A day in the kitchen: Columbia, MO Photographer

Tis the season to bake!  As a giver and a genuine lover, one of my favorite things to do during the holidays is to bake cookies for my neighbors, friends and family. Thanks to Pinterest I found this cute, yummy recipe for Candy Cane Blossoms!  Check out this festive recipe below.

 Roll the dough into balls and then roll them in colored sugar.

Press a hershey kiss into the center of each cookie after baking.

Candy Cane Blossoms

recipe from Hershey's

1 bag Hershey;s Kisses brand Candy Cane Kisses

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 egg

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons milk

Red and Green colored sugar

Preheat over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove wrappers from candies (approx. 35).

Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg in large bowl until well blended. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add alternatively with milk to butter mixture, beating until well blended.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in red and/or green colored sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 - 1o minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cookies is set. Remove from oven; cool 2 to 3 minutes. Press candy piece into center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Yields approximately 35 cookies.

Happy baking!

~Katie~

Christmas Mini Session: Columbia, MO Photographer

As our families get ready for the long holiday weekend, we have one last mini session to share! Here is another family that took advantage of our Christmas Mini Sessions we held at Hinkson Creek Tree Farm in Columbia, MO earlier this month.  The Druley family was super sweet! The weather that day was gorgeous! Not very often do we get to wear short sleeves in the month of December!

Dean was such a fun little boy, who was a little shy at first, but warmed up to us after a short while. Thank you Druley family for the opportunity to get to know you and for the smiles and playtime that we enjoyed together!

-Katie & Melissa

Holiday lights bokeh tutorial: Columbia, MO Photographer

Do you want to take a photo of an object in front of your beautiful Christmas tree and get that bokeh effect in the background?  Follow these simple steps to capturing that special photo.

Step 1: Grab your DSLR camera. (As for us, Melissa is a Canon lover and Katie is a Nikon lover.)
Step 2: Switch your camera to Manual mode.
Step 3: Place your subject about 4-6 foot in front of the Christmas tree.
Step 4: Use an open aperture (anywhere from 1.4-2.8)
Step 5: Use a high ISO and a fast shutter speed.

Check out the example below with an Angel ornament in front of a Christmas tree. 

Christmas mini photo session: Columbia, MO Photographer

When this family contacted us and asked to do their photo session at a local Christmas tree farm, we were super excited! We arrived at the farm early so we could get our decorations set up.  It was really hard not to eat one of the candy canes that we were so precisely hanging on the Christmas tree for our setup!   Luke and Leah arrived and were dressed in their adorable Christmas outfits.  Leah was such a doll! As soon as she got there, she automatically started posing all on her own!  Luke's big brown eyes and cute grin melted our hearts and that handsome little hat was absolutely adorable.  After several giggles and lots of playing, we ended the session with more memories that will forever be in our hearts.  Thanks Leah and Luke for lots of fun!

Here is a behind the scenes shot as well.

Your Photographers: Fresh Inspirations Photography

For all of those who haven't had the opportunity to meet us, we wanted to show you our fun, energetic and genuine selves!  We love all of our current clients and look forward to meeting more clients in the future. Contact us for lots of smiles, giggles and lasting memories!

Katie & Melissa

Owners of Fresh Inspirations Photography