Two weeks ago, April and I had the pleasure of doing a portrait for Jeff and Karen Beaudoin along with their dogs in their home in Calabasas. As you can see, the dogs were very well behaved, and Jeff and Karen didn't do too bad themselves! They spruced up in some of their formal wear that they'll be wearing on an upcoming month long cruise to China.

After the camera study was complete, Karen asked if we wanted a little snack, and then offered us a bit of her gourmet talent from the night before. "Meatloaf!", she said..."from Mario Batali." Let me tell you, I'm a real meatloaf fan, and this was nothing like I've ever had in my life! Jeff, you're a lucky man!

April did a painting sketch for them to see how one of our Masterpiece Portraits might look in their home. Her painting work really transforms a beautiful portrait into a work that is very close to the feeling of an original oil. April's art talents are such a compliment to my portrait work, and I consider myself to be a very blessed man as well. (She's pretty darn good in the kitchen too, I might mention. Personally, I think April and Karen should have a "cook-off" after the Beaudoin's get back from the cruise. Jeff and I will have to be the wine pairing experts!)

Wow! It's hard to believe that I'm going to be a grandpa in the next 2-3 weeks! Certainly I can't be that old. Then again, we all know, old is just a state of mind.



Kelly and Andrew wanted to do a pregnancy portrait, and we both agreed that we didn't want to do a typical image. So we went out to an area on Balboa Island and did these portraits that I think really capture who they are...fun people who are some of my closest friends.




Most of these portraits were done with a very long, 400mm lens that I just love, because the lens compresses the feeling of the background, and really makes my subjects stand out. This last image was done with a little lens called a "LensBaby", which produces an image with a very selective focus point. It's great for giving a feeling of motion and blur.



You can be sure there will be more on Kelly, Andrew and their baby girl in the weeks to come. I can't yet reveal my granddaughter's name...even though I guessed it several months ago. You'll just have to be patient.

After spending a few days in Nashville, April and I headed over to the Blue Ridge Mountains in Georgia to spend some time with friends who are wonderful portrait artists themselves. Last year, we decided to have a little "marketing think tank", so we each reported on a business or marketing book. One of the books was called "Waiting For Your Cat to Bark?", hence our adopted name of the "Barkin' Cats".



I'd like for you to visit our friend's websites, so I'll link you to them. On the far left of the portrait here is Tim Kelly www.timkellyportraits.com and his wife Mitzi. In the back next to April is William Branson III www.williambranson.com and his wife Dianne. Next to me is Michael Thompson www.micaelrenee.com , and in the front right is Greg Daniel www.gregorydanielportraits.com with his wife Lesa. Thanks to Greg for the
portrait of us all, and the cabin he had built for our background!

Loved the time...loved the cabin...love friends who spur us on to bigger and better things. Thanks, Cats!

In my last post I talked about going to Nashville to do a portrait of the sons of our past clients, Patrick and Natalie Owings. The Owings live in a traditional Nashville home - complete with a flag, columns and a rocking chair on the front porch. I would have loved to have created the boy's portrait on the porch, but it was about 16 degrees when I did this image!



The boys were fascinated by a stereoscope that was in the living room, and loved sharing the stereo images with each other.



Both Michael and Alex are very bright boys, and they totally engaged in lengthy conversations with both April and me. We heard many stories of a blanket named "Sting Ray" from Alex (Alex is the younger boy on the right). Sting Ray is probably behind him on the chair...or else on top of my head at this point!



It's always fun for April and me to get to know new clients, and find out what makes them tick...especially when they're 6 and 3 years old.

Photographing Michael and Alexander in the comfort of their home allowed us to come into their environment, and allow them to be the local experts...totally un-threathening for them. I think their comfort with us comes across so well in the portraits.

In an email, Natalie said: "I am excited to get the pictures of the boys. Even by the time we get them, the boys will have changed tremendously. Mark, you once again performed phenomenally. The boys looked AMAZING in those shots! THANK YOU!"

April and I will be headed back to Nashville every so often to do portraits in that area. If you would like to make arrangements to have a portrait done, give us a call at 805.367.8123.