Mitchell. I remember him as a little kid. Heck, I remember him being born! Mitchell is another of my cousins (I have a lot of them). Now, he is all grown up and is a heart-breaker. He is quick to smile, easy-going and adventurous. He loves movies. This is an understatement…he LOVES movies. We talked about them the whole evening on our little foray into downtown Kansas City. We even shot down at the Uptown Theatre for that vintage theatre look.

Mitch, I can’t believe you are graduating this year. You make me feel old, bro. I guess that makes your dad really old, huh, Uncle Mark? Love you guys!

High school seniors are way too much fun, and I still have so many still to blog from this year!

Kelly rocks. There is no simpler way to put it. She and her friend, Ellen, hung out with me at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City and we had a great time getting some really cool senior photos. Kelly is a sweet spirit who has the most amazing blue eyes and a smile that warms your heart.

Let me know which photos are your favorites. I am always curious to know.

Ellen and her friend, Kelly, met me for a shoot at the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum a long while back. I have been so busy, I am just now getting caught up to blog these shoots. Ellen and Kelly are friends with Lauren and they are all wonderful ladies!

Stay tuned for Kelly’s post and many, many more!

Lauren and her mom, Liz, met with me this past week down at the City Market for a fantastic day of shooting! These two ladies, well, I just gotta say this…they rock! Lauren’s energy was bursting and she was smiling and laughing from the word go. She is an energetic and spunky cheerleader. She has a great sense of laid back style and a fun laugh…I had a lot of fun and I hope they did, too. We got some fun shots here and there that may need some explaining, but please tell me what you think of the photos.

For all you photographer’s out there, I added a 24mm f/2.8 to my arsenal. Snagged it off ebay. I also shot this whole session in manual mode (for all my years shooting, I have used Aperture priority unless I am shooting in the studio). It was a total learning experience for me. As long as I remember to check my settings in each new spot, I do okay…I also noticed I was able consistently process the photos that much faster using my Lightroom presets. Yeah!

Without further ado….here’s the pics. Lauren, I hope you dig them as much as I do.

A little bit of 5’2″ fun with a Minsky’s menu inside the restaurant …Ha! 

Look who’s behind door number one!

Cheerleader getting a bit of air! I love this little 24mm lens. Way cool for shots like these. 

Man, you can’t hide from all the tourists around these days!

The tears in her eyes are from the bright, bright sky…not from seeing my ugly mug. Be nice to me, people!

Wow. The slightly overcast day made for amazing lighting…It looks like it is studio light, but it is all real. Photographers! Go find the light and make it work for you!

Gotta love the reflections.

Stop laughing at your mom, Lauren! Goodness, where’s the respect?!  Ha!

Kiss and make up. 

Aaaaaaagggh! Too much fun!

Tell me what you think, folks! I really want to hear from you.

Seriously. Tell me already.

Charlotte was wonderful! Quiet, fun and mature with a radiant smile! Charlotte and her Grandpa met me at a beautiful little church in Gladstone where we proceeded to take advantage of our surroundings. Lots of cool little nooks to shoot in! Also, she came prepared with lots of great clothes to choose from, which always makes for a fun time of outfit picking and brings variety to the photos.

Don’t mind me…or the “artistically” out of focus image. Okay, not so artistically, but just plain out of focus. It’s hard shooting a self-portrait with regular arms and a 50mm on a cropped sensor!

Hi blog readers! It has been a little while, hasn’t it? I am hoping you all had a wonderful Christmas and were able to see family & friends. This time of year is always busy and hectic and crazy for so many people and I am not the exception. The rush of Christmas, usually a casual birthday celebration (turned 27 yesterday) and then the rush for prepping the end of the year and the beginning of another. Whew!

Well, this one is long overdue, but with the holiday break, I was unable to get them all edited and posted!

I had a wonderful time with Hannah, (accompanied by her mom and sister!). We met out in Blue Springs on a very cold day at Burr Oak Woods nature center. It ended up being a great place to shoot at. Lots of fun hanging out in God’s creation.

Enjoy!

I’m a sucker for teasing hair, laughing at trees, and native prairie grasses (which can grow to be 8 feet tall)!

Hanging next to a cool observation fence right off the trail.

Loving the flair of the sun mixed with bench…I saw spots for quite a while after accidentally looking at the sun. Whoops!

Sorry Hannah, for making you get comfy on a log. I know you thought you were going to have fun, but at least the bugs and bears were hibernating!

I loved her layered look with the scarves and coat and all the layered tops. Take notes, ladies!

Pretty smile!

Yeah, I have an affinity for dumpsters. I’m weird, I know.

The setting sun rocks for beautiful light. So warm and fuzzy, even on a cold day.

Color!

More color!

Pretty tops and cool shoes make for fashion, no? Wee.

There we went with the tall grasses again.

Look, it’s a deer…okay, it’s really mom & sis, who were dears, but not the kind with antlers.

Aaaahhh! Crazy people!

Elise is an exciting, outgoing and personable young woman who comes from a wonderful family. I was so excited to shoot with her a few weeks back when the fall colors were slamming the world with golden hues. It was right after daylight savings, so we ended up shooting as the light quickly faded each evening, spanning over two days of short sessions instead of one longer session. It worked out because she lived (and we shot near) my house, so there wasn’t a lot of traveling involved…I think the results came out pretty dog-gone fun.

She is one of those people whom it is hard to take a bad photo of. Don’t you just hate that? Makes me jealous. Her natural smile is at a constant “on” state and she has no “off” button. I think God stuck a smile on her face and forgot to make her able to frown. Anyway, Elise is creatively talented and radiant.

I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I did taking them.

Elise, I am going to post the surprise photos up tomorrow on my blog. I think you’ll like them.

She climbed a tree and hung out for a while while I stood on my tippy-toes and tried to get some pics. Kinda cool, huh?

The Little Blue River, where we shot some of the time, was just beautiful this time of year.

It was chilly out, so we made use of the faux fur on her coat. Always looks good in black and white…

BIG brown eyes!

Laughing. Laughing. Laughing. It’s funny, she thought I was stupid for making her laugh at the rocks. I surely can’t make people laugh at my jokes, so rocks will have to do.

TALL grass and gorgeous sunset through the trees.

I loved the set with her hat and the leather jacket… It is sooo fresh.

Laying on the wicker on the front porch. Too fun!

Get out of the mulch! She is hanging onto the rails of her front porch and standing on the red mulch. I think I stepped on some irises…woops!

Laugh at the tree. Laugh at the tree…not that tree, the OTHER tree!

Weeeeeee!

Thanks!!

Click the picture to be taken to see the slideshow!

Okay, so I just posted a TON of Carrie photos and I have lots more that I won’t post. I know you all probably get sick of having to download all these photos. Anyway, today I wanted to post some other fun ones from that day. Let me know what you think, my faithful blog-stalkers…
Her little sister, Allison, needed some quick pics for her Facebook. It is always a good thing to have cool Facebook pics.

Here’s my new Facebook pic!

Here is Carrie trying to be like me. I just don’t understand seniors these days….always trying to be like me. HA!

Some shots of the sisters.

From far left: The Pretty One, The Not-so-pretty One

Little sis, big sis, and Carrie…okay, it’s not big sis, but really that’s their mom!

Meet Bella.

When I remember, I try to have mom snap a photo of the both of us…