HOLY CRAP I love my senior models!  I get to work with some of the sweetest, most photogenic girls on the planet.  You might remember my near-obsession with springtime, and ever since the weather started warming up and I started seeing little tips of green grass, I’ve been wanting to do a spring style shoot.  Thankfully, I have a slew of beautiful people ready to model for me :)  One of the perks of being a Senior Model is the opportunity to participate in style shoots like this one, at no extra charge.  Essentially, you just become my muse :)  We’re still accepting Senior Model applications through May, so if you’re interested, apply ASAP!

I met up with Elisha and Kendall on a chilly, dreary afternoon, and they were seriously awesome for hanging in there and rolling around in the drizzle and wet grass.  I kept saying, ”You guys must be freezing!  We can stop whenever you want,” but they said they were having fun and wanted to keep going.  So, thanks to these two lovely ladies, we walked away from a cold, rainy day with an awesome shoot :)

I love this series:

So stunning!!

You girls are awesome!  Can’t wait for the next shoot! :)

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jan o May 11th, 2012

darling, darling! and makes me feel more like spring as i look out onto this drizzly, dreary mid may day. love the whisper shots, and the flowers in the hair(s). your model w/the rose collection in her hair looks like a renaissance painting. both girls are super gorgeous. love, love your shots of both in the grass, esp the close up of both – gorgeous. fully spring and truly beautiful! do some more!

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Taryn and I had OHMYGOSHSOMUCHFUN shooting her senior portraits in Colorado Springs!  We immediately hit it off and were joking around like crazy within minutes of meeting each other.  Love it!  This girl is so awesome and silly and ridiculously photogenic that it was tough to stop shooting :)

We shot the next portion of her session at Garden of the Gods.  I know that to a lot of people, Garden of the Gods screams “cliche” and “overdone”, but I love shooting there because each time, I try to find new little corners that express the beauty of this place without looking like the exact same images from the exact same angles that everyone else gets.  It’s totally possible to have unique photos at the Garden!

Ultimate “Colorado Girl” shots: sunshine + deer in the background + mountains + pine trees.  Haha.

A quick outtake: we were setting up to take a few shots and Taryn got scared by a deer that was hiding in the bushes.  Best. surprised face. ever.

Taryn, dude.  You’re beautiful and fun and I love you to pieces!

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jan o April 18th, 2012

what a darling one. loved all her expressions, and even the shot of the deer in the background. love her w/hair and grasses blowing in the garden. love her on tree lined street. i can see what a fun shoot you both had. beautiful!

lad April 20th, 2012

Many GREAT pix here! Loved’em! love the rocks as bkg

zach May 5th, 2012

I love the surprised face! …and the dear one.

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In the middle of one of my insomniac nights a while back, I had a thought.  I’d been giving my clients some fun little booklets with tips about their session / wedding, but I had a lot more information I wanted to include, and I honestly felt like I could do better than a small booklet, creatively.  So… in the middle of the night, I started designing magazines!  I had SO much fun putting these together.  They just recently came in, and I think they’re pretty sweet.  So now, when you book your senior session or wedding, we’ll send you one of these babies right away to help you get started with your planning & brainstorming.

All of my upcoming brides and any senior who books a session will get one!  If you want one but aren’t an upcoming bride or a senior with a booked session, feel free to contact me to place an order.  I’m excited to share these with you guys!

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Mackenzie April 10th, 2012

Amazing once again!

Kate April 10th, 2012

Love them! I need to find a reason to do a photo shoot with you!

Chris April 10th, 2012

OMG LOVE!

jan o April 14th, 2012

gorgeous, quite creative and handy, too boot. i think you’ve got a 2nd career… you should publish magazines

Jenna (flutter glass) April 19th, 2012

AMAZING!!

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The lovely Katie is another one of my Senior Models! Gaah, it’s been so wonderful getting to meet & work with all of these girls – they’re all so wonderful!  I loved Katie’s color combo of shades of blue.  What a great smile!

Thanks, Katie!!

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l.o. April 20th, 2012

very nice1 What great colors!

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I was recently asked by a client about my editing / retouching policy.  I hated that the first thing I had to say was, “You’ll still look like you”.  She nodded in relief.  It’s so weird to me that there are photographers out there who specialize in making you look like a computerized Barbie version of yourself!  I want you to look like yourself, your REAL self, on your best, happiest day.  I want your friends to look at an image and say, “Oh my gosh, that’s such a good picture of you!” rather than saying, “Wow… what great Photoshop work!  You look great… after all that editing!”

I do edit and retouch images, but I try to be light-handed about it.   I want you to look GOOD!   We’ll get rid of your breakouts, edit that stain on your shirt, and fix weird lumps in your clothing that are distracting, but I want your skin to look like skin, not plastic.  I want your face to look like YOUR face, not some weird anime version of your face.  This is why I still call myself a photographer, and not a “digital artist” or something.

For some of you, your truest, most authentic beauty is found in a huge smiley grin.  For others of you, it’s that wave in your hair, or a moment of intense eye contact.  Sometimes it’s the expression on your face when you think I’m just screwing around,  and you laugh at me.  Seriously!  I love it when people laugh, (at me, or with me!)  Every person has their own, individual beauty, and it’s my job to find that and broadcast it.  Sometimes it’s a quiet presence and graceful movements.  Sometimes it’s sequins and glitter, and spotlights, and neon… awesome!! It doesn’t matter.   What makes you the most beautiful is when you look like yourself, loving life.

To edit the absolute  crap out of you would be saying that I thought you were maybe okay-looking, but not quite beautiful enough.  It would be saying that, “the way you look in reality is fine, I guess, but your face would look so much better made out of plastic”… which is not something I believe AT ALL.  The people I’m the most drawn to and find the most beautiful, my best friends, who I love and do life with, are REAL.  LIVE.  PEOPLE… and I love them for it!

I will make you look like a real person.  You look better that way… I promise.

* sidenote – despite the title of this post, I don’t want to make your skin look like paper, either.  It was just a catchier title than “Real live skin or plastic?”  ;)