. jahrae .

Jah is a friend of Leslie's, and when he saw her Dia de los Muertos trash the dress session on Facebook, he contacted me about doing a fun, non-traditional Christmas card shoot.  I knew this was going to be a fun one just a few minutes into our phone conversation."So, I want to do an ugly Christmas sweater theme," he said, laughing.  "And, there are these poodles, like, giant poodles, but they belong to my landlord..."

I just started cracking up.  We talked for the better part of an hour, and finally he said, "Basically, I just want something that would make someone say, 'What?  That's a grown man doing that!'"

So, with that premise... meet Jahrae.  He works in admissions at Regis in Denver, he's a total sweetheart, and he was unfortunately not able to get his hands on those poodles.  I love meeting clients who I just laugh with throughout the entire shoot.  We met up in the chapel at Regis (which is gorgeous), and he brought two of his security guard friends who, were somehow able to keep completely straight faces as they introduced themselves to me as "Teddy" and "Swahili," while Jah's cracking up in the background and busting out the altar wine and cigars.  Then, we meandered around campus, doing some shots in the cool clock tower in the library, the Santos room where the relics are kept, and some more GQ-style stuff.  Then we played with Christmas lights in an old classroom with retro tiles.  Gahh, I love shooting in Denver!  Dude, J... we're going to hang out more in the future, and it'll be fun.  Chris and Neil.. you're pretty cool too :)  Poodles next year!

. lindsay .

A few days ago, I was lucky enough to experience our first snowfall of the season while doing an amazing fairy tale - themed shoot for a children's book author, who also happens to be one of my oldest friends.  She's been with me through All-State Choir, so many shows (including being a fellow VonTrapp daughter in Sound of Music), weddings, midnight tapioca runs, book discussions, and all-night conversations.  Lindsay is the PERFECT Little Red, and yes, my Little Red wears fishnets :)  The four of us - me, Lindsay, her boyfriend, and my friend John whose dog I borrowed to play wolf - were cavorting through the woods, golden aspen leaves at our feet, incredible clouds in the sky, and a huge white "wolf" happily crashing through the trees behind us.  Then the snow started drifting down... it was absolutely magical and surreal.  Despite all menacing appearances, Isha, half wolf and half German Shepherd, is one of the sweetest, easiest, friendliest dogs I've ever met.  And, I got to practice my killer Photoshop skills on the Princess and the Pea section.  Yikes.  I never want to edit another mattress again :)  I know I promised I wouldn't say this anymore, but... one of my favorite shoots of all time.  Linds, babe - I love you.   John, love - thanks for letting me borrow you & Isha for the afternoon.  I still owe you a six pack.  Yay!  Thanks for letting me go crazy on this one.

. carrie's modeling portfolio .

Last week, I had the absolute privelege of working with the astoundingly beautiful Carrie on her modeling portfolio!  I cannot even begin to express how much fun we had.  First of all, she brought about 8,000 outfits and a million pairs of shoes in to the studio - I really should have taken a picture of how jam-packed the studio was with cool stuff.  Clothes on the couch, all the chairs, the table, shoes taking up the whole entryway... it was great.So, this girl wants to model for Roxy.  I think she's totally got it.  She's super cool, incredibly at ease in front of the camera, and has the cool surfer girl vibe going on.  She might have the most mesmerizing eyes in the entire world.  Plus, she'll do all kinds of ridiculous things to make her photographer happy - like hosing herself down in a car wash, pretending to look like she was having fun splashing around in the freezing cold water at sunset, and gluing feathers to her eyelashes....for real.  Check out the beautiful, beautiful Carrie and leave encouraging comments about how she's going to be the world's next supermodel!