ericamay | photography blog. bio picture

welcome to the ericamay blog!

Hi! I'm Erica May Short, and I'm so excited that you're visiting my photography blog. This blog will show you all of my current work with a few fun personal things mixed in to help you get to know me better. I am a wedding and portrait photographer in Kansas City, and I love my job. I am so blessed to be a part of so many love stories. My photography style is a fun and relaxed documentary style, and I focus more on emotions than posed stuff. :) Besides photography, I love my husband (Jeff), our miniature schnauzer (Petey), and the color green. You can visit my main portfolio website at www.ericamay.com!

Kansas City Portraits: Bree and Brian, Columbus Park

It’s hard to believe that it was over two years ago that Bree and Brian got married, and I got to shoot their wedding. :) It’s hard to believe how quickly life changes and we find ourselves in a new place — somewhere maybe very different than where we imagined just a few short years before! I love that Bree and Brian ended up in the Kansas City area at the same time I did. :) Bree and I got to be good friends during our time at K-State, and it was awesome to catch up with them a little bit and take some fun photos of them a few years after they said “I do.”

We took photos in the Columbus Park area of Kansas City (just east of River Market) — it’s a cool Italian district of the city!

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February 8, 2010 - 4:04 pm Bree - Thanks Erica for a wonderful time! You are very talented and do an amazing job!

February 8, 2010 - 10:24 am Jamie - Love the swings picture! And the one on the street is funny - you can see Brian's expression on his face like he's saying something witty!

February 7, 2010 - 9:20 pm Kim K. - I love the locations you used!! The shot of them on the swings is too cute! Great work!

Surprise your sweetheart: Valentine’s Day portrait special!

I’ve never been a big fan of Valentine’s Day. That might sound odd coming from someone who is a little obsessed with people who are in love and everything about being happy and in love and emotional. :) But here’s the thing — I never understood why we had to have this day where everyone was forced to give red roses and teddy bears and chocolates. Don’t get me wrong, I like chocolates (dark ones). I even like teddy bears. I don’t like red roses, though… I never have. It runs in my family. Jeff never gave them to me, either, even when I hadn’t told him anything about it. He knew I was a daisy/wildflower/lily/springy flower kind of girl. He once even bought me light green roses. It sounds weird, I know, but they are the most beautiful roses ever.

Okay, anyway… here’s my perspective: Valentine’s Day traditions are overdone. You’re probably running out of ideas for what to get your sweetie, because he doesn’t want any more shiny red boxers and she doesn’t want any more life-sized teddy bears. :)

So, I’m proposing that we celebrate Valentine’s Day in a new way. This year, think outside the (chocolate) box a little bit (hee hee). Think about what it is that makes you love with all your heart. Think about what makes him/her so unique and special and perfect for you. Think about what you can do to show the people you love why you love them. I bet that will be way more fun than some conversation hearts (although I always liked the one that said “Fax me”).

In honor of my quest to make Valentine’s Day more fun and meaningful, I decided to offer a just a few openings for portrait sessions. These mini-sessions are designed for couples, individuals or small groups of people. You can give these as a gift to your significant other, a parent, sibling, best friend, neighbor, or yourself. :)

Here are the details:

  1. Session lasts up to 1 hour (location to be determined with my help!)
  2. Must be booked by February 14th
  3. Sessions will only take place on March 6th or March 7th in Kansas City
  4. Includes a disc of about 50 high-resolution images with a print release
  5. Not available for previously booked sessions
  6. Cost: $150

I’m only offering up to five sessions like this. Date and time options will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis, so reserve your session soon! Just click on the contact page at www.ericamay.com or send me an email directly to me[at]ericamay[dot]com.

Whatever you decide to do this Valentine’s Day, I encourage you to discover what it is that makes someone so special to you, and tell them about it. And then keep telling them about it after February 14th is gone. :)

Family photos at home: Kansas City family photographer

I’m sure I’ve said it before, and I’m positive I’ll say it again: I love shooting family photos in a family’s home! Since my style of photography is more of a documentary format, I love being able to do little mini-documentaries of families doing what they do best — being themselves! I approach family portraits just like I do a wedding day — I seek to capture details, emotions, and little moments shared between people who love each other.

This family is adorable. The boys are just so cute, and were so much fun to spend time with — I loved hearing their stories and capturing their personalities. This family knows how to play together, too. It was so great to watch them all interact and have fun as a family — and capture photos of it! Here are a few of my favorites from their session at home:

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February 3, 2010 - 10:02 pm jenifriend - beautiful job erica! you captured those smiles well. :)

When she’s 75… she’ll love these.

My best friend’s birthday was Saturday. Since it’s my job to capture the lives of people around me, I talked her into letting me take her portraits on her birthday… one day during a time in her life that she’ll love looking back on when we’re older, and everything is different, and we’re still best friends. We’ve been best friends for 19 years already. 19 years is a long time to know someone. We can look back now and laugh about things we did in elementary school — and in 19 more years, we’ll be able to look back and laugh about the things we do now… and photos to prove it. 

Here’s my little photo documentation of my best friend on her birthday. Love you!

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February 3, 2010 - 1:11 pm Kendra - I have a beautiful cousin!

February 2, 2010 - 8:00 pm betti - That's my girl! I still say that we should take sweet "25" pictures to put with your sweet "12" pictures taken at Sears so long ago! And we still need to do the "wedding dress pics at Haverhill"

Kansas City Engagement Photos: Dallas and Megan, City Market Area

After just a few minutes with Dallas and Megan, it’s apparent that they care very deeply about each other. They are so sweet to one another. I like to find what it is about each of my couples that makes their relationship unique, and that forms the bond between them. During Dallas and Megan’s engagement session at City Market in Kansas City, I focused on capturing their compassion for each other. They made it very easy. :) As I picked out images for this blog post, I found myself most drawn to the cuddly/sweet/cozy-looking photos of these two!

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Dallas and Megan, I am so excited to capture your sweetness on your wedding day this summer! Thanks so much for asking me to be a part of your love story.

February 1, 2010 - 11:23 pm jenifriend - great job erica! you can really see the love these two have for each other!!

February 1, 2010 - 6:02 pm Kim K. - They are too cute together!! You captured their love perfectly! Great work!

February 1, 2010 - 2:45 pm ericamay - thanks for the comments! :) i'm so glad you all like these! aren't these two just so cute?

February 1, 2010 - 11:15 am Whitney - erica! these are beautiful! Great job! :)

February 1, 2010 - 9:03 am Emily - Oooo I love the green railing (good eye, Erica!)... such a sweet, cuddly session!

January 31, 2010 - 10:50 pm Holly - They are so cute! I've never even met them before, but if it were up to me, I would dub them my favorite couple of 09... wait?!

January 31, 2010 - 7:19 pm Beth - love to see the city market! love those green stairs!

Pretty photos coming your way… I promise!

I know I’ve been a little absent this week from the blog… hold on to your hats, a bunch of fun posts are coming your way after this weekend’s awesome sessions! :)

In the meantime, I want to share with you some of my favorite wedding-related ideas from other sites. If you’re planning a wedding (which I know a lot of you are!!), finding ideas and inspiration online is an awesome way to discover what you want your own wedding to “feel” like! Check out some of these fun recent posts that I’ve enjoyed:

Real wedding featured on snippet & ink: I love the color scheme in this one, and the unique details in the bride’s attire! :)

A wedding timeline/schedule from The Wedding Chicks: This might help some of you who love to plan-plan-plan (like me)! Of course, I always help my clients come up with a realistic time frame for photos… and I hardly ever take as long as this says, but it gives you great things to think about when it comes to timing out your big day! It has templates for seeing each other before the ceremony or a more traditional wedding day schedule.

Birdcage veils from Unveiled Bridal Designs: I love this gallery of “Spotlight Brides” that gives photos of real brides who wore a variety of birdcage veils (which I love!).

Lovebird cake topper from Etsy: These are just so cute and simple and different!

Do you have fun wedding-related things you’ve found recently? I love all things wedding… so feel free to share what you’re most excited about! :) I love knowing all sorts of great details about your day before it arrives!

January 31, 2010 - 5:59 pm kasie - ahem...hold on to your hats. :)

January 28, 2010 - 4:56 pm weddingchicks - thanks for the little shout! (: xo the wedding chicks

A look back at 2009

With the busy schedule at the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010, I never got a chance to take a little look back at 2009 — a year filled with awesome memories, huge blessings, and amazing experiences. We were able to meet incredible people and be a part of their stories — something I am forever grateful for.

In 2009, we did a lot of shooting. I tried to count all of it, and I think I got close at least. Here’s what I counted:

  • 26 weddings (I can’t even describe what it’s like to be a part of those stories)
  • 27 engagement sessions (Some of my favorite things to do)
  • 46 sessions with babies and children (I’m crossing off #41 on my list of things to do)
  • 26 portrait sessions (Of all different types — mostly “just because”)

That’s (at least) 125 various shoots! Wow! I am so thankful to all of you for asking us to be a part of your lives. I wanted to do a quick look back at the year’s sessions, so I grabbed one photo from pretty much every session and put them all together for you! Enjoy this little video of our 2009 shoots!

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January 31, 2010 - 8:01 pm Jess - Yay how fun! I'm especially partial to Geoff and Beth's wedding. :) Can't wait for me and Matt to be part of your 2010!

January 27, 2010 - 9:49 pm Betsy Jo - Erica, what a great year you've experienced! And what a big part you've had in making this past year a wonderful one for me. Really, I have such an appreciation for your help and kindness, your long-distance friendship and patient mentoring of me. You're a blessing to many, I think. May you have many happy moments in 2010!

January 25, 2010 - 11:14 am Beth - What a successful year for you Erica! Congrats! Love the video...so many happy faces!

January 25, 2010 - 10:45 am Emily - very cool! :)

January 24, 2010 - 8:43 pm kasie - so fun. :)

Casting call: fun married couple! :)

I need:

  • A married couple who is fun, completely in love, and up for a little adventure
  • A wife who has access to her wedding dress and is willing to wear it again
  • A husband who can wear something wedding-esque (doesn’t have to be a tux)
  • A couple who doesn’t mind possible freezing cold temperatures in February
  • A couple who wants some super fun images of them in their wedding attire… after their wedding day

We’re planning a fun weekend shoot on February 20th in Kansas City. It’s a multi-photographer shoot, and we’re looking for a fun couple who is willing to model for us! We’ll provide digital images to you in exchange for your time — and trust me, it will be super fun! :) We’re going to head somewhere awesome around Kansas City — but be prepared that if you’re the lady, you’ll need to be okay with your wedding dress getting a tiny bit dirty. We won’t make you jump in a lake or anything like that (of course not!), but we’ll be outside, and white dresses tend to get dirty outside. :)

So, if you’re an adventurous couple who thinks it would be fun to model for a little group of wedding photographers in a creative, no-stress, super fun session — send me an email! Give me some details and attach a photo of yourselves (on your wedding day would be preferable, so we can see your wedding dress style!). I think we’ll only have room for one couple, so e-mail soon and I’ll give you more details — send a little message to me at this email address: me[at]ericamay[dot]com. Of course, replace the [at] with @ and [dot] with .

It’s going to be so fun — can’t wait to meet our one lucky couple! :)

January 27, 2010 - 6:48 pm Melinda May - This sounds exactly like you and Jeff!

January 22, 2010 - 7:07 pm Kim K. - If my husband was home I would totally be up for it! :D

January 22, 2010 - 2:57 pm Emily - I can't wait!!

January 22, 2010 - 2:56 pm Jon - Bowtie preferred. :)

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico: Sunset on the Beach

There were so many incredible moments that happened while we were in Mexico. Besides shooting an amazing wedding, Jeff and I really got a chance to spend time together and enjoy little things away from our usual routines. It was such a great way to start off the beginning of 2010.

I crossed off some items on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days, too! One of those was watch a sunset, number 91 on the list! I watched a sunrise on the Oregon coast, and I watched a sunset on the beach in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It was gorgeous. I took photos to prove it, of course. :)

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Can you believe all of the colors in one sunset? What a gorgeous creation we live in!

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I like this one, because of the line of birds flying low on the water.

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Take some time soon and enjoy a sunset with your love. :)

January 24, 2010 - 4:24 pm Betsy Jo - So beautiful! Makes me long for summertime.

January 23, 2010 - 6:47 am Cara - I love the beach!!!!

Vendor Spotlight: Element Creative Studio

I am so blessed to have the coolest friends ever. And it’s even better when my amazing friends are also super talented professionals who can provide my clients with great service and beautiful products. I’m excited to share with you more details about Element Creative Studio, the brainchild of my talented friends Sonya and Lindsey.

I’ve asked them a few questions, which I’m going to post here in a Q&A type of format. I hope this helps you get to know them better — they’re pretty awesome people.

But first, I have to give you my personal recommendation. :) See the pretty little logo at the top of this blog (or on www.ericamay.com)? That logo — and really the entire new look of brand that we launched last fall — was the result of Lindsey’s creative genius. I gave her some vague descriptions like “I want it to be happy.” and “I like the color green.” and she produced a logo and image that is so much better than I ever could have imagined on my own. She’s incredible.

The same goes for their invitation designs — for everything (weddings, save-the-dates, baby showers, baby announcements, etc.). Their designs can really set the tone for an entire event. I felt like once I had a “vision” that Lindsey helped create graphically, everything else falls into place. Imagine how much time and back-and-forth decision-making you’d save if you had a “vision” for your wedding invitations and design — if everything matched the design, you’d not only have a really cool wedding theme, but save some headache. :)

They do it all. They’re super talented designers, and I trust that kind of thing to professionals. Check out their work at www.elementcstudio.com.

Now, on to the tough, investigative questions (I was a journalism major in college, you know!). :)

What is your design style?

“Simple. With a touch of funky, a dash of fun, and a pinch of elegance. We like to cater to our clients preferences but Element C’s “style” always shines through in each design. Weddings, births and showers are celebrations of some of the most joyful moments in our lives. We believe a printed representation of that should have the same elements of those moments.”

How do you figure out what your clients want in a design?

“We like to talk to our clients and find out a little bit about the story. No two clients are ever the same. It’s important to get to know a little bit about the story that’s behind what we need to reflect. We get a feel for the tone, which takes us into colors and eventually shapes and little extra “flair” that might accompany the announcement. Each person, each couple, each announcement is so incredibly different, and we want to honor that individuality with something unique. Personalities foreshadow a design style more than one might think, and a benefit with using Element C is that both of us do a design. It’s amazing to see how each of us perceives a look/feel. This gives our client variety and something they usually don’t find with a one-(wo)man-operation.”

What are your sources of inspiration?

Sonya: “Outdoors are a good place to start, anything from God’s amazing creation to sweet architecture. However, to be completely honest, I imagine a lot of designs in the shower.”

Lindsey: “There are so many sources of inspiration floating around each and every day. It can be as simple and visual as how the lines in shadows fall on pavement or more abstract such as a melodic beat of a funky, new song. It’s everywhere…ready to be soaked in. You just have to remain open.”

Why is professional design important?

“Someone we respect once told us people who do the jobs that no one wants to do make the most money. We definitely didn’t go in to design to make a lot of money, but even if we did, design is one of those things many people want to do. Most people can imagine what they’re looking for, but not everyone has the ability and resources to make it come alive. This is why professional design is so important. Element C takes the personality of your baby or even the ambiance of your wedding and puts it on paper. Not only do we believe in creating exceptional designs, but also working with professional printers to give our clients a final product with the highest degree of quality.”

What’s your favorite restaurant in Kansas City? :)

Sonya: “Oh that is so hard. I love food! It has to be either the Blue Moose in Prairie Village for atmosphere and Domo Sushi & Grill in Brookside for the food.

Lindsey: “Agreed. That’s difficult because I have too many (my poor checkbook). Basically anywhere that includes a cozy atmosphere or sweet patio, good food and good wine. Menu items in Spanish are a plus.”

Besides designing awesome things, what fills your time?

Sonya: “K-State, K-State football, K-State basketball, you get the idea.

Lindsey: “Absentmindedly doodling sketches of red and blue, fictional birds. Kidding. I love being outdoors, finding new musicians, listening to live music and exploring new restaurants. And just to be clear, I, too, bleed purple…and might be seeing a lot of that after this answer.”

Tell me something else.

Sonya: “If I could design every day, all day long, I would. And I would love it. Also, like Erica, I love the color green. I’d be more than happy to live in the Emerald City.”

Lindsey: “I love design and the amazing way so many elements can come together to make something “work”. I thrive on finding and liking things before others find them and secretly wish I had a Range Rover to drive back and forth, up and down, between Vancouver and a mountain home in Whistler.”

“Finally, we’d like all to know that at Element C we care. (And no, this is not the beginning of a mushy greeting card.) We really care. Our name is on the back of everything we do, and our client’s name is on the front. Both of these are equally good reasons as to why we strive to design things that are fabulous, and have lots of fun along the way!”

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