Garrett, 2013 Senior

Seriously.. such a nice guy. I had such a good time working with him & chatting with him. And it was so easy to make him laugh! I love that. Garrett lived most of his life here and was homeschooled. He is super smart and actually finished his high school education a bit early. Him and his family moved to Tennessee right after this photo session and I wish all of them the best of luck! I think great things are in store for Garrett :)

Chloe, 2013 Senior

It's funny that up until a year ago, I had never done a senior session. But I'm glad I started because they are so much fun. And seriously, every single senior girl I've photographed is just gorgeous. Chloe is like a natural model. They had moved to STL from Florida a few months ago and needed some last minute senior pictures. I'm really glad we found a time to do them because I am in love with this session. I was giddy the whole time because I couldn't wait to look at them. I made her walk through freezing cold water and mud, barefoot. Also walk on a downed tree trunk like a balance beam and swing from a potentially unstable vine. But she was totally fine with all of it, did not complain. It was a lot of fun for Chloe, Maria (her mom), and myself. The environment was full of photo possibilities. They supported every idea I had and even had some awesome ideas of their own. Best of luck, Chloe, on your future endeavors!























Yes, I made her walk barefoot in the mud but she had some fun with it!

Jace & Jeriah

In April, the long 9 month wait was over, and Monica and Jeremy finally got to meet their twin boys Jace & Jeriah. The birth of twins, as I've heard and I can imagine, is a little scarier than just the birth of a single baby and there's a much higher chance that one or both will end up in the NICU. These boys were healthy as can be, though.

We did their newborn photos when they were about 9 days old. Jace has brown hair. Jeriah has blonde hair. That was just about the cutest thing ever. And I don't know if these boys were just in a milk coma the whole time, or if they just liked me a whole lot, but this newborn session was actually a little easy. Yes, I said it. A twins newborn session was easy. I really only heard them cry once. They slept most of the time. Just a little white noise and gentle touch made them stop wiggling around. What I really think, though, is that they were so content because they were close to one another for most of the pictures. Monica and Jeremy seemed like they had been parents for years. They were so calm and collected and I'm sure that had a lot to do with the boys' temperaments.

I am so happy to have done Monica and Jeremy's wedding photos, maternity photos, and now newborn photos. I respect and admire this family so much and it's always a joy to see them! The boys are now a month old and I love seeing the photo updates on Facebook - it's amazing to see how much a newborn can change in just one month!

Chic Retreat - SEATTLE!

As some of you know, I just spent May 1-4 in Seattle for a photography workshop. It was the Chic Retreat, hosted by Kelli France of Chic Critique Forum. The 4-day workshop consisted of speakers, styled shoots, catered meals, limo rides, scavenger hunts - it was really a delight being there. So many amazing woman photographers & speakers. And the event planning was *perfect*. It was really difficult being away from my kids, more difficult than I expected (and they were perfectly fine, in the care of my husband). And of course, my allergies decided to attack me a couple days before I went to the workshop, and they followed me there. I was pretty exhausted and not feeling too great physically but I got a lot from the workshop and I can't wait to use what I have learned to better my business. I really just needed to immerse myself in knowledge. When I first arrived home, I was really overwhelmed. I didn't know where to start, what to work on first. And in addition, all I really wanted to do was spend time with my kids. I've calmed down since I got home and got to reflect on the experience the effect it had on me.

Some things that I know I need to do, and the Chic Retreat gave me ideas on how to do them -

*Define my brand, I need a new logo, a new look
*Revamp my website and definitely my blog
*Adjust my portrait packages
*Offer more products!
*And much more

It's going to take me about 6 months to do it. It will get done because I want this so badly. I expect by the beginning of 2014 my company will have many great, great changes.

Here is a blog post on the Chic Critique Forum which has a fun video/slideshow of the workshop plus some awesome pictures, including a big group shot of the beautiful Seattle skyline. The slideshow was made by Megan and it just blew me away! She took all the pictures and video clips and had it done by the time we left Seattle.

Here are the photos I took at the photo shoots:

First up, photos I took at Leah Remillet's styled shoot -











One from Kara May's styled shoot -



One from Kelli France's styled shoot -



One from Michelle Huesgen's styled shoot -



A couple from Jean Smith's styled shoot -





And a bunch from Laura Winslow's styled shoot - my favorite - I love little girls and I loved their outfits!









This was the first time the Chic Critique hosted a photography workshop and since this one was such a success I'm pretty sure they are doing another one next year! I can't wait to see which *celebrity* photographers they will get for it. Who knows, maybe I will go next year too!