Blog - KDI Photography

College Bound Cookies – The yummy treats that are helping one girl get to college

Sunday, January 30, 2022

To be honest, I don’t generally like sugar cookies. But when I first tasted a College Bound Cookie, I was amazed. These were totally different because they’re absolutely delectable! When I found out that the baker was a teenager saving money for college, I was hooked! It turns out that she is kind and professional, too. We’ve been ordering them as gifts but it’s hard not to grab them for ourselves. 🙂

Portrait of young entrepreneur, College Bound Cookies

I’ve always been a kid who has wanted to save for college, even when I was little I had a piggy bank that I thought would pay for all of it. So, at thirteen, I started College Bound Cookies with only a stellar sugar cookie recipe and big hopes. I am definitely busy playing three sports, varsity basketball, soccer, and chess while having a business and hanging out with friends but I actually really enjoy it. The profits from College Bound Cookies go to my college savings. My dream is to go to Stanford and I am hoping to leave my business to a Freshman who wants it when I leave for college.
– Lotee / College Bound Cookies

Follow this inspiring young entrepreneur on Instagram and order some yumminess for your valentine. While you’re at it, get some for yourself, too! ❤️

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

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

First Communion Photos – Studio Portraits in Flagstaff

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

I make up random things during portrait sessions. It’s in the service of keeping my subjects distracted from posing with fake smiles, and also hopefully relaxes them. One ancillary benefit is that it’s often quite entertaining for me, too! On this mild March day, I looked at lovely Azul sitting in my studio window, dressed in her First Communion finery. A kind, bright girl, she a natural in front of my camera. Never-the-less, on a whim, I asked that she look out the window and pretend that she saw something nice in my studio yard.

Almost instantly, a huge grin broke out and then one of her signature giggles. I had to request that she share what she imagined. Her response was something I couldn’t have predicted; “A bunny jumping on an alligator.“ OK, that was a first! It was totally creative and weirdly specific. I needed to know more. It turns out, that the bunny’s name was Bob and the alligator’s name was Bobby, two best friends. Who knew?

From then on, we brought Bob and Bobby into the studio. “Would you please ask Bob to stop jumping on my head?” They kept us company for the rest of a completely delightful session, our laughter echoing out to the waiting room.

AVOIDING HOLIDAY PHOTO REGRETS – How to take pictures this holiday season

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Here’s my holiday wish. When you are gathering with the people you love over the holidays, please, please take pictures, especially of those older family members. When the menorah is put away, the tree is on the curb, the food eaten, presents opened, what you’ll be left with is (hopefully) warm memories. Years from now, those memories will be a lot less fuzzy if you have some pictures to remind you of them.

My Random Tips for Holiday Pictures:

Let’s be candid.
No need to annoy everyone by making them stop to look at the camera and yell “Cheese!” You’ll be transported back to the moment better later if the subjects were “in the moment” when you took the picture.

Yes, you too.
Make sure you are actually in some of the pictures. I recently noticed that of all the images of our family decorating the tree over the years, I wasn’t in one of them! It’s like I wasn’t there. It was time to hand over the camera for a change. I don’t want my kids and grandkids to be sitting together looking at these pictures later and wondering “Where was grandma?”

Perfect is the enemy of the good.
You don’t need perfect hair or even a clean house. Come as you are. If you wait for the perfect moment, you’ll likely miss the opportunity altogether.
This is the last portrait I made of my great aunt Louise. We were at a family gathering and I had just given her a print of herself as a young woman. I remember thinking “I wish I had asked her to move into a nicer chair.” Now that she’s gone, I have a clear memory of her happily sitting in that little lawn chair lakeside. It doesn’t matter that it’s not perfect. I’m just so grateful to have this.

Get ready!
What do you have to do right now to be ready? Charge your phone battery, and backup your phone, to clear off the old images, making room for new ones. Learn how to use that new “real” camera. If you do these things now, it’ll be easy to record those memories when the time comes.

I hope this is a helpful reminder. I wish you a peaceful and fun holiday season!

Rock Star Family – Summer in Flagstaff, Family Photos on Location

Monday, November 1, 2021

Sometimes we start off in one direction but pivot towards another, much better one. Lisa had called about a headshot for her real estate practice. But as we talked it became clear that her family was changing and there weren’t any recent portraits. Her son, Leo, was in his final year of high school and her daughter wasn’t that far behind him, so the clock was ticking on easily available family togetherness!

Rock Star Family Summer in Flagstaff, Family Photos on Location

I’m really glad we decided to include all four of them. It was super fun, cracking up with the kids, soaking up the sunshine amongst the flowers, and getting to hear them play music in the forest! I loved that they each brought one of their instruments to the session, although they could have brought many more. John Paul plays in multiple bands and Lilliana plays 10 different instruments!

Rock Star Family Summer in Flagstaff, Family Photos on Location, playing music outdoors

A renaissance woman like each of her other family members, Lisa brings her years of experience in Flagstaff and a diverse variety of skills – as a mom, musician, botanist, editor, coordinator of a health food co-op, mountain biker amongst others – to her work as a real estate agent. It’ll be fun to see how she mixes it all together.

Three Generations – Studio Family Photos in Flagstaff, AZ

Thursday, September 30, 2021

“You’d cry, too, if YOU had little knives pushing through your gums.” This was the thought running through my mind as I beheld little Lucy’s beautiful, yet miserable face. Of course, we all would. We all DID, more than likely. We were all babies once and teething just sucks. It turns out, Lucy had more than just teething going on, too. She was battling a cold along with the aforementioned pokes in her gums. Poor kid!

Twin Big Sisters Comfort their Crying Little Sister

Yet, in true Calhoun fashion, this family didn’t cancel the session, complain, or miss a beat. They strategized and soldiered on. Their ability to manage a lot of challenging, moving pieces at one time and somehow still be incredibly calm and kind is a defining family trait, in my opinion. Even though life with little kids is inherently chaotic sometimes, they make it fun.

Three Generations, Studio Portrait in Flagstaff AZ

They’d brought some of the beloved grandparents with them and created a plan to mitigate the sadness with strategic car arrivals and suggested sequences of who might hold her with most success. Somehow, it worked! Lucy gave her on brand, signature stare. Later, she even worked up to mustering adorable smiles, especially after I suggested a “Flying Sisters” game, which seemed to be fun for everyone. 🙂

I have known and appreciated Chelsey and Luke’s for a few years, so it was a pure joy to be with their beautiful family. The level of kindness that Lucy’s big sisters extended to their baby sister – not to mention their awesome dance-twirl moves – made it clear that this family is doing something right. I reveled in their sweet family culture, a place where compassion, humor, a sense of community and love reign supreme.

The Hobbs Cruikshanks – Fall Family Photos in Flagstaff

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Unlike most first time senior parents, Liz got the jump on scheduling senior portraits for her son for one primary reason. She knew that in a global pandemic that was hitting small businesses hard, and it would help our little family run studio if she booked earlier rather than later. That thoughtfulness is SO Liz, but I was moved that she’d even thought of it. They were overdue for family portraits as well, so we scheduled that too.

Now on a mild, gorgeous fall day, I stood there in the forest, amidst the golden glory of the changing aspens. Fiddling with my camera gear, I could hear them. The four of them were discussing how they should stand in anticipation of me coming over and making our next portrait. As a portrait photographer, I am privy to a variety of family dynamics, and to be truthful, they’re not all pretty! So, I was entertained to hear them deliberating about who should stand where. What order would be best? “He was on the left last time, so maybe…” And they seemed to each listen to each other’s input, trying on each idea in turn.

I considered letting them go on like this for a while, as it was pretty amusing, but ultimately interrupted to make the portrait in question. Ordinarily, I’d make changes, requesting a change or two, but these guys had done a stellar job without my direction, AND without any conflict! Completely consistent with the light-hearted family personality I’ve witnessed as I’ve photographed them for close to 2 decades.

Who You Are Right Now – Time For Senior Photos, Flagstaff, AZ

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

We adore our Flagstaff seniors and love telling their stories in portraits. A little public service announcement for you, rising seniors and parents: I know you’re just figuring out what the start of school will look like. But did you know that senior yearbook photos have historically been due as early as OCTOBER for some Flagstaff high schools? It comes up fast!! For that reason, we are booking and shooting senior portraits right now. We still have some availability for August and September. Get in touch to save your spot. 🙂

⬇️ 42 second video below. ⬇️

On the Verge of Big Changes – Maternity Portraits Flagstaff

Friday, July 9, 2021

When I met with them to plan pregnancy portraits, I was struck by A. how nice they are and B. their good taste. (Good taste is what you call it when someone likes the same stuff you do!) We seem to be drawn to the same aesthetic in portraits, which made it such a pleasure to collaborate with them to design their walls and for the portraits themselves.

black and white silhouette portrait of pregnancy woman, Flagstaff, AZ

They also happen to be great subjects and a joy to hang out with! I’m so excited for them to welcome their first child later this month and doubly excited that I get to make portraits with them during this special chapter in their family’s story.

black and white portrait of expecting couple snuggling, maternity photography, Flagstaff, AZ

Celebrating 50 Years – Studio Couples Portrait Flagstaff

Thursday, July 1, 2021

I’ve known this wonderful couple for about 16 years but this story goes back even further…

It could have ended before it even began. They were going on a date and Karen was looking forward to riding in Norm’s cool car, a Ford Galaxie 500. They were just teenagers after all. A cool car can be a big selling point!! Sadly, his nice wheels bit the dust right before their date and he pulled up in a Ford Falcon. She was less than impressed. I guess she got over it because they were married the next year – when she was 17 and he was one day past his 19th birthday! They recently celebrated 50 years of marriage so it’s safe to say it all worked out.

They had big plans to celebrate this remarkable milestone but had to delay the party plans due to the minor detail of a global pandemic. The party, like the cool car, will have to wait. But I’m so happy they celebrated with me, in my studio, laughing and telling stories.

Couple still dancing after 50 year of marriage

GUEST BLOG POST

Monday, May 31, 2021

YOU are Worth it!

by Mary Funari

Mother’s Day has come and gone. And now, American Greetings, Hallmark and countless other advertisers are reminding us that Father’s Day is right around the corner. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for celebrating parents, especially as we slowly emerge from the last fourteen months of home-schooling, forced togetherness, uncertainty, and, for so many, grief. My point is one day filled with extra love and appreciation is NOT ENOUGH to replenish the moms and dads who work tirelessly the other 364 days a year.

I’m a BIG advocate of self-care as a go-to-strategy when parents come to me feeling out of sorts and thinking there’s something wrong with their approach and/or their child’s behavior. Why? Slowing down and doing something that replenishes your energy is effective. When you are operating with a full tank, you can take a broader perspective, tap into your inner knowing, and formulate a plan. I invite you to test it out and see if you agree.

Parents also need to incorporate self-care into their daily lives to function at their best. This statement is usually met with resistance. I’m familiar with the common objections. But, I need to take care of my kids, household chores, work deadlines, family commitments, etc. Or, I don’t have time! Over the years, I’ve come to interpret these objections differently. I hear: My well being is not a priority, or even, I am not worth the time. Ouch! The fact is that no one else is going to take care of YOU, especially when it’s not Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.

It’s critical to rethink your priorities when it comes to your personal well-being. My book, Real-Time Parenting: Choose Your Action Steps for the Present Moment, provides examples of how to build micro-moments of self-care into your daily life. From positive self-talk to strategies for handling stressful situations, there are great resources inside the book. Order your copy at your local bookstore today.

It can also help to talk to other parents for inspiration and get some professional coaching if you are feeling stuck. I invite you to join me and my co-authors on our Facebook group for practical tips and support here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4044693118941078/.

I hope you can see that self-care is the opposite of selfish, and essential for parenting well. Make an investment in yourself this week by putting yourself on the calendar. Even a fifteen or thirty minute block doing something you enjoy can make a big difference in your mood and energy level. You are worth it!

Love Made Tangible

College Bound Cookies – The yummy treats that are helping one girl get to college

First Communion Photos – Studio Portraits in Flagstaff

AVOIDING HOLIDAY PHOTO REGRETS – How to take pictures this holiday season

Rock Star Family – Summer in Flagstaff, Family Photos on Location

Three Generations – Studio Family Photos in Flagstaff, AZ

The Hobbs Cruikshanks – Fall Family Photos in Flagstaff

Who You Are Right Now – Time For Senior Photos, Flagstaff, AZ

On the Verge of Big Changes – Maternity Portraits Flagstaff

Celebrating 50 Years – Studio Couples Portrait Flagstaff

GUEST BLOG POST

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