Look at that smile and those gorgeous baby blues! What a treat it was to photograph Lexi and her beau, DJ. The fun clothes, the texture, the colorful junk…my photo heaven! We were in a race against the rain and made it through the last shot with just a few sprinkles falling on us. Lexi was down for getting dirty and up for anything I threw her way. I’m not sure her clothes survived, but I hope the images were worth every junk stain.

DJ headed south to play hockey so Lexi’s heart is a little heavy and I’m hoping these images make her smile. Soon she’ll be tearing it up on the volleyball court and working hard to finish her senior year which will make the time apart and her senior year fly by before she knows it.

With her beautiful smile, those bright blue eyes and her funky hair (care of her fun employer Charlotte Rouge Hair Spa) you can’t miss this cutie in a crowd.

Thanks for trusting my vision. Keep your chin up and keep smiling!

Enjoy!

It is with great honor and excitement that I announce my collaboration with Ana White of Knock-offwood.com and soon to be ana-white.com. Ana is an Alaskan stay-at-home mom just like me with a talent she wanted to share with those who would read her blog. She has a degree in computer science and is a self-taught carpenter. She began building by using scrap pieces of wood from around the house to tinker around to try her hand at making furniture. In no time she was building beautiful pieces you could find in any major furniture store. Her work was selling faster than she could keep up so she put her computer science degree to work and figured out how to make the building plans digitally and decided to start blogging to share her free plans with the world. Ana’s blog launched at the end of October 2009 and it took off like wildfire. By January she had over a million hits to her site and today her site has well over 5 million page views. Ana’s work has been featured in The San Francisco Chronicle and The Oregonian and she will be featured in the September issue of Women’s Day magazine. Ana has a book and TV series in the works both tentatively titled “The Handbuilt Home” as well as a freelance contract with HGTV. She will likely be speaking at a major blogging conference and has countless other opportunities and offers flooding her inbox each week.

When my husband and I came across a feature about Ana in the local Newsminer I knew I had to at least do a photo shoot with her to help her with updated fresh images for her blog. We chatted on the phone and Ana shyly admitted that her photos were taken by her three year old, Grace. In addition to both having little girls we discovered we have a ton of things in common so we agreed to meet for coffee. In the meantime my new site launched and Ana fell in love with my images and style. We met for a playdate for the girls and to talk about working together. Her vision for the book and my vision for the images were a perfect match. Ana has asked me to be her photographer for her book, personal blogs and for her features on HGTV and words cannot describe how grateful I am to be working with someone so beautiful and talented and for the incredible opportunity. I can’t wait to share this journey and to see where it takes us!

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!

at my house with my nieces usually consists of photo shoots, cooking good food, watching movies and chatting up the latest teen drama. It is my hope that these nights will hold a special place in the memory of these sweet girls like girls night with my auntie Dee Dee does for me. Each one of my nieces and nephews are a treasure to me and I hope I am able to making a small difference as they carve their way through life. I love each and every one of you – thank you for being you. Enjoy!

It’s my absolute favorite thing to combine beautiful people with old, rusty, dirty settings to create a combination like no other. The shoot was in an incredible old building filled with amazing equipment, texture, grime, fire, rust, steam and all the elements a girl like me could ask for in a location! This one ranks in my top three for sure and fueled my creative soul!

Galilee contacted me nearly a year ago to do a maternity shoot for a friend of hers and we’ve been working together ever since. She is partnering with her sister’s Natalie and Laurelie to open Charlotte Rouge, the chic hair spa, in the coming months. The number one priority at the spa is to give women the haircut they have always wanted. I can assure you she means it when she says this – she has been cutting my hair for about 4 months now and she is a perfectionist like I’ve never had in a stylist. She knows if you are satisfied and even if you are and she’s not, she will work to make the cut and color perfect. She is infectious and from the minute you meet her you feel like you’ve known her for years. Her sisters are no exception, they are sweet, spunky and down for anything! 

I am designing the logo, brochures, website and advertising materials for the salon and have had an absolute blast working with Galilee and the girls!

This is the final chapter in the rusty bus shoot. This little guy is the most chill kid you could ever meet – being down for anything and a natural behind the camera made him such a treat to work with! Also, watching him tenderly guide his little sister was very sweet to witness. You can be my model anytime Ty – you rock! This was a super fun shoot and I’m so grateful to all who came out to help bring my rusty bus concept to life. 

When I dreamed up the Rusty bus concept I was hoping to have the models come across as a couple, but within five minutes I could tell those two are clearly just buddies so that part of the concept was scratched. I lucked out though when the real boyfriend came to check out our shoot and was game to jump in and model for me. Enjoy part II. Stay tuned for part III.

I came across this old rusty bus and knew I had to come up with a concept shoot for it. Two friends of ours with amazingly unique looks kept coming to mind. The dreads, the dark and light contrast, the grunge and urban flare – it all made sense. I shot these in September 2007 so these guys have been waiting for a teaser for a long, long time. Concepts go that way sometimes – you have to put them to bed for a while before the mood strikes again. This concept turned into a few shoots in one so you’ll have to stay tuned for parts II and III.  Enjoy!

The trailing lights on the posts first caught my eye and my concept was born…the architecture, natural light, the rustic feel of the space, the beautiful model and old metal trunks brought the concept full circle. The old trunks were given to my best friend by her uncle. The trunks traveled all over the world and each sticker represents a unique destination full of memories and stories that will likely remain untold by the quiet solider who carried them.