Meet Aubrey…she’s another one of my senior hotties – she’s a Lathrop gal so if you see her in the halls ask her about her shoot. This is one cool chick – she’s a black belt in Karate and she plays soccer! She was so easy going and up for anything I threw her way. She was able to rock it out ANTM catwalk style in her heels and mini and could slow it down for a little salsa esk dancing in her flowing skirt, bare feet and her hot pink tank. Though she’s quiet and somewhat shy there’s a lot of sass waiting to be coaxed out of this gal!  Thanks for braving the rocks and trusting my vision for your shoot.  You were a blast!  Enjoy!

I’m proud to introduce my first 2010 Senior Hottie…Jenna! She’s strong, confident, quiet, silly, carefree, smart, sincere, loyal and candid. Jen can be found roughing it at the cabin, glammin’ it up to go dancing, lounging at home with a great book, sweating it up on the volleyball court, or hanging at home cracking jokes with her family. She’s sassy and she’s got style. You can make her smile with just about anything purple and strawberries are her absolute favorite.

For those new to checking out a little glimpse of my senior world stay tuned for all my 2010 senior hotties. If you see one of them in school stop them and ask if you can catch a glimpse of their shoot – they are my reps and they’ll be happy to share. And Juniors be on your best behavior….these guys will be watching you and will be nominating for the pool of 2011 Seniors and if you are interested in learning about being a hottie ask them all about it.

Back to the brown eyed beauty…Jenna. Bitsy, thanks for being you. Enjoy!

Are just so stinkin’ cute together!

These two have a story much like ours…they began dating at 15, dated through the remainder of high school, headed off to a bigger city to brave college together, moved home, got married, became parents to a little chocolate lab to ease into the role of parenting and now after 15+ years together they are entering the most fulfilling role yet. Your new little guy will be here so soon and he is going to fill you with more love than you ever knew your heart was capable of. Like us you’ll likely wonder why you waited so long to have a family. You wouldn’t trade those years of fun and being together for anything, but the joy your little guy will bring you will give you reason to wonder. You are going to be such wonderful parents. I can’t wait to meet him and take his first photos – I have some fun ideas in mind for his photo debut. Stay tuned. Enjoy!

…to be able to make such a fun family smile! It’s especially nice to be able to do it all for such a wonderful cause. You might remember the giving is awesome campaign from around Christmas time. You can read my full blog post here. This is one of the families I chose and couldn’t have been more honored to do there shoot. Sharlot, Rachel, Cynthia, Shantel, Kenny & Drew you guys were so much fun to work with, thank you! Sharlot – you are so tender with your kids it warms my heart to see and feel the love you give to them. Raising five kids on your own and working so hard to support them is commendable! I hope my glimpse of your world makes you smile for years to come. Enjoy.

Below is the nomination this special family received.

The nomination for our third family came from Tonya Garnett and here is her story.

Her name is Sharlot Evans.  She is such a nice, sweet, hard working person and has gone through a lot.  She and her soon to be ex husband have five kids together.  She always worked full time while raising her kids. Her kids are all nice, well behaved sweet kids and all of them have such a nice personality.  She goes above and beyond for her children even while in a bad relationship with her husband.  She took on many of the responsibilities; school, work, practices, bills, etc.  She never let anything hold her back when it comes to her kids.  She always made rent, car payments, provided for all five children.  All her children are so nice and a delight to have around. Even though all these things were going through her life she still made time for family and friends and is always a person you can call on when you need help.  Sharlot works at the Cancer Treatment Center here in Fairbanks.  Sharlot always thinks of creative ways to make life interesting and fun for her kids with activities and outings!  Even though she has five of her own children she still babysat for her cousins and other family members.

I just think that she needs something special, especially during this holiday season.  She is such a neat loving smart person and she only deserves the best.  She is really an inspiration and we are so glad to know her.  If you meet her you can just feel the genuine person she is; loving, nice, and goofy and she is contagious by making others smile and feel good around her.
She’s just had a tough year and I think something special can probably bring up her spirits.  Her and her kids are all very beautiful people and they are such a joy to be around.

Thank you Cassy!  You too are an awesome person!

A teaser has been in order for a few months now and it’s finally time to showcase Mr. & Mrs. Jeremiah Johnson! You may remember Jeremiah and Adriel from their engagement photos here. If you know me you know I only take on a few weddings here and there and it has to be just the right mix of fun, details and of course the perfect couple for me to say yes. This one was an easy yes for me! She could have just told me the colors and I would’ve been hooked – turquoise, orange and brown (notice my blog colors). The details of this wedding were incredible…the beautiful off-white dress with incredible beading and tulle detail, the ribbon look of the bridesmaid dresses, the sharp tuxes with their turquoise ties, the old, little, white, church, the sparklers, the adorable black and turquoise favor boxes for the sweets bar, the birch branches and flowers – it all makes me giddy just thinking about it!

I spent the day with Adriel and she couldn’t have been more relaxed or ready to just be married. She had every detail just right and wasn’t worried about a thing. When those doors opened and she came down that isle with her dad she looked absolutely stunning! I wish I could have had a second shooter just to get Jeremiah’s reaction as she arrived. I know his heart skipped a beat.

The girls weren’t ready in time to shoot photos before the wedding, but the guys and I had a little pre-wedding fun! We stirred the pot a little at the church and got in a little trouble for pushing the envelope, but the images we did get were worth it! They all looked super sharp and I’m sure they enjoyed my theatrics as I shot. I tried to get a full shot of the churh steeple and when I was lying down in the snow nearly at the river I’m certain they had a good laugh at my expense, but hey – it was worth a try! Thanks guys for being down for anything and taking a little heat for my creativity.

If you’ve ever attended a reception with Jim Matherly you know he’s going to get you on your feet and keep the party going as long as the venue will let him. But, ff you’ve ever been to a reception with Jim Matherly and OUR FAMILY you know the party ain’t stoppin’ until someone is pushing our crew out the door and unplugging Jim’s speakers. Okay well not literally, but our family knows how to rock it out! From the family shot, to the 50 person train, to the sweet swing dancing by the Wolfe brothers – this reception was no exception!

What a great night and a beautiful way to start your new life together. We wish you the very best while you endure the icky Texas and New Mexico heat for the next year +. We miss you already and wish we could have made it work to see each other in Texas. Congratulations you guys and thanks again for your patience!  Love you both.  Enjoy!

Oh and even though the image quality isn’t great on the bouquet and garter toss series of images near the end of the slide show I think it is pretty hilarious and worth checking out! Look at the determination of the chicks to get that bouquet and watch the guys as they wait to see who is brave enough to pick up the garter – hysterical!

I’m very behind on my blog posts so for those of you waiting on a teaser I’m sorry for the delay – the beautiful weather, travels and company have me extra busy this summer and I’m lovin’ it!

There is no shortage of love for this little gal – she had an entourage follow her to the studio for her photo debut. Five adults and one sweet star of the show. Grace came to me a little grumpy, but after a few mad spells and some nursing time with momma she was good and sleepy and a dream to work with. Her momma and daddy were naturals with her and even though she had only met daddy less than 24 hours earlier when he arrived home for R & R from Iraq he slipped into his role without missing a beat. It’s so fun to watch parents as they learn the ropes of soothing and caring for their new arrival. Good work guys! Say an extra prayer for this new family as daddy finishes his last two months in Iraq. It was a pleasure to work with you and I wish you the best while you’re apart. Enjoy!

Sam was so easy on me…smiley, happy, calm, patient and so much fun to watch! I photographed his parents and older brother, Bo, as a newborn 3 years ago and now there’s Sam who just turned 1 and a new little guy due in October. I love watching families grow and being able to capture them in varying stages of their lives. It’s such an honor to have so many clients who return time and again. I love my job! 

Just three days old and she couldn’t have been more content, cooperative or yummy! I’ve been dreaming of these outdoor shots and Hayden was the perfect fit. When her Momma and Daddy came for their maternity shoot I started talking about my vision for their newborn shoot and they were stoked and willing to try anything. They trusted my art and just let me do my thing…my favorite!  

The first shot is my favorite from their maternity shoot which leads me to a topic I’ve been wanting to approach on the blog…I do a ton of maternity and ‘hottie’ shoots, but have thus far been apprehensive about blogging these shoots. With client approval of course I’d like to blog some of it, but wanted to see what my blog readers think about posting semi-nudes on the blog. Please shoot me an email, leave a comment, call me, whatever, just let me know if those are posts you’d like to see more of. If you’d like to see more of that line of my work check out my beautiful bodies section in my galleries on my site. 

Back to the adorable, sleepy, happy and healthy, Hayden. Enjoy!

Stunning, graceful, quiet, confident, humble and gracious are all words that come to mind when I think of Carolyn. She came to me via a referral from a maternity client of mine in search of a photographer to shoot a modeling portfolio for her. She didn’t know what sort of a look she wanted to go for so I suggested a couple looks and locations and the shoot was born. ‘The look’ came so natural for her. I guided her through the maze of locations we attended and described ‘the look’ I was going for with each and she rocked it each time!  What an invigorating shoot for me!

She’s a local girl headed for Florida where her hubby is stationed with the U.S. Navy. She was ‘discovered’ in Jacksonville a couple years back and did a couple fashion spreads for Jacksonville Magazine and another publication in the area.  Now that she’s headed back she’s hoping to get paid for being so stunning (my words of course, not hers, she’s too humble to say so ). 

Like what you see? Well if so this brings me to my next subject…my senior shoots…this is the kind of concept effort that goes into my seniors and I’m super excited to debut some of them in the coming months right here. Stay tuned for my ‘Class of 2010 Hotties’ you won’t want to miss them! If you know a senior who is interested in a shoot so far from traditional they won’t know what hit them then pass them my way, I’d love to chat. In fact, mention ‘the top model’ blog post when booking your senior shoot and you’ll receive a complimentary set of rep cards.

Back to the beautiful Carolyn…

In the words of Gwen Stefani…’You’re a super hot female…you’ll get your million dollar contract.’

Next top model? I think so.

Enjoy!