Ellefritz's

You know those best friends that no matter how long or short a time between seeing them, it's as if you were never apart??  I have several of those, and Ben Ellefritz is most definitely one of them!  He and I have been best friends since highschool.  Several years ago (has it been 7 or 8 now??) he married the most amazing woman - if I would have dreamed up the perfect woman for Ben, Jes is even better for Ben than I could have imagined!!

About 3 years ago, they adopted Mia, and then about 1 1/2 years ago, they adopted Kya.  They are two of the most precious little girls I've met!  Ben and Jes are amazing parents, and I can't tell you how fun it is to see them in that role.

While they were visiting, we decided we needed to do a family portrait session (of course!!).  I actually was shooting pics all weekend, so some of the images are definitely more candid and others are from the shoot that we did at Centennial Park here in Nashville.

Enjoy!

Kya and Carter - sprinkler fun!

Darren & Katie

Since traveling photography seems to be the name of the game these days, today I'm highlighting a shoot from Bloomington, IL.

Darren and I go way back...let's see, Darren, how long has it been?  It all began in Como, CO the summer of '98 maybe?  Darren came out to see his best friend and we just clicked.  We've been bf's ever since!

While in Bloomington, I got to see Darren and meet his lovely girlfriend, Katie.  She is a doll and I sincerely wish them the best and can't wait to see them both again sometime soon!!

Thanks for your hospitality that weekend, you two!

John & Julia Reinert

John and Julia got married this summer, and man did they have a fun time on their big day!  Julia made my job so easy.  She had the biggest smile on her face all day and her laugh is SO infectious that I was usually laughing as I was shooting.  And John...John was so thrilled to first see Julia and then to be married to her - it was just beautiful!!!

Congratulations, John & Julia!!  Thank you so much for allowing me the honor to be a part of your day!

What to Wear for Your Portrait Session???

I know that “What to wear??” is always one of the first questions in your head when you book your family portrait session.  Choosing the right colors and clothing styles can help make your family portrait the valuable piece of art it was meant to be.

The very first thing you need to consider as you are planning out your wardrobe is comfort.  Make sure that you and your family are all wearing something that makes you feel good and that you feel good wearing.  The confidence this provides will come across in your photographs.

I suggest wearing clothes from the same color family  - keep in mind they don’t have to be exactly the same shade.  Years down the road, you may no longer love the “matchy-matchy” look!  Dressing your family in colors that blend together helps to keep the focus on your family and not their clothing.  You also want to make sure that there is some contrast between the top and the bottoms.

I’ve been doing a bit of research, and it looks like deep purple and dark teal seem to be popular colors coming out this fall.  When paired with bluejeans or khakis, you can create a fun combo of colors.

Below is an idea I put together for clothing suggestions.  All items can be purchased at Gap and Old Navy.

Julia

I'd love to start this post with the fact that I had a very weird summer.  It was AWESOME, but weird - even for me!!  I was gone from home for pretty much the whole months of June and July.

In July, I had an amazing opportunity to travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina with my husband - he had to work there for 3 weeks, so I tagged along.  I was going through a bit of photography withdrawal (at least of the people variety!!) when Fede and Silvina saved me. ;-)

They allowed me to photograph their beautiful daughter, Julia.  Julia is 1 year old, and your typical Latina beauty...the gorgeous skin, the huge dark eyes...she was such a little charmer (oh....and her parents were also awesome!  ;-) ).

In addition to photographing Julia, I also go to try out the new tutu that I had purchased from Heart Break Kids.  So fun!  Can't wait to do more...