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!

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!

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.

One of my very good friends and her husband {also a very good friend} just had a new baby boy to supplement their family of two boys. We just live around the corner, so we tend to go their house a lot. Our daughter loves to play with their boys, so adding one more boy for her to play with is an added plus. I think we’ve been to just about every birthday party they’ve ever had, and visa versa. Jill and my wife also sing together, perform is comedy skits, and pretty much are twin sisters in just about every respect. When Jill announced another youngster was on the way, I wanted to offer her something a bit different than the typical baby photos from the mall. Max was a bit upset with me for taking his comfortable blanket away and making him pose all natural, so let’s just say this session went pretty quick. My vision for this shoot was inspired by some images that I’d seen this summer for by another photographer that I admire. Because it was winter time and beginning to get cold, an outdoor session was not going to happen, so I went on an expedition to find some giant banana tree leaves. My other friend and photographer Brian Crain just happened to have a small jungle in his yard full of banana palms, so I was all set. With the outdoor weather not cooperating, I went for a modern nature style. I also created the photo styling for the baby on the towels, good thing he didn’t fall off of the high stack that I set up, it was a bit wobley…..(just kidding, that’s a post processing illusion, Max was very cozy and safe at all times) Thanks Jill, for letting me photograph Baby Max, one of these will make a nice museum art canvas.

Did I mention that I love photographing babies? A lot of photographers run the other way when you mention “baby photography”, but I have a different perspective about photographing babies and children. A lot of those same photographer run the other way when you mention “wedding photography” too. Sure, I love photographing high fashion models on the beach, but there is something special about babies that I love to capture. They are so busy inspecting the new world that they’ve just come into, that they don’t need much coaching on what to think or do, they are just little miracles breathing in their first breath of fresh air. I love using a macro lens and capturing all the tiny details, their little hands and feet, even the hairs on their head. I guess that’s why so many moms call me to schedule their photography sessions.

In this session you’ll get to meet baby Miller and his wonderful mom, Lindsay. Lindsay is full of life, fun, silly and great to be around. When she told me that she was going to have a baby, I signed her up on the spot. When she did bring Miller to the studio, she was so excited and proud of him. Welcome to Memphis little baby miller! She was on a mission to share her new found love with the world, and I was the first person on the greet list. {that’s the excitement that I love being around as a photographer} Well, I could talk all day about that, but you just want to see some pictures, right?

Several years ago I photographed Shannon and Peter’s wedding which was one of my favorite weddings to shoot. They had a wedding in the countryside, and I remember one of the scenes we found a barn in Arlington Tennessee with an old airplane sitting just inside the door. {Shannon and I took several shots of her and the plane just a few minutes before her wedding, that was just a blast for both of us.} In this post you’ll get to see their new baby boy and just a few of my favorite images from the session. Shannon had come in just about a year before for her maternity session, and I’ll show you one that I don’t think she’d mind me sharing. Probably one of my favorite maternity photographs because it was so different and fun. Anyway, Shannon is another incredible bride that had me photograph her wedding and has become one of my family session clients. I hope you enjoy these. {I know you will love their new baby boy, he is just full of fun and happiness!}

I get a lot of requests for the “Modern Art” Collection from mom’s what want something unique from their newborn session. I blend my lifestyle portraiture approach into the photography session and spend some extra time getting simple images that I can use to create works of art for canvas print enlargements. Most moms order a 24 x36 Gallery Wrap Canvas Art Print that they can hang over the babies crib or bassinet in the babies nursury. This work of art becomes the focal point in the new nursury, when family, friends and other guests come by for a visit, they are not only smitten with the beautiful new baby in the home, but they are amazed by the beauty of the Canvas Art Print. The great thing about Canvas Prints with the large Gallery Wrap edge, it goes with any style home decor, both traditional and modern. When we create these beautiful canvas prints, we are able to do some amazing art effects in simple black & white, sepia tones for aging techniques according to the clients personal taste. We also work ardently to find just the right accessories for our art images, maybe a blown glass bowl, a hand woven basket, or some special flowers or leaves. I also encourage moms to go shopping to find some items or objects that they may want used in the session, it adds some fun to the session to use items that can become familiar icons around their home in the future. Some of my favorite places to shop around in Memphis are Pier One, Pottery Barn, and some other gift shops in Germantown. There are also a few new art galleries downtown in the South Main Art District that offer some beautiful blown glass vases, plates, bowls and artefacts. A small basket, or a piece of pottery, or special platter that serves not only as a piece of art, but a reminder over the years what a simple miracle it was to see the birth of their child and how much they have grown. The modern art sessions can take a couple of hours depending on the new baby and feeding schedules, I focus more on getting artistic photographs with limited scene changes, as you really only need just one for your fine art piece. The rest of the images from the session can also be made into a modern coffee table book. I offer some beautiful leather album designs and several modern art book choices. Images like these deserve the investment into an album that will last over 100 years. Here are some images I photographed from a recent session.