Posted by: AK Photography | July 10th, 2011
Taylor visited me this past Friday all the way from Birmingham, AL!
I actually met Taylor at Love Affair Workshop, a workshop I have been teaching at for the past 4 years.
It’s always nice to spend a day with a familiar face, and get a chance to dive deeper into
the techniques that we covered at Love Affair.
Thank you Taylor for spending the day with me
(Thank Bo for being so patient while we had fun!)
I really enjoyed getting to hear about your life, and getting to experiment with light!
Thanks Morgan for styling, and for the lovely clothes!
You can check out Morgan’s Clothing Boutique, Songbird, by clicking here.
Jessica, as always, you are wonderful to work with!
You really should be modeling in NYC.
A big thanks to Sarah & Mike Thompson for graciously letting us photograph
at their home…especially during baby James’ nap!
Tags: Give Me Moore!
Posted by: AK Photography | June 16th, 2011
The lovely Mrs. Jan Schill visited me today from Durango, CO!!
It always makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside when I have someone
who is willing to travel so far to spend the day with me!
Even before we met, I knew we were going to get along really well,
and of course, I wasn’t disappointed.
I kept telling her we better get back to the subject of photography,
or she was going to be upset that we talked about personal stuff all day!
Most people visit me to dive right in to learning off camera flash,
so Jan was different than most. We spend most of the day talking
about posing, composition and using the existing light to it’s fullest.
Thanks Jan for a great day full of great conversation!
Thanks to the beautiful Katie Hipp who modeled for us today.
Thank you Morgan for the great wardrobe and styling!
(Click here to find these outfits and LOTS of other goodies at Morgan’s store, Songbird)
Here are a few of my faves:
Tags: Give Me Moore!
Posted by: AK Photography | May 14th, 2011
Matt & Stacy Landry drove in yesterday from Lafayette, LA to spend the day with me.
(to find out what a Give Me Moore Session is, you can read more in the menu tab under workshops)
Stacy is a Love Affair Workshop Alum, so I knew her well already, but it was great to get to know her hubby.
These two are a dynamic duo, and we had so much fun, the day flew by!
We didn’t wrap up our session until 9pm!!
Thank you two for a great day!!!
Thanks to Morgan Moore(my fabulous sis-in-law) for styling. Great job!
Thanks to Songbird(Morgan’s new boutique in Ruston, LA) for providing our models attire.
Thanks to Kelli Alexander for modeling!
Tags: Give Me Moore!, Workshops
Posted by: AK Photography | May 7th, 2011
The past little while, I’ve been feeling pretty guilty because it’s been so long since since I photographed Posey!
She’s getting so grown! I can’t believe how much she’s been looking like a little girl and not a baby.
Julie Martin from ZoZo Bug Baby(click here to check her out) recently sent me several new outfits,
so it was the perfect excuse for me to take Po out for a shoot.
Julie also sent Posey a bamboletta doll! She LOVES it!!
Julie makes clothes for the dolls as well. What can’t she do??
It was a beautiful day today, so me and Po went out for a couple of hours and had some fun.
Also, check out Bella Donna by Katie for the great Bella Bit’s Po wore in her hair!
I’m not good at keeping secrets, so I might as well spill the beans…..
In August we are planning on going from a family of 3 to a family of 4!!!
God has given us the opportunity to adopt a newborn baby girl.
The whole story is just amazing, but I want to wait and share it with you once everything is final.
Just keep us in your prayers that everything will continue to go smoothly,
and that both birth mama and baby girl will be happy and healthy!
Tags: Misc.
Posted by: AK Photography | April 20th, 2011
We are giving away 2 bags over on Facebook!
It’s really simple to enter. Below are 2 ways you can win a bag.
1: Post the below statement as your status for today.
@Kelly Moore Bag is giving away TWO bags today!! I WANT TO WIN ONE!!!
(click here to find out how to enter http://www.kellymoorephotography.com/mooreblog)
(It’s important that you make the @Kelly Moore Bag an @ mention. Just type the @ symbol and then start typing Kelly Moore Bag.
It should automatically show up so you can select it. Also, make sure to click on the little padlock to the right and select “everyone” so that it will show up on our bag wall!
Also, make sure you are mentioning our NEW FAN PAGE and not our Old Facebook Group.
To become a member of our NEW FAN PAGE, here is a link : http://www.facebook.com/Kelly Moore Bag)
____________________________________________________________________
2: Leave us a fun message on our Facebook wall.
It can be anything! A creative video or photo, or just a message letting us know which bag you want.
___________________________________________________________________
(we will announce the winner at 11:00am(CST) 4/21/2011)
Tags: Misc.
Posted by: AK Photography | April 9th, 2011
When we purchased our home, I knew that I wanted to try and make our own concrete counter tops.
I’ve been hearing about this technique for a while, and really liked the idea.
I did a little research online, and then Kelly Boy and I dove in head first!
The only issue I had was that I wanted counter tops that looked like concrete.
Raw, industrial, grey concrete. Most of the DIY tutorials I found online were more
geared to tinting, dying, and buffing the concrete until it looked like marble or granite.
I just wanted concrete! In fact, when it came to the final look we just guessed at how to
finish it because I couldn’t find any suggestions on what I was looking for.
All that being said, that’s why I wanted to share with you how we went about making our counter tops
So here it is!
As with all great projects, you must start by being warm and fully hydrated 
We used good ole’ quikrete for this project. As for how many bags you’ll need….you’ll have to figure this out yourself!
Kelly Boy did the math, but I think he really just guessed. We always overbuy, and then return what we don’t need.
I wanted my counter tops THICK, so we made them 2.5″ thick.
This took more quikrete and it made them REALLY HEAVY!
They look fabulous, so that’s all I was worried about.
Kelly Boy started off by making forms from Coated Melamine Particle Board.
This is particle board with a slick white surface so that the final counter tops have a really smooth surface.
Some tutorials say to use regular plywood and coat it yourself, but using melamine made the prep work really easy!
We purchased this at our local builders supply store.
You can also see below that Kelly pre-drilled the holes before screwing together the forms.
This is a MUST. If you don’t do this, the melamine will crack very easily, leading to a huge headache!
Side Note: I do recommend doing a test run before you dive in. This helps you to get the hang of it and work out all the kinks.
I’m impatient, and didn’t want to wait all that time for a test run, but you can make that decision!
Once the forms where made, we then caulked the inside edges with silicone caulk.
Make sure that it’s SILICONE CAULK or else the edges won’t look right.
Side note: Kelly Boy used a Sharpie to write on the forms so we would know where they went.
In case you were wondering, Sharpie DOES transfer to concrete.
I was heartbroken to see the backwards writing on all my couter tops!
Luckily, when I sanded and acid washed them, it came off.
Everything I read said we needed to have internal support in the counter tops, so we used a thick chicken wire.
We didn’t show this, but we actually poured 1/2 the concrete in the form, placed the chicken wire in the center, then poured the rest on top to cover it.
We have a friend who loaned us a concrete mixer. I think you can rent them as well.
I would recommend doing this over hand mixing any day!
We basically eyed the mixture. We added water until it looked to be the right consistency.
I remember it looked really rocky, and I was worried that there was no way the counter tops would look smooth, but miraculously, it all turned out!
We used a long piece of wood to skim off the extra quikrete.
We did this with a back and forth motion until it was even on top.
Side note: it’s important to have your forms on a level surface when you pour the quikrete.
It’s really important that you shake the bubbles out of the concrete. Air Bubbles can lead to weaker counter tops.
We used a sander and went around the edges of the form to shake out the bubbles.
We poured all of our forms, and then came back to shake them. I would recommend NOT doing this.
I think it’s better to pour a mold….shake….pour the next mold….shake….etc.
By pouring them all first, I think the concrete actually thickened too quickly, and made it hard to get all of the bubbles out.
We let our counter tops dry for about a week before we took them out of the molds.
Observe below: The rocks exposed on the edges is what happened when I DIDN’T use silicone caulk.
If you like this look then you may want to use regular caulk.
I preferred the more perfect edge that the silicone gave.
Side note: any task goes better with a cute helper!
So from here, I slacked and didn’t take photos, but I will tell you what I did next.
It was pretty simple….
Once the counter tops where out of the molds, we let them sit for a few days before we sanded, put acid on them or sealed them.
I don’t know if that was necessary, but it worked for us.
I used a circular oscillating sander and sanded all of the surfaces that would be seen.
Everything I read suggested starting with a rougher grit and moving to a finer grit.
Since I’m a slacker, I didn’t do this. I sanded it twice with about 80 grit paper, and was done.
It looked good to me!
Next, I purchased a concrete acid(not a stain) from Lowes Hardware and followed the directions.
I’m not sure exactly what this was for, but everything I read recommended doing this.
I think it really cleaned the surface as well as took off our sharpie marks!
From here, I purchased a concrete sealer from Lowe’s hardware and followed the directions.
I chose the kind that would give the concrete a wet looks since I wanted to darken it a little.
Side Note: We did not STAIN the counter tops. There are lots of colors and techniques out there
for this, but I just wanted them industrial grey!
Once it dried, we were done! My wonderful hubby and some friends installed them from there.
On a few of the countertops, there were some places where the surface was not completely smooth.
I think this might have been from waiting too long to shake the bubbles out??
Since you really want the surface to be solid, I took some tile grout that was the same color as the concrete and filled them in.
I was planning on resealing them once more, but haven’t done that yet.
This solution works great, and I love the way they look!
They are by no means perfect, but that’s definitely my style
I would recommend googling , “DIY- Concrete Countertops”.
There are tons of tutorials out there that helped me.
This project cost us around $300.
Hope this inspires someone out there to try this at home!
Just comment if you have any questions!
Tags: Misc., Our Renovation, Personal
Posted by: AK Photography | March 2nd, 2011
I had the amazing privilege of photographing Christa Black this past weekend.
She was in town to play a show with Grant Terry at Coda Bar & Grill in Monroe, LA.
Her wonderful husband Luke,(whom I happened to go to college with) set up the shoot,
and I was thrilled to get the chance to work with her!
Christa is a ridiculously talented woman! She is a singer/songwriter as well as a violinist.
She has opened for the likes of the Jonas Brothers and has toured with Christian artist Michael W. Smith.
Christa has just completed her first book, “God Loves Ugly”, that is selling like hotcakes!
Christa has an amazing heart for women, and it’s so apparent after spending only a few hours
with her, that she is an anointed woman who isn’t afraid to speak her mind and be real.
You can check out all things Christa here:
http://christablack.com/
Thanks to Brandi Howard for your styling skills!
Thanks to Katie at Rodeo’ Boutique in Ruston, LA for the beautiful clothes!
Tags: Music/Fashion
