Wrapping up the senior season...

It has flown by this year, I'm kind of sad to have it come to an end.  But that just means that I will be even more ready to greet the next class.  This lovely young lady has grown up right in front of me.  She attends the same church as my family.  She carries herself with a poise that has always seemed so mature and gracious and good natured to me.  It was such a pleasure to get to know her on a more personal level and I found that she is just as good natured and gracious as she seems.

I had such a great time!  Hope you did too.

Fall senior...

So many seniors wait for their senior portraits until fall and I think that is just wonderful!  Emily did just that and we had a perfect day for her session.  We went to one of my very favorite places that I hadn't been to for several weeks.  The trees were still pretty green but the grass was exploding with fall and Emily's outfit choices complimented it so well.

It isn't too late to schedule your senior session!  Call to reserve your time today!

Jake- Class of 2014

Who doesn't love fall?  Crisp air in the mornings, warm afternoons, colorful landscapes and so many other things make fall a photographer's dream time to photograph portraits.  Well, most of the time.  It seems to be a theme this time of year that the weather likes toy with my emotions.  My calendar if full and I'm so excited to meet up with each senior and family on the schedule and then those dreaded words "chance of rain".  Those words just let all the wind out of my sails.  Thankfully, this senior was watching the forecast too and happened to have an evening open a few days before his original date when the rain was going to hit.  So with a few minor adjustments in my family's schedule, we headed out to the dam a bit earlier than we'd planned.  I'm so glad because the weather was perfect.

Lovely young lady...

I get so excited when I have a senior coming in for their portraits and Ms Jasmine is a perfect example of why!  First of all- they are so excited to have their senior portraits done which makes my work feel much less like work.  2nd, I am continually impressed by the young people that pass through my doors!  Bright, self-assured, talented, kind-hearted people with big plans for their futures.

We had Jasmine's consultation way back in the spring so it was great to spend more time with her and her mom in the studio and as we wandered around a few of my favorite spots.  She isn't much of a nature dweller so we pretty much stuck to buildings and alleyways.  She is so sweet and happy that she had a hard time keeping a straight face when I felt the location and pose needed a serious, sassy expression but she did manage to pull it off for a few.

Thanks for spending your Saturday afternoon with me!   I hope you had as much fun as I did.  I'm looking forward to showing you the rest very soon!

If you haven't booked your senior session yet, what are you waiting for?  Still plenty of times open for you to have your own consultation and get your session on the calendar but you'd better call very soon!

Hockey Senior...

Spencer came to me over the winter break while he was home for the holidays.  He lives out of state to play hockey so we really hoped for snow for the outdoors part of his session.  We got so lucky to have pretty snow as well as a somewhat warm, still day and a few flurries to add to the effect.

Spencer's sister was also along so we had her get into a few once we got back to the studio.  They had GREAT {and typical} interactions.  It was so fun that we got some silly as well as sweet sibling moments for them.

Winter Senior

Yes, I'm still photographing seniors for the class of 2013!  And it has been great to be out playing in the snow {although, I would have been happier if there had been a few more degrees on the thermometer}.    Mark came in just before Christmas for his session.  We started out in the studio that morning before going outside, hoping that it would warm up just a bit more.  We didn't linger in any of our spots and I thought he did a great job of trying not to look as cold as I'm sure he was.

The season for this class is pretty much done, just down to selecting yearbook submissions and designing announcements, guest books and banners for the up-coming celebrations.  The class of 2013 has been a very impressive bunch of young people!  I'm excited to meet the class of 2014 in just a few short months.

Lovely, Lovely, Lovely!

I've said it before & I'm going to say it again- I am so impressed with the high school seniors that have come through my door this year!  The lovely Abby is as beautiful inside as she is out.  I only talked with her over the phone before her session- talking with her and her mom in person was a real treat.  I loved hearing about her mission travels and up coming plans for even more.

The only prop she brought was a Star Bucks coffee, LOVE it!

And just a couple more favorites from the studio:

Abby, I really enjoyed my time with you.  You are a beautiful girl with an amazing heart.  I'll keep you in my prayers for a successful trip.

Sweet Senior...

I first met this lovely young lady when I photographed her brother's wedding.  I had so much fun with that family on that day so I was more than thrilled to hear from her about photographing her for her senior portraits.  She has become even more lovely, sweet and more fun over the last couple years!  Spending my afternoon with her was the perfect way to spend a chilly fall day.

Wonderful young lady....

and I got to spend the better part of my day with her.  If my kids turn out half as amazing as Ellie, I will be very, very blessed.  One of the neat things was when I told mom as much, she beamed with pride and said, "I know".  Ellie is beautiful, smart, talented, funny and has the sweetest, kindest heart.

She seems so comfortable in her own skin, quick with a laugh, a funny face, and a great smile.  I just love that all the facets of her personality came out during her session.  That also made for a great "photobooth" feel for some of her studio images:

And just a couple more from the rest of her session.  

There are SO many more to show her but I'll wait until she comes in for her reveal.  I had so much fun with her & her parents!  I'm looking forward to getting the rest ready for you all to come back in to see.

Addison and his pup...

It isn't unusual for seniors to bring someone along for their session.  And it isn't unusual for that someone to be a pet.  Addison brought his dog, who was a great sport when it wasn't his turn to be in front of the camera.

{sigh} I adore seniors...

And I have to admit, I have a particular fondness for {this} senior.  I first met  a few years ago when they asked me to do family portraits, way back in my early days.  Since then, Hailey has helped me out several times as a model (remember Snow White in the snow) assisted me with a wedding and I had the great honor of photographing her mom's last St Patrick's day.  Each time I'm with her I am amazed at her poise, maturity and grace.  Her inner strengths simply enhance her outer beauty.

It rained the day we got together for these but that didn't stop us!  We stopped by a camera shop to pick up a rain cover for my gear and braved the elements to get a few more fun images:

Thanks for another FUN day, Hailey!

High School Senior- Michael

Each senior has their own approach to their portrait session.  Michael's was to leave the details up to his mom and me (fairly typical of the guys)- that is until we started talking about his car.  Then he had something to add to our plan.  He loves this car that he & his dad have been rebuilding so having it be a part of his senior experience was one thing that I just knew we had to do.

We had a gorgeous night for his session!  I love the magic hour.  If only it lasted longer, I could have played all night.  And the fall colors were becoming more prominent, really adding to the effect of the warm light.

Michael, I had a great time getting to know you and your mom!  Can't wait to show you the rest of your session.

After the rain...

Kelli's session was interrupted by rain :(.  We had started in the studio and got some fun stuff there and were really excited to get outside for some more fun image creating.  When we packed up, I opened the door and saw rain drops!  So disappointing when we were already on such a great roll.  So we rescheduled that portion of her senior portraits so that (fingers crossed) we could have drier weather and possibly some sunset lighting.  Boy did that work in her favor!  She came to part 2 of her session with her hair different and the weather could not have been more gorgeous!  We spent so much more time than we would have on the original date and I completely got carried away and took SO many more images than usual (Sorry, Kelly, you are going to have some tough choices to make when ordering time comes).  Besides the fact that she is totally adorable, Kelly is as sweet as she looks and I had a great time with her and her mom (both days).  Here is your sneak, I'll be in touch next week about the rest of your proofs.  Enjoy!

The very lovely Kara...

I am swooning over Kara's senior portraits!  Aside from being a little on the chilly side, we could not have asked for a better evening to wander around town and let her shine for the camera.  And shine, she did! 

Thank you for spending your evening with me!  I can't wait to show you the rest of your portraits very soon.  I'll leave you with one more sneak from the studio...

Samantha had a very lucky session!

For Sammi, everything just kind of happened, fell into place, worked out perfect.  She wanted to do something with graffiti so I found a wall while out on a different session and the colors just happened to PERFECTLY match her shirt!  Pretty cool!  Then as we were finishing up, a couple of really beautiful vintage trucks just happened to park right by us and the owners were nice enough to let her pose beside one of them.  And the lighting at the time was absolutely perfect.  I don't think we could have asked for things to go any better.  It was a very fun and surprising senior session and a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon with her and her mom.  Thanks for sharing your time with me! I feel pretty lucky.