almost every weekend of the year, but I usually don’t get but about 3 or 4 minutes to work on the styling of the groups, so it’s nice to be able to have plenty of time and set everything up without the rush. For their main group portrait, I wanted a vert classic family styling for the shoot, not quite as edgy as some of my lifestyle portraits. In this post you’ll see our final image selection for their wall portrait, and just a couple of family group shots of Jamie and her husband, and one other shot of her sisters and their husbands. This was a fun session we did on a beautiful day at the park, one of those perfect days with beautiful skies and great temperatures. Thanks Jamie!