Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Sisters - Quad Cities Children Photographer

These images make me so sad!!!  I love these girls and just cannot believe how time has flown and they've grown into young ladies!

I met Delaney (the oldest) and her family through my  husband over 10 years ago.  My husband was college friends with her Mom and Dad and had lost touch over the course of the years.  When we reconnected, we quickly became fast friends and spent almost all of our free time together!  Delaney was only 1!  Shortly after, Olivia arrived and then we began growing our family shortly after that.  Our kids spent so much time together when they were little and still enjoy spending time together the couple times a year that we get to see the Knutsons.  We have made many great memories with these dear friends of ours whether it be just watching the Hawkeyes in the fall together or taking family vacations together.  We love them and adore their girls.

They came and spent the weekend with us a couple of weekends ago and I couldn't wait to get Delaney and Olivia in front of my lens for some pictures to update the portraits on their walls!

We stepped out my door and just walked a few houses down to the bike path and green space in our neighborhood.  These girls are always a blast to photograph and so good in front of the camera!


I love that they are sisters AND friends!



I can't even believe how grown up Delaney has become!  She is such a great kid!




Olivia has grown so much too...soooo full of personality!  She is such an awesome kid too!




Their parents are pretty blessed I'd say!
Two amazing and beautiful daughters...


As usual, girlies, you were so much fun to photograph and worked it for the camera!  Thank you for letting me take your pictures again and we hope to see you again soon!  Love you girls!

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

What a fun family! - Quad Cities Family Photographer

This family was so much fun to photograph!  I have had the pleasure of photographing the Christ Family several times now and was even able to photograph the extended Christ Family last fall so I was excited to get to photograph the Hein side of this extended family.  I knew they would be a good time. :)

They were all such naturals in front of the camera!


I am reminded so often, but especially with amazing families like this, that I am so blessed to get to call this my career!


It all started with these two...still in love after all these years!


The original Hein Family...that is one beautiful family!


Both Heidi and Heather have such beautiful and fun families!



That's a lot of grand daughters there!  Those are two very blessed grandparents!


These families produce some good looking girls if I do say so myself! :)

My camera loved each of them!


I can't believe what a beautiful young lady Katelyn has become since the first time I photographed her!  What a beauty!


Natalie is all personality!  What a gorgeous girl...we got this session scheduled JUST before she got herself some braces!


It was so fun meeting this gorgeous girl and seeing that she has just as much beauty and personality as her cousins!  Those eyes, those freckles, that smile...eek.


This family was a dream to photograph...


Beautiful sisters!


And there is just so much "technically" wrong with this image that I typically never would have posted it...and it's not sharp either, but I couldn't resist.  It makes me smile!


We finished the session by putting the grand daughters in their leather jackets, boots and their mean faces and doing some pictures in front of Grandpa's toy.

The mean faces didn't last long! ;)


Thank you thank you thank you all for being the reason I do this job!  It was so fun to photograph each of you and I really appreciate you all putting up with me! ;)

The Cutler Family - Quad Cities Family Photographer

It's crazy sometimes when I look at pictures like these.  You see, I may be 34 years old with 3 kids and a husband, but for the most part, I feel the same as I did when I was in high school.  Then I look at pictures like these of my friends from high school with their spouses and families, I think back to the times when we were cheerleaders together, when we went on drives in my convertible just after I turned 16, when we were in class together.  It seems like a million years ago, while also like it was just yesterday.  Never would I have imagined that I would have been in the delivery room with Sarah photographing the birth of her second child and then a few months later on her property with her beautiful family, photographing them all together!

Sarah and I went several years with no contact after high school and thanks to social media, were reconnected.  She is still the sweet, smart, cheerful, beautiful, kind girl I knew in high school, but has become an amazing, loving wife and mother as well.


And she and Travis make absolutely gorgeous children!!!

Felix has become such a big boy since I saw him take his first breaths only a few short months ago!


Celia has grown and matured so much as she's fallen into her roll as big sister as well!
This girl is so fun and full of personality!


It was amazing to stroll through this lovely family's several acre property to photograph them.  And when I captured this moment, I was doing a happy dance inside.
One of my all time favorite family pictures I have captured to date...


There are so many things I love to photograph...especially the love between a parent and their child...







I love that Celia had her special bunnies with her during pictures.  I always want to capture families and children how they are and where they are at for that point in time.  I have a feeling that I would not have been successful in capturing Celia appropriately had she not had her bunnies. :)


And Felix...well I certainly wouldn't have done my job if I didn't get him chewing on something! :)



Real life...freezing the moment in a picture...freezing in time the way that life was like when you only had two children ages 2 and 8 months.

That is what this is...


Thank you Sarah, Travis, Celia and Felix for welcoming me onto your gorgeous property to photograph you all!  I love having you in front of my lens and look forward to having the opportunity to capture you all again in the future!

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

A Beautiful Family - Quad Cities Family Photographer

 I have to pinch myself sometimes when I look back at the pictures of the families I get to photograph.  There are so many beautiful people in this community...beautiful on the outside AND inside...people that I never would have had the pleasure to meet had it not been for this line of work.  I am blessed.

This is one of those families...beautiful on the outside (obviously!) AND the inside...

They have some seriously stunning kiddos!
Picture perfect if I do say so myself!


And then a picture like this happens and honestly, it might be my favorite!
This is real life...and real life is beautiful...and adorable! ;)


Such nice people, these two...


Their children were so well behaved and photogenic and sweet...I could go on and on...





It was a gorgeous evening to photograph this gorgeous family...



Thank you all for standing in front of my lens.  It was such a pleasure to meet you and spend a little bit of time capturing your absolutely gorgeous family!!!

Brody - Quad Cities Senior Portrait Photographer

Taking Senior Portraits is a fun change of pace for me, but I have to be honest, photographing Senior boys can be a bit challenging.  It's not typical that a teenage boy loves getting his picture taken, or feels comfortable in front of the camera.  So I always go into my senior portrait sessions of boys with a little extra energy to add to the usually irritated subject. ;)

Brody was different, he was just good in front of the camera.  I can't say he was loving getting his pictures taken, but he never complained!  My camera loved him!


And he had a guitar...I mean c'mon!




He chose one of my favorite locations to shoot in too!





This kid is just an all around great kid.  Super nice, talented, easy going and handsome to boot!

I am sure his future is bright and I was honored to get to photograph him to commemorate his Senior year!


Thanks, Brody for putting up with me and being so laid back and willing to do whatever I asked!  Best wishes to you on your senior year and beyond!