A Pastel-Summer Aesthetic Senior Photoshoot | Livi | Center Point-Urbana High School

A Pastel-Summer Aesthetic Senior Photoshoot with Livi

Culver’s Greenhouse | Uptown Marion | Wanatee Park

When Livi’s mom reached out to schedule her senior pictures, I couldn’t believe she was a senior already!! I had photographed her sister’s senior pictures a few year ago (her blog is here) and had only met Livi in passing when she was helping Madi choose her favorite pictures. When I met Livi for her consultation, she just had 2 requests: a field of flowers and for her pictures to NOT look identical to her sisters. But here’s the kicker, she loved many of her sisters locations and styles. So my challenge was to find locations with similar vibes, but not the same, and give Livi her own unique session! You can check out both Madi and Livi’s blog and decide if how we did ;)

We started Livi’s day with hair (with the wonderful Ingrid) and makeup (with the amazing, Lindsey, who let us use her house to get ready)! And honorable mention to our favorite spray tan place, Bare Tones, for hooking Livi up with a beautiful glow for her session!!

Livi LOVED how her hair and makeup turned out!! Next stop: Culvers Greenhouse! This is an idea we chatted about at her consultation and she loved the idea so we gave it a go. I think these ended up being her favorite images of the lot!!

It was super hot for Livi’s photoshoot and the inside of a greenhouse isn’t lacking humidity - phewy! We had to take several breaks to make sure Livi didn’t start getting over-heated and sweaty. But we loved her white outfit here and pops of colors from the flowers.

Our next stop was uptown Marion where we’d meet her sister who brought her puppy for some pictures!! THESE were SO hard to narrow down!!

Didn’t this sweet pup do SO GOOD!!!?

After puppy-pics, we did an outfit change and explored some new part of Marion that I haven’t been to before! I love this dress on her! Although it was windy this day and her sleeves and dress weren’t cooperating easily, but you could never tell! And we sure as heck weren’t going to complain about the wind we were getting because it was the only thing saving us on this HOT day!

We did a quick outfit change again before we headed to the other side of the main road for the more “urban” or “grunge” areas of Marion. (Ok, it’s not really grungy at all, but I can’t think of a better word - hah!)

I really loved this color on Livi and especially loved it with the brick! She’s so dang cute!!

Another one of Livi’s requests was a willow tree. WOW! These are hard to come by post-derecho (in a public space, with a good backdrop behind it). But a friend told me about this one the morning of our shoot and I rearranged our whole photoshoot layout to make this one happen!

Remember that wind I was talking about earlier?! THIS is the point that we were starting to get a little sick of it. LOL! It kept blowing the willow tree branches everywhere, across Livi’s face as we tried to take her photo, her hair across her face. Livi’s mom definitely got put to work holding onto branches and fixing Livi’s hair as we attempted to get the cutest pictures! You couldn’t even tell, could ya?!

According to my calculations, we were running out of daylight since the sun sets earlier in the part of Wanatee Park where we were headed for flower pictures. Spoiler alert: my calculations were wrong. But luckily I had miscalculated because the smoke from the Canadian fires started to roll in and blocked the sun and sunset for the remainder of Livi’s session. I was bummed, but she didn’t seem to care at all!! We got there just in time and I LOVED this purple dress in the purple flowers!

Ironically, the lack of sunset is exactly what happened at her sister’s senior pictures, too! It has been super sunny all day and then the clouds rolled in at the end of her session. But still so perfect!

Your calendar likely fills up as fast as mine does and it’s SO easy to forget to schedule photos! If you are graduating in 2024 (or a parent of an upcoming graduate) - reach out with any questions or to start planning!! Check out my Senior Gallery or contact me for more info!

Colorful and Summery Senior Pictures | Lauren | Prairie High School

Colorful and Summery Senior Pictures with Lauren

Newbo District | Pinicon Ridge Park | Wanatee Park

I’m writing this blog at 6:30 a.m. and for those that know me… this is highly unusual! But, I’m almost 37 weeks pregnant and fighting insomnia so here we are! I have a list of “work stuff” that I want to get done before Baby comes, which includes writing this blog on Lauren’s AMAZING senior session! I can’t wait to share the images with you all - she is stunning!!

Lauren’s mom reached out to me last October, if I remember right! My memory has not been serving me very well lately, which the insomnia/lack of sleep doesn’t help. But according to my emails, we’ve been chatting since at least last October. Talk about being ON IT for senior pictures! They were specifically wanting July or August photos because Lauren really wanted that full summer-y, flower-y goodness that summer brings! We chatted for a bit, got them on the schedule and then a few months later, I found out I was pregnant and due a week before her senior pictures were scheduled. I knew that I simply couldn’t do the July or August dates they were wanting - it would be too risky and probably too much heat/strain on my body at that time. I decided when I would be comfortable taking my last sessions before Baby came (considering that senior sessions are usually 2-3 hours, outdoors and usually involve at least a little hiking while carrying around my gear/ladder, etc) and I reached out to Lauren and her mom with the option to reschedule for mid-June or a refund. To my surprise (and excitement) they opted for rescheduling!

So we set Lauren’s new session date for the latest possible date in June before I started my “maternity leave” and I just prayed for good weather and for the FLOWERS to bloom early! (Last year, they were barely blooming by June 29th and Lauren was scheduled for June 11th - eek!! Talk about pressure!) We set up a few back-up dates and watched the weather as the day got closer. I wasn’t going to settle for anything less than perfect weather for Lauren’s session after she took a leap of faith with me and rescheduled for mid-June when she really wanted later summer.

The morning of her photoshoot, the forecast called for partially cloudy all day until her photoshoot was set to begin. So we banked on that. Lauren had already gotten her nails and spray tan done (perks of doing a senior photoshoot with me!) and was already feeling cute with her summer glow. (Shout out to Bare Tones for the BEST spray tans in the area!) We met at Moxie Salon for hairstyling with Justine and makeup with Kasya and had a great time just hanging out while Lauren got all dolled up!!

As we wrapped up, the skies still were cloudy and we were slightly worried but held out hope. We headed to our first location in the Newbo area and started shooting. We noticed a cloudless sky in the distance and got excited. Before we knew it, we were surrounded by sun and we all breathed a sigh of relief!! Also, because it happened to be a chill 70 degree day in mid-June and Lauren’s outfits were planned for, like, an 80+ degree day. She was FROZEN! Who would have thought!? But her bright, colorful top brought allll the summer vibes to this location and you couldn’t even tell she was cold!

I’m obsessed with the pops of colors - her outfit, the door, the platform! So cute!!

We started roaming around the area, stopping at my favorite spots that Lauren had requested!

I wasn’t planning on taking her back behind the old firehouse/Airbnb but we spotted these flowers and she mentioned how much she loved them, so we swung by them quick - GREAT choice on our behalf! They matched her shirt perfectly and are some of my favorite images from her session. How dang cute!!

After a quick outfit change, we headed to our next location. Yes - we were already running late.. no surprise there LOL! We set timers to keep me on track, but I use them as more of a suggestion and we always end up running a little behind. Luckily Lauren could change quickly and (spoiler alert) everything worked out fine, as always!

While I LOVE pops of color, I extra-love neutrals in a space like this. Lauren ROCKED her urban vibes and ultimately chose this outfit/setting for her large framed print to hang up next to her sister’s senior pictures at her house! We moved through these locations FAST and then it was off to Pinicon Ridge Park for her requested bridge and pictures with her DOGGIE!!

After our quick stop in Central City, we actually headed back to Marion to chase down the wildflowers at Wanatee Park. The sun was still high enough so we made a stop at my favorite tree-filled area and these turned out to be some of my favorite images. SOOO bright, colorful, summery and ahhmazing!

How gorgeous is she?! As we headed over to our flower area, I convinced Lauren to trek into the white flowers across the street to get a few more pictures in this outfit to give it some more “camera-time” AND because I wanted to use my favorite chair for some different poses that my seniors and their family LOVE! After seeing the pictures, Lauren decided that getting those multiple tiny scratches from our long trek was worth it!!

And then we hopped over to the purple flowers - the main event - the scenery that Lauren was wanting the most!

And that golden hour we were worried we weren’t going to get?? Perfection!

What a perfect senior session!! Everything we could have hoped for. At her ordering session (where they see the photos for the first time and order their images), we matched a frame to her sister’s senior picture that they had in their living room and I love how hers turned out! And her album is just GORGEOUS!

Your calendar likely fills up as fast as mine does and it’s SO easy to forget to schedule photos! If you are graduating in 2024 (or a parent of an upcoming graduate) - reach out with any questions or to start planning!! Check out my Senior Gallery or contact me for more info!

Unique City Night Lights Senior Portraits | Emily | Jefferson High School

Unique City Night Lights Senior Portraits with Emily

Culvers Greenhouse | Pleasant Creek Park | Downtown Cedar Rapids

Where do I even start with a blog about Emily’s session?! I had made a post on Facebook about opening up two new August dates after my vacation plans had changed and Emily’s mom reached out immediately. They were on vacation, so communication was tricky but they for sure wanted to book my last open date and we made it happen! And I’m SO glad they did! I actually know some of Emily’s family members because I’ve photographed her aunt and uncle’s exciting events over the past few years (engagement, wedding, maternity, newborn and baby milestone pictures) so it was so fun to get to meet more of the family! When they were back from vacation, we met for a consultation and I learned that Emily has a creative side and had some non-traditional ideas for her pictures: she wanted to use a greenhouse and wanted nighttime pictures with the city lights downtown. The greenhouse has been a popular request this year, but I have never done nighttime senior pictures before - I was immediately excited… and let’s be honest, nervous.

I had an idea on how we were going to pull it off, but wasn’t sure if it would get us the results we both had in mind. A few days before Emily’s photoshoot, I went and scoped out the downtown Cedar Rapids area at night to see what locations I could find with the most lights and sent her some pictures and found some she loved.

Fast forward to photoshoot day - we had Nicole at Onyx Salon doing Emily’s hair and makeup and had a blast just chatting! And then we were off to Culver’s Greenhouse (with their permission, of course!)

It was HOT in there, but it was so fun getting to try some new things and get Emily warmed up.

We changed outfits and our next stop was downtown Cedar Rapids for some more modern-looking city pictures AND pictures with her puppy, Isla!! We met with Emily’s dad and got ADORABLE pictures with her sweet pup who was verrryyyyy pregnant at the time. We moved to our second spot and it was way too sunny so we used another area close by and had fun trying out new ideas.

We wrapped up, changed outfits and headed out to Pleasant Creek State Park. I picked this location because it had a lot of things Emily wanted: willow trees, water and long grass. I’ve been here before but it turned out better than I imagined! We started in the shady road area, and Emily decided to throw on her sunglasses for a few AND use their truck for some pictures, too! SUPER cute and fun!

Then we changed outfits, and waded through the weeds and flowers to get the best lighting with the willow tree. I am OBSESSED with this light! She was a natural in front of the camera, too!

As the sun set, we headed further into the park to catch that amazing light in the long grass. And again, I was obsessed! I LOVED the light from this session so much, and Emily made my job easy.

And then we rushed back to water area, got a few on shore and then attempted to get IN the water. I had completely forgot that she had told me she actually wanted to get IN!! So we carefully tip-toed into the water and decided it would be safer to just sit down in it! hah!! So fun!

Then the sun had set and we still had the last part of the session left. But we WANTED it dark, so no more chasing the sunlight for us. We headed back to downtown Cedar Rapids, we met in the first location and got out my wayyyyyy too big 86” umbrella and lighting combo (but it’s all I’ve got). We definitely got some strange looks but that’s to be expected. And a huge shout out to Emily’s mom for carrying that huge thing around all night. We had planned to only take 30 minutes or so… but it took a lot of trial and error. We walked around, tried some funky things. And found a spot that almost impossible to light with an 86” umbrella but it was worth it! We LOVED the results and ended up wrapping up at 11pm!!! Needless to say, we were ALL tired!

Your calendar likely fills up as fast as mine does and it’s SO easy to forget to schedule photos! If you are graduating in 2023 or 2024 (or a parent of an upcoming graduate) - reach out with any questions or to start planning!! Check out my Senior Gallery or contact me for more info!