The Smith Family - Quad Cities Family Photographer

I was pretty excited when this awesome family contacted me to photograph them.  I make a trip to Des Moines once or twice a year to do photo sessions and due to time constraints, I have a limited amount of availability.  It's kind of a first come first serve deal and so I was happy this family got in the mix!

Emily and Craig have been friends with my husband, Sean for years.  I met them through him way back when Sean and I started dating.  I have never had the opportunity to meet their adorable children until this last weekend when I photographed all of them!



And they are SUCH ADORABLE and GREAT kids!!!

They have their differences though... ;)

Cora was great in front of the camera...she totally liked workin' it! Ha.  I have to say though, she was also great BEHIND the camera.  And I am not even kidding.  I usually help kids take a picture or two if they want, but she actually WORKED my camera...on manual.  I told her the button on the back to push in order to focus the shot, gave her some quick instruction, put the strap around her neck and let her work.

And I almost don't even feel right putting my watermark on this image.  I didn't even take it!  I was not even TOUCHING the camera...this was all her.  I edited it, but didn't crop it either.  I mean, c'mon...that is pretty amazing!  This girl needs a camera for Christmas.  And I may want her to be my apprentice...she's got skill I tell you!  It certainly helps that Jackson is one seriously good looking little stud!

Yup, these two were as fun as they are adorable!

The whole family was!

And this shot...oh my...it melts my heart! 

I love this too!

And sometimes you get the shot...even when it isn't planned.  You do what ya gotta do and a lot of times it just works! :)

And since they're a house full of Vikings fans, the shoot wasn't complete without some shots where they were representing their team!

Thank you Emily, Craig, Cora and Jackson!  I had so much fun working with you guys. :)  Glad the rain held off for us!  It was so great seeing you again and meeting your adorable children finally!

The Luckenbach Family - Quad Cities Family Photographer

What a great family I had the pleasure of meeting and photographing!

Even their dog was amazing!

I think it's smiling...doesn't it look like it?! :)

2 1/2 can sometimes be a difficult age to photograph.  Sweet Elliott was far from difficult to photograph.  What a doll he was!  We had a great time playing on this beautiful fall day!

He is all boy!  Loves sticks, leaves, running, football.  And he was sweet and as you can clearly see, ADORABLE to boot!

And that is probably because he has a wonderful mom and dad!  These two were just so laid back and easy to work with.  And they are so in love...and one of my favorite things is photographing two people who are in love.

Though I just met this family for this session and we only spent an hour together, I learned very quickly that this family is as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside...

I am in LOVE with this Mommy Love shot! 

And the ONLY thing that would have made this shot more perfect (in MY personal opinion!) is if this gorgeous, football loving family had been sporting Hawkeye gear! ;)

However, I must say...if ANYTHING could make me like Michigan, it might be this image.

Thank you Luckenbach family for letting me spend some time photographing your family!  It was such a pleasure to meet you.  What a beautiful family you have and such an incredible little boy!  You made my job easy! :)

The Leonard Family - Quad Cities Family Photographer

I was so excited to FINALLY get this family in front of my lens!

I've been friends with them for a couple of years now and it finally worked out!

These kids are fully of personality!

Made for a great photo session! ;)

And BOTH of their eyes...I did NO edits on.  For reals...their eyes are just THAT amazing!

Handsome Brady...

Beautiful Kiley...

We are so blessed by the friendship we have with these two... 

And one of the many shots I got of this family that was REAL...in fact, MOST of the shots I got were quite "real".  Those are my favorites anyway! :)

Thank you guys for FINALLY allowing me to photograph you!  We definitely picked a beautiful, fall day for it!!!

Love you guys!

The DeCook Family - Quad Cities Family Photographer

This family is so special to me.

It helps that they are a beautiful family and my camera loves them!

I would adopt these girls...only then they couldn't marry my boys, so that wouldn't be good! LOL

Daddy Love with his littlest girl...

The big girls...

 This girl is so beautiful...I adore Sweet PhiPhi!

Pretty Chloe is like the female version of our Wesley.  She is full of spunk for sure!  Love her!

And beautiful Ava is the sweetest thing ever.  Oh my, I want her to be my daughter...or my daughter in law will do! ;)

Mommy Love...

And this picture tops my list of favorite images ever captured.  I am in love with it!

Thank you for being such amazing friends...thank you for allowing me to capture you photographically once again!  Love you guys so much!

Emily - Quad Cities Senior Portrait Photographer

As the edits on Emily's Senior Portraits are almost complete, I am kind of sad.  Looking at her portraits gave me time to reminisce about being in high school.  I was a different person then, but the lack of responsibility is appealing to me lately! Ha.

I love these portraits of Emily.  I love how real they are.  We really just spent a couple of hours hanging out and I snapped some pictures!



We even got coffee.  It was COLD out, so the coffee was necessary.  And we kinda both like coffee. ;)

How cute is she?!  I want that hat, and hair and jacket. 

I think these portraits really represent Emily...which is kinda the point of Senior Portraits anyway, right?  Capturing who you are at that point in your life...

 

 

 

We had fun and laughed a lot!

And Emily was game for anything I suggested and injected her personality into every part of it!

Thank you, Emily for hanging out with me and being such a great subject to photograph!  Have a great ending to your Senior year and best wishes to you in the future!

The Gorsh Family - Quad Cities Family Photographer

I always enjoy photographing this gorgeous family!
This day was a COLD one though!  They were TROOPERS!



And their kids toughed it out too....with a little help from Mommy and Daddy...and a blanket!

Stella is growing up so much!  She was NOT a fan of the cold, but we managed to get a few smiles out of her...

And a couple hilarious faces too!  Kissy face!

Carter is always willing to smile for pictures!  This one is full of personality and energy...so I felt right at home with him since that's what I'm used to from my boys all the time! :)

 

This is one gorgeous mama and daughter!

 

And there's nothing like Daddy cuddles.  Carter was cold and Daddy cuddles did the trick...

Since it was so cold and windy and the kids were feeling it, it was one of those sessions where Mom and Dad are concerned that I barely got any good shots.  I've mentioned before that when that happens, it's so fun to show them all of the images that did turn out because they're usually not expecting many! :)

And, as usual, this family has plenty of images to choose from!  How could they not?!  They are so beautiful and my camera loves them...no matter how cold and windy it is!

Thank you Stephanie, Jordan, Carter and Stella for braving the chilly weather to spend some time with me!  I always love photographing your family!