Merry Christmas To All!

And so it's Christmas! Let's all take the time today to savor the moments throughout the day that will never come again. A time to forgive. A time to share. A time for giving of ourselves. A time to love. And, most of all...a time to thank God for what we have, and not to dwell on what we don't have! We will never pass this way again!!

Merry Christmas Eve!

This image from a recent shoot at a client's home made me think of the Star of Bethlehem! I know it was the moon, but it was the only light in the sky that snowy night and it might as well have been a star! A very Merry Christmas to all our wonderful customers and friends and their families! Thank you for inviting us into your homes and into your hearts and trusting us to record some of your most precious memories!

Ice Fairy!

I particularly like this one! Lately, I've been living in "Once Upon A Time" land!! We've been surrounded by princesses, dragons, fairies and angels! What a ride!

Christmas Fairy!

Christmas is coming and so are the fairies! I'm certain you've seen them recently, especially since it's already snowed. But, I'll bet they aren't as cute as this little pixie whose image we captured just the other day!

Holiday Time Is Family Time!

Recently, we had the honor of photographing this wonderful family at their lovely home at Thanksgiving. Although their home is one of the most beautiful in Jackson County, the family's warmth and hospitality outshines anything else as we created this timeless image for them that will last throughout the years.

Amazing Grace

This dancer wanted a special image to commemorate her dance to "Amazing Grace," so we opted for an "angelic" composition and dramatic lighting. I love the result!

Home

This image from our Senior session yesterday reminds me that wherever we travel, West Virginia is our home, sweet home and we have plenty to be thankful for on this beautiful day of Thanksgiving! Take a moment to think of all you HAVE...not what you DON'T HAVE...and today, you will be truely blessed!

Holiday Time Is Family Time!

Here's a great family portrait we did for a client recently. When I do black and white portraiture, I like to emphasize the faces because, after all, that's what's really important! I try to etch each face in the viewer's mind and these faces each told a story! A true treasure for any family album!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

This little one is more than ready for Christmas..seeing that it's her first one! How precious can you get?

World Strut Champion!

Two weekends ago, we had the honor of being the photographers for the NBTA WV State Twirling Competition. This young lady is the World Strut Champion and opted for us to create a special composite image for her. This is the result. I love it!

From a New Perspective!

I decided to photograph this family from a slightly different angle and it worked out well. I love the slight "S" curve of the composition and the fact that everyone decided to look at the camera at the same time! What a beautiful little family they are! I love photographing at a client's home and this shoot was special as I've known mom and dad since birth!

Portrait In Blue

The colors in this portrait compliment our beautiful senior! Her color is definitely blue as it brings out her eyes and skin tones and features her hair. This is one of my many favorites from her shoot from this past weekend. I plan on sharing others!

Blast From the Past!

Had the honor of taking twirling portraits for the West Virginia NBTA State Twirling Competition yesterday. It doubled as a Riggs Rangerette "mini reunion" and this is the resulting image! Such memories! And, by the way, the women are putting the famous Riggs Rangerette Parade Corp routine back on the floor for the Miss Majorette Competition in May!! Be there or be square. I woudn't miss this for the world!!!

Not So Loud!!

I caught these young hunters unaware as they spotted deer on the adjacent hillside! Actually, the shot was set up but was no less precious when you see the looks on the boy's faces! This is one for the family album, for sure!

I'll Love You Forever

That's the phrase that comes to mind when I look at this image from our most recent family session! I'm certain that, years from now, the little one will look at this precious capture and know how blessed she was and is!

Way To Go, Devils!

Although we all froze half to death last night, it was all worth it when our Red Devils brought back the hatchet by winning the game! Here's one of the many great shots we got at the post-game celebration! And, congratulations to Coach Dick Sturm for winning his 100th game!

In the Top 400!!

Ann's Location Photography has just been named in the top 400 Senior Portrait Photographers by Senior Photographers International! This was based on review of our work and we're excited and thankful to all our fabulous seniors for helping make this happen!! Congratulations to all our young men and women!

Tribute to the Master

This young man wanted his senior portraits to include a final tribute to his marshall arts instructor who's life was cut tragically short recently due to an accident. We began early in the morning that day to give him and his parents time to safely transport most of his trophies and awards to the studio for this most important portrait. We took several shots and adjusted and readjusted lights to capture a timeless image this senior will treasure for a lifetime! Ann's Location Photography wants to take this opportunity to celebrate the life of Chuck Raines and all this man did for the young people of our community!

Mommie and Us!

I thought you'd enjoy this black and white image from our recent family session! I choose black and white for these types of portraits because I want to emphasize the faces and expressions. And, with dark clothing on, the faces are the first things you see when you look at this image. Dad will love this and it will hang it proudly where all can see his beautiful family!

Apologies!!

We want to take this opportunity to apologize to all our followers and clients for not keeping up with recent posts! Things have been extremely busy (that's a good thing!) and we've been editing and attending seminars at a fevered pace! We got back at 3:00 a.m. this morning from attending David Ziser's seminar in Columbus where we learned some amazing things that we can pass on to our clients! David Ziser is one of the most accomplished and fantastic photographers internationally and we felt honored to be in attendance.

Now to business: I've posted NINE images from our recent sessions that we thought you'd enjoy...so scroll down and have fun!!! And, THANK YOU for all your support and understanding!!

Having Fun!

99.9% of the time, we just have fun in our studio! And, this image is indicative of just that!! This senior had fun helping us create some wonderful portraits of her and here's one we thought you'd enjoy!

Mother Daughter Portrait

This mother-daughter portrait was fun to create and it turned out exactly how we had planned because we wanted to provide this duo with a soft, fall image with a gentle background that helped them pop out of the scene!

Remembering

Unique portraits is the policy in our studio and in our "on-location" sessions and this image is no exception. We wanted to create one of many unique images for this young man that would fit beautifully in his senior album!

Me Against the World!

Taking images against the sky is challenging but we pulled this one off and provided our young man with a different perspective in posing! I love how the colors fed off each other and framed our subject nicely!

Sunset On the Dock

A sunset like this is difficult to come by and we did our best to capture a unique family portrait for our clients. The sun was just skimming off our subjects and providing us with a kicker effect that increased the depth of the scene.

Early Morning Portrait

We took this image in the early morning when the mist was still rising off this family's pond and the canine members of the group were full of energy! I absolutely love the lighting in this image as it accentuates the highlights as well as the shadows and provides depth and dimension to a wonderful family portrait!

Fall Beauty

I love this senior portrait! It's a study in soft lighting and fall surrounds and this lovely young lady is a perfect subject for a colorful Autumn image!

HIgh Key Background

I thought you'd enjoy this recent portrait of a young man enjoying the river scenery. I pushed the background on the edge of over exposure to accentuate our subject and provide a nice, soft high-key background for him! I think it worked pretty well!

Five Going On Sixteen!

This young lady is celebrating her fifth birthday by giving her parents a sneak peak of what's to come! The only thing is, the phone will be much smaller!!

Electrifying!

Here's the latest image of our Ravenswood High School Varsity Cheerleaders we did a couple of days ago. Their great cooperation paid off resulting in this striking image of the cheering squad that will lead the Red Devils to a State Championship!

The Littlest Angel

This image reminds me that Christmas is just around the corner. It's never too early to begin planning your cards and portrait gifts!

Summer Fairy!

Yes, there are still summer fairies around! This one is welcoming Autumn with her precious smile..reminding us that there are only a few days before the fall season vanishes...leading the way for Christmas fairies! Keep watch....

Standing On Top of the World!

This is, undoubtedly, one of my favorite images we captured on our engagement shoot at Cass Scenic Railroad on Wednesday! The colors were spectacular, as they always are in the fall at Cass, and the joy of the couple shows through in this dramatic shot on Whitaker Mountain!

They All Came Tumblin' Down!

I was at the right place at the right time when this RHS football player ran over the opposition to score. As they said at the game: "It was Small Ball!"

Spooky Shoot!

Here's one of the many great shots we got during our Spooky Shoot week! I love the colors of fall in this image to say nothing of the creepy gates and spooky sky. But, most of all, I love the little trick or treater! She makes the image what it is!!

Are They Proud, or What?

This is the ultimate grandparent image! You can see the joy in these grandparents' faces as they pose with their grandchildren and just how proud they are of them! This is definitely one for the family album!

Special Olympics Summer Games Video!

Here's the video I made for Special Olympics West Virginia State Summer Games! We're the official photographers every year and although it's 3 hard days of shooting...it's more than worth it! See what you think!

The Court

Apologies again for the slow and infrequent posts! We've been SUPER BUSY (and that's a good thing) and haven't had time to post every day. Anyway, here's the beautiful RHS Homecoming Court. If you'd like to see more Homecominng pictures of the parade and the halftime ceremony, go to my homepage and click on the link in the upper left corner!

Beauty in Pink

We've been super busy this month but I wanted to share this beautiful image with you before tackling more editing. It's images like this one that remind me how beautiful a simple pose can be! The colors and this young lady's lovely smile make this image into a portrait... A true treasure in any parent's album!

SPOOKY SHOOT!!

Announcing our first annual Spook Shoot! For $35, you receive a free sitting, 1 8x10, 2 5x7s and a sheet of 8 wallets...all in your Halloween finery! Primarily aimed at young children, this session can be for children of all ages. Just bring your own Halloween costume and we'll provide you with a Halloween/fall scene complete with spider webs, pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns and all things spooky! Do you dare??

This shoot will run from October 4th through October 8th. Appointments are being accepted for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday all day and Tuesday and Thursday in the evenings. Call now to reserve your session at 304-273-2022 or 304-481-3645! Go to my homepage at http://www.annslocationphotography.com and click on the SPOOKY SHOOT link at the top for more information! If you dare!!

Go Viking Flag Corp!

This is a great shot of one of the Ripley Viking Flag Corp members! I love the colors behind our beautiful subject. They seem to make her pop out of the background for a festive image!

Team Work!

Everyone likes to be congratulated by your team mates on a job well done! Such is the case here. This is a great example of how a team sticks together no matter what the outcome of the game.

Up Close and Personal!

Here's a favorite shot from one of the recent Ravenswood Red Devil Games! I like it because it almost makes me feel like I'm playing the game along with the team!

Angel in Black and White

This little angel did a beautiful job posing for her first portraits a couple of evenings ago! We got some wonderful family shots as well as shots of the newborn by herself! This is just one of my many favorites!

Senior Elegance!

Here's one of my many favorites from our weekend senior shoot. Our subject opted to wear her prom dress for a different kind of image. The Scene Machine provided a warm room background coupled with dramatic studio lighting for this elegant portrait of a lovely young lady!

Princess For a Day!

Here's our fourth, and final, post from our Tell Me a Story session. I chose a closeup because all of our previous images have been 3/4 to full shots. The wrought iron steps provided a great contrasting element to the scene as well as a wonderful posing tool!

Special Angel

Here's number 3 post (of 4) from our fantasy portraits...angel division! We had a great time with these..we have hundreds of backgrounds and can change looks very quickly! Let me know what you think! Also, see previous posts!

Catch a Butterfly!

Here's the second image from our Tell Me A Story fantasy session. I love the colors of fall and this image showcases them! See the previous post for more!

Fairy in the Woods!

This is one of our Fantasy Portraits we are now offering! If your little girl wants to be a fairy, princess, angel....or all three...we're here for her! And, the best part is, you can use our Tell Me A Story sitting in our Special Olympic special (read previous post)! AND...we'll be announcing our Spooky Shots special soon..so, visit the blog daily so you won't miss out! Keep posted for more Tell Me A Story portraits!

Portraits in the Fall!

It's officially here! The annual Portraits in the Fall spectacular that benefits Special Olympics Jackson County is open for bookings! Calls have been coming in for the past two weeks wanting to reserve sittings for the annual event and it hasn't even been announced until today...so hurry! The fall leaves will be here before you know it and so will Christmas! For a $25 donation to Special Olympics Jackson County, you receive a free portrait sitting of any type (except weddings and seniors) and a free 8x10! What a deal! And, this year, your sitting will consist of a combination indoor/outdoor sitting! Advertisements will hit selected stores in the community soon...this is your "before the event" heads up! So, call today and reserve your day and time and get your family together to make some memories (and shop for Christmas!) Ask to see the gorgeous new album line, complete with folios, cards, announcements and other goodies! See you soon....

Backlit Beauty

I simply couldn't resist this fantastic background in the 100+ year-old church! The pipe organ serves as a great contrasting element to highlight our backlit couple! Notice how the light "rims out" the bride and groom as they look into each other's eyes! More to come...

Happy Couple!

This a one very happy couple, indeed! This image will be used on their DVD cover somewhere..it's gorgeous and the warm tone of the image truely represents the happiness of their special day!

Player in Red

This image is one of my favorites from our recent senior session! It packs a punch in black and white with the touch of red thrown in! See what you think!