I’m sure you are getting excited. The tournament is coming up on May 22nd, and just as you will be ready physically and mentally, I’ll be ready with cameras, lights, and a totally new way to see yourself in images.

Before I agreed to be the tournament’s photographer, I looked into what other photographers were doing with their tournament photos. What I found was something straight out of the 90s. Old style designs, dull poses, no choices…nothing i wanted to be a part of, that’s for sure.

So here’s how it works for Seo’s National Karate Tournament this May 22nd…

That’s how it works.  Simple as that.  If you don’t find portraits you love, don’t buy ‘em.  Better still, I’ll shot a bunch of images of you in different forms, smiling, serious, kicking, maybe even a jumping kick if you don’t knock over my equipment.  A few days after the tournament, you’ll get to view all your portraits and order your favorites from my online web gallery.

That’s only the first part.  After we create your portraits, you get to choose how to display them.  Here’s a few of the great designs I’m working, created exclusively for Grand Master Seo’s Students.

First is the tournament poster, which comes customized with your favorite portrait as an 11×14 or 16×20 poster.

Hello Parents,

When I walk into Children’s Garden now, I feel such a sense of peace and of home.  I see your childrens’ photography on the walls, a project that exceeded my expectations and continues to captivate me whenever I sit down to look through the images captured by the children over the past months.  I hear the children say, “Eric’s Here!” and some who don’t recognize me look very closely, trying to figure out why I’m vaguely familiar.

I am in a unique position as a visitor to your school…In a short time, my goal is to connect and know and hear your children, to transform our relationship between that of photographer-child to friend-child, and do that in only a matter of minutes.  I get to hear what is fascinating to your children…one toddler is an expert on Monorails, another I can just imagine watching Twins games with Dad (and mom too?)  I see your children as just a bit vulnerable, as you may too feel if someone you don’t know comes up and starts a conversation as if they know you already.   It (usually) and quickly moves from that hesitation, the inquisitive looks, the ‘who are you and why are you flashing that camera in my face’, to expressions that will be more familiar to you…joy, thoughtfulness, and those happy smiles that greet you at the fence every day after school.

So it is my sincere hope that you will find your child in here, the child you know and see every day.  More than a ‘school portrait’ that captures appearance and a pleasant expression, I hope I was able to capture just a bit of your child’s true personality.

Thanks to Susan Green at the Denver Post for her column this morning, and for inspiring me to be a bit more introspective…If you’d like to better understand what happens on portrait days, read her column

And now, on to the Portraits

Click here to enter the portrait gallery

You may need to register for an account or log in with your email and password you created last year.

Orders are due Monday May 3rd and will be delivered to school about three weeks later.

You are the only school I’m working this month, which means I have plenty of time and would love to chat about your portraits, help put together an order, or even help you decide on this one or that one! (the answer is both).  Feel free to call:

303-731-2061

Thank you,

Eric