Penelope {Newborn Photography, Garden City KS}

Penelope came to the studio at 5 days old and she was a dream! She slept beautifully and gave us so many sweet smiles. Isn't she adorable?

Preston and Cherie {Married at El Rancho Exotica}

It rained the morning of Preston and Cherie's outdoor wedding, it woke me up around 6am and I thought, "Oh no!" But thankfully, it stopped just long enough before their wedding that it was still possible to set everything up!

I'd been looking forward to their wedding since their engagement session, it is so easy to see their love for each other and how excited they are to be married to each other. Plus, Husker their dog was attending as a ring bearer!

The ceremony took place right by the monkeys which made for a pretty entertaining ceremony, and the birds were singing like crazy.

Congrats Preston and Cherie!

Harper {Newborn, Garden City KS}

Harper's Mom contacted me to do her session and magically I had an immediate opening I could fit her in for, which is one of the biggest perks of having a studio space! Ms Harper gave us a lot of excitement, peeing on Daddy (!!) and more, which is of course what we expect at a newborn session but her Daddy's face was priceless!

One of my favorite parts of a newborn session is when you come back to view and order your images, especially with first time parents. Because it's wonderful to see how much more comfortable you are with your new baby and how great you're doing learning about your sweet new baby in such a short time.

Aren't Shalana, Jacob and Harper a beautiful family?! Congrats guys, she's adorable!

Bonnie and Levi {Married in Leoti KS}

I met Bonnie not long before her April wedding and was excited to work with her and her fiancé. When I arrived at their wedding location I was super excited to see her wearing a beautiful floral crown! I've been dying for a bride to wear flowers like that! Add in sparkly bridesmaids dresses and I was in wedding heaven! I loved getting to meet Bonnie's family and her hilarious sisters.

The weather was very cloudy and started to rain not long after the ceremony, followed by tornados near the reception location. But the rain cleared and we were able to get some beautiful shots of the wedding party and of course the bride and groom!

Bonnie and Levi were a wonderful couple and it was easy to see the love radiating off of them. There's nothing better than that!

Kayden {Deerfield Senior 2015}

Graduation is in just a couple weeks and this year I know enough wonderful Seniors that I'm a little sad. Of course I'm also so excited for them all to start a new chapter of their lives but they're leaving and that's hard. I know for their parents it's much harder! I've been so lucky to get to know Kayden over the last few years. Not only is she my neighbor but her family also goes to church with us and she has babysat for my kids quite a few times.

Congrats Kayden! I know these next years have big things in store for you!

Shae {Holcomb 2016 Senior Model}

I go to church with Shae, and knew I wanted to work with her for her Senior year last year so I was super excited when she agreed!

We got to try out a bunch of new locations which I love! It gets boring to shoot at the same places all the time yo.

We had a little adventure at her session, chasing Rapunzel, her chicken around the yard, lol! Thankfully I used to have chickens so I'm an experienced chicken wrangler so she was caught pretty quickly. They're faster than you think!

The weather started to get a bit chilly so we opted to do a few images at the studio and I'm so glad we did! I don't often photograph Seniors in the studio but it's so fun to try new things. I love Shae's prom dress too which I think really made the difference!

Giovanna and Alexus {Leoti Senior Models 2016}

Giovanna and Alexus decided to do their first session together so it made sense to show them all together! I drove out to Leoti to hang out with them and Giovanna's Mom had found some fun locations for us to go to.

The first stop was at the high school so we could photograph Giovanna with the piano. I'm so glad that I've learned how to use lights or off camera flash because it was very dark in the auditorium and there's on way I would have been able to get any images otherwise.

After that we went to an abandoned house, then a beautiful open field. It was super fun hanging out with the girls!

Tristin {Garden City, KS Senior 2015}

I had so much fun hanging out with Tristin for his Senior session. I love getting to do new things and new challenges and Tristin was my very first session involving golf and my second session with a car. There was lots of walking, both to the golf course and around the course, and lets not lie, I totally needed the exercise so I call that a win/win!

We shot the car images on a road that doesn't see a lot of traffic, which is good because even not busy there were a few times we had to move. The last couple of images with the beautiful sky we had to walk through some sand that sunk with every step, it was a little scary. I was hoping there wasn't an animal home under the sand that would pop up and be upset with us but thankfully we didn't see anything.

Sessions always have a little bit of an adventure around here!

Elizabeth { 2016 Deerfield, KS Senior Model}

When I read Elizabeth's Senior model application I knew that I had to work with her. When I got to meet her, I liked her right away! She's a fun outgoing girl and I had so much fun at her session! We got to try some new things which I love and they totally worked out!

Also, can we just talk about how gorgeous Elizabeth is? Check her out!

Elizabeth will be happy to tell you about her experience at her Session with me and will also have a discount available!

To schedule your Senior session email me at info@aprilharmonphotography.com or call 316-680-0665

Lincoln {2016 Holcomb Senior Model}

Lincoln is one of my fantastic Senior models for 2016! I'm super excited to work with him through his Senior year. I've known Lincoln for almost 4 years and am so glad to have gotten to know him, he's a great person and I know his parents are proud of the person he's becoming.

As one of my Senior models Lincoln will be happy to share his experience working with me to help you decide where you want to go for your Senior session and he'll also have a discount code! So hit him up if you know him!

Carley and Adam {Firefighter Engagement session}

Adam is a firefighter and so he and Carley thought it would be fun to do some of their pictures at one of the fire stations in Garden. I had a lot of fun hanging out with them and can't wait for their wedding! They are the sweetest couple and so cute together!

Brynn {Birthday Session}

Brynn got to do a glitter session to celebrate her 5th birthday. She had so much fun and I loved getting to capture so many different sides of her personality.

Of course the downside of glitter sessions is that my studio is still glittery, lol! My tiny vacuum can't cut it so I'll have to take mine from home to get the rest of it up. But it was worth it.

Mollie {Senior 2015, Lakin KS}

I loved working with Mollie over the course of her Senior year as one of my awesome Senior Models. She's a wonderful girl, and I know her Mom is proud of the woman she's becoming.

We got to do lots of different things for Mollie's Senior year, including swimming in the local pool where Mollie is a life guard, getting to catch the flowers that only seem to bloom for just a couple weeks in the summer, visit her Grandma's house, stop in a couple more fields, check out an abandoned property and visit my studio for some awesome sports shots. Mollie wanted to do 4 seasons for her Senior pictures and we caught most of them, even though it was crazy windy for most of her sessions!

I'm excited to see where you go in life Mollie, I think you'll go far!

Free Engagement Session giveaway!

With Valentine's Day just passed so many lovely couples have gotten engaged in the last few months. I'm so excited for you! To help you celebrate I'm giving away a free engagement session ($100 value) and a reveal session at my studio where you get to see all your gorgeous engagement pictures and can purchase custom wall art, albums, save the dates ect.

Engagement sessions are so fun! It's just you and your sweetie spending time together, reminding each other how much you love each other, and best of all, those moments are captured forever.

Terms and conditions: Free engagement session includes photographers time and talent, no images are included in the session. There are is no minimum order or purchase requirement. Session will take place within 25 miles of Garden City or Deerfield. To qualify, entrants must be 18 years old.

What is Boudoir exactly?

I love shooting boudoir! I believe that boudoir truly is the celebration of a woman, of you! Boudoir is to show off your strong spirit, your playful energy, your sassiness, the sexy part of you that might have gotten a little buried. Maybe it's to show off hard work, or celebration of a new you.

So many women aren't sure what to wear and while you certainly can shop for something new for your session, you don't have to! I'm willing to bet you have exactly what you need in your closet already. A sweater, fish nets, a corset, matching bra and underwear set, a favorite nighty, a white tank, a fitted t-shirt, whatever makes you feel good is perfect. The options are really limitless! The best advice I can give you is to wear items that are not too tight, and look for items that flatter your figure.

You can be as daring or as modest as you like! Sessions can be in studio, as all the above images were, in a hotel (there is a fee to rent a hotel room) or outdoors if you have a location you'd like to use! Check out Heather's session to see her beautiful outdoor session.

While boudoir is for women, there might be a man in your life that would love the results of your gorgeous images! Boudoir albums, or even metal or canvas wall art for your home are great gifts for Valentine's Day, anniversaries, wedding gifts or even Christmas gifts! Of course we both know they're really for you!

Images are never, ever shared without your permission.

Senior Models - Wanted

I'm so excited to announce my 2016 Senior Model search! I'm accepting model applications from the local High Schools of Garden City, Holcomb, Deerfield, Lakin, Syracuse, Scott City, Leoti, Ulysses and Dodge City. Only 10 models total will be accepted.

Senior models get amazing perks, on top of fabulous pictures! You'll get an exclusive gift bag, 2 Senior sessions, a custom phone app of your favorite 5 images, a session of your choosing ( a BFF session, pre-prom session with all your closest friends, a sweetheart session, or just about anything else you can think of ) and to make Mom and Dad happy you'll have the chance to earn $50 credit for every friend you get to book their session with me! Plus your friend will also get a $50 credit, which makes their parents happy too. Plus, you'll also have the chance to model for fine art images, which is exclusive to my Senior Models. Check out the blog post Resolve to see some fine art images.

To be considered as a Senior Model you must be a current High School Junior in good standing, active in your school and/or community, love getting your picture taken and want to be a part of April Harmon Photography's Senior Model Team! You do have to have your parent permission to participate and April Harmon Photography will be your exclusive photographer.

Follow this link to apply! S enior Model Application

All the Senior models have been chosen for 2016, thank you so much everyone!

Resolve

Sometimes you get stuck in a rut. When you first start photography, usually you don't know the rules and you just create but it's frustrating because you can't make your vision a reality. So you keep pushing yourself to get better and better. You learn the rules. And then after a little bit, you find yourself forgetting how to create because you're stuck in those rules, and losing the magic that makes an image something you love. I've been working on learning both new technical techniques but also embracing imperfections, embracing darkness in an image, and finding my own voice in my work.

In an effort to push myself this year into creating new works of art and learning new things I've joined with a group of photographers all over the country and even a few out of the US to create at least one image a month, and every month has a theme. This month is Resolve.

Don't let fear stop you

Resolve to not only reach for the stars

but to capture them

While I wasn't quite able to capture exactly what I'd envisioned it's way closer than I would have been able to do even 6 months ago.

What do you do when you're stuck in a rut? How do you resolve to change?

Boudoir Marathon {Garden City, KS}

I'm super excited to announce a boudoir marathon for the lovely ladies of western Kansas! The marathon will be held at my studio and albums will arrive in time to be given as Valentines Day gifts! There's tons of options for apparel from a sweater, tank top and underwear, cardigans, bra and underwear set, lingerie, men's shirts, literally the list goes on forever! I do have a Pinterest board with inspiration if you'd like to see it!

Please email me at info@aprilharmonphotography.com to reserve your spot.

Taryn {Expecting: Maternity Photography}

Taryn's sister gifted her both a maternity and a newborn session, which is one of the best gifts you can give an expecting mom! You'll never outgrow them :)

It started snowing the day of her session and I was praying it would keep on snowing for part of the session at least and thankfully, it did! So we went around the corner from the studio and did a few shots, I didn't want to freeze them! It was perfect snowfall, big beautiful snow flakes and falling softly and heavily.

After that we came inside to do the rest of their images, and finished by doing my favorite kind of maternity session, with beautiful fabric showing off Mom's beautiful self.

Shalie and Erik {Ulysses, KS Wedding}

Shalie and Erik had a beautiful December wedding.

I loved all the little details at the reception, they had a hot chocolate bar and s'mores!

Neither one of them had seen their wedding rings until the vows, which was very sweet. Erik's ring is one of the most unique men's rings I've even seen, incorporating deer antler, turquoise and wood.

Thank you for letting me capture your day!

Cake by Lovings Cakes, a recommended vendor