Nothing Says SENIOR PHOTOS like a Code 13

Senior photo shoots remain one of my favorite things to do, and this session with Sarah just reminded me why. First of all, high schoolers are just plain awesome. Especially the senior variety of high schooler, because they know it's near the end! They also are just full of life and fun to be around, which is exactly how I would describe this beauty here. Sarah was so natural in front of that camera; the girl does NOT take a bad picture. You would've guessed she'd done more modeling than she had diving at soccer balls, which is another thing I love about high schoolers: they're surprising!

Sarah also has this great sense of humor, which made for a good time when things got chaotic around us at Helen Hunt Falls. We're just minding our own business, trying to take pictures, change clothes (her), change lenses (me), and capture the moments... when all of a sudden, I see this kinda shady character of a man trying to pry open the windows that are nailed shut (always have been, as long as I've been going to the Falls) on the little hut there. Then he starts wandering our way... asking for a water bottle. I give him an almost empty one from my car. He thanks me repeatedly, then starts yelling "And I'm stuck here, and it's YOUR FAULT" while pointing at another shady character, his lady friend sitting a few feet away. He continues to yell, while we duck behind the hut into the nice greenery for some more shots. As she's sitting there, we continue to hear the shady characters continue on into a full blown domestic dispute, while on the other side of us a family (?) of about 12 people walk up and start rehearsing for a lesbian wedding. The officiant was probably my favorite, with his braided gray ponytail yelling about how he needed to stand in a certain spot cause it was his "good side." At this point, Sarah and I have lost it laughing, but I think her mom was genuinely ready to call the cops in for the disturbance from our shady friends. "They call this a Code 13 at my work," she said, "and if I had cell phone service I think I'd let someone know!"

But I shot on, cause that's what a good photographer does :)
And Sarah looks great, cause, well... like I mentioned before, she doesn't take bad photos. And when there's a great story to go with your great photos, well... you can't beat that with a stick!

(to see the entire shoot, just click away on this http://www.zenfolio.com/stellarpropeller/p339292756)  

Picture all the craziness right about here!

Publicity is Weird. (but I kinda like it)

It's been a year of firsts so far - first shot on the cover of a newspaper, of a magazine, for a film festival guide and poster... it's exciting! I've been so honored to be a part of these projects. Various Magazine has the potential to unite our community and bring attention to some deserving folks and the Indie Spirit Film Festival is in a class all its own, bringing quality indie films from around the world to our small conservative world in Colorado Springs. It's such a treat to work alongside these people who are doing great things for our great city. Anyways, here's a sampling of my most "high(er) profile" work as of late:

This Apple's not BIG enough for us!

This was quite possibly the best 24 hours I've had this year.








Broadway show (9-5), revolving rooftop restaurant, hotel room that barely fit the bed, fruit stands, hot dog stands, NY pizza, Ground Zero, Central Park, B&H photo supply (woot!), and of course... a good old fashioned NY Chipotle burrito :) (Lindsey's FIRST one EVER)

Even though Shea and lil' sis Lindsey live multiple states away, we still got to participate in our favorite pasttimes (traveling and laughing) and work professionally together for the first time ever! What a good deal. Thanks to Shea for inviting me on this "job" and thanks to Linds for opening me up to the world of makeup again. This was absolutely awesome, but I'll let the pictures do the talking.



[there was construction in Times Square, so people just took the blocked lanes as opportunity for a block party]



(iphone - checks out to be pretty handy, much to my Verizon dismay)

Claire

One of the coolest high schoolers I've had the privilege of meeting. Claire grew up in a pretty unique family - born in the Philippines, raised in Colorado, a middle child of 5 (2 older sisters and 2 younger brothers). Their father died before Claire hit double digits, and her mother has raised the 5 kids (with the help of lots of friends and neighbors!). Each child in this family is so unique and gifted, and Claire is no exception. Artistic, aesthetic, musical, beautiful, and both socially and spiritually aware -- she's pretty exceptional in a lot of arenas of life.

We had a great time on this shoot! We actually had to do it in 2 parts, waiting for a nice cloud cover to come around and give us premium lighting for the afternoon. The clouds are actually pretty good to us out in Colorado, at least in that way. We shot everything at Glen Eyrie, which is a place that's quite special to Claire's family. She's off to Arizona in the fall for college, and then probably off to change the world ;)

Sweet 16

This photo shoot happens to star one of my favorite high schoolers in the youth group - Mikayla, a bubbly, loving cheerleader with bright red hair to match her fiery, passionate personality. But I probably didn't even need to type that; you can just look at these pictures and see! Kudos to Mikayla and her fam for coming up with a really fun and unique way to celebrate a 16th. They hired a friend who's a chef to come and prepare a 4-course meal for Mikayla and several of her friends. All the friends showed up in cute cocktail dresses (can you call them that when 16-year-olds are wearing them??!) and took their seats at the dining room table by their own personal name card. After dinner, we went downstairs and did a photo shoot with Mikayla and all her friends for about an hour with all kinds of fun props, and these girls were HYSTERICAL -- so hammy and wonderful. I barely had to tell them what to do! After the shoot, they come back upstairs for some chocolate fountain action and stayed for a slumber party. In the end, a good time was had by all, and Mikayla had a whole photo shoot worth of images to remember her
special night by.

San Antonio's Best

This bed and breakfast is a getaway of getaways. The view is lovely (overlooks a lake), the food is divine, the decor is like something out of Real Simple magazine, and the hosts are so gracious! Not to mention it's just down the road from San Antonio, which is one of the most fun cities in the country of Texas. I went there to work, but left feeling like I'd had a vacation --- complete with my first ever viewing of Casablanca.

Sweet, Crazy Seth

This little lad makes me wanna have babies! (and i don't say that lightly or very often) Seth is the son of 2 super creatives named Clay and Krista who go to church with me. Clay makes a living as a bronze sculptor (www.clayenoch.com) and designer of various and sundry things, and Krista is getting into interior design. I love how they love on their kiddos! Krista cracks me up how nostalgic she is about her children's short lives and how bitter-sweet it is for her to watch them grow up so fast. "He's SO BIG" --- phrase used constantly as she looked at these pictures. But enough about the people who made Seth, let's talk about him! He's adorable -- that light blonde hair and dark brown eyes -- and he is a hammy little class clown in the making! He loves to "crazy laugh" and entertain his older brother and sister by making jokes and running around the house in his birthday suit.

I took Seth by myself on this photo shoot, which was a brave move, but I'm glad I did! You never know how something's gonna work until you try, after all. He was very good for the first 20 min. or so, and then I really wanted him to take his shirt off for some of the shots (he has a cute, cute big belly). He wouldn't have any of that. Not even for candy treats! In the end, though, the pictures in his clothes turned out pretty great. And his mother was glad to hear that he wouldn't take off his shirt on the first date... even for chocolate :)