High School Senior Portraits

    Senior year of high school is an amazingly special time in life! You have so many opportunities ahead of you! College, classes, work, finding your passion in life, making relationships, traveling, and so much more! 

    Plus there is the feeling of being at the top of the school for a whole year! Senior year is the last time I remember feeling this way.  Age loses it’s meaning after high school a little. Senior year in high school you rule the school! There is a feeling of being invincible and no one can take that away from you! 

    These are all the reasons that Senior Portraits are so special and an honor for me to shoot! I was able to photograph two girls this year that just happened to be best friends. We ended up having to do a reshoot a month after the first appointment but that just made our experience even better. I was even able to get a few shots of them together! 

     Friendship at this time in life is so important and I know that when I was a senior I would have loved a photo shoot with my bestie! I hope these girls stay close over the years and are able to look back at these pictures remembering all of the fun times that they had ruling the school (and the choir room) for a year! 

                                      Rachel - majoring in Biology at The University of Pittsburgh 

Christina - majoring in English Education and minoring in Theatre at West Chester University

Christina - majoring in English Lit at WCU 

Time Capsule

     One of the things that I love about photography is the fact that it is a time capsule! It captures moments that snaps you back to a different time in your life in an instant! You get to see time evolve, people change, and children grow! 

     Over a year ago I had the pleasure of photographing a gorgeous little love named Zach! He was about 9 months old and such a big flirt! 

       I have seen Zach a few times since the first shoot we had and I knew that his birthday was coming up. I contacted his mother to see if she wanted to do another photo shoot and she loved the idea!  About week after his 2nd birthday we got together in a few of Zach’s favorite spots to get some 2 year shots! We had a lot of fun! 

     As I was editing the photographs it was really cool to be able to pull up the pictures from our first shoot together to see how big Zach has gotten in just a little over a year! He still has those big blue eyes and smile that melts your heart! Watch out girls! He is going to break a bunch of hearts in his day! 

I hope that my photography allows me watch more children and families grow over time! 

When it Rains it Pours!

       Wow! I. Am. Busy. I know, I know, right now everyone is busy. It's that time of year. We are right in the middle of the Holiday season and there are a million and two things to do. But I mean that I am professionally busy and I could not be happier!

        Tomorrow I am going on my 5th shoot in a month (not counting family shoots over Thanksgiving)! I got to shoot two weddings, some head shots, and two sets of children for their Christmas cards!

          Finding the balance between my "day job", my photography, and the holidays is proving to be though but it is so worth it! There is always something for me to be doing with my business right now! Waking up early to do some editing or to get a shoot in before work is enjoyable! I really feel like by business is growing and that good things are in the future with my craft. I know that I won't always be this busy with my photography, but even if this is the most business I will get at one time at least I can look back with fond memories of being a little bit overwhelmed with MY work!

          Here are a few shots of the two weddings and one of the Christmas card shoots that I have done. More pictures of the rest of what has been keeping me on my toes soon to come!

This is Why

      Yesterday morning I got to shoot the wedding of an amazing couple named Ashley and Kathi. I met them on Friday afternoon after corresponding through email for weeks. Soon after I met these ladies I knew that our experience together was going to be great!

      We walked around Central Park and went to go scout out the spot where they would be getting married. We went over what they wanted from me and what I was going to ask of them. After we parted ways for the night I realized that this is why I am working towards this career.

      Sure I have wanted to be a photographer since I was a little girl, sure I feel like I should be doing the career that I went to college for, but something clicked when I met these women. Meeting new people and getting to capture moments in their lives is something special, and it is why I am a photographer. It's more than doing what I love. It is about getting to do something for others.

     I feel like I really got to know Ashley and Kathi by the time I was leaving our meeting on Friday. Their wedding was adorable and I was so happy for them when they were pronounced married yesterday morning. They will forever hold a place in my heart because they chose me to capture their special day.

     More photos soon to come!

Pets Photo Contest

   This month's photo contest from I Heart Faces is Pets. My family has had the privilege of having some of the greatest pets known to man. When I found out what the contest was this month I immediately thought of this image. This is my little sister Elise with our family dog Clementine, and I actually took this image about two weeks before Clemmy passed away. 

    She was an amazing dog and took to my sister like glue! She loved us all but had a special place in her heart for Elise. She would follow Elise around the house all day. If Elise went into a different room, so did Clemmy. It's true that Clementine just had to be around someone at all times (attachment disorder), but if Elise was there there was no option for Clemmy who to hang around. This dog had the biggest heart and truly cared for our family. She will be missed a great deal but we were lucky that she came into our lives. 

   I feel that this image really shows the relationship my sister had with Clementine and that is why I submitted it to the I Heart Faces Challenge. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Yoga by the Water

        I have been shooting a lot over the last few weeks and I have been absolutely loving it! Being busy producing work is the kind of busy that I always want to be!

       Two weeks ago I was lucky enough to hang out and do a photo shoot of one of my favorite people. My friend Suzanne needed some portraits to use on her website and she asked me if I would take them for her.  It was so much fun taking shots of this yogi! Her movements were wonderful and so expressive of who she is. The best part was that her boyfriend met up with us and I got to take some shots of them together. What a great bonus!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shots of a Shoot

      A couple of weeks ago I was able to do a shoot with my very good friend Suzanne. We do not get to see each other as much as we would like to, so it was great to be able to catch up with her while producing some new work.

      A few minutes into our visit Suzanne's boyfriend, Frank, met up with us. As I was behind the camera the whole time I was not focused on what Frank was doing. A couple of days later he emailed me some pictures that he took during Suzanne's shoot that were of ME! I was thrilled to have some working shots of myself and it was so nice of him to send them my way.

       The work from Suz's shoot is almost finished being edited so check back for the finished product, but in the meantime here are some pictures of me being a photographer!

* all pictures below were taken with an iphone 4 *