. josh .

Josh is Christina's super cool boyfriend, and I loved shooting his senior portraits because that meant I got to see her again, too!  Josh is so easy to be around, articulate, and nice.  The first part of the shoot, in and around the studio, was pretty mellow.  Then Josh suggested heading up to a log bridge and aspen grove that's located in a private residential development.  I didn't think it would be a problem for us to just take some pictures, but of course we got into trouble :(  We got out of the car, and there was an older guy walking his dog.  "Hi," he said roughly.  "Can I help you?"  I explained what we were doing and asked his permission to take some photos."Well," he said.  "Do you have a lot?"

"Not too many," I said with a smile.

"No.  Do you have a lot?"

"Just a few," I said, slightly confused now.

"Property.  Do you own property here?  I'm not supposed to let you trespass on private property."

Ohhhh....  Well, he let us take a few shots and then we were outta there.  "Well," Josh said.  "At least you have something to blog about now."

. julie .

Okay, so, Julie might rival Shannon for the Most Dedicated Cedar House Client Award.  She's a senior at Conifer High School in Evergreen, and her mom let her take the entire day off school just so she could come hang out with me (yes, children... skip school for senior photos!  Skip school for senior photos!)!  And we definitely took full advantage of our time... muahahah.  We hit up Salida in a serious serious way, employing the skate park, a bottle tree, back alleys, a random car show, a globe, and some abandoned plastic deer under a strict NO TRESPASSING sign in our pursuit of amazing senior photos.  I am posting way too many photos right now.  This girl rocks my world.  For real.  Not only is she completely wonderfully beautiful, but we got along like we had known each other forever.  And, she likes making faces in photos (that's my own personal weakness when in front of the camera).  In fact, we had such an excellent time that after the shoot, she sent me the sweetest Facebook message:"=D i had such a BLAST today. After i left i was thinking to myself "i wish i could rewind the day and do it over again!"... this day will be one of the days in my life that i will remember for ever... well until i get alzheimers. haha. i was so comfortable around you, you seriously felt like i have known you forever and you were an older sister or a best friend.

thank you so much for doing this for me!!! i can't wait to see the shots!"

So just fair warning, if you leave me sweet messages, I will love it so much I will blast it all over the internet :)  Julie - love love love love.

. lille .

If you have ever had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Lille, then you know exactly why I adore her.  If you haven't, then you need to go find her and introduce yourself immediately.  This girl is SO sweet, SO fun, and SO easy to be around, and in a few years you're going to wish you had her autograph because I she's going to be incredibly famous.  Lille is a senior in Leadville, and she already has a role in an independent film!  Giggling, she told me this great story about sneaking out of her parents' house... to audition for a New York acting school, which she totally aced, of course.  Add to that the fact that she brought her amazing dress for the movie, her official Harry Potter wizard tie, and a sequined and feathered masquerade mask, and naturally, the result is me totally loving this shoot.Oh, and in case you haven't heard stories about the legendary extent of my clumsiness... I injure myself doing totally stupid stuff pretty frequently.  It's never while I'm doing anything cool (sigh).  We were out in the field doing some shots in front of the mountains, and I was explaining to Lille that I was going to sit on the ground for a better angle.

"As long as you don't sit on a cactus!" she laughed.  And of course, that was the very next thing I did.  Smooth.  Lille - good luck with everything in the future!  I know you're going to accomplish some amazing things.

. shannon .

Shannon might win the award for "most dedicated Cedar House client".  This girl seriously booked me from FRANCE!  She was studying abroad this summer, found me on Facebook, and contacted me right away to make sure she could get on my schedule to have her senior portraits taken.  Wow!  She has the most incredible golden-colored eyes.  Also, she's stunningly beautiful and loves to smile, even though her mom really wanted some serious ones.  Usually it's the other way around.  So, here's Shannon - Salida High School senior, cheerleader, beauty incarnate, and French student :)

. brooke .

Brooke is a sweet, shy senior from Leadville.  She was easy going and so comfortable in front of the camera during the entire shoot.  It's hard to believe she's in high school!  Thanks for the great session, Brooke.