Well, it’s official…high school senior picture season is in full-swing and needless to say, I’m having the time of my life.  When Hannah, a Hudson High School senior, walked into my studio I knew we were destined to have a good time.  Her style and personality is very much like mine so when we stopped talking long enough to take pictures everything  just clicked (pardon the pun).  Have a great senior year Hannah!

When I showed up to photograph baby “P” his mom let it be known that her son has no interest in being bare.  She told tales of the yelps, hollers, and squeals he gives anytime she gets him ready for a bath.  Evidently he is just one of those babies that prefers to be warm and toasty…can you blame him?!  All I said was, “Never say never because you just never know!”  Toward the end of the session I was feeling brave and confident that I could take on this lil’ babe…guess what:

I won. 

I know if my uber-talented, opera-singing brother-in-law happens to stop by my blog he just did a double-take at the title of this post.  Yes Sam, you are reading that right (cool name, eh?!). Meet Aria, a beautiful soon-to-be senior at Stillwater High School, who was an absolute natural in front of the camera.  Her passion for books, music, swimming and academics was nothing short of inspiring.  It was a pleasure working with you Aria and I wish you the best as you head into your final year of high school.  Go Ponies!

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to photograph Molly and Nathan in Sioux City, IA.  It’s always so exciting traveling to new locations as I never quite know what I’ll have to work with.  I found myself slightly overwhelmed with possibilities in this photographers paradise…luckily they were both troopers and made no bones about it as we roamed from one end of town to the next.  We wrapped things up downtown and headed out to the country where Molly’s family owns property as I just had to go take a look at the ratty old truck she was telling me about. Oh, the fun we had…nevermind the two horses nibbling on my hair while taking the last few shots.  Ha!  Thanks again Molly and Nathan and I’m looking forward to the wedding!

Speaking of childhood friends… in 7th grade my friend Katrena and I were absolutely determined to start our own clothing line called “Statement”.  Our first design was a pair of jeans decorated with puff paint complete with our logo and brand name on the back pocket.  (The first clue that the our odds of making it big as fashion designers were slim to none . HA!)   Life has taken me in many different directions over the years but shooting high school seniors is something that helps me live out my dream of doing something fashionesque.

Nikki is a senior at Stillwater, Minnesota High School and has dreams of going off to college to study (get this!) fashion design.  I loved listening to her describe the visions she has for her own line of clothing she hopes to create someday.  And to top it off, she found a stash of my old records in the loft (yes kids, I’m really that old) and she went crazy over them!  What?  Someone thinks my taste in music is “cool”?!  Gotta’ love that!

On the first day of school in 9th grade I was seated next to the “new girl” in school as her last name happened to fall right behind mine on the roster.  Within 30 seconds of sitting down we were doing that hyper-speed-chitter-chatter 14 year-old girls are known for.  From that moment on we were joined at the hip and before long we were officially “BFF’s”.  While other friendships faded in and out over the years this one remained through thick and thin.  It’s been almost 19 years since the day we met and although we don’t talk as much as I’d like it seems we never miss a beat when we do get together.  I recently made a trip to visit her and meet the newest addition to her family…a beautiful baby girl!  So without further ado, I proudly introduce Baby “A” who was welcomed home by mom, dad, big brothers Chase and Jacob and watched over by big brother, Ethan, from above.

All weddings have a love story behind them, but this was one for the books.  Mike and Melissa met and started dating 16 years ago.  (No, that is not a typo.)  Mike says it was love at first sight when he saw her hanging up a poster in the hallway at school.  They dated all through high school only to part ways in college.  They stayed in touch and reunited a few years later and the rest, they say, is history.  When they came to meet with me last year I could sense that their wedding day would be a day filled with emotion and that it was. Melissa’s exquisite taste was the perfect accompaniment to their beautiful day of celebration.  What an honor it was to be chosen to document the most important day of their lives.  Thank you again you guys!

Click on the image of the shoes if you’d like to view more images from Mike and Melissa’s wedding day.

I can think of no better word to describe this little boy than content.  When I arrived for his session he was sound asleep which gave me an opportunity to visit with his mom and hear the story of baby “N”.  At one point in the conversation she pulled out some old family photos explaining that she had been looking through them to see if there was any resemblence to anyone from past generations.  I found the photos so intriguing and was inspired to re-create the vintage look of her treasured heirlooms on one of the shots from her session (see image 5).  Also, see if you can spot a little something poking through his bottom gum in image #1.  My guess is that it won’t be long and baby “N” will have a new tooth!