Candy & Sosaia

Wedding season is definitely upon us and I am LOVING IT! Engagement session have to be my favorite thing to shoot.  It is so fun to see people that are so in love and excited to start their lives together.  Candy and Saia picked a gorgeous location and I think their session turned out beautifully!  Be on the look out for many lovely engagement sessions to come...

Rachana & Cody

After this session I realized that I don't do enough maternity shoots.  Seriously, Rachana looks amazing especially for being 35 weeks pregnant.  This couple was so nice and totally excited for their baby to come.  I think you can see that happy anticipation through these images and after working on all these gorgeous photos I am totally regretting not doing a maternity session myself.  Thanks for letting me document such a happy time in your lives!

If there are any other women out there who are expecting please contact me.  I would love to do more work with glowing mamas to be!

Arteaga Family

I cannot believe I forgot to post this family's session last fall! I was completely in love with it then and, as I am going through all my old files, I fell in love with it all over again tonight.  This family is so sweet and I just can't say enough good things about them.  Not to mention they have a gorgeous baby boy.  Cohen's little lips just killed me.  Enjoy!

Crystal & Thomas

OK, so seriously this was one of the funnest sessions ever!!! I know I say that a lot but I totally mean it! Crystal and Thomas, along with their awesome entourage, had me laughing the whole time... Some at poor Crystal's expense... She was just "flashing" her gorgeous smile all over the place. :)  Besides how much fun we had during their shoot, I love this session because the photos showcased how totally in love these two are.  Crystal and Thomas have know each other since preschool, they were high school sweethearts, and are now getting married. How cute is that?  I cannot wait to shoot their wedding this coming May. SO much more loveliness to come from this couple!

Yeah, they really are this good looking in person as well.  They made my job entirely too easy!

David Barton Pedereson Scholarship 2013

I have had the amazing opportunity to work on a project for the David Barton Pedersen Scholarship with Leigh VandenAkker at East High School.  This was the fifth year that this scholarship has been at East High and the fourth year that I have been asked to photograph the seniors that are up for the scholarship.  I absolutely love it!  The students have some truly inspiring stories and are so deserving of the scholarship.  This year I was amazed to find out that 46 students applied with essays that explained how they use the skills they have learned in Mrs. VandenAkker's class to stay drug free and overcome trials in their lives.  Mrs. V's class, Techniques for Tough Times, is hard to summarize because it incorporates so many different skill sets.  Among many other things, her class helps students understand how to be assertive, to communicate more meaningfully with others, to set goals, to resist peer pressure, and to have a voice.  The Pedersen Family lost their son to a drug overdose and this scholarship was created to honor their son and help other students understand why it is important to be drug free.  The Pedersens are always so positive and really portray the true meaning of charity.  Instead of focusing on their tragedy, the Pedersens focus on how they can make a difference in other peoples lives.

I was asked to photograph the scholarship finalists and for an even greater personal touch, Mrs. V gave me a list of qualities that each of the students possessed to also be incorporated in the photographs.  The scholarship presentation this year did not fail to exceed my expectations and it was extremely uplifting.  After reading the students' essays and having a personal interview with each of them, the Pedersen Family was so impressed with all the students that they could not choose only a few students to receive the scholarship.  Like every year, I was blown away to find out that the family gave each of the 46 students a $500 scholarship.  As though that wasn't enough they gave an additional $500 scholarship to 8 of the students that truly stood out to them.  The total amount of money given to these students was $47,000!

I am touched every year by the Pedersen Family's generosity and positive outlook on life.   Thank you for letting me take part in such an incredible experience.  Here are the scholarship finalists' photos that were displayed at the event.