HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

just a note to tell all my friends, family ,my husband, Keith, and my kids, Ben and Lacy, and customers to have a great Thanksgiving! I wouldn't be here doing what I so love to do without any of you. My family and friends have always encouraged me, when I wasn't sure if I could handle a full time job at Maytag and still find time to do photo shoots on weekends and evenings, and when I was ready to give up, they would assure me that I had a talent as well as a love of Photography, and I should keep trudging along. Then after Maytag, I went back to school to get a degree in Graphic Design and once again, the encouragement kept me going. Keeping up with the young students definitely kept me on my my toes! For my customers, you are THE BEST, keeping me challenged to create portraits for you that you love and that make me so proud to have taken. Thank you for letting me be a part of your lives, in my own way, through your memories, captured in your portraits. I just wanted to say, that YOU ALL,are what I am thankful for this Thanksgiving!

The Johnson family

The Johnson family came in for a family portrait. Their 5 kids were so well behaved, each was patient with me when we did their individual pictures. They were all dressed so cute! Here is my favorite one from their sitting!

Peterson family

The Peterson family, dad Terry and Mom, Angie and kids were in the studio last week for a family portrait, which we did of course but we did some others as well. Colby had some fun on the Christmas set, as his sister Morgan gave him some pointers! The brother and sister seemed to get along great, how awesome is that? Here are a couple of pics from their sitting!

Evan and Kellen's family

I have been photographing Kellen since he was a baby, now he has a baby brother as well. These 2 boys are so cute, and I think Kellen thought it was funny I was at his house when he usually comes to see me at the studio! Kellen and Even,along with their parents, Kate and Brandon have just moved into their new home and since there were still some colorful leaves outdoors in their huge yard we had some outdoor fun with both sets of grandparents and their aunt and uncle. Here are some of the pictures we got that day.

Cute kids!

My son's friend Gina brought her family in to be photographed, the little guy was outnumbered by the girls but they were good to him and we got some great pictures!

The Swanson extended families

A few months ago when I did Brittany's senior pictures we talked about this sitting but with schedules and all we just got it done. We went to a location they knew of and here is the great shot we got there!!

SORRY!

Man, am I ever behind on my blogging! I have been super busy and havent had a minute to get caught up, so I am going to try to make a dent in it this afternoon and put up a few posts!
It's great to be so busy though! thanks to all for making that possible!

Melissa and Jeremiah

We did these engagement photos last Saturday, and really got some great shots. They are so in love, and it sure shows in their pictures, and besides that they are such a cute couple!! Here is one of my favorites!

Matt

Matt brought his guitar when he came for his senior pictures so we really got some cool shots with it. Here is one!

Chase

Chase and his mother Renee were in last Saturday for his senior sitting. His girlfriend had went with him shopping for his clothes, they did awesome.
We had a great time walking around town looking for spots to stop and take pictures. This is my favorite.

Waltzing with the Wildcats

I hope you all made it Saturday night to the 3rd season of the Waltzing with the Wildcats. If you didnt, you sure missed some awesome dancing, and just plain fun. This is the second year I have done all the dancing couples pictures at my studio, then compiled them all into a large poster that is displayed at the event. I always make them pose in "dancing poses" and they sure can be creative! The couples, which are the super-talented Galva dance girls (state champions,by the way) paired with local businessmen or teachers, or past dance team members and willing partners, who give their free time to practice,practice practice in order to entertain and raise money for the dance team. Rose Wexell is the girls' coach and she puts in countless hours preparing for it, and the crowd was very appreciative of it! the local teen band Motorbiscuit played before,on break, and after, so there was even dancing at intermission! All the couples deserve a pat on the back for their hard work, great sense of community and most of all for dancing in front of a packed gym! Here is a small version of the poster.

Brooke

What a cutie! She was just adorable, she was singing to us most of the time she was at the studio, she did everything I asked and it sure paid off in some beautiful images of her.
Here is one of my favorites.

Taryn

Taryn came in on one of the wonderful warm indian summer days we had last week. We took advantage of that and walked around a few blocks and took some great pictures. She didnt hesitate a bit when we ventured all over, or when I asked her to climb on something or get into some tree branches!! She has a beautiful smile, but in her "non-smilers", her eyes are AMAZING!!

TOOOOO Fun!!

Some of my regular customers came in for Halloween pictures, and boy are they ever cute!If you notice I even "painted" Frankstein Aidan's face green in Photoshop! Hope you get a good laugh at some of these, I know I did!

The Crouse's

Meredith and Steve have been coming to me for their portraits for several years, if my memory is correct even before Hilary was born, then when Hilary was a tiny baby and every year since then. This I so appreciate, and am honored to capture their personalities as they grow. We did some outdoor ones at Lake Storey and even though it was like a wind machine outside, we got some great family pictures.

Katy

Katy and her mother met me in Bishop Hill and we took advantage of the leaves changing and falling to get some great pictures. She is the most upbeat and happy person, that is so great to have such a wonderful outlook! Keep smiling!