What an adorable little family!  It was so much fun to shoot at this location because their oldest son is in love with barns.  It worked out perfectly!!  Mom and I are part of a wonderful playgroup that we do on a weekly basis, so when I was editing these pictures, my son was literally jumping out of his skin, screaming their names at the computer!  So cute. 

I knew this would be my *last* senior session of the year before I “hung up my camera” so to speak, until the start of the new year.   Baby numero dos is well on its way, and it was beginning to get tricky finding ways to help myself up from all of the contorted positions I put myself in to get different perspectives and looks for my clients:)  So, with that in mind, and also the knowlege that our little family might not be here next summer due to my husband’s residency program had me pulling out all the stops.  I’ve been eyeing ALL of these places, or cars for that matter, for a long time now just waiting for the perfect shoot.   I seriously considered trading in one of my arms so I can buy this truck off of the man who graciously let us borrow it for the shoot.  I was in love with it that much.  

So after getting permission (always a GREAT idea) from the people who owned the land (or the vehicle) I headed downtown with Shelby to do her senior pictures.  My goodness, is she not beautiful?!  To say the camera loved her would be an understatement.  I had such a blast on this shoot!!

This place brings back great, but frigid memories of when we got our own family pictures taken at this wonderful location by my friend Kelli Bramble.  It was December, raining, and freezing, but I was determined to get family pictures from someone with as much skill as her before she decided to leave us all in Michigan, and head back to Utah;)  Can you tell I kind of miss my dear bud?

Anyway, it was a treat to revisit this place, and to have a session with a beautiful family such as the Grants.  Some of these shots are up there for favorites of mine!  Just look how adorable their kids are!  Thanks for a great session!

I had the privilege of photographing Mason when he was 9 months old, and man oh man!  what a difference three months makes on the lives of little munchkins!  I made sure to have the right lens on for him because I knew he’d keep me on my toes…and he certainly lived up to my expectation!  He is just the cutest little man out there!  Happy 1st Birthday, Mason!!

Mason with his sweet blanket

I don’t care how repetitive I might seem by always doing these “leggy” shots, but I think they are so unique in their own way.  For instance, in my session with Norah, she’s gently playing with the flowers…with Mason, he was seriously being caught red-handed putting dirt in his mouth.   Love it.

One of my sweet friend’s birthday dinner is just around the corner, and I always try to give different gifts with each friend.  There is a group of about 9 girls who have met in different ways over the past year or so which has turned into the greatest mom’s group/playdate for our kids.  My son is always anxious to see them each week.  It’s even cuter now that he is finally calling them my their names, and not just, “eh.”  I happened to meet two of these wonderful friends at the local library last August, at the most random time of day (I swear it was somewhere around dinner time, or shortly thereafter) and all of our toddlers kept getting into each other’s toys and books.  We all got talking, and I knew in an instant that these moms were gems.  Such selfless people with extremely big hearts.  And that’s how I was introduced to our playgroup:)

Long story, sorry!  Norah, in everyway possible, is going to be a CEO of something someday.  She is strong-willed, determined, and loves to lead.  I think it is hilarious that her favorite toys are the ones you pull on a string and they waddle behind.  Ironic?? 

So, although I had to tell my friend a sliver of my idea, she won’t see any of these pictures until her birthday celebration on Saturday night.  I’ve been eyeing this little grassy/weedy knoll (which ended up giving me huge rashes up and down both legs.  Itchy!  But soooo worth it!) and it turned out to be the most beautiful place!  See for yourself!

There’s a reason why they call New York the “Empire State.”  I use to love telling people I was from the Empire State growing up.  It sounded so much cooler than the other state slogans out there:)  These are two shots I took on our walk over the Brooklyn Bridge.  The early morning fog was mesmerizing.  I love how in the first frame you feel like you have to tilt your head in both directions in order for it to feel “straight.”  All of the converging lines going in different directions are fantastic!  I think I might just find a home on my wall for a big blowup of this first one.

I get a little misty-eyed just looking at these.  Not for any particular reason other than this is my sweet little niece, Isabel, who I use to hold in my arms as an infant and sing her songs.   My,  How she has grown into this beautiful GIRL who in my mind, is growing up way too fast.  But with her growing, everything about her seems to just magnify; her kindness, her desire to always have fun, compassion, honesty, and selflessness.  Such is the characteristic of the oldest child:)

I’ve had the privilege of photographing so many little munchkins in their white attire, whether be for a First Communion or in the Mormon church, Baptism, which normally occurs at the age of 8.   There’s nothing more beautiful than seeing how innocent and beautiful they are in their white attire!

What can I say?  I’m sure I posted way too many pictures, but I’m just in love with my Isabel!

I had the privilege of capturing family celebrate Hannah’s first communion.  They were such a great family to work with!  Hannah was all smiles, and we made sure to massage her cheeks after it was all over:)  What a gorgeous girl she is!

Ruby turned one, and we just had to celebrate! :O)  She was such a cute little thing, with her two teeth and beautiful brown eyes!  It was so much fun to capture her being herself, even pictures of her eating the rocks!  It seems like yesterday my son was doing that!

This was such a fun session!  Cindy, her mom, came along and made it that much more fun.  I’ve been scoping out this abandon house just up the road a few miles, and it did not disappoint!  Not only that, but it was seriously strange.  We all started coming up with a scary movie plot involving the house and the barn we were shooting around.  At one point Cindy said, “Taneesa, what if someone is looking out the basement window at you right now??!”  That called for a few screams from all of us!  Loved it!!  Not only is Taneesa extremely charming to take pictures of, but she is one of the nicest teens I know!