Photography Specials

I just wanted to make folks aware that we almost always have a sale or a special going on. You can keep abreast of good deals by checking our SPECIALS page. Below is our current special which is PERFECT for a family that is expecting. It really includes everything. To easily keep up with specials and other happenings, you can choose from these options:
SUBCRIBE TO THE RSS FEED.
JOIN THE KPO PHOTO FACEBOOK GROUP.
SIGN UP FOR OUR QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER.

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I also wanted to invite you to come join KPO Photo at a great, kid-friendly, charity auction event this weekend! From 12 to 4 p.m. we will be at Mez Restaurant at 5410 Page Road in Durham to support the Nicholas Wheeler Vivian Foundation. You can already bid on items, including a KPO Photo Family Story, through their web site.

Bribery Will Get You Everywhere!

I have been doing a lot of Family Stories this Spring. I have to say my favorite part is getting to know the children. I spend A LOT of time with kids as a mom of three, easily more time with them than with adults. So I speak their language and am endlessly fascinated with their personalities and how they see the world. Recently Libby Dodds and Tim Ashley came for a family portrait. I first met them at their wedding in 2002 and had met their son, Benjamin, a couple of times before they moved to New York. They were visiting North Carolina in April and decided to make an appointment to come in so I could meet their daughter, Megan. I am so glad they did!

Libby says that rather than fill the walls of their home with art they are doing a yearly photo collage. They get the same Pottery Barn frame and fill it with a variety of sizes of prints in both horizontal and vertical. They wanted the whole family, the children together and each child alone. We knocked the whole family part out first, as often that is the most difficult. To capture images of Megan, a 16-month-old, I just followed her around as she went about her toddler ways. She went up and down the two stairs in the studio about 100 times, she was nice enough to lick the studio windows clean and we then wandered around the yard looking for the cat.

For Ben, who is a very smart five-year-old, I had to employ different methods- BRIBERY! I had gone to a children’s photography seminar a couple of years ago in which a very well-respected, nationally known children’s portrait photographer instructed us all to bribe children with candy so they would sit still for a photo. I cannot do that in good conscience as I don’t want folks to leave their photo shoot with kids all jacked up on sugar. I am not saying I never will, but so far other methods have worked well. So I bribed Ben with getting to ride a battery-powered truck we have. I told him if he was my “helper” that he would get to learn to use the truck and he happily obliged. When children leave a KPO Photo Family Story I want them to feel like they have just been a fun play date, not a boring old family portrait.

You can see the WHOLE STORY HERE.

Run for the Border

Back in April 2002 I photographed the wedding of Marisa Ferguson and Michael Kelly. I remembered them well as they were journalists like me, and thus shared a bond. I knew that after the wedding, Michael took the foreign service exam and they ended up moving to Turkey. It turns out that Marisa also ended up working for the State Department, and they have most recently been living in Mexico City, Mexico. It is there that they gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Maura. They were coming into North Carolina to visit with family and made time for a portrait session. I loved meeting seven-week-old Maura! She has her mother’s eyes and was a very patient, sweet baby as we changed her outfits and posed her in the studio and out in the garden.

You can see the WHOLE story in their GALLERY.

Oh, Happy Day!!!

Happy Day! It feels like summer outside and I had the pleasure of seeing a past wedding client’s child today. It is endlessly fascinating to see the progression of a family, from wedding to +1. But what is making me really happy is getting to use this new studio. I had thought about a dream studio for years and it has come true. I love the mix of clean, indoor backdrops with lots of natural light as well as a beautiful garden. There is always something in bloom- right now the lenten rose, forsythia, magnolia, periwinkle and flox are in bloom. Here is what we came up with today.

Thanks for visiting, Kathy Sadri! Nafas is a gorgeous lady.

The Sparkler Photo

One of the KPO Photo signature images is the image below. This handsome couple are David Tofig and Keight Fahey Tofig. I really loved photographing and getting to know that couple! Lucky for me, after the wedding we kept in touch- Keight worked right down the street when they were still in Carrboro. They got pregnant and moved out to California in the year after the wedding. A lot happened very fast! They came back to visit North Carolina last Fall with their beautiful daughter, Siena. Keight’s grandparents on her father’s side have a farm in Apex, North Carolina. I met them there and spent some time catching up. Here is what they are up to– still kissing!!!

Shining Star

Welcome, Zoe Danielle!

As I am sure any photographer will tell you, one of the very best parts of this job is to get the opportunity to meet the chidren of your past wedding clients. Back in October of 2005 Stacy and Matt married at Sister’s Garden in Raleigh, NC. I got to see them again this week at their home in Raleigh where they are busy taking wonderful care of their newborn, Zoe. She was born on August 7th after a long labor and last minute C-section. Stacy– you did a great job! That is seriously the hardest work in the world. Here are my favorites from our session.
This was one of my first shots. She was sleeping soundly in Stacy’s arms.

It took us awhile to get her camera ready. With a newborn session it is all about waiting. She had just woken up and was hungry and probably sick of me flashing at her!

Matt and Stacy work together as a wonderful team. I love that! They used all their tricks and then we were able to lay her down to do some more photographs.

It is hard to believe that she will most likely grow out of this hat soon.

Her mom and dad’s Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls.

A smile! Even if it was just gas, it made me so happy!


I think that this one would make a GREAT birth announcement image.