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Time to say goodbye to beautiful White Sands National Monument / Photo Sessions by Karina Schuh Photography

Familien Portraits

I will never forget White Sands National Monument. It ist he most magical and peaceful place that I know. So much beauty. Many people that live around Alamogordo, NM want me to shoot their sessions at White Sands. As there is a lot of military here in the area, people are moving a lot, stay for a few years and will be deployed somewhere else. To remember this stunning place, many families booked their sessions out at White Sands with me. I even booked seniors, engagement couples and families from other States of the U. S. who were drawn by the beauty of White Sands.

Some weeks, I booked four sessions out there and I got never tired of it. Of course, taking photos out there is not as easy as it seems because the sun is very bright and the white sand reflects it even more. To get the right skin color, I try to be careful with the direction of the sun that skin tones look nice and even. There is no shadow to work with and when you have people with no hair in front of you, it makes it even harder. An overcast day would be perfect out there to achieve the perfect colors.

But everybody has so much fun out there, in the biggest sand box of the world. And everybody is happy and enjoyes the magic. Jumping, running around, digging, sliding, all these things are possible for all kinds of ages.

My time here in Alamogordo is over. Since my husband has been deployed here at Holloman Airforce Base since 2009, we have had the possibility to get to know Alamogordo and surroundings as well as the U.S while traveling. Now, we are moving back to Germany and a new chapter in our lives will begin. We will never forget the time here in Alamogordo with its kind people and the sunshine. 

The following photos show a German family that moved to Alamogordo, just last year. They come from the Baltic Sea and love the beaches so much that White Sands created the perfect environment for them. Look, these pictures tell their story.

Miss Rachel’s Dance Academy | Holloman Airforce Base | New Mexico | Children’s Dance Classes are very popular | by Alamogordo Photographer Karina Schuh Photography

Miss Rachel

I met Rachel at the Gym last year in the spring when she started teaching classes for bootcamp and body blast. I love her way she is talking as she is from England and talks in British English. Her workouts are very tuff but I like it a lot.

We also got together for some dinners and a friends farewell party. While talking about everything, she mentioned that she was teaching children’s dance classes. That is what is Misss Rachel’s Dance Academy is all about. Rachel teaches children from under three through the age of about 12 in dance/ballet. Rachel asked me one day to take pictures of the little dancers for their dress rehearsal mid of December. I noticed that she got very busy with ordering all these beautiful costumes and fitting them for each individual child. Last year, she taught 10 dance classes, this year, in 2017, there are even 4 more classes she is teaching. The kids love her and her classes . She is doing a wonderful job.

Mid of December, I packed all my equipment and set up a studio inside the movie theatre on HAFB, where the dress rehearsal took place. Class after class came in and got their pictures taken. In between, I got the chance to sneak and see the little dancers up on stage. Rachel, in front of the stage, jumped and danced with the little ones that they know what they are doing. It was wonderful. The time passed so quick during picture taking. These kids were very special in their costumes, the girls even got their hair and make-up done to look pretty for the photos. It took me 2 afternoons to take all the photographs of 64 children and their team pictures.

During Christmas time, it is really hard to find any assistant to help me with those pictures. When I wrote this Facebook post that I am looking for someone that can assist me during the time I am taking the dance pictures to collect the order forms and money, only one person answered. Wow. She is a mom of two girls dancing in Rachel’s classes. I met Katharina when I had set up my photo booth. She arrived with her two children and during the big daughter did all her dances, the little one was so brave and stayed with us. Katharina helped me and did a wonderful job. Thank you so much Katharina, without your help I would never have done that job like we did it together. Katharina even came the second day and asked me to help. It was so amazing that she helped me without knowing me before.

Thank you Rachel for this wonderful opportunity. I had so much fun and the pictures turned out great.

This is a little selection of some of the photos we have taken:

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An 80th Birthday and Celebrating Thanksgiving | A Family Reunion in Bent, NM | captured by Karina Schuh Photography

NancyThis is Nancy. Nancy was looking for a photographer that would take pictures of her family reunion on Thanksgiving 2016. Thirty one years ago, Ed and Nancy moved from Chicago to a beautiful ranch in Bent, NM where they still take care of many horses. It is a beautiful place out there. She found me by asking people at her church if they knew a good photographer. They didn’t but did a research and this church family recommended me, Karina Schuh Photography, to Nancy.

Nancy called. Her voice was full of energy and she explained that her two daughters and her son will be here with all her ten grandkids + partners to celebrate Nancy’s birthday at the same time. She expected twenty two family members to stay at the ranch. I offered Nancy to meet that I can get an impression where she wants to get the photos taken. So, I went to Bent and visited this beautiful place with many trees, grass, a little stream that runs through their property, and a beautiful little house. Ed and Nancy have shown me their property and explained everything to me and also what she wants her photos to look like. I made suggestions and explained my point of view. We wanted to include their property and the surrounding mountains and were hoping to have some fall colors for Thanksgiving.  When I left, I already felt very good. I liked Ed and Nancy from the very beginning and she told me later that she felt the same. We stayed in contact and I came back another time before the big family reunion when we talked about what to serve to the family during the whole week and which restaurant might be good for deliveries etc.

When I came home that day, I talked about that to my husband, Michael. Without big thinking, he said he would cook a German dinner for these twenty two people. Nancy got very excited about that and discussed that with her family. They got excited, too. My husband marinated the meat for a ‘German Sauerbraten’ that he wanted to prepare for the birthday party.

On Thanksgiving, I brought Michael with me to be my photo assistant as I knew the property is very large and with so many people I just wanted to be on the safe side concerning lighting and equipment etc. The big family was getting ready, everywhere, in this little house were people. We took the truck to bring my equipment to the first location for pictures at the ranch. All people were in a good mood, shared stories and laughters. I started doing my job and posed the family for their photos. Randy, Nancy’s son was very helpful and pulled out a picture list where he created groups and told them who would be in the photo and who would not be in the photo. That helped me tremendously. Michael took care of my lighting, and the horses tried to get to my equipment on the back of the truck ;-). It was wonderful, the weather was gorgeous, the people were happy, everybody had fun.

After finishing the sessions, we explained them the dinner for the next day. They decided to celebrate Nancy’s 80th birthday on Friday, November 25th. They invited us to have dinner with them. Arriving at home, I uploaded the photos from the day. They turned out amazing. The lighting was perfect and the location was stunning. I became excited to show them the next day.

On Friday, Michael prepared the ‘Sauerbraten’, red cabbage, and together we formed many dumplings. We loaded up our car and drove over to Bent where the family just came together after a big hike in the mountains. I connected my laptop to their big TV screen, and together, we went through my first selection of the photos. It was wonderful to see the reactions on their faces. That is a moment that I never want to miss anymore, when you get together after a photo session and your customers see the photos for the very first time. As there were so many different groups, it made it hard to decide for the best photos. We decided to do that later. Before dinner, all family members and Michael and me, hold hands in a big circle. Nancy’s youngest daughter started to thank for the come together and thanked her brother and sister for being there for each other, and that all the family members can be proud of themselves and what they have achieved in their lives. I was very impressed and also got tears in my eyes. We have never seen/heard something like that in our family. This family is just very close together. And we are so thankful that we were invited to Nancy’s special day. We had a wonderful dinner and everybody enjoyed the German food and the German beer. 

Thank you Nancy for inviting us to your family. We will never forget this very special photo session with you and your family. We really felt like a part of your family. 

Check out some of the photos of this session! 

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A variety of Christmas-Sessions 2016 | Families | Children | Maternity | different locations in the area Alamogordo, New Mexico by Karina Schuh Photography

For a photographer, the Christmas-Season starts early, right after the summer. I am always happy when people think of creating their Christmas Pictures during a session or book early enough to get their Christmas cards ordered. And, can you imagine, my Christmas family session was done at the beginning of July by my very good friend and great photographer, Tina from Tina Beltran Photography. Me as a photographer never think of getting my pictures taken until I am so busy with all the other sessions before Christmas, and then it is too late. Our Christmas cards were printed already in August. 

Check some of the cards out that I created for my customers this year! 

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This year’s Christmas photos were taken on different locations in the area of Alamogordo, NM. I had a few sessions up in Cloudcroft, NM where also our session took place. I love the mountains in this area. The forest near Cloudcroft provides the perfect location for a beautiful family session. The kids can climb on the fallen trees and stomps, run around in a nice cool air. It is just a relief and very relaxing up there. Another location that I love a lot is the backyard of very nice people. It feels like an oasis there. They allow me to use their property to create beautiful memories. There are also many nice trees, lots of grass, swings, just gorgeous. White Sands National Monument is the most common location for a family shooting especially the white sand almost looks like snow. People bring their sleds and Christmas decoration out there and are having a nice time between the beautiful dunes. Kids can run around and have a great time. It is just spectacular out there. A nice studio session is also a great choice for a session. With different backdrops you can create the atmosphere the customers want. Especially when the weather is not nice or there is a family with babies, this is the perfect location for the photo shoot. 

All these locations and more can be used for any kind of photo-session, maternity, children, families, senior, engagement … 

Unfortunately, I am fully booked before Christmas. But if you are looking for a photo-session in January and February, please feel free to contact me and you will receive 10 % off for your session. Just tell me that you have read my blogpost! Check out one of my family photo shoots over on Shutterfly’s Christmas photo ideas!

And here are some examples of my Christmas-Photo-Sessions from 2016:

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One Family – three locations for family-photography | Alamogordo, New Mexico offers different possibilities | by Family-Photographer Karina Schuh Photography

What is your favorite location in the Area of Alamogordo, New Mexico for family photography. With little children especially, I always try to go shoot at locations in the area where the kids will have fun running around and discover the area.
With this special family, I just had my third photo session with me. It is very special to me that I am able to create their memories and see how the kids are growing up. Thank you so much.The locations that we have chosen for these family-sessions are fun for little children. There are endless possibilities to keep them active and curious. Whether playing in the sand or sliding down the dunes at White Sands National Monument, or climbing trees, running around in the grass, playing with the chickens, or having fun in the water, here in Alamogordo, you find these different locations. Alamogordo, don’t only offer desert, there are mountains, little streams, beautiful yards, and playgrounds, where each session can be different. And the good thing here is, most of the time it is sunny.

I had my first session with Bea and her family in May 2015. In April this year, we decided to do a family session at White Sands. We had to reschedule their session and still got so much wind. White Sands not always works for photo sessions. It was very windy, we tried to enjoy this beautiful place but it was really hard to stay focused and create their photographs. The sun was shining harsh from the blue sky, Peter had many problems to keep his eyes open because of the brightness with the sun and the white sand. After this experience, Bea did not give up for her family photos. So, we decided to wait a little while until the windy season is over. On a beautiful day beginning of June, we decided to go up the mountains where we could find beautiful greenery and a little stream. It was such a big difference to see the family relaxed and having fun, not squeezing their eyes.

Every location is different, the dessert New Mexico’s has also beautiful scenery to offer.

Book your session with Karina Schuh Photography and together, you and me, we are creating your memories of this area!

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A day in a life – documentary family photography by Karina Schuh Photography in Alamogordo, NM

„A day in a life“ of a family is giving you the real smiles! Documentary photography is great for families with little kids that don’t have patience to pose in front of the camera.

When I took this families photographs, I started by doing a regular family sessions (photos not shown here) before I went with them to their home. At the regular session, these kids did great but were bored very quickly and just wanted to play and run around. That is a good thing. After about an hour shooting outdoors, we went to their home … And now, these children were totally different. They wanted to show all their toys to me and what they can do at home. They were not shy at all anymore and we had an amazing time. At home, children feel just safe and they know their environment, and they want you to be part of that.
I got the possibility to catch expressions that I would have never been able to at a family sessions. These images show their true personality.

For this session, I am part of your family life! These sessions are best for you and your family to preserve every day life! Perfect to prevent ‚fake smiles‘ of your children in posed family photos. You will see images that are not posed.

The FUN includes capturing your every day life in an environment where you feel best – at your HOME. We will create images of your daily life such as story time, play time, bath time, family activities with endless possibilities like playground, bike ride, trip to the local ice cream shop, grocery store, play in the sprinklers, wash the dog or the cat.

What if you could fast forward 20 years and have a visiual reminder of the beautiful details of what your life once was? Revisit those memories.

It will be a great time capturing the non-posed portraits of your children, hugs and kisses you get, time out, but mostly all the LOVE of your family!

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The different faces of a little girl – documentary photography of a little girl playing – Portrait Photography in New Mexico

During a family session with visitors from Germany, this little girl just needed to play and have fun all by herself.

As little kids are very impatient during a photo session, what is absolutely normal, I always do the posed family pictures right at the beginning and go over to a documentary photography style while the kids are playing and having fun. I am patient and try to motivate them.

Look by yourself at little Amy’s different gestures and faces ;-).  I absolutely loved creating these memories that they will never forget.

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