vintage, fabulous and completely new photo location

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of doing pictures for a dear friend from

high school when her 2nd daughter was born
(my 2nd newborn photo shoot ever - thankfully they were willing to be guinea pigs!).

And now that she is so much more grown up, I got to head out to a fabulous new location

(sight unseen) for a session with the whole family!

I learned a lot:

...that the driving age is now 4...just count those fingers...she knows what she is talking about!


...that big sisters know the surefire way to get little sisters to laugh


...and that little ones grow up really really really fast but still stay just as adoreable!

Grandparents were there too...




And we all had so much fun exploring this new place together!










Thanks for the fun Shipp family!

another beautiful beach family!

I got to head back out to "the beach" with

the twin sister (and another dear college sorority friend) of my last beach family

and her wonderful husband and kids!

everything was just the same:

same time of day (a little brighter sunshine, however), same location, one little girl, one little boy,

same red wagon, similar colors, same photographer, and even some of the same exact poses :)

...but yet the pictures turned out so different!

They are different because they are of 4 different people, with 4 different personalities

and their own unique family dynamic.

That is one of the reasons why I love custom photography so much!

It is so fun to see each family just as they are through my lens!

To see the way they play, the way they love and the way they laugh!

It is so rewarding to see their personalities come shining through the images!

can I just say that I am a little bit obsessed with this picture?

and that this was completely not posed, she just loves her little brother!

this picture speaks to the mommy in me...
motherhood can be a struggle, but the rewards are great!

would you believe me if I told you this kid doesn't like having his picture taken?

she sure didn't have a problem with having her picture taken, though! :)

Thank you Lloyd family for sharing your wonderfulness with me!

i heart faces - the beach

One of my fabulous photographer friends reminded me that this is beach week over at i heart faces (a photography community I belong to) and it just so happens that I made a goal for myself to start entering photography competitions and challenges to push myself creatively and keep expanding my skills (and because I am *kind of* addicted to photography classes).

So, I finally decided on this lovely picture - which just pretty much sums up fun

at the beach all in her darling little expression!

Family Fun at the Great Salt Lake

This is one beautful family! We go way back to our days in college sororities and fraternities

(and our husbands go back even further than that)

 and, while I think I am not nearly as fun as I was then - these two are still as much fun as ever!

They have the 2 most adoreably happy kids

And I *think* they all have fun together...

Thanks for a fun time at the beach guys can't wait until you get to see the whole gallery!!

Class of 2011 - having a blast!

I had such a great time taking Lara's pictures!

She is drop dead gorgeous and as sweet and fun as can be!

I had the hardedst time picking my favorites, so this post is going to be a little picture-heavy.

And her adoreable friend, Taeler, came along to make her laugh

(and I put her to work holding my reflector), so we got a couple of them together too.

We got some pictures of her by herself too, so watch for that on the blog.

And we even got a little silly...and laughed a lot!

I love doing senior sessions!