Space Coast - Central FloridaAward Winning Family & Underwater PhotographerKimberly Tank Art & Photography

Award Winning Family Photographer | From Maternity & Babies to Seniors & Underwater

Space Coast - Brevard County FL

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Naval Air Station Jacksonville | Military Homecoming | Welcome Home Mr. S

When a fellow Navy wife and homeschooling momma contacted me about documenting her husband's homecoming, I was thrilled! I have been wanting to document a homecoming for a while now, but with my own husband gone so much I hadn't had the opportunity until now (hooray for shore duty!). Mrs. N also wanted updated individuals of each of her children and a family portrait for her wall.

When we arrived, we started with individuals while we were waiting for the plane's arrival. Adorable bunch, aren't they? They are truly wonderful children and it was such a pleasure photographing them and seeing them interact with each other. 

military familyChild PortraitsCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

Once the plane arrived, the excitement really began. I love this moment between Mrs. N and her oldest as they celebrated that they did it, they made it through deployment.  Navy pilot homecomingMilitary Homecoming Session | Naval Air Station JacksonvilleCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

Navy pilot homecomingMilitary Homecoming Session | Naval Air Station JacksonvilleCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

And the look of pure joy. He's home at last! Navy pilot homecomingMilitary Homecoming Session | Naval Air Station JacksonvilleCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

Navy pilot homecomingMilitary Homecoming Session | Naval Air Station JacksonvilleCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

This family is such a great team. It was a joy to watch them all together and seeing the love and support for each other than surely helped them through Dad's long deployment.  Navy pilot homecomingMilitary Homecoming Session | Naval Air Station JacksonvilleCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

The oldest and youngest have a special relationship that I was able to capture some of here. Navy pilot homecomingMilitary Homecoming Session | Naval Air Station JacksonvilleCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

Watching and waiting for the plane to taxi in and Dad to get off.
Navy pilot homecomingMilitary Homecoming Session | Naval Air Station JacksonvilleCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

Navy pilot homecomingMilitary Homecoming Session | Naval Air Station JacksonvilleCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

Navy pilot homecomingMilitary Homecoming Session | Naval Air Station JacksonvilleCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

And I had to include this one with Mr. H's excitement and of course his dirty feet. 
Navy pilot homecomingMilitary Homecoming Session | Naval Air Station JacksonvilleCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

Once Dad was off the plane, the kids all ran to him and piled up until all five of them had him surrounded in a giant hug.  Navy pilot homecomingMilitary Homecoming Session | Naval Air Station JacksonvilleCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

Then it was Mom's turn to welcome Dad home. Navy pilot homecomingMilitary Homecoming Session | Naval Air Station JacksonvilleCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

And there was lots more hugging.  Navy pilot homecomingMilitary Homecoming Session | Naval Air Station JacksonvilleCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

Before I left, we gathered everyone in front of one of the planes in the hangar to get their family portrait for their wall. It's going to be the perfect focal point of their family photo wall. I helped Mrs. N by configuring a couple of layout options for her wall with this and the individuals of the kids. I can't wait to see the final product when everything is up! Navy pilot homecomingMilitary Homecoming Session | Naval Air Station JacksonvilleCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

And of course, I couldn't leave without getting one of just Mom and Dad.  Navy pilot homecomingMilitary Homecoming Session | Naval Air Station JacksonvilleCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

Thank you H Family for commissioning me to document this special day for you. It was an honor and privilege to photograph and get to know your family more!

<3

Kim

Owner/Artist-Photographer

Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

Would you like your military family member's next homecoming documented? Contact me here for more information and to commission your military homecoming session.

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100 Days of Black & White - Project 365 | March Favorites

I'm in the final stretch of my 100 Days of Black & White project and am liking my black and whites more as the project progresses. I definitely think I'll be doing more black and white conversions with my work after doing this project. I like how black and white can reduce some distractions and forces me to focus on the light and how the light enhances my subject since I can't rely on color to draw attention. I do miss color, though, so I'll be glad to have it back again, especially now that's it's spring and the color is coming back everywhere. I'm already planning my next 100 Days Project and am super excited about it. It will be photography related, but not involving a picture every day, so I'll continue my project 365 and take a picture every day for that but it won't be connected to my 100 Day Project for the most part for the rest of the year. If you'd like to join our 100 Days Project group, you can join on Facebook or simply tag your project on Instagram with #100dayscollective for a chance to be featured. You don't have to be a photographer, there are a lot of other creatives in the group as well!

Ok now for March favorites....

 

My son loves to ride our legs around as we try to walk through the house. I remember doing this with my dad when I was a kid and it was always so much fun. These are the moments I want to capture. The fun little things that make up his childhood. Not only so that I can look back and remember them when he's grown, but so he can too.

100 Days of Black & WhiteCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

We headed back to MOSH this month and had some fun in the body exhibit. My son was dancing in front of the camera that (somewhat) mirrors your movements with a skeleton not he screen when I took this. 100 Days of Black & WhiteCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

This was the product of a vision I had in my head for a shot I wanted to get (and possibly submit to a competition). It didn't work out as well as I'd hoped (I'm not so steady when swinging a 5 year old around) so it's not a sharp image. But I still love the capture and the it's easy to see he was having fun! 100 Days of Black & WhiteCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

Our first "baby", Liby, is getting older (she'll be 12 in July) though she still acts like a puppy sometimes. We don't get to take her out as often as we used to (just keeping track of a young child was enough for me for quite a while). We were headed to the park and to take a walk so we figured it would be good to take Liby with us. She loves to get out, especially for walks, and my son loves to walk her too. (Thankful for all the years of training we did with her when she was young!) 100 Days of Black & WhiteCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

Last year, we missed ball signups so this year we made sure to look ahead of time and mark it in our calendars so we didn't miss it. A good friend of ours coaches too so we were able to get him on a team with one of his good friends. They had their first game last month and I of course made sure to have my camera to capture everything. I chose this one for my back and white photo for the day, taken while they were getting ready in the dugout. I didn't have an unobstructed view, so I used the fence to frame him.  

100 Days of Black & WhiteCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

The weather has been beautiful and we are a family who loves the beach, so we made a lot of beach trips in March. My son doesn't care how cold the water is, he loves to play and jump in the waves. I find this one a little funny, like he's getting ready to attack the waves.  100 Days of Black & WhiteCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

Some time in the last couple of months after turning 5, my son has suddenly started doing big kid things left and right. First it was deciding he was done with the training wheels and riding like a pro (he had a balance bike for several years so the pedaling was new to him with his new bike this Christmas). Then came swinging. He would previously refuse to try pumping his legs to keep swinging and now all of the sudden he's doing it like he could do it all along He still needs(wants?) someone to get him started, but then he doesn't need us to keep pushing him anymore. Gosh, they really do grow up so fast!

100 Days of Black & WhiteCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

I'm still getting in the frame, and it's often when I realize everyone is in bed and I haven't taken my photo for the day yet, haha. Up late working on a few things while catching up on DVR on this evening. 100 Days of Black & WhiteCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

I came across something on Facebook talking about an event that happens once a year in Jacksonville near the beach... for about two weeks, thousands of fireflies light up in the woods just after dark. I grew up near Cleveland, OH and always remember the joy and wonder of fireflies in the summer. When I moved down here, I though maybe they just didn't have fireflies because I never saw them. It turns out, they all like to hang out in the woods where no one sprays for mosquitos (another downfall to all the rampant spraying of insecticides but I won't go there right now). We headed down for a nighttime stroll through the woods to see the fireflies. I brought my camera, but not my tripod, so I was limited on what I could capture. As we walked down the road that weaved through the woods, I looked up and saw the moon between the trees and captured it. It wasn't fireflies, but I'll always remember our magical walk through the woods that night. (The fireflies were everywhere, it was pretty amazing!)
100 Days of Black & WhiteCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

I'd love to know which one was your favorite?

<3

Kim

Owner/Photographer-Artist

Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

Need updated photos of your children or family together? Want to capture the essence of who they are right now? Contact me for information on scheduling a family or childhood session!

 


Favorite Business Books for Small Business Owners 2017

It's no secret that I love books (and may classify as an addiction). I've always loved to read and, as a kid, would often stay up late reading with a flashlight under my covers after bedtime. I worked at a library in high school and college and really loved working with books too. In addition to my early childhood teaching license, I also obtained a reading specialist designation. I'm still an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction books. My husband and son share my love of books and we have amassed a mini-library in our home. Most of the books we have now are children's books, thanks to ebooks and the Kindle. I still prefer the physical book though, and we still buy the physical books of our favorite author's and most non-fiction books so we can reference back to them later if needed. There's just something about holding a book and turning the pages, not to mention the lack of eye strain due to staring at a screen too long. 

Over the last couple years as I've grown my business, I've been reading more and more business books, some of which have made a huge impact on me and my business. Many of the books I've read are great for any business owner, not just photographers, so I wanted to share them here with you all in case you might find one helpful. Here are five of my favorites: 

 

The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Morgan

 

1 - The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Morgan

I can't recommend this book enough. Anyone who wants to be able to accomplish more and achieve goals should read this book. I implemented this last year and it has made a huge difference in what I have accomplished and the growth in my business. I wrote an article with my good friend, fellow NAPCP photographer, and accountability partner, Willy Wilson, that you can read over on the NAPCP blog. We talked mostly about the benefits of an accountability partner, which was one of the elements of the 12 Week Year. The premiss of the book is to look at each quarter (12 weeks) as your "year" and set goals for those 12 weeks. It's much easier and more realistic to predict outcomes 12 weeks down the road instead of an entire year. There's also less time to push things off because you "still have time". You may still have an overall goal for the year, but you break that up into goals for each quarter that will get you towards that annual goal. Each goal is broken down into tasks that need to be completed by a certain time within that 12 weeks. I am very goal-oriented and am motivated by deadlines so this was perfect for me. Being my own boss, though, means I set my own deadlines and don't always feel bad about moving them if I don't get to a task. That's where having an accountability partner comes in. Having someone I can share my goals with, and keep me accountable on my task list so that I'm less likely to push them off, has been incredibly helpful. 

 

Your Brain At Work by David Rock

2 - Your Brain At Work by David Rock

I listened to this book as an audio book and honestly, I need to re-listen to it (or maybe get it on my Kindle or a physical book and actually read it). This is not a book to listen to while you're busy doing other things because you'll miss a lot of great info. The book even goes into why multitasking isn't efficient and we shouldn't do it (unless one of those things is something we can do without thinking about it like riding a bike). The information was fascinating and incredibly helpful to know and apply in your life. It reinforces the importance of mindfulness as well, which is something I've been working on. 

Here's a description of the book from the website: 

"YOUR BRAIN AT WORK Explores:

  • Why our brains feel so taxed, and how to maximize our mental resources
  • Why it’s so hard to focus, and how to better manage distractions
  • How to maximize your chance of finding insights that can solve seemingly insurmountable problems
  • How to keep your cool in any situation, so that you can make the best decisions possible
  • How to collaborate more effectively with others
  • Why providing feedback is so difficult, and how to make it easier
  • How to be more effective at changing other people’s behavior"

This is another great book for anyone. You don't even need to be a business owner to benefit from reading this book.

 

Fascinate by Sally Hogshead

3 - Fascinate by Sally Hogshead

This book is about marketing and branding, and dare I say, it was fascinating! (Sorry I had to!) The author goes into how brands fascinate us and what makes their marketing successful. She breaks down different advantages a brand/company can have and how to use them to fascinate your audience in your marketing. You can take a free personality test on her website to find out which advantage fits you best. Then read (or listen) to the book to learn how to use your advantage to fascinate. 

 

The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz

4 - The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz

Another great book, this book discusses how to build your business in a way that is profitable and sustainable. The author looks at how pumpkin farmers grow prize-winning pumpkins and applies those elements to business. The essential elements of the plan (as quoted from the description on Amazon.com) is: 

  • "Plant the right seeds: Don’t waste time doing a bunch of different things just to please your customers. Instead, identify the thing you do better than anyone else and focus all of your attention, money, and time on figuring out how to grow your company doing it.
  • Weed out the losers: In a pumpkin patch small, rotten pumpkins stunt the growth of the robust, healthy ones. The same is true of customers. Figure out which customers add the most value and provide the best opportunities for sustained growth. Then ditch the worst of the worst.
  • Nurture the winners: Once you figure out who your best customers are, blow their minds with care. Discover their unfulfilled needs, innovate to make their wishes come true, and overdeliver on every single promise."

I read this book a couple years ago and it was very helpful in learning how to build my business the right way so that I can remain successful over time. I highly recommend this book. 

 

Contagious by Jonah Burger

5 - Contagious by Jonah Burger

This was another fun marketing book. This book looks at word of mouth marketing and what elements can make something more likely to be shared, or maybe even go viral. There are six basic principles that are discussed in the book that you can use to help make your products, ideas, or brand something people want to talk about. The summary from the author's website states:

"Contagious combines groundbreaking research with powerful stories. Learn how a luxury steakhouse found popularity through the lowly cheese-steak, why anti-drug commercials might have actually increased drug use, and why more than 200 million consumers shared a video about one of the seemingly most boring products there is: a blender. If you’ve wondered why certain stories get shared, e-mails get forwarded, or videos go viral, Contagious explains why, and shows how to leverage these concepts to craft contagious content. This book provides a set of specific, actionable techniques for helping information spread—for designing messages, advertisements, and information that people will share. Whether you’re a manager at a big company, a small business owner trying to boost awareness, a politician running for office, or a health official trying to get the word out, Contagious will show you how to make your product or idea catch on."

I listened to this on as an audio book and actually listened to it twice so I could take better notes the second time. I still haven't quite mastered this and should probably listen to it again!

 

Have you read any of these books? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Or maybe you have a book you loved that you'd recommend? Comment below with your thoughts and recommendations!

Kim

Owner/Photographer-Artist

Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

*The links in this blog are for your benefit. I do not profit from you purchasing through these links, but I do recommend you choose an Amazon Smile donation if you purchase through Amazon.


Five Photos to Take of Your Kids This Spring | St Marys-Fernandina Child Photography

Happy First Day of Spring!

In honor of spring's arrival, I thought I'd feature a handful of photo ideas you can capture of your kids this spring. 

 

Mud/Rain

Spring usually brings rain and warmer weather, making it the perfect time to play out in the rain or in the puddles and mud that follows. This is a time to highlight the wet and dirty play of little ones. Don't forget to capture that dirt up close!

boy and dog running through the mudMud RunCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography LLC Five Photos to Take This SpringCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

Sports/Activities

If your child plays in a sport or other activity, don't forget to capture that too. I love to capture the in between moments in addition to the action. 

First Teeball GameCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography LLC TNT Gymnastics - Jacksonville, FLGymnastics PracticeCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography LLC

Berry Picking

Spring is the season for u-pick berry farms. If you're heading to pick some berries, bring along something to capture a couple photographs of your time there. If you're local, check out Merck Farms for strawberry picking and Morning Belle Blueberry Farms for blueberries. Both are grown organically (the blueberry farm is certified). 

picking strawberries at Merck Farms in Kingsland GAPhotos to Take in SpringCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography LLC

picking and eating blueberries at Morning Belle Blueberry Farm in Woodbine GAFive Photos to Take This SpringCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

Gardening/Backyard Fun

Springtime is when many of us are planting seeds in our gardens. Whether flower seeds or vegetable seeds, kids love to help plant and watch things grow! If you love to garden, this is the perfect time to try and get in the frame yourself too! I want my son to remember the fun we had together. 

Five Photos to Take This SpringCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

Five Photos to Take This SpringCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

With better weather, we're spending more time outside, so capture that fun your having in your own backyard too.

 

Beach/Park

We're lucky enough to be able to go to the beach to play most of the year. The weather starts to warm up in the spring but it's not too hot yet so it's the perfect time to schedule more trips to the beach! My son LOVES the beach so I capture him playing and having fun there often.

If you're not a beach person or don't live near the beach, capture your kids playing at the park once it's warm enough to head to the park to play. 

 

Amelia Island, FLSpring Beach PhotoCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography LLC

 

Five Photos to Take This SpringCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

Photographs help us hold on to memories that might fade without them. What do you want your children to remember about their childhood?

<3

Kim 

Owner/Photographer-Artist

Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 


Print Your Photos - Albums | Consumer Album Company Comparisons

Print Your Photos - Consumer Album Company Comparison 

Last year I did a 100 Day Project involving printing my personal photos: 100 Days of Personal Photographs. My goal was to get my photos off my computer and into albums (I had already printed what I wanted over the years for frames). I had photos from all the way back in 2005 when I received my first digital camera that needed to be printed. I completed albums through 2013 during the 100 days. I wrote a blog post about my project here. I wanted to finish a couple more albums before writing this blog post comparing my experience with designing and buying consumer albums. I finally finished and received my album of 2015 photos so I'm ready to share my experience with you!

For each company I tried, I will list the Pros (+) and Cons (-) I encountered with each and then my overall opinion on my experience and the product.

*Note: This is just an account of my experience with each company I used. I did not try all options within each company so there may be other options that would have been better than the ones I tried.

 

Shutterfly Books

Shutterfly

Before launching my photography business and discovering the wonderful world of high quality professional photo albums, I mostly used Shutterfly to print photos and make albums. So that's where I started.

Pros

+Sales/Coupons - There always seems to be coupons and sales that allow you to save a good bit of money.

+Scrapbook Elements - If you like the scrapbook look, there are a variety of embellishments and text options to give you a scrapbook feel. 

+Shipping - The cost and speed of shipping were good.

Cons

-Time Consuming - The process of designing my album was incredibly slow and time consuming. I often became frustrated when the designer wouldn't respond when I was trying to drag and drop a photo into a template. It took me almost two hours to design 20 pages. 

-Limited Layouts - I found the layout options limited and ended up customizing them most of the time which was again, very time consuming. 

-Quality - The quality of these books are mediocre at best. 

Verdict: I used these albums of the sake of saving money on my older photos that weren't very good quality anyway. Plus, I have an old Shutterfly site so most of my older pictures were already uploaded to Shutterfly which made that part a little easier. If you're printing mostly snapshots, phone pictures, or photos taken with a cheap point and shoot camera, this would be an ok option. For the amount of time I spent creating these, though, I wish I would have tried another company sooner and spent a tad more but not spent so much time on these.

 

MPix

MPix is the company I recommend to my clients who are printing their digital files on their own. The print quality is one of the best I've found for a consumer lab (and they're owned by the same company as one of the professional labs I use). When I went to make a book though, I discovered that they were pre-designed with limited layout options and had a smaller maximum images allowed per book than what I needed for my annual book. I ended up not ordering a book through MPix for this project. This may be a good option for a session album if you purchase the digital files from a session and want to do an album on your own. 

 

Mixbook Book

MixBook

Mixbook was a company I came across when googling photo album companies and I'm so glad I tried them!

Pros

+Easy - The uploading process was fairly easy, drag and dropping photos into templates went smoothly, and it was much easier to customize.

+Layouts - The layouts were customizable so I was able to get what I wanted with each spread.

+Coupons - When you sign up for their mailing list, you get a 50% off coupon which makes your first album very affordable. They run sales often too so watch for those if you're on a tight budget.

+Quick Shipping - I was pleasantly surprise with how quick the shipping was.

+Quality - I was pleased with the quality of my album. The cover was similar in quality to previous books I'd tried but the pages and picture quality was much better.

Cons

-Cost - The only con I found was the cost if you pay full price, which really isn't terrible, just more than books I'd bought in the past.

Verdict: This was a nice option, especially if you want to keep costs down because you have a lot of books to print like I did when I started this project. I wish I had found them sooner!

 

Blurb Book

Blurb

I've heard great things about Blurb so I wanted to give them a try...

Pros

+Drag and drop - This feature was easy and worked very well

+Layouts - Once you drag and drop your images you can cycle through layouts to see what fits best with your images.

+Price - I was expecting that everything was going to be so much more than Shutterfly but it really wasn't bad. Most companies offer at least a coupon on your first order when you sign up for the email list and several other album companies, Blurb included, run decent sales throughout the year. So don't feel trapped into the one you think is the cheapest just to save money.

+Book Binding - The album has a really nice book feel. 

Cons

-Customizing Layouts Difficult - It wasn't as easy to customize a layout to make it what I wanted and there were limited choices on layouts. Rearranging the photos was also sometimes frustrating as the layout would often shift as I was dragging and dropping.

-Adobe Flash - The online book creator uses Adobe Flash. It told me I had to increase allowable storage so that my book could be saved while working on it, but I wasn't able to do this so there was no saving. Luckily I didn't lose the entire book and have to start over but this could be a problem. They do have a downloadable program to create your book but I didn't try it.

-Limitations with Bookify - The online book creator mentioned above has some other limitations. You have a maximum allowable images and pages in your project. You can go up to 500 images and 240 pages so if you have more than that in a year you'd have to cut some out or do multiple books. The BookWright software may not have these limitations so it'd be worth trying.

-Slow - The more images I added to my project, the slower it became. I didn't log my time, but it took several hours to create my book. 

-Shipping - Shipping took much longer than other companies I used. 

-Print Quality - The photos had a faux texture look similar to Shutterfly (which I am not a fan of) and the color was a little too magenta (and I keep my screen calibrated for professional printing). 

Verdict: While this book didn't work well for my annual album project, I would like to try it for a different kind of project and either try the BookWright software or my own album software. Also, if you like the scrapbook look for your annual albums, this wouldn't be the album for you. 

 

Picaboo Book

Picaboo

Picaboo was another option I found via Google that I wanted to try. I chose the Classic book for my project.

Pros

+Ease - Customizing my album was fairly easy, though not as easy as Mixbook.

+Scrapbooking - If you like scrapbooking options like backgrounds, stickers, and text, this one has good options for that.

+Sales - Like many others, they seem to run sales often so that you can save on your album, especially when you take a lot of pictures and end up with a lot of pages like I do.

+Layflat Option - There was an option for a lay flat book so that you don't loose some of the images in the center of the book.

+Quality - The quality on this book was great. The pages were pretty thick for book pages so they won't be so easy to tear.

Cons

-Flash - Another online editor that uses flash which seems to slow the process down.

Verdict: This was one of my favorites. I loved the ease of creating it and the quality. If you like a lot of options in your layouts and want a good quality product, this is your book. Use a coupon or wait for a sale if you're on a budget. I'd love to try their layflat option. 

 

Artifact Uprising Book

Artifact Uprising

This one I saved for last because I've purchased square prints from Artifact Uprising and liked those and have heard great things about them. Plus I knew they were going to cost more and they don't run sales as often. For this project, I went with the hardcover book.

Pros

+Recycled Paper - I really like that they print on recycled paper as I try to be environmentally conscious. 

+Quality - I have loved the quality of the products I've purchased from Artifact Uprising. The book was well put together and the images looked great. 

+Dust cover - I liked that I could get a fabric cover on my book but have a dust cover to also feature an image on the outside of the book.

+Company Values - This is a company I can get behind. I love their mission and values. Read more about them here.

Cons

-Price - The entry price is higher than the other companies I tried, though you start with 50 pages. They also don't run sales as often and when they do they aren't as highly discounted as the others. 

-Maximums - This was another that had maximum images you could upload (500) and even a maximum file size. This would only really be an issue if you're like me and take a lot of photos and often use a professional digital camera or are including professional photos with larger files sizes, giving you larger files sizes that you would then need to resize in order to use them (though not all of them were over the max size allowed).

-Layouts - The layout options seemed very limited. They are great if you want not more than 4 images on a page, which works well for good quality images, but when I want to include phone images in my album, I don't want those that large and would rather have more on a page.

Verdict: In order to save time (and money) on this album so that I could finish this blog post, I ended up designing it in my album design program instead of using their online design process. So I can't speak to the experience of that part, but I did really like the final product. I also really like this company and what it stands for, which was a big part in choosing to try this album even though it can be more expensive than the others. I would definitely recommend them if price isn't an issue. 

 

Have you tried another album company and loved it? I'd love to hear about it! No matter what company you chose to go with, the important thing is to print your photos. Get them off of your computer/phone and in print where they can be enjoyed by your whole family for years to come. 

 

<3

Kim

Owner/Artist-Photographer

Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 


Baby's First Year - 3 Month Milestone Session

I had my first baby plan milestone session last month with this precious baby girl. My 100 Days of Black & White project has me playing with more black and white conversions lately and I really loved a lot of these in black and white so I have a mix here. I still struggle with which I like better though since I normally gravitate to color. 

We did the session at her home. I love in-home sessions and capturing little ones where they are most comfortable, plus it's less stress on the parents since they don't need to leave the house! We started inside and then moved outside once the air warmed up a bit. From the tiny details to the sweet connections, I hope you enjoy some of my favorites.

 

Long lashes on this sweet one.

3 Month Milestone Session | Baby Plan MemberCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

I had to keep this one in color so you could see her beautiful blue eyes.

3 Month Milestone Session | Baby Plan MemberCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

Sweet baby lips and spit bubbles. 3 Month Milestone Session | Baby Plan MemberCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

This one may be my favorite. I love capturing sweet interactions like this of little ones with their mommas. Just look at that smile! 3 Month Milestone Session | Baby Plan MemberCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

When a client wants nursing/feeding photos, I always try to get a variety of angles that are not only flattering for Momma, but also depict some of those things we want to remember. From Momma's view, to baby's view, and the views we can see through someone else's point of view: the beauty of the moment and the details that go with this special routine.

3 Month Milestone Session | Baby Plan MemberCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

3 Month Milestone Session | Baby Plan MemberCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography 3 Month Milestone Session | Baby Plan MemberCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

We headed outside and Baby K had a stare down with the stuffed lizard. 3 Month Milestone Session | Baby Plan MemberCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

I captured more details... 3 Month Milestone Session | Baby Plan MemberCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography 3 Month Milestone Session | Baby Plan MemberCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

...and Momma read a story.  3 Month Milestone Session | Baby Plan MemberCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

When our hands are full and we're in the trenches with little ones, it's sometimes easy to forget these moments of fun and silliness... unless you have them captured <3. 3 Month Milestone Session | Baby Plan MemberCopyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

<3

Kim

Owner/Artist-Photographer

Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

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100 Days of Black & White - Project 365 | February Favorites

I am loving this project and already see myself wanting to process more client work in black and white than before. I still struggle sometimes with which version I like better because I often like them both and am usually drawn to color but now I sometimes lean towards the black and white. I'm liking more of my images this month, it was harder to pick my favorites to share!

 

I love that we can play at the beach almost all year, and my son feels the same. We went to the beach in the late afternoon because the weather was beautiful so why not? My son was chasing me with handfuls of wet sand and I was trying to run backwards so that I could capture his joyful expression during our little game. I normally try to get down on his level more when I take his pictures but of course I couldn't do that and run at the same time! In the end, I really liked this viewpoint since it was what I saw while we played and how I remember the moment. 

boy on the beach laughing100 Days of Black & White | Project 365Copyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

Ah grocery shopping, a necessary task but often not so exciting. I had an image in mind that I wanted to capture on this trip to Whole Foods, but it just wasn't happening. So I took a handful of others and hoped something would turn out. I ended up loving this one and it lends itself so well to that feeling we get of either boredom at the grocery store or the feeling we get when we realize how much money we're spending at Whole Foods on this full cart of groceries. The real story is not as fun though... he's actually trying to eat through a bag of marshmallows...
boy in a shopping cart at Whole Foods100 Days of Black & White | Project 365Copyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

This one my son like to call the "leg swing". He has always loved to move and be in motion so of course he loves to use Daddy's legs as a swing. He was having a blast, so of course I needed to capture it. These are the little things I want to remember. These are the things I want to capture for him to help him remember the joy in his childhood... and the "Daddy Leg-Swing".

boy swinging on dad's legs100 Days of Black & White | Project 365Copyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

If you know me well, you know that our family is big on books... and we basically have a mini-children's library in our living room. Between the books I purchased when I was teaching elementary school and building my classroom library and then the books I've bought since my son was born... we have A LOT. Did I mention I worked at a library in high school and college? I really really love books! Now that we've started homeschooling, though, we've started visiting the library more often (plus we're trying not o buy any more books right now because we have so many). So I captured one of our trips to check out a couple new books.

boy at the library choosing books100 Days of Black & White | Project 365Copyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

Even after two months of this project, I still find myself not getting around to take my photo for the day until evening some days. I walked into the bathroom and saw my son writing on this paper he had stuck to the mirror and I knew immediately this was my photo of the day. I couldn't decide if I should title it "Writing on the Mirror" or "Reflective Writing"?

young boy writing on a mirror100 Days of Black & White | Project 365Copyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

We took another trip down to Kennedy Space Center in hopes of seeing a launch (and use the tickets we forgot at home in January). The launch was scrubbed at the last minute but we still had a lot of fun and decided to get annual passes. 

boy and dad in Apollo capsule model at Kennedy Space Center100 Days of Black & White | Project 365Copyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

It was a tad chilly but that rarely stops us when we have the opportunity to stop by the beach for a bit. I've had to remember to keep extra clothes in the car for these unplanned trips. 

boy walking in the water at the beach100 Days of Black & White | Project 365Copyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

The benefits of waiting until nighttime to take my photo for the day are getting shots like this. I had actually been wanting to capture bedtime story time for a few days when I finally was able to get this shot. 

dad reading Harry Potter to his son at bedtime100 Days of Black & White | Project 365Copyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

Inspired by a few fellow photographers who are getting in the frame for their projects, I wanted to try doing this more too. This was my first in the frame shot. I'm so so happy to have these arms around me again on a daily basis. I can always find calm and peace in his embrace.

100 Days of Black & White | Project 365Copyright Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

 

I'd love to know which one was your favorite?

<3

Kim

Owner/Photographer-Artist

Kimberly Tank Art & Photography

Need updated photos of your children or family together? Want to capture the essence of who they are right now? Contact me for information on scheduling a family or childhood session!

Kimberly Tank is an award-winning professional photographer in Rockledge, FL, servicing Brevard County on the Space Coast in Central Florida (including Melbourne, Cocoa Beach, Satellite Beach, Merritt Island, Viera and surrounding areas). Using natural light and custom on location sessions, Kimberly Tank specializes in photographing families from babies to seniors and commercial clients, both on land and underwater; providing an exceptional customer experience and helping save you time and preserve this chapter in your life's story. Kimberly Tank is a proud member and ambassador of National Association of Professional Child Photographers.
 

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