06/20 2006, Tuesday
Congrats Marti & Brady !!!
I had the pleasure of shooting Marti & Brady's wedding this past weekend at Lake Quivira. I must say that it was a beautiful, well organized wedding!
06/04 2006, Sunday
Oprah Winfrey's surprise visit!
While shooting a wedding in Tulsa yesterday, Oprah Winfrey and her best Friend, Gayle, showed up to extend their best wishes to the bride and groom...unannounced! The entire visit was documented and would be part of an Oprah show scheduled for this fall!
CBS NEWS: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/05/ap/entertainment/mainD8I297M00.shtml
MSN - : http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=224727>1=7703
Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0606060127jun06,1,1326776.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Andpop.com: http://www.andpop.com/article/6003
San Francisco Gate: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/category?blogid=7&cat=113
05/23 2006, Tuesday
Steve Harvey, Jacquie Reid and Tommy
I had the opportunity to work with "Hot 103.3 Jamz" radio station in covering "The Steve Harvey" Radio show a couple of weeks ago. This was an exciting opportunity for me. I've always enjoyed watching Steve Harvey and it was an honor to have been selected to cover the two day event.
05/11 2006, Thursday
Tom Joyner in Kansas City -
April 29th, 2006 - I had an opportunity to photograph Tom Joyner while touring the new multi-million dollar shopping complex "The Shops At Blue Parkway" in Kansas City. Mr. Joyner was full of life and he was not your typical celebrity - this broda was for real. He hugged everyone and was so pleasant to be around.
This was a rather special assignment for me as I was completely floored by the magnitude of work put forth by Swope Community Builders (Tom Joyner's host) in renovating this once "flood-prone" area of town. Surprisingly, I had only traveled through this part of town a few times in my 10 years of stay here in Kansas City (shame on me!!!). But that is all about to change!
Swope Community Builders, a non-profit development company based here in Kansas City has poured more than $500 MILLION in creating what I would classify as "first class" facilities for the people of Blue Parkway. From a fully staffed state-of-the-art hospital to a sprawling shopping complex - creating jobs for people that need them, for my own people!!! THIS IS GIVING BACK TO ONE'S OWN COMMUNITY!!! It's not just the talk for this people, they are actually walking the walk by putting their money where it matters the most.
Below are few images from the event.
05/08 2006, Monday
Emily & Jeff - @ the Country Plaza
I'm extremely excited about the couples I would be working with this year...beautiful brides and grooms and most importantly, they all look VERY good together!
Emily and Jeff were a blast to work with this past Friday!
04/26 2006, Wednesday
Michelle & Nick's Wedding - Washington, Missouri
I spent last Saturday shooting Michelle and Nick's wedding at the beautiful Caroline's Vineyard in Washington, Missouri. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to build the website for this beautiful location never knowing that I would one day be shooting a wedding there.
Caroline's Vineyard is neatly tucked about 45 minutes from O'fallon Missouri. It's actually bordered by the Missouri River. As you would see in the images, the ceremony actually took place some 100 feet above the Missouri River.
04/13 2006, Thursday
What an amazing day yesterday...
I had several cool things happen to me yesterday -
The Eddie Kennison Foundation called to inform me that I had been selected as their official photographer. Eddie Kennison is Kansas City Chiefs' All Pro Wide Receiver.
Eddie Kennison and his wife, Shimika, formed Quick Start - The Eddie Kennison Foundation in 2003 to make a difference in the Kansas City area, as well as, Eddie's hometown of Lake Charles, LA. The organization's focus is two-fold - raising awareness and generating funds for the auto-immune disease, Lupus, and giving back to the community through its scholarship program. Shimika has been diagnosed as one of the 1.5 million Americans afflicted with Lupus, so the foundation's mission truly hits close to home!
The Kennison's host several major fundraising events throughout the year. My first coverage is on May 13th at the Coaches and Players' Ball. This is an annual Black-Tie event where 300 guests (KC Chiefs' players and coaches) come together to support the Eddie Kennison Foundation.
The images below were from a November 2005 shoot...
And the second surprise....
Kansas City's new upscale casual dining experience - Check out a virtual tour at TONICDINING.COM
I was also given the opportunity to display my work at Tonic (all thanks to Kendall - my good ole boy who can't stop hooking me up) - a downtown Overland Park restaurant. Tonic is perhaps one of the coolest restaurants in Overland Park. It is located in the heart of downtown Overland Park.
The owner of Tonic (Kevin Polian) is really determined about creating a unique dining experience for his patrons. Kevin would like to display my work on the numerous flat panel screens that are strategically placed throughout the restaurant.
Throughout the day, slideshows of images from my trips to London, Toulouise (France), Belgium, Nigeria, New York, Houston and Kansas City will displayed on all of the TV screens. When you are in the Kansas City area, make it a point to visit Tonic - if you are into authentic and delicious food, this is the place to be!!!
04/10 2006, Monday
Topeka, Leslie and her Llasa Apso dogs...
I spent yesterday evening in Topeka KS working with Leslie and her "handsome" Llasa Apso dogs. As I write this entry, I'm so conscious of my spellings and grammatical compositions because Leslie proofreads everything she sees!!!
Enjoy the images…
04/09 2006, Sunday
Carrie & Patrick's Engagement Session at the Plaza
I had so much fun shooting Carrie & Pat's engagement images yesterday. Carrie & Patrick are getting married on July 15th.
From the onset, I knew that I wanted a totally different experience from shooting this session. I felt the need to push myself to a new level. I wanted images that showed Carrie & Pat having fun. I wanted to utilize my environment more - this became a rather important exercise for me, as I had to start looking at everything different.
03/28 2006, Tuesday
A child is born!
It is a humbling experience when a couple from a previous year calls me to shoot the "first" professional images of their baby.
I had the opportunity to shoot Kristin & Ed's wedding on February 21, 2004 at the Church of Emaculant Conception and Kauffman Stadium. Ed is huge baseball fan and I can still remember how excited he was to be able to walk on to the field with his beautiful bride. It's been an amazing experience all around and I'm grateful and thankful to God for bringing Tommy into their lives!
Working with Tommy was such a blast. He hardly cried and was so easy to work with. Below are few images from Kristin & Ed's wedding and from Tommy's session.
03/24 2006, Friday
My first wedding in Virginia - Virginia Beach
Congrats to Michael and Mia - our October 14th Wedding!
My boy Keith Cephus referred Michael to me - check out his work at http://www.keithcephus.com
Talk about "trust"! Michael called me less than 10 minutes after being referred to me by Keith and within another 20 minutes, he had decided that he would like to have me shoot their wedding. I feel really blessed and honored to be working with Michael and Mia!
The couple has picked the following beautiful and historical locations:
Ceremony - At the famous Hampton University's Memorial Church
Reception - At the Virginia Beach The Founders Inn
03/24 2006, Friday
Out-of-state Weddings...
I've always desired the opportunity to travel out of state (even out-of-the country) for weddings and it appears that I'm been granted my wishes this year!
Congrats to Angela and David!!! Though closer to Overland Park than most cities, Springfield, Missouri is where I would be shooting Angela's wedding! Angela first contacted us on January 2, 2006 and we finally met on March 5th. I am thrilled to death about the opportunity to work in Springfield and MOST IMPORTANTLY that I would be shooting Angela and David's wedding. There's something about "trust" that gets my adrenaline flowing - it takes a lot of trust for someone who is out-of-state to hire you as their wedding photographer!
Check back in a few for their engagement images. I will be shooting their Engagement Session in Springfield!
03/05 2006, Sunday
Congratulations Marie & Don - Hilton President Kansas City
What an amazing day! I spent the day at the newly opened "Hilton President" in downtown Kansas City shooting the 12th year Wedding Anniversary of Don & Marie Munce.
Although I had visited the Hotel on Wednesday, I was really excited about being the first photographer to shoot a wedding at the beautiful hotel! Everything turned out great. Marie looked very beautiful in her silver-colored dress (courtesy of Nolte's Bridal). Talk about the importance of proper planning - Angela Alcantar of A Bride's Best Friend did an amazing job in putting together an all-around beautiful ceremony and reception. The hotel staff were extremely helpful and the whole hotel looked amazing.
02/28 2006, Tuesday
The historic President Hotel - Downtown KC
Guess what? I get to shoot the first wedding (EVER) at the newly renovated Kansas City President Hotel! Come March 4th - this Saturday, I would be downtown Kansas City shooting Marie and Don's wedding!
My family and I went by there tonight and all I can say is "WOW"! The ballroom is breathtaking! The main ballroom is on the 12th floor with windows all around the room that can be opened so your guests can see Kansas City's skyline! It was amazing watching my son (Myles) look down at moving cars that looked like toys!
By the way, the Presidential Suite - reserved by the bride and groom is about $1700.00 a night! They literally can walk from their suite right into the ballroom!
Spending less than 20 minutes within the hotel, one can tell that this new piece of art is destined for history! The staff was extremely helpful! Brian, the bellman was extremely helpful - he not only showed us where to park but also took the time to point us in the right directions! With about $45M spent on renovating this monster, my family and I cannot wait to go back to spend a weekend considering how elegant everything seemed to be!
Come back to see pictures!
~ Roland
02/22 2006, Wednesday
Cogratulations to Carrie & Pat - 07.15.2006
I am so excited about the opportunity to work with Carrie and her family! Carrie seems to know at least 5 or 6 of my former clients especially since she had gone to the same High School with most of these clients...St. Thomas Aquinas. While viewing my website yesterday, she also noticed that I had shot Nicole's wedding - Nicole and Shawn got married in August last year at the same Church (Church of the Ascension) where Carrie would be getting married. Some of Nicole's images are below.
Welcome Carrie & Pat!
