Blog - KDI Photography

THE NEWLY EXPANDED NUGEN FAMILY – Family Portraits in Flagstaff, AZ

Monday, October 8, 2018

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. We were staring into the mirror, two faces side-by-side. Initially, 3 month old Atzly looked gently surprised but then broke in to his toothless smile. I smiled back at his sweet face in the reflection and when he saw me, he giggled out loud! I’d seen the trademark beaming smile during our session, but hearing his laugh was like music to my ears.

It was exactly the medicine I needed. Literally.

I had started the day with a migraine but I didn’t want to reschedule our meeting. Corinne arrived a minute or two early with adorable baby Atzly, immediately offering to let me hold him. Normally, I’m careful about holding new babies until their immune systems develop a little. It’s painful because I LOVE babies and I would always prefer to greedily grab them! But, Corinne was perfectly confident. I washed my hands and she handed him over.

It was a delight to visit with this awesome family again. We’d gotten to know each other when they came for pregnancy and newborn portraits with their first son, Zeb. Seeing them again, meeting Atzly, and witnessing how Zeb has grown was a total treat.

Kristen Dacey Iwai of KDI Photography is a full-time professional portrait photographer based in Flagstaff, Arizona with more than 2 decades of experience. Making portraits of families, pregnancy, newborns, babies, children, high school seniors and for businesses in her downtown studio and on location, she serves clients from Flagstaff, Sedona, Tuba City, Winslow, Payson, Page, Williams, Prescott, Mesa, Scottsdale, Phoenix, Arizona

Flagstaff Family Portrait Photographer • Flagstaff Maternity Pregnancy Photographer • Flagstaff Newborn Photographer • Flagstaff Child Photographer • Flagstaff Senior Portrait Photographer • Flagstaff Couples Photography

KDI Photography, Established 1996 – Very Humble Beginnings

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

There was a recent commercial that proclaimed, “You never know what kind of greatness can come out of an American garage.” Amazon, Apple, Disney, Google, Microsoft, Dell and Hewlett-Packard (and many others), all started out as garage based businesses.

Now, we may not be world-famous or have the phenomenal net worth, but we like to think that starting KDI Photography in our garage was still a GREAT idea!

Back then, to make well-lit studio portraits, we needed to convert a tiny space in our minuscule home into a micro studio or borrow a studio space from another photographer.

When we started converting the garage into a studio, it was liberating. The larger space and exquisite light were serious upgrades. I called the magical way it rendered faces on black and white film “garage light”.

I remember a fellow photographer admiring the light in one of my portraits and asking where one could buy a “Garage Light”. I had to explain that it was just the flattering light created from ambient daylight pouring into an actual garage!

We shot Polaroids to test the light and made portraits with medium format film cameras, crossing our fingers that the light wouldn’t fluctuate and the weather would stay warm and dry enough.

We thankfully outgrew the rustic setting of the garage fairly fast, (although I miss that light to this day!) building a studio off the back of our house. As a mom and pop home-based business, we were able to work while raising two young children, all in the same building. An absolute gift.

Within seven years of building our home based studio, we outgrew that space as well, moving into our larger, but still cozy current studio on North Humphreys Street in downtown Flagstaff. After 22 wonderful years in Flagstaff, we’re deeply grateful to have clients who have been with us ever since those humble beginnings in the garage. We treasure those remarkable relationships.

–Keiji Iwai and Kristen Dacey Iwai

All portraits were made in the garage – our early studio space.

Kristen Dacey Iwai of KDI Photography is a full-time professional portrait photographer based in Flagstaff, Arizona with decades of experience. Making portraits of families, pregnancy, newborns, babies, children, and high school seniors in her downtown studio and on location, she serves clients from Flagstaff, Sedona, Tuba City, Winslow, Payson, Page, Williams, Prescott, Mesa, Scottsdale, Phoenix, Arizona

The Cosners 2018 – family portraits in our Flagstaff, AZ Studio

Monday, September 24, 2018

The countdown had started. Ketivani was leaving town, headed back to Georgia (the country, not the US state) in a matter of weeks. With that deadline was looming, we scheduled a session fast, to make sure to include her. “Keti” is the Cosner’s most recent exchange student and had become a wonderful part of the family during her time here in Flagstaff. In addition to that, both of their daughters have grown up a lot since our last session and it was time to update their portraits to reflect that. Even Shannon had changed her hair and both she and Tom needed new head shots for work. To know Shannon is to benefit from her awesome, contagious laugh. Whenever we’re all together, that’s what we do – A LOT. It makes my time with the Cosners fly by every time.Ever since I last saw them, I’ve had a treasured little piece of hand drawn art decorating my desk. It was given to me by the youngest of the family and keeps keeps me company every day, making me smile.

SIX MONTHS TIMES TWO – Portrait Photographer Flagstaff

Monday, September 17, 2018

When they arrive at my door, there are only four of them but somehow, it feels like many more. I suspect it’s because these guys bring the love from their extended family wrapped around them, every time. I always invite my subjects to bring meaningful objects from their lives to our sessions together and Alaina and Drew bring the most amazing things. Items that were made with love, from family members who adore these little girls and their parents, richly infusing family history into every photograph we make. This time, among other things, we had several beautiful hand crafted blankets, Drew’s own baby blanket from his childhood, and a stool that Alaina’s grandfather had made for her when she was a little girl. As we documented the twins at this 6 month milestone, they were ever cheerful. They’re growing in leaps and bounds, acquiring new skills daily. Their sunny depositions and alert curiosity must be fueled by all that love.

What you need to know about high school yearbook deadlines in Flagstaff AZ – Senior Portraits

Monday, September 10, 2018

NOTE: This article has been updated with the new 2019 deadlines.

It’s an important, often emotional, moment for any family. It’s both an end of a chapter and the start of a new one. The first time you have a child that reaches his or her senior year of high school, there’s a lot to contend with. Your family configuration is about to change in a huge way. And while you’re contemplating that, deadlines come at you fast, especially if there are college plans. One of the deadlines that I find first time parents of seniors get a bit blindsided by is the senior yearbook portrait deadline. While you can sometimes elect to just use a school picture in the yearbook, many families prefer to have professional senior portraits made to document this important, watershed moment in their kids’ lives – The moment when they’re transitioning from adolescence and family life to independence and a lot more adulting! I absolutely adore getting to know and spend time with these soon-to-be-grown-ups. We get to celebrate who they are right at the moment and hopefully, help them (and us parents – sniff) remember this time. From those studio or location senior portraits sessions, we make wall art, coffee table books, gift prints for family and friends, graduation announcements, social media posts, and of course, submit one to the yearbook.

Seniors seem to get excited about having beautiful (and photoshopped!) portraits of themselves to share with friends, seeing themselves in a new positive way. Parents often tell me that these portraits are especially meaningful to have at home when their son or daughter moves away.

What you need to know – high school senior portrait yearbook deadlines for Flagstaff schools, fall 2019:

(for seniors graduating in 2020)

12/3/19 BASIS Flagstaff

11/15/19 Coconino High School

11/22/19 Flagstaff High School

11/1/19 Northland Preparatory Academy (NPA)

12/21?? Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy (FALA) They are working on setting this deadline now, but it was 12/21 for 2018.

Those deadlines come up quickly! We schedule portraits for seniors as early in the season as possible, to have time to get everything ready after the session. Feel free to contact us at studio@kdiphotography.com with any questions or to get on our calendar.

You can check out some examples of KDI Photography senior portraits here.

Want to know more about working with us?

Click here to get started.

The GERMANSEN FAMILY PLUS The MATERNAL GRANDS – Three Generations in Northern AZ

Thursday, September 6, 2018

Whenever I see the Germansens, they always fill up my tank. Yes, obviously, Hadley is about as delicious as any child should be allowed to be. But his parents are both pretty delightful people, too. They make art, play music and have fantastic senses of humor. So, when Robin told me she’d like to gift her mother and her father with portraits, I immediately loved the idea. I mean, getting to see more of this wonderful family sounds good, right? It was. It was especially touching to me to see Hadley’s distinct, sweet relationships with each of his two grandparents. The way he tenderly snuggles with his Gram. The way he makes hilarious faces with Grandpa Bob. This lucky little boy is growing up surrounded by special people with so much love.

THE PHILLIPS FAMILY WELCOMES A NEW BABY SISTER

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

I’m not gonna lie. It wasn’t that easy to wait. I’m not super patient when it comes to crazy amounts of adorableness! I eagerly awaited meeting Chris and Amy’s second daughter, but I ALSO had to wait a bit longer to make portrait of her! Her big sister had made her photographic debut with me at 8 weeks (see her newborn portraits here ) and we wanted to document her little sister during that same time window. (An idea I LOVE, by the way, except for the patience required.) Since they live quite close to us, I’d see them strolling around our neighborhood, with sweet little Piper but, no newborn portraits for a bit.

Of course, it was worth the suspense. In fact, on the day of our session, it was a blast. Newborn Piper needed to eat a lot to fuel her growth, so that left me with the chance to play a bunch of hide and seek with her big sis Porter. We giggled hard, hiding in my studio curtains, under chairs, and behind backgrounds. She showed me the amazing book she was coloring – a rainbow book about seeds into blooming flowers. It reminded me of a session we did in the Flagstaff sunflowers when she was one, Porter pausing to lean over and smell each one (click here to see her 12 month portraits in the beautiful Flagstaff outdoors). In between rounds of hide and seek, she was so gentle and kind to her newborn sister, holding her with care. It was just riveting to see how much the sisters were alike and yet, also quite different at this significant moment. Now, I have to work on my patience again, and wait for our upcoming 12 month session!! Stay tuned. 🙂

12 MONTH MILESTONE – FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER IN FLAGSTAFF

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

For this little sweetie pie, I started photographing her when her mama was pregnant, then again at birth, at 7 months and here at 12 months. I absolutely love to document that first amazing year, charting the rapid, phenomenal changes. It’s so meaningful and enjoyable, that when it comes to a close, I’ll admit, I’m always a little sad. It’s the conclusion of a beautiful chapter. I have so enjoyed seeing her easy, sweet smile, documenting the love her siblings shower on her and witnessing all the milestones she’s reached. Here are her previous sessions so you can see her consistent love of pearls and how she’s grown: Newborn and 7 Months Old

Flagstaff Family Portrait Photographer • Flagstaff Maternity Pregnancy Photographer • Flagstaff Newborn Photographer • Flagstaff Arizona Child Photographer • Flagstaff Senior Portrait Photographer • Couples Photography in Northern Arizona

SABINE, BASIS Flagstaff, Class of 2018 – Senior Portraits in Flagstaff, AZ

Friday, May 4, 2018

Sitting outside the door of my shooting studio, Sabine’s mom Gina was probably wondering why she was hearing so much loud laughing overlapping with the sound of things falling and crashing to the floor. Gina exhibited a tremendous amount of trust and didn’t actually ask any questions. (I think she’s come to expect these kinds of shenanigans at my studio.)

Sabine has a passion for some very cool hobbies, so of course some of them made their way into my studio that day for her senior portrait session. Sabine was game to try all the weird ideas I had and it was a blast trying them! My hope is that we made a memory that represented the essence of Sabine at this moment in time.

During the session we listened to Fall Out Boy – or at least we tried. The Pandora station I made called “Fall Out Boy” didn’t seem to think playing actual FOB music was a requirement. Sabine knew every song, though and cracked up at an algorithm that would spit out random non-genre related music. Sabine will attend the Honors College of Oregon State as a Marine Biology major in the fall and is a National Merit Scholar Finalist. So, I think it’s clear that music isn’t Sabine’s only area of intelligence!

Two New Babies In The Family – Newborn Twins Photography

Monday, April 9, 2018

The twin girls seemed eager to get here before their ideal arrival date, which made for a pretty exciting time leading up to their appearance. I was trying not to check in, because I didn’t want to annoy them but I was really hoping to hear good news soon. When the girls arrived, 33 minutes apart, they needed to visit the special care nursery for a while, and then got to go home with oxygen. This delayed our newborn portrait session a little bit but the girls seemed so perfectly healthy when I finally got to meet them in person. I was thrilled that they came to the studio with some deeply meaningful family treasures. The bassinet you see in these portraits has been used for several generations in their family, made with Drew’s mom’s wedding dress.

The blankets we used were made by beloved family members. This cornucopia or “horn of plenty” is what their mama came home from hospital in when she was born, since she was a Thanksgiving baby.

Alaina and Drew felt that the girls should be the stars of the session. I agreed but also gently tried to convince them to be willing to appear in some portraits themselves! I believe that later, their daughters will love to see these portraits of their parents holding them, with so much love in their faces. How nice that they acquiesced, allowing us to make a record of this important time in their family’s history.

Love Made Tangible

THE NEWLY EXPANDED NUGEN FAMILY – Family Portraits in Flagstaff, AZ

KDI Photography, Established 1996 – Very Humble Beginnings

The Cosners 2018 – family portraits in our Flagstaff, AZ Studio

SIX MONTHS TIMES TWO – Portrait Photographer Flagstaff

What you need to know about high school yearbook deadlines in Flagstaff AZ – Senior Portraits

What you need to know – high school senior portrait yearbook deadlines for Flagstaff schools, fall 2019:

Want to know more about working with us?

Click here to get started.

The GERMANSEN FAMILY PLUS The MATERNAL GRANDS – Three Generations in Northern AZ

THE PHILLIPS FAMILY WELCOMES A NEW BABY SISTER

12 MONTH MILESTONE – FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER IN FLAGSTAFF

SABINE, BASIS Flagstaff, Class of 2018 – Senior Portraits in Flagstaff, AZ

Two New Babies In The Family – Newborn Twins Photography

Keiji Iwai & Kristen Dacey Iwai

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KDI PHOTOGRAPHY

724 N. Humphreys St

Flagstaff, AZ 86001

Phone

(928) 779-4151

Hours:

M - F 9 - 5 by appointment