O.K., I know I say this a lot, but this guy belongs to one of my most favorite families, The Roegners. His mom Sarah happens to be one of the first people that we ever met at our church before moving here to Beloit. The Roegners are some of the nicest people I know and they happen to all be super good looking to boot! I couldn’t believe when Sarah contacted me about doing Cameron’s Senior photos. I thought, ” He couldn’t be a senior already could he?” I think his mom was feeling the same way, as she kept saying that it really snuck up on her. I can only imagine that I will feel the same about my girls in a few years.

As with all my clients, but especially with my Seniors, I really work hard to make each session completely customized and unique to each person. Cameron is pretty big into baseball. And when I say “big into baseball” I mean like he’s really really good (or so I hear cause well you know I’m not a sporty kind of girl.) Knowing this I was so excited to create some baseball images with him in. His dad pulled some strings and got permission for us to shoot on the Snappers Field after a game on Sunday. I felt a little bad for making him work so hard, but I think it was worth.

*Note: The baseball images are a little more digitally affected than I normally do, but I just thought some of them really called for it. Plus, we were working with some pretty direct light and I think some of these effects work really well with that particular lighting.

I also used a little off camera flash for some. During the planning of the session, I knew that I wanted some images backlit with the sun with added off camera flash to fill in the front. I always love the effect that creates. I don’t do it a lot, but some images just call for it.

This is one of my favorite images to date. Sometimes everything just falls in place and in a moment I get excited about it. I had planned a shot similar to this, with him holding up his glove. But when I  realized that  the sun was in a perfect position to break through the hole (or whatever that thing is called) in his glove, I was more than happy!

After the baseball shots, we took off to Downtown Beloit for some more “traditional” shots. There are just so many great spots in our little downtown.

And here are a few to prove that I let him smile, and that he did a pretty good job at it.

I had already planned to use this blue building. When I saw his shirt, we all agreed that it was perfect for this location.

Found a great new alley.

And this wall with all the drippy stuff.

We ended at this run down abandoned place. The guy who owned it happened to be there and said it was o.k. for us to be there. I assume that means that I am always welcomed. hahaha.

Thanks Cameron! You did such a great job and I had a lot of fun! Also thanks to Sarah for being my assistant for the evening and to Grace for being the cheerleader.

This girl is about as sweet as they come. We had so much fun trekking through the woods and fields at Big Hil Park on Sunday. The first thing Jennifer said to me was that one of her favorite things about herself is her smile.  I agreed.  She does have a beautiful smile. But, she also had a nice variety of other “looks” as well, and she rocked all of them. Thanks Jennifer for a wonderful session. Sorry you had to wait for your peek, but here they are!

Jennifer is a runner, so we thought she should take some shots with her shoes.

Some of my faves. Jennifer is part of the Williams Tree Farm clan, so we had to do some shots on their property. That farm has provided me with many fantastic shooting locations over the years! The colors in this field were just beautiful!

Thanks again Jennifer for such a fun shoot!

Dylan is my first senior BOY to ever shoot. I was really excited because he had some definite locations and props that he wanted included. I love when that happens because It gets my creative juices flowing. Also, the only time I usually shoot boys, they are within a couple, and they’re in love, and I’m usually directing them to be all mushy and stuff. So, this was a nice change of pace and fun. Plus, Dylan was really laid back anddid a great job.

Dylan grew up at Pearl Lake and wanted it to be part of the shoot. It was really peaceful there (it was freezing and we were the only ones there.)

He’s a poker player, so I had this idea. This was the first time I’ve ever asked anyone to throw something at me. I’m tough, so it didn’t hurt.

Traded my “shots in a flowery field” for “shots on a big sandy dune.” I had to dig up my inner tomboy for some of these. What? I was a tomboy once when I was like 6. I do love how this series turned out though!!

More boyness.

I’ll end with this one just to prove that I can take a classic “smile shot.”

Thanks Dylan for a great shoot!!

I have the best job! Sometimes I can’t believe how great it actually is. Besides getting to meet new and wonderful people, I also get to create beautiful images and experiences for them. Kristina’s beauty speaks for itself. She is stunning. She made my job easy. The thing that really struck me though, was how really nice she was. I also got to meet her mom and was impressed with the fact that in a few short hours I was able to see that the two of them had a great relationship. At the end of the shoot they both talked about what a great time Kristina had. That was the best compliment I could receive! Thank you both for a wonderful shoot. Here are just a few images that struck me right away:

This next one is probably one of my favorites from the shoot.

You probably recognize Meghan from her cousin Raquel’s Senior shoot  in July. After a rained out shoot a few weeks earlier, we finally got to her own. Meghan did a fantastic job and couldn’t have looked any more beautiful. I loved getting to know her better as we adventured downtown, and loved meeting her friend that was visiting from Spain. Thanks Meghan and sorry about the homeless guy, and all the mosquitos at the end!!! LOL. Here is your sneak peek.

 This is one of my favorite stairwells in B-town. Great light, texture, and color. And, eventhough I’ve used it before, it always looks unique to the people that I’m shooting. I love that Meghan chose to wear black and green (love those colors together.)

 This next shot is why I have 20+ mosquito bites on my legs. I’m sure Meghan has more. From now on, I’m bringing repelant on every shoot!

 We had beautiful light for these. I loved how all the colors just work so well together.

 This is one from my favorite set of shots. Meghan wanted to incorporate her bible into the shoot, but her brother took it with him on a trip. So, she bought this new one to use in it’s place. I love, love, love the cover of it, and how it coordinates, and what it says on the cover…so fitting for her place in life right now.  There are so many that I love from this set, but I have to keep some of them as surprises. Maybe I’ll post more after Meghan gets her proofs. :

This was a fantastic shoot for a number of reasons. One being that Carissa and her family are some of my favorite people. If you looked up the definition of “good People” in the dictionary, I’m sure their picture would be there. I was honored to be asked to do Carissa’s senior pictures and was so excited to do them in Downtown Chicago. It was a packed Friday and that worried me a little. There were so many people, but Carissa did such a great job at ignoring them all being a good model for me. Thanks Carissa! I know it was  a long day, but you were beautiful and did a fantastic job. I also have to say thank you to my hubby Erik for assisting us all day, and Carissa’s dad Brian for carrying all the stuff and for the Jamba Juice!

 We spent some time in this alley. Some guy came out of a back door and gave Erik and Brian some free Falafal. I  love Alley Light. It’s my favorite.

Lots of beautiful garden space to take advantage of in Millenium Park. Proof also that we did do some smiles with teeth!

Also, lots of cool sculptures and artwork to use as props.

 For all you children of the 80’s, don’t you think Carissa kinda looks like the girl from “Can’t Buy Me Love?” I do.

I love this bridge!

Trying to get shots in a stairwell of the “L” takes some patience. You have to find a break in the flow of foot traffic and then pose quickly.

I know I say this often, but it is sometimes hard for me to see kids that I once new as “little” about to enter into their senior year! I think I’ve known Elizabeth since she was about 8. She did a fantastic job for me this week during her shoot. She was sweet as could be and did everything I asked of her. Usually Seniors leave it up to me to decide on a location, but I still always ask if there is a spot they would like to go to. Her mom suggested Rotary Gardens and I couldn’t disagree. It is so beautiful and I was just coming off of editing the wedding that I did there a few weeks ago. So, I knew it would be beautiful there. Thanks for a great shoot Elizabeth!

Look at this beautiful girl. The first time I remember meeting Raquel, she was hanging and swinging from a pulley on our church’s stage (she was supposed to be the flying angel in a Christmas play!) Betcha forgot about that huh Raquel? That seems like so long ago. I was so honored to do her Senior Photos. I was really excited because she has such a great personality and is so fun, and I knew that we would have a blast. And we did. She also brought her cousin and best friend Megan along as one of her “props.” Thanks for all your help Megan, it was so nice getting to know you better. You girls did an amazing job. I’m gonna have a hard time choosing my faves! Til then, here is a sneak peek.

So pretty.

Best Friend Megan.

We went to the, literally, ONLY alley in Clinton. It was actually quite nice, for an alley. Lots of great spots.

We were trying to get to this wheat field all evening. We were losing light and missed an amazing sunset by about 15 minutes. But, I was happy to use a little off camera flash and I love these ending shots!

Thanks again to my lighting assistant Megan! I love this one too, too much!

While in Middle School, Megan used to come to my house some days after school.  She would hang out and watch Abra while I cleaned, etc… Now my Abra is 7 1/2, and Megan is graduating from HS in just a few weeks.  I’m sure Megan’s parents are wondering how the time passed so quickly. I’m sure that I will be there before I know it with my own girls. I hope that when we are there, I can say that my girls have conducted their lives with as much grace and integrity as Megan. Doesn’t get much sweeter and “gooder” (her mom was an english teacher, so I had to throw that in) than this girl! You did great Megan. I’m so glad I got to spend the afternoon with you.

Pure sweetnes.

Megan has a beautiful voice and I love that she wanted to do some dramatic stage stuff!!

One of my new favorite spots to shoot will be @ this church with these amazing red doors!!  

Thanks Again Megan for a great shoot!!