Kelly Niemann Photography header

Category Archives: Blogging

Click on the title of the blog post to view the entire entry.


For my Grandma

Early this morning, my Grandmother, Ruth Vollman, passed away closing the book on the oldest generation of the Vollman family. She was 92 years old.

(added 11/10:) I was going to make this post short, but I lied awake last night thinking about her, and although my memories are just a fragment of her long life, I wanted to share.

I remember how she introduced me to the gooey goodness that is Cadbury Creme Eggs, which my mom told me I wouldn’t like….

I remember picking my Grandma up on Sundays on the way to church Downtown. On the way there, she’d complain. On the way back, she’d tell us how much she enjoyed us picking her up.

I remember my Grandma holding up a pack of her cigarettes and telling me, “Don’t ever do these” as she lit the one pursed between her lips.

I remember the stormy night my sister was born. My parents dropped me off at Grandma’s house and we stayed up late together in anticipation of the good news.

I remember the day my Grandma collapsed in the Wyatt’s Cafeteria and was rushed to the hospital. They discovered she had an aneurysm, but she beat the odds and survived. She was one tough cookie. When she got out, she’d forgotten that she’d ever smoked.

I remember how each Christmas and Thanksgiving she would say, “Y’all better be nice to me. This may be my last Christmas!” She said that each time we got together for the last 10 years.

We’ll miss you this Thanksgiving and Christmas, Grandma. We’ll miss you telling us its time to take you home. We’ll miss you.

When are you available?

That’s the most common question I’m receiving as this year wraps up. And the answer? Not much. ;)

Here is a listing of my available weekend dates for the remainder of the year for family, kids, and engagement session photographs. I will try to keep this updated as the dates fill.

Sat 11/15

Sun 11/16

Sat 12/20

Sun 12/21

Sun 12/28

**********************************************************************************

Update 11/4:

11/23, 11/29, 11/30, and 12/14 are now booked. Thanks!

Lauren and David’s Family Session - Tomball, Texas

One of my good friends from waaaay back, Lauren, was in town last weekend from Virgina Beach, VA, with her husband, David, and daughter, Kayla. We went to Kleb Woods Nature Preserve in Tomball, TX for their Christmas Card photos.

I’ve found a renewed obsession with my wide angle lens lately to incorporate the landscape and sky into many of my photographs. I love the little arbor…

Then we went over to some old farm equipment for some more posed photos.

Kayla is such a stinkin’ ham. (She gets it from her mom.) :p

But an adorable ham. ;)

I’ve had this kick with laying on airport runways or roads lately…

Here’s the middle of the street.

We all know who’s boss. There’s no need to hide it. :)

We saved a little sunlight for some romantic photos of Lauren and David together…

What can I say, I always seem to bring out the best in people. Its a gift, I suppose…

Thank you guys! I hope to see you again soon!

Flickr’s Explore

Sometimes it’s the small achievements that make me excited.

For my blog (and for sharing, fun, and sometimes silliness), I host the photos I post on here on my flickr account. Flickr had an area called Explore and shows some of the best photos based of what they call “intrestingness” and… well, they can explain it better than I can.

Interestingness!

Besides being a five syllable word suitable for tongue twisters, it is also an amazing new Flickr Feature.

There are lots of elements that make something ‘interesting’ (or not) on Flickr. Where the clickthroughs are coming from; who comments on it and when; who marks it as a favorite; its tags and many more things which are constantly changing. Interestingness changes over time, as more and more fantastic content and stories are added to Flickr.

We’ve added some pages (and changed some existing ones) to help you explore Flickr’s most interesting content. Before you start though, you might want to take your phone off the hook, send your boss to an executive training session and block off some time on your schedule, because we don’t think you’re going to be walking away from your screen any time soon. Beautiful, amazing, moving, striking - explore and discover some of Flickr’s Finest.

Since I’ve posted the below photo last Sunday (up until right now) I’ve had 4,867 people view the photo, 334 people mark it as a favorite, and 95 people comment. On Sunday, September 28, 2008, I had the #1 photo on flickr. I’ll have more from Mark and Jackie’s wedding (and subsequent day after / trash the dress session) later, but for now, let me show off. ;)

Changes to pricing, etc…

Hi everyone!

I’ve been incredibly busy lately with a burst of summer weddings, lots of traveling (3 out of state weddings), and now families getting ready for their joyful Christmas Cards.

While I love each and every family, couple, and client I meet, I am getting a little busier than I would like. I feel I need to give each and every client (and their images) special attention.

With the start of the new quarter on 10/1/08, we are going to increase our session fees for family portraits, engagements, and bridals and take on fewer clients per month. Also, due to increasing costs from our lab, prints and albums will be increasing too. Our wedding packages will be restructured to handle these additional charges and will increase as well.

For those of you who have already paid your session fee and signed a contract, don’t worry, nothing changes for you. For those of you who have been on the fence or waiting, now is the time!

Little Evyn’s Photoshoot - Old Town Spring, Texas

Last Month, Chad and I were contacted by Molly and Travis to do a family shoot with their adorable little girl, Evyn.  Molly has seen blog posts of Jenna and Wyatt’s engagement session of Old Town Spring, and loved the surroundings.  I was so honored that people actually read my blogs that we planned a little session at some of the same locations in Old Town Spring. 

Little Evyn is a girl after my own heart.  I too was bald until the age of 2, but little Evyn wears it so well with precious little curls in the back!!

She truly adores her Mom and Dad, so we got lots of family shots of this wonderful close family.

Molly also wanted some photojournalistic style photos for their home, so we we had lots of fun creating unique, one of a kind images.

Enjoy!

 

Isn’t she the most adorable thing ever?  Plus, we found a boat, of all things, and got some fun shots playing in our lake of grass.  ;)

 

Silliness is best viewed large.  :)

 

This one may very well be my favorite…

 

Doesn’t she have the most gorgeous blue eyes?

 

This little girl loves bugs.  We told her there was a bug on my camera and she wanted to see for herself!

 

What’s that gator got in it’s mouth? (It ended up gobbling up lots of grass, rocks, and a sippy cup!)

 

Chad picked up a camera and helped me out.  While I was so enamoured with little  Evyn’s activities, he got this wide shot of the whole family.

 

Finally, I have got to get me a polka dot table.  Look how fun these are!

 

 

Thanks Molly, Travis, and Evyn!

Chad’s new toy…

When I’m not using it, that is. ;)

I’ve been behind in my blogging, so blog posts from past edited sessions are going to be coming out of order in the next month or so, but I thought I’d start with a personal one.

Since Chad has been second shooting with me more and more frequently, we needed to have a back-up camera for each of us. So instead of buying an additional back-up, we just decided to upgrade his camera.

Chad got himself a(nother) brand new Canon 5D. But when Chad isn’t commissioned to second shoot with me, you’ll see me at weddings dual wielding, looking like a small pack mule.

Without further adieu, here is Chad unveiling my his newest toy (and doing it while looking like a total dork).

Yes, a total dork.