When I set out on my session with Anna, her mom mentioned that music was a huge part of her life. They brought along her guitar in case we wanted to incorporate it into some of the photos and I’m so glad she did! I went through the entire photo shoot with Anna noting what a natural she was in front of the camera, but little did I know the raw talent that was right before me. You see…we used the guitar in some of the frames, but never once did I hear Anna play or sing.  A week or two after the session I sent her mom a sneak peek image of Anna and her guitar. Her mom replied saying how much she loved the photo and linked me to one of Anna’s music videos! Needless to say, I was blown away by her voice! Something tells me big things will come her way.

Here are some links to her videos…definitely worth a listen in my opinion!  Click HERE, HERE, and HERE!

What a treat it was photographing Shaylee. She is a beautiful young lady who was an absolute natural in front of the camera. We really couldn’t have asked for better weather, but we did manage to go through a bottle of bug spray during the session! Lucky for me, Shaylee was a trooper and didn’t let the mosquitoes rain on our parade. We managed to get to several locations and shot straight through until sunset. Here are just a few photos from her gallery:

What a summer we’ve been having here in the great state of Wisconsin. The weather over the past few months makes the long, cold winters seem worth it…almost! The nice thing about gorgeous summer weather is that it makes for a perfect conditions for photo shoots. When Paige arrived for her session clouds were looming, but within a few minutes they blew over and we were left with a few hours of nothing but sunshine. She was an absolute sweetheart and as you can see…she’s a natural beauty which means she made my job extra easy!

I’m going on my 9th year in business and one thing I’ve discovered is that I have a bit of routine when it comes to prepping for my senior shooting season. Each year, after we thaw out from our long, cold winter and before the start of my senior season, I like to do a photo shoot that is just for me. This is a chance for me to get back in the groove of shooting outdoors, practice new techniques, try out  new locations, and build a collection of images to use for work assignments.

When I set out to do a personal project I never quite know who my subject will be or where I’ll find them.  Somehow right about the time I get the bug to work on a photo project it seems I come across the perfect person. This year that person was Kara. I was in yoga class one day with Kara and her mom and I knew right away that I wanted to get Kara in front of my camera. We arranged for her to come out to my studio and I’m so glad we did. Having an opportunity to photograph her was exactly what I needed. Our session reminded me of just how much I love the art of photography and it made me more excited than ever for the upcoming senior shooting season. Thank you, Kara!

It seems a lot of little girls in my life are celebrating their 7th birthdays this year…including my niece Ava! She is an avid reader (by that, I mean she reads at a high school level) so I knew I wanted to incorporate a book or two into her images. As you can see, Ava certainly made my job easy. She is full or personality and absolutely loves to talk “books” which means we had A LOT to talk about. Her little sister, Scarlet, also wanted in on the action so of course I had to include her in a few frames as well. It was fun to spend time with them and I especially loved spoiling them each with a little treat after the session. That’s what Auntie’s are for, right?! Happy birthday, Ava!

After the winter we had here in Wisconsin I have to say that I was more than ready to kickoff this season’s outdoor portrait season! And what better way to do it than with an adorable little girl who is getting ready to celebrate her 7th birthday. The icing on the cake (pardon the pun) is that she absolutely LOVED the camera and the camera loved her right back. We had such a hoot during the session that I had a hard time calling it quits. Little Julia just kept going, and going, and going. Something tells me this photo session is something she’ll remember for years to come. Happy Birthday, Julia!

This adorable family has something in common with my own family…we are both hosting European teenagers in our home this year. The Turnbull’s have Oliver, a foreign exchange student from Denmark, staying with them while we have Filip, an exchange hockey player from Poland. That gave the mom of this crew and I something to talk about and we had to laugh at  how big of an adjustment it was for us to get used to cooking for teenage boys. Oh, my stars…can they eat or can they eat?!

At any rate, we had a great time chatting and I absolutely adore their sense of style. It made the session especially fun!

Oh, how I adore these two little boys…the entire family, really, but the boys get me every single time! Maybe it’s because I’m a mom of two boys myself and when I work with these guys it reminds me of what my life was like just a short time ago. Whatever it is I just love having the opportunity to photograph them every year. I think you’ll see in the photos below that they are two very happy (& silly) boys.

About halfway through the session we decided to take some time to be extra goofy to help get out some of the wiggle worms. I kept snapping pictures throughout this process imagining they’d be fun outtakes if nothing else. I was delighted to hear that some of the silly pictures were their parent’s favorite images. These silly antics go away all too quickly as kids grow up! It’s a good reminder to me about why I love photography as much as I do!

Susan has been bringing her family to me for years for their annual photographs and it’s always such a joy to work with them.  They are such a close-knit family and the boys are about as nice and polite as they come.  It’s been so fun for me to see them grow and change year after year, but it also makes me realize just how fast time flies. It won’t be long and I’ll be taking their senior pictures!