Michael Krakora Photography

Krakora Studios - New Studio, New Name, Same Great Photos

I wanted to take a moment to bring everyone up to date on some really exciting changes that will be happening over the next couple of months. When I started my career in photography almost 10 years ago, I wondered where it would ultimately lead. While my name has been the business identity since it began, I never worked truely alone.  

Heather for many years has helped me when I needed it most. For the last several years she has been an integral part of what we do for our clients. From our album designs, guest books, order placement and most importantly, creating our look for our images, Heather has been amazing. When she began helping to photograph weddings a year and a half ago, it was a natural step for us to take. Our styles are so similar that even we have a difficult time telling our images apart. Now it is really exciting seeing her promote her own portrait photography. It has been so wonderful being able to work with my best friend. I have her to thank for helping our business get to where we are today.

Now it is time for a change. Time for a name that reflects both Heather and myself. Krakora Studios will be our new identity. Heather and I will still be the ones photographing all of the weddings but now Heather will also be available for portrait work as well. We will also be opening up a new studio on Monroe Street. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done, but we hope to be moved in and open by the middle to end of May. Look for our grand opening celebration and for specials in June and July.

We are also setting up a new website and a new blog. Please be patient while things transfer over. This process is way more complicated that we wish and we have a lot of images and posts to move. Our new website will be www.krakorastudios.com and the new blog will be www.thekrakoras.com. Be sure to update your RSS feeds and subscriptions as we are adding new content even as I type this.

This is the last post that either Heather or I will be making on this blog. Thanks to all of you who have been such regular visitors and please come to our new sites. We are super excited about these huge changes and can't wait to share more with everyone soon.

See you all on the new blog.

Mike + Heather

The Madison Wedding Guild

Join us at the Madison Wedding Guild's show tonight at the Monona Terrace from 5:30-8!

A Photographer and Her Baby

Mike and I have been friends with Jen for a long time. She started as an assistant to Mike on weddings when I was pregnant with our second child who is now 4. Now she has a very successful photography studio in Middleton. 

Jen is amazing!  Not just as a photographer, but as a person as well.  I was so honored to be asked to photograph her and her second daughter! Seeing the connecting between the two of them was inspiring. It helped me realize how much I love photographing new mothers.  Everything is so new, even with your second, and being asked to be a part of that by documenting it is a real gift. 

Jen, I can't wait to do it again!  :o)

Getting Ready For Senior Portraits

We are gearing up for the Senior Class of 2010. We will be spending a lot of time outside in great new locations.  Bring us your ideas and we will make it happen.  If you are interested in working with us as a Senior Model, contact us for more details.  We are only taking a limited number of models per school so contact us soon!

Maria + Brain :: e.session

With all of our engagement sessions, Heather and I want to do things that our couples want.  If they want to have a session in the winter, we are always excited for that. It gives a chance to have some fun in the snow. Well, we tried to do that with Maria and Brian but Mother Nature had another idea. It is really hard to play in the snow the week after 40 degree temps and lots of rain.

This didn't deter them though. We scheduled the session and worked to find some snow. The light was perfect for portraits outside. Nice and soft from the overcast sky.  We started at the Monona Terrace and then went to Olbrich Gardens – we found our snow there.  It was great walking along all of the paths in the quiet of the garden while capturing Maria and Brian being themselves. It allowed us to get to know them and see what a wonderful relationship they have.

Thanks for such a fun session.  You two had us laughing a lot that day.  Enjoy more images from the slide show.

It was really cool noticing how Maria would often stand this way. 

What I love about the next two shots is that these were taken within seconds of each other. The first one is Mike's viewpoint and the last image is Heather's.

One Stinking Cute Baby

I was so lucky to get to document another wonderful and very old friend. If anyone in this world has dirt on me, it is Anne. We have had so much fun through the years. Even though life is turbulent – Anne and I have seen each other through those times. And now I am lucky to be a part of her life when she has a child. August is amazing! I can tell already that he will have Anne and Joe's crazy sense of humor. The laughter, as it always is, was loud and free flowing.

Here are more of my favorites in a slideshow.

His smiles were so contagious!

He makes this look not only easy, but tasty too!

This was my favorite from a series. Anne's hair is so thick and beautiful. She was nuzzling his noes and he would open his mouth just enough to let her hair brush against his mouth and he would giggle.  It was a really sweet moment that I keep replaying in my head. It is wonderful to see Anne so happy.

One thing Anne and Joe really wanted was an image of August crying. Got it!  LOVE this shot!  Even crying, he is so stinking cute!

How to fight the Seven Year Itch!

The Seven Year Itch.  A phrase that often sends a shudder across the necks of many married couples.  If you are like many of us, you have often heard this saying and had a feeling of dread.  Our society has created a fear of this arbitrary time frame and we have been conditioned to question our relationships at that milestone wondering what will happen next.  

How do you fight this feeling of doom you might ask?  Do you look for escape?  No!  Empower yourselves and throw a party.  Lorie and Patrick will be doing just that.  Alright.  Sorry for being so over the top with this post.  I don't think Heather will let me near our blog for a while after I get done here.  She was shaking her head the whole time while I read the post to her.  With a small smile on her face I might add.

I was fortunate enough to have met Lorie and Patrick a number of years ago when I photographed their dogs at the Mounds Dog Fest.  They looked me up to help them celebrate their seven year anniversary.  What was really great was how they wanted to celebrate it.  They are planning a 7 year itch party and well, the pictures below speak for themselves.  They are so not the serious couple.  None of us could keep a straight face for more than a couple of seconds.  It was a lot of fun. Congratulations you two!  I will be looking forward to the next time.

Mike

Wicked shoes!