Carole's and My 40th Birthday!

Yep, Carole and I just celebrated 40 years of being on Mother Earth!!! My family spent 2 weeks in Alabama - one week with my family in Athens and another week (4th of July) in beautiful Orange Beach, I'll be posting more trip pics from the vacation in another post. Our birthday celebration was in downtown Athens in front of Carole's studio. We had the street blocked off and had a live band the Valley Cats play. We served Southern-style barbecue inside and dancing outside. FUN!!! My dear friend Eileen came from St. Paul to Athens to be with Carole and me for 2 days and the party. That was one of the most special gifts I could've asked for. Life is all about our relationships and living in the moment - nothing's more special than spending time with family and friends, and that was what our birthday celebration was all about! Here are just a few pics!

Just after picking up Eileen at the airport!



Carole and I each had our own cakes, and here we are cutting pieces for our guests. Mine had a rainbow and sunshine and Carole's - flowers and sun. :) (Carole's in foreground, me in back)


My Dad STILL can cut a rug like nobody's business!


A fun group of us!


Eileen, Yvonne, & Marcia!


Sister Grace played some tunes while the Valley Cats took their break. A shot of Carole on drums!


Carole and Van Trent who was like a big brother to Carole and me growing up. He's a great dancer, too... ;)))


A shot of beautiful downtown Athens, AL at midnight after the celebration.

Our Evening with the Grays!

Jason and Taya Gray and their 3 handsome boys had dinner with us Kaysers on Wednesday night. Jason is a very talented Christian music singer/songwriter who was recently signed to a record label last fall. His music can now be heard on Christian radio all across the country! Here in the twin cities the station is KTIS FM 98.5. His latest record is "All the Lovely Losers" featuring the hit track "Blessed Be." Check out his music! You will find his writing to be refreshingly clever and he really ROCKS on his acoustic guitar. Sometimes, you might think you're listening to Lyle Lovett or Tom Petty.

First, we did a family photo session just a couple of blocks away. Then we had a wonderful salmon dinner that Tom made. YUMMY! We enjoyed hearing hilarious stories of experiences on the road and staying with host families. Such an enjoyable time we had before they hit the road again now through December! Safe travels, Grays! Catch them in your town if you get the chance - you won't be sorry!

KIDS ART CAMP!

My Kids Art camp just started today, and we had a blast! I have quite a range in age and wanted to see where each student was in their skill level - a wide range. Tomorrow, we will be painting on canvas - self portraits! What I love about teaching children is their inhibition to dive in and try things and the honesty in their work. Learning to paint is so much about knowing color, learning to mix and produce new colors, and putting it on canvas. These kids dove in with both feet! I'm so proud of them!
Day 1

Christopher's Self Portrait

Anna's Self Portrait

Mimi's Self Portrait

Emily's Self Portrait

Clare's Self Portrait

Sam's Self Portrait

This image of Mimi shows her newly missing tooth! Yes, while I was knelt down instructing her with something in her painting, she held out her hand, and said, "Oh, I just lost my tooth!" She had pushed it out with her tongue - no blood or anything! I think it was ready to come out! Hope the tooth fairy was good to you, Mimi!

This was our last day (day 3), and everyone had finished their self portraits, and we moved on to animal themes. Everyone at least started, and I gave them each some tips to continue on their own.


Thanks, Christopher, Anna, Mimi, Emily, Clare and Sam for a great camp! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Cheers!
Claie

Today is our 12th year anniversary!!!

Tom and I got married 12 years ago today! It was a blazing hot day in Athens, AL (95, humid and sunny). The northerners who attended really suffered, but the day was lovely otherwise with our 4:00 ceremony and reception to follow. It was fun, but I remember not ever even making it into the room with the food at the reception. :( Our honeymoon was an awesome trip to Lugano, Switzerland, Munchengladbach (spelling wrong, I'm sure) Germany, and then on to Amsterdam. Very romantic! Carole took the picture below after our ceremony in the beautiful courtyard of our church. This sits on my nightstand... ;)

Driscoll Shoot

Last Thursday, the weather here in St. Paul was very unstable with sustained 30 mph winds all day with a forecast of possible tornadoes later in the afternoon/evening. So, we shot earlier rather than later. It was very sunny at 10:30, and other than the wind, the day turned out to be fine. Anyway, enough weather talk - it was a joy shooting these 3 out and about in St. Paul. We shot in front of so many great textures and colors just within a 3 block area of my studio. St. Paul is so rich in wonderful architecture and lush landscapes. Thanks, Driscolls!

Just Some Recent Work!

I've been so blessed with so many great client photo sessions lately. I just wanted to share some of my favorite images of late.

3 Handsome brothers...


from a senior shoot...



Precious 2 yr.-old at her home!


Fun little one who was sipping water off the day lilies after the rain. So funny!


Mom and her new son! Gorgeous!

2nd SHOOTING WITH JOHNNY THE GREAT!

I was fortunate to get the opportunity to shoot with my fellow OSPer Johnny Magnoski for Chelsey and Prince's wedding last Saturday! It was a great day, beautiful couple and ceremony. This image below sort of sums up the experience with Johnny... THANKS, JOHNNY!



The following images are from the day!
Getting ready!








Prince, the handsome groom!




Beautiful bride Chelsey before walking down the aisle...






... a sweet little pep talk for the flower girl...




...trepidation...


Proud father of the bride...




Congratulations, Chelsey and Prince!!!

Framing Services Soon Available!

Claire Kayser Photography is announcing a new service allowing clients to order prints and have them beautifully matted and framed upon receipt of their order! Choose from over 100 different mouldings of high quality and classic character. 8 ply matting (producing a deeper bevel) is available, too. I'm excited about this new partnership with my new framer, and you will love your fine art prints ready to be hung as soon as you get them!

Just got home from Chicago where Pictage hosted Partner Con! I'm so happy to be a part of the Pictage family with so many of the best of the best in photography. Pictage is on the cutting edge of providing photographers and their clients with the best prints, books, proofing products, greeting cards, and more. They are an essential part of our workflow to bring to all of our wonderful clients the top quality products and services in the industry.




On Tuesday night, a group of us went to see the Blue Man Group It was an amazingingly artistic, musical (percussion), strange, fun, exciting show all rolled into one. I loved it! Lots of audience interaction with those blue, intensely eyed, expressionless men. Very amusing! This image is Carole with one of the blue men after the show.



Another great thing about the Pictage PartnerCon is listening to some of the best of the best in the photography today. David Jay is a great wedding photographer working nationally and worldwide. He is the most famous "Love Cat" as he shares so much about himself and how he works and mentors all of us. He is responsible for starting the great forum Open Source Photo that allows for photographers to network and share information. Thanks, DJ!!!