Finding Passion Within a Passion

This last year has been an incredible journey. It was one year ago this week that the opportunity presented itself and I took the reigns of my own destiny and dove headfirst into my photography business. I can't say it's been easy or hasn't had its ups and down.  There have been tears, frustration and moments of feeling like throwing in the towel. But it's brought more smiles, joy and feelings of accomplishment. I'm so incredibly thankful for the support of friends, family, the community and my clients!

If you follow my blog you will know that during this journey I discovered that one of my favorite subjects is Seniors.  This also reminded me that while in school one of my other favorite units was fashion photography.  I decided to dive into that a bit. So I teamed up with a friend who is a new stylist at a new salon in Bozeman, the Foxy Lady Salon. Danielle and Miranda did hair and make up for six models and I did what I do behind the camera!  I had an absolute blast and am really excited about the images we got from the shoot.

I really love how much creativity and out of the box ideas play into fashion photography. We didn't go too crazy for this shoot,  but I have some ideas in my head that I would like to execute soon. So someday soon be on the lookout for big hair, bird cages, smoky eyes, and maybe even a goat...random, weird, different...that's why I love Fashion Photography.

I have to thank my sister-in-law, Amanda Cram for being my assistant that night, holding the reflector, moving hair out of faces and fetching step stools for me. Thank you to Cindy Grooms, owner of the Foxy Lady for believing in my vision and letting me take over your salon! Thank you to Danielle and Miranda for working late that night and also believing in me! Thanks to the models for doing things that might have made you feel uncomfortable because as you can see, it was worth it! I will be calling on you for my future visions...do any of you have a goat?

And that's one thing I've loved about this past year, following my passion and finding even more passion within that passion!

Dani

You might remember Dani from one of my earlier blogs. She was one of my Senior Models this year. We did a shoot early on for some advertising and we got in a Spring Session during Montana's short green time :)
Dani will be a Senior at Three Forks this year. I've known Dani since she was my oldest's age (9), wow! Can't believe she's a Senior this year. She's a beautiful young lady and was great to work with, even took getting hailed on during our Softball Session (I may or may not have believed her that it was actually hailing). 

Talbert Family

I love when my worlds collide! A couple weeks ago my kids were attending the Baptist church Vacation Bible School in the evenings. On Wed night I took a run on my way to pick them up so I arrived sweaty and tired. One of the Volunteers approached me and turns out she is a runner as well and so we started chatting and probably 30 minutes later her kids had sent a friend looking for her and my husband texted me because the girls "have been home awhile".  It's funny how that happens.
 I told her I was a photographer and the next day I had a message from her asking if I had any openings that weekend, her husband was going to be in town. Luckily I had kept it open due to running a half marathon on Saturday!  Kristy and her family live in Alaska but she and her kids spend several weeks every summer here in Three Forks with her Grandma. So bright and early Sunday morning we headed to a couple of locations I've been wanting to try here in town. We had a blast and they are such a gorgeous family!
I'm pretty stoked about the locations we used as backdrops, I really like them. We had some fun at the school as well. I love when the kids ask to do something and it turns out to be one of my favorites and mom's as well. They wanted to hang from the monkey bars for a "just kids" picture. Mom and dad helped the girls up and I said, "wait, lets do one of the family first" and I love it. 
But, my favorite was this: first I asked them to do a jumping picture forgetting the Kristy had just had knee surgery...but she was game for a small jump! And Theodis was NOT about the jumping so they said "fine you don't have to".  And as I was editing images, I texted Kristy and said "I think Theodis knew what he was doing with the not jumping thing" I absolutely love this image! Thanks Talberts for letting me get to know your family and Kristy, I am looking forward to running with you next summer!

Korich Family

Living in a different state than our family I know what trips "home" are like. They are busy...packed with visiting everyone you need to see, doing fun things for the kids, letting grandma and grandpa get quality time in. You can't really call them a vacation (sorry family in Ohio :)) because they can be exhausting.  But they are worth it!
I recently had a family shoot with the Korich's who were "home" for a long weekend to visit!  We had an evening shoot on a Friday and it was a hot one. They'd been in Bozeman all day and poor Macklin had to be woken up from a nap to head out to our shoot.
I always love to see what the reward is for the kids who I am photographing, I don't think I've ever had a session with 2-6 year old whose parents didn't come prepared with a reward for getting through the photo shoot. I should probably have beer and wine in a cooler in the back of my van for parents who get through the photo shoot...
Anyway, Macklin was going to get to go shopping for one some toys from his favorite TV show, but once we got to our location (William's Bridge) he also decided he needed to play in the river as a reward. We did the shots we were planning and then it was time to head down to the river to get some there and then let Macklin enjoy his reward. This was probably my favorite part of the shoot, because Macklin got his feet wet and then bam he was all the way in...shoes, clothes...all in! It was great and he was happy. Some of my favorite shots are of him in river!
Thank you Korich's for letting me be a part of your trip home! I really enjoyed getting to know your entire family!

Frye Family

I remember the day Lanette called to talk to me about doing her son, Randy's Senior Pictures. It was April 12th, my daughter Lily's birthday. I was running around the house while I chatted with her, getting things ready for Lily's party and trying to keep a 9 month old occupied and quiet so I could talk. My cell phone kept cutting out, we tried again from the land line and I'm pretty sure I hung up on her once. I kept thinking, this woman is never going to hire me, I can't even have a conversation on the phone. Luckily she works at home and has three kids as well so she wasn't even phased!
I was thrilled when she not only hired me to take Randy's Senior Portraits but also their family portraits. We met on a May morning at the ranch where they keep their 4H cows and we did a little location scouting! I learned that morning that the work that goes into preparing cows for photo sessions is probably more time intensive than it is for most people!
As she taught me a lot about cows/heifers/bulls/4H and I realized how much they loved these animals and I asked how they were able to handle selling them for slaughter I laughed and said "I have to tell you something" and in the back of my head I'm telling myself to shut up. I said, "I'm finding this pretty funny, because I'm a vegetarian. I haven't eaten meat since I was 14 years old!" If someone would have told me I'd be doing a photo shoot at a ranch with cows when I moved to Montana 14 years ago I would have said "oh no I won't"! Oh how times have changed :)! Luckily again, Lanette didn't say "this woman is crazy, she's not taking our pictures!"
That's what I love about this job, I get to meet so many people and I have learned so many things from people and families I have worked with....things I wouldn't have otherwise been exposed to!
We did the family shoot an early morning in July and we had a blast. They are such a loving family and I got to see the sibling ribbing and teasing and then also the moments where you see their love for each other. The families aren't the only ones that get something out of these sessions. I also gained a new babysitter for my girls (If Matt and I ever actually go do something ;))! And I gained a new friend, thanks Lanette!

Bailee

When I met with Bailee and her mom for our pre-consultation I told them about the location I was dying to do a Senior Session at and I was stoked when they said they were game! It's a bit of a jaunt from Three Forks so even more so from Townsend.
I love finding new and unique locations so I never mind a little drive time to a shoot! The evening light, the colors and the flowers was definitely  worth it. I think we all came out with a few mosquito bites, but I didn't mind! Bailee and her mom did a great job of picking outfits which would work well with the location. I've really enjoyed getting to know Bailee and her mom and I cannot wait until the second part of our session this fall :)!

Be Yourself!

Lets face it,  the majority of young men and adult men don't get real excited about getting their portraits taken. Snapshots are one thing, but going to a professional photographer, getting posed, having to smile, being told to look off into the distance looking forlorn just isn't their thing! But they do it, because their wife wants family portraits or they're going to be a Senior and their mom says they have to. So I try my hardest to make it painless, to make it kind of fun. I encourage them to have fun, be playful and I allow them to give me a hard time or roll their eyes at me.
I recently had Randy for his Senior Portraits. He plays baseball so his evenings are pretty busy and since mornings and evenings are best lighting a 7:45 am shoot was pretty early.  After a few shots, Randy asked if he could take some with his sunglasses on. I don't usually like to take portraits with sunglasses because it hides the eyes and the eyes are one of the most important parts of a good portrait. I asked him "do you wear them a lot?" and he said "yes". I said "Is that you?" and he said "yes". So I said sure, as long as we do some with out because your mom wants to see your eyes. Mom joined us a little bit later and I told her what we had decided and said "You know, that really is him". So you will see below a little sunglasses action. I'm glad that Randy spoke up and I think that's important for clients to do, if something doesn't feel right then say something, if there's something you want, speak up! Be yourself!
I think Randy survived and we got some great shots. I did hear through the grapevine (mom) that the whole experience wasn't quite as painful as he was anticipating. So that's good! Thanks Randy for being such a great sport! ....and he had to do it again 2 weeks later for family portraits! You'll see those on the blog soon too!