slice of life... summer goals!

well friends, summer time is upon us. i loaded up paula to her maximum capacity with all my stuff and said goodbye to the mountains and hello to the valley. im beyond thrilled to be back home for the summer, good times are in store. i am excited to share with you that this summer i will be unemployed! now i know what you're thinking, how is unemployment exciting news? and i want you to know that ive decided to take a risk this summer, and im inviting you to take the journey with me. rather than being employed at a summer job, i will be spending some time further developing my photography & design and pursuing it as a possible post-graduation career. this means my summer will be spent doing photo sessions, weddings, and design projects! i couldn't be more excited/scared/ready/anxious for all the craziness to begin and i cant tell you how blessed i feel to be able to spend even more time and energy towards what i LOVE doing!

so i decided that i need to have a summer goals list prepared to keep me on track and feeling productive throughout the summer. i also decided to post it here so you can see and be updated on all of the exciting things that will be happening! this list is not ALL photography/design related but keep in mind that this is summer BREAK we are talking about, there has to be some fun thrown in there as well. so without further a do, here it is! (in no particular order)

+ new blogsite!

+ design/develop photo & design packaging

+ update hanging pictures

+ hang out with this guy... alot

+ develop decorating idea for what my OWN room and bathroom will look like next year

+ fix the yellow table : ( this poor table took quite a beating this year

+ purchase new bedding for my BIGGER bed next year!

+ learn the "in my head" dance... you should know this is already in progress.

+ stop biting my fingernails (per joels request)

+ make my first ever craigslist purchase!!

+ purchase another piece of photography equipment (flash? lens?)

+ day trip to williams/flagstaff

+ have tons and tons and TONS of fun

so there it is! this list might be changing and being added to throughout the summer but for now, im starting to attack these goals one by one and already loving it. it is another goal of mine to update you with my progress on each of these goals, i hope to have fun updates and pictures with the completion of the projects! oh and for the record, is anyone going to judge me if i dont finish everything on the list? i sure hope not, because im not making any promises.

also be on the look out for WEDDINGS, WEDDINGS, WEDDINGS! so far i have a total of 5 scheduled for the summer and two are coming up, back-to-back weekends in may! and please contact me to schedule any other photo sessions, im around!

happy summer everyone! and thanks for continuing on this journey with me!

christina & jessica... sisters!

i met up with these two lovely ladies to take some SURPRISE pictures for their mom for mothers day! i just love jessica & christina and their beautiful personalities... its always fun hangin with them. im so blessed to be a part of a church family with such great people, and these ladies happen to be a part of that. i know their mom will be happy to have some updated pictures of the two together, what a great SURPRISE mothers day present!

jessica & steve... expecting!

ive known jessica for about a couple of years now and i really cant get enough of her and her sweet family. it seems i am just making my way down the list with she and her 4 other sisters and i couldnt be more thrilled! (i recently shot her sister ashley's senior portraits as well as her sister jennie's wedding last may.) im honored any time i am contacted by these people. ive said it before but i will say it again, jessica and her family are just the nicest and most warm spirited people. so you can imagine how excited i was when jessica emailed me the BIG news... she & steve are expecting their first child this november!! as if that wasnt exciting enough, they wanted to get together to take some photos for an announcement they will be sending out. they decided to make the trip up north for the session to experience a little of flagstaff and let me just say, they sure got to experience it. the weather up here is SO unbelievably bipolar, its really not even funny. it will be warm short weather one day and SNOW the next, unbelievable. jessica & steve were such champs during the cloudy, cold, WINDY weather as we took the photos... and why it couldnt have been 76 and sunny? who knows.

anyways, jessica has got to be THE most creative gal i know. seriously, we used to work together and every day i was amazed at her genius ideas. she thought up all of these brilliant ideas for the session and a fun way they could announce to family and friends that she will be having a baby. the theme for the shoot was "first came love, then came marriage, now comes the baby!" so jessica created three different scene ideas for each of the little phrases. soooo cute, right?! these first shots are some of my favorites and they are from the "then came marriage" set:

and here are some shots from the "first came love" scenes involving a handful of balloons that SOMEHOW we managed to hold on to

i mentioned this in the last post about subtle angle changes and how big of a difference they make, keeping your subjects in place but taking a few steps yourself. subtle differences people, subtle differences.

so in love

and now comes baby!! highlighted by a cute frame!


jessica & steve are going to make such great parents, their child will be surrounded by SO much love and laughter and (my favorite) creativity! im just so thrilled for them and this new adventure they are beginning. i cant wait to hear if its a boy or girl and which name they decide to go with! they've got some great ones picked out.

jessica & steve: thanks for bearing with the chill factor to get these shots. so fun spending time with you guys!

dustin & jenny... engaged!

i met up with dustin & jenny for an engagement session this weekend and loved every second of it. these two will be getting married in august and i am so excited to tell you that i will be there documenting the big day! dustin & jenny have so much fun together and it sounds like their wedding will be so beautiful and such a blast! they probably didn't know it but they presented me with a small challenge when they said they wanted to shoot their engagement pictures in a nature and outdoorsy fashion. dont get me wrong, i looovvvvee nature and loved the idea of this, but taking away the city/town scenes from portrait sessions intimidates me for some reason! maybe its the fact that i no longer have random cool walls and benches and doorways to set my subjects against, or maybe its the inconsistency of light due to all of the trees and branches in the forest, meaning its hard to find good shade. whatever the reason being, i was once again nervous to shoot in open nature! i dont know what my problem was though because dustin & jenny were so laid back and chill about the photos and they were so easy to work with, the perfect models for a "scary" forest session. we were able to find the perfect little pockets of light and i was so thrilled with how the shots turned out, so natural!

i love how the angle from which a shot is taken changes everything. i love this next set because of that very thing



i love these next two shots... so happy!





dustin are you seeing how beautiful your girl is?? she's WORKIN it

and a little candid to make your life better:

i think what i loved most about working with dustin & jenny is how simple and relaxed they were about the whole thing... they even mentioned a couple of times that they were hesitant and nervous about having their pictures taken and only needed "1 or 2 good shots"... i quickly told them that wouldnt fly with me : ) and we'd have to take at least a few more fun and creative shots. so, we did! and they were great about it! they seem like they are just along for the ride and i love that. they gave me some excellent shots that i know they will cherish forever!

emily & lisa... graduating!

this weekend emily & lisa paid a quick visit to flagstaff so we could take some senior pictures. these sisters are both graduating in may, lisa from college and emily from high school! its a busy time for the two with emily enjoying all of her high school senior activities (props to her for coming up the day after prom!) and lisa wrapping up her student teaching so i was glad they could carve out some time to come up! emily & lisa are such sweet sweet girls and i loved getting to spend some time with them. we just spent the whole time chatting about all the fun and exciting times they will be experiencing in this next year. emily will be attending asu in the fall and lisa will be done with school, starting a teaching job, and getting married in december! i told the girls i was jealous of where each of them are at in life, emily and all of the exciting "newness" she is headed into with college and lisa being completely DONE with school. im just sort of in the middle, but still loving the middle. i loved spending time with these two and im so excited for their next year, i caught myself moving my camera away from my face too many times to just stop and talk with them about everything. but i did manage to grab a few shots:

here's emily, with the wind totally workin' to her benefit

and lisa!!







dresses! i seriously think everyone should bring at least one dress to their session. SO cute.

emilyyy!!! soooo fun

isnt lisa going to make such a beautiful teacher?? (not to mention BRIDE come december!)

and of course, the lacrosse jersey. she'll be starting playoffs soon! go huskies!

well ladies, you really did fantastic with these photos. im so excited for this special time and so honored to be a part of it all!

as for the rest of you, love the middle.

-steph

the lovely lisa!

i met up with lisa from lisa & alex this weekend to take some portraits for her to bring back to germany. she will be leaving flagstaff soon to head home and wanted some portraits to document the time she has spent here. lisa is such a lovely gal with a sweet spirit that i have loved to get to know a little bit better. she's also a gorgeous model and does so well in front of the camera.

becca is graduating!

the lovely miss becca is graduating from asu next month so she and her friends, aubrey, & emma, made a trip up to flagstaff so we could take some senior portraits for her! all three of these ladies are just fantastic. i was lucky enough to serve with them this past summer at zona yuth kamp and am looking forward to again this summer! becca, emma, & aubrey are such a fun group of friends and you can tell they totally love each other so much. im so excited for each of them to be finishing up college soon and pursue their passions. and becca happens to be the first doing so out of the bunch! i had a great time around town with these girls.




lookin good laaaaddiiieesss


stunning.

the girls brought along their "grandpa sweaters" so we took a few shots of them sportin' those


and here she is in the cap & gown!

hang in there becca, only a few more weeks 'til graduation! thanks for makin' the trip up ladies!