- KATE KARWAN BURGESS
- connect@k2bcreative.com
- 707.495.0951
This puppy was attached by a neighbor's dog and he lost his front paw. He was a part of the "Angel" program.
The past month or so I have be particularly exhausted. The hormones have been changing and the boys were not sleeping well, and as a result Tim and I were not sleeping at all! I’ve still managed to get out and take a few pictures.
Two Fridays ago I photographed the Sonoma County Humane Society’s annual fund raising gala. This year it was at Trentadue Winery in Geyserville. It was a beautiful evening. I lost my dog of fourteen years in March. Seeing all these dogs and puppies, makes me miss her and leaves me wanting to adopt them all.
I’ve attached a few of the images from the event. Hope you enjoy them.
Kate
They had dog agility demonstrations and other skills tests as well.
Can you believe that it is August 8, 2011?! I surely can’t. Time seems to go faster and faster the older I get. I remember thinking the school year was never going to end and that summer was so far away. Now, it seems that not just days and weeks that scream by but the months and years. Well, in the spirit of stopping time and freezing this moment forever I’m sponsoring a drawing for a free portrait session. To enter you must “Like” K2BCREATIVE on facebook and send me a message saying you want in on the drawing and the best way to contact you. Of course, I’ll post it on facebook too.
To sweeten the deal I’ll include an 8×12 print and a medium digital file of the selected image for your personal archive. How can you say no? This one hour session can be of your family, yourself, children, pets, your house, flowers in your front yard, whatever. One hour-one print and image free.
You must “Like” and send a message by Wednesday, August 10, 8:00 PM. Drawing and winner announced at 8:30 PM.
Who is in?
An iphone snapshot of my husband and boys after swim lessons. Moments are fleeting and they change so fast.
A few months ago I started two photo series using mostly my iphone and posting them on my Flickr account. One was “A walk from home” and the other was “A ride from home.”
Well, shortly after I started the series I was on a bike ride and had a freak accident moving very very slowly and broke my ankle.
The crazy part is that I went to the doctor and she determined that it wasn’t broke and that I didn’t even need an x-ray. Five weeks later, it still hurts I go back in again (for the x-ray) this time, and it turns out it is broken. In fact, it was broken so badly that if the foot and ankle specialist would have seen me on day zero he would have contemplated surgery and put me in a cast! I was walking on this, rode my bike, taught a spin class all on a broken ankle! My husband had been giving me a hard time, since I was complaining that it still kind of hurt. He even teased that giving birth to twins vaginally must of not been so bad if I was being this much of a wimp over a sprained ankle. Needless to say, he apologized and ate a little humble pie when we found out it was broken.
I actually spoke to the foot and ankle specialist the day after I got the x-ray. I told him that two days earlier I rode my bike 6 miles to another town, taught a spin class, and rode my bike back. His reply was hilarious, and I quote, “Holy mother of god, you are tough.” When I relayed this to my husband, his reply was “are you making that up?” I have never heard a doctor speak like that before, and hopefully will never again.
So, I hope to get some more images up in the next week or two as I start to go for walks and rides. My ankle is not a 100% yet, but I have an appointment next week, and I need to get out and move!
Below are a couple of images from one of my latest rides. I rode to my office in Healdsburg and checked my mail. I had the boys with me. They love being outside.
Railroad tracks across the street from my office building.
Lavender planted outside my office building.
Senior Portrait Photobook photographed in Santa Rosa, CA
Senior portrait session in Santa Rosa, CA
Senior portrait session in Santa Rosa.
Playful images from photo session in Santa Rosa, CA
Close-up and text from photo session in Santa Rosa, CA
When I have a portrait session with a client, we usually photograph for 1 to 2 hours on location. Out of that session I may take as many as 300 images. I then edit the images down to the best 35+ images. In case of Allie, we had so many great images I barely was able to edit it down under 50. The one complaint I get from clients is, “I can’t narrow it down. There are too many good ones.” I love to hear that! But, it is impossible to choose one image that captures and conveys all the expressions and personality a person possess. I recommend to clients that getting a small album or photobook of the session is a great way of getting a large selection of images, professionally printed (and designed), in a portable , and durable form. You might not want fifteen different images from the same session on your walls, but you still want the images so a book is a great alternative. They can be carried in a purse, and displayed in a book case or on a bureau.
Often people are unsure what to wear to a session. I generally recommend solid colors and it is always nice to have texture or details that elevate the garment. I insist that the clothes should be a reflection of them and their personality and that they don’t need to go out and buy anything, but in this Allie and her mom used the session as an excuse to go shopping before they left Modesto to come on location in Santa Rosa for the session. Allie is beautiful, but more importantly down to earth, easy going, and made a great collaboration. We had a great time. They had picked out this cream colored top that had a lot of lace details that added interest, but was not too distracting. She also wore a teal vest that brought out the blue in her eyes. I don’t limit out fits during my session. You have booked me for my time, talent, and use of equipment. We fit as much as we can in that time, two or three outfits is definitely doable and encouraged.
In general my design aesthetic is clean, simple, elegant, and hopefully timeless. I don’t usually use a whole lot of design elements in my albums or books. I like to keep the backgrounds white or black, with simple small borders and let the images speak for themselves. In this case I decided to do it a little differently. Perhaps I was inspired by Allie’s cream colored top, but I felt some swirls and patterned background were in order and better fit her personality and taste. I also had Allie send me some quotes, song lyrics, and a message to her mother that I worked into the book as well. I was pleased with the final result, and more importantly Allie and her mom LOVE the book. Here is the cover and some pages from the book.
A couple weeks ago I met with wedding clients Jill and Ben. We met at their super cute home in Santa Rosa for the first part of our engagement multimedia project. They are getting married up in Healdsburg later this year. I had sent them questions that I would be asking them, but asked them not to discuss their answers with each other that way there is a little surpise I asked them the same set of questions separately, and then a few together. I video the session as well as had a second audio recording. It was great. Jill and Ben are such a great couple. Sometimes you see couples and know they are a good match, and then you see couples that have that magically rare connection. These two have it without a doubt. I’m thrilled about being their photographer. I know we will make some great images together.
While I was there we took a few moments to use my photo booth app on my iphone. It is a pretty fun app. Hope you enjoy!
A quick photo booth montage during our multimedia engagement session.
My eldest son, by 95 minutes, at 2 months old.
Well, I delivered my twin boys on October 31, 2010. Yep, that is Halloween. They are strong and healthy little guys. I’m still physically recovering from the experience, but I guess that is to be expected. I had preeclampsia and was on bed rest for over two months. Last night I put together a Babies & Toddlers gallery for my website. I included several images of my boys (I could help myself). So far my portraits of them have mostly been environmental. I do have a couple studio images made with lights and a back drop. I keep a camera handy all the time and as I see moments, I make images. It is amazing how much they change and grow. We keep their room dark, and at night we feed and change diapers by nightlight. As a result when we bring them into the morning light the changes they make overnight are more obvious. It is one more reason to take the time to visually record as many moments and stages of growth as possible. It all happens so fast and the sleep deprivation will almost guarantee you won’t remember it all. I have also started a “journal” for each of them. I think of it more of a very long letter to each of my boys. I plan on writing on things like how we came up with their name, to what their personalities were like at different stages. So far all I have is an intro for each. I need to get cracking on that too. Anyway, I can still hardly believe I’m a mother of two boys. You would think it would have sunk in by now. I guess I am still in awe of the miracle of it all. Nothing like the growth of a child to mark the march of time. Wherever you are, with whatever camera you have, record the “march of time.”
Babies & Toddlers – Images by Kate Burgess
Emaleigh and Brian at Asti Winery
This image is from a wedding I photographed with Angel Vasquez of Angel Diane Photography . We met through Couch Surfing. She needed a second photographer for a wedding at Asti Winery in Cloverdale, CA, I was available, we bumped fists, and the said, “Let’s do this!” Well, it didn’t really go down like that…but close. 
Emaleigh and Brian were great, and Brian’s boys Cole and Parker were even better. What great kids! Emaleigh loves them as her own and got choked up talking about them. Brian is crazy about Emaleigh. As you can see Emaleigh was a beautiful bride and had the most sparkliest ring I had ever seen. Really, it was five rings in one. This was my favorite image from the wedding. It was an honest, sweet, joyous moment between the two of them.
Well, in the spirit of stopping time and freezing this moment forever I'm sponsoring a drawing for
When I have a portrait session with a client, we usually photograph for 1 to 2 hours on location. Ou
In an earlier blog I posted images from my Rendering Honors Project. Well, this is the first draft o
A couple weeks ago I met with wedding clients Jill and Ben. We met at their super cute home in Santa
The past month or so I have be particularly exhausted. The hormones have been changing and th
