LP in the House!!!!

Today i spent a couple of hours with four lovely ladies from Liquid Planet.  For those of you not familiar with the infamous LP,as it is referred to in Missoula, this is the coffee shop directly across from RMSP. The staff over there gets to know us real well since we spend any break from class over there stockin up on more caffeine. 
I took them out in to the woods for a photo shoot and we had a great time.  I wish i would have take a picture of us hauling the wardrobe down the trail, i am sure it was quite a scene.  And Damn you girl in the pink shirt for not moving out of my shoot and then commandeering my cart that i got mad at and threw on the side of the trail.  Suffice it to say, it was a great time.  You ladies were awesome to hangout with, i am glad we finally got around to it. Christine, Bethany, Lindsey and Esther thank you SO much.  for taking the time.  See you shortly for my first coffee of the day.
Eileen

The New Website!

The new website is up and running!! www.eileenkeenan.com

I have a few other kinks to work out over the next week or so, but I feel good about having a face on the web. 

 Follow the link above for now.  Once it is officially linked to my domain name, www.eileenkeenan.com, i will let you know.  

Eileen

Shootin Some Stock

On sunday I had my friend Shawn's son, Marcus, pose for me with his football gear.  I am positive,  at this very moment,  my brother Tim is laughing his ass off since I am not a fan of football myself.  One year I called him in the middle of the Super Bowl just to chat. I truly had NO IDEA there was this 'big' game going on and could not understand why he was so annoyed with me....  Anyway, back to Marcus.  First of all i would like to say he is the nicest teenager i have met in a very long time, what a good kid.  And as you can see he is a pretty good lookin kid as well.  He put up with my ridiculous questions about football and was great at following directions.  I think he had a lot of fun.  The next round will be with him and two of his buddies doing their football thing, should be a good time.  Marcus and Shawn, thank you for taking the time.

Below is some of the images I got that day.  It was a GREAT start, but definitely looking forward to getting more.  Talk to you all soon.. Eileen

 

 

 

Making A Name For Myself

Sooooo...... I am trying to get into iStock. One of my goals is to spend the winter building my portfolio for stock with the help of my amazing niece and nephews. We are going to dress in costumes, go play in the snow, run the streets of Chicago and Indianapolis and much, much more. I have quite the list going... I am teaching myself to shoot specifically for stock; to come up with a list of ideas that I don't see out there in  the photo stock market and do everything I can to portray that in still imagery can be quite challenging. . In the last 3 years I have mostly been shooting Portraits and Weddings, which I love and still do on a regular basis, but stock is a different mind set.   You have to be aware of details in the image that otherwise would be null and void.  My friend Forest Woodward walked me through some of my possible stock shots and gave me an idea what will and won't work, he has become a bit of a rock star in the iStock world these days.  I am going to resubmit to iStock and see what happens, maybe i too can become the next Janis Joplin of iStock.  I will keep you posted.

Drunkin Missoula

After spending the day working on my blog and book keeping and my website and blah, blah, blah... i decided to take a bike ride downtown to my car that was booted on friday by the lovely Metermaids of Missoula. For this I am sure i will catch plenty of shit for on monday by all the lovely AI students, since it has been there all weekend, that is a given. Along the way i passed by many many reasons why i love this town and will miss it so....
After crossing over the pedestrian bridge I almost ran into a couple of girls stumbling out of the Silver Dollar to have a cig. I passed the Depot and the James Bar that were still hoping after the Griz Homecoming. Pizza on the Fly had quite the line from all the late night munchers and the Ox was just starting to pick up for the evening or should i say early morning. As i passed by Ferquoi's (?) there was a very passionate girl enjoying her 4 ft. blow up penis on the corner, as we all know once you have made it to Ferquoi's you are in for the the long hall. As i continued on I watched a very drunk kid stumble across Higgins Ave while the light was green and cars honked at him because he was being a jackass. As i passed him i told him to "be careful" and he told me to "fuck off". Oh drunk people. Don't get me wrong it is not the bars that i will miss, it's the people. i have never felt more myself in a place and for some reason all those people i just saw for a moment reminded me of how great it is to be in a place where you can just be you, no matter what.
Thanks for listening to the ramble.
Eileen

I have fallen in love for the fifth time in my life.

     My oldest brother Tim and his wife Jeannie tried for a very long time to have a baby to no avail.  They had given themselves over to being a fantastic aunt and uncle, which they have honestly mastered quite well.  Last year, on my birthday, they told me they were pregnant.  At first, I didn’t believe them.  I thought they were playing a joke on me.  Sure enough they were and I was thrilled at the fact that we would have another kiddo in the family. 

The time has finally arrived … Padraic Foley Keenan was born on February 4^th, 2010. 

  

     I jumped on a train last week to come and meet the little fella and help my bro & sis get acquainted with their new life.  We've had a photo shoot pretty much every day and Padraic & his Aunt Eileen have bonded quite well.  Here is a taste of some of our shots we have gotten, with much more to come…

Welcome to the world little buddy.


Love, Aunt Eileen 

She will be missed.

At this very moment most of my family on my mothers side is gathering in Worcester, MA at the funeral of Kathleen A. Foley, better known as Auntie Kay.  She has been the matriarch of our family for 40 plus years and will be truly missed by many.  I am sad that I could not make it out there; if there was one funeral I wanted to make it to it was hers.  She of all people would understand.  I did make it out this summer to visit her.  It was great; it had been three years since I had seen her.  My cousins T2 and Danny went with me. I brought her sugar as usual and I made her take pictures with me, which she was not super happy about, but it made her laugh.  We did one of my FAVORITE things to do with her, looking at old photo albums.  I loved listening to her tell stories of the past; watching her face light up when she would see someone she hasn’t seen in ages, pointing out people in the pictures that we didn’t know, listening to her laugh when she would see images of her as a teenager goofing around with her girl friends, talking about Circuit Ave, etc, etc.  And while she is getting lost in her youth she has three of her great nieces and nephews on the edge of their seats with every word she is saying.  I remember having a moment when I was there; I looked at T2 and Danny and smiled seeing the same feeling in them that I had in myself sitting there in her very tiny apartment.  It was a feeling of admiration and love all mixed together, we could have sat there all morning and listened to her talk about her life.  It was a great morning; I will truly miss those visits.

I must say I am proud that my three brothers will be a part of the service as pall bearers; I know our mother would be proud and although I haven’t spoken to them personally about their feelings, I know that means the world to each them.

She has been and always will be an important woman in my life and I will miss her tremendously.  

So here is what I picture...  Auntie Kay is making her last walk down the boardwalk to the beach. Just as she comes up over the dune she sees everyone: lounging in beach chairs, lying on blankets, swimming in the water, cheering as she steps into the sand.  She has a big beautiful smile on her face, finds a chair, wiggles her feet in to the sand, grabs her Manhattan and everyone toasts the ferry.  

Love you Auntie Kay. 

Eileen

She is home.

She is home.  When Linds and I picked her up at the vet today I expected her to be quite lethargic, not the case at all.  She jumped right in the back of the Aveo; stared at me the whole way home, sniffed around when we got to the house to make sure everything was in its place and hasn’t left my side since.  She is going to be just fine.  We both would like to give a shout out to all of the thoughts, hugs, prayers, reiki, etc.  We appreciate the love. 

Eileen & Mar dog

The Mar Dog.

This is Miss Marley.  She scared me this weekend.  I had to rush her to the vet Saturday morning, she had eaten some De-Con rat poison and got very very sick.  Luckily she is on the mend, but yesterday was a touch and go day, i was truly scared i was going to loose her.  Come to find out that she ate two De-Con packages and the Vitamin K wouldn't even touch it.  Last night she had a blood transfusion and is doing much better.  Please if you are trying to get rid of rodents, use a trap, it is much more humane.  I won't go into detail of what she had to go through last night, but no animal should ever have to go through that.  Love you Mar Face.

Mama

Mith Lampo & Mither Kurt Hitched West Virginia Style

This is a wedding I have been looking forward to ALL year. I have known I was going to shoot this wedding since before Sara & Kurt, as a couple, even existed. Mith Lampo is one of my very best friends, to be at the wedding was amazing, but to shoot it was a privilege. Kurt & Sara did their wedding right. It was very down to earth and laid back, but at the same time gorgeous and picture perfect. The canoe trip was only the beginning of the weekend and what a great way to start things off. It was great to meet all these fantastic people I have heard so much about through out my friendship with Lampo, and Kurt's family was out right awesome. I am so happy for the both of you; I hope you are enjoying Costa Rica and a little bit of alone time. ;)

Love you both, Mith Eileen

Tara & Paul Get Married

The weekend of August 1st, I had the lovely pleasure of shooting Tara and Paul and there weekend of Love. Yes, I know that was kinda cheesy, but it is true. They are two people that when they look at each other you know it is right and I am glad I got to be the one to document it. The ceremony was beautiful and filled with humor all at the same time. And the party..... well, you will just have to see for yourself; both Paul and Tara's families know how to have a GOOD TIME. Thanks guys for letting me be a part of your day. This is just brushing the surface of what we got, but this should hold you over for a bit. Congrats. To be continued.......

Eileen

Bruce and Carole Finally Get Hitched! ;)

A week and a half ago I went to Breckenridge for a family wedding. Now, I don't know how many of you out there have heard me tell stories about my family weddings, they are something you must see first hand to truly understand. They are not legends or myths that are built up in our minds, we know how to party and the fine combo of my cousin Carole’s family and her new husband Bruce’s family was ideal. Below is a little taste of the weekend and the good times we had. Carole and Bruce, thanks for asking me to shoot your wedding, the two of you are awesome together and I am thrilled for you both. Love ya, Eileen

Beach Stuff

This is most of the stuff in my show this Aug.

Help me, Help Youth Homes.

An Afternoon in the Park

I spent part of my afternoon yesterday with the Winterer Family at McCormick Park, we had a ball. At first Harriet, Waverly, Fox and Josephine were not super excited about getting their pictures taken, but as they warmed up to me, they started getting into it. We ran around in the dandy lions, played on the monkey bars and went up and down the curly slide - one of my favorites. And although mom and dad were not planning on getting their pictures taken as well, we ended up getting a couple of great family shots. Thanks for taken the time to play in the park with me on such a beautiful day.
Eileen

From An Afternoon in the Park part II

From An Afternoon in the Park part II

From An Afternoon in the Park.

From An Afternoon in the Park.

From An Afternoon in the Park.

My Friends Ashley and Olivia

Man, was this a fun shoot. Ashley is a photographer as well, I was impressed how she didn't tell me what to do once. We had a good time. We both love to laugh and goof around, as you can tell by the gangsta mommy shots, we could have keep going. If we have time before the baby is born we will try to squeeze some in with the hubby, Brody. Ashley, thanks for letting me shoot these pics for you. It has been a while since I have done maternity photos, I was a little rusty. After the fact my ideas were really starting to flow. Looking forward to my next one. Remember Ashley and Brody May 27th is a great day. Hold out, it will be worth it. ;)

Breanna

Here are some photos from a recent senior portrait. Breanna was fun to work with and with a beautiful smile it was easy to get fantastic images. I was thrilled to see how happy she was with the final product. Thanks Breanna, I had a ball.

It has been a while but i am back.

Linds & Mitch's Wedding Day

Linds & Mitch