All-Things-Floral Summer Senior Portraits | Kate | Linn-Mar High School

All-Things-Floral Summer Senior Portraits with Kate

Penningroth Barn | Cedar River Garden Center | Pleasant Creek State Park

Kate is another return sibling this year - i did her sister, Ellie’s senior pictures in the sunflowers a few years ago! (Her blog here.) So of course I was SO excited to take this gorgeous girls’ senior pictures. When sitting down with her and her mom to chat about what she had in mind for her senior pictures, she didn’t really know besides she for SURE wanted flowers. And her favorite color is pink, so if we could find pink flowers, that would be the greatest! We picked a date and I did NOT see pink flowers anywhere leading up to her date. Sure, there were light purple, which would have to do. I scoped out locations for hours. And then, of course it was supposed to be windy and rainy on her date so we rescheduled for a few weeks later, after their family vacation.

A few days before, I re-scoped my locations. We had been getting SO much rain before her shoot, one of my water spots was flooded out and one of my flower spots I had wanted to take her was all dead. BUT the park still had a ton of these light purple flowers. Phew! AND there were some spots starting to pop up white and yellow flowers, which is awesome! It’s not often I get a flower mix! And AGAIN we needed to reschedule. Overcast and rain and rain and rain. And more rain.

Finally on the third reschedule date, we made it happen. We started at Aurora Blush with Meaghan on hair and Lindsey on makeup. We chatted and talked outfits while Kate’s mom made a Starbuck’s run, per Kate’s request. And then it was off to our first location, Penningroth Barn’s bridge!

But little did we know that there would be HOARDS, MASSES, SWARMS of mosquitos. I feel like I’m being dramatic. Ok, maybe slightly, but I think Kate and her mom would agree. Ive never seen so many in my life. We made our way back to the bridge, started in the brief bit of forrest to get to the bridge and that’s when they all swarmed us. We RAN out of there. Kate’s mom ran to get the bug spray because we weren’t about to let this deter us from the cool bridge pictures, but also, we weren’t going to be eaten alive on purpose. While we waited, we swatted as many as we could. And when I tell you I could not keep up with swatting them, I couldn’t. I didn’t have enough hands, there were so many. And I’m still scratching those bug bites today. We sprayed down and headed back in. We knew it would still be bad. We hurried up, made the best of our time, but probably honestly only spent 4 minutes here and decided it was not worth it. Time to move on!

We made a pit-stop at the set of stairs that I’ve used a few times, just to get a few more in this outfit in case the bridge ones didn’t turn out. And I definitely like how these turned out!!

We didn’t get many in this outfit, but unfortunately we had to get moving to stay on our schedule. Next stop was the greenhouse and it closed at 6:00 p.m. (and we were set to arrive after 5:30). As we were about 10 minutes into our travel, I get a call from Kate’s mom saying that she thinks they left the jewelry at the salon. So I call Meaghan, but she’s already left, so she reaches out to the girl that was still there. She finds it and I arrange to meet Kate’s mom, load Kate and all her photoshoot outfits in my car and meet her mom on location, so her mom can go pick up the rest of the jewelry! Can you tell our day just was feeling purely chaotic at this point?!

Kate and I get to the greenhouse and we both were loving the vibes here. Florals, hanging greenery, and just a bit more of a “springy” vibe, which is what Kate had wanted originally for senior pictures. We were loving it and we lost track of time! I looked at the time at 5:58 and we rushed out! They are SO nice at this greenhouse and didn’t try to rush us out at all, when they had full rights to do so. Such a beautiful space!

Then it was down the road to Pleasant Creek Park. We started roadside to utilize the shade for a bit, and more casual vibes.

Then it was on to the flower field. I had picked a spot that had trees behind it and I thoooought that we’d have quite a bit of shade at this time. I was incorrect. It was HOT in that flower field. Kate humored me for a while, but we had a little extra time so we headed back to our cars for some cool down.

I thought in the mean time while we waited for the sun to go down a little bit, we could do some laying down shots in the shorter flowers around the corner of the road (and cool off in our cars at the same time), so we headed there. I loved the vibes and lighting I was seeing, so I decided to just finish up the flower pictures in this location. It was nice to do something different!

Then we did another outfit change and did our golden hour photos in the grass right next to us! I sooo love some golden hour photos.

Then the last stop of the day was back to the front of the park, on the water! SO dang pretty!!!!

Kate was brave and we attempted to get into the water for some. It did not work out - haha! It was too slippery and she was a little afraid to move… or breath I think! So we headed out, but in typical-Lehia-fashion, I can’t just be done. So we did a quick stop at the docks to wrap up the night. Because I knew we weren’t going to get the bridge photos we had wanted to in the first half of the photoshoot, I thought these would help mix up the aesthetics a little bit. And they turned out so dang cute too!

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 2025/2026 (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!

Lavender Field Summer Senior Pictures | Kiera | Benton Community High School

Lavender field summer senior pictures with Kiera

Newbo District | Pine Hill Farm | Pleasant Creek State Park

Kiera got the PRETTIEST day for her senior session! Her mom reached out EARLY to get her on the books for late July, the same time of year I did her sister’s senior photos a few years ago. Her sister’s session (her blog here) is STILL the hottest session I’ve ever photographed to this date! (Or it may be tied with the wedding I photographed in Aruba (that blog here)… So dang HOT!) So we were a bit worried that it would be a crazy hot day for Kiera. We met for her consultation, came up with some ideas that we thought would fit her aesthetic, as well as a mini family photoshoot we were going to do in the middle of her session. A few days later, I was looking at her questionnaire I had her fill out and I realized her favorite color is lavender and we have a local lavender field that allows photographers to rent the field for an hour. I emailed her mom and asked if they’d be interested in doing part of her session there, including her family photos. They discussed and weighed the pros and cons, and ultimately decided to go for it. And of course I was pumped to do something unique!!

Session day came, and almost the whole fam joined us for the day (remember, family photos were also happening later on). We met up for hair with Ingrid and makeup with Lindsey and Kiera LOVED how it turned out. And yes, that’s a spray tan for Bare Tones she’s sporting! And then we headed right outside our doors to hit my favorite spots around Newbo.

We spent a lot of time at the first spot, and hurried through the rest, as is typically with photoshoots with me - ha! And then it was time for an outfit change as we headed to Fross Park in Center Point to use their easy-to-access soccer net for some quick soccer photos!

After squeezing feet into a brand new pair a shoes, a round of bug spray and some fun experimental shots, we changed and headed out to Pine Hill Farm for the lavender field. It was mosquito-crazy out there but smelled oooh so good! We used half the rental time getting some SUPER cute photos of Kiera in the lavender and then Dad arrived and it was time for everyone to change into their family photo outfits. We snapped a few quick ones of the whole family, and then just the sisters. What a beautiful family! I’m so glad they did this - it sure can be stressful to plan for, but it’s worth it to have a quick update on family photos before everyone moves away and get busy with their own lives.

Time was up, so we headed out to Pleasant Creek Park where we would spend the remainder of the night. I chose this location because it had a few things that Kiera had gotten excited about: a willow tree, beach and long grass. We started at the willow tree. This area isn’t easy to walk into. The grass is LONG and thick. And we spent a lot of time getting there, got bitten up my mosquitos and left pretty quickly. But there were some wildflowers that we got photos with, of course!

As we waited for the sun to get lower in the sky, we headed to the beach area. I honestly thought we would have more sun on this spot at this time. So I pivoted and I decided to have some fun with the lighting here. It’s not my typical go-to style but after looking at my regular lighting vs this lighting, Kiera liked the vibes and uniqueness of this so we shot the whole location this way. I love it too - it just gives an ulta-summery vibe!

And then we went to head to my long grass location and the sun was just.. gone. So we turned around and tried to chase it down the hill and it just wasn’t happening for us. I later found out that there was a lot of extra cloudiness happening from wildfires up north and that would be why our sunsets were “off” that day and a few days following. But I honestly loved the unique vibes I was getting from this spot as well. Between the wildfire smoke and the campground fire smoke, we were getting hazy mountain vibes and I just enjoyed doing something a little different again! But we were still pretty bummed that the sunset was just gone.

And just like that, Kiera’s session was done! Isn’t she just a natural?!

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 2025/2026 (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!

Sporty & Classic Vibrant Fall Senior Photoshoot | Luke | Alburnett High School

Sporty & Classic Vibrant Fall Senior Photoshoot with luke

Newbo | Pinicon Ridge Park | Alburnett High School

What a fun photoshoot I had with Luke (and his mom/dad)! I don’t do a lot of senior photoshoots for guys any more, but I knew I’d most likely be doing Luke’s senior pictures for a few years now. It all started when I met his older brother Zeb and we had a WHIRLWIND of a time for his senior pictures (his blog here), and then I did his sister Hannah’s photos TWICE for a double senior session (her blog here) a few years later, and then it was Luke’s turn. When I first did Zeb’s photos, I remember Luke mentioning that he was excited for his senior pictures. I wondered if that was still going to be the case several years later (I doubted it), but he WAS!

I know he wasn’t looking forward to the long day that we had planned for him or some of the outfits his mom had picked out, but he was a trooper! We had the perfect, colorful fall day for him, and all worked out exactly as planned - although it COULD have been a low-key disaster as I was {this close} to running out of gas during our travels. But Luke and his mom didn’t know that… until just now! haha - oops!!

Let’s get started on the story of Luke’s senior photoshoot! Now, I usually write these within a month of the photoshoot so it’s fresh in my memory but my hands have been a bit preoccupied while taking care of my baby the last few months and I haven’t had the time to sit and type. So let’s see how well my memory serves me!

I met with Luke and his mom for their consultation and we planned out his session. He wanted to include wrestling and simple low-key outfits, she wanted our Schneider-kid-special with the “Friday Night Lights” football field after dark pictures. And I think everything turned out SO cool (but also low-key) ;)

We started the day meeting at Newbo Market. I knew we would have a lot of stops in the day, so I tried to build Luke’s schedule with as less driving time as possible, AND I didn’t want his photos to look like cookie-cutters of his siblings photos either. So we ventured around Newbo, hit up my favorite spots, but didn’t stay too long. Since it was overcast on his photoshoot day, we decided to mix up the schedule a bit and go right out to Pinicon Ridge Park. First stop: long grass. Luke’s mom has a big canvas of each kid’s senior pictures and we needed something with a similar aesthetic to match the other two!

We ventured up the hill to get to all the beautifully colored trees, and I love how simple and classic these turned out!

After an outfit change, we headed to the main attraction at this park - the bridge! I always LOVE how perfect this spot is in the fall. The rustic red bridge backed by the colorful trees is perfection!

Luke had noted he was interested in water pictures for a part of his session, but in our plan of the day, I wasn’t sure there would be any areas along our route that would work. Boy, was I wrong!! I scoped out this location a few days before Luke’s shoot and I LOVED it. It’s definitely going to be a must-shoot spot at least once this year, too! And even though I wasn’t sure how water pictures in the fall season would work aesthetically, I think they turned out gorgeous!

Next up: Alburnett High School. We started in the wrestling room. Tried some different poses, different lighting techniques and even used the atmosphere spray for some cool vibes. (Note: they didn’t end up picking any with the spray, but this stuff leaves some residue and is stinky. Be prepared for a quick cleanup!) Then it was on to the football field.

We were snapping away, waiting for the sun to set so we could the night-time photos with the stadium lights and we had a bit of a panic set in… we hadn’t seen anyone pull up that was supposed to turn on the lights! So Luke’s mom made some calls, but no success. His dad showed up with the work lights to light the scene - yes, we could have used my professional lighting at this point, but we wanted his photos to match his siblings and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, as the saying goes. His dad and mom both tried to reach the person who would be turning them on for us. We remember being told that they take, like, 20 minutes to turn on. They searched for the light switches. Nothing! We start coming up with a backup plan for a second photoshoot, JUST to capture these images on a different day. And then, as the sun is officially set, exactly at the time we said we would need them on, the person in charge comes to turn them on. They turn on IMMEDIATELY. We had panicked for nothing and it all worked out, of course, like it always does!

So we took a ton of epic “Friday Night Light” photos and Luke (ok, all of us) were pretty tired and ready to wrap up the photoshoot. We said walked back to our vehicles, reminiscing on all of the crazy photoshoots we have had over the last few years, laughing about my much-needed stepladder upgrade and said our goodbyes. The last of the Schneider’s to graduate - it kind of feels like the end of an era to me. But look at all the adventures we’ve had together! (And I think it’s officially time to plan those updated family photos- haha!!)

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 2025 (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!

Downtown Urban Spring Senior Photoshoot | Josephine | Prairie High School

Downtown Urban Spring Senior Photoshoot with Josephine

Downtown Cedar Rapids & Iowa City | IATL | Prairie High School

Hold on to your boots for this one, guys! This GORGEOUS senior is the daughter of a local celebrity known around these parts as The Cheesecake Lady, aka Dawn who owns Out of the Blue Cheesecakes which are the BEST cheesecakes you can find in our area. (For real, give them a try sometime, or follow her page!) If she ever reads this, she’s going to blush so hard - haha!!

So before Dawn was famous, I did her son’s senior pictures wayyyyy back when I first started photography “professionally.” I honestly don’t even know if I had an official Facebook page yet. So when she reached out again this fall about her daughter’s pictures, I was so excited!!

I met with Josephine and her mom in October last fall, and since Josephine didn’t want to miss any school (fall/winter hours usually mean either taking a full or half day off for my seniors) so we opted for a Sunday photoshoot in the Spring. We knew the weather could be iffy (spoiler alert: it was) and I chatted with Josephine about what she wanted out of her session. She had a lot of eccentric and FUN ideas, which included some retro-futuristic outfits and makeup, using the Botanical Gardens in Des Moines, and some other unique ideas and locations. After chatting with her mom, we decided something more trendy but more traditional and timeless would be the best approach and we made some plans. (And the biggest bummer was that the Botanical Gardens in Des Moines was holding an event that day, so we skipped that idea, too.)

Since I had MANY months to prepare for Josephine’s session, I kept my eyes open for unique buildings in our area when I was out-and-about and came across an few that I felt fit her futuristic-esque vibe. We designed her session based on urban/city looks only and no nature (it IS early Spring, so we don’t have much for pretty natural areas right now anyway), and mixed in grunge, color and unique buildings. I can’t wait to show you what we came up with!

The Sunday of her session we had overcast rainy-sleet-cold weather. We decided to push it to the following Wednesday and cross our fingers. And it turned out to be a perfect, sunny day!!!

We started with professional makeup with Lindsey at their home. Josephine has a signature eyeliner look that she loves so she finished off her makeup with the eyeliner and she also has naturally curly hair, so she opted to do it on her own. It all turned out beautifully and felt so “her!”

We headed to our first location, an underpass in Cedar Rapids. I have always wanted to try this location, and it was one of many NEW locations we tried for Josephine’s shoot. I actually only used one location that I have ever used before during her session!

We were running a little bit behind already so we only spent like 10-15 minutes at this location, but this outfit was perfect here. I loved this combination!!

Then Josephine jumped in with me and we headed to Iowa City. I do NOT like driving in Iowa City. Especially since we were heading there at 5:00 rush-hour time. I missed my turn in downtown Iowa City, one of many times it was going to happen during this trip, and drove RIGHT past the location I was wanting us to stop at that I had picked out on Google Maps - lol! We miraculously found semi-easy parallel parking at the next road and it was actually a really easy walk to our locations. First up: this cool mural wall!

I was worried that with all the locations I had picked for Josephine’s session, that we’d be lacking COLOR in her photos. So when I saw this on Google Maps, I couldn’t wait to try it! And they turned out to be some of her mom’s favorite photos! Isn’t she stunning?!!

After I felt like we captured a good amount there, we headed down the sidewalks to explore. We stopped at some random spots we liked, snapped a few more while dodging pedestrians, and headed back to the car - still trying to make up lost time!

After an outfit change, we decided that instead of trying to squeeze in 2-3 locations for this outfit (in our already crunched schedule), we would just head to the last one: the really cool full metal building that is the Iowa Advanced Technology Laboratories building. There is also a mint-green colored bridge nearby so we could get some more variety. This spot was so fun to shoot and so unique!

We actually ended up parking in a lot that we were technically not supposed to be parking in. But we were in a time crunch and it was the closest to the building. We knew we wouldn’t be there for longer than 15 minutes, so we just crossed our fingers and went for it. (It was all good - phew!) But we made up a lot of lost time at this spot. And this location with this outfit!? Perfection!!! Isn’t she SUCH a model?! These should totally be in a magazine!

Also, this spot wouldn’t have worked out nearly as well if there hadn’t been a ton of clouds in the sky. So I was so thankful for that. But how cool is that fur jacket?! That color is perfect on her!

After a very short while, we headed back to the car to warm up. Sure - it was sunny, but it was still COLD!! We were exactly on time now, and would at our location JUST in time for sunset. Normally my seniors don’t ride along with me, but with our last minute schedule change, her mom couldn’t make it so it was just her and I. I was a little worried that she’d feel awkward with so much car-time with me, but we chatted and how so much fun! We really connected over our love for Indian food - hahah!!

We made it to our last location, changed outfits and headed to the top floor of the parking garage for sunset. This is the only location I had photographed previously so at least I knew what to expect, because the more the sun set the colder it was getting.

We captured some golden hour goodness and tried some fun poses now that we weren’t trying to catch up on time. But it all worked out perfectly! and I LOVE the way these photos turned out!! (And it’s also proof that winter-spring sessions don’t have to be boring or snowy!!)

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 Hometown Senior Photoshoot | Chelsea | Anamosa High School

Colorful Hometown Senior Photoshoot with Chelsea

Wapsi State Park | Stone City | Anamosa High School

Chelsea was one of my FIRST seniors to book this year! We chatted wayyy back on one snowy day and when we met for our consultation in June, I learned that the two things she wanted for her senior session were: 1. golden light and 2. to use the areas around her hometown that she grew up in, because they were really special to her and her family. I LOVED the idea and they were places I’d never photographed before - so I was excited! When I sat down to make her schedule for her photoshoot - our timeline was TIGHT! We had a lot we wanted to squeeze in and I wasn’t really sure how accessible each location would be or how it’d photograph so I knew it would take me a little extra time at each new spot. We decided to give it our best shot!

We met at Onyx Salon on photoshoot day for hair with Nicole (she owns the salon) and makeup with one of my makeup artists, Angie. Chelsea’s dad actually brought her while mom got ready at home, prepping for their family picture we had scheduled into the night. (A family picture is one of my bonuses you can choose from for pre-paying for your photos.) I thought that poor dad would have to sit through our girl talk feeling awkward but he used Onyx’s cute screened in porch to get some work done while we got Chelsea ready for her big day! Then it was off to Anamosa!

First stop: downtown Anamosa to explore for a city-look. I had previously Google-mapped out this area and had pinpointed a few cute areas and Chelsea’s mom met up with us and had some ideas too. There’s 2 big murals on one road in downtown Anamosa and everyone does their senior pictures there, I’m told. We opted to do the less popular, bright one and do the soft, original mural instead. Which happened to match Chelsea’s shirt perfectly and I loved that choice!

After I spent wayyy too much time in this area (it was so dang cute and Chelsea was ROCKING her session), we decided we better start looking around for more spots. I spotted a few I had seen on Google Maps and we stopped at those!

And right on the main street were these CUTE pink doors. And Chelsea’s next outfit was a pink dress… we had to do it! So we snapped a few in her pink dress and ran out of time! We didn’t have much time to spare so we headed to our next stop - Chelsea’s house for a quick family photo in front of their gorgeous house!

We only built in 15 minutes for this, which was plenty of time! We changed outfits and left for Wapsi State Park - a MUST visit when you’re in Anamosa and a special location for Chelsea and her family. There were several places we wanted to stop at here - first up, one of the cute bridges. Umm, perfect location with these wildflowers!

We drove up further into the park to our tree location, which turned out better than I expected (the lighting was tricky)!

For our last stop, we change outfits and when we showed up to the tall grassy field, it was beautiful. We were racing the clock and as we walked out there we realized the grass was SOOOOOO tall. Probably the tallest grass I’ve ever trekked through. It was quite comical to watch us, I’m sure! But I’ll do pretty much anything for that perfect lighting. It was WORTH it!! Gosh!!!! Isn’t Chelsea just GORGEOUS?!

This was DEFINITELY the spot that put us behind our time schedule, so we rushed out and met up with her dad to head to Stone City. There are several really cool historic buildings there and the quarry (that we had special permission to use). The lighting at the quarry was AMAZINGLY pretty!

We stopped at the old building that was just at the entrance to the quarry as the sunset. We tried to chase it up to the top of the hill, and caught a few images (I mean, just a few, we probably had 3 minutes of pictures here) and knew we had to be quick to wrap up the night before there was no light left at all. We stopped quickly at the rock/sand pile on our way out because it’s a concept I had always wanted to photograph (so thank you guys for letting me) and then we decided that the gorgeous old church would be our last stop.

The church is a well-known historic landmark in Stone City and incorporating some of the old buildings into her photoshoot was important to Chelsea. I’m so glad they chose to keep this image, because not does Chelsea look perfect, but it really shows off the cool architecture and windows of the church. How cool!

We were ALL ready to wrap up the crazy night! But we had a blast and I hope it was something Chelsea and her family will never forget!

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!

Downtown & Beachy Vibes Senior Pictures | Grasie | Center Point-Urbana High School

Downtown & Beachy Vibes Senior Pictures with Grasie

Downtown Cedar Rapids | Pleasant Creek State Park | CPU High School

Grasie’s session was one I was looking forward to a little extra! I had met her (kinda-sorta) when I did her brother’s senior pictures a few years ago and so when her mom reached out again, I was SO excited! (It’s such a compliment to have client’s who return back to me!) I met with Grasie and her mom and learned that Grasie was really up for whatever I wanted to do for her session, which was SO nice, honestly! I DO love hearing and coming up with the PERFECT senior session for my seniors, but sometimes it can be a big struggle to fit it all in and time it all out perfectly. So when Grasie told me I could just pick what we did, I felt like I had ALL the options in the world to choose what inspired ME! Like, where do I begin. In the end, I decided to keep it simple so her photoshoot day was low-key and fun!

We were SO close to doing a sunflower field but there weren’t any close by us that were ready. So we veto-ed that idea. My goal was to find STUNNING backgrounds for her and somewhere she could get her feet wet, but also incorporate some downtown city looks and we nailed it - and then some!

We started with hair and makeup at my house with Chelsea on hair and Angie on makeup, then headed into Cedar Rapids. We decided to meet at Green Square Park so we could explore the areas I had picked for us! Once I saw her outfits, I knew the locations I wanted to try. As we were parking, I drove by one of the locations and it was gone - demolished - and a new building was being put up. So I had Grasie and her mom park while I took another drive around the block and found a NEW but perfect spot to try for her first outfit. I LOVED how the aesthetic worked for this outfit. And it was low-key without many people around so it gave us a chance to warm up.

We knew her Coe College outfit would be a quick one, but I LOVED it on her! She was already ROCKING her shoot and I knew it was going to be a fun, easy night. We changed outfits in my crazy pop-up tent and started venturing towards the “pretty” city look before we did the more “grunge” city look. I know there has to be better words to describe it, but oh well! hah! First stop was the Cedar Rapids Public Library. Which was the PERFECT location for this gorgeous dress!

Then we did a little more venturing, stopping at some of my fave spots! (They’re my faves for a reason, doesn’t she look gorgeous!?)

Grasie changed outfits again and I LOVED this outfit! I thought it was shorts when she had showed them to me, but this skirt was the best with her boots!!! Obessed!

We used this outfit as our “transition outfit” and headed to Pleasant Creek State Park after wrapping up downtown. I knew with the boots, it had a city vibe and without boots it would look perfect in a nature setting. Adding a cute yellow flower was the perfect touch and pop of color!

And then not unlike me at all - but I totally forgot that Grasie’s mom had told me she wanted a special picture of Grasie holding up her baby picture in the BLUE dress that we had already changed out of (we did this with her brother, too, so it’s really special and adorable!) so Grasie changed quick into her blue dress again for a quick few shots - sorry girl!

And then one last outfit for the night! With a cloudless sunset, this willow tree is AMAZING but of course the sun didn’t want to cooperate (hey - we’re not complaining, it wasn’t raining or overcast). I had stressed about the dang weather for Grasie’s session for a week. It was set to be overcast/cloudy and I probably asked her 12x if that was ok with her, because so many of my seniors REALLY want that golden sunset light that my photos are known for. She told me over and over again that she’s totally ok with it being cloudy. But the day of, everything cleared out! Hallelujah. Until the ONE moment I wanted that sunlight behind the willow tree - the clouds moved it. They turned out gorgeous still, and honestly made it WAY less of a hike through the weeds for us!

The clouds seemed like they were going to stay the rest of the night, which is ok - it’s what we had planned on anyway. I asked Grasie if she wanted a rock-water vibe or a beachy vibe (secretly hoping for beachy because I haven’t gotten to do beach photos in years) and she chose beach!! YAY! So we headed out and played in the water, fully expecting to end our night there early because of the lack of sun. We were splashing and taking some gorgeous beachy shots when the sun started popping out. We RAN to utilize the parts of the beach that were lit up!

We were wrapping up the session and the sun was still out. I asked them if they wanted to go try and capture more of the golden light in another area or just call it a night. They said we might as well go give it a try! We were already there. Oh my gosh, I’m SO thankful we did! As I showed them picture after picture of that magical lighting and how amazing Grasie was doing, they quickly realized my obsession with golden, cloudless sunsets and agreed that it was totally worth it!

Literally - how perfect is Grasie! She’s so dang cute, down-to-earth and I just LOVE her full laughing pictures the most! And I can’t believe this is the last picture of the night!!!

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!

Greenhouse Summer Senior Photoshoot | Kenna | Kennedy High School

Summery Greenhouse Senior Pictures with Kenna

Culvers Greenhouse | Downtown Cedar Rapids | Wanatee Park

Wayyyyy back in the winter, Kenna’s mom reached out about senior pictures. I had started getting inquiries for senior pictures SO early compared to normal and I was impressed!! Kenna and her family were referred to me from a friend and past client of mine, which I always love to hear. We had talked about sunflowers, more of a modern urban look and a greenhouse so we set a date for August (when their friend’s sunflower patch was supposed to bloom) and then stayed in touch until our first in-person meeting.

When we met up, the sunflower idea had been veto-ed but everything else was a “go!” And what a small world it is, because when talking to Kenna about her spray tan, and professional hair/makeup I had set up for her (part of my senior package) she knew the spray tan artist (Katrina at Bare Tones) AND the hairstylist (Aubree at Moxie Salon) already! She had yet to meet her makeup artist, Krysta (Make Me Up) but I KNEW she’d be obsessed with her makeup. Spoiler alert - she was!

We started our day at Moxie Salon for hair and makeup, and then headed to some cute spots around downtown Cedar Rapids for a clean, modern urban look.

(Enjoy some behind-the-scenes pictures, courtesy of Kenna’s mom and bestie)

I LOVE how this outfit looked in this library location!

Next, we hit up Culver’s Greenhouse (with their permission, of course) - which I haven’t been to in FOREVER, so I was a tad nervous about how that would go. The lighting was bright and trickier than I thought it was going to be but Kenna was patient and we LOVED how they turned out!!

I’m not going to lie- this close up was semi-accidental!! I was standing WAY to close for the shot I was trying to get, but snapped one anyway and it ended up being one of their FAVES!

Laying down on these empty tables was pretty much an after-thought. We had taken all of the photos we were wanting to, were walking out and I decided to give it a go! I saw them empty as we walked in but thought that Kenna would feel weird getting up there in a dress in a public space. They joked about using them and I told them my idea and they were down for it! I KNEW I’d love these!!

Our last stop for the night was the park for some nature shots and the wildflower field I had scoped out. We had a few outfits to do here, which was perfect because I have a LOT of spots I love at this park! Walking into our first spot, the grass was wayyyyyyy longer than it normally is. It was a trek, but it was definitely worth it! And extra-worth it to find flowers back there!

Next spot was the middle of the tree-lined road - a senior fave. Aren’t these shots the cutest!?

It was a beautiful day. The sun shining the whole day, until RIGHT as we headed to the flower field. Sunny flower pictures are my JAM and I was a little bummed, but Kenna assured me she was still loving the images and after I agreed - I loved them too! And they have such a magazine-model-or-something vibe to them, too!

Doesn’t she look darling in a hat, too? Kenna’s summer session turned out so pretty and ended with a few TikTok creations in the sunset. Does a senior session get much better than that?

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!

Sunset Wildflower Senior Photoshoot | Olivia | Prairie High School

Sunset in the Wildflowers Senior Pictures with Olivia

Newbo | Wanatee Park | Iowa Senior Photographer

Olivia’s mom reached out to me and I was so excited!! I had photographed her older sister’s senior pictures a few years ago (see her blog here) and enjoyed their family SO much. I have a younger sister so I KNEW not to expect the sisters to be exactly alike. While they’re both super-duper cute (obviously), Olivia seemed a bit more extroverted than her older sis and seemed excited to be in front of the camera… and felt comfortable doing her own thing!

After we met for our consultation, Olivia expressed interested in doing something a little more unique and fun. So I planned out our locations and threw a sprinkle of fun into the mix… literally! We stopped at Almost Famous Popcorn for some ice cream halfway through. But I’m getting off track - let’s start from the beginning.

We started off our day with hair and makeup. Since Olivia lives out of town, we decided to get ready at the makeup artists and we all ooh-ed and ahhh-ed over her home and beautiful photos on the wall. With Chelsea on hair and Lindsey on makeup, I knew she would look perfectly natural and fresh-faced! Isn’t she a stunner!?

Our first stop was exploring the Newbo area. We stopped at all my favorite go-to spots and discovered some fun, gorgeous spots along the way. Right away, before we started taking any photos, I told Olivia to not worry about “holding a pose” and keeping still - to feel free to keep moving a little if she felt like it. And she immediately went into model mode and I LOVED it! Do you love this green as much as I do??!

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(Behind-the-scenes photos, courtesy of Olivia’s mom!) I love show examples of “what I see vs. what you see!”

And look at that ADORABLE ice cream picture!!

After ice cream, we changed outfits and discovered JUST how dang windy it was that day. Or maybe it had just picked up at this point. I don’t know, but I DO know that it was a struuuuuggle to get Olivia’s hair to stay where we wanted it. But you’d never know looking at her pictures!

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I had to keep the next image just because it was too funny not to! I was snapping photos of Olivia and her mom got curious about the grape vine behind her and went to check it out, without knowing she was directly in the shot. Of course I snapped this photo and included it in her slideshow during their ordering session (when I come to their home and show them their photos for the first time). There was definitely some laughs!

Have you noticed how GORGEOUS her eyes are yet?!

We were struggling with the wind but ended up getting some good shots just in time to leave. And off to Wanatee Park we went! We tried some new spots, and wrapped up with my favorite go-to locations. It was hot and sweaty but that lighting was perfect! And how cute does she look in that color??

My seniors LOVE the tree-lined roads out at Wanatee. I mean, I do too! So after an outfit change, we did some quick pictures in the road (you have to be quick here, because even though the cars go slow, the park is always busy).

And the last thing we had planned for Wanatee - the reason we were there - was the flowers!! Out at Wanatee, the sun seems to sink below the horizon faster than any other place. So to save time, we just jumped across the street to the little patch of flowers next to the road. And honestly, I actually LOVE how the sun looks filtering through the trees. Magical!

We actually had one more stop planned for Olivia’s day. We rushed out there as the sun was setting, but in the end, she just didn’t LOVE that location/outfit as much as these and we veto-ed them to keep these ones! So none of those are shared here, but it was worth it just for the crazy adventure.

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!

Special Effects Double Senior Session | Hannah | Alburnett High School

LIGHTS, MUSIC, ACTION!
split senior session with hannah

Paramount Theatre | Wanatee Park | Alburnett High School

A few years ago, I met Hannah and her family when I took her older brother, Zeb’s, senior pictures. You can see his blog HERE! Zeb’s senior pictures were taken in the month of November and we got pretty lucky with the weather, so Hannah’s mom reached out in October of 2020 to start planning hers! She knew that my schedule can book up fast AND both Hannah and her mom are BUSY people! (Hannah has many talents and interests, and her schedule is PACKED!)

We met for our consultation in March and did some planning. Hannah told me she wanted to showcase her extra-curriculars: singing, dancing and poms... and also wanted sunset photos in a flower field (my most popular, and my personal favorite, request)! We decided to split her senior session into 2 dates so she could have the sunset for her flower photos, but also on the football field for her poms photos which we hoped to turn into “Friday Night Light” photos like we did for her brothers!

So I scheduled her for hair and makeup with Nicole at Onyx Salon, made a reservation for us at the Paramount Theatre and planned the rest from there.

When Hannah hopped out of her mom’s car, I could tell that she LOVED her hair and makeup and was super excited. We started at the Paramount theatre for some awesome singing and performance shots. We played around with lights (shout out to Jason for all of the help), we tossed some sheet music and got creative. I mean, we even used a flashlight as a microphone for a few shots before finding a real one - thankfully! I LOVE how unique these images are!!!

(Behind the scenes photos, courtesy of Hannah’s mom)

We ran a little behind while at the Paramount, experimenting with lighting (and some of my lighting malfunctioning on me, of course) so we wrapped up and did a quick outfit change while heading to downtown Cedar Rapids. I LOVED this color on Hannah. I knew we had about 15-30 minutes of time to catch up on, so we stuck to some of my main spots in the area to save time and moved fast! Luckily Hannah is a PRO and we flew through different locations and poses. She kept telling me how fun it was, but she didn’t need to tell me - I could tell! We were ALL having a blast. And we had the perfect weather, too!

Once we wrapped up our downtown portion to Hannah’s session, we headed out to Wanatee Park for her flowers at sunset photos. Of course, the original spot I had picked out wasn’t looking as good as we’d hoped with all the rain and the flowers were pretty much non-existent. We decided to use a little spot right off the main road where a few patches of flowers were, because ALLLLL the rest were like 7 foot tall. LOL! I honestly love how they turned out. SO summery and pretty!

Hannah’s second photoshoot came up QUICK! With her and her mom’s busy schedule, we barely even had time to chat about it, but I know it always works out … and it did!! We decided to spend more time in an urban setting for this session, throw in some nature/trees since we had only down fields and flowers last time, and end our session at the football field with a “Friday Night Lights” theme similar to what we did for her brother’s senior photos. Hannah and her mom started with hair and makeup at Onyx Salon again. I wanted to use the same stylist for both of Hannah’s session and Nicole from Onyx was super sweet to help us make that happen! First stop: Newbo!

We stopped at all of my favorite spots, and threw in some extra fun and non-traditional poses along the way!

I loved the simplicity and softness of Hannah’s outfits at these locations. And I especially loved her openness to trying new poses and locations for me! LOL!

After a few outfit changes in Newbo, Hannah changed into her last minute outfit idea for our pit-stop at Wanatee Park. They have this spot with these gorgeous trees where the light filters in beautifully and I’m SO glad they let me convince them to use it. Her outfit was fun and trendy, and it was fun to try some new poses with her jean jacket! Perfect choice for fall photos, Hannah!

This park is one of the MOST popular spots for photographers, especially during the fall! So while her mom stood as the look-out for cars coming, Hannah and I did short blasts of photos in between cars while creatively working around several other people and photographers in the background. ‘Tis the season for fall family photos, ya’ll! (Even though the trees were still pretty green here!)

Then off to Alburnett High School we went! We had plenty of time before sunset so we used ALLLLL the space we could, creating some adorable images of Hannah in her POMS uniform!

Once it started to get dark, her dad showed up with his construction work lights to help us recreate some of the photos we did for her brother’s senior photos a few years ago! We were lucky enough to have someone turn on the football field lights for us and we started creating some magic. We all LOVE how fun/dramatic/gorgeous these turned out! And the colors of the sunset match her school colors - amazing!

And how about this for a good before/after shot?! (Top left: straight out of my camera, Top right: with round of edits, Below: final image)

I can’t believe Hannah’s senior photos are officially checked off of their list! We’ve been talking about and planning them for so long!!! But I couldn’t be more pleased with how they turned out, and Hannah and her family LOVE them too!

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!

Vibrant and Colorful Senior Photos | Ellie | Linn-Mar High School

Vibrant and colorful Senior Photos with ellie

Downtown Cedar Rapids | Colony Pumpkin Patch | Iowa Senior Photographer

Ellie’s mom first reached out to me about her senior photos at the beginning of June. Ellie wanted a photographer whose photos were vibrant and colorful, and particularly loved the sunflower photos I had taken of another senior in the past. We met for a consultation, picked a date and planned out Ellie’s session, including a sunflower field of course! A few days before her session, I went and scouted out the sunflower location I had used in the past to make sure they looked ok, and they absolutely did not! A little panicked, I scouted out a few more locations with the generous help of a friend but alas, they just weren’t going to work for my vision for Ellie’s session. I found an alternative that would work for us (still not quite my vision but would do the trick), but then the day of her session came and it happened to be the day that Cedar Rapids decided it no longer wanted to in a drought. Although the rain had pretty much cleared up for her session, is was very overcast that day. Normally, we’d shoot anyway, but I knew Ellie in particular wanted bright and vibrant colors and a golden sunset that only the sun could provide. So we scheduled for a few weeks later and, I rebooked hair and makeup and scheduled us a spot out at Colony Pumpkin Patch where they have multiple fields of sunflowers!! (My FAVORITE sunflower spot!!!)

I met Ellie at Pretty Lane to get her makeup done, and had hairstylist Meghan Labs (from Virtue Salon & Spa) join us! We all ooo-ed and awww-ed over her gorgeous skin and hair, and then met up with her mom to get the photoshoot started. We started at Greene Square Park across from the downtown Library and explored the area.

(Some fun behind-the scenes shots, courtesy of Ellie’s mom)

We sought out shade whenever we could (it was HOT!) and explored a little more after an outfit change. I love this romper!!

(I love a good “what you see vs what I see” comparison)

We hopped in our cars (thankful for some air conditioned-relief) and headed to our next location: the Sac & Fox Trail just past A Touch of Class event center for the amazing blue bridge down that road. The bridge is amazing, but it’s also a very busy road so we had to be very careful and quick with photos in this location. But Ellie rocked it, of course. We were running a few minutes behind so we decided to not check out the natural trail, skip an outfit, and head to our last destination: the sunflowers!!

We arrived at Colony Pumpkin Patch, got changed, and the nice owner helped us pack up all of our stuff and drove us out into the sunflower field. We are SO thankful for her hospitality. It was SO hot, I cannot imagine having to make the hike up there (with my heavy gear backpack/wagon full of stuff). We got SOOO many gorgeous images in the sunflowers.

It had just rained 3 inches out there the day before, so the grounds were pretty muddy. Thankfully, Ellie’s mom rocks and brought a towel and wet wipes, which we ended up using a lot. Ellie went barefoot most of the time, which worked out perfectly, until I decided to do some poses that would show the bottoms of her feet. LOL! We went through almost an entire package of wet wipes just to wipe the mud off for some classic and cute poses. I think it was worth it, though!!

We used some of the cute props provided by Colony Pumpkin Patch, we hiked through the mud, and we even had time for an outfit change! The sunset was gorgeous. The colors were perfect and vibrantly colorful — JUST like Ellie wanted! I think our vision came to life!! What a perfect night for her senior session (although, I would’ve welcomed a slight temperature drop) and we all had a blast. I’m so thankful I got to meet Ellie and her amazing family!!

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!

Cozy and Sweet Fall Senior Photoshoot with Jaleah

Cozy and Sweet Fall Senior Photoshoot with Jaleah

Uptown Marion & Downtown Cedar Rapids | Wanatee Park

What an adventurous, wacky day we had for Jaleah’s senior pictures!! We planned to meet in uptown Marion because of all the cozy, cute urban buildings and then we planned to hop on over to Wanatee Park and wrap up on top of Mount Trashmore. I’m guessing by now you’ve figured out that nothing went according to plan - lol! BUT her photos still turned out amazing and unique - and even better than I could’ve planned for!

So, here’s where our adventure began. I had Krysta from Make Me Up on her way to meet Jaleah and her mom at their home at 12:30, and them meeting me in Marion at 3:00. At 12:15 I get a frantic text from Krysta: “I’ve had an accident I will be late actually I don’t know that I’ll be there at all. I am so sorry.” Panic ensues. I immediately text her back to not worry about us at all, and making sure she’s ok. I didn’t expect to hear from her for a while, so I immediately called Jaleah’s mom, Barb. We had 3 choices: to reschedule, to TRY to find another SUUUUPER last minute hair/makeup person.. like they needed to start in less than 30 minutes to be on time OR for Jaleah to do makeup herself which she wasn’t comfortable with. We decided to at least TRY to find a hair/makeup person, so I called up my go-to hair girl, Chelsea. She works at a salon owned by a makeup artist (Acacia Salon) who might be available OR Chelsea has also been trained to do makeup. Chelsea answered and, like an saint, was ready to go. But Krysta called me immediately after and said everything was ok and that she could still make it. (Her back hatch of her car hadn’t closed properly and ALLLL of her hair/makeup equipment had been scattered across a one-lane-highway under construction in the middle of traffic. Yeah, I’d be panicking too.)

But she’s ok! Phew! Ok! We were still going to be running behind so I left Chelsea know that we were ok now (I cannot thank her enough for being ready to take us on) and decided to head immediately to Jaleah’s house to do her hair while Krysta focused on makeup. I packed up my things and ran out the door!

I’m SO glad it worked out like it did! Jaleah has SO much long, beautiful hair that we’re not sure Krysta would’ve gotten done on time in the first place. Like, it took me over an hour to curl it all! SOO pretty! AND I got to spend more time getting to know Jaleah and Barb, AND hang out with my friend, Krysta. It was a blast! AND if I wouldn’t have been there, I wouldn’t never known that Molly, one their dogs, was actually once part of the Deafinitely Dogs program (a local non-profit that trains service, disability and support dogs)... which happens to be my mother-in-laws (and her sisters) business! I actually took photos of Molly when she was a puppy!!! What a SMALL world!

We wrapped up Jaleah’s hair and makeup exactly on time. The weather was showing clear the days coming up the photoshoot, but as luck would have it, it started sprinkling pretty much as soon as I headed to their house. I checked the weather periodically while doing her hair, and it said rain, rain, rain, rain.. up until about 5:00. We made a plan to do our best with a clear umbrella for her photoshoot and if she didn’t love how they turned out, we could do another one a different day. I mean, makeup was already done all pretty - we might as well use it! So we headed to Marion.

It was still raining when we arrived.. and WAY more cold than I anticipated. We parked next to Zoey’s, our original meeting spot, and there was construction EVERYWHERE. I had planned on us just crossing the road but we couldn’t get through. So we decided to go around and meet across the street. We froze a little bit, but the rain was really light so we worked with what we had. Which included our first spot, under the outdoor patio pergola of a restaurant. I’m so grateful they let us use it. It was the perfect spot to give us hope for the rest of the rainy session. We explored cute spots and stopped for photos while Barb held the clear umbrella way up over her head! We must’ve looked so silly! But it was worth it! You can’t even tell it was raining unless you look closely. Of course I have to share the unedited, behind-the-scenes photos with Barb’s hand holding up the umbrella!!

Some of these behind-the-scenes aren’t quite the exact pose, but I love how they show the difference between what you see vs. what I see in each location!

We explored some areas, found a blue door that really made Jaleah’s eyes pop, grabbed a coffee, changed outfits and took these amazing pictures. All in the rain surrounded by construction! Honestly, I’m pretty impressed with us - lol!

Then it was time to hop in the cars, warm up and head to Wanatee Park. The rain had pretty much stopped by the time we got there and we took photos in a few of my favorite spots. What a great park with SO many little spots for photos. And I haven’t even hit half of them yet! Jaleah’s next outfits were not so warm, but she was a trooper and powered through. But she looked adorable and it was worth it! The first spot we used is this little tree area off the main road and it’s quickly become one of my favorites! How cute is she?!

Her next outfit was this adorable sundress and cowboy boots. We flew through this set so fast! The “open field” or field of flowers was my most requested setting this year, so I know the poses I typically like to do there, so that saved us some time. And it was super easy to get to. I love how the setting perfectly matched her hair, skin and outfit!

Of course I wanted to show off more of her cowboys boots and had to use the famous Wanatee Park drive with the trees lining each side. It’s the MOST popular spot for photos out there, I think!

Then off to Mount Trashmore we went. We were scheduled to arrive a little before 5:30 and they closed at 6:00 so I knew we’d need to hustle a little. When my GPS said “you have arrived at your destination” and we were in the middle of a parking lot of an apartment complex with no entrance in site, I wasn’t sure what to do. This wasn’t the way I had gotten there in the past. Barb said she knew how to get the other entrance, and I hoped it was the same one I was thinking. I followed her and sure enough it was… but it was gated up and closed. Sigh. They must’ve closed because of the rain. It was getting darker and I had no back-up idea. Jaleah had a trendy outfit left and another sweater/jeans combo if we had time. So we tried taking some right outside of the Mount Trashmore entrance, but it just wasn’t giving me the look I was hoping for with this outfit. And it was one of her faves! I really wanted these to be perfect for her. So I told them I wanted to try a new place, a bridge over the river that overlooked the city. It had a little off-road area that we would be safe to take photos in, and I had driven over multiple times but couldn’t remember where. We sat in our cars and warmed up while I pulled up Google Maps and looked for it. I FOUND IT… but it was under construction… ugh. I found another bridge that had on-street parking that I thought we could try! It was PERFECT!

The skies colors in the background and her dress.. it couldn’t have been better. I got all the amazing photos I was hoping for with this dress/outfit! And another one of my favorite spots was just a few blocks up the road. The sun was pretty much gone by now but I knew it wouldn’t take us long to get down a few blocks and snap a few in her last outfit. Well, I should’ve know for how the day was going that it wasn’t going to be that easy - lol! It turns out that there was a big event in Cedar Rapids that night. There was ZERO parking. So what was supposed to be a 1-minute drive, hop out of the car, take photos for 10-minutes turned into us driving around just looking for parking. We finally did, and ventured back to where we were before, snapping some quick photos along the way. By the time we got to the spot I was planning, it was totally dark except for the street lights that had just come on. We did our best, but we were all pooped out and cold. So we called it a night and headed back. We KNEW we got so many amazing images, so there was nothing to worry about.

Jaleah’s family LOVED all of her images!! I do too! I especially love the blue dress/city-scape with that cotton candy sky! That is the first time I’ve used that location and was able to catch all of those colors and I just love the whole vibe!

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!