Beckie Riggs Photography

My New Blogsite is Up!

From now on, any future posts can be seen at www.beckieriggsphotography.com. It's new and it's cool, but I'm not quite sure how it all works yet... :-)

Girly girls...

I am not one to leave empty picture frames around my house, but it's been a busy few months. I painted the girls' room on December 23 (when I was supposed to be getting ready to host Christmas Eve) a lovely shade called "Sexy Pink". It's the pinkest, Barbie-est, most obnoxious bright pink you can image... it's awesome. And I bought a black 20x24 frame that holds four 8x10 images... and it's been driving me CRAZY that it has sat empty (on the wall) for over two months now. Ugh. So today I finally got around to getting some shots to stick in there, mainly because I noticed they happened to be wearing hot pink and black and things NEVER seem to go well when you try to plan and stage things, so I figured the spontaneity gods would be on my side. And I love them, so I will concede that it was worth the wait... almost. :-)

So here's what it's kinda gonna look like...

And one more of Sweet Caroline... 1.8 - I love my camera!

 

 

Merry Christmas!

I love it when clients give Gift Certificates as gifts... but I love it even MORE when they actually book the session and we get to do it! This was a gift from our dear Cheer Coach Jacquie to her parents this past Christmas. I'm not sure they quite knew what they were getting themselves into, but we had a blast! Between Jacquie's brother risking life and limb to hold my reflectors in JUST the right spot, to Grandma Toots scaling rocks and boulders, I can honestly say we spent half the time cracking up. This family is too much fun! I loved watching the interaction between them all... so sweet! It's the kind of family you wouldn't mind being adopted by. :-) And Captain Jack (the dog) tagged along too, for what will most likely be his last family shoot since he was diagnosed with cancer not too long ago. :-( He was a trooper! So here are a few from our super-fun afternoon with one super-cool family. Thanks, guys! I love you (and thank you for dinner!)

And even when they're 50, little brothers are still a pain...!

 

Clyde

Clyde needs no clever title... his adorableness speaks for itself! Backstory, tho: Last year, my dear friend, Barbara, lost her family's beloved dog of 14 years, Andy. I had the honor and privilege of getting a few shots of him before they said their tearful good bye's... gulp.

But once the shock and sadness had faded a bit, they began to look forward to welcoming a new member to the family... not that anyone (or dog) can be replaced, but once you've known the love that a dog can bring, you can't help but open your heart to experience that joy again. Enter: Clyde... He's awesome!

And after all of his hard work, he took a well-deserved rest in his puppy stroller...

Thank you, Clyde, for bringing a smiles to one of my favorite family's faces!

HeadShot-A-Palooza

Thirteen kids, tons of personality, gorgeous San Diego weather... what an event it was! And I just came back from WPPI in Vegas (still haven't unpacked yet 4 days later, but that's irrelevant) and just about every speaker I heard touched on the idea of "collaboration"... which, I am learning, goes a long way in the Photography Industry. Yes, there are those competitive types out there, but I've noticed that most of us are more than happy to, if not excited to join forces with other photographers and those associated with this business. So when Shauna Markey of The BizKidz asked me about doing a whole day of Head Shots for her San Diego kids, I was MORE than honored! They were the greatest group of kids, with not only good looks, but amazing focus and professionalism! And I learned a ton from Shauna, who coaches and motivates these kids who are all either working actors or  just getting started in "The Biz". Thank you, Shauna & the "Kidz" for giving me this privilege. It was great to meet you all! :-)

This is why I love this job... and this is why it's killing me!

Meet the gorgeous Jennifer... but I have a bone to pick with her. She's sooo stinkin' gorgeous that I have WAY too many good ones to sort through. As in, I have over 1,000 shots of her and there are maybe 6 that need to be dumped. This does not bode well for my post processing workflow. But this also where I sit alone at my computer, fist pumping and high-fiving myself that I get to do what I do. :-) Jennifer is a working actor, for whom I was privileged enough to shoot her latest head shots. And boy did she BRING it! One second she can look like a teenager and the next second, she looks like a corporate attorney. But she's one of those humble and modest women who truly has as much inner beauty as she has external beauty. Her smile is magic! It was a joy and an honor to work with her. Thank you, Jennifer!

In the business of "Business"

Last year, I had the privilege of shooting business head shots for a law firm, which turned out to be way more fun than I thought it would be. :-) I was a little intimidated about spending the afternoon with a bunch of attorneys, but they were all very nice and fun to work with. The firm just hired a new attorney, Chris, so they called me to come down to shoot him for their firm's new bio they are putting together. I'm learning I really enjoy this little niche, so we'll see where that takes me. But in the meantime, here are a few of their newest addition, Chris.

And as a Thank You last year, I made them a 16 x 20 composite for their lobby... Congrats, Chris, on passing the Bar, 'cus now I get to add your distinguished shot!

The many faces of Shauna

This is Derrick's Crazy Cousin Shauna. She's famous so I can now call myself "Beckie Riggs, Celebrity Photographer". Check her out at www.shaunamarkey.com - she's been in TONS of commercials, done voiceover work, choreographed, directed & played in The Wizard of Oz on many levels, including the national tour, and you can catch her on Desperate Housewives on January 2. And if that wasn't enough, she has her own company, The Biz Kidz, which provides classes and coaching to kids looking to get into the "industry". She's amazingly funny, knows the business and, at the end of the day, is just our  wonderful Cousin Shauna. I was honored and a little freaked out when she asked me to do her headshots a few weeks ago, but I think I'm good now. For the first round, her agents wanted a "lower income, beaten down by society, worked over" look. They were so unattractive, I couldn't bring myself to post them without the "pretty" ones to go with them. Her agents loved them, but I just couldn't do it. So now that we have the "pretty" ones, I can post them. I filed them under "Ghetto Shauna" that day...

But then she came back and we got to do some more attractive ones... like a Pretty Soccer Mom...

And a Cute Housewife Working in the Yard...

And maybe a District Attorney on Law & Order...

And a Scary Corporate Business Woman from Damages...

And my favorite, some crazy Texas Bake Sale Lady from Saturday Night Live...

Thank you, Shauna... that was too much fun! :-)

Cutie Patooties...

I love shooting kids. There's something about the way they interact with each other that is priceless. (Unless no one can decide on what to watch on TV... then it becomes not-so-priceless at my house.) But I love the challenge of getting a good Christmas Card Photo. A one-kid photo is usually easy, a two-kid is do-able and a three-kid is hit or miss. These two cuties, Matthew and Katie, were on it that day! They were adorable to watch together and really fun to work with. And best of all, I think we got a few "keepers"! :-) Thanks, guys... you were awesome!

Giving Thanks...

I can't believe it's been a year since last Thanksgiving... I feel like it was just last week that I was blogging about last year's Hardy Celebration. Wow. So, here we are again, with the same family, just a different house. Same traditions, same amazing set up that rivals Martha, same warm & fuzzy feelings that come with being with a family that so genuinely loves to be together, and the same gaggle of kids that my own kids LOVE to play with. It's truly one of my favorite holidays! And since this family is now complete as far as grandkids go, we took the opportunity (in between the basting of the turkey and the stirring of the gravy) to try and squeeze in a few family shots. And since it was Allison & Joe's 10 year anniversary that day, we got a few extra of them. So, thank you again, Meggin & Jeremy and the whole Hardy Family, for always making us feel welcome and part of the family!