Cynthia Gullett Photography

Fashion Fridays | Kansas City Area Photographer

A little late, but I wanted to share these ideas before next week. Next week's installment will be another family idea.

Here are some late summer ideas for those of you that have daughters and sons. This first idea can be used a couple of different ways - choose the same colors for a monochromatic look or choose to have one child in blue and the other in orange for more of a contrasting, but coordinating look. For the boys' shirts, I normally wouldn't suggest a shirt with a large graphic on it, but sometimes it works. And sometimes you  have to go with what fits your child's personality. A plain polo in these colors would also work.

The girls' tops can be used in the fall too - just add a stylish cardigan and some jeans.

The next set of ideas is for those of you with daughters that love to wear sun dresses. These, too, can be used once the weather cools off. Just add a sweater and either some leggings or jeans tucked into a pair of boots. If you have more than one daughter, all of these dresses coordinate well with each other.

All of this weeks clothing can be found at gap.com.

Colorado

We went on a family vacation to Colorado this past week. We loved it! I will probably be making a couple of posts with photos from Colorado. Here is the first set of photos, all from the Royal Gorge.

A Summer Evening...

Just a couple of favorites from an evening that wasn't full of thunderstorms.

 

She loves to go fishing in our neighborhood "lakes". She usually catches a few fish, but on this evening she wasn't having any luck.

 

She is usually my little shadow and loves that she has her own camera. She was taking photos of me, so I decided to take a photo of her taking photos. I love her look of concentration!

Fashion Friday | Kansas City Area Photographer

I often tell clients to think of textures and layers when picking out their clothes. During Summer, layers can be added through accessories, as well as, through clothing. Textures can found in the details - smocking, ruffles, gathers, and eyelet material on girls' clothes; cargo shorts, woven shirts and appliques on t-shirt for boys are just a few ideas.

Some ideas from Gymboree.com -

Or using one of the outfits above with an outfit from Gap for a boy -

A few other examples for her from Gymboree -

A few examples for him from Gymboree -

Between Rain Storms | Kansas City Area Photographer

We have been having a lot of rain lately. If I could, I would be happy to send it somewhere else! Mr. E's session was originally scheduled on a day that ended up being dark and dreary. His session was rescheduled for a bright, sunny day and before the next session of rain storms hit us. He was quite serious for his photos, but he was willing to do anything I asked. I soon learned that his impatience to be done had to do with the water fight he planned to have with his siblings as soon as he got home. :)

If these photos look familiar, I had a similar session with his older brother last spring. A few of my favorites -

By the end of the session, he was ready to ditch the tie, jacket and dress shoes. Too bad I didn't have a fishing pole. I think the rolled up dress shirt and pants would have been perfect for an impromptu fishing session by the water. 

Go-Karting, Weekend #3 | Kansas City Area Photographer

A warm day that ended up being a nice, cool evening. Miss G was excited that her classmate was racing this weekend and they spent most of their time together between races.

These were all taken during the heat races -

By the time the races started, it was dark out. I took a few photos and then put the camera away - it was too dark to get many decent photos and I was only able to take panning type shots.

 

 

She finished 8th out of the 14 carts, but since it was Junior Amateur Night, everyone got a trophy! :) I really need to take a photo of her with her medals and trophy!

 

Fashion Friday | Kansas City Area Photographer

When planning for their sessions, a lot of families ask me for suggestions on clothes. My advice is 1) Wear what makes you feel comfortable. 2) Keep the patterns to one person and use the colors from that outfit to coordinate the others. 3) If possible, avoid lots of white. While it goes with everything, it's not always flattering on everyone and has a tendency to take on the color of your surroundings. 4) Wear colors from the same color family (all jewel tones or all pastels, etc.) and colors that you like.

I know most of you would like to use things that you already have, so these posts are to give you ideas on different color combinations, styles and ways to coordinate your existing clothes. If you do want to do some shopping though, the locations will be listed. :)

Today's entry is for a family of 4 with two girls (although the navy blue top and white shorts idea could be used for a boy). You'll notice that everyone has solid colored clothes that are pulled from the colors in the dress. Add some fun sandals and jewelry to complete the outfits.

Everything here was found on Target.com and OldNavy.com

Go-Karting...or how my Sunday was spent | Kansas City area photographer

This past Sunday, the Mid America Pro Kart Series was at Thunderlake Speedway. Along with the normal classes, there was also a special Junior Amateur race. Since the grandparents were in town and we've had more rain than races, Miss G entered the Junior Amateur race (her normal class at Thunderlake). It was a long, hot, sunny day, but it was so fun watching her and the other classes out on the track.

While packing the track, she had a lot of problems between turns 3 and 4 - it was quite slippery there and she got plenty of opportunities to practice her 360s. :)  A few images from when all the classes were out on the track -

 

There were only 3 karts entered for her race and 4 karts entered for the Chasin' Racin' class. Since the classes are pretty comparable in speed and experience, they combined them. She spent most of her practices and feature racing with the 44 since they were about even in speed. These photos are all taken from practice. The 60 kart was the dominant kart for her class. The photo where he is coming up behind them, he is getting ready to lap the field.

 

She had a great race for her feature race. She started 5th and eventually was racing for 3rd. Unfortunately turns 3 and 4 were giving her problems again and she spun out while trying to take third place. Since the caution came out, she was sent to the back of the field and with only a couple laps to go, she never had enough time to advance her position. She ending up finishing 6th out of the 6 karts left on the field.

 

 

While she was disappointed with her finish, she had a great time and can't wait for the next weekend of racing. With two 6th place finishes, her goal is just to finish any place but 6th (well, any place but 6th and not anything lower than 6th :) ).

Miss E is Five | Kansas City Area Child Photographer

I have photographed Miss E a few different times and it's so fun to watch her grow up. She can be very shy and serious, but when she opens up, I love listening to her little voice and laughter. She's so excited about starting Kindergarten this fall and I bet that she will be quite the social butterfly once she gets to know all of her new friends. Enjoy being 5 Miss E!

 

 

It's That Time of Year Again | Platte City Photographer

These last two weeks of school have been busy, busy, busy! I never knew that so many activities could fit into so few days! It's also year end recital time for Miss M. She is so excited about her costume and dancing on stage. This year they are dancing to Uptown Girl and have glow-in-the-dark costumes (they glow pretty bright in the daylight too!). Their costume has a tear drop hat, rhinestones, arm gloves (I think that's what they're called) and a full, twirly type skirt. She loves it and can't wait for it become a play outfit after the recital! :)