Melissa | Senior 2010

We share the same name...so of course she is awesome!  Meet Melissa:

Like the Allman Brothers sang, she truly is a sweet girl with GORGEOUS blue eyes!  She is passionate about the color guard and is going to be an English major at OSU next year.  She brought along her best friend Lauren for support as we took pictures at Homestead Park in Hilliard.  This was a fantastic location that Melissa & her mother chose...which I loved!  It is a park right in the middle of Hilliard that reminds me of the country.  There are barns, a train car, tall grass, a pond, bridges...a photographer's paradise!

Fierce!

They have the coolest playground...I will have to remember that for when Theo's a little older:)

Of course she wanted a photo with Lauren:)

The light was gorgeous that day.

Even thought we battled the wind and at times the wind won, I think we got some absolutely beautiful shots of Melissa.

Thanks so much Melissa, it was a pleasure meeting you:)

Reagan | Child Portraits

I was so happy to get to visit with Reagan and her parents, Jen & Larry again.  It has been 6 months since her last session, and boy has she grown!

We met at Goodale Park again on a lovely spring afternoon.  Reagan was having so much fun running, dancing, feeding the ducks, exploring her mommy's purse & going down the slide.

I think this is so adorable!

Reagan wasn't the most cooperative when it came to posed family photos...but I think we got a few keepers!

Reagan earned a little slide time after all that hard picture taking!

Thanks Jen, Larry & Reagan, I love getting to see Reagan grow!

Gabe | Senior 2010

Gabe is another senior who just wasn't into getting his pictures taken.  We met at the North Market on a sunny afternoon for a half hour session (even though we probably only spent 10 minutes taking pictures:)).

Thanks Gabe!

Ally & Matt | Engagement

I was so excited when Ally and Matt decided on the Spaghetti Warehouse area for their shoot.  After one super windy and slightly rainy Saturday reschedule we were able to meet on a beautiful (but windy and cold) afternoon to take their engagement session.  This area is so awesome to shoot at.  It is urban, distressed and no one seems to care if you are around.

Poor Ally was freezing in her short sleeves but agreed to take a walk over the Broad St. bridge and explore a little of downtown as well.  We ventured around the LeVeque tower and behind the Palace Theater.  I learned that Matt is interested in photography and he gave me a few pose suggestions...they were fantastic!  These two were up for anything, even a little smooching in a bus stop:)  I love when couples allow me to be creative and go along with my craziness.    

Ally & Matt met at work and have only known each other for about a year and half.  I think it's great that they know they want to be together and see no sense in a long relationship before marriage.  That's how my husband and I felt so I can definitely relate.  They are great together, Ally laughs a lot and Matt is a quiet thinker.

Umm how cool is this abandoned building?

Matt had the idea for the Park and Tailor sign...awesome, right?

Ally said this is as close as she will be to being on stage:)

Thanks for spending your afternoon with me.  I am so excited for August, and I'm sure you are too!

Brian | Senior 2010

When Brian's mom, Stephanie contacted me and said that her son was just not into senior pictures I had to laugh.  It seems like a lot of senior guys have much much better things to do than spending two hours getting their picture taken but are nice enough to put on a smile for a few minutes to make their mother happy:)

I did a 1/2 hour session with Brian since his mom thought that's about all he could handle.  And she was right...I felt like I was torturing him the entire time!  He was a good sport though, and definitely and independent soul.  Stephanie described him as artsy so we picked the area outside of the Columbus museum of art to take his pictures. He wants to go to the University of Cincinnati to major in addiction studies.  I love that he wants to help people with his career - that really says a lot about the character of someone.

Thanks Brian for letting me take your photo and being kind enough to even smile for a few!

Arabia | Senior 2010

I met Arabia at Franklin Park last Saturday, a beautiful & sunny day.  She is a senior this year at Independence High School and wants to go to Shawnee State next year to go into dentistry!

Arabia brought her mom and her best friend along to help her get changed and make sure she was looking her best.  It took a little while for Arabia to warm up to the camera (according to her mom & friends she always does the same pose in pictures:)) but once she did the shoot went beautifully.  We decided to forgo the inside of the conservatory because we figured the Saturday crowds might make things difficult and focused on the beautiful spring blooms in the park.  It was the perfect day for a spring photoshoot!

Thank you so much Arabia!!!!

Sean & Sara | Engagement

Sara & Sean are getting married on November 27th of this year and I have the pleasure of being their wedding photographer.  I actually used to work with Sara in college at the Ruby Tuesday in Athens (which by the way was probably one of the funnest jobs I have ever had!) and was so excited and privileged when she said that her and her fiance, Sean, wanted me to be their photographer.

When Sara & Sean suggested Franklin Park for their engagement session I coerced them to also do part of it at Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams in Bexley.  Ok, so maybe it didn't take much coercion to get someone to eat some ice cream while having their picture taken 'cuz who doesn't like ice cream?  I've always thought that a Jeni's would make a wonderful place to do a photo session.  Their decor is so fun and simple and their ice cream is sooooo.stinkin.amazing.  Seriously, it's the most delicious and unique ice cream I have ever had. 

Saturday morning was gorgeous.  Luckily the previous week's bad weather had passed and we were left with a sunny, moderately warm (I lie, it was chilly at 10 am) beautiful April day.  The magnolia trees were beautiful in Franklin Park.

We avoided the crowds in the conservatory by going right when they opened at 10.  Sara & Sean are so clearly in love.  I just told them to be natural and relaxed...and the results are just beautiful. 

I don't know if Sara realized I was there for this following shot because I kept having to run back to my bag and wipe my foggy lens down (it gets a little steamy in the conservatory!) but I feel like I caught them in an beautifully ordinary moment.

For future reference, this plant has SPIKES! 

The following turned out so beautiful....even though Sara kept telling Sean that he was being creepy:) 

And now we come to Jeni's.  The wonderful woman working was so kind to let us take photos in there and even gave us the ice cream on the house.  Isn't that awesome?  I went into creepy stalker photographer mode and captured Sara & Sean tasted, picked out and ate their ice cream. 

We walked up Main St. a block or two as they were finishing their ice cream and found the Trinity Lutheran Seminary.  The flowers and architecture are beautiful so we finished off the session with a few shots around there.  We also reminisced about the wonderful dining hall food that we remembered from our days at Ohio University.  I told them there is a legend that my husband once snuck 16 ice cream bars out of the dining hall.  I can neither prove nor disprove this fact, but I will say I ate A LOT of ice cream my freshman year:)

Sean & Sara's Super Sneak Peek!

Sara & Sean are getting married:)

Faren | Senior 2010

Meet Faren.  She will be graduating from Independence High School this June (thank you Sydney for telling your friends to get their pictures taken by me:))  and is planning to attend THE Ohio State University in the fall.

It was such a beautiful (although windy!) morning to spend with Faren and her mom, Freda.  The sun was shining and the trees were blooming.

Faren laughed...a lot.  Which was fantastic!  She cracked me up during the whole shoot.  She said she didn't take many pictures although you would never know it by the way they turned out.  She is a beautiful person and super smart.  One of the coolest things she told me is that she is part of a robotics club.  How crazy cool is that?  I'm pretty sure that is what she wants to go to school for, although the long, complex name of her major is no longer in my memory:)

Thank you so much Faren.  You will do just fine in college.  Enjoy the rest of your senior year:)

Annnnnnnd... GO BUCKS!