A few images from some recent sessions...

Yet again I start out by apologizing for my tardiness, but I have been absolutely overwhelmed this past month and thus have neglected my blogging duties. I am a relatively new blogger and I am here to claim a blogging deficiency. My first resolution for the New Year is to keep my blog up to date! Hold me to it, folks! These first few images started out as strictly portraits of the 6 yr old as requested from her mom. Upon several minutes of creating images and letting her daughters personality come out, it became clear just how strong the bond between the two of them was. Of course as it should be... I think you'll see what I mean.

Recent Images of some Dear Friends...

I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph some very dear friends this past weekend along with their beautiful children. Jason is the Principal and Creative Director at Going Interactive which is the incredible Company that created my website. Make sure you check them out at: www.goinginteractive.com. His wife Samantha who is an unbelievable designer helped keep her husband in order and made sure I stayed on my toes at all times. We had a great deal of fun at a really cool location with almost perfect weather. I believe we achieved our goal of creating some timeless portraits that will be enjoyed for years. If your lucky enough to receive one of Sam's creative Christmas cards this year you'll also get a glimpse of some of my fine art photography. I hope you enjoy the images!

Proud to be a member of this Organization...

A few months ago I was watching the evening news when they had a story about a Non-Profit organization based in Colorado named: N.I.L.M.D.T.S. which stands for: Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. The Mission of the organization is to introduce bereavement photography to parents suffering the loss of a baby and to help them in their healing journey. NILMDTS also educates other professional photographers to supply this valuable service to families facing the untimely death of a child.

The Goal of the organization is to provide parents experiencing an early infant loss with the gift of portraiture and DVD recordings. To create sensitive images that will last a lifetime, rather than memories that will fade over time. We believe the beautiful images of their precious babies serve as an important step in the healing process.

At a family's request, myself or another NILMDTS-affiliated photographer will come to your hospital or Hospice location and conduct a sensitive portrait session. The parents will then be provided with an archival DVD or CD that can be used to print portraits of their cherished baby. The organization is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and there are no fees for this service.

Being a father of two myself, I cannot even fathom the loss of a child at birth or otherwise. I do have relatives and friends who have faced this difficult loss prior to the inception of the organization. I have only recently become an affiliate photographer and Coordinator for my area, and thus have yet to be called for a session. I truly do not know how I am going to handle the situation because I know it will be extremely difficult but I promise to approach it as I do with all of my portrait sessions and create the very best images that I can. This organization is growing at a huge rate and the goal is to be able to provide this service throughout the country and at every hospital. I am truly proud to be a member and have another opportunity to "give back" for all of my own blessings.

What my kids have been up to...

I promised everyone that I would not only add client images to my blog, but also pictures of my children, wife and at times even myself. Yikes!! The old adage is definitely true in that the kids grow up so fast and right before your eyes, so for all of you who are contemplating having professional portraits done of your children and/or family, I have to say: schedule it now. Be it with me or another photographer. Obviously I would prefer you schedule it with me, but just get it done. You don't want to look back at this time in your child's life and say "I wish I had done some professional portraits". The sessions are fun and relaxed and the kids get to run around, goof off and get tired which makes for a nice long nap and break for you after the session! Here are a couple of images from a session at Kennesaw Mountain.

Then of course as I like to do, we went home and did a session with studio lighting. And just because my kids have a professional photographer for a parent doesn't mean that they are totally comfortable with or used to having their pictures taken. They do really seem to get excited to have their portraits done, yet as parents know, excitement generally means misbehaving. But we always have fun and in the end it is totally worth it. I hope everyone agrees.

Been real tardy...

Hi folks, I'm finally back to bloggin' and PROMISE to stay on top of this and keep it up to date. Its been a hectic two months since I last wrote. I'll add some portraits that are long overdue and as I said continually update the blog with more pictures on a regular basis. I'll start with a few images from a wonderful client who's lovely daughter celebrated her first birthday not too long ago. We did a brief indoor session and then went to a local park before she ran out of gas. Turns out she (Sophia) had been running a fever, but you would never know it by the pictures or by her attitude which was constantly upbeat. Her Mom had asked for a rich, classic blackbackground so that we could do some fine art black and white portraits and we really captured her incredible personality.

Although she cried when her mom was wanting to change outfits, this is one of my favorite images because it is real. In wanting to always remember the different traits and emotions of my own children (which you will see shortly), I know that they are not always happy, so...


At the park she was soooo good. She had just recently started walking, but you would have never known it as she was doing really great and doing everything I and her fantastic parents asked of her. And again, she was doing all of this with a fever and some pretty toasty temperatures!

Senior Portrait Info

I've been very tardy in keeping my blog updated, but thankfully it is because I have been extremely busy between portrait sessions, fulfilling my Peachtree Posters and Limited Edition prints which have been very successful thus far. I want to share some other portraits from recent high school senior sessions and also mention some package offerings that we have through the end of July.

Our sessions are all created on location at various parks and other settings around the area. Each session is unique, fun and created entirely around your personality. Our Senior sessions are $75 and our packages start at $125 and go up from there depending on what type of prints and products you would like. I have various specials going on for senior portraits right now such as wallet, print and product specials and other discounts for certain packages. I also have generous print credits for all portrait clients who send us a referral who we then photograph. On of the biggest questions I get when seniors or their parents call is: AM I REQUIRED TO USE THE HIGH SCHOOL CONTRACT PHOTOGRAPHER (A certain Company with the initials LT) FOR MY OR MY CHILD'S PORTRAITS? THE ANSWER IS NOOOOOOOO, ABSOLUTELY NOT. The only thing you are required to have done with the contract photographer is your formal portrait for the yearbook which usually costs around $25.00. It has been my experience that if the student uses the contract photographer for their casual portraits (usually for family and friends)they are often done very quickly with simple backgrounds and poses. I do a large portion of business from high school seniors who have had their portraits done by the contract photographer only to be totally unhappy and then come to me to have the portraits created that THEY want. Regardless of if you would like me to redo portraits from the contract photographer or if you would like to simply set-up a session, I urge you to call soon as we are quickly filling up and only have limited slots available. I will be adding more senior portrait samples in the coming days as I get some time to catch my breath. I look forward to hearing from you!

Peachtree Road Race Posters Available!

I am really happy to announce that my Peachtree Road Race posters are now available for purchase online from my website. I created these posters from covering the Road Race over the past years and these two particular images have been some of my most requested of the Peachtree. The poster entitled "American Pride, Peachtree Nation" was photographed from the Presidential Suite balcony of the then Swiss Hotel near the start of the race. I was leaning over the balcony with my 500 meter lens and had an absolutely incredible view!

My other Peachtree Poster, "Anticipation of Glory", was photographed obviously at the start line prior to the beginning of the Wheelchair Division Race. These athletes are truly inspiring to me and seeing their mental preparation and focus shortly before the start of the race was intriguing. Both of these images were then manipulated utilizing a technique I created many years ago in which I make an exact positive black and white image from my original color slide and then combine the two to achieve the end result. These were originally created when film was still king. Recently I had a solo exhibition at the U.S. Olympic Headquarters in Colorado Springs with these type of "manipulated" images from the Atlanta Olympic Centennial Games that was hugely successful.

Getting back to my Peachtree Posters; They sell for $19.95 and can be ordered directly from my website by going to the Shopping section at the top right of my main page and then typing in "Peachtree". I would also like to mention the very important fact that on every poster sold of "Anticipating the Glory", I am making a donation to the Shepherd Spinal Center of Atlanta. This incredible facility is world renown for achieving unheard of results in patients with spinal cord injuries, acquired brain injuries, multiple sclerosis and other neurological conditions. I am so very happy and proud to be able to contribute to this facility.

Please check back often as I will be providing a code to use for Peachtree Road Race participants to receive a discount for the posters as well as the Limited Edition Artist proofs that are also available. The Artists proofs are printed on fine art watercolor paper and come signed, numbered and ready to frame, but otherwise devoid of text.

New website is live!

Be sure to head over to www.rodkaye.com to check out my brand new website.