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!

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!

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!

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!}