Allen-Kent Photography
Brooke Allen and Michael Kent. Photographers, partners, and firm believers that the best photos come from people who have stopped performing and started actually being there.
We do not believe in perfection, in our photos or in people. Come as you are, trust in the process. We got you.
How we got here
We started this because we believed photography didn't have to feel like a performance. Most people dread being in front of a camera. They stiffen up, second-guess themselves, try to look like they're having fun instead of actually having it.
That's the thing we keep trying to fix. Every session, every year. We move, we talk, we find what makes each person loosen up. Some people need five minutes. Some people need the whole hour. We don't care which.
We work across Northern Michigan because this place gives us extraordinary conditions. The light at Sleeping Bear Dunes, the water along the Leelanau Peninsula, the way a barn in Empire looks at golden hour. But we'd follow the people first and the landscape second, every time.
The humans
Photographer
Brooke Allen
Creative, compassionate, perpetually rearranging furniture. Brooke gravitates toward quiet moments, the ones that happen between the posed ones. She's a dog person. Music that fills you up all the way. Down-to-earth people who make space for others.
Clients who came in nervous tend to forget she's there. That's exactly the point.
Photographer
Michael Kent
Coffee first, then conversation. An extroverted nerd who dreams big, is terrible at directions, and can explain in detail how a black hole works. People describe him as a golden retriever. He takes that as the highest of compliments.
He moves fast, talks to everyone, and has a way of making people forget they're being photographed. The best sessions are the ones where that happens inside the first ten minutes.
Good Humans
What we actually believe
Most people don't know what to do with their hands in front of a camera. Neither do we, honestly. We just keep moving until it stops mattering.
A perfectly composed photo of people trying to look natural is still a photo of people trying. We'd rather have the messy, real version every time.
Young, old, blended, furry, covered in spit-up. We treat your whole family like family. The size and shape of it doesn't change that.
The dunes and the water are extraordinary. But we've seen great photos made in a parking lot and forgettable ones at the most beautiful overlook in Michigan. The people make it.
That's our job. You just have to show up. Wear what you like, bring who matters. We handle the rest.
If you're dreading your session before it starts, something has already gone wrong. We move, laugh, take breaks. A session should feel like a good afternoon.
