Cami Class of '13

First of, wow, class of 2013. It's been way to long since I was class of something.

Secondly, how fun is Cami? She wanted natural photos that reflected who she is every single day.* And I applaud that. Call me old school, but when it comes to senior portraitsI'm a big advocate of keeping it casual and close to how you are on an everyday basis.

Not that there's anything wrong with getting super glammed up. I applaud that, too. But I think it's really important to have at least one senior portrait where the 17/18 year old looks like a 17/18 year old. Right?

*We did get a little nutty with the T. Rex and pizza photos. I mean sometimes you just have to give into the PhotoShop urges.

Henz Kids

I was so tempted to type "Henz Kidz," but I kept the spelling proper ... except for in this sentence.

Anyway, spelling rules aside, we probably broke a few rules while taking these photos at the Lake Highlands Town Center. The Henz family was jumping off of things, clobbering one another, and acting like loving siblings do.

It was a great way to spend a few hours.

Shooting Dakota was a walk in the park.

The White Rock Trail in Dallas offers joggers, cyclists, and casual strollers a place to stretch their legs.

It also offers high school seniors tons of beautiful, park settings for portraits.

This last weekend, I took Dakota's senior portraits at one of my favorite spots on the trail, a park at Walnut Hill and Greenville Ave. It's lush and green, offers the right mix of shade and light, and has ample parking (always a plus).

Jordan, Class of 2011

Jordan wanted something different for her senior pictures. Most of her friends have gone to the usual local spots, but Jordan ventured to Oak Cliff with me. So we wandered around the eclectic Bishop Arts District, drank sodas, and listened to good music. All in all, it was a great way to spend a few hours.

Family Time

My husband and I crashed the party at my aunt and uncle's house this weekend. They were playing lacrosse, my younger cousin's newest passion. My husband was quite the player back in the day. So he's excited to have a lacrosse buddy in the family.

I gave it a go myself, but no one in the family felt comfortable enough using my camera to get too many photos of my (awesome) abilities. Oh, well. Perhaps they should sign up for my photo workshop.

Jon is going to graduate.

Jon is tall. He's very tall. He's not even out of high school yet, and he's a walking tower. So it only made sense to take his photos in the downtown area--where all of the tall buildings are. That and Uptown has so much to offer photo subjects. There's nature, there's urban settings, there's even billboards.

So that's where we shot. Amidst the birds and buildings of Uptown. Not a bad way to spend a lazy Sunday morning, really.

Jordan - Act Naturally

If you try to pose, you're going to look posed. One thing I always tell a person is to be herself (or himself, depending on the person).

It's pretty easy since most of us act like ourselves for a good chunk of the day.

Take Jordan here. She's a young, angry teenager. But she's also a free-spirited hippy chick. She hates shoes, she has chipped nail polish, and she's currently not cutting her hair so she can donate it this summer.

Jordan didn't try to overdress or act like someone else during her shoot. She just acted like Jordan. And the pictures, just like Jordan, are really fun because of it.