I had such a great time with this family! Going to a new location is always an exciting challenge, and when this Mom asked if I would go to their home for their session it was no exception! I loved the open views of the trees and fields nearby, and the old wooden barn was a great backdrop, too. Add in a fun family and you can't do much better than that!

Family Homestead

I had a fabulous time with this family's photo session! They invited me out to the family farm, which was a pretty special thing, since 6 generations of their family have lived there! There were fabulous photo spots all around the farm with all the buildings, trees, grass, and the farmhouse itself. We got some really cute stuff, but these are definitely my favorites from the day:

Time flies!

This handsome little man has been on my blog a few times already. We did newborn, 3 month, and 6 months photos, and it was already time for his 9 month pictures! He wasn't so much into getting his picture taken on this particular morning, but we were able to get some nice shots anyway! This is such a cute little family :-)

Light and Bright Wedding

This past weekend, I assisted my photographer friend Nathan from Nathan's Photography at a wedding and reception. We had a great time, as usual, and I'm so happy with the images we captured! He posted the sneak peek on his website early this morning, so I decided to go ahead and share some of our work on my blog, as well. The wedding was very springy, with the bridesmaids in black dresses with bright and colorful bouquets. The centerpieces at the reception featured handmade pinwheels made from brightly colored card stock, and the wedding cake was a huge cupcake tree with different bright colors of icing and adorable handmade paper cups! My favorite part of the reception, though, was the dessert table, that featured mini cheesecakes and the bride's grandma's homemade cherry pies!
These are 4 of my favorite images from the sneak peek, and they all feature my shooting and/or editing work.

Littlest Hunter

I can't believe how many baby boys I have been photographing lately! It has been all fun, though! For this session, we were lucky enough to have a day of unseasonable sunshine and temperatures, so we were able to take advantage of the beautiful afternoon glow. Daddy is a duck hunter, and they wanted to incorporate this into his session. I love the photo of him in the orange hat - we did a newborn photo of him with the same hat, but his entire body fit into it! Look at him now! We also squeezed in a few family photos, as well, and they turned out beautifully, too! I love it when a plan comes together!

Expecting!

Back when the weather was still pretty warm, I was asked to come out and do a 3-generation family session. The adult son and his wife had recently learned that they were expecting, and wanted to surprise his family when they shared the big news. So, we coordinated before the day of the shoot. I played dumb and did my usual thing as we hit different spots on the family property, but we were saving the big reveal for last. When we had the whole crew all grouped together for ta big family picture, I said the "secret word" and, as we cued up to say "cheese" for the last photo, they hollered out "we're pregnant!" Since we had planned ahead, I was prepared for the reactions and I just kept shooting thru the moment, capturing laughter and hugs and tears as they enjoyed the happy news! Here we are now, a few weeks before this little guy will make his arrival, and they asked me back to do a maternity session. It was crazy windy, but the temps were great, which was funny since we had talked about how nice it would be if we had a little snow for this session. But, that's ok, I'll take the sunshine, too!

Sunset on Little Prairie

I was on the way home from a recent session when I passed an old country road that I have driven on probably 1,000 times. The timing was just right, as we were smack in the middle of sunset. Since I happened to have my camera with me, I impulsively turned off the highway onto this familiar country road and started snapping before I ran out of light. Although most of what I got was pretty crappy, I was really happy with a couple of my images. That happens sometimes... a burst of 100 shots might only yield 1 or 2 that are really good. But, that's ok. I'll take 1 or 2 over NONE! I'm thinking about a big canvas of the color version of the tree shot for my living room...

It felt really good to stand on the side of that road all by myself and shoot for a few minutes. I didn't really know what I wanted to capture when I stopped, I just knew that I needed to take a moment with my camera and give it a try, even though it was quickly getting dark and I didn't have my tripod in the car. I've done so much portrait work lately, which is my favorite, that I haven't really given a thought to any nature shots in over a month. I'm glad I carved out a little time for it! Maybe I should do that more often :-)

Lookin' Great in Green

When we got started on this session, Mom laughed because she had been shopping and choosing clothes for everyone to wear, and realized that everyone was in green! It looked awesome with the browns, golds, and reds around us for this outdoor session. It was another of those chilly, windy days, but we made it work and got some great stuff!

Last senior of the season

This young man was my last senior session of the season.... it feels crazy to even say that, since I never imagined that I would even photograph a senior.... this year was my first time, and I did four! It was, surprisingly, a lot of fun, and I hope to get a few more senior session for next year!

We had to bump this session twice because of rotten weather... once for wind, the next time for cold and rain, so, on our third attempt, we made it work! It was a little chilly out in the wind when we got started, but we pushed thru and it wasn't too bad by the end. These are just a handful of the images we got that day, he was such a natural and just fell into place, it made my job easy! There's a few that I think really turned out awesome, but I'm going to let he and his mom see them first before I post them for the rest of the world to look at... meanwhile, here's a sampling of what we got:

Three Generation Session

When we were planning for this extended family session, the family kept giving me "warnings" about how things can get loud and crazy when everyone is together.... I guess they didn't know that I'm used to Bowen holidays, with my father in law being from a family of 9 children... "loud and crazy" has a whole new definition in that setting! We had babies to grandparents, and I was surprised at how many photos we had gotten done in the amount of time that we were out there. The location is one that is popular among several other area photographers, but this was my first trip out there. The lighting was perfect, and it ended up being a beautiful session! Here's a handful of their gallery images:

This is why I love the golden hour...

This little guy's mom was worried about getting good shots of him during the session since he was having some typical 2 year old moods, but we were able to get some great stuff with him! We went to his grandparents' farm, and as the sun set over the open fields and fell over their property, the lighting was outstanding. I love how the images from this session turned out!

Fun Family Session

This family had a great time for their photo session with me! The boys loved being at the park, throwing their football around, and, especially, visiting the firehouse! It was one of those surprisingly warm fall days, but we had a great time. The firehouse images are my favorite :-)

Awesome Autumn Color = Great Family Pic Backdrop!

Do you remember the "Down on the Farm" session I posted recently? Well, here's a family pic from that session - I was nervous about the light since it was getting close to noon and that is less than ideal, but it totally worked out!

Another Adorable Family

I'm loving all of these adorable fall family sessions that have been coming along lately! I love the color choices that Mom picked out for them, and they looked awesome against the yellows and greens in the scenery for their photos. This location was a new one for me, and it has become one of my new favorites! Mom shared that their home is decorated in a lot of earth tones, and she was excited to have photos that would coordinate with their decor. I am so happy with how these came out!