Epic Summer Senior Pictures | Kiah | Benton Community High School

SPORTS, FLOWERS & WATER SENIOR SESSION WITH KIAH

Brandon, Iowa | Center Point, Iowa | Eastern Iowa Senior Photographer

I first met Kiah and her family a few years ago when I did some photos of her and her sisters. When her mom reached out in May, I couldn’t believe she was a senior already!!! We met for a consultation, talked about Kiah’s ideas and made some plans. During her consultation, she told me she LOVED tall, grassy fields, water, and would love her pictures on a bridge. She also wanted to do some track and volleyball photos as well. And that’s exactly what we did!

I scheduled Kiah’s hair and makeup to be done at her house by my good friend, Krysta at Make Me Up. (Kiah later told me that she loved how her makeup turned out SO much that she wants her to come do her prom makeup too!) Then Kiah, her mom and little sister all met me in Brandon, Iowa for the first stop of what we planned to be a 3.5+ hour photoshoot. It was a HOT day. Like at one point, I was sweating so bad I couldn’t see out of my eyes. I mean.. I always sweat when I do photoshoots, but when it’s 100 degrees out - phhhewwwy! For me, it reminded me of being on the beach in Aruba in August for a wedding without any cloud or shade coverage. Sizzling! We were all a bit concerned about that, but her mom brought snacks, drinks, and a face-blotting town to ward off any shininess. And it all went perfectly!

Kiah had 8 total outfit changes, poor thing! I knew it would be tough to get them all in (not to mention changing that many times when you’re already a little sweaty from the weather0) but we JUST couldn’t narrow down her adorable outfits. So I set my phone timer to go off every 20-30 minutes to keep us on track and we began!

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(Behind-the-scenes and “what you see vs. what I see” comparison photos, courtesy of Kiah’s mom!)

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We started by exploring the cute, old buildings on the main street in Brandon. Her dress looked adorable on her! After a little wandering around, forgetting my entire camera bag down the road (what in the world?! I’ll blame it on the head I guess) and taking some seriously adorable photos of Kiah, my alarm went off. Time for an outfit change! We chose a more casual outfit to explore some areas off one of the side roads with some barnwood, vintage truck, and gorgeous lighting.

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Then it was time for Kiah’s volleyball outfit. Not only had she brought her entire uniform, but she brought 3 volleyballs and a game net. I knew I wanted to do some photos in the sandy, indoor horse arena on a friend’s property but we also wanted some variety, so we did some with the old buildings as a backdrop as well. They turned out so cool! Then we hurried and left for the horse arena for some unique pictures!

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The horse arena was cooler than the outside and we were so thankful for that little break. With mom standing on a ladder, holding a reflector and little sister as the professional sand-thrower, we took some really fun, unique volleyball senior photos!

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The sand arena sits on beautiful farm land and it was the perfect, effortless setting for another outfit change and to add some variety to Kiah’s senior pictures!! Then we rushed off to Center Point to keep on our tight schedule!

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We met at the Center Point track for some photos of Kiah in her track uniform. They brought a baton and a hurdle and we did this portion of her session as fast as we could - in less than 15 minutes!! Kiah even had a little fan-club for the remainder of the night, because her mom’s friend and her daughter showed up to cheer her on! Talk about a party!

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Right on schedule, we headed to a new location I’d never tried before. Although it took us a while to get to our spot through all of that looonngg grass and the heat (now I know for next time - haha!), THESE were the photos Kiah had been waiting for! Her long grass and flowers! Isn’t she beautiful?!?

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Then we headed to the famous bridge in Center Point. I’m sure people were wondering what was happening since we had 6 of us out there in the middle of the bridge. But we had so much fun and these sunset photos are PERFECTION! Kiah’s requested bridge photos… check!

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Then off we went to our last stop of the night. The sun was pretty much set, but I knew that this location had wide open skies and it would be that soft, pretty light. But it was a location I’d never used before and something I had never done before for senior photos… you’ll see what I mean if you keep scrolling ;)

We started off in traditional senior picture poses and Kiah looked adorable!

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Then I asked her if she was up for trying something a little EXTRA unique and crazy. She said she was and we went for it! They turned out so amazing and I’m SO glad she let me try this with her!

Overall, Kiah’s senior photoshoot lasted about 4 hours, which is insane! But it was worth it and we had so much fun while creating some seriously epic and beautiful images!!

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!

Twin Senior Girls Photoshoot | Gabrielle & Grace | Classic and Boho Wildflowers

Twins Senior Photoshoot with Grace & Gabrielle

Clear Creek Amana High School | Iowa Senior Photographer

The story of the first time I met Grace and Gabrielle is one I tell often. Along with their mom and younger brother, they made the trek to Cedar Rapids to meet me for their consultation and plan their sessions. Sitting at Roasters Coffee in the NewBo City Market discussing ideas and outfits, we watched through the floor-to-ceiling glass garage door as a “severe thunderstorm” started coming through Cedar Rapids. Little did we know that this was actually the life-changing derecho and things were A LOT worse than the thunderstorm we thought we were in. As power went out and the scene outside started looking really scary, the nice woman at Newbo offered us the sanctuary of the hallway bathroom, and we decided to take her up on that offer.

What a story we have to tell now. But luckily, the weather for Grace and Gabrielle’s senior session was PERFECT. During their consultation, I learned that Grace really wanted her photos to be unique, with a boho style and was really drawn to photos in fields and wildflowers. Gabrielle said she was up for whatever, and her style was more casual and classic. So I set out to come up with the perfect game plan to capture what they both had envisioned!

They started their session getting a bit glammed up. Meeting at Acacia Salon, we met with hairstylist Chelsea and makeup artist, Lindsey. Originally, both girls were skeptical about getting their hair and makeup done, because they wanted a natural look, but seeing their faces light up when they first saw themselves in the mirror was priceless. They LOVED their looks!!

Since Grace wasn’t interested in urban aesthetic for her photos too much, I had Gabrielle get her hair and makeup done first and took her to downtown Cedar Rapids to wander around and get some photos of her there. She admitted that being in front of the camera felt really awkward, which is SO TRUE! But I honestly think she did SO good.

Then when Grace’s hair and makeup was wrapped up, we met her at the NewBo City Market and took a few photos there before heading to Center Point, where I KNEW there were wildflowers. (After the derecho came through, wildflowers were hard to find.) Grace also expressed how awkward it felt to be the center of attention in front of the camera, but she’s such a natural model, I couldn’t tell!

I had our photoshoot schedule planned out down to the 15-minute increments. I had alarms set in my phone to keep me on schedule. With one senior, we typically get to wander around and find cool places more leisurely, but with 2 girls, I didn’t want one standing around and waiting too much, or their photos to look TOO much alike. So with everything planned, it went perfectly! We started at the natural trail in Center Point. There’s so many little spots in this area and the photos always turn out so pretty!!!

Next stop was the softball and baseball fields in Center Point. Both girls are going to college to play softball, so it’s a huge part of their lives and we definitely wanted to incorporate it into their senior photos. I’m so glad we did! Aren’t these girls gorgeous?!?! (We definitely had to use my pop-up changing tent a lot. They each had at least 5 outfits!!)

Next up was the open fields and yellow wildflowers for Gabrielle as the sun started going down. I’m in love with how they turned out. And Gabrielle was ROCKING the serious face - no awkward feelings or giggles stood in her way by the end of her session.

And to wrap up their session was Grace’s turn in the wildflowers, but we chose the white ones for hers. This was the MAIN thing she wanted for her session so we used every last bit of the sunset to capture some sweet, boho vintage photos in the wildflowers, and she looked absolutely beautiful!

I love these AMAZING folio boxes the twins chose (which include ALL the digital files that seniors love to have), and the metal prints and hanging canvas their mom loved for the new house they’re renovating. It’ll be farmhouse-style and I think they will look BEAUTIFUL up on their walls!!

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 2021 or 2022, or a parent of a 2021/2022 graduate - reach out with any questions or to start planning!! Check out my Senior Gallery or contact me for more info!

Spring & Fall Double Senior Session | Reagan | Cedar Rapids, Iowa

SPRING & FALL DOUBLE SENIOR SESSIONS

Newbo Market | Ellis Park | Kennedy High School Senior Photographer

This past Spring as the trees started to bloom with the gorgeous flowers, I HAD to photograph them. In the Spring, snow is still melting and people are just starting to willingly come out of their homes after a long, brutal winter. Let me just put it this way - most people are not booking photoshoots at this time. It’s also graduation season and seniors are graduating while juniors are stressing about finals and the end of the year. They’re not ready to think about senior pictures yet!

I had this vision of a gorgeous (soon-to-be) senior girl in the golden sunset light with these blooming trees, but it had to be done SOON, because these flowers fall as fast as they come. I put out a model call and Reagan answered - and I’m SO glad!! She made my vision come to life!!

We only spent a little time taking photos since I just needed a few to share, but she and her family LOVED her photos and knew they wanted to book a full senior session for Reagan in the fall! So today, I get to share my first senior session from TWO different gorgeous seasons!

Every day when driving home, I saw these blooming trees overhanging the sidewalk as the sun shown through them. It was easy access and would be perfect for my mini-session model call with Reagan.
(A few examples of what I see (photos of Reagan) vs. what someone else might see (cell phone shots))

We even set up my lighting to make it seem like it was sunset-y and glowy for a few photos - it was exactly what I had envisioned!!

I knew I had the photos I was wanting, but I wanted to make sure it was worth Reagan’s time too (since she so graciously volunteered last minute for me) so we played around in the other trees and nature trail a little bit, which made it a great practice run for her full senior session. (And spoiler alert… she NAILED it!!!!)

We scheduled Reagan’s next photoshoot for the end of October, really crossing our fingers for those fall colors! And Mother Nature delivered. The colors were unreal. And with that red hair of hers… OhEmGee.

We threw around some ideas of locations and ended up choosing the Newbo area because of the cute buildings and Ellis Park for the colorful trees and water! Did you know that colorful trees + water = DOUBLE the color because the water reflects the fall colors!? Yeah.. it was gorgeous!

We met at Newbo Market and started our adventures from there. Reagan is SO adorable and awesome about posing. She NAILS the serious face every time. It was like walking around with a model the whole night, she made my job so easy!

After a few outfit changes, we made a pit-stop to get some photos with her pup and brother, and then we were on our way to Ellis Park!

I just couldn’t stop taking photos. We barely had to move around in the park, it was so pretty everywhere! And spending the evening with Reagan and her mom made my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. They’re two peas in a pod, and so much fun!! And it’s Reagan just SO gorgeous?!

We wrapped up Reagan’s senior session as the sun set and I knew I couldn’t wait to get home to go through her images!! It was the perfect senior session: fun outfits to match Reagan’s adorable style paired with a perfect, sunny day to just relax, explore and laugh while capturing some AMAZING images. Best day EVER!!!

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 2020 or 2021, or a parent of a 2020/2021 graduate - reach out with any questions or to start planning!! Check out my Senior Gallery or contact me for more info!